I played in a little King of the Beach Volleyball Tournament on Sunday and played well enough to win. The guys I played with play a lot more than me and many of them have better skills, the big difference is that they don't train like I/we do. While they are great players they lack fitness. Train like an athlete and good things will happen! If you have the skills AND you train hard you will be a force.

Here are a couple of workouts to get your June headed in the right direction:

Wareing's Gym Workout of the Week = 3 rounds for time

Dynamax (20 for men, 14 for women) - 10 wall balls, 10 side tosses, 10 sit-up throws, 10 drop push-ups. 10 pull-ups. One minute on the arm bike level 12. Three minutes on the treadmill incline 21%, 3.0 mph.

Memorial Day Special

500 meters on the rower

3 sets - DB Push Press x 6, Ring Pull-ups x 10, Side Lunge w/Tubing twists x 10 each side.

1 mile on stationary bike, level 12

3 sets - Wall Balls x 10, Seated Rows x 8, side plank w/ top leg raise x 15 each side

1/3 mile on Stairmaster

3 sets - One Arm Overhead kettlebell lunges x 10 each side, One Arm DB row w/ no support x 10 each, Medicine Ball sit-up/leg raise (alternate legs) x 15 each side

1/3 mile run

I have recently seen a few videos on You Tube by a local guy performing some amazing workouts. Muscle-ups and heavy powercleans during one circuit and Pull-ups and TRX rows while wearing some freakin heavy chains around his neck. I have to say that it's impressive. Unfortunately, about 90% of the people in the real world can't do what he does. While I think it's a great thing to constantly push the envelope on fitness and strength, sometimes we just need some basics that everyone can do - the building blocks. I always say that people get hurt in the gym because they fail to follow a logical progression: "I have no upper body strength but I think I want to try and perform 100 kipping pull-ups!".

Excuse me for shifting gears but here are Monday and Tuesday's workouts. Monday I was short for time and I wanted to get a good sweat while working on some power so I settled on some Power Endurance Circuits. Tuesday was some good ol' fashioned strength training:

Monday - 1) Hang Clean x 6/Weight Vest Box Jump x 6/Dynamax Standing Overhead Toos x 10 for three sets

              2) Split Jerk x 6/Weight Vest Explosive Step-up x 6 each leg/Barbell Roll-puts x 10 for three sets

              3) Kettlebell Swing x 8/Dynamax Squat Jump x 8/Chin-ups x 20 (Yes I kipped!)

Tuesday - 1) Flat Bench Press x 6,6,4,2 (increase weight each set)/RDL x 8/Oblique Body Blade x 1 min

               2) Weighted Dips x 8/Single Leg RDL x 8 each leg/Physioball Crunches (resisted with weight stack)

               3) DB Kick Backs x 10/Shoulder Series x 7 each (3 way)

Stay Fit!

Chris

I took a shot at one of Racheal's Crossfit Momentum Workout of the Day. It did a thorough job of kicking my ass:

3 rounds for time - 3 rope climbs, 10 Frog Jump Burpees, 20 Dynamax Slams, 30 TRX Pikes, 40 Overhad squats (45 bar), 30 Push-ups, 20 Double Unders, 10 Dips, 3 Heavy Bag Drags

If you want to test your mettle, check out one of the Crossfit Momentum classes at Wareing's Gym, schedules are available here: http://wareingsgym.com/calendar.php

Talk to you soon, Chris

I started the week with two pretty good, fairly intense workouts. Yesterday my buddy Kevin and I got started with two rounds of Kettlebell Swings x 10/Box Jumps x 10/Wall Ball x 10/Band Sweeps x 20. Then we moved on to two rounds of Single Arm KB Snatch x 6 each side/Dynamax Twisting Shot Put into the wall x 8 each side/Band-Resisted Physioball Crunches x 20. Strength work was next with 4 rounds of seated rows x 6/6/5/4 (increasing load each set) with 15 physioball hamstring curls and a 1 minute prone plank on the ball. Our finisher was a 1 minute stationary bike sprint/alternating DB Curl and Press x 10 each/15 push-ups on the DB's/24 sit-ups = not a bad day's work.

Today I was by myself and the workout went like this:

4 Sets - Hang Clean x 6/5/5/4

3 Sets - Trap Bar Deadlift x 6/DB Incline Press x 6/Overhead MB toss and sit-up

2 Sets - 3 x 50 yard sprint/Dip-Knee up combo x 15/Knee to opp elbow x 12 each 

Boxing and rowing is on tap for tomorrow. Oh, I almost forgot. Mr. Fitness and I are on a one month diet "tune-up":

No alcohol Sunday through Thursday. No Red Meat. No Sugar/Sweets/Soda/etc. No carbs after lunch (pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.). Fat-Free Dairy only (except a little 2% cheese on my sandwich). All the fruits and veggies you want.

Giving up my one Coke a day has been the toughest but I think I can give them up for good. I'll let you know how it goes.

Stay Fit

Chris

If you don't get it already, make sure you sign-up for the newsletter. This month I'm going to wax poetically about the lost science of strength training. I'm mean less than 6 reps, 0ver 90% of your 1 rep max, gettin after it strength training. It seems like every workout I see lately is an endurance contest. I've made it a personal mission to bring real strength training back to the people. Here was a little strength/power sesson I had today.

Hang Clean x 5/4/3/3 (loads = 135/155/165/165), 3 minute rest between sets

Weighted pull-ups (45 plate) 4 x 5 w/ RDL's 3 x 8 (165) and Weighted Physio Crunches  3 x 20

Finished with 500 meters on the rower in 1:45. Would have thrown a few more ex's in but ran out of time. Strength = longer recovery = less ex's!

Peace Out

Chris

All I have heard the past few weeks is "I have to get into a bikini/bathing suit very soon!". Well, you don't have any time to spare. With that in mind, check out the Workouts page for three brand new workouts I just wrote for a good friend of mine.

You guys all know I have mixed emotions when it comes to Crossfit. I think it's a great way to improve your fitness if used in moderation and in conjuncton with other modalities. However, if you just want to get your ass kicked, it's tough to beat. Our girl Racheal has been doing a great job of bringing Crossfit to Wareing's Gym. If you are interested you should try one of her daily Crossfit classes. This is how she punished me Friday:

      For Time:

     30 Handstand Push-Ups/40 pull-ups/50 Kettlebell Swings/60 Sit-ups/70 Burpees

It sucked!!!! But it had the desired effect, got my butt kicked in under twenty minutes.

Till next time.  Chris

I ate and ate and ate yesterday, Easter is right up there with the other big-eating holidays. Had to work it off today, here's how I did it:

3 Sets

One Arm KB Swing x 6 each arm/One Arm KB Squat Press x 6 each arm

One Arm Assisted Pull-ups x 6-8 each arm

One Leg TRX (or Physioball) Pikes x 8 each leg

* 1/4 mile run *

3 Sets

One Arm Rotational DB Press on Physioball x 8 each arm

One Arm Squat Row w/ Cable x 8 each arm

Med Ball Sit-ups x 12 each arm

* 3 minute hill climb on bike *

A little heavy lifting on tap for tomorrow, boxing with the boys on Wednesday (maybe a little sprinting outside!!!)

Peace out

Chris

Chris

I used this ten minute workout to finish off my clients this week.

With a ten minute running clock, complete as many rounds of the following circuit  you can:

20 Squats, 10 Burpees, 15 situps

Enjoy!