I teach a conditioning class on Fridays at my Kung-Fu school. It has a reputation for being very difficult and for “edge-seeking” students. I do nothing to dissuade people of that notion! I suppose that I take a certain perverse pride in teaching the class that is apparently talked about in hushed whispers. I also believe that there is tremendous value in a class such as mine. People know they will be pushed to their limit, and I think they value such an outlet.
Tonight, I tried to give my own twist to one of my favorite conditioning sets, that I borrowed from the amazing Mountain Athlete gym. It’s a little ditty I like to call “The Leg Destroyer”, that I put a few special twists on this time:
- As Many Rounds As Possible – 20 minutes:
- 20 Air Squats
- 20 Lunges (10 each leg)
- 20 Jumping Lunges (10 each leg)
- 10 Jump Squats
- 20 Double-Unders (or 40 rope turns if double-unders aren’t gonna happen)
This is without a doubt one of the most brutal sets I’ve ever inflicted on the class. Generally, the Leg Destroyer is four rounds. Making it AMRAP was quite the eye opener. As I’m now keeping track of the performance of the students, some interesting trends surfaced. It seems that most people plateaued at five rounds. There were a few at six and some change, and a few at four and some change, but the overwhelming majority of people got in five rounds and a few squats.
This setup really becomes a grind after the first round. I would say that most people knocked out the first two sets fairly quickly, then spent 15 minutes on their next two or three! The decline in performance is pretty startling, which makes it all the more important to keep doing the exercises as quickly as you can!
One thing that I really tried to accentuate today was correct form on the squats and lunges. I was incredibly pleased to note that people still got in a large number of rounds even with that added difficulty. For me, the only conclusion I can reach is that people are a hell of a lot tougher than they think they are. As difficult as my class is, I will occasionally throw in a set like this one, and to a man (or woman!) the students invariable rise to the occasion. I love and am proud of them all!
Since we still had some time left after the “Leg Destroyer”, I decided to throw in a little something extra that I discovered at the Crossfit gym the previous day:
- 16 Tabata Rounds, Alternating:
I have done Tabata circuits innumerable times in class, with multiple exercises (sometimes six or seven). The character of the alternating exercise protocol really seemed to be quite different than those setups. I felt there was more intensity and more at stake as the rounds went on. It’s not something we’ll do every week, but it is a wonderful variation.
Bravo to my students for tackling what is absolutely the hardest task I’ve given them to date!
Ah yes, dinner. I cooked up the last Ribeye steak with some salt and plenty of fresh-cracked pepper. Add in some crispy, verdant salad greens, and you have a paleolithic delight!
