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If you have ever used heavy ropes to do an interval workout you will feel my pain!

If you haven’t had the ‘pleasure’ of doing so yet, then look forward to it and make sure you add ‘Heavy Rope Intervals’ to the list of things to do before you die!

Apparently these ropes were named ‘Best New Cardio Tool of 2009′ by Men’s Health magazine and all I can say is that after a few minutes my lungs, arms, legs, shoulders……lets just say EVERYTHING was burning!

This workout was designed to be hard, fast and effective. I’m pretty sure it ticked off all of these boxes and then some! Following a 40 seconds work into 20 seconds rest interval, I did five work sets followed by a full minute rest (very generous I know!!). Do this for four rounds and you have a nice 20 minute workout. (30 minutes if you include a warm up before and lying in the foetal position for 5 minutes afterwards!)

Round One:

1. Double Waves
2. Alternate Waves
3. Double Waves
4. Alternate Waves
5. Double Waves

Round Two:

1. Outside Circles/Spirals
2. Inside Circles/Spirals
3. Double Waves
4. Outside Circles/Spirals
5. Inside Circles/Spirals

Round Three:

1. Rainbows/Throws
2. Alternate Waves
3. Rainbows/Throws
4. Alternate Waves
5. Rainbows/Throws

Round Four:

1. Double Waves
2. Alternate Waves
3. Inside Circles/Spirals
4. Rainbows/Throws
5. Outside Circles/Spirals

I got Rach to film some of the action, so you can see exactly what the exercises are if you aren’t familiar with them.

Ropes supplied by Australian Kettlebells

Interval Workout Music supplied by Workout Muse

Whether you are training at home or in the gym,  putting in the time, you want to make sure you are getting the biggest bank for your buck, so to speak. There are some things which are done time and time again for no other reason than ‘that’s the way we do it’. If there are things you are doing for no other reason than this, it might be time to change. Take yourself armed with the following information to your next training session to supercharge your workouts.

1. Time your rest periods.
Sounds simple huh? I know I have already written about it here, but I have to say it again. 60 seconds should be 60 seconds. If you are meant to have 90 second rest then have 90, not 180 or more. You will be surprised how much more you can get done, or how much quicker you can get it done if you are on the clock.

2. Stand Up
If you can do an exercise standing on your own two feet, then lets do exactly that. If you want to be sitting down doing that exercise you’d better have a damn good reason for it. Chances are you sit down enough already. That’s the way life is these days.

3. Multi Joint (Compound) Exercises only
Let me put it this way. If you are training to get fitter, lose some body fat or get stronger then you have no business doing tricep kickbacks and concentration curls. If you want a quick experiment in increasing metabolism, try the following. Do a clean and press for 3 sets of 15 reps with a minute rest between sets. Next do 3 sets of 15 reps with your favourite isolation exercise. Which one really got your body going?

4. Warm Up, Resistance, Intervals
99% of the time you will want to be doing your resistance training after a proper warm up and before any ‘cardio’ (see next point) or interval work. Why? If you want to get boost your metabolism and change your body shape you want to be doing your resistance training at the start of your work out when you are fresh. If you have just spent half your workout and most of your energy on the treadmill then the effort you can give your weights is going to be be compromised.

5. Reconsider your ‘Cardio’ training
Now this one fits into the category ‘Change the world one step at a time’. Remember however; that the world was once thought to be flat. Just as we once thought that ‘Cardio’ training was great for fat loss. If you really want to use some form of electronic cardio equipment (think elliptical trainer, treadmill, stationary cycle, stepper, rower etc) then at least do some High Intensity Intervals. Say goodbye to steady workouts and you will be saying goodbye to some extra stomach fat as well.

Got a sixth tip to share? Leave a comment below.

My training isn’t completely goal driven at the moment, so I have been trying a few different workouts and techniques.

Today’s session was inspired somewhat from the TV show ‘Greatest Athlete Australia‘.

Bench Press @ 75% body weight: Max reps x 2. 2 minutes rest between sets.

Chins: 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 rest 2 minutes then 5 x 2. (Great with a training partner, go alternatley with no rest)

Pec Deck: Just to give the back and biceps a rest. 2 sets of 8

Chest Supported Seated Row @ 75% body weight: Max reps x 2. 2 minutes rest between sets.

Walking lunges: 3 x 15 each side with 1 minute rest.

Stretch and roll to finish. Should only take around 30-35 minutes to complete.

Get to it,

James

Looking for a way to spice up your fat loss workouts? Then try this workout on for size!

It’s a full body, fat burning, metabolic blast that will have you shaped up in no time.

Because of the intensity of this workout, you only want to do it twice per week.

Warm Up
Start with some mobility drills (such as leg swings, arm swings etc) and a few minutes of foam rolling. This is the time to target your tight areas and get them loose for the upcoming workout.

Integrated Core Exercises

Chose from mountain climbers, cross body climbers, prone cross toe taps or your favourite TRX core exercise.

2 sets x 120 seconds with 120 seconds rest

followed by

1 set x 60 seconds

The Workout

A1: Chin Up – 8 reps
A2: Static Lunge – 20 reps

Rest 60 seconds and repeat two more times for a total of three sets.

B1: T Push Up – 8 each side
B2: Stability Ball or TRX Single Leg Curl – 12 reps each side

Rest 60 seconds and repeat two more times for a total of three sets.

C1: Inverted (Bar or TRX) Body Row – Maximum reps possible
C2: Overhead Squat – 15 reps

Rest 60 seconds and repeat two more times for a total of three sets.

D1: Upright Row – 12 reps
D2: Lying Hip raise – 20 reps each side

Rest 60 seconds and repeat two more times for a total of three sets.

Integrated Core Exercises (yes we do them again!)

Chose from mountain climbers, cross body climbers, prone cross toe taps or your favourite TRX core exercise.

2 sets x 120 seconds with 120 seconds rest

Ouch! That’s going to be a tough one.

If you have any questions about the workout just leave a comment below.

Have Fun!!