Male Pattern Fitness: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: College Football Preseason Top 25 Rankings

More Nasty, Brutish, and Short Workout Options

Lately I've been throwing in mini-full-body circuits at the end of some of my clients' workouts; they're a great way to squeeze in a final coup de grace in five minutes.  They're also a great option if you're short on time, or if you want to do a cardio workout but would sooner eat broken glass than get on the treadmill again. 

Grif_z-038-1_medium

(Here's a great option, demonstrated by 'Underground' Strength Coach Zach Even-Esh).

 

There are lots of ways to build these little circuits but I go by a few simple guidelines:

1)  Choose 4-6 exercises that you can perform in a circuit.  The less equipment the better.  Put everything all together so you're not running across the gym to get from one station to the next.

2)  Choose 1-2 upper-body moves and/or core moves, 1-2 lower-body moves, and one "finisher" move that creates a high metabolic demand (examples of each are below).

3)  Arrange the exercise stations so that you are alternating upper body/core with lower body/finisher movements.

4)  Perform 20 or 30 seconds of each movement in sequence, going as hard and fast as you can for the entire time.  Rest 10-15 seconds and proceed to the next station. 

5)  Depending on your fitness level, go for anywhere from 4-8 minutes at this pace.  Then take a break.  If you've done it right, this should be about all you can do, but if you're feeling saucy, you can try going through the sequence, or creating a different sequence, up to five times total.  Once you've grooved the movements properly, there should be no sense that you are pacing yourself--it should be all-out the whole time.     

GOOD CIRCUIT EXERCISE OPTIONS:

Upper Body:  Pushups, Reverse Pushups (aka inverted pushups), Alternate Curl and Press, Explosive Pushups/Pushups with feet or hands elevated, Horizontal Ladder (monkey bars; you can also go hand-over-hand from one end to the other on a chinup bar), Med-Ball throwdowns, Med-Ball wall throws, Med-ball overhead passes against a wall

Core:  Bus Drivers, Plank variations (alternate leg lifts, side plank, side plank with upper-body twist), Farmer's Walk variations (one-arm overhead, two arm overhead with barbell or dumbbell), leg-lift holds, lying ball-pass

Lower Body:  Lunge variations (walking, static, dynamic, warrior-style (back leg straight), Bulgarian, overhead), body-weight squat variations (partials, overhead, heels elevated, jumping, isometric holds), plyometric jumps (side to side, up onto platforms of various heights, two leg, one leg). 

Finishers:  Jump rope variations (working up to double unders), sprawls, squat thrust, shuttle run between cones, bear crawl, crab walk.

If you're doing single-limb movements, you have a number of options:  either alternate sides each rep, do one side for one round and one side for the next round, or do one side for half a round and the other side for the second half. 

So one possible sequence might be:  warrior lunge R, warrior lunge L, reverse pushup, body-weight squat, pushup, shuttle run. 

Although I said you should be all-out the whole time, the above sequence will definitely slow you down once you've gone through it a time or two.  The goal is to be pushing at your top effort level throughout, whatever that might be.

Keep a bucket handy.  Have fun. 

******************************************************

Here's an article I wrote for Experience Life magazine, which is the best fitness publication you're not reading.  The article's on core training, and though I wrote it some months ago, I still agree with myself.

 

0 recs  |  Comment 4 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Nice post! This is exactly the sort of metabolic training that I think can stand in very well for boring cardio workouts. In a similar vein, what do you think of barbell complexes?

The linked article on core training is very good. That looks like a interesting magazine, too.

One question: do you have any description or photos of a bear crawl? I’m not sure I’ve actually ever seen that move. Thanks.

by BobParr on Apr 23, 2009 8:19 AM EDT reply actions  

Bob, Jason Ferruggia just posted a video on this yesterday. here’s the link:

http://tinyurl.com/c53flb

Anyone have a link or a description of a Bus Driver?

Mike

by leanbodyfitnesscom on Apr 23, 2009 11:31 AM EDT reply actions  

Check out the exercise called “Anti-Rotational Arc” in the core training article linked above. This is essentially a Bus Driver (for some reason they changed the name after I submitted the article!). You can also do it with a weight plate: hold the plate in front of your navel, close to the body; circle the plate up and around the back of your head while keeping the core tight and the spine aligned. Reverse directions with each rotation.

Barbell Complexes can be useful. They’re certainly exhausting and great for the grip, among other benefits. After some experimentation, however, I find I prefer to super- or giant- set exercises with a load chosen specifically for each exercise rather than using the same weight for each movement in the sequence. With a consistent load, it seems like there’s always some moves that are way too easy and others that are way too hard. That’s my preference, but I know some people swear by them.

What’s your experience with complexes?

by Andrew Heffernan on Apr 23, 2009 7:27 PM EDT reply actions  

I’m not that big into the complexes because quite frankly, I found them boring. But I think you hit onto why i found them boring: the way they are normally set up is that you have to pick a weight you can do for the exercise that you can lift the least. If I’m going to do a front squat, I want it to have more weight than what my subsequent shoulder press. I also found that on some lifts, my form starts to go bad if I don’t have ENOUGH weight. But I like your idea of super or giant size sets where you basically move from one exercise to the other but change the weight you’re using.

by leanbodyfitnesscom on Apr 24, 2009 10:50 AM EDT reply actions  

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to the SB Nation blog about exercise, nutrition, health, and weight control
Start posting on Male Pattern Fitness »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Small
regarding hybrid training
Small
Corporate Fitness?
Q50896_small
Cheap NFL Jerseys, NFL Jerseys, NHL Jerseys, MLB Jerseys, NBA Jerseys.
Small
The Hype Surrounding "Pink Magic"
Small
Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

SBNation.com Recent Stories

Colorado Rockies' Carlos Gonzalez, left, and Ubaldo Jimenez, right, celebrate in the dugout after Gonzalez hits his second home run of the game in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field in Denver on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010. The Rockies won 6-1. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

Five Numbers: Carlos Gonzalez's Home Dominance, Baseball's Wave Of Flamethrowers, And More

Philadelphia Phillies' Chase Utley, right, celebrates his grand slam against the Colorado Rockies with teammates, from left, Ben Francisco, Jimmy Rollins and Brian Schneider in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Denver on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. The Phillies won 12-11. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

Phillies Post Nine-Run Seventh Inning, Hold On In Narrow Defeat Of Rockies

Detroit Tigers' Don Kelly (32) is congratulated in the Tigers' dugout after hitting a solo home run off Minnesota Twins pitcher Scott Baker during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Olmscheid)

Tigers, Twins Blow Series Of Opportunities, Gerald Laird Wins It In 13th

More from SBNation.com >


Managers

Westside_select_2_small Lou Schuler

Photo_125_small Andrew Heffernan