There are many ways to
workout, as we all know, but I am about to present one of the most
potent methods around- a routine. Ever wondered why dancers and
gymnasts are so lean? It is not due to tons and tons of cardio,
it is from doing routines. A one-minute routine is just as tough
as sprinting and works the entire body. My idea is to do weight
routines. For example, take a kettlebell and do as many different
lifts as you can in a minute and have them tie together seamlessly.
You will not believe how hard a one or two minute routine can be.
I would not go any longer than that, although you can practice your
routine more than once in a workout.
How do you construct a routine?
First, you must take all of the exercises you can think of and
write them down on a piece of paper or at least take a mental
inventory. Next, you should plan out a few element groups. In
other words, take 3 or 4 exercises that flow together and practice
those. Try to turn these elements into one flowing movement. For
some ideas on these element groups, check out my article on kettlebell
complexes. One idea would be to do a snatch, followed by an overhead
squat and then drop into a Turkish Getup. This would be one element
group.
After you have practiced a few different element groups, it is
time to tie them together. Once you have several of them tied
together, you have a solid routine going. To add a little excitement
to your training, I highly recommend trying out kettlebell juggling.
Check out Jeff Martone's H2H
Kettlebell Drills video for some ideas on how to juggle kettlebells.
Ring Routines
This one is rather obvious, as it is an Olympic event. However,
ring routines are an incredible way to build strength. The first
time I did one, I felt like Jello afterwards. It is one thing
to do muscle-ups when you're fresh, but it is a totally different
challenge after spending a minute on the rings. My first strength
routine was to do a hanging leg raise into an inverted hang. From
here I went into a back lever and back to an inverted flexed hang.
I then kipped into support and did an Iron Cross partial and pulled
back to support in an L-sit position. From an L-sit I did a forward
roll and muscled back to support. Then I did a shoulder stand
and rolled forward out of it and into an L-hang beneath the rings.
I did a hanging leg raise and pulled into an inverted hang. At
this point I decided to do a front lever with one leg bent and
one leg extended. I then switched legs as if riding a bike. I
dropped back down into a hang and did a muscle-up and then held
an L-sit. I did a forward roll, took one swing and dismounted.
The main goal now (and with any strength routine) is to add more
variety and more difficult elements. If you have any questions
or need clarification on what these skills are, please feel free
to ask at the Ring
Training user forum.
Clubbell Routines
Clubbells
naturally lend themselves to routines. In fact, women's rhythmic
gymnastics has clubs as one of its events. They are not heavy
clubs, like the Clubbell and they are used differently, but at
one point in time, heavy club swinging was a sport. From what
I hear, it is being resurrected, but not in the form of routines.
It is more similar to kettlebell competitions where two lifts
are competed for max reps. However, club routines can be a lot
of fun. As with kettlebells, your degree of difficulty is determined
by the heaviness of the weight you use and the difficulty of your
skills and element groups.
Bodyweight Routines
This is pretty much what started it all. Dance, gymnastics, ballet,
circus and pretty much any other performing art has one thing
in common- routines. The amount of choreography varies from highly
choreographed ballet performances to freestyle breakdancing. However,
even if you cannot dance (like me), you can still design a very
cool routine around bodyweight exercises. Throughout your routine,
you can do a variety of different pushups, forward and backwards
rolls, handstands, pistols and other types of squats, jumps and
any other type of calisthenics you can think of. Your only limit
is your own creativity. One consideration is how much space you
have and what surface you will be practicing on. You will obviously
not be doing tumbling passes on hardwood floors in your kitchen.
However, in a very small space, you can still do a good variety
of stuff.
Check out Mike Mahler's article in this issue for an example of
an awesome element group. One of my recent favorites is a press
handstand to forward roll and stand up with a pistol. In a routine,
you should try to demonstrate strength, flexibility, coordination,
body awareness and agility. Over time, try to learn new exercises
and incorporate them into your routine.
Practice Makes Perfect
If you want to get good at your strength routines, practice them
every day. They should not interfere with your regular workouts.
I would recommend practicing them early though, because of the
skill required. Over time, do not stick to the same routine, but
let it continually evolve as you get stronger and learn more new
exercises. If having a solid routine is your ultimate goal, I
would recommend spending about 20% of your time practicing your
routine, 35% practicing element groups, 45% practicing and learning
individual skills. In this last part, you can practice these individual
skills with heavy weights and even high repetitions. Just because
you do it once or twice in your routine does not mean you can
only use it for conditioning.
I highly recommend this as a fun and productive way to train.
If you can develop solid routines with kettlebells, on rings and
with your bodyweight, you will no doubt be an incredibly versatile
Power Athlete.
Tyler Hass is the publisher of Power Athletes Magazine and
a multi-sport athlete. After playing college tennis, he is now
focused on being in shape for anything. He recently founded Power
Athletes, LLC and manufactures the Power
Rings. He can be reached at tyler@powerathletesmag.com
.
