WORKOUT

Focus & Ben­e­fits: This rel­a­tive­ly straight­for­ward strength rou­tine con­tains a mix of tra­di­tion­al weight­ed and unweight­ed exer­cis­es (with a sprin­kle of a few fun alter­na­tives) to effi­cient­ly over­load the mus­cles dur­ing one con­ve­nient work­out ses­sion. The over­all for­mat­ting and sequenc­ing of the rou­tine increas­es mus­cle time under ten­sion, chal­leng­ing you to main­tain a heavy weight load (for you) as sim­i­lar mus­cle groups are con­tin­u­ous­ly con­tract­ed for extend­ed peri­ods of time. Fol­low­ing the longer six-exer­cise cir­cuits with a short­er three-exer­cise ​“burnout” cir­cuit, keep­ing the focus on one major sec­tion of the body at a time (low­er body then upper body), and alter­nat­ing weight­ed ver­sus body­weight exer­cis­es with­in a cir­cuit are all for­mat­ting fea­tures that increase the over­all dif­fi­cul­ty of this seem­ing­ly sim­ple total body routine.

Equip­ment: Bring along your mod­er­ate­ly heavy and heavy weight selec­tions rel­a­tive to the low­er body and upper body exer­cis­es includ­ed in this work­out. Remem­ber that the ​“heavy weight” selec­tions for your low­er body are often not the same as those that you would use for your upper body exer­cis­es. Pri­or to start­ing your work­out, set­up your work­out space with a range of eas­i­ly acces­si­ble weight options.

Tips & Help­ful Infor­ma­tion: Your weight choic­es (heavy ver­sus lighter weight selec­tions) can be mod­i­fied to reflect cur­rent train­ing goals and needs; there­fore, this work­out is an eas­i­ly mod­i­fi­able addi­tion to your reg­u­lar train­ing reg­i­men regard­less of your train­ing focus. Select your heav­ier weight options if your focus is build­ing strength/​bumping up your weight loads. Alter­na­tive­ly, opt for your lighter/​moderate weight loads for a strength main­te­nance rou­tine or if you’re using this rou­tine to com­ple­ment oth­er pri­ma­ry train­ing goals (car­dio­vas­cu­lar endurance, spe­cif­ic sports per­for­mance, etc.).

Dif­fi­cul­ty & Mod­i­fi­ca­tions Explained: Although most of the exer­cis­es in this rou­tine are stan­dard low­er and upper body moves, there are a few vari­a­tions that are more com­plex and require a greater degree of total body strength than their more straight­for­ward alter­na­tives. Revert to the mod­i­fied ver­sions of these exer­cis­es to cre­ate more of a lev­el 3 train­ing effort. As always, all plank exer­cis­es can be com­plet­ed on a sta­ble inclined sur­face to reduce pres­sure on the wrists/​upper body. Decreasing/​omitting your weights and reduc­ing your range of motion on any exer­cise can also decrease the over­all dif­fi­cul­ty of the workout.

Clos­ing Notes: Take your time with each exer­cise – you have plen­ty of time to zero in on your form and chal­lenge your­self with heav­ier weight loads (if lift­ing heavy is a goal for you!). You can also cel­e­brate the fact that the fin­ish­er is only one minute long (this time around).

Work­out
Warm-Up: 45 sec per exer­cise, no rest between exer­cis­es (7:30)
‑Knee Hug + Quick Quads Stretch (alter­nat­ing)
‑Zom­bie March
‑Bot­tom Pause Chest Open­er Squat
‑Inch­worm + Up-Dog + Down-Dog
‑SL Glute Bridge Marches
−1÷2 Rollup
‑Quadruped: Hip CARs – R
‑Quadruped: Hip CARs – L
‑Runner’s Lunge + Tor­so Rota­tion (“World’s Great­est Stretch”; alternating)
‑Jump Rope

***30 sec off***

My Weights (not a rec­om­men­da­tion, just a reference):
‑Low­er Body: 30 – 40 lbs. (13.6 – 18.1 kg)
‑Upper Body: 15 – 30 lbs. (6.8 – 13.6 kg)

Low­er Body Cir­cuit #1: 45 sec on / 15 sec off / 2 rounds (~12:00)
‑Reverse Lunge – R
-(Body­weight) Pen­du­lum Lunges – R
‑Reverse Lunge – L
-(Body­weight) Pen­du­lum Lunges – L
‑Dead­lift (RDL)
-(Body­weight) Puls­ing Calf Rais­es (top half of range of motion)

***30 sec off***

Low­er Body Cir­cuit #2: 30 sec on / 15 sec off / 1 round (2:00)
‑Nar­row Squat
-(Body­weight) Bot­tom ½ Puls­ing Squat
‑Front Squat

***Water Break***

Upper Body Cir­cuit #1: 45 sec on / 15 sec off / 2 rounds (~12:00)
‑Arnold Presses
‑SA Low Row – R (stag­gered stance)
-(Body­weight) SA Full Plank – R
‑SA Low Row – L (stag­gered stance)
-(Body­weight) SA Full Plank – L
‑Chest Flies

***30 sec off***

Upper Body Cir­cuit #2: 30 sec on / 15 sec off / 1 round (2:00)
‑Kneel­ing Biceps Curls (option: curl in stand­ing position)
-(Body­weight) Bot­tom ½ Puls­ing Tri­ceps Push-Up
‑Kneel­ing Ham­mer Curls (option: curl in stand­ing position)

***15 sec off***

Fin­ish­er: 60 sec on / 1 round
-(Body­weight) Fore­arm Plank

Cool-Down: approx. 30 sec per stretch (approx. 5:00)
‑Cat/​Cow Stretch
‑Down-Dog + Up-Dog
‑Half Pigeon Stretch – R
‑Half Pigeon Stretch – L
‑Kneel­ing Quads/​Hip Flex­ors Stretch + OH Reach – R
‑Kneel­ing Quads/​Hip Flex­ors Stretch + OH Reach – L
Remain on the mat/​seated
‑Cross­body Shoul­der Stretch – R
‑Cross­body Shoul­der Stretch – L
‑Chest Open­er Stretch
‑Tree Hug