Strickland Fitness

Ok, we are down to the last 2 challenges. With a workout at least every other day, you should be feeling fit! Let’s do a tough one to end the week! Give it everything you got and walk away feeling great! Go through each series of exercises twice. Once completed, put a check mark in the box for Oct. 30^th. If you don’t know how to do the listed exercises, there are explanations of them in previous posts for the October Challenge.

 

The Workout

10 minutes warm up

 

No rest between exercises…

15 body squats

12 push ups

20 isolated ab crunches

12 tricep extensions

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

2 minutes rest

 

12 Lat pull downs

12 bicep curls

12 1-leg squats

1 minute plank with limb raises

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

2 minutes rest

 

12 squat presses

20 isolated ab crunches

12 side lunges each direction

12 shoulder raises

On any cardio apparatus, do 15 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 15 seconds rest. Do 8 times.

 

Cool down

 

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I hope you had fun putting a workout together! In the comment section, you can post your workout to give others ideas. The challenge for today is to do 1 full hour of steady state cardio. Keep your heart rate between 50%-65% of your maximum heart rate without going over or under. The other part of today’s challenge is to read this workout that a challenger put together for yesterday’s challenge (it’s in the comment section). http://stricklandfitness.com/2009/10/27/challenge-13/

After you have completed this, put a check mark in the box for Oct. 28^th. Great Job!!!!

 

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!

 

Ok, we are heading down the homestretch! Only a few days left in the challenge and I hope everyone is feeling fantastic!! If you have done the previous challenges, you should have a good feel for your body and know it a lot better than before. You should have also learned some new exercises and have cardio and intervals down. So the challenge for today is to create your own workout…and then do it. Try to hit all body parts and do a solid set of intervals at the end. Once completed, put a check mark in the box for Oct. 27^th. Great Job!! And read this…

http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/12/16/work-hard/

 

Workout

10 minutes warming up

30 minutes full body workout

25 minutes intervals

5-10 minutes cool down

 

Ok challengers, it’s time to shred the upper body again! Let’s end the week with a bang. Push yourself. Keep your goals in mind. We are trying to build lean muscle and burn fat. So for the purpose of this challenge, we will be sticking to medium weights, doing more repetitions, and reducing our recovery time between sets to keep the heart rate slightly elevated. If you are trying to build bulk muscle, heavier weights and more rest between sets will be needed. There will not be separate workouts for the beginners and more advanced. Everyone will do the same workout with the amount of weight being the difference. This workout is for the gym. If you do not belong to a gym, you can use anything at home that you can hold in one hand.

You will only get out of this workout what you put into it. Challenge yourself and keep it intense!! Before you start, read this: http://stricklandfitness.com/2009/01/22/intensity/.

 

Here is a description of all the exercises you will need for the workout:

Push-ups: (works the chest, triceps, and shoulders) Always start on your hands and feet and drop to the knees if needed to complete the set.

Lat Pulls: (works the Lats. See this for more details, http://stricklandfitness.com/2008/10/22/back-not-bis/) The lat pull machine requires you to use your back and biceps. It’s the machine that you sit down on and pull the weight down. Pull the weight down to the front of your chin, not behind your head. As you are pulling the weight down, try and pull your shoulder blades into your back pocket throughout the movement. This ensures you are using your lats and not only your arms. Be sure to keep your back straight. Don’t lean back.

Military Press: (works the shoulders and traps, or top of the shoulders) Sit on a bench with a back support. Start with the dumbbells in front of your shoulders with your palms facing toward you. Press above your head while twisting your palms to face away from you.

Isolated Abdominal Crunches: (works the abs) see challenge #3.

Straight Arm Shoulder Raises: (works the front and side of shoulders) With the dumbbells at your side, palms facing toward your body, raise the weight to your sides until shoulder height and then lower. Keep your arms straight through the entire movement. Raise the weight now to the front and lower. Alternate between the side and front. Keep your back straight.

Tricep Extensions: (works the triceps, or back of the arms) Standing with a straight back and a small bend in the knees, hold a dumbbell with both hands straight above your head. Bending only at the elbows, slowly lower the weight behind your head and then extend back to above your head. Do not move your head forward to let the weight pass behind it.

Bicep Curls: (works the biceps, or front of the arms) Standing with a straight back and a slight bend in the knees, hold a dumbbell in each hand. Imagine that your elbows are pinned to your sides. Starting with the weights down by your waist, slowly bring the weight up to your shoulders by bending at the elbow. Be sure the elbow doesn’t move and your body remains perfectly still throughout the movement.

 

The Workout

For each exercise, choose a weight that you can do 12-15 repetitions with the last 3 reps being difficult to do while maintaining good form.

10 minute warm-up

In the order mentioned above, do 12-15 repetitions of each exercise with no rest between them. Work hard and intense. Focus on the muscle you are using for each exercise. Make a mind – muscle connection!! After 1 series, rest for 2 minutes. Repeat the series 2-3 more times with 2 minutes rest between each series for a total of 3-4 series.

10 minute cool down

 

Once completed, put a check in the box for Oct. 23rd. Great job!!!

 

 

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!

Emphasis will be on legs and abs…topped off with a little cardio. Workout A is for beginners and workout B is for the more advanced. Here are the exercises and at the bottom you will find the workouts. After you have done it, put a check in the box for Oct. 22nd. Great Job!!!! This workout was done at the beginning…so think about adding a little speed to the exercises as well as the cardio. Push yourself and see if you are doing better at these than in the beginning.  And for workout A, I took out the rest between the exercises!!!

1 Leg Squat

This exercise is great for targeting the gluts and quads while working on strength and balance. Raise your left leg out in front of you so your left hip and knee are bent at 90 degrees. Standing only on the right leg, slowly lower yourself bringing your hips behind you. Only go down about a quarter of the way. Press through your heel to raise yourself to the starting position. Concentrate on not letting your right knee collapse in towards your left leg. Your knee should stay directly in line with your foot.

Jump Squats

Starting in a standing position, lower yourself into a squat position with your knees bent no more than 90 degrees. Once you reach your squat depth, immediately explode up jumping up as high as you can. Land softly and immediately lower yourself into the next one.

Isolated abdominal crunches

Lying on your back with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent at 45 degrees, place your hands flat on your thighs. Concentrating on contracting your abdominals, use your abs to pull your upper body off the floor while sliding your hands up your thighs towards the top of your knees. Your upper body should only go high enough that your shoulder blades clear the ground. Lower back to the starting position.

Pelvic Lifts

This exercise works the gluts, hamstrings, and the lower back. Lying on your back with both feet on the ground and your legs bent at 45 degrees, press through your feet on the floor raising your pelvis off the ground. You should raise it until you have a straight line from your head to the tip of your bent knees. Lower your pelvis to the ground and then raise again. Concentrate on activating the gluts while going through the motion. You can add intensity to this by extending 1 leg out to straight while holding your pelvis up. The next step would be to raise and lower your pelvis with 1 leg while the other leg is in full extension.

Plank

Start by lying face down on the ground or use an exercise mat . Place your elbows and forearms underneath your chest. Prop yourself up to form a bridge using your toes and forearms. Maintain a flat back and do not allow your hips to sag towards the ground. Concentrate on holding yourself up with your abs and not your arms. Always lower yourself to the ground if you feel any pain in your back. This means your abs have given up and your back has taken over.

Cardio

20 minute run

 

Workout A

12-15 one leg squats

Rest for 15 seconds

10-12 jump squats

Rest for 15 seconds

20-25 isolated abdominal crunches

Rest for 15 seconds

12-15 pelvic lifts (both legs on the ground)

Rest for 15 seconds

30 second plank

Rest for 1-2 minutes and return to start of series. Do the entire series 3-5 times depending on exhaustion level.

At the end of all the series, do 20 minutes of cardio on your apparatus of choice with your heart rate between 50%-65%.

 

Workout B

Try not to rest between exercises

15 one leg squats

12 jump squats

25 isolated abdominal crunches

15 pelvic lifts (try doing it with one leg)

Plank for as long as you can up to 1 minute

Rest for 1-2 minutes and return to start of series. Do the entire series 4-5 times depending on exhaustion level.

At the end of all the series, do 20 minutes of cardio on your apparatus of choice with your heart rate between 65%-80%.

 

 

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!