Hi all,
Today’s workout is a little bit of everything, strength, cardio, plyometrics, Kettlebells and body weight all rolled into one workout. I love this type of training as it gives me both a challenge and a buzz (even after 3 nights) 🙂 I must be mad, but it’s the only chance I’ll get this weekend to film.
My studio is becoming the dumping ground for all our packing for the move, so had to rearrange a few things prior to this workout – which practically counted towards my warm up!
The Workout
For this workout I have set the reps per exercise and timed the workout to a suitable duration with the stop watch on my Gymboss Interval Timer . You can time it to your time availability and concentrate always on quality reps. As usual the first exercise is the most complex using the most muscle groups, but I set low reps as I wanted to use a heavier weights thus making this the strength exercise. As an advanced exercise I have included the plyometric/clapping push up. If you cannot perform this exercise from your feet, then you can reduce the difficulty by performing it from your knees instead. But even give one rep a try from your feet (keeping your core tight and hips in line with your spine – no pikes guys 😉 ). The other exercises are straight forward enough, giving you a good balance between the anterior and posterior sides of the body, in combination with upper and lower body exercises too. This all equals a full body bootcamp and more calories burned.
I am very chatty this morning for some reason, maybe because I have a few days off AT LAST 😀
Now for the exercises:
- Double KB Clean and Press into Front Squat x 6 reps
- Two Sumo Squat Jump into Evil Burpee x 12 reps
- Double KB Bent Over Row x 12 reps
- Clapping Push Ups x 6 reps
- Two- Handed KB Swing x 24 reps
- Evil Jumps x 12 reps (sorry about this one guys LOL)
I managed 3 rounds in 25 minutes and 18 seconds.
This was a tough workout! I found it fun but challenging. Try and push through the pain 😉 this will bring you to the next level in you training. Don’t be put off by new challenges, embrace them. You can often surprise yourself at what you can achieve and if not, then you know where you need to improve.
I’m off now to have a nap before I get ready for a long overdue girls night out!! Will miss X-Factor, but I’ll survive 😉
Cheers
Marianne
Wow, you make me want to buy some heavier kettlebells. I currently have 2 x 20kg, 1 x 24kg, and 1 x 65lb (that one’s not a pro-grade bell). I really want to buy another 24 and a 32 sometime in the near future so I can go heavier and really push myself in shorter sets.
Highly recommend going heavier if you like a challenge! Thanks for the comment
Marianne
love the workouts (they are tough!) – what are plyometric exercises by the way and what’s the best way to perform them/incorporate them into workouts?
Hi Jim, Plymometric exercises are more explosive in nature, like jumps (squat jumps, lunge jumps, bench jumps), also clapping push ups and medicine ball slams. They are usually best included near the end of a sequence of exercises, as you need to be really well warmed up to prevent injuries like sprains etc. Plyometric exercises help you develop speed and reactiveness. Many athletes use this type of training along with strength training to enhance overall power. Giving yourself a chance at all round optimal performance and muscle balance is the type of training I want everyone to use as it will only benefit you in the long run.
You don’t need to go to over-kill on the plyo exercises just maybe one or two included in a workout per week will help towards your overall power and, also coordination 😀
Cheers for the question.
Marianne
I agree with you Marianne, I’ve been doing plyometrics and find it very effective with my goals on increasing my vertical jump. Just make sure you have enough knowledge about the workout to avoid injury or accidents.