How to Do a Deck of Cards Workout
A deck of cards workout is one of the simplest and most effective fitness formats ever invented. All you need is a standard playing deck and a few bodyweight exercises. Here's everything you need to know to run your first session.
The Basic Rules
The concept is straightforward: assign one exercise to each of the four card suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs). Then shuffle the deck, flip cards one at a time, and perform the assigned exercise for the number of reps shown on the card.
Number cards (2–10) are taken at face value. So a 7 of hearts means 7 reps of whatever exercise you assigned to hearts. Face cards — Jack, Queen, King — are typically worth 10, 11, 12, or 13 reps depending on your ruleset. Aces are a wildcard you can set to any value you like (14 is a popular choice for a tough workout).
Choosing Your Exercises
The classic military assignment is push-ups for spades, squats for hearts, sit-ups for diamonds, and burpees for clubs. But there are no rules — any bodyweight movement works.
A good starting rule of thumb: assign a pushing exercise to one suit, a pulling or leg exercise to another, a core movement to the third, and a cardio or full-body move to the fourth. This creates a balanced session that hits every major muscle group.
- — Push pattern: push-ups, pike push-ups, dips
- — Pull / legs: squats, lunges, pull-ups
- — Core: sit-ups, crunches, plank hold (seconds)
- — Cardio / full-body: burpees, jumping jacks, mountain climbers
How Long Does It Take?
A full 52-card deck with default settings produces roughly 380 reps spread across four exercises. At a moderate pace with short rests between cards, most people finish in 30–45 minutes.
If you're a beginner, don't feel obligated to finish the whole deck in one session. Split it in half, or set a time limit and stop when you hit it. The format is completely flexible.
Step-by-Step: Your First Session
- — Assign an exercise to each suit — write them down or use DeckReps to set them up
- — Decide your Ace value and whether face cards count as 10 or their rank (J=11, Q=12, K=13)
- — Shuffle the deck thoroughly
- — Flip the top card, perform the reps, then set it aside
- — Rest as needed between cards — there's no fixed rest period
- — Continue until the deck is finished or you hit your time limit
- — Record your total reps — try to beat it next time
Tips for Beginners
Start with easier exercise variations (knee push-ups instead of full push-ups, for example) and set your Ace value low — around 10. Use face cards = 10 to keep rep counts manageable.
As you get fitter, increase the Ace value, switch to harder exercise variations, or add jokers (wild cards worth 20 reps each) for an extra challenge.