Another FW4FL workout from Josh, plus a couple more takes on the "300" workout

(FW4FL= Fighter Workout For Fat Loss, in case it's not obvious)

The five movements are: pullups (assisted if necessary), burpees, pushups, burpees, and dumbbell swings. Again, you're supposed to do each for a minute, rest 3 minutes, then repeat for a total of three rounds. I may give this a shot later today before I teach my spin class, or I may not.

As I mentioned yesterday, I like it that these workouts are short and don't require a lot of equipment. Obviously that's great for home workouts, and even in the gym setting I can't always count on equipment being available when I need it, which is key when you're doing any kind of metabolic work.

Josh doesn't really explain how to make these workouts progressive. Maybe he doesn't think progressive overload is necessary to achieve hotness or perhaps he just doesn't know how to spell "progressive." But if you were so inclined, you could do something along the lines of:

Week One--3 rounds, rest 3 minutes between rounds
Week Two-3 rounds, rest 2 minutes between rounds
Week Three-4 rounds, rest 2 minutes between rounds
Week Four--4 rounds, rest 1 minute between rounds
Week Five-5 rounds, rest 1 minute between rounds.

Okay, I lied a little bit. Josh does mention harder and easier variations of many of the exercises, so you could always substitute a harder variation as your strength builds. Still, I think for fat loss it's more effective to add volume/density than to change your exercise selection too frequently.

Now, for Josh's version of the "300" workout, which he created for one of his "hot" clients:

25x Pull-ups @ 50lbs assistance
50x Deadlift @ 70lbs
50x Push-ups
50x Box Jump @ 12” box
50x Sit-ups
50x Dumbbell Clean and Press @ 20lbs (DB must touch floor between reps)
25x Pull-ups @ 50lbs assistance

She did it in 38 minutes. Very respectable, but I bet Wendy could do it in half that time.

And just for grins, here's Boyfriend Craig's Bodyweight "500" Workout, which looks truly appalling:

50 Prisoner Squats
50 Pushups
25 Jumps
25 Stability Ball Leg Curls
50 Stability Ball Jackknifes
50 Step-ups (25 reps per side)
25 Pull-ups (NO substitutions)
50 Forward Lunges (25 reps per side)
50 Close-grip Pushups
50 Inverted Rows
50 Squats
25 Chin-ups (NO substitutions)

I would like to give this a shot, but I already know that I don't have the strength in my pulling muscles to be able to do 25 unassisted pullups in less than, say, an hour. And that's on a strong day. So I'm afraid I will be making substitutions--nothing drastic, but until I get stronger I'll be doing band-assisted pullups and chins. Sorry, Craig!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, here's the original "300" workout:

Pullups - 25
Deadlifts with 135lbs - 50
Pushups - 50
24-inch Box jumps - 50
Floor wipers - 50
1-arm 36lbs Kettlebell Clean n Press - 50
Pullups - 25

I think the floor wipers are meant to be done with a barbell loaded at 135 lbs. Bear in mind that this workout was created as a fitness test for a male actor, the star of the film "300", who probably weighs more like 175-180. If you were to want to try this yourself. you'd want to adjust the poundages based on your own bodyweight to make it a fair test. I weigh about 115, and I'd probably use 80 lbs for the deadlifts, 20 lbs for the clean and press, and for the floor
wipers who the hell knows? I think they're sort of a stupid exercise. I have a client who used to do them with a bar loaded at 250 ... but then when I gave him some lousy little extended-leg reverse crunches he could barely manage 12 without dying! Floor wipers, apparently, don't do a thing to strengthen the transverse abdominis. So what's the point, really, other than to impress people with the fact that you can flail your legs from side to side while holding a massive barbell suspended over your chest?

I don't know. What do you all think?