Hey everyone,
Today I decided it might be fun to try something new. I thought that instead of just doing my usual home workout I would show you all how transferable my workouts are between the Kettlebell and the Barbell. I love both pieces of equipment, the Kettlebell feels so free and fluid were as the Barbell just makes me feel totally badass!
As you all know, strength training is a big part of what I do, or at least trying to improve my performance in what I love doing. Then I talk about what I do and showcase some great workouts here. A lot of you have asked me to show what I do in the gym, which I will do some day (although I think most of you can guess from the snippets I have shown). But I am interested to know what else you would like me to show with regards to my training? I asked you about a month ago to suggest some ideas for posts (which I haven’t forgotten), but I always like to try and use my videos to help you get an idea or inspiration to either training smarter, train heavier or just kick your own butt. So let me know if today’s type of video with a mix of body weight, KBs and BB work is something you would find useful.
I have the facility now to knock out a few videos to show just how much variety and fun you can create with just a few “basic” exercises. My friend Sam (Performance Physio) very kindly let me use his studio for today’s workout and he has said I can use it whenever. So what do you all think?
During the workout, I totally messed up my videoing and I missed some footage. So the edited video does not fully represent what I actually did. I have just shown one round of each section plus the Tabata at the end.
Now for my sob story. Lately I have been having more back and SI pain and I am not exactly sure why. Again I am hoping and praying it is not my Arthritis flaring up! Even if I can’t go as heavy or if it hurts a bit to do some exercises, I need to train through it otherwise the pain will get worse. For me, when I stop it gets worse! I know there are a lot of you who have to overcome daily pain, so I hope you have all found your own coping mechanisms that still allow you to feel active and healthy.
The Workout
Today’s focus was on strong form, conditioning and fun! For some of the exercises I kept the weight the same were as I increased the weight in others. I want to get stronger, but I want my form to get stronger first. Keeping the weight moderate and the reps higher allowed me to get a great workout in and prevent my pain from stopping me.
Section 1
I completed 3 rounds of the following couplet:
- Conventional Deadlift (60kg) x 12 reps, 12 reps, 10 reps
- Lunge Jumps x 45 seconds (40, 37, 35)
- One set of Chin Ups to failure. Only managed 6 🙁 NOTE: My intention was to do pull ups in between each section, but after the first set and the rows, my pulling power was beat !!
Section 2
I completed 3 rounds of the following 3 exercises:
- Elevated Close Grip Push Ups x 10, 10, 10
- Barbell Bent Over Row (27.5kg, then 40kg for last 2 rounds) x 10 reps, 5 reps, 4 reps
- Medicine Ball Slams (with 5kg Med ball – ideally I would want a heavier med ball of 8kg) x 20 reps each round (tough!)
- Wanted to do more chin ups here, but lost it with my biceps and grip!
Section 3
Again, I did 3 rounds of the following:
- Barbell Military Press (27.5kg) x 8, 8, 6
- Front-Loaded Reverse Lunges (left) (started at 27.5kg x 12 reps) then (40kg x 8 reps) then (50kg x 4 reps)
- Front-Loaded Reverse Lunges (right) (same as left)
Section 4 – Tabata
Set your Gymboss Interval Timer for 8 cycles of 10 seconds rest and 20 seconds MAX effort and complete 4 rounds of the following 2 exercises:
- Two-Handed KB Swing (20kg)
- Burpees +/- push ups
What a great challenge this workout was. It took about an hour to complete and it covered every inch on my body. I felt great after! For this being my first workout like this, I am sure the next one will be even better. Please remember that you can do all of these exercises with Kettlebells, so you do not need to feel left out.
Also remember that for safety reasons it is best to have someone show you how to perform barbell exercises if you are not experienced with setting one up and using the different lifting techniques.
Hope you all enjoy the workout and will leave your feedback here 🙂
Cheers
Marianne