This week I created two different “10 round” workouts for two different people–at two different levels and who have different sets of challenges. Then of course after seeing how well they both did, and while remembering how much fun I have with these types of things, I had to do one too!
10 round workouts are a funny thing, and I like them a lot. Completing them results in both a good use of time and a sense of accomplishment. While not everyone is ready to do them, they’re great to use for intermediate to advanced students/small groups/classes. For those still building up their capacity for intensity, endurance and power generation, going for 5 rounds and then a rest before either continuing or moving on to something else can also be extremely effective.
The other day, as evidenced in the video below, I was attempting to do a couple of things. I wanted to work out but was short on time, wanted to try livestreaming from the backyard again, and really wanted to make sure I had a good appetite for dinner. A 10 round workout is fantastic for that.
Here’s what I did in the video below (the live stream had a lot of connection issues, so I edited a LOT of those out for you–unfortunately this resulted in some skips and jumps where the reps just don’t add up.) Thankfully the little “bonus move” at the beginning (doing pullups on a dowel threaded through a single gymnastic ring) mostly came through. I need to get a better stick for that since a wider grip would be an insane–and insanely fun–challenge.
After a fairly intense mobility warm up (done indoors… there were bugs)
I simply went through the following combination 10 times with as little rest as sanely possible–while also ensuring that every rep was a good rep. Otherwise, really what’s the point?
- 10 26kg kettlebell swings (it was closest to my front door for some reason)
- 6 Spiderman Push-ups
- 10 Tire flips
I find that depending on how much time is available (and the conditioning of the workout’s intended participants), that doing 2-5 different exercises per round seems to work best–while keeping the rep ranges low to preserve good form.
If I’ve had a rough day and just want to smash something, well, ten rounds of the following is a very reliable attitude adjuster for me. While it might not solve the problem, afterwards I am usually too worn out and flooded with endorphins to care for a little while.
- 10 48kg kettlebell swings
- 5 Medium to heavy tire flips
Ten rounds yields an impressive 100 solid swings with the “beast” kettlebell and 50 tire flips – both of which, when performed correctly, are great power and power endurance builders. Depending on the tire, this could result in many near-max effort flips. I need a heavier tire than the one you see in the video below, I like it for teaching others and for “high rep” grinds like 10 rounds of 10 flips but I’d be happier with a heavier tire, more power generation and fewer overall reps to be honest.
As for the workout in the video, the Spiderman push-ups were chosen as much as a “time to flatten out my hands” as they were for doing actual push-ups. This is a great way to prepare for flipping the tire next, then of course gripping the kettlebell again in the next round.
Do you like to do workouts that have a LOT of sets? Did you try one of these or a variation? Leave a comment!
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