This one was fun for your legs, so make sure to warm up your lower extremities well before you start. You'll also need a reliable way of keeping time, because you need to take exactly one minute of break between rounds for the step ups. Either way, you will continue to add 2 more reps to all of the exercises every single round. For simplicity's sake, I only wrote the first round, but you'd do 4 reps of each in the second round, 6 reps in the 3rd round, and so on. In terms of a goal, the most anyone finished was the round of 16.
As far as safety goes, just make sure you watch your footing. You're not going to be throwing weight around, but you are going to have dumbbells in your hands as you step onto the platform or as you do step ups. A misstep can mean a twisted ankle, so just watch where you're stepping. Otherwise, it's just a matter of following strict form on the other exercises.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 5 T Push Ups
- 10 upward to downward
- 5 lunge to elbows
- 10 shoulder rolls
WoD
3 rounds of:
- 150 step ups
- 60 seconds of rest
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 12 minutes) of:
- 2 one legged dumbbell step ups (left/right = 2)
- 2 dumbbell lunges (left/right = 2)
- 2 push ups
- 2 V-Ups
- Every subsequent round, add 2 more reps of each exercise
Exercises
- T Push Ups
Drop down in to a push up position, and lower your body until your chest hits the ground. Push your body up off the ground, but as your arms start to get fully extended, lift one of them off of the ground. Rotate your torso towards the side where you lifted the arm, so that you are now facing sideways rather than towards the ground. At the same time, extend the arm you lifted straight up in the air. This is actually where the name comes from: at full extension, your body will make something of a T-shape. Lower your arm and rotate your torso back in to a regular push up position. Repeat this motion by lifting your other arm in to the air to complete a single rep.
- Upward to Downward
This is a lot like a "judo pushup" in reverse, if you've ever heard of that. If you're familiar with yoga at all, the starting position should look like the "upward dog." Regardless, lay face down on the ground and then lift your entire body off the ground by extending your arms, as if you were doing a push up. However, bring your upper body all the way up, so that your chest up faces forward while your lower body is still parallel to the ground. This is the starting position. From there, lower your head and bring it down and in, as if you were trying to bring it to meet your waist. This will naturally force your hips to come up, and you'll end up holding yourself off the ground with a noticeable bend at the waist (your butt will be a bit higher in the air than your chest or lower body). To go back to the starting position, lower your head towards the ground, then lower your chest and bring it forward in the same motion. It's not a straight up and down motion like a regular push up, it's more of an arc. You should also keep your lower body off the ground at all times. Continue the arc by straightening your arms and elevating your torso. When you finish the arc, your torso/chest should be facing forward with your lower body parallel to the ground. All of that is a single rep.
- Lunge to Elbow
This starts like any other lunge: from a standing position. Bring one leg forward in a straight line, and then bend your knees so that both your knees are bent at 90 degrees. The back knee should be close to the ground, and your front knee should be farther forward than your foot (otherwise you're putting undue stress on your knees). One cue that can help some folks is to treat your lunge like you're going straight up and down with your front leg. Your knees don't quite have to touch the ground (you might get burns/scrapes that way), but come as close as you can to that.
Once your lead leg is forward and your knees are bent, reach down with your arms and touch the elbow on the side that's lunging forward to the inside of your calf. If your right leg is forward, touch your right elbow to the inside of your calf. If you can actually reach your elbow to your instep (the side of your foot), do that since that'll make it harder. Try to balance without reaching down your off hand, but if you need to, put your off-hand down on the ground to stabilize yourself. Hold that for a couple of seconds.
Once you've gotten a good stretch out of the lunge, keep both feet where they are, and lean back. Your front leg will be fully extended and straight out, but your back knee will be bent, and you'll be sitting on your back foot. If your right foot is forward, you'd be sitting on your left foot. Since your front foot is still out in front, this pulls on/stretches your hamstring. Hold that for a couple of seconds.
Now you have to do the same thing on the other side to finish the rep. You have to do it once with each leg forward for a single rep (or "left/right = 1"). You can either walk forward, or rotate your body so that you are now facing the direction that used to be behind you. Either way, make sure you do the lunges on both sides.
- Shoulder Rolls
From a standing position, rotate your arm without extending your arm away from you. You're essentially making a windmill of your arm. Do this in both a clockwise and counter-clockwise motion for each arm, so that you fully warm up & stretch the muscles. Most people just do 10 rotations forward with one arm, 10 rotations backward with the same arm, and then they repeat this with the other arm.
- Step Ups
Set up a platform with one riser on each side. Step up onto the platform, one leg at a time, and then come back down one leg at a time. Stepping up with both legs & stepping down with both legs counts as a single rep. The faster you do this, the more it feels like a "quick feet" exercise. Even though it's only 1 riser, make sure you look down as you're doing this. After a while, your legs can feel tired enough where you'll slip if you're not careful.
- One Legged Weighted Step Up
Set up a platform with 5 stackable risers on each side, and grab the two heaviest dumbbells you can hold in your hands. The heaviest I saw anyone use was 30lb dumbbells. Hold the dumbbells at your sides, as if you were carrying a briefcase in each hand. With the weights in position, plant one foot firmly on the platform and use that leg to push yourself up into the air. Your other foot should not actually step onto the platform, you will intentionally leave it in the air. However, you have to fully extend your front leg, so that your knee locks out. This forces your front leg to do the work.
One other cue that can help is to lift the toes of your back foot off of the ground. With your toes in the air, you can't really push off of your back foot. This really emphasizes that the front leg has to do the work, and it helps to work the muscles in the intended way.
This time around, each time you come up and come back down is a single rep (this translates to "right/left = 2"). You can step up with either leg, but remember that the leg that steps up is doing the most work; it's a good idea to alternate which leg steps up onto the platform.
- Weighted Lunges
Hold the weights at your side, one on each side. This is the same basic starting position as the weighted step ups. From a standing position, bring one leg forward in a straight line, and then bend your knees so that both your knees are bent at 90 degrees. Make sure that your front foot is firmly planted on the ground; the heel of your foot should be touching the ground. The back knee should be close to the ground, and your front knee should be directly over your front foot (otherwise you're putting undue stress on your knees).
One cue that can help some folks is to treat your lunge like you're going straight up and down with your back leg. Your knees don't quite have to touch the ground (you might get burns/scrapes that way), but come as close as you can to that.
This time around, every time you bring either leg forward, you get credit for a single rep (we call this "right/left = 2" for short).
- Push Ups
You want your entire body straight/rigid, without a bend at the waist, and you want to maintain this position the whole time. If you start dropping your waist, you're not doing it right. Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and when you come up, make sure your arms are fully extended.
- V-Ups
Lie on your back, putting our hands parallel to the ground "above" your head (if you were standing, they’d be directly over your head). Lift your legs off the ground and bring your torso up at the same time to touch your toes. In essence, your body makes a "V" shape. Go back to lying on your back to finish the rep. Be careful about slamming your legs into the ground when you finish the rep, that can hurt your lower back. Some people call these "jack knives," if that helps at all.
Scale down: Bend your knees as your bring your lower body up. You only have to touch your knees this way
Used 25lb dumbbells, finished round of 12
ReplyDelete