I closed on Saturday so I decided to do a full body functional workout. I did the following movements:
- Tire flipping
- Battle ropes
- Farmer carries
- Pull-ups
- Dips
- Keg press
- Log press
- Sled pulling
It was an energy systems workout so I used perceived exertion as the guide for how much work I should be doing. I did 4-5 sets of everything except the sled pulling. It took me about 45 minutes.
What I liked:
- Most of the movements are new to me so it was easy to stay focused.
- The keg and log press are a lot easier than Olympic lifting because I wasn’t afraid of banging my hips into the bar.
- I got that lung burning feeling that I only get during the first hill ride or race of the season.
- My heart rate went up very quickly.
- The tempo of the workout is closer to that of trail riding than my usual weight training because pull-ups and dips do not work the entire body like tire flipping or farmers carries.
- It was fun to really push myself that hard.
What I learned from it:
- Battle ropes are brutally hard on the body and lungs – I was expecting the tire flipping to be the toughest aspect of the workout but after about 25 seconds of whipping the ropes I was “fall on the ground” tired.
- A keg that is partially filled with water is a tough implement to hold overhead.
- New and novel movements are a lot more physically taxing than well practiced movements with substantially more load.
- It is possible to get a really good workout in a junk yard using “crap” so you don’t have to rely on state of the art equipment.
I was a little sore yesterday, particularly in my chest and lower back, but it felt good. I think I’m going to enjoy closing on Saturday’s a lot more now!