Saturday, March 27, 2010

Workout of the Day:

Superset the following using a single dumbbell (32 kg), resting as needed between sets but not at all between exercises:

Unilateral bench press 12, 12, 12, 12, 12

Weighted pullup 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Rest 30 minutes

5 x 1 minute sets:

200 meter run

AMRAP handstand pushups

Moderate workload today. I was feeling little to no residual soreness from the early week activity when I got up today, leaving me ready and willing to kill it. The strength sets went well, but my single arm press is significantly stronger than my ability to pull with extra weight, hence the 12-5, 12-4, 12-3, etc. Interesting note here: holding a dumbbell between your feet with legs straight beneath you is tough. I could feel the weight pulling all the way into my obliques and transverse abdominus. This leads me to believe it’s more beneficial and certainly more challenging than weighted pull using a belt.

Although the strength sets were challenging, they were fairly low intensity. Such was not the case during the second half of the workout. The distance and time limitations were short enough to encourage sprinting, therefore the heart rate was jacked up immediately. Muscle fatigue was a biggest factor on the runs, believe it or not. My legs felt great during sets 1 and 2, but terrible after that. Hamstrings, calves, quads. All of it was heavy coming down the back stretch. The handstand pushups dropped from 12 the first set to 9 the second, 8 the third, 4 the fourth, and bounced to 6 on the fifth. My total count was 39, which I don’t think is too bad on this. My speed on the 200’s dropped from :26 to :28 to :31, then held at :33 the last two sets. I loved this interval structure because it was short, sharp, and didn’t allow you to dog it during any portion. 1 minute of rest is enough to pull your tail from between your legs, but not enough to really have you standing tall. And, of course, you can do it anywhere with a wall and some space.

I’ve attached a video below.

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