Enjoying a workout periodically versus staying on a program has some benefits. Now, 90% of the time, I build programming for clients to stick with. Occasionally though, it is emotionally helpful to break the monotony. Since most of us are not going to the Olympics and/or get a paycheck for our fitness prowess - some fun is requisite in my honest opinion.
So, I decided to pull out the sled, the battling ropes, and some weight and see what I could do for a conditioning day. Oh yeah, and it was the hottest day of the year so far...never said I was the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Today what we have is a sled from the folks at Titan Sports, an iPad mini from the Apple gurus, and 330lbs of pure delight from Rep Fitness. Total weight today is 400lbs. PLEASE NOTE the highly technical approach to securing my iPad of wedging it between a pair of dumbbells, a kettlebell and the sled (can you say MacGuyver?)
I thought for a second and decided to shoot the session and break it down into videos for you to add to your personal torture, um, training regiment. Here at b3 wellness, we are here to develop programming that fits your life. So enjoy the workout and the commentary along the way.
The runway is approximately 120 feet of turf rolled out for the sled work. The driveway makes for a great spot for this as I am at the end of a road.
ROUND 1
After warming up and getting the turf rolled out and loading the sled, we began the fun with Alternating Waves.
ROUND 2
Moving on to Simultaneous Waves....so far, so good.
ROUND 3
Single-Arm Slams sound delightful!
ROUND 4
Temper Tantrums....fitting (aka Two Arm Slams)
ROUND 5
Like a good mix tape, sometimes you need to slow things down a bit (if you have no idea what I am talking about, ask your parents) Side to Side patterns
ROUND 6
Kneeling Alternating Waves had some hamstring delight waiting for me. Getting balance to a rep or two but a great alternative.
ROUND 7
Kneeling Simultaneous Waves....because I really do not like my hamstrings and this is certainly very different than the deadlifting and squatting they usually get stimulus from. (sarcasm being laid down pretty thick here)
ROUND 8
Seated Alternating Waves - you realize just how much the lower body works on the ropes
ROUND 9
Seated Simultaneous Waves - see round eight
ROUND 10
Back Lunges with Alternating Waves was a good challenge on coordination and a change of pace to add the asymmetry
ROUND 11
Lateral Lunges with Alternating Waves - I LOVED THESE! The frontal plane does not get enough love in most programming and again the asymmetry movements are always appreciated with activity!
ROUND 12
Jumping Jacks - besides the timing aspect of weighted arms trying to keep pace with regular leg movement reminding me of just how much of a dancer I AM NOT - they were a great primer for what followed....
ROUND 13
Double Slams paired with Burpees. Sweet Baby Ray! Que lastima! What was I thinking?! More choreography?!?! It was a great combo but most certainly takes the mind-body connection and challenges it thoroughly.
ROUND 14
Over the Top - A great move that provides asymmetry between the legs as you pivot weight and a fantastic core activator! Now is a good time to state just how nice it feels to blow off aggression with ropes!
ROUND 15
Plank hold with right hand slam - never disappoints me on a good core burn stabilizing this move!
ROUND 16
Plank hold with left hand slam - see #15
ROUND 17
Walk it In Waves - This is almost as awkward to watch as it is to do. Keep that rope moving and scurry back and forth like a dancing fool! Harder than it looks.
ROUND 18
Circles In - oh hello there, rear deltoids. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
ROUND 19
Circles Out - The ropes get twisted a bit doing this move. But just as Al Pacino said in A Scent of a Woman, "If you get tangled up, you tango on."
ROUND 20
Double Arm Slam with Sled Row - Now that the arms are feeling a bit shaky, let's put some good 'ol loaded pulls into it. I really liked these and will be incorporating this into future programming. It is tug-o-war on steroids (technical description)
ROUND 21
Overhead Walk - this is the hardest move of the day for me. It calls for significant mechanical disadvantage paired up with significant stability requirements. Challenging to say the least
ROUND 22
Now that I am 120' away from the garage that is also sitting at an incline, I need to bring it all back. This was a nice finish to the round. We lost a 10lb dumbbell on the journey up but dragged it with because we leave no weights behind!
There was the end of the first round.
Repeat for five more rounds......
NOT!
With HIIT work, remember if you are a novice at this work to rest ratio should be around 1:4, regulars to this type of training should be 1:2, advanced HIIT folks should be at 1:1 or even 1.5:1 ratios.
For customized programming or other specialized work (fitness and nutrition), check out the site bbbwellness.com and get started today!
Be fit. be fueled. Be full of life.
Cheers,
