Issue 077
July 2011
No such thing, says Barry Gibson, a kettlebell and fitness instructor as well as a third dan black belt in judo. The very best workouts are done in the fresh air and you can pick up your gear with nothing more than a smile and a handshake.
Now is the time to be getting outside and enjoying the fresh air – if I had my way, this would be compulsory. Get outside and suck up the summer, move around lots, lift heavy stuff, carry it, throw stuff about and sprint – though not necessarily in that order!
The thing is, you don’t need to buy any expensive equipment either, and that is the focus of this month’s article. Dragging sleds, running chutes, etc., are a luxury, but not essential to your training.
Bells and whistles like ViPRs, powerbags, and kettlebells are awesome for any gym, but you don’t need to fork out a small fortune on equipment to get into the best brutal wrecking-machine shape of your life.
This time of year – summer, I get the 20-liter water bottles out, the sledgehammers, tires and sandbags.
What follows for you, our loyal FO readers, are a couple of workouts to try with improvised kit. Before we get into it, check this out. The photo below is your summer workout kit, with a tire for throwing, one for beating with the sledgehammer and dragging and one for flipping and box jumps, plus your empty beer keg, sandbags and sand-filled water bottles.
The total cost for all this equipment was around $30, which was for the hammer and sand. Everything else was completely free! Tires generally cost nothing as garage owners have to pay to have the old ones taken away, so they’ll be glad to let you have as many as you like. The water bottles were donated and the sandbags are heavy-duty contractor bags. Kegs, you may get some from a local bar manager or even from a 7-Eleven. Simple stuff, a bit of goodwill and charm is all that is required. No expensive gym memberships and no need to suffer the “vest and beanie hat” A-hole with the tiny arms who insists on doing preacher curls in the squat rack!
So, now we are kitted out, here goes:
CAR TIRE OVERHEAD TOSS - 6 REPS
SPRINT BACK TO THE SLEDGEHAMMER
SLEDGEHAMMER STRIKES - 10 REPS EACH WAY
RINSE AND REPEAT FOR MAXIMUM ROUNDS IN 20MINS
The workout will be awesome in developing your work capacity and explosiveness throughout your posterior chain, i.e., the group of muscles, tendons and ligaments on the posterior kinetic chain of the body.
Next, try this one:
FARMER’S WALK WITH BOTTLES - 100 METRES
KEG BURPEE CLEAN & PRESS - 8 REPS
SANDBAG SQUAT - 8 REPS
CLAP PUSH-UPS - 8 REPS
TIRE DRAG - 50 METRES
Again strive for a maximum number of rounds in a certain time frame. Or you could repeat the movements to mimic a fight.
You’ll get a good deal of strength endurance from these routines and they’ll make an excellent change of pace from your usual gym programs. Plus you’ll get the benefit of fresh air and an easy time on your pocket – so that’s a win-win-win all over I reckon!
