This week’s favorite workout requires no equipment and will exercise the entire body, heart and lungs. Sometimes when you want to train and everything is closed or you are not at your normal training facility, you have to improvise.
Here are a few workout options you can try to work on running speed, endurance, leg stamina, upper-body physical testing exercises, full-body movements and even explosive power. All you need is a place to run, preferably a football field, but that is not necessary.
The bear crawl/leg PT with suicide drills
Suicide drills are sprinting shuttle runs with increasing distances every lap. For instance, if done on a football field, you may run to the 10-yard line, do a quick turnaround and run back to the end zone. Then run to the 20-yard line and back. You increase the distance each set. We do a 10-20-30-40-50-40-30-20-10-yard shuttle run for time. It is a good mix of speed, leg stamina and cardio speed/endurance.
Now take your normal suicide drill and make it tougher by adding sets of leg exercises and crawling to the mix. The bear crawl and back-peddle shuttle run (suicide drill) is a great way to mix in a full-body workout. Here is how it looks:
Set 1: Bear crawl to the 10-yard line, back-pedal back, do 20 squats
Set 2: Bear crawl to the 20, back-pedal back, do 10 lunges/leg
Set 3: Bear crawl to the 30, back-pedal back, do 20 squats
Set 4: Bear crawl to the 40, back-pedal back, do 10 lunges/leg
Set 5: Bear crawl to the 50, back-pedal back, do 20 squats
Set 6: Bear-crawl 60 yards, back-pedal back, do 10 lunges/leg
Keep going until you reach the full 100 yards of a football field.
This equals 550 yards of bear crawls and back-pedaling, 100 squats and 50 lunges per leg. You can scale this down and stop at the 50-yard line for 150 total yards, 60 squats and 20 lunges per leg.
If you prefer to do this on an upper-body day, replace the squats with push-ups and the lunges with sit-ups or crunches if you need to practice them for future tests.
The 300-yard shuttle run
In many tactical fitness programs, the 300-yard shuttle run is a test that will challenge the heart, lungs (anaerobic capacity), agility, power and muscle stamina of the legs. It does not take many sets of this one to complete a workout. Try two 300-yard shuttle runs with a minute of rest in between. You can do it in the following methods:
6 x 50-yard shuttle run
12 x 25-yard shuttle run
Both equally are challenging, but the 12 sets of 25 will challenge the agility and leg power more. The six sets of 50-yard shuttle run will have you gassed and running a bit of a longer-distance stride, with fewer turnarounds. You can add push-ups and sit-ups into this workout between shuttle-run sets if you prefer to practice core and upper-body testing elements, too.
Professional soccer test (Manchester United 100-meter test)
This test is a classic if you are familiar with soccer training. The 10 x 100 yards on a one-minute pace and the additional 10 x 100 yards at a faster pace is a test of being able to recover quick and run 20 sets of 100 yards fast, with 100 meters not so fast and little recovery.
Basically, you have to get good enough at your sprint recovery to recover with a slow jog. This takes time, but it is a fun challenge. Here is how it is done:
You have to do 10 x 100 yards on a one-minute interval. That means your rest is dependent on your 100 meters fast and your 100-meter jog back to the starting line. For instance, if you run the fast 100 yards at 20 seconds and jog the 100 yards in 30 seconds, you will have 10 seconds before you start the next set -- on every minute for the first 10 sets.
If that is not hard enough, the next 12 sets get more challenging by reducing the sprint speed/increasing the jog time. The workout/test broken into 22 sets:
First 10 sets: Run 100 yards fast, then jog back 10 times for the first 10 minutes.
100-yard sprint in 25 seconds, 35 seconds to get back (10 sets)
After the initial set of 10, each round will be run one time:
100-yard sprint in 24 seconds/36 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 23 seconds/37 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 22 seconds/38 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 21 seconds/39 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 20 seconds/40 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 19 seconds/41 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 18 seconds/42 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 17 seconds/43 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 16 seconds/44 seconds to jog to the start
100-yard sprint in 15 seconds/45 seconds to get to the start
For the grand finale, you can max this test only if you can complete three sets of the final round for a total of 22 sets.
To complete the entire test, you will run 22 x 100-yard sprints in 22 minutes.
The above are ways to get in some fast running drills and build up decent mileage while working many muscle groups and energy systems. Enjoy.
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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