Wednesday WODs
In keeping with the spirit of the AP Fitness Challenge, I decided to post a Workout of the Day (WOD) every Wednesday to give you, the readers, a challenge to complete. I will be doing them beforehand and posting my results with the WOD. These WODs are not original, new or super secret. You can find lists and lists on the internet and adapt them to what equipment you have – or even if you have no equipment at all. I personally love the book Cross Training 101: Build the Ultimate Athletic Physique, which is where many of the WODs are coming from (I may modify some slightly to make them more relevant to our purposes).
I am going to start out with mostly beginner bodyweight WODs just in case readers do not have access to equipment either at home or in a gym. Of course, modify the exercise as needed (i.e. if you cannot run, walk; if you cannot do a push up, do a modified pushup with your knees down OR a wall push up, etc)
Let’s first go over some basic types of WODs:
- As Many Reps As Possible (AMRAP) – Within a certain time constraint, complete as many rounds of exercises as possible
- Every Minute on the Minute (EMOM) – Within a certain time constraint, complete the exercise(s) at the beginning of every minute
- For Time – Complete the workout in the quickest time possible and record your time
- Tabata – Style of interval training where you exercise for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds for a total of 8 rounds
WOD
3 Rounds FOR TIME:
- 10 Burpees
- 20 Air Squats
- 30 Situps
My total time was: 15 minutes, 26.93 seconds. My abs started cramping halfway through the first round which slowed me down. After the second round, however, I was good to go. It highlighted that abs are still one of my weakest parts. I also don’t particularly like morning workouts (I do better after dinner) but I don’t consider that an excuse.
I finished up after this with a 5K (3.1mile) ruck on the treadmill with a 40lb ruck in 55 minutes and 23 seconds. My quads were shot from the burpees and air squats (I had done Powerlifting legs on Thursday and light accessory leg workouts yesterday) but after about 20 minutes I moved up from a 3mph pace to a 3.5mph pace. For the last 0.1 miles, I ran at 5.5mph.
If you want to make a cheap rucking plate, take four 5lb masonry bricks from Home depot and duct tape them together in groups of two and/or four. This creates plates of 10lbs and 20lbs you can slide into a backpack. I use a 5.11 Rush 24 backpack that has been removed from my daily carry and repurposed into a solely rucking backpack
The soundtrack:
GET TO IT.
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Good, brief article! I have a pile of bricks in the back yard and an old pack. Thanks for the idea of using them as ruck weight. I hate doing cardio indoors.
Awesome! Another idea is to get a sled (deer sled or child’s sled), fill it with bricks, and drag it around. I did a TCCC medical class and had to drag a casualty on a SkedCo sled and it was incredibly taxing. And it was partially downhill as well…and absolute smoker
Good tip for that ruck weight. I use a Wal-Mart 20 lb Great Value pinto bean sealed bag as my ruck weight. A few months old, the contents are getting pretty beat it. My ruck is a Swiss canvas salt and pepper rucksack, the same I plan to carry if —- gets real. Our thorny brush here requires heavy duty construction – synthetics will become shredded in time.
I work out in very early morning to get my metabolism going early. I’m out of shape but slowly gaining. Past heart surgery (valve replacement) and 57 years old – i need to watch how far I can push it. But I’m definitely making progress.
Thanks for the post – looking forward to reading more tips.
Hell yeah! I always tell people to err on the side of caution. Can you do an extra rep or an extra mph? Sure. Can you also injure yourself and set yourself back weeks or months? Yup.
Everything has to be realistic. Even if it seems like nothing, you are lapping everyone on the couch.
Thanks for the encouragement, we must ALL raise our PT.
I will be the first to admit my cardio is horrible. Posting these is a two way street as it helps keep me accountable as well.
This is awesome, thanks for posting this.
Off to do some sweating….
Hell yeah! We are starting off basic and then moving up. These can then be used as benchmarks to measure progress
Good for giving folks a workout goal if they have hesitations starting themselves.
A absolutely horrid cover of Bad.Co.’s signature song.
Meh I am not the biggest fan of the original. Not bad, but not my favorite. This version gets my blood pumping.
Did the WOD this AM. That third set was a real smoker! It’s one thing to life or run, quite another to do compound movements or Tabata. Good stuff, Patriotman!
Thank brother! The squats to sit ups were the worst because your quads were just on fire.
This WOD is deceivingly tough. I got done with it, looked in the mirror, and thought “you little bitch” lol. High volume, short rest sets are the way forward for me. Admittedly, I go into the gym and my ego takes over and I lift short and heavy. But I keep reminding myself that these workouts are more applicable for my purposes and goals.
Next week will be another good one!
Roger that. Thanks
:D
2/16/20
WOD
Running clock: 12:00
1st rd: 3:23
2nd rd: 3:37
3rd rd: 5:00 (and it was going so well – the sit ups got me)
Thanks again.
Regards, Dave