Mixed Tabata Intervals: Dumbell Swings and Partial Squat

Dumbbell Swings Left Hand - 20 seconds
Rest - 10 seconds
Dumbbell Swings Right Hand - 20 seconds
Rest - 10 seconds
Barbell Plate Partial Squats - 20 seconds
Rest - 10 seconds

x 2 then

Dumbbell Swings Left Hand - 20 seconds
Rest - 10 seconds
Dumbbell Swings Right Hand - 20 seconds
Rest - 10 seconds

...making 8 in total - the normal number of tabata intervals.

Do the exercise at the maximum speed you can whilst retaining good form. Pick weights that allow you to avoid failure in the final sets. This is about conditioning and fitness.

The good thing about these exercises is that it's hard to achieve 'failure' on them anyway. In the case of the squats, because you can only get 25kg plates anyway and in the case of the swings, because it's more of an athletic movement.

I find this an excellent finisher if I want to emphasise the back and legs but perhaps avoid too much knee flexion. ... Read more

Bicep Curls

I am not a big fan of muscle-isolation exercises like bicep curls. Why would you bother with this when you can do chins ups? But sometimes it's handy for circuits to have an extra exercise to throw in, especially when you are too tired to be able to do many chin ups. There are many varieties of bicep curl - straight bar, z-bar, dumbbell, hammer, seated, standing, 'preacher' curls - so for now I will just post videos of the one I have recently done, then add others when I have time.

My own experience is that using a straight bar is not good and can cause injuries over time - the ez-bar seems to offer a more natural angle for the wrists. Others say that you need a straight bar to fully engage the biceps. I'd rather have smaller biceps and be injury free. Dumbbells, of course, allow your arms to move through a range of motion that suits their geometry, so I would favour these.

Hammer Curls

You can do these standing up or sitting down. This video talks about slowly lowering and strict form - I tend to just do these fast as part of a circuit and not worry about form too much.

Barbell Curls

It's only practical to do these standing up. This guy does not have perfect form - but then I rarely do either - as I said above, for circuit work there's little point. I prefer to avoid burnout by cheating - it's a lot more convenient than running off to get a lighter bar. Note: there are some aspects of form that are important - such as a good stance and straight back - I am not advocating the abandonment of all aspects of good form!

... Read more

Two-handed, Single Dumbbell Lift and Press

This is a home-spun exercise, although that's not to say no one else has thought of it before. The video shows me executing a couple of reps. I just invented it independantly. No doubt someone, somewhere has done it before. The key is to be methodical about each step, especially the change in grip on the way up and down.

... Read more

Dumbbell Stair Climbs

This one is simple.

Grab some dumbbells and carry them up and down the stairs. To get heavy enough to really tax yourself, you may need to use lifting straps or the grip will fail long before your legs or cardiovascular system. I like this because of the sequential effort. With stepping or box jumping there is always a point where you can rest. Stair climbing adds a new dimension to leg training - especially if you live on the 3rd floor, as I do!

... Read more

Bench Press

Barbell Bench Press

I don't the barbell anymore because I found it aggravated my shoulder over a period of time. I was told that there were better grips I could use, but I opted instead to go for dumbbell bench press, so never got a chance to see if that would work.

Dumbbell Bench Press

I have been doing this in preference to barbell press for a while now. I find that allowing my wrists and arms to find their own preferred planes of motion has eliminated various overuse injuries I used to get with barbell work.

I just had to use this video of Ronnie Coleman to illustrate this exercise. Needless to say I usually use a little less weight!

One-Arm Dumbbell Bench Press

I use this when I have no one to pass me the dumbbell and I want to use a weight which is too heavy for me to get into position on my own - I just use both hands to get the weight up, then switch to one hand for the reps.

... Read more

Upper Body Alternating Sprints

15 Press Ups
50 yard sprint
20 Seated Knee Raises
50 yard sprint
20 Bent Over Row (with dumbbells)
50 yard sprint
20 Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press
50 yard sprint
20 Dumbbell Hammer Curls
50 yard sprint

I created this circuit because I wanted to do sprint intervals, but also wanted a way to simultaneously challenge my cardiovascular fitness. I find that my legs become fatigued before my cardiovascular system has been really pushed if I focus solely on sprinting.

I pick a single set of light dumbbells - usually 6kg - and use it for all the upper body movements. At this weight, it is fine to do the bent over rows with dumbbells, I find. I like to do all the exercises and the sprinting at maximum effort - as if each one were a tabata interval. The idea is to combine a variety of movements into a sequence of intense but brief efforts, punctuated by pauses as you move into place for the next exercise or sprint. One round usually takes me 2 - 3 minutes. ... Read more

300 Single-Round Upper Body Finisher

50 Press ups
50 Inverted rows
50 Seated knee raises
50 Upright rows
50 Shoulder press
50 Bicep curls

I came up with this as an upper body-only finisher when my knee was giving me problems. I tend to choose relatively light weights and go for speed. Even so, it's hard to feel as though your fitness is being taxed when there is no lower body work involved.

It borrows from the '300' workout insofar as you complete all reps of exercise consecutively rather than in multiple rounds. So this is a one-round circuit. You can make this as hard as you like by increasing the weight.

You can use dumbbells or a barbell for the last 3.

For the inverted rows, I prefer to use the smith machine. ... Read more

Shoulder Press

This can be done with dumbbells or a barbell, either seated or standing up. With a barbell, there is the question of whether to bring the bar to the front or the back of the neck. My experience has been that the behind-the-neck variation is awkward and can lead to injury especially if the bar brought all the way down to the traps.

The videos show a couple of the combinations.

When I was doing this exercise with heavy dumbbells, I found that if I allowed my upper arms to go below the horizontal position I developed injuries over time. People would tell me that I needed to get the full range of movement, but I am not convinced this is necessary.

These days I only do shoulder press with light weights as part of a circuit, usually standing up.

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Seated Front Barbell Shoulder Press

Even though it has a bit of a muscle-head emphasis, I picked this video because it shows the arms going no lower than the horizontal, which as I mention above, I think reduces the likelihood of injury.

With Sandbag

As seen in the first few seconds of this video. If you are just using the sandbag to press and not for the other exercises they go on to do, then a heavier bag would be needed. Mine is 28kg and I can manage no more than 15 good reps from fresh.


... Read more

Ab Rollouts

This is one of the toughest abs exercises I have ever done, but the good news is that although strict standing ab rollouts are tough, there are many variations that allow a progression. Here are some videos and links showing what you can do.

Standing Ab Rollout - videos (dumbbells and barbell)
From the Knees with Barbell - video
Standing Ab Rollout with Dropped Knees - video
Ross Enamait - homemade wheel and many rollout variations
Basketball Reverse Rollouts - video
Beast Skills - article - using a special ab wheel and some great tips on how to progress

Standing Ab Rollout Using dumbbells

Standing Ab Rollout Using Barbell

From the Knees with Barbell

Standing Rollout with Dropped Knees

Go to 2:00 in the video to see the exercise.

Ross Enamait's Video

Using his homemade wheels and showing just about every variation you can imagine.

Basketball Reverse Rollouts

These can be challenging - the difficulty in controlling the ball forces you to recruit a broader range of core muscles to execute the movement.


Standing Ab Rollout - videos (dumbbells and barbell)
From the Knees with Barbell - video
Standing Ab Rollout with Dropped Knees - video
Ross Enamait - homemade wheel and many rollout variations
Basketball Reverse Rollouts - video
Beast Skills - article - using a special ab wheel and some great tips on how to progress ... Read more

Clean and Press (or Jerk)

This is basically about getting an object above your head at arms length. It's basically a clean or power clean followed by pressing the weight above your head.

Whether or not you do a 'press' or a 'jerk' really depends on the extent to which you recruit your legs to give initial momentum to driving the weight above your head. It's a fine line. Just do what feels best for the weight you are using and let other people worry about semantics!

N.B. I am not including the snatch here - just pressing or jerking the weight above the head.

Barbell

Dumbbell

Sandbag

... Read more

Upright Row

Personally I favour cleans as a superior exercise - it hits similar muscles and is a more natural movement - but I do use upright row in circuits.

Barbell



Dumbbell - Alternating

I find alternating with dumbbells a much better way to get a good squeeze, and it feels more natural and less likely to injure. Getting a good rhythm going helps - this guy is doing it a bit slower than I do.




... Read more

Mixed Tabata Circuit Intervals

Press Ups
Bent Over Row
Seated Knee Raises
Burpees
Upright Row
Star Jumps
Standing Shoulder Press
Bicep Curls

You can use pairs of dumbbells, barbells or a mixture for this. Generally I pick two weights - one heavier weight for the bent-over row and a lighter one for the remaining exercises that need resistance.

Pick weights that are easy. Do not underestimate how hard this gets!

Use the Tabata protocol - i.e. 20 seconds for each exercise with 10 seconds rest between each. Do each exercise at close to maximum effort - this is why you should choose light weights. This is about muscular conditioning and fitness, not strength or hypertrophy training.

At the end of the round, take 1 minute rest. Then do another round. Repeat until the desired level of effort has been expended!

If you can do 3 of these, you are fit (in my view.) ... Read more