Super Supersets

Each superset consists of two exercises that alternate for a total of 8 rounds, 30 sec. per round.

Between each set, 100 abs.

1. Prisoner squats (PSq) and squat jumps (SqJ)
100 crunches (Cr)

2. Pushups (PU) and alternating toe touches from plank position (Plank+TT)
100 bicycles (bicy)

3. Bench jumps (BenchJ) and lunges onto bench (lng+bench)
100 flutter kicks (fltrkx)

4. Swimmers (Swmr) and mountain climbers (mtnC)
100 alternating oblique crunches (OblCr)

5. Burpees (BP) and fast 3/4 squats (3/4Sq)

• Plank with toe touches - begin in push-up position, fully extending your arms to lift your body off the floor. Elbows and knees should be straight, body elongated, with your weight resting only on your palms and the balls of your feet. Keep your abs tight. Lift your right leg, cross under your left leg and touch the toes of your right foot to the ground, then slowly with control return it to starting position. Don’t let your lower back sag when your leg crosses. Repeat on opposite side; continue alternating sides.
  
• Swimmers (Swmr) - lie on stomach, arms above head; lift arms and legs off the ground, move arms out to the side and down toward hips/back, squeeze shoulder blades together, keep head up (like a modified breast stroke), return to starting position
  
• Flutter kicks (Fltrkx) - lie on back, hands under hips for support; raise shoulders off the ground, lift legs and flutter kick legs as you would do when swimming freestyle stroke DEMO
  
• Mountain climber (MtnC) - From basic pushup position, bring one knee toward your chest and back, alternate legs as rapidly as possible DEMO
  
• Oblique crunch (OblCr) - Lying on side, raise upper and lower body simultaneously then return to starting position. Do not let feet touch ground once you start.
  
• Burpee (BP) - Begin in squat position, hands on floor in front, kick feet back to pushup position, immediately return your feet to a squat position, leap up as high as possible from squat position DEMO

Baseball Fan Workout

Feeling guilty about not working out, but you don't want to miss watching the big baseball game?

Here is my baseball fan workout. Suggestions for improvement? Let me know!

If your home team:

• Scores a run: 50 situps
• Steals a base: 50 jumping jacks
• Strikes out a batter: 10 (each leg) alternating lunges
• Commits an error: 10 pushups with a clap

If the opposing team:

• Scores a run: 20 pushups, 20 squats, 20 squat jumps
• Steals a base: 25 burpees
• Strikes out your batter: 10 (each leg) alternating lunge jumps
• Commits an error: high knee jumps in place for one minute

Between innings:

• Hold a plank or pillar until commercials are over

Partner Up!

Grab a partner & get to work!

Partner A runs 400 yds; Partner B does the first exercise until Partner A completes the run. Then, Partner A does the first exercise while Partner B runs.

Repeat with the remaining exercises.

Exercises:

• sit ups
• lunges
• bicycles
• lunge jumps
• pillar
• push ups
• squats
• push up w/ rotation
• leg lifts
• tricep dips

Back to Basics Ladder

I did this workout last night - it's a simple, back-to-basics ladder-type workout that should make you sweat.

If you're counting, you'll end up doing 110 sumo squats, 110 pushups, 110 burpys and too many mountain climbers to mention!

10 sumo squats
10 pushups
10 burpys
100 mountain climbers

9 sumo squats
9 pushups
9 burpys
100 mountain climbers

8 sumo squats
8 pushups
8 burpys
100 mountain climbers

Repeat 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

THEN... Reverse the ladder - start at 1 and go to 10.

Sumo Squat (SumoSq): Begin with your feet wider than shoulders width apart, toes pointed out and knees over the toes (think of a sumo wrestling stance). Keep your back straight, chest out and abs tight throughout the move. Squat down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Focus on sitting down rather than bending your legs to avoid straining the knees. Keep your weight on your heels throughout the exercise while maintaining a straight posture. Push off with your heels at the bottom of your move, squeezing your glutes and inner thighs until you are back in the starting position. Once you have completed the squat, check your alignment and start again.

Burpee (BP) - Begin in squat position, hands on floor in front, kick feet back to pushup position, immediately return your feet to a squat position, leap up as high as possible from squat position DEMO

Mountain climber (MtnC) - From basic pushup position, bring one knee toward your chest and back, alternate legs as rapidly as possible DEMO

Jump Rope Madness

Grab a jump rope and do some interval training!

Reps: 300
Jump rope
Crunches

Reps: 200
Jump rope
Squats

Reps: 150
Jump rope
Side/lateral crunches (75 each side)

Reps: 100
Jump rope
Bicycles

Reps: 75
Jump rope
Flutter kicks

Reps: 50
Jump rope
Push ups

Reps: 25
Jump rope
Burpees

• Bicycles (Bicy) - Lie on back, hands behind head. Contract abs, bring right elbow to left knee, alternate.
  
• Flutter kicks (Fltrkx) - lie on back, hands under hips for support; raise shoulders off the ground, lift legs and flutter kick legs as you would do when swimming freestyle stroke DEMO
  
• Burpee (BP) - Begin in squat position, hands on floor in front, kick feet back to pushup position, immediately return your feet to a squat position, leap up as high as possible from squat position DEMO

Sand Man Intervals

Now that beach weather is here, I am going to try the "Sand Man Intervals" workout that I found in "The Abs Diet Get Fit Stay Fit" book. (Great information in this book, by the way. I highly recommend it.)

The premise of this workout is that sand is unstable, and doing intervals on sand forces your body's core to work extra hard.



Exercise * Reps * Rest * Sets

Shuttle Runs 4 runs * 1 min * 2

Sand Skips 5 each leg * 1 min * 2

Dive Bombers 5-10 * 1 min * 2

Squat Jumps 5 * 1 min * 2

Jump & Stick 4 each side * 1 min * 2

Rotational Pushup 6 each side * 1 min * 2


Shuttle Run (I call these suicides, because if you do them properly you most definitely will feel it) - SUI: Make 2 parallel lines in the sand, 5 yds apart. Straddle the middle line with knees and elbows slightly bent. Run to your right, reach down and touch the line with your right hand, then turn and run to the left and touch the far left line with your left hand. Return to the middle. (That's one run)

Sand Skips - SKIPS: Skip forward so that you are jumping and landing on the same foot. Work on leaping as high as possible by driving your knee upward as you push off the ground with your opposite foot.

Dive Bombers - DbPU: Put your hands and feet in the sand so your body forms an inverted V. In one fluid motion, bend your arms, sweep your upper body down and forward and drop your butt. Then push your torso back up until your head is up, your back is arched, and your arms are straight, with your elbows locked. Hold for a few seconds, then push back to start. (Only your hands and toes ever touch the sand.)

Squat Jumps - SqJ: Hands behind head, thighs parallel to sand.

Jump and Stick - J+Stk: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, hands beside thighs. Jump straight up, then land on only one leg with knees bent, shoulders slightly forward, butt and hips back. Hold for 2 seconds, then return to starting position and jump again (alternating legs).

Pushups with Rotation - PU+R: Perform the pushup motion; once ascending back up, rotate to one side and bring the opposite arm off the ground aiming it straight towards the sky while extending the opposite arm straight. Hold with body perfectly perpendicular to floor, then slowly bring arm back down to beginning push-up position.

Strength and Sprints Ladder

In this workout, you will do short sets of exercises (10 reps for each exercise) followed by a 40yd sprint. Each "set" will add another exercise.

Set 1: Squats (10) – sprint
Set 2: Squats (10), push ups (10) – sprint
Set 3: Squats (10), push ups (10), swimmers (10) – sprint

Continue by adding:

Lunges
Push ups with cross kick
Squat jumps with tuck
Alternating lunge jumps (single count)
Burpys

Finish with a superset: Do 5 of each exercise with a sprint in between each exercise (no stopping).


Swimmers (Swmr) - lie on stomach, arms above head; lift arms and legs off the ground, move arms out to the side and down toward hips/back, squeeze shoulder blades together, keep head up (like a modified breast stroke), return to starting position. Front-back, front-back = 1

Burpee (BP) - Begin in squat position, hands on floor in front, kick feet back to pushup position, immediately return your feet to a squat position, leap up as high as possible from squat position DEMO

Push up with cross kick (PU+crosskx) - Do a standard push up, then lift one leg a few inches off the ground and cross it underneath the other leg, return leg to starting position.

Bench Workout

Perfect to do in a park where there are benches spaced around the perimeter. Between bench exercises, sprint 100 yds or to the next bench.

Bench 1:

20 (pike) handstand pushups
20 step ups
25 Russian twists (right+ left = 1)


Bench 2:

20 tricep dips w/leg lift
20 Bulgarian split squats (each leg)
25 V-crunches


Bench 3:

20 4-point Supermans
20 jumps onto bench (alternative: tuck jumps)
25 bicycle crunches


Bench 4:

20 pushups with rotation
20 standing donkey kicks
25 reverse crunches


(Pike) Handstand Pushups (HPU): Set your hands on the ground a little beyond shoulder width apart and about 2 feet in front of the bench. When your hands are planted, step back and up and set your toes on the bench. Bend only at your hips so your body forms an upsidown "L" shape. When doing this exercise, your fingers should be spread wide for best stability. Look directly back and underneath the bench in order to keep your torso vertical. If you try and look forward, you'll change the focus of the exercise and possibly plant your nose into the floor. Lower yourself down just like you were doing the negative of a shoulder press. Touch your head lightly to the ground then press yourself back up.

Tricep Dip with Leg Lift (TrDp+LL): With your back as close as possible to the bench, grab the edge of the bench (seat) with your hands slightly more than hip-width apart. Push your heels into the floor as you straighten your arms. Perform a dip. Straighten your arms, then reach your left arm straight out in front of your body at shoulder height while lifting your right leg. Hold for a few seconds, then repeat, lifting the opposite arm and leg. That’s one rep.

Bulgarian Split Squat (BSSq): Stand about three feet in front of a bench. Place one foot on the bench behind you so that only your instep is on it. Lower your body until your front leg reaches ninety degrees and your back knee almost touches the ground. Drive up back off the lead leg to starting position.

Russian twists (RTw): Lean back at about a 45° angle. Lift feet slightly off floor. Reach arms out straight forward then "twist" or rotate to one side as you reach for the floor while keeping feet up. Rotate back to other side.


4-point Supermans (4-S): From a push-up position, simultaneously raise right arm and left leg and hold for 3-5 sec; repeat with left arm and right leg (both sides = 1) DEMO


Pushup with Rotation (PU+R): Perform the pushup motion; once ascending back up, rotate to one side and bring the opposite arm off the ground aiming it straight towards the sky while extending the opposite arm straight. Hold with body perfectly perpendicular to floor, then slowly bring arm back down to beginning push-up position.


Standing Donkey Kick (Donk): Stand behind the bench, holding onto the bench. Raise one foot towards sky and, with knee bent at a right angle, squeeze bottom and press foot straight up to the sky.

40-down circuits

40 squats
40 crunches
Sprint 40 yds

30 lunges (right + left = 1)
30 pushups
Sprint 40 yds

20 squat jumps
20 bicycle crunches
Sprint 40 yds

10 lunge jumps (right + left = 1)
10 pushups with a clap
Sprint 40 yds

Rest, the repeat two more times.

3-30s

3- minute circuits, with 30 second increments of two exercises, followed by a 30-second break.

Example circuit:

(Sq/Lng)
1. Squats for 30, lunges for 30, squats for 30, lunges for 30, squats for 30, lunges for 30 -- take a 30 second break

Then...

2. Pushups / swimmers (PU/Swmr)
3. Suitcase crunches / flutter kicks (SCcr/Fltrkx)
4. Mountain climbers / burpies (MtnC/ BP)
5. Gator pushups / pillars (elbow) (GtPU /PLR)
6. Reverse lunge with forward kick / side squat with side kick (RLng+fkx / SSq+Skx)
7. Triceps pushup / tricep dips (TrPU/TrDp)
8. Jumping jacks / 180 turns (JJ/180)
9. Side plank / bicycles (SPlnk /bicy)
10. Skiers / skaters (ski/sk8)

Some descriptions:

• Swimmers (Swmr) - lie on stomach, arms above head; lift arms and legs off the ground, move arms out to the side and down toward hips/back, squeeze shoulder blades together, keep head up (like a modified breast stroke), return to starting position
• Suitcase crunches (SCcr) - lie on back, hands behind head, legs lifted above the ground; contract abs, lift hips, shoulders and head at the same time (like closing a suitcase) DEMO
• Flutter kicks (Fltrkx) - lie on back, hands under hips for support; raise shoulders off the ground, lift legs and flutter kick legs as you would do when swimming freestyle stroke DEMO
• Mountain climber (MtnC) - From basic pushup position, bring one knee toward your chest and back, alternate legs as rapidly as possible DEMO
• Burpee (BP) - Begin in squat position, hands on floor in front, kick feet back to pushup position, immediately return your feet to a squat position, leap up as high as possible from squat position DEMO
• Gator pushup (GtPU) - From a pushup position, walk your left hand out about a foot in front of your right hand and do a pushup. Now walk your right hand out about a foot in front of your left hand, drag your feet forward, and do another. Reverse the move to walk back to the starting position.
• Pillars (PLR) - Get in a classic push-up position. Instead of placing your hands on the floor, however, rest on your forearms so that your elbows are bent at 90-degree angles. Keeping your head and back straight, hold this position as long as you can.
• Side Plank (SPlnk) - DEMO
• Bicycles (Bicy) - Lie on back, hands behind head. Contract abs, bring right elbow to left knee, alternate.
• Skiers (ski) - Feet together, hop side to side over (imaginary) center dot as fast as possible. DEMO
• Skater (sk8) - Start on one leg, jump sideways onto the other leg, keeping knees slightly bent, and alternate rapidly. DEMO