Suspended burpees

http://community.fitnessanywhere.com/blogs/fraser_quelch/archive/2009/01/30/the-suspended-burpee.aspx

Dang!

So you know I had to give these a try, right?

Here's how I worked them in:

superset: sumo deads, 5x115, 5x120, 5x125, 5x130, 5x135; TRX assisted pistols, 5x5 per leg

superset: KB sumo deads, 2x8x14 kg, 3x8x22 kg; jump squats, 5x8x40 lbs

tri-set: h-string curls, 4x8x50; leg extensions, 4x8x70; suspended burpees, 4x12 (6 per leg)

The suspended burpees were actually really interesting. They felt more like a core exercise than a leg exercise, although adding the jump at the end definitely increased the workload on the legs. And they definitely got the heart rate up! I think they'd be a fun addition to a "get metabolic" workout :)

RKC Rite of Passage Friday

This workout is meant to be a preparation for the RKC Rite of Passage, whatever that entails. Here's what I did:

Circuit 3x:

1 clean & press per arm, 14 kg kb
1 pullup
2 c&p per arm, 14 kg kb
2 pullups
3c&p per arm
3 pullups
rest 1-2 min

25 swings, rest 10 sec., repeat until 6 minutes is up

That took a little less than 20 minutes, so I decided to do rounds 2-6 of AOS Providence, 2x:

2 min cleans, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ladder 2x using a 12 kg kb the first time through and a 10 kg bell the second time through
2 min chest press, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ladder 2x using a 12 kg kb the first time through and a 10 kg bell the second time through
2 min. squats/sumo deads, 12 kg the first time through and 10 kg the second time through
2 min 1 leg deadlifts, 12 kg
2 min windmill into overhead squat, 8 kg

I think tomorrow I'm going to take a break from the kettlebells and do a functional/fitness chick type of a workout. I've also got a new Shiva Rea yoga DVD that I should try out.

Snatchtastic Thursday

As you can see, I've been deviating from my workout plan quite a bit this week. Partly this is because I've had a lot of schedule disruptions, and partly it's because I'm realizing I really don't enjoy slower-paced workouts, split routines, etc.

Yesterday, for instance, I only had about a half an hour window in which to get in a workout. So, I did the AOX 1200 routine, the one with all the snatches. Because I was short on time I only went through the routine once, but I felt as though I could've done more, which made me happy. And today my shoulders feel fine, which makes me VERY happy.

Anyway, I'm realizing that in order to be consistent with my workouts I really need routines I can complete in well under an hour, even if that means working out twice a day in order to achieve my goals. Finding a half hour here and a half hour there is generally no problem; it's finding a block of 60-90 minutes that's difficult most days. And the Thibaudeau workouts really can't be completed in less time than that.

I'm sort of thinking out loud here. If you can call it thinking.

2 pullups 10 pushups 20 swings

How many rounds can you do in 20 minutes?

Edited to add: I got 13 rounds in 20 minutes. I'm not actually weird about the number 13 or anything, but I had it in my head that I wanted to do 15 rounds, (30 pullups, 150 pushups, 300 swings total), so I went a couple minutes longer. The pullups got pretty hard toward the end, but I should've picked a harder pushup variation.

Kettlebell fun

Round 1:

3o sec. sumo deads
30 sec 1 arm swings (right arm)
30 sec 1 arm swings (left arm)
30 sec. hot potato
30 sec rest

Repeat a total of 3x

Round 2:

30 sec. Russian twists
30 sec. getup situps (right arm)
30 sec. getup situps (left arm)
30 sec. super planks
30 sec rest

Repeat a total of 3x

Round 3:
30 sec. squat to press, right arm
30 sec. squat to press, left arm
30 sec. figure 8 to hold
30 sec hand to hand sumo deads
30 sec. rest.

Repeat a total of 3x

Round 4:
30 sec. Russian twist (unweighted)
1 min Sicilian crunches
30 sec. rest

Repeat a total of 3x

I used 12 kg for rounds 1 and 3 and 8 kg for rounds 2 and 4. The whole workout took about half an hour, and I felt it was a nice complement to the other workouts I've been doing since it was very core focused.

I'm feeling a bit ill today, though it's entirely my own fault. Dinner last night consisted of 3 glasses of champagne and a couple of crackers dabbed with creme fraiche and caviar.

Upper body

I did a little playing around with the timing and sequencing of exercises, hopefully without doing too much violence to Thibaudeau's basic concept of including heavy weights, high acceleration, and lactate-threshhold work all in one training session. Here's what it looked like:

Alternating sets: pullups, 6x4xBW, rest 30 sec.; BB flat bench press, 1x6x75, 1x6x80, 1x5x85, 1x5x90, 1x5x95, rest 60 sec.

superset: KB clean and press 1, 2, 3 ladder (so, a total of 6 reps per side per set), 5x14 kg; KB swings, 5x20x14 kg

circuit: 1-arm DB row, 3x10x30, no rest, high speed alt-arm pulling with tubing, 3x45 sec., rest 30 sec.; high decline pushups, 3x10xBW, no rest, high speed alt-arm punching with tubing, 3x45 sec., rest 60 sec.

In a perfect world I'd have followed up with 30 minutes of low intensity cardio, but my niece needed to come over to do laundry so that ended up not happening.

I'm really happy with how my shoulders and back are looking. I know conventional wisdom is that it's high volume that adds size, but for me I really feel like low reps with heavy weight are key.

Thing is, I really question how well this rotation--or any upper lower split with longish rests between sets and no HIIT--will work for fat loss. What I'm really expecting to see are gains in mass and strength, and no real change in my body fat. Which, actually, I am okay with right now, because I don't have any plans to perform in the near future and no plans for a beach vacation either until late March at the earliest. My weight's a little higher than I would like--maybe 115 or 116--but nothing I can't get rid of pretty fast when the time comes.

Lower body workout

It'll be interesting to see how long I stick with this rotation. The workouts are a little impractical in some ways, since realistically on days when I have to work out at the gym, I can't count on being able to keep my rest periods exact, or even to be able to do the exercises I'd intended. Today, for instance, I got lucky in that the squat rack was available when I needed it, and so were the leg extension and (mostly) the leg curl machines. But I won't always be so lucky.

Anyway, here's what it was:

superset: front squat, 6x4x95; RDL, 6x4x110, rest 90 sec.

superset: KB swings, 5x10x30, jump lunges, 5x6 per leg x 12 lb dbs, rest 60 sec.

triset: leg extensions, 3x10x70, 1x10x80; SB leg curls, 1x10 per leg, seated leg curls, 3x10x60; speed squats, 45 sec., rest 60 sec.

35 min low-intensity cardio. (10 min on treadmill, 12.5 min on elliptical, 12.5 min. on treadmill)