Bodyweight Sunday

circuit to warm up, then:

superset: reaching lunges (sort of like 1-leg squat touchdowns, only you reach away with the arms instead of coming straight down), 3x12 per leg; pullups with knee-ups, 3x8

superset: alligator crawls (like bear crawls, but with a pushup in between each rep), 3x10 per side; side plank leg raise, 3x10 per side

tri-set: inchworms, 3x8; x-body mountain climbers, 3x12 per side; stick-ups, 3x12

tabatas:

jump squats, 4x20 sec., paired with running pushups, 4x20 sec.
jump lunges, 4x20 sec., paired with pushup setups, 4x20 sec.
in and out static squat jumps, 4x20 sec., paired with prone jacks with knee-ins, 4x20 sec.

The alligator crawls are weirdly fun--try them!

Yesterday was a dead loss ...

the migraine I've been fighting since Wednesday kicked in bigtime and I ended up spending most of the day horizontal. Blech.

I'm still not feeling fantastic, but definitely better than I was, so managed to get in a workout of sorts:

superset: DB Bulgarian ss, 3x8x20; 1-leg SB curls, 3x12 per leg
superset: DB 1-arm row, 3x8 per arm x 35; pushups with arms on SB, 3x12
superset: DB deep stepups, 3x8 per leg x 20; DB rear delt raises, 3x12x10
circuit 3x: 12 waiters bows, 12 mountain climbers per side, pushups to complete fatigue (I got 30 the first time through the circuit and 25 the second two times), 12 SB jackknifes, 60 jumping jacks, plank with arms on SB, 30 sec.

I'm still feeling a little off ...

and wondering if I might be fighting off some sort of a low-grade something. So, I again opted for a "lighter" workout yesterday.

Bodyweight circuit to warm up, then:

superset: 1 leg squats, 3x8, grasshopper pushups, 3x10 per side (these are like spiderman pushups except that instead of bringing the knee to the elbow you bring the leg out to the side fully extended.)

tri-set: burpees, 3x10; t-pushups, 3x8 per side; side plank, 3x30 sec. per side

tri-set: 1 leg RDL, 3x12; chops, spiderman climb, 3x10 per side; x-body chops, 3x15 per side

intervals: 30 seconds of one exercise, 30 seconds of another, 30 seconds rest 8x. Exercises were mostly ripped off from RC's Get Metabolic workout.

The bodyweight-only chops were kind of interesting. I wasn't expecting to feel much of anything in my core, but what I found is that by clasping one hand over the other, and using the hand on the bottom to resist the downward motion of the hand on top, I actually got a deeper contraction than I generally do when using weight.

WWDD?

Deb, you were my workout inspiration today!

I woke up feeling migrainish and really not wanting to work out. I picked up my kettlebell anyway and started to do the routine I'd planned, and right away I realized it was an inappropriate choice. I thought about not working out at all because I really really wasn't into it, and then I asked myself, what would Deb do?

She would work out, even if she felt low on energy after a long day at a stressful job.

So I looked through my workout file and found a Turbulence Training routine that looked manageable, and I did that.

superset: dumbbell squats, 3x8x35; spiderman pushups, 3x8 per side
superset: incline dumbbell press, 3x8x30; pullups, 3x8
superset: dumbbell RDL, 3x8x35; decline pushups, 3x12
circuit 3x: 15 y-squats; 12 mountain climbers per side; 8 decline pushups; 6 1-leg RDLs per side; 8 burpees, 8 squat thrusts

It felt challenging but appropriate: nothing too technically demanding, so minimal risk of injury. I like having some workouts like this in my repertoire for days when I'm feeling a little off.

Monday Monday

This is another one of the workouts I'm planning to give my buddy S.

Bodyweight circuit to warm up, then:

superset: bulgarian split squat with DB curl to press, 3x12x12; SB jackknife, 3x20
superset: DB RDL, 3x10x30; elevated pushups, 3x12 per side
superset: DB rows, 3x15x25; SB leg curls, 3x20

unpleasantness:
20 seconds bodyweight squats/10 sec. squat hold 8x
20 seconds pushups/10 seconds plank hold 4x
20 seconds plank hold/10 seconds side plank hold 8x
20 seconds overhead lunges/10 seconds t-pushups 4x

I'm not sure how I feel about this one to be honest. I might tweak it some before I give it to S.

3 pull-ups 10 decline pushups 30 swings

That was today's fun. The challenge I set myself was to get 10 rounds in less than 20 minutes. I made it, but barely. I used 14 kg for all 30 swings, and the decline was high-ish--24 inches or so. So anyway, all told I did 30 pullups, 100 decline pushups and 300 swings in just under 20 minutes.

Then I did some tabatas, using the exercises from RC's Get Metabolic workout:

2x: in and out jump squat/prone cross toe/split jack/1-leg burpee
2x: mountain climber/jump squat/inchworm/spiderman climb
2x: over-under/5-dot drill/bicycle crunch/explosive step-up
2x: skiers on SB/lateral step-out/SB alternating step-off/jump lunge

This just about worked, but I'd want to modify for a client because I think most of my people would have trouble with the quick transitions on and off the ball. It was fun, though.

Today I really should've gone for a run and done yoga ...

but instead I did the following:

KB complex 5x:

15 hand to hand swings, 20 hand to hand drops, 30 sec. figure 8, 20 tactical lunges, 10 clean & press to windmill each side

The c&p to windmill really limited the amount of weight I could use. I stuck with 8 kg and it felt about right. Each round of the complex took a little over 3 minutes to get through, so with rest that part of the workout took about 20 minutes.

Then I did heavy Turkish getups for 5 minutes. I despise these, but I can't avoid them. I really need to practice my snatches as well. I'm thinking 1, 2, 3, ladders with heavy weight, not going too fast so I can really get the form down.