Conditioning Week Day 2: Compressed Volume Circuit (and new exercise invented!)

Location: Roosevelt Hotel, New York

CORRECTION (2/4/09) - before the circuit, I did:
- Frog Stand - 60s
- Tuck Front Lever - 60s

Circuit: Compressed Volume Upper Body Circuit

How I did it on this occasion:

- Ab exercise selected was Hanging Leg Raise
- I was unable to do the Dumbbell Snatch - for the laughable reason why, see below! So instead I did Single-Arm Dumbbell Cleans

Finisher: Stair Jumps. The hotel has many floors. I jumped two at a time from floors 2 to 10 in 2 minutes 15 seconds, before stopping. My legs we fatiguing and I want to save them a little for pistols on Friday. Lungs were pretty hammered too, but on balance it was the legs that were suffering more.

Total time: 25 minutes.

Today I inadvertently invented a new exercise: the 'Dumbbell Snatch Roof Buster'. My first rep on the dumbbell snatch punched a hole in the roof of the gym! There can be no better illustration of a gym designed by someone who does not understand the equipment they are filling it with. I will update the review to reflect this howler. ... Read more

Conditioning Week Day 1 - Explosive Circuit

Location: Roosevelt Hotel, New York

I did the following set of exercises 5 times, with 30 seconds rest between each. There was no reset between exercises, except to move between stations:

Plyometric Push Ups with a Clap - 10
Pistols (alternate leg) - 2 on each leg
Parallel Grip Pull Ups - 8, explosively
The Plank - 30 seconds
Handstand Pushups (explosively, going down only as far as I can to make this possible, which is not very far!) - 7
Burpees - 10

Time: 20 minutes

While I was working out, I couldn't help observing a fellow gym-goer as he did his own workout. To describe it as laid back would not do justice to his approach. His mobile phone got more of a workout than he did. Maybe today was 'thumbs' day for him.

Having punished myself severely with this routine, I left Thumb Guy and a row of cardio-heads to it. They were there when I arrived and they were there when I left. ... Read more