So, Thanksgiving was pretty much great.
Enjoyed the warmth of Arizona with my family.
Ate a lot of great food.
Didn’t gain any weight (can you say the same?).
I stayed very active on my vacation. Some may call me crazy, but getting away and relaxing in my mind is not synonymous with being lazy (although I certainly kicked back).
Morning workouts with the local crossfit gym, climbing Camelback Mountain, evening walks/jogs, and of course some easy swimming and time in the hot tub rounded out an active but awesome getaway.
We’re back in Iowa now, and right back at it in the gym. (I actually got a workout in about 30 minutes after arriving home. Who needs to unpack anyways?)
Today we trained the lower body in a dynamic effort session. (We being John, Todd, and myself)
The workout went like this:
- Dynamic warm up and mobility
- Banded KB Swings paired with Seated Box Jumps (x6/x3)
- Flying Step Up, Step Up, Glute/Ham Raise tri-set (x3/x6/xMax)
- Furniture Mover Rollouts paired with Side Bends (x10/x10)
- Sandbag Sprint Relay (2x8each)
Highlights of the workout will be included in the video. Our top seated box jump today was 47.5 inches. Not bad. We’re going for 50 next time around.
The furniture mover rollouts is a cool exercise I picked up from the Diesel Crew. You’ll see me using 45 lb plates set on top of the movers. The heavier you go, the tougher it will be to return to the top starting position.
Notice the entire workout is built on ground-based and/or bodyweight movements, with weight added as tolerable. Our focus was on speed of the movements and developing explosive lower body strength – big heavy weights weren’t used.
Even though the weights were lighter, we moved them with great intensity and effort. Just because we didn’t squat or deadlift 500 lbs doesn’t mean we didn’t work the muscles and nervous system hard. Recovery is extremely important after training, especially intense training – whether it be heavy weights or explosive movements.
Check out the video. Send your feedback/questions. Feel free to try any/all of the movements. Just modify the workout to your current level of strength and fitness. Perhaps you don’t have kettlebells or bands – just swing a dumbbell holding securely to one end. Use a shorter box or bench if needed. No glute/ham raise machine? Perform leg curls on a swiss ball or machine for the hamstrings.
Train hard. Have fun. Don’t make excuses. Make yourself better today (in or out of the gym). Just do it!