Dirty Dozen from Synergy Athletics
In my garage gym tonight, it is getting to a point now that I have enough equipment in there so that I can avoid going to a commercial gym and just get on with what I want without interruption. Had some AC/DC cranked up loud and away I went. I needed to tonight as it was bloody freezing in there, -5 degrees C outside so I thought I’d better get my arse into gear to keep warm!
Today I decided to use a training session devised by somebody else. it is always good to learn from others, whether it is another idea of how to apply what you know or something completely different.
My friend from across the pond, Joe Hashey from Synergy Athletics knows a thing or two about designing programs and being a bit off the wall in his training methods, so when I saw his idea for the dirty dozen training protocol as I pondered on a training session a few weeks back I thought that I had to give it a go.
Now the premise is simple, pick 12 exercises and perform 12 reps of each exercise, sounds easy right? well you would be wrong, the first time I tried this it kicked my ass, I was completely gassed. Lucky for me my general physical preparedness (GPP) is at a level where I can recover quickly between rounds. After 3 though I had had enough.
The program is designed to alternate between strength and conditioning exercises. Of course it isn’t an out and out max strength program and lends itself more to conditioning and strength endurance, but it makes for one hell of a training session. As Joe says, “it is more a method of training and is designed to be short, flexible with the equipment available and what you want to get out of it”.
Which Level?
Your fitness level will define the amount of rest you take. By splitting it up into 3 levels of difficulty it allows you to have your rest defined in advance so you know when to grasp some extra air.
Beginner
1) Strength
2) Conditioning
REST 20 seconds and repeat 6 more times
Intermediate
1) Strength
2) Conditioning
3) Strength
4) Conditioning
REST 20 seconds and repeat 3 more times
Advanced
1) Strength
2) Conditioning
3) Strength
4) Conditioning
5) Strength
6) Conditioning
REST 20 seconds and repeat 2 more times
At the end of the 12 exercises, Rest for 90 seconds and repeat for 2-5 rounds depending on your fitness level. Make sure you push hard!!
My Sub Zero Dirty Dozen
With it being -5 degrees C in the garage gym tonight there was no excuse to go slow, I have to keep moving to keep warm!
I fired in an intermediate session with the following exercises, I have got a shiny new weight vest and decided this was the day I was gonna christen it. All the exercises were done wearing the vest:
- Alternating Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- Squat
- Dumbell inverted strap row
- Lunge jumps
REST 20 seconds
- Pushups
- Burpees
- Alternating Dumbbell Rows
- Squat jumps
REST 20 Seconds
- Dumbbell squat thrust to RDL
- Med Ball Slam
- Dumbbell Curls
- Full Jack knife (V sits ) sit ups
REST 90 seconds and repeat for 4 rounds
Man that weight vest made a BIG difference, totally blasted me away, but was an awesome work out. Remember you can make this method up with any 12 exercises that you want. I got the session on my flip cam but made a hash of it with it being in a confined space and static on a tripod. I might throw it up on you tube later, it probably makes for a better clip since my head is missing through out 
Thanks again to Joe hashey at Synergy Athletics for allowing me to share this with you here.
Be strong, stay healthy
Dean
Weekend Training Madness
Having had a very busy week work wise, I have had little time to put together any substantial training sessions. However, just because there is maybe little time, doesn’t mean you cannot train.
Today’s training session comes courtesy of my garage gym. It’s not big, but it’s functional and has everything I need to push the envelope and come out drenched with sweat and drained of whatever energy I went in with.
Make no mistake, you don’t need a commercial gym to get a solid workout. My aim today was an alternative total body strength session, none of the usual weight exercises here, although I did use dumbbells I also used other training modularities.
I added a mix of upper and lower body exercises to cover all bases and was still done in 45 minutes, no chit chat, no waiting for equipment to be free, no distractions.
If you are serious about training and getting fitter and stronger, then start thinking outside of the box and have fun…..well if you can call it that! I always enjoy myself no matter how hard it may be.
Here is my Weekend madness, I covered upper and lower body with an alternative strength session and ended with a tabata finisher and core work to round things off…..
Warm up
Started the warm up with some upper body work with a bungee and light shadow boxing. Just stretching out and warming up specific areas I am looking out for.
I moved onto minute drills of boxing/punching a maize ball and skipping for 10 minutes, no need to go all out, the aim is to get thoroughly warmed up for the session ahead.
Strength Session
Heres the session…
1a) Dumbbell Snatch
1b) Kettlebell swing
I completed 2 warm up sets and then 2 max sets, the a and b represent that the exercises follow straight after each other in a “super set”. Keep the rest period after each superset to no more than 60 seconds.
Then a complex of….
2a) Weighted Chin ups.
2b) Weighted Push up*
2c) Weighted Strap Row
2d) Weighted Squat
6 rounds of the above circuit. I was going for numbers within an amount of rounds. I made sure to stop 1 rep short of failure to try and keep some in the tank. Although I tried to give myself a minute between each to make sure I got the best of every set, I wasn’t stringent with that rule, I rode the fatigue meter. If I felt ok I went in less time, if I needed a little more for recovery then i did it. The complex doesn’t have to be 4 exercises, you could just start with 1 or 2.
* – Vary the push up style in each round. I did normal, close grip and walking push ups to add variety. There are many other variations that you can choose from.
Finisher
To stoke the metabolism I added a finisher based on the tabata protocol (20 secs training, 10 secs rest for 8 rounds) to the session for good measure…..
3a) Burpees
3b) Medicine Ball Slams
Core Circuit
To finish off I hit 3 rounds of…
4a) Hanging leg Raise
4b) Hanging knee twists.
4c) Ab wheel roll outs.
Again, don’t go to failure, perform an exercise until you know you have a rep left and then stop.
The End
Remember this, there is always time in a day to train even if it 20 minutes. And you don’t need to drag yourself to a gym, train at home and before you say you have no equipment, it is still no excuse, your bodyweight is an excellent tool, use it!
Do you have any great alternative circuits? if so, fire some comments in for everyone to read.
Stay strong.
Dean Coulson
Out of the Weight Room
There s nothing like hard labour to mix up your training and give a completely different slant on things.
Last weekend I helped my father in law at his new house. When I say new, I mean it is a newish purchase but is in need of some work. Built in the 1800′s it is in need of some serious renovation, to the point that he not only removed the stone floors but kept digging until there were 5 foot deep holes in each room! God knows why, I am sure there was absolutely no need to create so much work, but he did and is now filling them back in with hardcore aggregate.
I would say around at least 80 tonnes of it to be exact! he had another 21 tonne drop last weekend and I went to help him out, bearing in mind we were using 2 shovels and 2 wheel barrows between us to cart this stuff into the house and dumping it inside.
Here’s when the training comes in, good old fashioned manual labour, it ticks so many boxes, strength, stamina, endurance etc it really is a great all round strength and conditioning exercise.
Breaking it down you have so many similar movements in the gym that are simulated in doing this.
Shovelling, hits all the upper body and incorporates rotational strength for your core. I kept swapping hands so that I could hit each side.
Lifting barrow is like a rack pull. More than enough to hit the quads, back, traps and arms.
wheeling it for distance is like a farmers walk. I know the barrow has wheels but it is still weight over distance and awkward terrain repetitively and seriously eats into your grip strength.
Dumping the load in the barrow goes in as an all over body explosive lift to tip the barrow up, well in my case to flip it, just to add to the fun!
Put all that together at a good pace over the course of the day makes for a damn hard but rewarding session!
It is definitely a man thing, just good old hard honest graft. Even my son was there getting into the thick of it and he is only 5!
Next time someone needs you to pick up a shovel, I would recommend it, beats a gym any day of the week!
- Dean Coulson
