Cardio Blast opens on four movements you could do in a hallway. Every worked day in this program reads the same way: choose a level - Level I is 3 sets, Level II is 5 sets, Level III is 7 sets - then do every exercise on the card in order, top left to bottom right. One pass through all of them is one set; rest 2 minutes and go again. Today that pass is 10 step jacks, 10 side jacks, 10 reverse lunges and 10 lunge step-ups. Reps are always totals - 10 reverse lunges is 5 per leg - and the level you pick today does not bind you tomorrow.
The card is two jacks and two lunges, and the pairing tells you what kind of cardio this program does. Step jacks are the jumping jack with the jump removed: feet together, step one foot out to the side as both arms sweep overhead, step back in as they come down, alternate feet. Side jacks widen the stance and turn the arm sweep into a lean - one hand on the hip, the other arm arcing up and over the head as the body tips gently toward the planted side, then swapping. Neither leaves the floor, and both keep the heart rate up. The lunges bring in the legs: reverse lunges step one foot back and lower the back knee toward the floor, and lunge step-ups start in that same lunge and drive the back knee up to hip height as you stand, then step it back down. All four move the whole body; none of them jolts it.
Reach all the way overhead on step jacks - a full sweep is what makes the arms count. On side jacks, keep the lean sideways and unhurried, and let the reaching arm do the stretching. Reverse lunges: step back far enough that the front shin stays roughly vertical, lower until the back knee hovers, and push through the front heel to stand. On lunge step-ups, drive the knee up with intent and land the foot back in the lunge softly, not with a thud.
Two jacks that step instead of jump and two lunges that lift instead of hop - the whole program's approach in one card.
Make it Harder: Flow straight from the last step jack into the side jacks with no gap, arms sweeping through the transition.
Make it Easier: Six of each exercise per set instead of 10, and the number of sets for your level.
