Okay, here is where we get down to business. I’m going to list several exercises – they may all be performed solo, and are a great addition your personal training. For this routine, you will need four things: an old tire, a sledgehammer, either a medicine ball with handles or a kettlebell and yourself. All of these things (with the exception of a kettlebell) are quite affordable and will add a new dimension to your workouts.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exercises
Squat jumps - Stand with your feet a comfortable distance apart. Squat down, then jump into the air as high as possible, pulling your knees into your chest as you ascend. Immediately after landing, squat and jump again. This builds explosiveness in the leg muscles.
Lateral hops - stand with your feet touching. Hop laterally, as high and as far as you can. Once you land, hop in the opposite direction, putting you back at the starting point. You will feel this in your calves as well as the rest of your legs.
Pushups - An all time classic. Place your toes and palms on the floor. Nothing else should have contact with the floor. Keeping your body straight (having your rear end in the air is cheating), lower yourself until your chest is just barely above the floor. Next, explode back up to the starting position.
chair dipsDips - Place two chairs parallel to each other, a few feet apart. Sit on one chair facing the other, with your hands grasping the side of the chair. Lift your feet to the top of the other bench so that the rest of your body is suspended between the two benches. Cross one foot over the other. Slowly lower your body toward the floor by bending your elbows until your upper arms and forearms form a right angle. Do not go below a 90-degree angle, as this can stress your shoulders. Slowly raise back up to the start position by straightening your arms.
Squat thrusts - Stand with your feet together. Squat down, placing your hands on the floor. Thrust your legs backward, spreading them apart. You will be in a position that resembles a sprawl. Pull your legs back in and return to the starting position.
Tomahawks - lay your tire on the ground in front of you. Grip the sledgehammer with both hands and bring it behind your head. Slam the sledgehammer downward, into the tire.
Sosas – if your tire is tall enough that you can swing the sledgehammer baseball style and hit it, then lean the tire against a tree. If not, you can swing at the air.
Birdies – place your tire horizontally against a tree. Swing the sledgehammer golf style into the tire.
Windmills – Keeping the medicine ball locked out at all times, push your glutes out in the direction of the medicine ball. Turn your feet out at a forty-five degree angle from the arm with the medicine ball. Lower yourself until you can touch the floor in the opposite direction. Pause for a second and then reverse the motion back to the starting position.
Swings - Place one medicine ball between your feet. Push back with your butt and bend your knees to get into the starting position. Make sure that your back is flat and look straight ahead. Swing the medicine ball between your legs forcefully. Quickly reverse the direction and drive though with your hips taking the medicine ball straight out. Let the medicine ball swing back between your legs and repeat. Switch arms with each set.
Training Program
Duration: 30 minutes
Begin with three rounds of shadowboxing. Shadowbox like you mean it - don’t half step. A round should be two minutes, with one minute of rest in between. I’m using two minutes because that is the length of the average amateur round in boxing and kick boxing. There should be one minute of rest between each round.
4 minute drill:
* Pushups
* Squat thrusts
* Sosas
* Lateral hops
Each of the above exercises should be performed thirty seconds each, with NO REST. The cycle will be repeated twice, which gives you a total duration of four minutes, hence the name. When you look at it on paper, this doesn’t sound like a lot, but this drill can really take a lot out of you. At the end of the four minutes, rest for one minute.
4 minute drill:
* Tomahawks
* Bob and weave
* Squat jumps
* Crunches
This works in the same manner as the four-minute drill above. Perform each exercise for thirty seconds, with no rest until the round is done. Next, perform three more rounds of shadowboxing, or if you have a heavy bag handy, do three rounds on the bag. That puts us at about 28 minutes. Finish up the last two with ab work, then do some stretches. If you are short on time, perform both four-minute drills and two rounds of shadowboxing. That will put you around the fifteen-minute mark.
