Let’s Heat Things Up – Variety Workout

Hi everyone,

Last night I was asking Andrew what he thought of my workouts and exercises etc, and he said “they need more variety” :/! I actually thought the workouts I do are pretty varied, but I think he means the exercises I choose are very similar each time. Maybe this is the case, but I am not big into bells and whistles, so if a squat does the job, why change it? Obviously I didn’t appreciate this criticism at the time, but I have taken it on board in today’s workout.

This workout is a variety between Kettlebell resistance, kettlebell cardio, bodyweight cardio and strength. One thing that has been bugging me since the move is that my pull up bar does not fit the door frame here. So, looking out the back door, I noticed very handy wooden beams, which I used for pull ups and hanging knee raises today. The only down side to this was, the small amount of SNOW on the ground after last night’s freeze! So, with cold feet and hands, I want you all to see the lengths I go to in providing more variety for my home workouts LOL!!

The Workout

The set up for this workout is also slightly different than usual. Some exercises are set reps, others are timed, and the last set of exercises is Tabata interval style. So a mix of everything really.  As normal I have provided a “key” to describe the main focus or each exercise, whether it is cardio (c), resistance (r), strength (s), plyometric (p), stability (st) or a core activating exercise (cae).

If you have a Gymboss Interval Timer then set it for one manual interval of 45 seconds to re-use through the workout. Don’t worry about timing the other exercises, just have a rough idea in your mind of how long you want the entire workout to last, remembering to factor in the 4 minute Tabata at the end. I wanted this to last between 20-30 minutes today, as I have some more energy and determination after receiving some greatly appreciated support from you all over the last few days. My mood has picked up after catching up on sleep and recovery, so thanks everyone 🙂

The first section of this workout is the biggest mix of exercises. You will need a pull up device, preferably 2 kettlebells and a jump rope. If, btw you only have 1 kettlebell, remember you can easily spilt the double KB exercise in two and perform it on each side separately.  I did 3 rounds of these 7 exercises, using a mix of set reps and the timer :

1. Double KB Clean – Front Squat – Press – Renegade Row x 6 reps
2. Burpees x 45 seconds
3. Pull Ups x 3 reps
4. KB Windmill (right) x 6 reps
5. KB Windmill (left) x 6 reps
6. Skipping x 45 seconds
7. Hanging Knee/leg raises x 45 seconds

Then I took a short breather and reset my Gymboss Interval Timer for 8 cycles of 10 seconds rest followed by 20 seconds of max effort for the Tabata section. The exercises are a mix of KBs and Body Weight, focusing on cardio (obviously), but alternatively targeting the anterior and posterior chains of the body, using KB Swings (posterior) and Squat Jumps (anterior). I didn’t have time to record reps here, so just try and maintain max effort for this HIIT training.

The sequence for the Tabata is 4 rounds of the following:

1. Two-handed KB Swing
2. Squat Jumps

I hope this all makes sense 🙂

This was a tough workout today, as I am not use to the cold for a start, so I had to get really well warmed up first. It was fun doing pull ups again, but the wood was a little uncomfortable on the hands (hence the gloves).

For those who are interested, I used the my two 16kg kettlebells (yellow) and my 20kg (grey) for today’s workout. The first exercise was the most challenging as it was a combo of 4 other exercises.  Great drill, very challenging and rewarding once the 6 reps were over LOL.

As always, I encourage comments, suggestions and just general chit chat about this workout etc etc 😀 I hope it is warm and dry where ever you all may be.

Talk to you all soon.

Marianne