ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER CIRCUIT

This being my second day without grappling I was determined to go hard
today. Since yesterday's workout focused on the upper body, I started
today with a crossfit-style workout that I call 'Reid' (in honor of my
friend with whom I dreamed up this torture sequence).

Circuit 1: The Reid
For this sequence you combine barbell squats with running stairs. I
usually aim to complete 10 circuits in 20 minutes or less. Today each
circuit consisted of:
1 - Barbell squats: 8 repetitions with 225 lbs on the bar
2 - Stair jog, 7 1/2 flights of stairs up, 71/2 flights down

I went directly from the squat rack to the stairs, and from the stairs
back to barbell. I finished 10 circuits in 18:58, which is a personal
best!

Kettlebell Swings
After lying on the floor for 5 minutes to recover from the Reid, I
moved on and did two sets of kettlebell swings. For the first set I
used a 24 kg kettlebell and swung it from between my legs up to head
height with a straight arm 10 times using my right hand, 10 times
using both hands, 10 times using my left hand, and then 10 times with
both again.

For the second set of swings I used a 32 kg kettlebell, and did 32
repetitions (8 with each hand, 16 with both hands).

I like kettlebell swings because they are basically rhythmic and
repetitive Olympic lifting, without having to catch the bar at the top
of the movement. As such I think one gets a lot of the benefit of
Olympic lifting, especially the explosive hip movement, without being
forced to learn all the difficult technical details of the Clean and
Jerk or the Snatch. Many kettlebell exercises can also be done with
dumbbells if kettlebells aren't available to you.

Final Exercises
My next exercise was dumbell curl and press for arm and shoulder
strength. To do this you first curl dumbells up to shoulder height,
and then press them overhead. I did two sets of 8 repetitions with 40
lb dumbells.

I then did some abdominal work, doing 12 hanging ab knee raises (knees
to wrists, just like yesterday) and then two minutes of twisting
crunches.

My last exercise was to strengthen the back of my neck: I used a neck
harness with 45 lbs attached to it, and lifted my head up and down
about 20 times.

It sounds like I did a lot of stuff today, but the core of the workout
is definitely the Reid; I kept everything after that pretty easy.
That combination of barbell squats and running stairs is an absolute
killer! If you don't have a long stairwell or tower near your gym you
could always try using a steeply inclined treadmill or a stairmaster
instead.

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com