Same rationale as for the Compressed Volume Upper Body Focus except focusing on different exercises. In this case:
Deadlift (I tend to do Romanian)
Pull Ups - can be weighted
Ab Exercise - a taxing, low-rep one like ab rollouts
For these exercises I prefer to go with lower reps - usually 5 - and go for 5 rounds. No official rest - you just cycle through the exercises and rounds taking only the rest you need to move between stations and stay alive ;-)
The same caveats apply as for the Compressed Volume Upper Body Focus. You can get a lot of work done in a short space of time, but it hurts and it's important to select weights that are not overambitious. You don't want to have to change weights mid round or fail.
Yes, your muscles get to rest when you are doing a different exercise, but something like deadlift really hits the whole body and suddenly those pull ups become very hard in round number 5! I also discovered recently that basketball rollouts do in fact work your lats.
... Read more
Saturday, 16 May 2009
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
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
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Chest, Shoulders, Chin-Ups & Novel Squat Finisher
Location: Woodcock Sports Centre, Aston University
Quick Starter:Swing-Assisted, Uneven Muscle Up - 2 failures (when will I get this right?!)
Main Event:
2 Raise-assisted handstand push ups - 3 x 20kg plates under head
10 Shoulder Press (seated with dumbbells) - @18kg
1 Raise-assisted handstand push up - 3 x 20kg plates under head
10 Shoulder Press (seated with dumbbells) - @18kg
1 Raise-assisted handstand push up - 3 x 20kg plates under head
10 Shoulder Press (seated with dumbbells) - @18kg
5 x 5 Dumbbell Bench Press 4 sets@30kg, 1 set@28kg
5 x 5 Weighted Chin Ups 4 sets@15kg, 1 set@12.5kg
Finisher: 300 Single-round upper body finisher
Bonus Finisher: Barbell Plate Partial Squats - 60 @20kg plates.
Total time: 30 minutes
Post Workout Nutrition: none - fasted until dinner.
The tendon/ligament that popped across my kneecap a few times earlier in the year did it’s thing again last night, much to my irritation. It happened as I was retrieving something from under the table – not exactly a warrior’s injury.
So that’s why today’s workout was both savage and leg-shy. Savage because I wanted to vent my frustration at the injury – but also because I like to feel as though my workouts emulate the kind of urgency a hunter would have felt when called upon to fight, flee or hunt for his life. If you can’t use your legs, this is quite hard.
So I hit a bunch of upper body exercises, mainly 5 x 5 style (which of course my training partner approved of) then came up with an upper body only version of the '300' workout to finish.
This finisher was like the '300' workout because you are required to complete all reps of each exercise in one go rather than circuit style, sometimes necessitating a rest mid-exercise, although there is no 'official' rest time.
By the end I certainly had muscle fatigue and was out of breath – but I did not have that slightly violated feeling that you can only get with lower body involvement.
Given that the knee is okay unless bent too far, I spontaneously added 60 reps of barbell plate partial squats – essentially partial squats whilst holding barbell weights. I haven’t seen that done before, so I took a video.
This exercise only works with Olympic plates with in-line handles - but it seemed like a good way to limit the knee bend without guessing as you must with dumbbells; and the centre of gravity felt somehow better, too. I would recommend this as a finisher – you can probably do them faster to add intensity. I will probably try the 25kg plates next time and go for 50 fast reps. ... Read more
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
5-Minute High Intensity Top-Up
Location: My Apartment Block
30 press ups (slow and controlled)
2 pistols on each leg
3 dumbbell squats @45kg per dumbbell
3 Romanian deadlift (with dumbbells) @45kg per dumbbell
12 sandbag shoulder presses @28kg
20 under-table inverted rows
Total time: 5 minutes; 10-15 seconds between exercises.
Post-workout nutrition: none - I was fasting until dinner yesterday, which was 4 hours after this workout.
Okay, I said I would rest for a week - I lied. I just got antsy and figured a quick high intensity, random bunch of exercises might make me feel better, which it did. Did I warm up? No. Should I have done? Yes. But I did, at least, select an exercise to start which was low resistance and low impact, so by the time I got into the riskier stuff there was plenty of blood flow around the body. ... Read more
30 press ups (slow and controlled)
2 pistols on each leg
3 dumbbell squats @45kg per dumbbell
3 Romanian deadlift (with dumbbells) @45kg per dumbbell
12 sandbag shoulder presses @28kg
20 under-table inverted rows
Total time: 5 minutes; 10-15 seconds between exercises.
Post-workout nutrition: none - I was fasting until dinner yesterday, which was 4 hours after this workout.
Okay, I said I would rest for a week - I lied. I just got antsy and figured a quick high intensity, random bunch of exercises might make me feel better, which it did. Did I warm up? No. Should I have done? Yes. But I did, at least, select an exercise to start which was low resistance and low impact, so by the time I got into the riskier stuff there was plenty of blood flow around the body. ... Read more
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Bodyweight, Traditional and Tabata Combo
Location: Woodcock Sports Centre, Aston University
Quick Starter:Swing-Assisted, Uneven Muscle Up - 1 success!
Raise-assisted handstand push ups - 1 rep with 2 x 20kg plates under head.
Tuck Front Lever - 30 seconds, back as straight as I could get it.
Frog stand - 30 seconds, arms pretty straight.
Main Event:
Dumbell Bench Press 5 x 5 @30kg (help on last set)
Weighted Chin Ups 5 x 5 @15kg (12.5 kg on last)
Basketball Rollouts (3 x 7)
Finisher: Mixed Tabata Intervals - using dumbbells, 2 rounds. Some light stretching.
Total time: 40 minutes
Post Workout Nutrition: this, an hour later
This is a bit more than I normally do in a session and at the outer limits of the time I like to spend training. My training partner has returned from his travels and, as ever, wanted to do a more traditional workout. So it was back to the 5x5 routine with 45 seconds rest between sets. I do enjoy this, so was happy to oblige.
But I could not resist throwing in some bodyweight stuff while he warmed up and - to punish him for his absence - I insisted we do a deuce of tabata mixed circuits, which is pretty tough after any workout. He omitted the burpees and star jumps due to a sore knee and was still pretty zonked by the end.
I am now going to rest for a week. Yes, I said a week. Let's see how that works out. ... Read more
Monday, 4 May 2009
Transitioning to a Paleo Diet - Guest Post on 'Straight to the Bar'
Details and a link to the article are posted over on Pay Now Liver Later...
... Read more
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Compressed Volume Lower Body Circuit with Urban Finisher
Location: Woodcock Sports Centre, Aston University and the streets of Birmingham, UK
5 Pistols each side
5 Pull Ups
5 Romanian Deadlift* (110kg first set, then 100kg for rest)
5 Hanging Leg Raise
I did this circuit 5 times.
Finisher: 15-minute Fartlek on the way home, impromptu 'kill-carry' (see Natural Messiah's list of Paleo exercises) and 10 rock cleans.
Total time: 35 minutes
Post-workout meal: none - fasting until dinner.
After the savagery of the compressed volume upper body workout on Wednesday, I took three days off. I really wanted to workout yesterday, but I am continuing to explore the less is more approach. Whereas in recent weeks I was doing three sessions per week but keeping down the number of sets, I am now playing with the idea of cramming lots of sets into a shorter time but taking longer to recover - so this was only my second workout in 7 days.
I should now take at least two days rest because that workout was tough. There was 30 seconds at most between sets and I completed the 5 rounds in 15 minutes. By the last set I was willing it to be over.
The finisher was great. I did a couple of 10 second sprints on the first half of the route home (the places you can see in this post). When not sprinting I did a kind of flat-footed scuttle - not running but not walking. I guess I was trying to emulate how a hunter would track an animal. I also threw in a sustained 2-minute slog, which hurt and which I terminated when my post-pistol legs started to complain.
Finally, 500 yards from home, I found a large piece of paving stone which I picked up and carried on my shoulders the rest of the way. A dead animal? Before hurling it into an alley, I pressed it above my head 10 times. I regretted the final hurl, as it broke into several pieces and can no longer be used on future outings!
* I have realised that I do not do stiff-legged deadlift. I do Romanian Deadlift. I have ammended the deadlift page to reflect the distinction better. ... Read more
5 Pistols each side
5 Pull Ups
5 Romanian Deadlift* (110kg first set, then 100kg for rest)
5 Hanging Leg Raise
I did this circuit 5 times.
Finisher: 15-minute Fartlek on the way home, impromptu 'kill-carry' (see Natural Messiah's list of Paleo exercises) and 10 rock cleans.
Total time: 35 minutes
Post-workout meal: none - fasting until dinner.
After the savagery of the compressed volume upper body workout on Wednesday, I took three days off. I really wanted to workout yesterday, but I am continuing to explore the less is more approach. Whereas in recent weeks I was doing three sessions per week but keeping down the number of sets, I am now playing with the idea of cramming lots of sets into a shorter time but taking longer to recover - so this was only my second workout in 7 days.
I should now take at least two days rest because that workout was tough. There was 30 seconds at most between sets and I completed the 5 rounds in 15 minutes. By the last set I was willing it to be over.
The finisher was great. I did a couple of 10 second sprints on the first half of the route home (the places you can see in this post). When not sprinting I did a kind of flat-footed scuttle - not running but not walking. I guess I was trying to emulate how a hunter would track an animal. I also threw in a sustained 2-minute slog, which hurt and which I terminated when my post-pistol legs started to complain.
Finally, 500 yards from home, I found a large piece of paving stone which I picked up and carried on my shoulders the rest of the way. A dead animal? Before hurling it into an alley, I pressed it above my head 10 times. I regretted the final hurl, as it broke into several pieces and can no longer be used on future outings!
* I have realised that I do not do stiff-legged deadlift. I do Romanian Deadlift. I have ammended the deadlift page to reflect the distinction better. ... Read more
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