I believe everyone is an athlete. The same principles that professional athletes train under apply to the average person. But we always like to add some spice and fun to the mix.
Functional training and strong nutrition habits are important for every person so they feel powerful inside and outside the gym. This workout is based on power and strength with some hard conditioning at the end. The idea is to be as efficient with your time in the gym as possible, and with proper nutrition, achieve maximum results.
I love this workout for its use of athletic movement, body weight, strength, power and anaerobic conditioning. It is versatile both in the gym or outside on a fall day, all you need is a dumbbell or kettle bell and a jump rope.
Warm-up
Skipping for 2 minutes with 1 minute rest to complete:
- 10 Scapular push-ups (to warm the shoulder girdle).
- Plank walk 1 minute. Push up from a low plank to a high plank one hand at a time then back down and repeat.
The Workout
1. Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch
- 8 repetitions on each side
Snatches are an explosive full-body strength exercise that require core activation, proper hip placement at the bottom and a stable shoulder at the top. Use a weight that is challenging, but one that allows you to maintain proper form. Let the dumbbell down carefully with proper core tension to avoid hurting the lower back.
2. Broad Jump
- 3 x 30 seconds
Long jump is all about hip extension. Starting on the heels with hips back, propel the hips forward, swinging the arms behind the body and landing in a controlled low squat. The broad jump uses lower body power and hip extension through a different plane than the snatch. Continue jumping across one floor length. This will get your heart rate up so take a recovery jog back to move some of that lactic acid burn away from the quads. If space is limited, simply jump as far as possible, turn around and jump back. This can also be done as a box jump 20 inches or higher.
Photo: Michele Mateusseptem3. Hand Release Push-up
- 8-10 repetitions
A full and technical push-up is often skipped for the sake of completing repetitions. Quality is always better than quantity until the body is strong enough to handle volume with good form. With the hand release push-up, we achieve full depth and the emphasis should be on keeping a straight neutral spine and pressing up the chest and hips at the same time. Proper hand placement under the shoulders and full core activation is required. Scale the movement to a box or bench if you have trouble maintaining form through the whole push-up instead of working from your knees, to build true push-up strength.
Complete 3 full circuits with just enough rest for water in between. Finish with a 2-minute burpee test! Try to get as many burpees as possible and compare your performance next week.
