10 rounds for time:
10 KB side step swings 25/35 (R+L=1)
10 KB juggles 25/35
10 KB reverse woodchoppers 25/35 (R+L=1)
10 KB pushups 25/35
10 KB halos 25/35 (R+L=1)
Post time to comments.
Daily Extras -
5 sets of 20 squats
rest :45s between each set.
Workout Notes:
Your challenge today will be just keeping a hold of that KB. Your grip is going to be SHOT. Our suggestion:
Form up!
Use your hips to drive the bell up, not your arms, back and shoulders. Doing so will keep hand fatigue to a minimum.
Also, there is no need to death grip that KB. Relax, man. It's not going anywhere. Find little places to rest during the movements. The top of each movement will give you a small opportunity to relax and pump your hands - ONCE. Take each opportunity you get. The pushup is strategically placed. It's the only move without a gripping pull in it. Move it a round a bit if you need to. If you need it right after the juggles instead of after the woodchoppers - cool.
Remember, there is very little you could do with a KB that you couldn't do with a DB.
Incr FAT Intake Challenge:
We are storming up on the end of HELLth Week X3. How are you doing? How did you do on the PRO challenge last week? Are you a high PRO type?
Challenges are illuminating, no?
If you have found your stride while eating more PRO - stay the course. Don't change, unless you really feel you have to. Unless you feel you need something more. If you still haven't found what works for you, try higher fat in your diet.
What? High fat!??? Are you kidding me?
More and more research has been pointing us to the health benefits of increasing our fat intake. Actually, these recommendations have been promoted for years by those, "in the know." But, they are not popular. There is still a prevalent feeling among the general population that fat is the enemy. This has been drilled into our heads over the years by government officials and experts alike.
Changes are afoot. Read THIS.
This week we recommend a fat intake experiment to see if you are the type of individual who would thrive with added fat.
Although most nutritional types recommend not exceeding 20-30% of your daily caloric intake as fat. We are going to recommend way more. This week, for the purposes of discovery and health, we recommend increasing your dietary fat intake to 30-45% of your daily calories.
Many who increase their fat intake discover better cardiovascular health, more strength, better mental health (due to balancing of hormones), less fatigue, better sleep, stronger immune system and improved body mass index profiles (weight loss).
According to some scientific resources, there are good fats and bad fats. Read THIS article for choosing healthier recommendations.
Our recommendations follow GPP standards. Eat Naturally. IOW eat foods which are as close to the way they occur in nature as is possible. We are not big on distinguishing the value of food by assigning the words "good" or "bad." GPP has been around long enough to see the tide change on "expert" recommendations when it comes to fat. For example, there was a time when eating butter was thought to be less healthy than eating mono-unsaturated margarine. Now we know natural butter is better.
The world of fat is murky. We predict a day when recommendations we've learned as "healthy" regarding fat will be very different, of not opposite of what is popular now.
While we are waiting for the world to catch up, we will lead the way in making recommendations more suited to the separate needs of individuals.
Remember years ago, when we all started working out? Do you remember how we did it? Back then, we were instructed to do 3 sets of 10 reps per exercise. A lot of us saw a TON of progress with this. If I'm being honest , I've seen more progress with this method of lifting than any other (except GPP), over the years. And I've done them all.
When I was 12, my dad got a Jack Lalanne weight set from my mom for Christmas. I don't think he asked for it. Ha! It was nothing more than a 5', knurled steel bar (yes, we got the higher class knurled one!) which was an inch round in diameter and it came with some plastic, cement filled weights that broke open within a couple of months. It was nothing a little duct tape wouldn't fix.
Dad didn't really use the weight set. Thinking back, I'm guessing this was his "reply" to the un-welcomed gift. But my brothers and I loved it. We used that weight set for years and years. In fact, I still have that bar (see pic). I still use it. It lives in my office. I stole it back from my brother after he finished college. It is one of my most prized possessions.
Back to my point. The book that came with the bar was an instruction booklet on how to get strong. Back in the day, I used to think "Strong" and "Big" were synonymous. They are not. It's a common mistake young men make. Along with the instructions were photos of Jack Lalanne himself demo'ing the exercises he recommended. The reps scheme? Of course, it was 3 sets of 10.
Unfortunately, in exercise, the mentality has always been, "if ONE is good then 2 must be better", right? Popular magazines in the 80's (Weider) started changing Jack's recommendations. In just a couple of years, the recommendation quickly went from 3 sets per body part, to 5 sets. A couple years later (maybe intended to sell more magazines), they added even more sets. In my HS days, we had increased to 10-12 sets. These days, most meat-head types do a staggering 20-25 sets per body part, PER WORKOUT!
It's PED induced chaos out there, man!
Two years ago, we (GPP) started tinkering with the popular recommendations for gaining strength and shape (see Shaping Bias). Want to know what we settled on? 3-5 sets. Yep. Pretty much the same recommendations as Jack gave us WAY back in the day. We've seen staggering progress with the "Shaping Bias."
Today, I read an article out of Lehman University. Apparently science has caught up with our 3-5 sets of 10 reps recommendation. Dr. Brad Schoenfeld led a study that proves 3 sets of 10 reps are superior for building muscle than programs with higher rep schemes, higher set schemes, or higher weight schemes.
Here is the thing, we don't think 3-5 sets ALONE would really help anybody. One of the reasons, we believe, we see so much progress on the Shaping Bias is because we are all stacking it ON TOP of superior programming to begin with. Yep, GPP. Still, we were excited to see that science is catching up. Albeit - slowly.
It all comes back around. This is a theme with anything, especially health and fitness. If you are considering doing some weight lifting for extra strength and/or better shape and appearance this year, consider going "old school" with just 3-5 sets per body part. If you REALLY want to see gains with more lean body mass (muscle) and better appearance/health, stack these sets on top of a modified GPP workout (70% as instructed in the Shaping Bias). This will ensure you get the best of both worlds.
Very grateful to be featured, once again, on the KSL Travel show with the Trippin' 2 (DW & BC). Thank you!
These frequent appearances have inspired us to begin our own podcast. We will record our first GPP podcast this Wednesday. It'll be posted here, on the GPP mainsite, soon after. We'd love some input on this.
Do you have any questions you'd like covered on our show? Please post to comments.
We also need a name. Seems like "GPP Podcast" would be cool, but our producer "EO" says, "It needs to be more spicy". He says, it needs to be a name that reflects our "Commonsensical" style. Thoughts? Please post to comments.