Wed 5-22-13: Upper Body
A simple workout based on the Mantathalon setup…
Incline Bench 145 x 20
Body Row x 25
DB Shoulder Press 40 x 19
Dips x 25
DB Bicep Curl 40 x
3 minute rest between sets
Total time = 17:30 min
Tues 5-21-13: Supple Leopardness
A couple days ago I got my copy of Becoming a Supple Leopard and today I started my journey toward becoming a better moving human. If you’re not already familiar with it you should check it out, it really is some fantastic stuff. I’ve been familiar with Kelly Starrett from his work on Mobility WOD for a few years but haven’t been inspired to attack my body until his book came out. Great stuff in a nice, heavy book that covers quite a bit. Check it out on his website or SuppleLeopard.com.
Mon 5-20-13: 4 Min Squat Test
Every once in a while I get the urge to do a quick workout challenge…
4 Minute Squat Challenge
135 lbs (about 75% of bodyweight)
77 reps
Short, sweet and devastating on the legs and lungs.
Wed 5-15-13: Yard Work
All it takes is a day out in the yard to make you appreciate the amount of work that goes into gardening and landscaping. Chopping, cutting, lifting, carrying, hauling, dumping, throwing and more. Not a single muscle left out and every little movement meant something. Functional fitness at its core. Not only a nice departure from structured exercise but also outdoors in the sun. Doing work to maintain your residence/habitat is about as natural, traditional, primal and universal as you get.
Tues 5-14-13: Limtinov Sprints
Continuing the Litminov series…
Litminov Sprints
10 reps Front Squat @ 135lbs
10 second treadmill sprint @ 12mph, 18 degree incline
5 rounds, 3 minute rest between rounds
Thur 5-9-13: Upper Body
Mantathalon training day. Bodyweight 180.
10 minute warmup.
19 Bench Press 180lb
17 Chin-ups
17 Shoulder Press 90lb
17 Weighted Dips 45lb
12 Bicep Curl 90lb
82 reps. Time: 17 min.
I can see where my weakness lies… 
Tues 5-7-13: Litminov Sprints
Carried a 32k kettlebell to the park for some Litminov conditioning…
Tried to keep to 1 min exertion with 3 minute rest between sets. Total time ~17 minutes.
Litminov Sprints
5 sets, each followed by 120 yard run (~15 seconds)
25 Swings
25 Goblet Squat
25 Stifflegged Deadlift
20 Alternating lunges + 5 squats
25 Swings
Legs never felt so heavy… 😊
The Workout Is The Warmup
One of my favorite workouts is to go through this extended warmup…
Warmup Workout
Overhead squat
Jumping jacks
Arm circles
Arm scissors
Lateral bend
Turkish get up
Breakdancers
Kneehug quad stretch
Shadowboxing
Side kicks alternating
Kicks front back alternating
Handstand
Pushup
Pullup
Muscleup
Lunge with reach rotation
Back lunge with overhead raise
Kneeling lunge out
Switching 90/90 stretch
Elbow to instep
Step back to rotated bar raise
Jumprope/Rope swing
Med ball corkscrew press
Staff twirling
Kayakers
Two foot lateral hops
Zig zags
Ice skaters forward/backward
Supine knee twister
Burpees
Wide stance windmills
Alternating T
Plank
Side plank
Grok squat
Hang
Tipping bird stiffleg deadlift
SL toe touch and reach
SL bent airplane
SL balance eyes closed
Archer
Fencer
Ball work ts ys ws or bent over
Bridge marching
Boat to superman
Overhead squat
Fri 5-3-13: Upper Body
Quick upper body workout at home…
(15lb backpack for first two and last two exercises)
25 Decline Weighted Push-ups
20 Weighted Chin-ups
21 Handstand Push-ups
20 Weighted Dips
25 Bicep Curl (2 body bars and backpack)
3 min rest between each set
Tues 4-30-13: Litminovs
Litminovs
One of the hardest but best workouts I’ve come across. Simple, quick and challenging. The trifecta.
The Basic Idea
Superset a strength (or power move) and a sprint.
The strength/power set can be any type but full body/lower body exercises that can be excited or transitioned from easily and quickly work best (front squat, power clean, kettlebell swings).
The sprint can be variable as well, ranging anywhere from 5 seconds to around a minute (think 40-400 yard dashes being the two extremes).
The Detailed Explanation
The backstory behind Litminovs is kind of cool and has some wrinkles. Here’s Dan John breaking it down in way more detail.
Today, since it has been a while, my version was mild:
3 sets of:
10 jump squats (max effort each rep)
15 second sprint (~120 yards)
3-4 minute rest between sets.
Simple, quick and challenging.
Mon 4-29-13: Upper Body
Upper Body
Bench Press
45×20, 95×10, 135×10 (followed by Cable Reverse Flys)
185×19 (followed by Cable Reverse Flys and 20 push-ups)
3 sets of 185×5
135×14
Dual Cable Lat Pulldown (alternated sets between neutral and wide pull)
70×15,90×12,105×10,120×8,135×6,150×4,165×2,90×20
3 compound sets of 12 reps each with 45lb DBs:
DB Pullover
DB Anchored Leg Raise
DB Crunch to Toes
3 compound sets of 10 reps each:
TRX Fly
TRX Reverse Fly
Ab Wheel Rollouts
Some New Videos: April 2013, Part 2
Continued from Part 1 a couple days ago…
Core work:
Pullover on Ball (video)
Core Combo: Pullover, Crunch, Plank (video)
DB Pullover (video)
Leg Raise with Medicine Ball (video)
Incline Bench variations:
Incline Bench Barbell Row (video)
Incline Bench Dumbbell Row (video)
Incline Bench Reverse Fly (video)
Dumbbell Spider Curl (video)
TRX:
TRX Atomic Push-up (video)
TRX Suspended Push-up (video)
TRX Knee Tuck (video)
Side Plank/Plank Combos:
Side Plank Cable Row (video)
Side Plank Cable Pulldown (video)
Plank Cable Pulldown (video)
Side Plank Cable Shoulder Press (video)
Side Plank Cable Bicep Curl (video)
Side Plank Cable Curl & Press (video)
Plank Cable Shoulder Press (video)
Finally, for those studs out there, here a couple good challenges:
Leg Crank (video)
Parting The Black Sea (video)
Super Arms (video)
Post Super Arms…
Fri 4-26-13: Shoulders, Back & Arms
Shoulders, Back & Arms
Shoulder Press
10 reps: 45,65,75,80,85,85,85
20 reps: 90
Incline Bench DB Reverse Fly
5 sets of 12 @ 15lbs
Side Plank Cable Row
4 sets of 10 @ 25lbs
4 Supersets of 12 reps each:
DB Seated Bicep Curl 25,30,30,30
DB Lying Tricep Extension 25,30,30,30
BB Reverse Curl
3 sets of 10 @ 45lbs
Some New Videos: April 2013, Part 1
Added a bunch of videos today…
Back Lunge Single Leg Good Morning Combo (video)
Squat Back Lunge Single Leg Good Morning Combo (video)
Overhead Back Lunge (video)
Side Plank with Side Crunch (video)
Reach Through Windmill (video)
Alligator Push-up (video)
Seated Ab Curl Up (video)
Plank Depth Reach (video)
Did about 20 more, will add those later…
Tues 4-23-13: Park Day
Today was a park day.
Swinging on the swings.
Swing Jumps.
Playground Transversing.
Jumping and hanging from basketball hoops.
And the most fun…
Base running. Went to the little league field at the park and did some running around the bases. Home runs, doubles, singles, triples, 1st to 3rd, bunt singles, scoring from second, stealing bases. Simply, I just pretended I was playing a baseball game. It was pretty fun and a great conditioning workout. Hopefully no one was watching and wondering why the old guy was playing a pretend game of baseball on the kids’ field, all the way down to giving the third base coach a high five after I hit a walk off homer.
Fri 4-19-13: Squat, Deadlift, Chin
More simplicity…
Squat
10 reps: 45,95
5 reps: 135
3 reps: 185
1 rep: 225,275,315,345,365
Deadlift
5 reps: 135
3 reps: 225
1 rep: 275,315
Was going to do a few heavier singles but back twinged a bit so I decided to move on.
Weighted Chin-up
5 reps: BW
3 reps: +10,+20
1 rep: +30,+40,+50,+60,+70,+80,+90,+100
5 reps: +50
12 reps: BW
Wed 4-17-13: Bench Press
Simple day again…
Bench Press
**Used 15 reps of moderate weight Cable Reverse Flys between each set of bench press to reinforce posture.
Bench Press
15 reps: 45
10 reps: 95,135
5 reps: 185
1 rep: 225,245,255,265,275
15 reps: 135
Sat 4-13-13: Upper Body Randomness
Took a page from Art Devany’s book: Complex Task Exercise.
Upper Body
Walked into my local Crunch Fitness and just did whatever upper body exercise that was before me. Used the randomness of Devany’s nature, using whatever weight was on the machine, barbell or dumbbell and pumped out reps, with no real number or outcome in mind. Just like a kid, did the exercise until it got hard or I got tired of it and them moved on to something else. Refreshing approach that I do every once in a while for a nice change of pace. Great workout that almost always leaves me sore as well…
Thur 4-11-13: Lower Body Volume
Some lower body volume to match Tuesday’s upper body volume day…
Lower Body Volume
10 supersets of 10 reps each:
Lying Hamstring Ball Curl
Squat (135 lbs)
5 supersets of 10 reps each:
Deep Step Up (10 each leg)
Leg Raise and Crunch Combo
5 supersets of 10 reps each:
Side Lunge (10 each leg)
Leg Raise and Crunch Combo
Tues 4-9-13: Upper Body Volume
Very simple today. Volume without too much stress…
Upper Body Volume
10 sets of 10 of each:
Overhead Press (65 lbs)
Dual Cable Lat Pulldown (90 lbs)
15 Degree Incline Bench Press (115 lbs)
Fri 4-5-13: Full Body
Full Body
Alternating DB Curl & Press
One Arm DB Bench (half off bench)
Overhead Squat
Cable Push Pull 2 sets (video)
One Arm Cable Press 5 sets (video)
Uneven Depth Push-up to Balance (video)
Giant set of:
20 Overhead Squats
25 Overhead Presses
30 Hang Cleans
35 Back Squats
40 Push-ups
45 Cable Reverse Flys
50 Jump Squats
