Survival of the Fittest

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while — got deadlines coming in hard and fast. Good thing I’ve been training, as I’ve been able to dodge them. (If you are reading this and you happen to be my boss, obviously I am kidding.) Ahem. On to the topic of this post: circuit training!

On the first day of the April tryout for the U.S. women’s rugby 15s team, the backs (generally thought of as the smaller, faster players) were working on footwork and agility outdoors, while the forwards (generally misrepresented as big strong brutes, but just go with it) were doing … something else inside the gym.

I didn’t concern myself with what exactly they were up to at the time — after all, we backs were busy frolicking around picking daisies, to hear the forwards tell it — but whatever it was, they looked truly wrecked afterwards. My friend Cheeks looked particularly sweaty and wild-eyed afterward, but she says that was because she got the heaviest kettlebell.

IT HAS SINCE COME TO LIGHT that the forwards were doing a killer 12-station circuit workout, and said workout is posted below, should you want to give it a go.

Clarification from Candi Orsini, assistant coach of the U.S. women’s rugby team: “The circuit the forwards did is NOT what the backs should be doing. The backs don’t need circuit training, they need SPEED training.” Duly noted. Any rugby backs reading this, don’t even think about it. All others, enjoy!

RUGBY WORK-IT CIRCUIT

There are 12 stations. Do each exercise for 35 seconds, rest 10 seconds, and repeat the exercise for another 35 seconds. You then have 10 seconds to move to next station. Make sure that you focus on your form even as you get tired (i.e., continue to engage your core and explode from the hips).

Station 1: Dumbell Pattern
• Holding a dumbbell in each hand, one arm at a time, repeat this pattern for time: overhead press, punch out at head height, punch out at chest height, uppercut

Station 2: Figure-8 Situps
• Continuous situps
• Each time you come up, move a small med ball (2 to 3 lbs.) in a figure-8 pattern around and through your legs

Station 3: Jump Rope
• Continuously jump rope; try to add some doubles and triples

Station 4: Wall Ball
• Hold ball at chest height and face a tall, bare wall
• Perform a full squat and explosively come up out of it, following through with hip thrust and throwing ball to a marked point about 10 feet overhead on wall
• Catch ball and repeat

Station 5: Air Squats
• Continuously perform bodyweight squats
• Maintain form, meaning you should drop all the way down to 90 degrees, explode back up and follow through to hip thrust

Station 6: Burpees
• Plank position, pushup, burpee with explosive jump and arms up

Station 7: Resistance Band Rows
• Stand on looped band with both feet, holding upper part in both hands
• Pull up to perform an upright row, with elbows up and out

Station 8: Toe Boxes
• Stand in front of a low plyo box; secure box against wall
• Quick toe touches between box and floor, alternating feet
• Concentrate on quick feet

Station 9: Overhead Squats with Plates
• Using plate of appropriate weight, hold plate overhead with arms fully extended, shoulders and lats engaged
• Perform continuous squats, lowering under control to 90 degrees and then rising explosively

Station 10: Side Planks
• Lie on one side on the ground, weight supported on your elbow and feet stacked together
• Engage your core and maintain body position in a straight line; switch sides

Station 11: Lunge with Plate
• Hold plate of appropriate weight at chest height, close to your body
• As you lunge forward, push plate straight out away from chest; keep knee above ankle
• Push off with front heel and stand up, pulling plate back into chest as you do

Station 12: Across-the-Floor Pushups
• As you explode up and out of a pushup, hop your hands laterally across floor
• Do 3 in each direction and repeat
• If can’t move laterally to start, practice pushing off hard enough to get air under your hands

Bonus Round: Kettlebell Swings
• 30 kettlebell swings, putting the bell back past your knees on the backswing and thrusting your hips forward on the upswing

Seriously, why were the forwards tired after that? Got questions? Answers? Comments? Share ‘em …

I’ve posted this workout once before, but I thought it was worth a revisit. My apologies if you’ve already been there done that, but for those of you who are new, welcome! Feel free to sign up for blog updates via email or RSS feed (see the toolbar at right). I mean, it’s easier than trying to remember to check back, and laziness can be a powerful motivator.

The dilly is that the June issue of Experience Life, featuring once and possibly future karate world champ Elisa Au on the cover, just dropped, and I was reminded all over again how impressive her achievements are. (To see for yourself, check out the accompanying article, “Solid Gold Champion.”)

And lucky us, she caved (pretty easily, may I say — she’s not as tough as she looks) when I asked her to share her very favorite workout with us. So here it is — Round 2.

FROM ELISA:
I’VE CHOSEN EXERCISES from my training in karate and with my personal trainer, Corey Shackelford. These exercises do not require any equipment — they rely on your body weight for resistance and focus on the core muscles, which are most important for a strong body.

You can definitely start with fewer reps if the moves are unfamiliar to you. Or, you can add reps and sets in order to challenge yourself.

1. Warm up! [For an article on the benefits of warming up and cooling down, see “Gradual is Good” from the March 2007 issue of Experience Life.]

2. Charlie’s Angels Lunges — Lunge sideways with your left leg, feet parallel, arms straight out and parallel to the ground in front of you (in a gun-shooting position). Twist your upper torso to the left so that your arms rotate 90 degrees, then back to starting position. Step up and repeat on right side. 10 reps on each side.

3. Burpees — Squat down and place hands on the floor, shoulder width apart. Kick your feet back into a push-up starting position. Bring feet back under you and immediately jump up in a star position (arms and legs all extended). Repeat 15 times. [For a video demo of how to do a burpee, click here.]

4. Arm Shuffles — Start in push-up position. Shuffle your arms so that your body moves clockwise like a hand of a clock. Try to keep your feet at the middle position as your arms move from 1 to 12. Do 2 times clockwise, 2 times counter-clockwise.

5. Superman — Lay on your stomach. Lift your legs and arms off the ground and hold position for 30 seconds to a minute. [For pics, see here.]

6. V-Ups — Lie on your back. Lift your legs and arms/shoulders off the ground to create a V-shape with your body. Lower your arms and legs without letting them touch the ground. Do 15 reps. [Pics here.]

7. Plank Positions — Place elbows/forearms on the ground, feet in push-up position. Be sure your shoulders are directly above your elbows so that all body angles are 90 degrees. Hold this position for 1 minute. Point right arm straight ahead, parallel to the ground. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Switch arms and hold for another 20 seconds. Repeat with extended right and left legs, each for 20 seconds. Lastly, extend right arm and left leg, hold for 20 seconds, then switch to other side for the last 20 seconds. You will total 3 minutes. [See a basic plank pose here. You got the rest through the description, right?]

For the next three exercises, use small pieces of tape stuck to the floor. Mark 5 points like the 5-side of a die. The outer points should be about shoulder-width apart on all sides.

8. Hourglass — Start on the bottom two points with feet shoulder-width apart. Jump to the middle point to bring feet together, then jump to the top points to get back to shoulder-width position. Jump back to the middle point, then back to starting position. Repeat 15 times.

9. Figure 8 — Keep your feet together the entire time on this one. Start at the bottom left corner. Hop to the middle point, then to the upper right point. Continue on to the upper left point, middle, bottom right, then back to the beginning at the bottom left. You have made a figure 8. Repeat 8 times this way, then 8 times the opposite way.

10. Around the World — Stand on the middle point with one foot. Hop to the bottom left point then back to the middle. Continue to the top left then return, top right and return, bottom right and return. Repeat in this clockwise position 5 times, then 5 times counter-clockwise. Repeat with other foot.

11. Cool-down and STRETCH!

~Elisa

So … no one outside the Experience Life staff knows this yet, but former — and possibly future — karate world champion Elisa Au will be gracing our cover in June. Now you know, too. Shhh.

A little background: Au (pronounced “Ow” — go to town on that one) is the only American woman to have won a world championship, and remains the only person in the world, male or female, to win more than one world title at a single world karate championship. The only person in the world. Can you imagine being able to say that?

If you want to read more about her, check out the links here, here and here. (Highlight from the last one? She recommends people not try the fictitious “crane technique,” pictured at right, from the movie Karate Kid.) There are lots more articles about her, but I’ve grown weary of pasting the links. These days, she’s training in Chicago, where she owns and operates three martial arts schools with her spankin’-new husband, John Fonseca (no slouch himself when it comes to karate accolades — to see a video of Fonseca, click here).

I interviewed Au several weeks ago, and before we hung up, she promised to share her favorite workout on my blog. (A very, VERY big thank you to her for sharing!)

HERE’S THE WORKOUT SHE SENT ME over the weekend — if you try it out, please tell us how it goes in the “comments” section! I tried (albeit half-heartedly) to find photos or video demonstrations to go with at least some of the exercises below, but if you’re having trouble figuring one out, post your question(s) in the comments.

FROM ELISA:
I’ve chosen exercises from my training in karate and with my personal trainer, Corey Shackelford. These exercises do not require any equipment — they rely on your body weight for resistance and focus on the core muscles, which are most important for a strong body.

You can definitely start with less reps if the moves are unfamiliar to you. Or, you can add for reps and sets in order to challenge yourself.

1. Warm up! [For an article on the benefits of warming up and cooling down, see “Gradual is Good” from the March 2007 issue of Experience Life.]

2. Charlie’s Angels Lunges — Lunge sideways with your left leg, feet parallel, arms straight out and parallel to the ground in front of you (in a gun-shooting position). Twist your upper torso to the left so that your arms rotate 90 degrees, then back to starting position. Step up and repeat on right side. 10 reps on each side.

3. Burpees — Squat down and place hands on the floor, shoulder width apart. Kick your feet back into a push-up starting position. Bring feet back under you and immediately jump up in a star position (arms and legs all extended). Repeat 15 times. [For a video demo of how to do a burpee, click here.]

4. Arm Shuffles — Start in push-up position. Shuffle your arms so that your body moves clockwise like a hand of a clock. Try to keep your feet at the middle position as your arms move from 1 to 12. Do 2 times clockwise, 2 times counter-clockwise.

5. Superman — Lay on your stomach. Lift your legs and arms off the ground and hold position for 30 seconds to a minute. [For pics, see here.]

6. V-Ups — Lie on your back. Lift your legs and arms/shoulders off the ground to create a V-shape with your body. Lower your arms and legs without letting them touch the ground. Do 15 reps. [Pics here.]

7. Plank Positions — Place elbows/forearms on the ground, feet in push-up position. Be sure your shoulders are directly above your elbows so that all body angles are 90 degrees. Hold this position for 1 minute. Point right arm straight ahead, parallel to the ground. Hold this position for 20 seconds. Switch arms and hold for another 20 seconds. Repeat with extended right and left legs, each for 20 seconds. Lastly, extend right arm and left leg, hold for 20 seconds, then switch to other side for the last 20 seconds. You will total 3 minutes. [See a basic plank pose here. You got the rest through the description, right?]

For the next three exercises, use small pieces of tape stuck to the floor. Mark 5 points like the 5-side of a die. The outer points should be about shoulder-width apart on all sides.

8. Hourglass — Start on the bottom two points with feet shoulder-width apart. Jump to the middle point to bring feet together, then jump to the top points to get back to shoulder-width position. Jump back to the middle point, then back to starting position. Repeat 15 times.

9. Figure 8 — Keep your feet together the entire time on this one. Start at the bottom left corner. Hop to the middle point, then to the upper right point. Continue on to the upper left point, middle, bottom right, then back to the beginning at the bottom left. You have made a figure 8. Repeat 8 times this way, then 8 times the opposite way.

10. Around the World — Stand on the middle point with one foot. Hop to the bottom left point then back to the middle. Continue to the top left then return, top right and return, bottom right and return. Repeat in this clockwise position 5 times, then 5 times counter-clockwise. Repeat with other foot.

11. Cool-down and STRETCH!

~Elisa