Results Conditioning » Challenges

WBW #2: Speed ladder challenge

richb — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:43:47 +0000

This times WBW is a short but intense challenge that can be completed in less than 10 minutes. This makes it a perfect finisher for your workout, or if you’re really pushed for time then why not do it on its own. The challenge involves burpees, clean and presses and medicine ball crunches, you start off by completing 2 reps of each and then increasing each time by 2 reps all the way up to 12. This is why I called it the “speed ladder” since the reps goes up all the time and the aim is to complete it all in your quickest time, it has nothing to do with a plastic ladder used for footwork drills as you may have thought!

Exercises used:

Burpee with vertical jump

Barbell clean and press

Medicine ball crunch (Lie on your back and hold a medicine ball above your head. With your legs straight in the air, lift your shoulder blades off the floor and reach the ball towards your feet).

How to do the challenge:

Start off by performing 2 reps of each of the exercises and then 4 and 6 and so on all the way up to 12 reps. once you have finished 12 med ball crunches stop the clock and record your time.

Advanced version:

Perform the same challenge but for the burpee complete a press up at the bottom of the movement and a vertical jump at the top.

Tips:

For the barbell clean and press use a weight that would normally challenge you for 8-10 reps so by the end the last few reps will push you to your limits.

For clients I have been using 2-4kg medicine balls.

Fitness challenge #44: 25

richb — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:39:38 +0000

Here is a workout I put together today for a client who was short of time but wanted a challenging workout that hit everything. The entire session lasted for just over 30 minutes including warming up and cooling down. The aim of the workout was simple, complete as many sets of the following 9 exercise circuit as you can within a 25 minute time limit. Rest was taken as and when but the clock never stopped. Check out the circuit below.

Barbell bench press x10 reps

TRX rows x10

Powerbag clean and press x10

Powerbag walking lunges x2 lengths of the studio (approx 10 metres long)

Powerbag pushes x2 lengths of studio (Push the bag along the floor staying as low as you can and maintaining a flat back).

Medicine ball sprinter sit-ups x20

Close hand press ups x10

Resistance band bicep curls x10

Medicine ball Russian twists x10

Scoring:

Aim to keep working for the entire 25 minutes. If by the end you have completed 4 complete sets and are part way through the press ups of the 5^th set then your score would be 4.7.

Aims:

First target should be 4 full sets and then look at getting your score up to 5 sets or more.

Use weights that allow you to use a good technique but will challenge you.

Pad work and challenge

richb — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:52:39 +0000

One of my favourite ways to give my clients a cardiovascular workout is with focus pads, this post looks at different ways I use them within my sessions.

1 minute on, 1 minute off:

This workout involves mixing the focus pads with some bodyweight training to give you an effective session that lasts for 16 minutes which makes it excellent if you’re short of time or as part of a longer training session if you are feeling fighting fit!

Once you are warmed up you start round 1 on the pads. Each round lasts for 1 minute and the pad rounds consist of throwing a mixture of punch/knee/kick combinations to my command. Once the time is up you get a minutes rest but during this time you must complete a set number if reps of a bodyweight exercise. The quicker the reps are completed the more of the minute you get to rest. After this you start the next pad round and this continues over 8 pad rounds. Check out the example below.

Pad round 1:

1 minute pads

12x press ups (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

Pad round 2:

1 minute pads

12x sprinter sit-ups (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

Pad round 3:

1 minute pads

12x squats (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

Pad round 4:

1 minute pads

12x burpees (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

Complete these 4 rounds again for the 8 round workout.

Other exercises to try:

Lunges

Narrow press ups

Squat thrusts

V-ups

Jump squats

Burpee challenge:

This is something that I often do at the end of my client’s session, often after the above pad workout for a very gruelling cardio blast! The challenge follows the same time protocol as the above one. Perform 1 minute of pad work and then immediately complete 5 burpees and then rest for whatever time is left of the minute before starting the next pad round. The aim is to perform an extra 5 burpees each time up to 25 within the minute.

1 minute pads

5 burpees (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

1 minute pads

10 burpees (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

1 minute pads

15 burpees (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

1 minute pads

20 burpees (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

1 minute pads

25 burpees (once completed rest for the remaining minute)

If you fail to complete the burpees within the time then the challenge is over.

Fitness challenge #43: 20/12 Burpees

richb — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:52:03 +0000

The first challenge of 2012 is aptly named the 20/12 Burpee challenge. The 20/12 relates to the number of repetitions you perform, as you alternate between 20 and 12 reps and as for the Burpee in the title well that’s because you do 4 different variations of the beloved whole body exercise.

For this challenge you will be using a single dumbbell, for each of the resistance exercise try and pick a weight that allows you to complete the exercise with good technique whilst still challenging you. For this challenge I would normal do a couple of sets of each dumbbell exercise with my clients at the start using a slightly lighter weight to help learn correct technique and warm up the muscle groups that are about to be worked. The challenge is very taxing on the whole body especially the muscles of the legs, shoulders, chest and core.

Once the client is familiar with the technique and fully warmed up then the aim is simply complete the following 9 exercise circuit in your quickest time.

Circuit:

Single arm squat curl and press x20 per side

Basic Burpee x12

Lunge with reach x20 per side

Burpee to knee strike x12

Side lunge with overhead swing x20 per side

Burpee with Jump x12

Sprinter sit- up x20

Turkish get- up x12 per side

Burpee with press up and jump x20

Fitness challenge #42: Powerbag 20

richb — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:53:42 +0000

Here is the first challenge of 2012 and we kick of the year with a 20 minute Powerbag challenge. The format of the challenge is the same as both the Torturous 20 and VIPR 20 and involves completing as many sets of an 8 exercise circuit within a 20 minute time limit. All that is needed is a single Powerbag and plenty of stamina and endurance! Check out the 8 exercises used below.

Bent over rows x20

Hang cleans x12

Lunge with shoulder to shoulder press x12 (Start with the bag on your right shoulder and step forward with your left leg and perform a lunge. From the lunge position press the bag over your head to the other shoulder before stepping back and repeating on the opposite leg).

High pull x12

Floor press x20

Seated bag twists x10 per side

Alternating squat thrusts x40 (20 per leg)

Squat jumps x20

Scoring:

If after 20 minutes you have completed 4 sets then you score is 4, if you have done 4 sets and are on the Floor press of the 5^th set then your score is 4.5.

Aims:

First target should be to complete 4 full sets.

Men should start off with a 15-20kg bag and for women 5-10kg.

Focus pad and powerbag workout

richb — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:48:35 +0000

Here is a workout I have been doing recently with my clients that combines focus pad work, bodyweight and powerbag exercises and finishes with a tough challenge that is bound to send your heart rate through the roof! After warming up doing speed and agility work using mini hurdles and cones you start the workout with a 5 minute round doing focus pad drills and bodyweight exercises. The 5 minute round is split into 30 second blocks of work with 10 second rest periods in between. The first 30 seconds is spent throwing punch combinations on the focus pads, after the 10 second rest you then perform a bodyweight exercise. This is repeated over the 5 minute round so you will complete 5 rounds on the pads and 5 bodyweight exercises. Some of the exercises that have used are listed below.

Bodyweight exercises:

Press up variations such as: Close hand, knees to chest, shoulder taps, feet elevated.

Abdominal exercises such as: Crunch, oblique twists, v-ups, plank, sprinter sit ups.

Lower body exercises such as: Lunge. Side lunge, reverse lunge, squats.

Cardio exercises such as: Burpee, squat thrusts, jumping jacks.

After this round and a short rest period it is time for a 5 minute powerbag round. You complete 30 seconds of the below exercises again resting for 10 seconds in between. The circuit is completed twice through.

Bent over row

Upright row

Walking lunge with shoulder press

Chest press

Press up position knees to chest

Check out a sample of this workout below.

After the powerbag round you complete another Focus pad round using a different set of bodyweight exercises followed by 1 more powerbag round. The workout is then finished with the below challenge.

Shuttle runs challenge:

This time we are mixing a 1 minute pad round with shuttle runs up and down the studio which is approximately 10 metres long. Again start out with your minutes pad work and then complete 2 shuttle runs (up and down the room counts as 1 lap). You have again 1 minute to complete the shuttles in so the faster you run the more time you get to recover. Once the minute is up start the next pad round, after each pad round increase the shuttles by 2 laps but keep the time to complete them in to 1 minute. This means less and less recovery time as you progress through. The maximum I would work up to given the length of a lap is 10 shuttle runs. This would mean 5 rounds on the pads. If the client fails to meet the target numbers of shuttle runs within the minute then stop the drill.

Fitness challenge #41: Cardio kettlebell

richb — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:38:24 +0000

Here is a challenge that is performed over 5×5 minute rounds and mixes kettlebell exercises with high intensity cardio training. The aim of the challenge is to complete as many sets as you can over the 5 rounds of training. Each round is made up of 1 kettlebell exercise and 1 cardio based exercise and are outlined below.

ROUND 1:

Single arm swings x10 per arm

Burpees x10

ROUND 2:

Single arm snatch x10 per arm

Squat jumps x10

ROUND 3:

Figure of 8 x20

Alternating squat thrusts x40

ROUND 4:

Single arm floor press x10 per arm

Bench hops x20

ROUND 5:

High pulls x20

Jumping jacks x20

Scoring:

Completing both exercises counts as 1 set. If at the end of the 5 minute round you have finished all the reps of the kettlebell exercise but not the cardio one then this will count as a half set. At the end of the 5 rounds count up all your full and half sets for you challenge score.

Aims:

Use a kettlebell that will challenge you for each of the exercises.

Rest for 2 minutes between rounds.

First target should be 20 total sets and then see if you can get up to 25 or above.

5 minute finisher

richb — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:47:20 +0000

Here is a little finisher I have been using with clients at the end of their sessions. It is short and simple and as the name suggests should only take 5 minutes or less to complete. To perform it you only need a medicine ball and a space of approximately 10 metres long. To do the challenge you start at one end of the room and complete 2 reps of the following 3 exercises.

Body weight squat

Press up

Medicine ball crunch (Place your legs in the air and crunch up bringing the ball over your head and towards your feet)

Once you have completed 2 reps of each then run down to the end of the room and touch a cone which you have positioned there and run back (this counts as 1 lap). After this you will then increase the 3 exercises by 2 reps each time and the shuttle run by 1 lap until you reach 10 reps of the squats, press up and crunch and 5 shuttle runs.

Tips:

Make sure you bend down and touch the cone or the floor, if you have not got a cone to hand, on each shuttle run.

With my clients I have been using a 3kg medicine ball.

Fitness challenge #40: 3 Round VIPR

richb — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:25:40 +0000

Here is a VIPR challenge that uses 7 whole body movements. The challenge came about after putting a client through this workout today. For the last round of the circuit I set her a time limit of 8 minutes to complete it all which she did with 20 seconds to spare. For the challenge though the aim is to complete 3 rounds of the 7 exercise circuit in your fastest time. In between rounds, rest for 2 minutes before starting again. Below are the 7 exercises used along with the reps.

Side lunge with rotation x10 reps per side

Deadlift to uppercut lunge x12 reps (6 per leg)

High to low rotational press x10 per side

Woodchops x12 per side

Explosive lunge press x12 reps (Hold the VIPR at chest height. Bend both knees and perform a small jump, as you do so drive one leg back and land in a lunge position. As you jump back press the VIPR above your head. Step your leg back in and repeat jumping your opposite leg back).

Side shuffle with catch x20 (If you drop the VIPR then that rep does not count).

Forward shuffle with side jump x20 (Each side jump counts as 1 rep)

Here is a link where you can see most of the exercises used within this challenge in action.

http://www.resultsconditioning.com/archives/1559

Target:

First target should be to complete all 3 rounds in less than 25 minutes and then see if you can get each round down to less than 7 minutes and a total challenge time of less than 20 minutes.

Tips:

If you starting out using the VIPR then I would suggest you learn the movements first before trying the challenge. For women I would recommend starting out using a 4 or 6kg VIPR and for men 8-10kg. Once you can complete the challenge in less than 20 minutes then look at moving up to the next weight.

Ultimate fighting fitness challenge

richb — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:44:57 +0000

The latest challenge uses the principles of my MMA conditioning workout which is set to be launched nationwide under the name “Ultimate fighting fitness”. The workout is 4 rounds with each round being made up of 5 exercises. Within a normal workout each exercise would be performed for either 30 seconds and completed twice or for 1 minute and completed once to form a 5 minute round. This time though the exercises are completed for reps and the aim is to complete each round as quickly as possible. In between rounds stop your clock and rest for 2 minutes before restarting the clock and beginning the next round.

Round 1:

Stand to kneel x20

Elbow switch x50

Dumbbell push press x20

Crunch to punch x20

Jab, cross to sprawl x20

Round 2:

Bridge to up kick x50

10 punches from knee ride to sprawl x10

Press up with shoulder tap x20

Plank get ups x20

Bear crawl with sprint x5 laps

Round 3:

Step jumps x20

10 Mounted punches to vertical jump x10

Medicine ball swings x20

Elbow to knee crunches x50

Lateral jumps over Powerbag to front kick x20

Round 4:

Step up to knee strikes x20 per leg

10 mounted punches to armbar x10

Dumbbell jab, crosses x50

Triangle curls x20

Burpees with vertical jump x20

Aims:

The aim is to try and complete the whole challenge in 20 minutes or less so that each round is done in around 5 minutes.

Tips:

If you want an even harder version of this challenge then cut your rests between rounds to 1 minute.