Hi everyone,
After being out Christmas shopping in the FREEZING weather here, I felt bad about not having a new workout done today, so I did this one last night. I’m not used to doing my workouts so late, so it was really hard to get motivated for this one but, as it turned out, I had a lot of fun and a great challenge.
Time is tight today, so I’ll get right down to it. The first section is Strength Based and is all Kettlebells, there are 2 rounds of 8 exercises, which have set reps. For this section, because it is strength based, the reps are lower. I set the reps because it’s generally a good idea to have a longer recovery between exercises and sets when training for strength (at least 1 minute). If, however, the only weights you have available are medium or are too light to train for strength then at the bottom of the page I have written ways to adapt it for resistance (toning) instead. For this section I just timed it out of interest.
The second section is all cardio, and mostly body weight. You will need some sort of stable step or platform to do one of the exercises. If you don’t have one, you can substitute with either reverse lunge kick ups (first round right, second round left), or jumping jacks, anything that will raise the heart rate high. The set up is 2 rounds of 4 exercises. Set your Gymboss Interval Timer for 8 cycles of 30 seconds recovery (remember this benefits your effort period), and 1 minute consistent effort. Please note, you are aiming to be able to work continuously for the minute effort, reaching failure as near to the beep as you can. This means it’s generally a good idea to have a longer recovery. This lets the heart rate have a chance to recover and the energy system to recharge. If you can recover quicker, play around with the times. I felt 30 seconds was a good amount for me.
The exercises and reps for the first section are:
- Double Kettlebell Clean into Double Front Squat (or split it half left and right, if you have 1 KB) x 6 reps (2 x 16kg)
- Double KB Push Press (or split) x 6 reps (using 2x 16kg)
- Bent Over KB Row (round 1 I used 2 x 16kg, round 2 I used 1 x 20kg and alternated the rows) x 12 reps total
- KB Sumo Deadlift x 12 reps (using 2 x 24kg)
- Reverse Passing Lunge (right) x 12 reps (using 20kg)
- Reverse Passing Lunge (left) x 12 reps (20kg)
- KB Kneeling Press (right) x 6 reps (16kg)
- KB Kneeling Press (left) x 6 reps (16kg)
My time for this section was 24 min 33 secs. Tough section. Next the cardio section, and my reps per exercise:
- Mountain Climbers (100,88)
- Side to Side Step-Ups (58,50)
- Two-Handed KB Swings (38,35)
- 2 Sumo Jump Burpee with Push Up (14,11) (very tough)
Right, for those who don’t have a heavy enough KB to make it a strength workout then either, change it to an interval-based section with 15 seconds rest and 45 seconds effort and aim for max reps (maintaining form), increase the reps for all exercises to 15 – 20 and remove the clean from the first exercise, making it front squats only. Alternatively, set the reps for between 10 – 15 and perform each rep slowly (3 or 4 count up and down), this will make the weight feel heavier.
I hope you all find this workout as tough and challenging as I did, you will love the cardio section! Soon I will be posting tutorials on the Military Press and Push Press, to help you with these exercises. I am also working on my version of the Kettlebell Bear and Tutorial. Busy busy busy!!
Can’t guarantee a new workout until after Christmas (as I’m working from tonight until Christmas morning), but the tutorial will be up over the coming days (as I have filmed them already).
The Christmas Message will be up soon too, so watch out for that.
Cheers for now everyone.
Marianne
