• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Reviews

Product Review: Strength Stack 52

The Strength Stack 52 is a deck of cards featuring a variety of exercises combined into different games to give you a portable, effective workout. While not specialized, it's a great general workout.

Doug Dupont

Written by Doug Dupont Last updated on March 9, 2013

We receive free products and receive commissions through our links. See disclosures page.

card deck workout, deck of cards workout, card workouts, strength stack

The Strength Stack 52 is a card deck workout system developed by Sergeant Michael Volkin. According to his website, Sergeant Volkin has been busy developing workout plans for soldiers in Iraq. In fact, he received a medal for the programs he created for the soldiers. Now, what began as a simple workout program he originally created for his mother while she battled cancer has become a military style workout available to the public.

As with other deck workouts the greatest advantage to Strength Stack 52 is how much fun it is relative to how much work you’re doing. The deck can be used either by an individual or by groups, and I’d recommend doing it in groups to enhance the motivation to push yourself.

Each card features a different exercise, an image of the exercise, and a brief description. There are also various ways to categorize each exercise on each card, such as a value number, a color code, and the difficulty level. Each of these categories is used in various ways in the games created for the deck. There is also a QR code on each card that will take you to a video demonstration of the exercise.

To access the games, you simply go to the website and look through their list. You can sort the games by popularity, by number of players you have with you, or simply browse through the thirteen total games they currently have descriptions for. You can even submit your own game ideas. Each game is a different way you and your friends can use the deck to get a workout.

The major benefit to a deck system like this is that it’s a great way to motivate your workouts through fun and competition. Once you know the exercises and have a few games in mind, it’s quite simple as well. And the exercises are the basics, another mark of any good workout, so you probably are familiar with them already. The deck is fairly inexpensive, the cards are high quality, and the deck travels very well.

I do wish the video descriptions were longer and included sound. One of the strengths of this deck workout over others I’ve seen is that they use the Internet as a support tool very well. Because the cards themselves are quick to use once an exercise is known, I think more detailed videos would be a greater advantage. The few I watched were short and had no sound or description of any kind. They were simply a quick demo. Better than nothing, no doubt, but not a full use of the media. I also noticed that the pushups, one of the exercises I happened to look at, had some questionable form including flared elbows and a short range of motion. The pushup itself was strict, and certainly qualifies as a military push up, but more could be put into the form.

Another thing that comes with the cards is one free month of the 60-Day Challenge. Although I didn’t do this challenge myself, the website includes a $75 value that is crossed out. However, the description only mentions a meal plan, which I would assume is fairly generic. I’m not sure if you would need to pay for this after the first free month, but I don’t see what would constitute a value that high based solely on the limited description. So, if you purchased the cards you would need to discover that for yourself.

I think workouts like this one are great for people that enjoy them. As a teen, I loved the concept of deck workouts or their homemade equivalent, flashcards, and performed them regularly. This is a high quality version of such a workout that includes some Internet support, which I hope they upgrade in the future. Doing that would really help this stand out over simply making it on your own. As a coach, on the other hand, this workout is designed more for the fun of a general fitness enthusiast and not for someone with specific exercise goals. If you’re the former, this would be a good one to check out.

Strength Stack 52 is available for $14.95 at StrengthStack52.com.

Doug Dupont

About Doug Dupont

Having grown up at the foot of a forest covered mountain in rural Vermont, Doug was active from a very young age. Hiking, running, and climbing were a part of everyday life in the Green Mountains. This culture of exercise led to dabbling in martial arts as a teen, and also getting work in a local powerlifting focused gym. Doug continued to pursue knowledge and training in exercise, becoming a certified personal trainer while still a teenager. Once in college he began his hand at the business side of fitness, taking a management position at a large local gym. During that time he became a founding member of the UVM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, and was the first among their competition team. After only a few months he was assisting in coaching, and ran conditioning program for the club.

Out of college Doug set up his own training center. He grew his list of clientele including several professional MMA athletes, eventually going so far as to corner a world title fight. He has continued ­­­to develop his business into today.

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

nia shanks, beautiful badass bodyweight workout, bodyweight
Product Review: The “Beautiful Badass Bodyweight Workout Guide” by Nia Shanks
Long-haired person in gym running on treadmill
Try These HIIT Treadmill Workouts for Different Goals
Muscular person in gym doing dumbbell curls
The Ultimate Back and Biceps Workout for Every Lifter From Beginner to Advanced
black and white image of long-haired person performing chin-up
Try These Biceps Workouts Without Weights for Muscle, Strength, and Fat Loss

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

7 Tips to Perfect Your Deadlift Form

Danny Grigsby (110KG) Deadlifts All-Time World Record of 467.5 Kilograms (1,030.6 Pounds)

Joe Sullivan (100KG) Records All-Time Raw World Record Squat of 386 Kilograms (850.9 Pounds)

Amanda Lawrence (84KG) Breaks Three IPF Raw World Records at 2023 Sheffield Championships

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About