Tag: bootcamp

R9D41-3 – Bootcamp 2.8.2 Bodyweight And The Week That Wasn’t

I had big plans to exercise every day last week but as it worked out with Valentines and other interruptions it was actually a disappointing week. After bootcamp on Wednesday I ended up taking Thursday off, doing an RKC workout on Friday and then yesterday doing P90X Kenpo for a laugh. I am sure my Firstbeat Athlete coach will have my intensity below the acceptable line for the week which means I have to work extra hard starting on Monday which is also Family Day and my Birthday. The bodyweight workout was almost another carbon copy because like I have already said once, we are hitting our stride with workouts that we are all enjoying trying to master. So the bodyweight bootcamp for this week was not full of surprises, just hard work. In contrast my RKC workout was something I haven’t done in a while and it was refreshing to get that work done, and by the same token, doing Kenpo for the first time in weeks or maybe even months was great. I know I loved Kenpo then during the P90X program I started to loathe it but for a day when you want a light cardio workout and want it to go by quickly then Kenpo is ideal. Almost every time I think I want to have a light day I will go with Kenpo, I mean I am not going to go with any kind of yoga am I?!

Here, just for reference is the workout.

10 regular pushups
10 military pushups
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side raise
10 pullups

10 air squats reg
10 lunge no step
10 1 leg squat knee raise
10 air squats half bounce
10 pullups

20 in and out row
20 roll to boat hold
20 bicycle with leg extension
20 arms up in and out
20 pullups

10 pushup
10 clap pushup
10 plyo pushup
10 pushup side raise toe touch
10 pullups

ONTO BOXES AGAINST WALL

10 dips legs bent
10 dips legs straight
10 dips one leg raised
10 leg lifts

10 dips legs bent
10 dips legs straight
10 dips one leg raised
10 leg lifts

regular pushups 10 decline 10 incline
military pushups 10 decline 10 incline
sphinx to plank step or drop 10 decline 10 incline
pushup side raise 10 decline 10 incline

20 Crunchy Frog
20 superman banana with vsnap
20 laying triple bicycles
20 full situps

10 walk in to hip raise
10 shoulder hip raise
10 shoulder hold hip raise leg up
10 hip raise alternating arm reach
10 hip raise single shoulder to foot touch

R9D39/40 – X2 Shoulders + Arms Plus Bootcamp 2.8.1 (Cardio)

This was my second time doing the shoulders and arms workout and I have to admit I am disappointed that the arms workout doesn’t include any dips. For myself, I find dips to be second only to close grip bench for building massive tricep strength. The fixation that Tony has with tricep extensions is annoying for me. So I usually replace the ineffective tricep extensions with dips on my home made dip station which wobbles like crazy and in doing so creates all sorts of minor muscle fatigue that you just can’t beat. I think it cost me about $20 to build and I love it! Other than the frustration with the triceps and the fact that this workout is basically P90X shoulders and arms standing on one leg, I quite enjoy it.

Monday brought more pain in the form of Cardio Bootcamp. I had taken Sunday off knowing that I will be working out probably 5 or 6 days this week and so I was ready to fire on all cylinders when Monday evening rolled around. I had added and modified the workout a little and had planned for this to be the toughest bootcamp so far. When I think back to how we started I am so proud of the participants in my group. We came from a small room doing 21 movements to working out on a full floor with Olympic weights and stability balls and medicine balls and cranking out 52 movements in the same hour long class. This was by far the toughest cardio workout we have done, and it looked like this:

Bootcamp 2.8.1 – Cardio

2x section
10 SB burpee lift ball
20 SB plank run
10 SB pushup boing
20 SB elbow plank run
10 SB plank jacks

2x section
20 hit the floor
10 Suicides
16 log jump 4x one direction
20 in and out abs

2x section
8x burpee with jump half half
16 log jump 8x one direction
5 horse stance jacks with pulse (4+8)
10 vsnaps

2x section
3 suicide lines with run back (1,2,3)
3 suicide lines with run back with pancake
3 suicide lines with run back with pancake tuck jump
10 ski abs to finish

2x section
10 frog jumps
10 frog jump half
10 tuck jump
10 tuck jump half
20 plank jacks
10 plank jacks with in and out

Bonus leg burners

10 squats
8 squat 2 tuck
6 squat 4 tuck
4 squat 6 tuck
2 squat 8 tuck
10 tuck jumps

Catching Up

R9 D33 – Bootcamp was supposed to be cardio butI switched it for bodyweight instead. It was a repeat of the last bodyweight class we did (2.5.2)
Thursday off
R9D34 – Friday at the gym we did a big mashup of wallball, plate stacking, cleans, clean and press, strict press, burpees and pretty much anythign else I could think of including pullups
R9D35 – X2 Chest Back and Balance to make up for the accidental day 1 of phase 2
Sunday off
R9D36 – Bootcamp 2.6.1 Cardio – A tough one, we retook the test from the last cardio day and switched the order. It’s a killer.
Tuesday off – sick with something but not Lupus, it’s  never Lupus 
R9D37 – Bootcamp 2.6.2 Weights. There were almost tears, but we repeated the last class because to be honest we are really hitting our stride now with the workouts, they are tough, varied and manageable. Still, the ladies have a long way to go to get to 100% and that’s how it should be.

 

 

 

Bootcamp 2.6.2

With blocks and med balls and db

standing, straight leg on block, leg raise to hip
same but backwards for butt
same each side

EVERYTHING 20 x2
pushup
shoulder push up
box dip
side reach with db
laying leg raise
full situp
pullups

military
side front row with db
db/mb straight arm twist
arx bicycles
weighted crunch
pullups

pushup side arm balance
arm straight ball pass side to side shoulder height
laying side crunch
leg lift with bum raise
full crunch arms up with weight
pullups

high plank knee to elbow cross
russian twists with weight
laying bicycles with hold
legs up reach alternate
pulse 50 crunch

pushup arm balance toe touch
dog raise leg kick
dog raise back forehead to kick out
plank spider no pushup
insanity in and out with run 4/8

TGU to hip raise no stand
same with foot on block
(feet on block)
hips up raise
hips up leg up
hips up twist
hips up elbow to knee switch

R9D31&32 – Bootcamp Weights Plus Finally A Gap Day Workout (Plyocide)

<– Plyocide depth charge alternate, step up then step into tuck jump.

Bootcamp this week was poorly attended but nevertheless it was a tough one using 35lb plates in addition to the 8lb med balls. This was only the second time the participants had been able to move heavy weight around and I think it went well. This is what was involved:

Spin row warm up

20 air squats
20 step switch
10 each lunge up switch
20 each weighted calf raise
10 each lunge back leg up
pullups

add med ball

20 air squats
20 step switch
10 each lunge up switch
20 each weighted calf raise
10 each lunge back leg up
pullups

add plate

20 air squats
20 step switch
10 each lunge up switch
20 each weighted calf raise
10 each lunge back leg up
pullups

Abs – 25-15-10 free-med-plate

in and out
bicycles
full situp
russian twist

Shoulder 15 with med ball

halos
weighted box dip
upright row
box dip left leg up
shoulder front fly
box dip right leg up

Shoulder 10 with plate

halos
weighted box dip
upright row
weighted box dip
shoulder front fly
weighted box dip

Abs – 25-15-10 free-med-plate

in and out
bicycles
full situp
russian twist

Bonus Round

Pushups with plate on back – Mostly failed
Squat half bounce 20 with mb
Squat half bounce 10 with plate

It seems like a lot, but it went pretty fast. We did go overtime but only because we had to wait for the ladies to arrive in the snow.

Last night I decided to be good to my word for the week and try not to take off the day between my bootcamp classes which will make today the third workout in a row of fairly high intensity. I did plyocide last night and the one thing that came out of it was my realization that you don’t need a plyo box to do the depth charge move.

Tony has you step up onto a plyo box, jump down and explode up into a straight jump. Since I have 8 foot ceilings and no plyo box (even if I did I wouldn’t be able to use in inside) I have to modify this and I have found a perfect replacement. Instead of skipping the move completely, if you start on your knees you can step up to standing (alternating each leg) and it’s just like you are stepping up onto a box, then I perform a tuck jump just to stick it to Tony and his straight jumps. It’s a little harder, takes some balance but it’s a great substitution.

R9D28 – Bootcamp 2.5.2 – Bodyweight

Bootcamp was a fun time last night, another piece of hard work but some stuff we haven’t done in a while specifically some hip raises forhamstrings which left my hammies screaming. The big news though was one of my girls sprained her ankle on bars, luckily it should be fine but there were tears that’s for sure. Fortunately we are far enough from competition that I think it will be a non issue.

Here is the workout:

10 regular pushups
10 military pushups
10 sphinx to plank step or drop
10 pushup side raise
10 pullups

10 air squats reg
10 2 way lunge front and side
10 1 leg squat knee raise
10 air squats half bounce
10 pullups

20 in and out row
20 roll to boat hold
20 bicycle with leg extension
20 arms up in and out
20 pullups

10 pushup
10 clap pushup
10 plyo pushup
10 pushup side raise toe touch
10 pullups

ONTO BOXES AGAINST WALL

10 dips legs bent
10 dips legs straight
10 dips one leg raised
10 leg lifts

regular pushups 10 decline 10 incline
military pushups 10 decline 10 incline
sphinx to plank step or drop 10 decline 10 incline
pushup side raise 10 decline 10 incline

20 Crunchy Frog
20 superman banana with vsnap
20 laying triple bicycles
20 full situps
10 shoulder hip raise
10 shoulder hold hip raise leg up
10 hip raise alternating arm reach
10 hip raise single shoulder to foot touch

 

R9D27 – Bootcamp 2.5.1 Cardio

<— That’s how a cardio workout should end, not stepping off the treadmill with your magazine and your bottle of water with a slight glow to your face…

Today’s bootcamp was gruelling. Sometimes I think of things that sound like fun without really realizing just how difficlut it is goin got be especially when combined with the rest of the workout. I realized after 3 of the sections today that this was a killer workout. It’s exactly what I want and what I want for them but man it was tough. I have also come to realize that the movements that exist in P90X2 are in version 2 for a reason, because they are tough. Seeing my group struggle to complete stability ball work is a real eye opener, and I realize now that you need an enormous amount of strength or coordination or both to make the stability ball workouts work for you. Fortunately I can simplify it for them but I am amazed at how hard they found the balance portion at the end of the night.

D8 – 2.5.1 Cardio and abs

Bike warmup 30×5 with 10 rest or row 1000m

2x section
20 alt toe touch suicide
10 Suicides
20 switch kicks
20 in and out abs

2x section
4x 8Jump rope with 4jump half turn
10x 8 sprint 4 switch lunge
10 stance jacks (foot touch)
10 vsnaps

2x section
5x long jump run back – single double triple repeat
20 side to side hopjump with squat foot touch
10 2 line forward and back suicides with pancake
10 ski abs

2x section
5 burpee
5 burpee with 4 run
5 burpee with 4 run and 4 in and out
20 plank jacks
10 plank jacks with in and out

1x section
10 SB burpee
10 SB run around
10 SB pushup boing
10 SB face around
10 SB sphinx to plank rollup
10 SB Mountain climber
10 SB Shoulder hamstring roll in

R9D24 – Bootcamp 2.4.2 – Taking It Up A Notch

It was weights day at bootcamp and I thought it was about time I introduced the gang to the barbell and some olympic style lifts. Maybe I was being a little too ambitious but I figure if Crossfit gyms all over the nation can teach this stuff to people who are ill prepared and occasionally ill equipped physically then I should be able to get my (already fit) bootcamp peeps to do it. I also wanted to get some kettlebell style swinging with dumbbells (since we don’t have actual kettlebells) into the workout schedule since it’s a great full body workout as I regularly say.

The workout looked something like this:

x10x2
Double Curls
Double Press
Dips
Squat high pull
chin ups

x10x2
Alt curls
alt press
dips
swings
chin ups

x10x2
db high pull
db clean
db clean and press
pullups

x10x2
bb deadlift
bb clean
bb clean and press
pullups

x10x2
Laying chest fly and press
Laying chest pullover 2 way
Shoulder fly side to front
Shoulder fly front to row
pullups

Each section could be performed with barbell or dumbbell but it was the teaching of the simple clean that had most people stumbling. I guess there are 2 factors here, one that pulling  a weight viciously towards your chin is perturbing for some and second that being a woman probably makes the move a little more difficult to master given the “obstacles”. They seemed to pick up the dumbbell swings OK however my comfort level with that particular move using dbs is not high. I would far prefer to get a set of 5 25lb kbs and do it that way, but I am not sure if the gym is willing to pick up the tab for that quite yet!

Since it is winter here and the temperature in my garage has been below freezing for some time now my olympic lifting has taken a far away back seat so after class I took a few minutes for myself and threw some 45’s on the bar and did the following:

10 Deadlift
10 Power Clean
10 Strict Press
10 Power Clean and Press

It has been a while since I did these movements together so I was a little wobbly, also I don’t usually do that much weight, since I typically do more reps but I was happy to crank out what I did especially given it was after a bootcamp class and I was nursing an already sore shoulder. Sad as it may sound for someone of my size but those were all PRs for those lifts since I started making notes on it over a year ago. I am fine with the notion that I may never deadlift 500lbs, my head is no longer 100% in that space and although it is hard to let go of the demon inside I think I have a much stronger muzzle on him now. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the gym.

R9D23 – Bootcamp 2.4.1 – Bodyweight With Pullups (Monsters…)

The workout was followed by some degree of disappointment by a couple of my kids. They claimed it was not hard enough regardless of the fact that last week they felt the same but it took them 4 days to get their legs to work properly following our leg workout. I guess we will see on Wednesday how they feel about it. Maybe they are monsters in the gym, maybe…

The workout looked like this, since it was bodyweight day.

Legs x20x2
air squat
back lunge front kick
Squat side reach
Hip flexor burners – knee, extend, pulse

Absx20x2
in and out
rowing frog
rollback hold
side to side scissor
hanging leg raise

torsox10x2
pushups
plank right foot left hand
wide leg prone fall to push back
pullups or rack pullup

legs 10x
warrior 3 to lunge
warrior 3 to squat
warrior 3 to knee touch
hanging leg raise

torso
plank 360 spin x 4
pushup side balance leg raise x 10
crown shoulder press x10
elbow, plank, shoulder touch, clap and back x10

As is the norm at this point, the pullups took an inordinate amount of time, keeping the class on track is tough, but necessary to develop true strength through the back and upper torso. I am a staunch believer in chin ups as the holy grail of upper back strength.

R9D20 – Death By Bootcamp Cardio

The bootcamp cardio this week was a bear. I often forget that I am going to have to participate and half way through the class this week I was regretting it. Not only that, we went so quickly that I almost ran out of the workout on the sheet! I had modified a couple of moves from the plan and the real workout went like this:

Spin warmup – 10-20-30-40-50 x2

or 500m row x2

heels
knees
jacks
123’s

Jump rope side to side 30
Ski down 30
Llunge switch 30
Med ball mtn climbers x40

Med ball run around 5+5
Med ball circle 5+5
Med ball toe touch 360 x4
Med ball plank plyo touch x20

Med ball mary katherines x20
Med ball hop over line x2
Med ball hop touch line x2
Plank or elbow jacks x30

Hit the floor x20
Frog jumps x20
Suicide 3 x20
Jab cross x20
Hook uppercut x20
Jab cross hook uppercut x20

Belt kicks x20
Switch kicks with lunge switch 8’s x10
Step back lunge x20
Level 1 drill pushup burpee with running x10

In and outs 20
Weighted Russian twists 20
Boat roll back 10
Weighted Russian twists 20
Plank side reach under with leg raise 10 per side

I think the plank reaches at the end almost killed everyone. Not enough that they were out of gas by the plank jacks but once they made it through the switch kicks and the level 1 drills I think they were just glad to lay down. Not for long though, I don’t think anyone even managed to keep their hips off the ground for the duration of the reaches even without a leg raise added in.

I guess that’s why it’s bootcamp though, it’s meant to be hard, it’s meant to be brutal and not something you are supposed to “get used to”.