One Heck of a Workout! Full Body Strength and Conditioning

Hi everyone,

Sorry that I have been behind in posting my workouts, but I am back today with a killer to kick 2012 off with a BANG!

My goal for 2012 is to get Gillian (Gryer) to sweat more than +1 😉 hehe! I know it’s winter over there, but I reckon this one will break the sweat barrier – because I was utterly drenched by the end of this.  It challenged my strength, stability, co-ordination, endurance and my skill – so it was a great test to overall fitness.

If you are unable to attend a gym for heavier Squats and Deadlifts, then a great way to add more of a strength challenge is to perform single leg variations of these exercises.  For most people the Pistol is a real challenge due to flexibility issues, so standing on a platform (a step or chair) reduces the amount of flexibility and difficulty level – because you can allow your “free” leg to remain bent. Often people lack the hamstring and lower back flexibility to hold that leg out straight.

What I have discovered is that it is not necessary to go much below parallel for the Single-Leg Squat to be effective. You will see even by aiming to reach parallel your Quad strength, balance and control will improve drastically. Even body weight alone will proving most people with a great resistance challenge; so I suggest starting with a gradually increasing range of movement to help your flexibility levels (and stability) build up.

Combining these single leg exercises with your standard Squats and Deadlifts will also help iron out any imbalances that could be hindering your bilateral movements.

Ages ago, when I used to do Pistols, I found my knees were sore and my SI Joint Pain worsened. I realise now that I was going beyond what I should be doing with my Chronic SI Joint problems.  So now I stick to the single leg squat as shown. And I can tell you, that this was enough to give me DOMS for 2 days!

The Workout

There are two sections to this workout.

Section 1

The first is a mixture of single leg exercises and longer duration cardio-based exercises. The single leg exercises have a set rep range and the cardio exercises are set times.  The goal is to complete 3 rounds. You don’t have to add weight to the squat, but I have because I feel I am proficient enough at them to at least try.

1. Single-Leg Squat (Right then Left) x 3 – 8 reps (8, 6, 5) – First round was BW only, then I added 6kg)
2. Side to Side Step Ups x 1 min (62, 60, 55) – Last round I added 6kg
3. Single-Leg Hip Thrusts (Right then Left) x 8 – 12 reps (12, 12, 12) – REMEMBER to perform the appropriate variation of this for your current level. See “The Glute Journey” Progression Tutorial for more info.
4. Two-Handed Kettlebell Swing x 1 min (20kg) (36, 35, 35) – eek!

Section 2

This is when the sweat beads really started to fall! It may not look it, but this is really tough. Or, perhaps I had a few too many days off!! As I said in the video, I put extra effort in too, because SOMEONE told me I had a pot-belly!! lol

Anyway, set your Gymboss Interval Timer for 18 cycles of 15 seconds rest and 45 seconds effort. Perform 3 rounds of the following 6 Kettlebell Exercises. If you are not yet able to recover enough in 15 seconds, then increase that interval to 20, or even 30 seconds. The main thing is that you have recovered enough to keep going through the effort interval. My reps per exercise and weights used are in brackets below.

1. Double KB Suitcase Deadlift “Burpee” (2x20kg) (11, 11, 10.5)
2. Kettlebell Clean and Press (right) (16kg) (6, 7, 6.5)
3. KB C&P (left) (16kg) (6, 6, 5.5)
4. Renegade Row (2x16kg) (17, 16, 14)
5. Evil Stand-Kneel-Stand (right) (16kg) (14, 15, 14)
6. S-K-S (left) (16kg) (14, 15, 13)

Oh I died at during this for some reason!

So, for those of you who only have one KB or feel this is too advanced – DON’T PANIC!

• Instead of double Suitcase DL, you can put the KB between your feet and do a single KB Deadlift and still be able to add the “burpee” part if you want/can.
• For the Clean and Presses – you can either do Clean and Push Press, just Presses (or Push Presses) or even just Cleans. Combining the two can be a little tricky, so just take your time and focus on good form for now.  If you want to get more out of the workout (in a conditioning sense and feel the C&P will slow you down), then practice the C&P later and for now replace it with an exercise you are happier with 🙂
• Split the Renegade Row interval into 2 and perform Single Rows, right and left. In other words this would mean the workout will be 3 rounds of 7 exercises. So 21 cycles of the 15/45 intervals.
• Remember that Stand-Kneel-Stands can be done with Body Weight alone – so if the weighted version is too hard, then drop the weight (not on the floor though 😉 ).

Hope this helps!

Have fun and let me know if you sweated a much as me 😀

Cheers

Marianne