**Big EVIL laugh**
Hello all, Happy Halloween!
I’m not a huge Halloween fan (although I love an excuse to get dressed up) but I am a fan of designing evil workouts. So it’s up to you to decide if this one is a Trick or a Treat!
As I mentioned the other day I have been under the weather for the past week so have been focused on getting enough sleep, trying to eat well, and making it through my 3 night shifts (the last of which had an extra hour because our clocks went back on Saturday). However, on Saturday morning I was feeling quite good so I took myself to the gym to do some deadlifts (because I have neglected these for ages). I was doing my usual set-up and feeling great about my form when I looked over to the wall to see THIS POSTER:
Now I have already ranted about this on Facebook, but can you believe that a Gym would display such sexism and stereotype! It may be funny to some people (some men), but I find it highly offensive, and have emailed the manager to have it removed.  Given that there are rarely any other women in the Strength and Conditioning room – it is any wonder they don’t believe in lifting weights. After all, the message is “Men, put your weights back because women are too weak to ever lift 50kg off the ground”!!  The huge irony is that the rage (of sorts) produced by seeing this picture helped me pull a PR on my Sumo Deadlift of 117.5kg!!! Maybe someone who knows I’ve been struggling to increase my DL numbers was behind this ! 😉 It will be interesting to see if it has gone the next time I go there.
In the face of doubt and ridicule from others you have only your own belief and inner strength to overcome the challenges that come your way. Â Never let the expectations from others manifest as reality for you!
The Workout
A firm favorite of mine I have set up 4 triplets. The triplets contain a mix of Kettlebell and body weight exercises, and a mixture of set reps and set times.  Then to finish there’s a nice Tabata to look forward to 😉 hehe!
Perform 3 rounds of each triplet. Set your Gymboss Interval Timer for one interval of 1 min to count down during the “set time” exercises. My weights used and reps are in brackets.
Triplet 1
- Kettlebell Single-Leg RDL (right) x 8 – 15 reps (2x16kg, 2x20kg, 2x20kg) (12, 10, 8)
- KB Single-Leg RDL (left) x 8 – 15 reps (same weights as above) (reps the same)
- Side to Side Step Ups x 1 min (65, 63, 58)
Triplet 2
- KB Single-arm Row (right) x 8 – 15 reps (20kg) (12, 10,8)
- KB Single-arm Row (left) x 8 – 15 reps (same numbers as above)
- Burpees x 1 min (17, 15, 14)
Triplet 3
- Single-Leg Hip Thrust (right) x 12 – 15 reps (15, 15, 15)
- Single-Leg Hip Thrust (left) x 12 – 15 reps (same)
- Dynamic Squats x 1 min (41, 39, 36)
Triplet 4
- KB Front Squat (right) x 8 – 15 reps (20kg) (14, 10,8)
- KB Front Squat (left) x 8 – 15 reps (20kg) ( 13, 11,8)
- Two-Handed KB Swing x 1 min (20kg) (36, 35, 35)
Tabata
Reset your Gymboss Interval Timer for 8 cycles of 10 seconds rest and 20 seconds MAX effort. Perform 4 rounds of the following 2 exercises:
- Jump Rope
- Bench Jump Overs
That’s it!
I found the workout very challenging, especially the RDLs because they require so much balance and focus on tight form. Mine are far from perfect, but I am trying to improve. For those of you who never get a chance to perform Barbell Deadlifts, the KB Single-leg variation is a great alternative. However it’s important to master the BodyWeight version first. Here is a great tutorial by Bret Contreras on the Single-Leg RDL that will help you learn the basics before adding weight.
Hope you all enjoy this workout 🙂 Feedback is welcome below!
Cheers
Marianne