FK.DW Tuesday 140709

If you read any mass market fitness magazine, "blasting the core" is the one way guaranteed to get you abs of steel and make you an object of desire to the opposite sex (or even the same sex if that's your preference)! Of course we all know that is a load of rubbish; spot flab reduction is impossible and core isolation exercises are redundant - almost all truly functional exercises require the athlete to stabilise the core, giving it a good workout no matter what.

Tuesday's conditioning routine involves two movements that are guaranteed to work the core - in addition to pretty much every other part of the body! The Kettlebell swing/burpee combination here will work pretty much every muscle in the body and at the same time will give us that metabolic hit we are looking for.

Burpees are Gold Standard which means the press-up part is chest to floor, feet are flat on the floor at the beginning and end of the squat thrust and the hands clap over head with a fully open hip on the jump.

Swings are "American" style which means the bell must come to a stop overhead with the head "through the window".

Buy In

L-Sit Progression

Strength

Press 5x3

Conditioning

20-15-10

Kettlebell Swings @ 16 Kg

Burpees (GS)

Time domain is 3-7 minutes so scale the weight if required or change the reps to 16-12-8 to ensure you finish in that time. Of course if you are quicker than 3 minutes, good job!

Cash Out

Double Unders - Max in 2 minutes

Post weights and times to comments or on the FK.UK forum.

Have fun!

FK.DW Friday 240709

Another AMRAP workout today. Do you "game" these or do you go all out right from the start and flag at the end? The preferred method is to go all out, that way the intensity stays up there throughout - by the end you may be tiring, but if you are still pushing for all you are worth then the benefits will come.

One trick many people use is to set the timer to beep at a set interval (every 5 minutes for example) so you can judge how you are getting on. For others, this is a distraction and actually hinders progress.

What tricks, if any, do you use to maintain intensity of effort over the timed period?

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L-Sit progressions

Strength

Squat 5x3

Conditioning

AMRAP 20 Minutes

15 double unders

15 burpee

15 box jumps (20-24 inch/50-60cm box)

Cash out

Handstand progressions

Post weight/reps to FK.UK

Have Fun

FK.DW Monday 130709

Pyramid PT for the conditioning routine today. These are always fun and often a lot tougher than you think they are. Remember to scale appropriately so you finish in the defined time domain and if you can't do pull-ups, remember to substitute with jumping pull-ups, band assisted pull-ups or ring rows as appropriate.

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Burgener Warm-up progression

Strength

Back Squat 3x5

Conditioning

Pyramid PT (1, 2, 3......10.......3, 2, 1) for time

For each step of the pyramid perform

1xPull-Up

2xPush-Up

3xsit-up

You are aiming for a sub 20 minute time to complete this so step the pyramid appropriately (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)

Cash Out

L-Sit Progression

Post weights and times to comments or the FK thread here.

Have Fun

Rest Day Sunday 120709

The first full week of the official FK.UK Daily workout is done and in the books. Why not let us know your thoughts on the workouts so far in the comments section or over on the discussion boards?

FK.DW Saturday 110709

Just one more day until the next rest day so let's give it everything we can today. The conditioning routine is short and sharp but the strength portion more than compensates wit a heavy physiological hit from the two types of squat.

Buy In

L-Sit Progressions

Strength

OHS 5x3

Front Squat 5x3

Conditioning

AMRAP 10 Minutes:

5 Ring-Dip

10 Ring Rows

15 Jump-Overs (lateral jump from side to side over a bag or other obstacle. Each jump counts as one rep)

Cash Out

Handstand practise - 1 min inverted

Post weights, times and any comments or questions to the discussion topic found here.

Have fun!

FK.DW Friday 100709

Buy In

Agility ladder Drills

Lateral Feet Drill (Ickey Shuffle) x 2

In-Out drill x 2

Tango Drill x 2

Instructions http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/ladder-agility-drills.html

If you don't have an agility ladder, just imagine a 10 space ladder on the floor.

Strength

Snatch 5x1

Conditioning

Tabata front Squat @ 25% max

Tabata Press Up

Tabata Pull-Up

Tabata Sit-up

Complete all 8 rounds of the Tabata protocol for each exercise before moving on to the next.

Cash Out

L-Sit progression

Post weights, times and any comments or questions to the discussion topic found here.

Have fun!

FK.DW Thursday 090709

Running today. Yes running. I know some (most!) of you hate it, but it has to be done and it's really not all that far. We are looking at intervals, which a great way to build up endurance with short, high intensity effort interspersed with periods of less intense recovery.

Buy In

L-Sit Progression

Strength

Deadlift 5x3

Conditioning

5 Km interval workout;

Jog 1600 m

Sprint 400 m

Jog 400 m

Sprint 400m

Jog 400m

Sprint 200m

Jog 200m

Sprint 200m

Jog 200m

Sprint 200m

Jog 200m

Sprint 200m

Jog 200m

Sprint 100m

Jog 100m

Cash-Out

Basketball shots x 25. For every missed shot do 5 squats. (Accuracy)

Yes, I know you will be tired for the cash-out which will affect the accuracy of your shots, but that's the idea. By having this skill based exercise after the run it forces you to perform under pressure and will concentrate the mind. That way you should find the same activity easier to do when fresh - see, there's method to our madness!

Post weights, times and any comments or questions to the discussion topic found here.

Have fun!