The smile muscles, the only ones that haven't been exhausted
This morning we had the first Cardio day of the current Boot Camp. We kicked off with the fitness test that we repeat on the last day and then launched into the regular cardio day workout.
It’s a tough session, designed around building mental strength and work capacity. It has the bonus of being an extremely powerful way of burning fat. Basically we run around the block (approx 90 – 120seconds) then perform an extended set of bodyweight / kettlebell drills.
Mixing the bodyweight drills with the running makes this far more taxing on the body than simply running, a 15 minute run would be a piece of cake. Breaking the run up meant the temptation to run faster was there, so when it came to the strength oriented drill you were blowing hard and had to recover while working.
Think about how this would apply in the real world. You just fought off a mugger and now you have to run to safety…. You’ve just sprinted the length of the pitch and face a line of defenders to beat…. You’re in the ring and the seconds are ticking down, suddenly he drops his guard…
These are all genuine scenarios that this style of “cardio” can help you deal with. It’s as close to sports specific (I hate that phrase) you get without doing the sport or activity. It mentally prepares you to hit those few extra reps even when fatigued, believe me after 3 exercise mixed with 3 runs, that 4th one is a daunting task, especially if you’ve pushed hard at the beginning.
But wouldn’t you like to know that you’re able for it, that you’ve trained for it and look good doing it?
Usually we split the group in two, one goes out running while the other performs the drill until they get back. Today looked like this:
Run Hindu Push Ups Run Farmers Walk (with either 16 or 32kg kettlebells) Run Bodyweight Rows Run Hindu Squat
This took approx 15minutes. The entire session, including warm up, test, workout and cool down was over in under an hour.
Regards
Dave
Next Kettlebell Workshop: 17th October – Level 3, Snatch & Jerk
Next Boot Camp commences 15th November – This will be the last Boot Camp until February 2011
Email for more details (info@wildgeesema.com)