Moving Mountains
Well...in reality no...because they are big, heavy and built into most landscapes. And I don't think there is a human anywhere on this earth strong enough to move one. But don't let that keep you from trying. If you've come this far, are still following my blogs and know what this expression actually means, you may be doing just that. If you haven't missed reading any of my posts, look forward to them being published and make excuses to skip chores, school or work just to tune in, you are indeed moving mountains. Nothing stops you from being better today than you were yesterday and dedicated to improving your overall health.
As with most of my articles, you know that the title is usually a catch phrase or tag line to lure you in and most often isn't related to the true subject matter. What should also be apparent is the shape of a mountain. A wide bottomed, triangular pyramid that narrows to a peak at the top. In my description, I used a specific word which is the focus of this weeks topic...pyramid.
Are you wondering what pyramids have to do with fitness? Some of you may have answered yes while others that attend my classes or work with me one on one probably already know. Regardless of your answer, I hope you can gain valuable information that enables you to change up your program, improve cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength and smash your fitness goals. So what exactly is pyramid training? Let's find out.
Like I mentioned before, mountains are triangular in composition and wider at the bottom than the top. Using this as a visual, your workouts can take on this shape also. Additionally, they can be done in several ways---cardio, rep, strength or time based. The pyramid format can be done using virtually any exercise you have in your repertoire so no two workouts are exactly the same. However, when creating your own unique workout, I recommend putting the most difficult activities in the first and last slots, but you can make it as challenging as you want by switching the order of exercises around or increasing the length of time or number of reps. This will make sense once you see its design in the sample workouts below.
Workout #1A (rep based-cardio)
5 burpees
10 bicycles 15 squat touches 20 mtn climbers
25 jumping jacks
30 split squat jumps (15 ea side)
25 jumping jacks
20 mtn climbers
15 squat touches
10 bicycles
5 burpees
Workout #1B (rep based-strength)
5 pushups
10 leg lifts
15 triceps dips
20 bicep curls
25 suitcase squats
30 lunges (15 ea side)
25 suitcase squats
20 bicep curls
15 triceps dips
10 leg lifts
5 pushups
Workout #2A (timed-cardio)
10 sec high knees
20 sec side to side lunge
30 sec shadow boxing
40 sec windmills
50 sec speed skaters
60 sec arm circles (30 sec ea direction)
50 sec speed skaters
40 sec windmills
30 sec shadow boxing
20 sec side to side lunge
10 sec high knees
Workout #2B (timed-strength)
10 sec crunches
20 sec plank up and down
30 sec bridge w/march
40 sec concentration curls (L arm)
50 sec T raises
60 sec ball pass
50 sec T raises
40 sec concentration curls (R arm)
30 sec bridge w/march
20 sec plank up and down
10 sec crunches
There you have it folks...along with the freedom to select any of the suggestions and slide them into your own program. Dividing these up into body sections (abs, lower or upper body, for example) is another great way to utilize the versatility of pyramid training and keep workouts fresh. Let those creative juices flow and understand that the above exercises are written for beginning level individuals and can be made easier or progressed as needed. Modifications can be taking the bounce out of a high impact activity such as burpees, high knees or speed skaters while increasing the level of athleticism could mean jumping jacks become star jacks or squat touches become box jumps. The choice is yours, the possibilities... endless...so get up, get out, and get moving those mountains!