The Math Checks Out is a mini workout built on an equation: push-ups count down from ten to two while squats count up from two to ten, crossing in the middle at six and six. Five rounds, thirty push-ups, thirty squats, and a total that balances perfectly no matter how unbalanced you feel at the end.

The inverse ladder is a genuinely clever piece of programming, not just arithmetic decoration. Push-ups start at their highest count while your chest and arms are freshest, then shrink as fatigue grows - the demand falls exactly as your capacity does, which keeps every round completable. Squats run the opposite direction, starting tiny while your legs are cold and building to ten as they warm up. The two curves pass at round three, where six and six marks the workout's fulcrum. The result is sixty total reps distributed with almost suspicious fairness: no round is a wall, no muscle group carries two big numbers at once, and the sum at the bottom of the ledger is always the same.

Keep the push-ups honest as the numbers shrink - a set of two is small enough to make perfect, chest and hips lowering together. On the squats, use the growing counts as a depth ladder: by the final ten, every rep should still reach full depth with your heels planted and your chest tall. Move between exercises briskly; the transitions are the only place this workout hides any cardio.

Ten plus eight plus six plus four plus two, both columns, both directions. Check the total - the math never lies.

Make it Harder: Run the ladder back up after reaching the bottom.

Make it Easier: Do the push-ups from your knees throughout.