I like my clients to be and feel athletic. Even if they aren’t “athletes,” in the literal sense of the word, by training for a sport, they are training for their own life.
I want them to be strong, agile, mobile and powerful. I don’t believe in training someone to look great but have that body be completely useless when it comes to actual movement. Or, even worse, they train hard, but they feel awful because they can’t move well.
Most of the training sessions we do at my gym are full body in nature. Clients and trainees are performing movements that fall into the following categories:
• Lower Body Hip Dominant or Knee Dominant (depending on the training cycle)
• Upper Body Push
• Upper Body Pull
• Explosive
• Core Stability or Anti-Rotation
• Conditioning
Typically, our focus is on strength with the blend of conditioning, but there are a few workouts that I really like to use to develop power, full body tension and a slice of conditioning as well.
This workout requires very little equipment. If you have access to the exercises and equipment that I outline here, that is great. If you are doing this workout at home or in a busy gym, I have noted some alternative exercises for you.
One thing you will need is a timer. Getting a timer that you can set multiple sets and rounds is perfect for this, because you don’t want to be running over and setting/resetting the clock every round. Gym Boss has a great iPhone app that you can program multiple sets and rounds.
The Power Conditioning Circuit
This workout is what I call my Power Conditioning Circuit. This is a short, powerful and all-out training session. The goal of each exercise is to create full body tension and full body power output. Use your core and squeeze every muscle in your body to perform the movements as fast as possible.
THE CIRCUIT
Each movement is done for 20 seconds followed by 20 seconds rest. After you have done all 5 exercises, you’ll rest and recharge your nervous system for 2 minutes. Repeat this cycle for 5-6 rounds.
• Kettlebell Swings
• Valslide Mountain Climbers
• Battling Ropes
• Slam Ball
• Push Ups
Exercise Alternatives:
• Most gyms have KETTLEBELLS, but if not, you can use a heavy dumbbell.
• MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS can be done without the VALSLIDES. Just make sure you stay light on the balls of your feet.
• Substitute the BATTLING ROPES for jump squats or weighted jump squats.
• Most gyms have medicine balls. For this SLAM BALL movement, we are using a medicine ball that does not bounce. The commercial ones typically bounce, so use them but just be careful that you catch it quickly as it comes up.
Remember, the goal of this workout is to maintain power and speed for each movement. It is an all-out effort for a short period of time. Here is a short video of a training group at my gym performing this workout.
[vid file=”/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ThePowerConditioningCircuit.mp4″ image=”/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/POWER-CONDITIONING.jpg” width=”640″ height=”360″]
Be sure to leave a comment below if you tried the workout, and let me know how it went for you!
