7 Moves That’ll Whip Your Body into Shape Fast

Training has been evolving. Twenty years ago, you could walk into local gym to see nothing but dumbbells, machines, and treadmills. Nowadays, training is definitely leaning more towards group settings. This is due to the camaraderie and social component involved in a lot of these classes. Gyms now are turning into what looks like indoor turf fields with sleds, logs, and giant ropes. People are finding a newfound love for jumping out of the leg press and getting behind a 200lb sled. I’m not saying give up your bodybuilding training, but what I am saying is that this will be a great addition in conjunction to what you have been doing in the past for a few reasons.

Reason One:

It takes the monotony out of old school training. For example, bench press: 3 sets of 10. We love doing this, but you guys know what I’m talking about, after a certain period of time, mentally and physically, we have a tendency to crave new and different programs.

Reason Two:

This type of training will get your body moving like an athlete. If done properly, it can really help eliminate a lot of that stiffness you might be feeling from being locked into machines and isolation movements. Also when we overdo any type of training, we have a tendency to develop overuse injuries, but by mixing in this new school type of training, we’re giving our body an opportunity to repair and improve.

Reason Three:

This type of training helps elevate the heart rate which will obviously improve the cardiovascular system. This is basically a way to kill two birds with one stone: doing your cardio training while performing your resistance work (which is especially great for those of you who just hate doing cardio).

What I’m going to do here is set up for you a very simple way to organize a full body program to increase your own endurance and strength.

Let’s go with a few pieces of equipment that we should be able to find in any gym (and if not, I will have a substitute for you because I’m good like that)

Pull-Up Bar
Sled
Dumbbell or Kettle-bell
50 foot rope (if possible)

Goblet Squat: Use a kettle-bell or dumbbell. 10 reps.
Pull-Ups: 2-3 reps shy of failure (if you struggle to get just a few pull-ups, pop up on the bar and just hit single reps).
Push-Ups: 3 reps shy of failure.
Sled Push: 50 yards or if you do not have this one, bear crawl – forward for 25 yards and reverse for 25 yards.
50 Foot Rope: Perform 30 second waves as fast as you can. If you do not have the 50-foot rope, go into jump squats with no weight.
Suitcase Carries: Grab a heavy set of kettle-bells or dumbbells, and walk around your gym for one minute. This is one of the most underrated exercises I know that will basically help attack almost every area of the body.
Lateral High Knees: Because on the obstacle course you’re going to be having to move laterally, this is a great way for you to prepare for that. What you’re basically going to do is perform a high knee drill while moving laterally for ten feet, then back in the other direction for ten feet. Back and forth twice is one set.

These are seven very basic movements that require overall athleticism. What I recommend doing is setting up all exercises as individual stations in advance. This way you’re ready to move from movement to movement. Also, take into account that if you are training in a gym, other people will be a factor. Try and find an area that’s safe and that will allow you to perform all these exercises. Once you get through all seven movements, you’ve completed one round. Set your timer for twenty minutes and see how many rounds you can complete. This is also a fun way to get your program done in very little time. We have focused on strength, speed, and power. This will carry over to not only your athletic life, but life in general. One more thing: never neglect technique.

Even if you are not planning to take your training to competition level, this is still a great workout routine to play with. Remember that it is impossible to train at 100% every day. We all have variables in life that affect our recovery. Sleep, stress, nutrition are all major variables here. If you’re struggling with just one of these, this could affect your training drastically. So please listen to your body. For example, you could have had a hard training session Monday and Tuesday, then experience problems at work on Wednesday. This is a variable that could be affecting the intensity at which you should be training. Don’t feel bad about backing off. In the long run you will recover much faster, resulting in a much better training stimulus day to day.