Celebrity fitness coach Senada Greca has shared a full-body workout that relies on a single weight plate, offering a way to combine strength training with cardiovascular conditioning. The routine, posted recently on Instagram, is designed to improve VO2 max while building muscle, a shift from traditional steady-state cardio. By incorporating resistance and explosive movements, the workout raises heart rate while also taxing the muscles, leading to greater overall conditioning. The workout is designed to be completed in a short time, making it accessible for those with limited schedules. This full-body approach saves time by working multiple muscle groups simultaneously.
“Improve your cardio, boost your VO2 max, and get stronger with my full body workouts, and ditch the endless cardio,” Greca said in the post.
Greca’s approach challenges the notion that effective cardio requires long durations, focusing instead on intensity and compound movements.
Senada Greca, an Albanian celebrity fitness coach, regularly shares full-body circuits that prioritize efficiency and intensity. This particular workout, posted on her Instagram, uses a single weight plate to deliver a combination of strength and cardio that she believes can torch fat and build muscle without requiring hours of steady-state exercise.
Six moves, no machines needed
The workout consists of six exercises. It starts with 10 plate squat swings to target the quads, arms, and core. Next comes the lateral lunge with a front plate raise, five reps on each side, working the adductors, glutes, shoulders, and chest.
From there, the routine moves into an overhead plate V-sit flutter kick, performed to failure. Jump switch lunges and V-sit twists follow, each also done to failure. The final move is a Romanian deadlift (RDL) to squat clean press, again to failure.
Greca noted that she did not follow a strict rep scheme for the last four exercises. “I did 8 to 12 reps x 3 sets,” she said, explaining that she prefers working toward failure to reach a state of hypertrophy. For the closing exercise, she described it as “always a total body, every muscle burner.”
The jump switch lunges specifically target the hamstrings, quads, glutes, and calves, adding a plyometric component that boosts heart rate. The V-sit twists engage the adductors, obliques, arms, and shoulders, while also challenging the core further. Greca’s final compound movement—a Romanian deadlift combined with a squat clean press—ensures that every major muscle group is recruited, which she describes as a total body burner.
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The variety of exercises—from squats to lunges to core work—ensures full muscle engagement across the entire body.
Modifications for different fitness levels
The workout can be adapted. Beginners can start without the weight plate to focus on form, while those seeking more intensity can grab a heavier plate. She suggested that someone at home could even use a heavy book as a substitute.
The structure of the routine — mixing compound lifts with explosive movements and core work — is the kind of programming that can create metabolic stress without requiring a long session on a treadmill. Whether that translates into faster fat loss for most people depends on consistency and diet, which are factors no single workout can replace. Greca advised finding a weight that feels comfortable in the 8 to 12 rep range, and adjusting the number of sets to make the routine easier or harder as needed.
The combination of compound lifts, explosive moves, and core work creates a high level of metabolic stress, which can raise calorie burn both during the workout and for hours afterward. This effect makes the routine an efficient alternative to traditional steady-state cardio, though Greca emphasizes that consistency and diet remain essential for fat loss. By taking the last four exercises to failure, she maximizes muscle fiber recruitment, a key driver of hypertrophy and strength gains.
To adjust the difficulty, individuals can alter the number of sets performed. Beginners might complete only one or two sets per exercise, while more advanced athletes can increase to four or more. Greca also recommends focusing on form before adding weight, and using a heavy book if a weight plate is unavailable. The workout’s flexibility makes it accessible to a range of fitness levels without requiring specialized equipment.
Using a single weight plate reduces equipment needs and allows for a wide range of motion in each exercise, from swings to overhead presses. This simplicity makes the workout easy to replicate anywhere.
The workout’s scalability means it can serve as a high-intensity interval session or a moderate strength circuit, depending on the chosen weight and rest periods.
Improving VO2 max is a key indicator of cardiovascular fitness, and this workout’s interval structure is designed to boost it effectively.
