Christmas Break Taters

So many of us are away from the gym over the holidays and sometimes it's tough to find suitable challenges with minimal equipment.  Fair enough, we could all just continually crush pushups, burpees, sprints, and double unders, and to be truthful those are great options. 

Every once in a while though it's nice to mix things up and if you've got access to a kettlebell then this is a neat little challenge for you.  It's called a "Tater" and it's basically a Russian KB swing (which is to shoulder height) into a goblet squat.  The trick is though that as you finish the swing, you've got to flip the kettlebell so that the handle is down.  Depending on your dexterity, this may take a bit of practice but gets a lot easier and smoother with a few reps in the bag.

A good little burner is to do a ladder of Taters on the minute (see video below of Eastern Canada competitor Jay Rhodes working through some of the later rounds).  Basically, start with one Tater the first minute, 2 the second minute, 3 the third minute and so on.   Rest the remainder of the minute once you've done the prescribed reps. 

You can break up the reps too.  Choose a challenging weight and make sure you're not doing these over a nice floor!

Enjoy,

Cam

Challenge of the Week

                 *good friend and awesome double under guy (260 continuous) Eric B


I figure posting daily training can get a bit tedious... especially since I record it twice elsewhere... so I thought I'd just put down a weekly challenge that I enjoyed over the prior week.

One thing that I really have fun doing in workouts is skill under fatigue and pressure.  In competition, placings are determined by the smallest margins so it is a great benefit to be able to lay down solid skills - quickly - when the occasion calls for it.

A little interval session I did with my friend Kyle to finish our workout fits that bill very well.  The skill I chose was double unders, which definitely can make or break a workout if you're not that proficient.  Here's what the workout looked like:

6 rounds, 40 second countdown timer each round.  Every successive round started on 2min - so you have 40sec of exercise followed by 1:20 of rest, for 6 total rounds.

In the 40 second window, we had to first complete 10 bar-facing burpees.  In the remaining time, it was max double unders - so the faster you did your burpees, the more time for doubles.

In the end, my fewest double unders was 25 and the most I got was 40 - this is working with about 15-17 seconds after the burpees.

Give it a shot and see what you get... the burps get challenging after a few sets and watch out for your face on the bar!

Cam