I use fitness challenges with my clients as one way of monitoring progress and as a way for them to see firsthand the improvements they are making. Once a client has completed a challenge then their score will be recorded and then 4-6 weeks later they will attempt to improve on it. I have found the challenges a great way to get people to push themselves to their very limits. We all have a slightly competitive edge, whether it is trying to beat our own score or that off a training partner or fellow gym goer. The challenges help to bring that out in people often resulting in very intense and extremely effective sessions.

Challenges you will find in this book range from short 5 minute ones, through to ones that will take up an entire training session

While most of the challenges can be tailored to meet all levels of fitness some of them are very intense and not for the faint hearted! For each one I have included a part that recommends what level of fitness the challenge is best suited. Whether that is beginner, intermediate or advanced. I have also included targets for each of the challenges to give you something to aim towards; these are from both personal experience (I like to put myself through all the challenges to see what my clients are experiencing!) and from what my clients have scored.

I have included the first part of this e book below. If you would like to receive the entire book for FREE then simply contact me at resultspt@hotmail.com and I will forward it over to you. Enjoy!

Contents:

1. Introduction

. Rate your fitness level

. Challenge selection

. When to do a challenge

1. Bodyweight

#1 THE BIG 3

#2 BURPEE HELL

#3 10X10

#4 BODYWEIGHT BLASTER

1. Powerbag

#5 POWERBAG

#6 POWERBAG 2

#7 POWERPLAY

1. Barbell

#8 CLEAN AND PRESS

#9 300

#10 3 ROUNDS

#11 FOURWAY FUN

1. Kettlebell

#12 KETTLEBELL 660

#13 3 WAY PLAY

#14 SNATCH TEST

1. MMA Conditioning

#15 GROUND AND POUND GAUNLET

#16 SPRAWL AND BRAWL

#17 JUMP TO IT

#18 PUNCH OUT

#19 TABATA PRESS UPS

#20 TABATA BURPEES

1.  Other

#21 WEIGHT PLATE WORKOUT

#22 SATURDAY MORNING CIRCUITS

#23 CRAZY 8

#24 KILLER KICK SHIELD

#25 TOTAL SET

#26 TRX 40/40

#27 5X5

#28 DUMBBELL 9

#29 GYM TRIATHLON

#30 CARDIO CRAZY

1. 1.      INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to my Results Conditioning “Big book of challenges”. In here you will find a whole host of fitness challenges that will test your aerobic and anaerobic fitness, muscular endurance and stamina as well as pushing you to your very limits.

I use fitness challenges with my clients as one way of monitoring progress and as a way for them to see firsthand the improvements they are making. Once a client has completed a challenge then their score will be recorded and then 4-6 weeks later they will attempt to improve on it. I have found the challenges a great way to get people to push themselves to their very limits. We all have a slightly competitive edge, whether it is trying to beat our own score or that off a training partner or fellow gym goer. The challenges help to bring that out in people often resulting in very intense and extremely effective sessions.

Challenges you will find in this book range from short 5 minute ones, through to ones that will take up an entire training session. I have split the challenges down into sections; you will find ones that use just your bodyweight while others will use equipment such as Powerbags, kettlebells and barbells.

While most of the challenges can be tailored to meet all levels of fitness some of them are very intense and not for the faint hearted! For each one I have included a part that recommends what level of fitness the challenge is best suited. Whether that is beginner, intermediate or advanced. I have also included targets for each of the challenges to give you something to aim towards; these are from both personal experience (I like to put myself through all the challenges to see what my clients are experiencing!) and from what my clients have scored.

Many of these challenges you will find already on my website at www.resultsconditioning.com under the Results blog. Here you will also see short video clips showing the challenge in action. For those who visit my site regularly will find many more challenges in this book to enjoy that are not yet on the site.

RATE YOUR FITNESS LEVEL:

For each of the challenges you will see they have been rated beginner, intermediate, advanced or a combination of the 3. If you are not sure which of these you fall under then use the chart or workout below to help you decide.

The chart below is just a rough guide as there are many different variables in terms of rating somebody’s fitness level such as past exercise history, injuries, age, weight etc.

Beginner: I would normally class a beginner as someone who I have been training for up to 6 months and who has been doing some form of training at least 3 times per week.

Intermediate: For this I would class anyone who has over 6 months worth of training behind them.

Advanced: I would normally start using advanced challenges with clients who have at least 12 months of regular training behind them.

If you want another way of rating your fitness level then try this simple challenge below. Perform all the exercises listed with a 30 second rest in between each one. At the end check your score on the chart to see where you rate. The challenge is designed to test your upper and lower body strength as well as your core strength and cardio fitness.  

Press up: Perform as many repetitions as you can of a full press up. Take 2 seconds to lower yourself and 2 seconds to push back up to the start position. Once you reach fatigue and cannot perform any more reps with perfect technique then record your score.

Plank: Lie on your front and support yourself on your elbows and toes. Maintain a flat back and keep your abdominals tight and hold this position for as long as you can up to a maximum of 60 seconds. The length of time you hold it for is your score for this exercise so if you hold it for 30 seconds then give yourself 30 points.

Wall squat: Stand with your back against a solid surface with your feet hip width apart. From here lower yourself into a squat position so your bottom is parallel to the floor and your knees are over your ankles. Hold this position for as long as you can up to 60 seconds maximum. Again turn your time into points.

Burpee: Bend down and place your hands onto the floor then jump your legs back so your body forms a straight line. From this position jump your legs back in and stand back up.  Perform as many of these as you can within 1 minute and record your score.

Crunch: Lie on your back with your knees bent and rest your hands behind your head with your elbows out to the side. Crunch up so your shoulder blades leave the floor. Return to the start position and repeat, completing as many reps as you can within 1 minute.

Jumping jacks: Stand with your feet together and your hands by the side of your body. From here jump your legs out to the side and raise your arms to shoulder height. Return to the start position and repeat, completing as many reps as you can within 1 minute.

Once you have completed all 6 exercises add up your scores and see how you rate on the chart below.

Beginner: 140 points or below

Intermediate: 141-264 points

Advanced: 265 Points or more

Challenge selection:

When it comes to choosing a challenge make sure you pick ones that uses exercises that you can perform safely and correctly. For example I would only use Ketlebell challenges with people who have been training with this piece of kit for a good few months regardless of fitness levels, and had perfected the techniques of all the exercises used within that challenge. Another point concerning technique is to make sure you perform all exercises with proper form throughout the entire challenge. Even though in many of the challenges you are trying to complete as many reps as you can or perform a certain amount in your quickest time make sure you do not lose form whilst doing so.

When to do a challenge?

Since the idea of a challenge is to get the participant to work at their maximum intensity you do not want to be doing them every week as this can lead to burn out, injuries and diminished results. Normally once a client has completed a challenge then they will not do this one again for at least 4 weeks although normally it is closer to 8 weeks. In between they may do a different challenge but they will usually have at least 2 weeks off from doing any kind of fitness challenge.

When it comes to structuring a challenge into a clients session this will depend largely on what the rest of the session is going to involve and the length of time of the challenge. Some of the shorter challenges that take only 5-10 minutes may be done either at the start or end of a session. If the challenge is mainly cardio based then I may do it at the end of a resistance workout. For any challenge that will take longer than around 25 minutes are normally done by themselves. For all challenges make sure you spend 5-10 minutes warming up beforehand and around 5 minutes cooling down and stretching at the end.

Now here I bring you the Results Conditioning 300 workout, a tough barbell session that can help you towards the physique of a Spartan soldier. The workout uses large compound barbell exercises completed in circuit fashion, which will help you to improve your muscular endurance, burn body fat and help bring out the muscle definition.  Below are the 2 ways of performing this workout, either as a basic 3 round circuit or as the Results Conditioning 300 challenge.

3 Round circuit: For this you will perform the 10 exercises back to back with little rest in between each one. You complete 10 reps of each exercise and at the end of the circuit you rest for 1-2 minutes before repeating.

300 Challenge: Same as above but this time the aim is to complete the 3 rounds as quickly as possible.

The aim is to use the same weight for each exercise, as it is more of an endurance workout. Start light first and focus on good technique. Once all 3 sets can be completed comfortably then increase the weight on your bar.

300 workout:

Clean and press

Hang clean

Squat

Bent over row (overhand grip)

Bent over row (underhand grip)

Barbell press up

Rollouts

Suitcase deadlift (right hand)

Suitcase deadlift (left hand)

Burpee to deadlift

Make sure to warm up thoroughly before the workout or challenge and cool down at the end.