Weekend Superset Workout

If you need to get a quick lift in for the weekend and are not familiar with supersets well here's a brief intro to them and a sample workout.

Supersets are very fast ways to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. Not quite circuits which involve several exercises or AMRAPS which involve some to several exercises that involve cranking out as many reps as possible (hence the name) but usually involve pairing two to three exercises that can either be similar muscle groups (bench, fly, triceps extension), opposing (bench press and bentover row), or unrelated (squats and crunches). Those listed are just some examples.

Here's a quick workout that is not only brutal but very time effective if the rest is kept to 60-90s per set.

10x10 volume workout
1st group (about 15mins)
Bench Press 10x10 @ 50%

Bentover Rows 10x10 @ 50%

2nd group (10mins)
Standing Press 5x10
Lat Pull Downs 5x10

3rd grouping (optional, 5mins)
Barbell Curl 3x20
Triceps Extension 3x20 
 ->Want to work abs and low back as well? Add in some weight situps and hyper extensions after tri-ext for 3x20. 

Break that down that is about 420 reps in approx 35-45mins.

Enjoy.

Kettlebell Full Body Complex #1

This routine hits it ALL. I mean in a bad way too. Most of my clients were pretty exhausted after finishing but finish they did.

Warmup 10-15 minutes (series of swings, tech work, stretches, etc.)

1.30 each - Push Press/ Cleans/ Half Snatch - Single arm
45s each - Swings/ Clean/ Long Cycle - Doubles. Rest 45s then repeat once more.

Lower Body- 30s each, 30s rest, 3 rounds
Goblet Squat/ Alt Lunge/ Kneel Downs

Upper- 30s each, 30s rest, 3 rounds again
x2 Kb Alt Row/ Alt Press/ Ribbons

Core- 1min each, minimal rest
1/2 TGU's/ Supermans/ Windmills

Finisher- 20 ON, 10 OFF each, x1 Kb, 4 minutes total
Swings, Burpees, Split jumps, Jack Squats

Cool down stretch


Yea...they were pretty quiet after this one.

Chain Lifting - Accomodating resistance at its finest. Part 2

Well this is the more 'legit' post for the day/week. If you already read my previous post about the chain ordeal (which is still to be concluded btw) then hope it gave you a laugh. If not at my own expense.

So, anyways, for something a little more constructive. I wanted to put the new chains through a workout to see how it went. I will be the first to say I havn't had a good upper workout like that in awhile. I tried to get in a pretty good variety and at certain points was just banging out reps trying to get a good pump. No matter what I did the chains worked well.

Heres a rough recap of the workout. Remember, I had several sets I just either went to failure, left 2, or was just playing around to see what would happen. Some exercises worked great while others not so much.

Bench press- Worked up to max effort for 3 reps with 80lbs total chain. Hit 245 for a trip. Puts it around 305 (some of the chain sits on the ground at lock).
Swiss bar Incline Press with fat grips (theres a mouthful)- hit 4 sets for 10-12 reps. Used 40lbs chain, narrow grip, and Grip4orce grippers on the bar.
Multi-grip pullups- This one I just sort of hit reps at whatever I felt like at the moment. I think my pride on the day was the triple I had with 80lbs of chain on me. Puts me close to 300lbs. So 3 pullups at that much is pretty good for me.
Multi-grip inverted row- Same deal just hit different grips. Mixed in chains (was awkward and clumsy) and used fat bar and cannonballs.
Arms and shoulders- Just started rocking curls and raises with the cannonballs. My biceps cramped pretty hard later on.

This is a pretty heavily edited video. Didnt want to bore everyone with EVERY single rep I did.

British Circuit - Crossfit crack

This is my template for a brutal and almost infamous workout amongst my athletes that quite frankly will send chills down anyones spine to whom I mention it to - The British Circuit. A circuit involving higher rep sets using Olympic lifts mixed with squats and choices of supplement exercises to induce a severe system shock. Sounds fun right?

Well lets get some background first.

A few years ago (few meaning around 8 or more) I attended a clinic for track that happened to have a popular guy named Jud Logan speaking. If you dont know this man you probably havn't done your homework. The topic was off-season conditioning and strength training. The big one that struck out amongst some of his other ideas was, as the title mentions, The British Circuit. Now mind you this came out LOOOONNNGG before Crossfit was even thought in any public sense. In fact I think 10 years ago there were only a handful of 'boxes' floating around the country compared to the thousands now...but I digress.

As Jud went on to discuss the circuit and I scribbled it got me excited to try it out. Sounded simple enough;
-Clean
-Squat
-Snatch
-Squat
-Overhead
-Core (a REAL core exercise...not some lazy crunching shit)
6 reps each with about 2-3 minutes rest between sets and start with roughly 55% of max in each lift.

So here Im thinking '55%? Sure whatever.' So I went home and next day gave it a go....<blurp> goes what little substance I had in my stomach by round 2. WTF just happened?!?! Jud was not joking when he said he puked his first time out as well. Damn was I not expecting that. So like any sadistic coach I immediately implemented it into my athletes workouts. Only one incidence so far of yack attack is when a shot putter a few years back thought he was hot stuff and went with 65%. He made it to the second round of snatches before I saw him dump the bar and run into the locker room. Another thrower/hurdler went at it pretty hard and afterwards didnt say a word to me the rest of the day. Good times.

So, anyways, fast forwarding to the present I have been playing around with that method and got some pretty nice results as far as off-season conditioning. Now, mind you, this is NOT a strength development program. And its tough to manage with a large group but is an excellent tool for strength conditioning and work capacity. Or just GPP for short (General Physical Prep).

Above was the original template I got but below I am outlining my variations and modifications I have made since then. Really its just about playing around with different equipment and reps/sets to see what works best.

This is the basic template. Further down are actual workouts we've done currently or in the past.
Each set 6-10 res for 2-4 rounds. Normally 2-4 minutes rest between rounds with minimal rest between exercises. Minimum of 6 complex movements with 1-2 core exercises. Advisable to start with 50% and work up. Its much tougher to start too heavy and work down.

-Pull (clean, dead lift, swing, swiss bar or log clean, etc.)
-Squat (back, front, box, single, squat jump)
-Fast pull (snatch, db snatch, kb snatch, med ball throw, tire flip)
-Light Squat (front, bulgarian, lunge, split jump)
-Overhead (push press, jerk, kb variation, mb push throw)
-Complex core (landmines, good mornings, curl ups, dragon flag)

There is definitly a lot of variety that can be thrown together. So its not just limited to oly lifts either although that was the original idea presented to me. Either way below is some ideas you can use to start off or just throw in your own!

BC for strength endurance/power;
6 reps each. 3-4 minutes rest between rounds. 55% of max starting week 1. Add an additional 5-10% each week or even each round to increase strength. Can be done 1-2x's a week.Continue for 3-6 weeks.
- Power Clean (or deadlift)
- Back Squat
- Hang Snatch (or tire flip)
- Front Squat
- Push Press
- Good Mornings
- Curl ups x15reps

BC for volume/hypertrophy/work capacity/stomach purging;
8-10 reps. 2-3 minutes rest. 50-55%. Add weight when desired. 1-2x's a week. 3 weeks continuous.
- Hang Clean
- Back Squat
- Hang Snatch (or close grip snatch)
-Front Squat (kettlebells or heavy bags/ stones work too)
-Dumbbell Push Press
-Romanian Dead Lifts

BC for SPEED
8-12 reps. 4-5 minutes rest. Relatively light weights.
-Trap bar deadlift (or dumbbells)
-Squat Jumps
-Swings
- DB Snatch (split reps- if doing 10 then perform 5 each hand)
- Split jumps
- Glute ham raise or Glute Bridge
- Reverse Hyper or Back Extension

BC for STRONGMAN
These numbers are up to the lifter due to the variety of the lifts. Continuous circuit stays the same. This is designed more as a conditioning circuit and speed endurance. 
-Deadlift
-Squat
-Stone to Chest
-Drag
-Axle Press
-Yoke Walk
-Hold (Ive used two cannonball handles attached to kettlebells for this one. works well)

BC for the kool aid drinkers
(honestly I just drew this up as Im writing this blog so try at your own risk! how many times can you get through?)
8 reps each. Continuous for 10 minutes.
-Power Clean
-Squat
-Snatch
-Walking Lunge
-Push Press
-Deadlift

Im sure if a Crossfitter saw this they can apply it to their own training with some different variations. My experience with the 'cult' is pretty minimal and unfortunately only a handful I've talked to left a positive image the rest not so much.

Enjoy!

Kettlebell Workout #1

So the other day a client of mine asked me if I could start posting workouts. No idea why I havn't done this sooner so here we go!
 Depending on rest this can go from 30-45mins
Warmup routine
 30s each and switch arms
Single Arm Swing, Cleans, Press with pause at top
Mobility and stretch
30s each 2-hand Swing,Cleans, Presses

Protocol;
30 seconds each exercise straight through then switch arms. Repeat for total of 2 rounds
Swings, Cleans, Presses
2-Hand Protocol; Long Cycle Competition reps against time.
10 reps each exercise Cleans, Front Squats, Push Press Repeat 3 rounds

Core; 1 minute each
Single Arm Crunch, SA Crunch, Curlup, Seated twist

Circuit fitness; 30s each continuous for 3 rounds.
2kb Bentover Row, Reverse Lunge, Romanian Dead Lift Cool down and stretch