Still finding the time to tell you about the adventures of the past few weeks (wow this is getting embarrassing!!!) BUT in the mean time I’ll share with you a really fun workout from last week. It was first intended as a stand alone for home, then a friend wanted to meet up and just blow off some steam after work with a little “cardio”. Put together this combo is a neat collection of strength/skill practice then a slightly SSST-inspired cardio “finisher”.
Either piece can be a workout on its own, but it was a fun thing to do together. It’s very adjustable depending on what weights are chosen and which pull-up, push-up variations are used. I chose standard pull ups (with the low rep range it was another good opportunity to practice the very high pull ups I’ve been into lately… there’s a devious plan for those btw), and standard push-ups (very strict with feet together). I used a lighter Ultimate Sandbag (the Power shell) since when I use the bigger/heavier one I tend to like to flop it on the floor for that satisfying thump sound… not always appreciated by downstairs neighbors… The kettlebell used for the low rep swings/squats was the 22kg I tend to keep by the couch. For the cardio portion, I walked down to my friend’s house and we did that part outdoors. We used her 12kg kettlebell and 25lb Power Ultimate Sandbag — more about that later.
At home, I started with 5 rounds of the following with as little rest as possible:
- 5 Pull ups
- 10 Push ups
- 10 sandbag snatches*
- 10 kettlebell swings
- 10 DVRT rotational lunges
- 10 kettlebell goblet squats
Over at my friend’s house, I set a timer for a 2min 30sec work set, followed by 30 second rest/walk/swap. We repeated the items below twice to make for a total of 10 minutes work time. There was no slacking. Considering this was a lighter kettlebell and lighter sandbag than would be used for either the DVRT 5 minute clean and press test, or the RKC 5 minute snatch test, we decided to make sure every rep was perfect, that we used the entire 2:30mins full force, full speed, and that we exceeded the rep ranges that would have been required of either test:
- 2:30 Sandbag clean and press (clean to fists, strict press overhead)
- 30 seconds walk, trade sandbag for kettlebell
- 2:30 Kettlebell snatches
- 30 seconds walk, trade kettlebell for sandbag
It was a fun variety thing to do, and considering the weights used were very much sub-max, a good time to work on perfect form over MANY many reps in a short period of time. Looking forward to playing with heavier variations soon.
Originally I had written a little ab circuit to go with it, but totally forgot about it!! Will save that for another day.
*I don’t know why, but there’s something very satisfying about doing DVRT style sandbag snatches, its like you get to fling something from the ground overhead. It’s a powerful feeling movement even with a light bag. Definitely give it a try sometime!!
Speaking of pull ups, the other night Swiss Love, a very cool bar calisthenics athlete posted a neat video combination of a modifed Barbarians routine he put together for a strong lady who showed up to their practice. Even though I’d already done a whole lot of pull ups before shooting this video, I decided to give it a try because it was such a cool sounding combo, you’ll notice I do seem tired. This was shot around midnight when I was in a goofy mood (so what else is new) so I do some silly things in there as well… Am also breaking one of my own rules, I HATE IT when people record video long ways, but did so in this case because I was in the midst of chores and didn’t want you to see all the dishes drying on countertop! LOL!!!!
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