Workout Of The Week August 1, 2012

W.O.W. 8/01/2012

This is a workout designed to be done outside in almost any location.  You can use benches, walls or stairs for many of the exercises otherwise it consists of all body weight drills.

Warm up by jogging or doing basic calisthenics for 5ish minutes.

Perform the following drills, in order, for 20 repetitions each (stay near a bench/wall/stairs):
Squat Thrusts
Push Ups
Mountain Climbers
Rapid Squats (just squats performed, you guessed it, rapidly)
Tuck Jumps
Walking Lunges
Split Jump
Step Ups
Squat Jumps (butt to bench)
Dips
One Arm Push Up
Seated Ab Tucks






Squat Thrusts

Push Ups

 Mountain Climbers

Rapid Squats

Tuck Jumps

Walking Lunges

Split Jump

On bench/wall/stairs:

Step Ups

 Narrow Squat Hop, butt touches bench before jumping up

 Dips

One Arm Push Up

Seated Ab Tucks

Rest 3-4 minutes and repeat everything again.

Workout Of The Week June 20, 2012

This weeks workout will focus on upper body.  As usual I will mix in cardio intervals. You will need one heavy-ish dumbbell and you might need a lighter one for the shoulder exercises, especially the rear lateral raise.

After Warm Up

Perform all the exercises below on one side before switching.
Single arm shoulder press X8
Suitcase Lift X8
*photo shows a regular upright row but I want you to point your elbow behind you and pretend you are picking up a suitcase.
Rear lateral raise X8
Repeat all of the above for three sets without rest.  One side will be resting while the other side is working so try to push through from one arm to the other.

25 squat thrusts
20 squat hold then jump up
*Hover at the bottom for a count of 2 and then explode up landing back in the deep squat
15 bodybuilders

Perform all exercises below on one side before switching
Hold one dumbbell over your head and perform a staggered stance, stable lunge (don't move your feet) for 15 repetitions
*photo shows dumbbell at shoulder but I want you to hold the dumbbell overhead with a straight arm.  Remember you don't move your feet.
Hold dumbbell by your side and perform suitcase squats for 15 reps
Hold dumbbell at shoulder and perform reverse lunges for 15 reps
Repeat the above for three sets with a brief rest between sets.

Repeat squat thrusts, squat hold hop and bodybuilders

Place dumbbell on floor between your hands and perform 15 push ups, chest should touch the dumbbell on every repitition.
*photo shows no dumbbell but I want you to put one on the floor and touch your chest to it every time.
Flip over and perform 15 Turkish get ups
Flip back over and perform 15 plank row, on one side only.
Rest briefly and then repeat for two more rounds.

 

Repeat squat thrusts, squat hold hop and bodybuilders

Perform 20 sit ups and 10 walking planks on each side.  Repeat for two more rounds.

Workout Of The Week June 5, 2012

W.O.W. 6/5/2012

This workout is short and efficient.  As per usual you can do it at home or in the gym because you just need a set of dumbbells and a relatively small space.  By request this work out does not include running as one of the drills:)


Warm up with some basic calisthenics like jacks, squat pulse and push ups.

Perform the following exercises back to back for a total of five complete rounds.
#1 Bicep curl shoulder press X15
#2 DB squat thrust with a push up then row R and row L before you hop up
(image does not show the push up so don't forget to insert it as soon as you
#3 kick your feet back, hands stay on the dumbbells) X15
#4 French press X15
#5 Slalom over both dumbbells (or hurdle)  X30

#6 Stable stance split lunge R X15

#7 Stable stance split lunge L X15

#8 Single leg squat thrust R X15

#9 Single leg squat thrust L X15
#10 Bicycle X30

#11 Jackknife X15

#12 Mountain climber X30

Back to the top

Bicep curl shoulder press X15

DB squat thrust with a push up then row R and row L before you hop up
(image does not show the push up so don't forget to insert it as soon as you
kick your feet back, hands stay on the dumbbells) X15













 French press X15

 Slalom over both dumbbells (or hurdle)  X30

Stable stance split lunge R X15

Stable stance split lunge L X15

Single leg squat thrust R X15

Single leg squat thrust L X15

Bicycle X30

           

                                                                                                           

 Jackknife X15

 Mountain climbers X30

Go immediately back to the top without a rest and continue 

until you have completed the five rounds.

Workout Of The Week May 14th, 2012

This weeks WOW is all about legs, especially glutes.


Once again you will need access to a treadmill or access to a hill that is about two blocks long.

Warm up by jogging outside or on the treadmill.

Perform the following all on one leg, back to back, before switching sides, using a high bench:

 Step up and down - 10X 

Turn sideways to bench, squat and then up lifting your knee - 10X

 Glute Dips

Stand on top of the bench with one foot on the bench and the other hanging over the edge, lower yourself so that your toe just barely touches the floor and then pull yourself back up without placing the foot all the way on the bench top (so just tap the top or, better yet, don't tap at all).  Make sure you stand all the way up to straight leg after every repetition. I call this exercise glute dips. - 10X
Repeat all the above on the other leg.

Run 3 hill repeats.  If you are using a treadmill run on 10-13% incline for 2 minutes and then level off for 1-2 minutes and repeat two more times.





Repeat all of the above a total of four rounds.

To finish sit on the bench (wall, whatever) and perform knee in/kick out for abs.  3X20

This time of year the weather is awesome most places around the country.  You could easily do this entire workout outside.  All you need is a wall or a park or picnic bench.  People who get outside regularly have less stress and feels more content.  Can't really do that in the dead of winter so take advantage of the weather now.

Workout Of The Week May, 2nd, 2012

The W.O.W. this week is about the weight room.  I usually do workouts that are accessible to everyone, even those that workout at home, but I have had requests for workouts that are done in the gym.

It is best to do your weight training first, instead of your cardio.  I know this feels counter-intuitive to most of you but you will tap into your fat sources quicker when you get to your cardio if you lift first.  That being said whatever you are really trying to focus on that day should come first. I feel weight training is more important then cardio.  When people ask me what's better cardio or weights, weight training wins hands down.  If you lift correctly you cannot tell me that weight training isn't cardio vascular.  Your heart rate should be up and you should be watching your recovery, too much recovery is detrimental to your training but so is too little.  You will learn the right balance once you've been in the weight room long enough.

The below workout is for chest and back.  I will post bis/tris/delts and legs in the coming weeks so check back or sign up so you see the new posts when they come out.


Warm Up (Professionally I have to say this although I know you guys rarely do it:))

Set up the bench press with a weight that you struggle with at 6-8 reps (use an Olympic bar, not those pre-made bars).  Locate the closest pull down machine so that you can move quickly from one to the other and set up weight the same way you did the bench press.

5 sets of the following:

Barbell bench press for 5-6 reps making sure the brush your chest with the bar, that is a legal lift so practice it.

Pull down for 5-6 reps.  When you pull down the bar should stop just below your chin, not your chest.
Rest for 30-60 secs.  Your chest has been recovering while your doing back and vice versa.

You will have longer recovery as you set up your next two exercises.



Find as set of dumbbells for chest flyes that you can lift for 10-12 reps without too much trouble.  Set up an incline bench.
For back also pick a weight that you can lift for 10-12 reps.  This weight should definitely be heavier then the weights you are using for chest.  Don't get in the habit of being lazy and just use the same dumbbells for the both exercises.  Your back is the second largest muscle group and your chest is the third so choose accordingly.

5 Sets of the following.

Incline dumbbell chest flyes for 15 reps.  Watch how low you go with your flyes, otherwise your could strain your shoulders.














 One arm dumbbell row for 15 reps.  Put your hand on a bench for back support.  Please.

Finish with 3 sets of push up and rows and 3 sets of 20 bicycles for abs.