Weekly Workout: Lightening the Load for the Rest of Us

People are starting to comment on the weekly workouts posted here lately. Here is an email from a gentleman who calls me out on the intensity level of the workouts:

Stew,

I see you are posting some pretty tough workouts on Military.com. How about something for the average guy -- not going to be a Special Ops guy, but someone doing fitness to stay healthy and simply look and feel better? 

– Jack

Roger that. I read you. Sorry about the neglectful upload of workouts; thanks for the reality check.

Here are a couple of workouts that mix calisthenics with weights and can be done as full-body workouts or in two days (upper body and lower body).

Upper-Body Beginner/Intermediate PT Pyramid

Push-ups/crunch-plank pyramid: How high can you go up the pyramid?

• One push-up, two crunches or five-second plank

• Two push-ups, four crunches or 10-second plank

• Three push-ups, six crunches or 15-second plank

• Four push-ups, eight crunches or 20-second plank, and on until you fail at push-ups.

Once you fail at push-ups, take a break but rest with cardio for five minutes. Walking, jogging, biking, doing the elliptical glider, rowing -- your choice. Then go back to where you left off on the pyramid. If you fail again, repeat in reverse order back to the starting set. Once you get to the bottom again, take a five-minute cardio break again.

Your next step is to do the following workouts:

Multi-Joint Dumbbell (MJDB) #1

Lightweight Shoulders 5#

Then repeat MJDB#1 again.

Cool down with cardio for 20-30 minutes by walking, jogging, biking, using the elliptical, swimming, rowing or more. It's your choice.

Lower Body/Abs/Cardio

Warm up with this abs set:

• Crunches 25

• Reverse crunch 25

• Double crunch 25

• Left crunch 25

• Right crunch 25

• Bicycle crunch 25

• Plank pose one minute

Repeat four times; no weights are needed.

Walk, jog or bike for two minutes at a fast pace.

• Squats 10

• Half Squats 20

• Lunges 5-10/leg light stretch

Cardio intervals: Pick one or do both if you have time and energy.

Bike pyramid: Each minute gets tougher than the previous minute by increasing resistance by one to two levels. Go up until you no longer can pedal at 70-80 rpms. Repeat in reverse order once you fail. Take 15-20 minutes to do this workout at first and build up to 30-40 minutes over time.

Elliptical Tabata intervals: Warm up for five minutes at an easy pace. Start the next five minutes doing a 20-second sprint and 10 seconds at an easy pace in turn. Do the easy workout in a five-minute set again. Finish with a second round of Tabata intervals for five minutes.

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you're looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.

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