Health Habits Workout – Week 48 – Day 1

It’s Tabata Time again!!!

4 Minutes of exquisite pain

• 8 sets
• 20 seconds work
• 10 seconds rest

This week is an exact duplicate of the previous Tabata phase. We are going to do this for 1 week and then follow up with 2 weeks of new Tabata exercises. My hope is that the bridge week will allow you to beat your PBs from the last Tabata week.

As always, during these workouts, I want you to balance the amount weight you use with number of  reps per set .

• If you normally like to push heavy weight…I want you to cut back and focus on the number of reps per set
• If you normally go lighter but like to do high rep sets..then I want you to up the weight and drop the reps

The success of this program depends on you being willing to break out of your comfort zone.

You might hate me during the workouts, but you’ll thank me when you see yourself in the mirror.

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Also, I know I sound like a broken record, but buy an interval timer for these workouts.

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WORKOUT WARM-UP

Feel free to mix things up during the warm-up. The goal is to warm up your muscles and to get your joints lubricated. I like the following warm-up exercises, but if you’re getting sick of them..do your own thing…as long as it gets the job done.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

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THE WORKOUT

Exercise #1

Bodyweight Squat

• Squat for 20 seconds
• Rest (standing) for 10 seconds
• 8 sets of squats
• 4 min total
• Perform as many reps as possible per set
• Resistance can be added by holding a dumbbell/plate at chest height

No rest between work sets

Do this instead…..

• Using a resistance band or cable station, face away from the band/cable station holding the band/handle overhead.
• If arms overhead is too tough on your shoulders, rest your hands on your head.
• With a “slight” forward lean, walk (gradually) forward until the resistance starts to pull you backwards or you start bending at the spine.
• This exercise mimics a bridge/plank exercise, except instead of being in a horizontal position, you are vertical
• To make it tougher, stand on one foot.

Exercise #2

See Saw Press

• Press the DBs/KBs for 20 seconds
• Rest (arms at side) for 10 seconds
• 8 sets of see saw presses
• 4 min total
• Perform as many reps as possible per set

Back to the standing cable/band bridge/plank thingie for a minute

Exercise #3

Standing Cable Row

• Row for 20 seconds
• Rest for 10 seconds
• 8 sets of standing cable rows
• 4 min total
• Perform as many reps as possible per set

Back to the standing cable/band bridge/plank thingie for another minute

This time – face sideways to the cable stack with your arm straight out to the side at shoulder height – stand on the leg closest to the stack – this will be tough

Exercise #4

1 Leg Deadlift

• Deadlift on 1 leg for 20 seconds
• Rest (standing) for 10 seconds
• Repeat on other leg – alternate back and forth
• 8 sets of 1 Leg DLs
• 4 min total
• Perform as many reps as possible per set
• Hold DBs for resistance

Back to the standing cable/band bridge/plank thingie for another minute

This time – sideways again (but face the opposite direction – 180 degree turn) to the cable stack with your arm straight out to the side at shoulder height – stand on the leg closest to the stack – this will be tough

At this point, you have done 16 minutes of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata work. This is the minimum amount of work for the day. However, depending upon your fitness level, I want you to try and complete all 4 exercises again – that would be 32 min of HIIT/HIRT/Tabata + the standing cable bridge exercise.

After that, you’re done for the day.

Stretch and go home

Tomorrow, it’s some easy cardio & stretching (lots of stretching)

Wednesday, it’s back to the weights

Doug Robb is a personal trainer, a fitness blogger and author, a competitive athlete, and a student of nutrition and exercise science. Since 2008, Doug has expanded his impact by bringing his real-world experience online via his health & fitness blog, Health Habits. Read more posts by Doug at Hive Health Media.