Hi all,

Welcome to Week 2 of 8 of our “Longer Workouts” cycle. This week will include a Hero Workout for Memorial Day, so see below for more information on that day.

Let’s get into it.

Day 1 

• Mobility

  • World’s Greatest Stretch

  • Deep Squat with Arm Rotation

  • Runner’s Lunge (high variation) 

  • Cossack Squats (assisted or unassisted)

• Warm-up - complete 4 rounds of…

  • 12 Box Step-ups (6 per leg) (ascend in weight if using weight in workout)

  • 8 Adductor Rock Backs (4 per leg)

• Hero Workouts:

  • Hero Workouts are programmed in dedication to a fallen military service-member or a first responder. Here is a snippet from the “Step Up Foundation” website regarding why CHAD1000X is such an impactful workout to do on Memorial Day.

  • “(The Step Up Foundation) is striving to change the narrative concerning the number of veterans suicides by dramatically expanding awareness regarding the effects of blast wave injury, traumatic brain injuries and post traumatic stress. Navy SEAL Senior Chief Chad Wilkinson died by suicide on Oct. 29, 2018. A two-decade veteran, Chad was also an aspiring mountaineer, and following his death the world took to Chad’s workout for climbing expeditions: 1,000 box step-ups with a 45 lb pack. This workout is now known as CHAD1000X. It was a workout Chad created to train for a 23,000-foot climb in Argentina.”

• CHAD1000X, for time:

  • Option 1: 333 Unweighted Box Step-ups (8” box)

    • 35 min. cap.

  • Option 2: 667 Weighted Box Step-ups (12” box) (25# DB)

    • 50 min. cap.

  • Option 3: 1000 Weighted Box Step-ups (20” box) (35# or 45# DB)

    • 75 min. cap.

  • Intended Stimulus - Please pick your rep scheme, height, and weight responsibly! 8” is about the maximum height one would have to step if they are taking a standard set of stairs in the U.S., so Option 1 is equivalent to climbing up and back down 24 flights of stairs. Option 2 is twice that distance, at a higher height, with WEIGHT. Option 3 is high, it’s heavy, and it’s LONG. 16 steps a minute for Option 3 would bring you in at about 62-ish minutes. That’s over an hour on non-stop stepping. Again, please pick a variation (or mix and match to customize your own variation) that is appropriate for you and your day. Once you know you picked a variation that is safe and appropriate for you, try and live by Chad’s words: “Uncomfortable can’t last forever”.

  • Log how long it took to complete the workout, adding weights, heights, and rep scheme chosen in the notes.

• Recovery

  • Pigeon Stretch (unassisted or assisted) - 3 min. per side

  • Legs up the Wall - 5 min.

Day 2

• Mobility

  • Unweighted Windmills

  • Cat / Cow

  • Wrist Circles

  • Scapular Push-ups

• Warm-up - 5 minutes, continue to cycle through…

  • 10 Single DB Pull-throughs (5 per arm)

  • 10 Lateral Raises (with light DBs or fractional plates)

  • 6 Tempo Bird Dogs (3 per side)

• Strength:

  • In 18 Minutes, build to a heavy set of 5 (per side):

    • Single DB “On-end” Strict Press (5 per side)

  • Off-time - 16 Plank-ups (8 per side)

  • Intended Stimulus - Bracing is the name of the game today. Slow and controlled through the whole movement. Those of you looking for an extra coordination challenge can sub out the “On-end” Strict Press for Single DB Turkish Get-ups (2 per side). Regardless of the movement you choose, make sure all sets are unbroken (e.g., don’t put the DB down during the set of 5).

  • Log the heaviest weights used for a completely unbroken set on both sides, adding movement chosen in the notes (“On-end” Strict Press or Turkish Get-up).

• MetCon:

  • Three Separate Tabatas (12 Total Minutes)

    • Tabata Number One: Sit-ups

    • Tabata Number Two: Jumping Squats (Air Squats are OK too - especially if you came in yesterday 😩)

    • Tabata Number Three: Push-ups (from the knees / from the toes / hand release)

    • *Reminder - a tabata is a 4-minute workout. Eight rounds of :20 on and :10 rest. Go back-to-back, right into the next tabata when the previous one ends, for a full 12 minutes.

  • Intended Stimulus - Your first round’s reps for each movement should be as close as possible to your eighth and final round’s reps of that movement. E.g., if you get 10 sit-ups in the first round, the second, third….etc….to the eighth should all be close to 10 reps. Same holds for the other two movements. This means you’re going to conservatively pace yourself early so when you’re fatigued later you can stay consistent.

  • Log total reps for each movement as three separate entries, adding in variations chosen in the notes.

• Recovery

  • Child’s Pose with Thread the Needle - 2 min. per side

  • Trap smash with LAX ball - 2 min. per side

Day 3

Rest Day

• Try and fit in two to three walks of 1.0-1.5 miles apiece.

• Another good option is a light jog / Stand-up paddle board / hike / slow bike / etc.

• Mobility and/or restorative yoga are other great options on rest days.

• Some is better than none.

• Getting outside in any capacity is encouraged!

Day 4

• Mobility

  • Scorpions

  • Up Dog / Down Dog

  • Bird Dogs

  • Deep Squat with Arm Rotation

  • Arm Swings

• Warm-up - 5 minutes, continue to cycle through…

  • 15 Air Squats 

  • 10 Leg Lifts

  • 5 Burpees

• Capacity:

  • EMOM35 (Every Minute on the Minute for 35 Minutes)

    • 8 Single DB Goblet Squats

    • 12 Bent Over Reverse Flies (with light DBs or fractional plates)

    • 8 Double DB Bench Press

    • 24 Scissor Kicks (hands under tailbone / no hands / weight overhead)

    • 8 Double DB Curl + Press 

  • Intended Stimulus - Focus today is to get STRONGER. Tempo out the movements so that you’re working for about :40-50 seconds per round.

  • Log a “checkmark” if you completed all 7 rounds, adding weight and variations chosen in the notes.

• Recovery

  • T-spine Smash with LAX ball - 2 min. per side

  • Foam Roll Glutes - 2 min. per side

Day 5

• Mobility

  • Unweighted Windmills

  • Boot Strappers

  • World’s Greatest Stretch + Hamstring Stretch

  • Child’s Pose w/ Thread the Needle

• Warm-up - complete 4-5 rounds…

  • 12 Light Double DB Conventional Deadlifts

  • 10 Scapular Push-ups

  • 8 Light Double DB Push Press

• Strength:

  • In 21 minutes, complete 6 rounds of Double DB Conventional Deadlifts in the following rep scheme:

    • 20-16-12-8-4-4

  • Off-time - 8 Unweighted Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts (SLRDLs) (4 per leg)

  • Intended Stimulus - On the Conventional Deadlifts, ascend in weight throughout if you feel safe and comfortable doing so. Control throughout with glutes and quads firing! Make sure your lats are engaged (flat back with neutral spine) and that the legs are pushing the ground away from you. On the Unweighted SLRDLs, the front knee should have only a slight bend in it (as opposed to the generous bend we give our knees in Conventional Deadlifts). Note the lack of quad help in the Romanian Deadlifts, and focus on bending your knees more in the CONVENTIONAL Deadlifts to engage those quads as well as your glutes. You have 3.5 minutes per round.

  • Log the weights used for the heaviest set of 4 Unbroken Double DB Conventional Deadlifts.

• MetCon

  • For time, capped at 9 minutes

    • 60 Single Arm DB Thrusters (30 per arm) (<25 / 35 / 50+)

    • 35 Push-ups (from the knees / from the toes / hand release)

  • Intended Stimulus - You can break up this workout however you like, switching between movements often or doing them in order without switching. Either way, the only thing that matters is that all the work gets done.

  • Log the time it took to complete the workout, adding weights and variations chosen in the notes. Also add in any imbalances between one arm and the other for the Single Arm DB Thrusters.

• Recovery

  • Foam Roll Quads - 2 min. per side

  • Chest Opener on Foam Roller - 5 min.

Day 6

• Mobility

  • Samson Stretch

  • Up Dog / Down Dog

  • Runner’s Lunge (high variation)

  • World’s Greatest Stretch + Hamstring Stretch 

  • Scapular Push-ups

  • Cat / Cow

• Warm-up - 6 minutes, continue to cycle through…

  • 8 Unweighted Forward Lunges (4 per leg)

  • 8 Unweighted Reverse Lunges (4 per leg)

  • 8 Half Burpees

  • 8 Light Single DB Strict Press (4 per arm)

• Long Workout Day!

  • AMRAP27 (As Many Rounds and Reps as Possible in 27 Minutes)

    • For distance, Double DB Suitcase Walking Lunges*

    • *IMPORTANT - at the top of every 3 minutes, starting at 0:00, do Single DB Devil’s Press 

      • (4 reps at <25 / 6 reps at 35 / 6 reps at 50+)

      • (Left + Right = 2, so only have to do 2 or 3 per arm)

  • Intended Stimulus - For the Walking Lunges, aim to just slightly graze your back knee on the ground (not slamming it into the ground). The front leg’s knee should be just slightly in front of the front toes, with a nearly perfectly vertical shin. I recommend you pace out a distance in your space and write down or remember that distance, then just count how many times you traveled that distance during your lunges and multiply the two together later for your total distance. You will do sets of the Single DB Devil’s Press 9 total times, at 0:00, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00, and 24:00.

  • Log total distance of the walking lunges traveled, adding weights used in the notes. Also add in the notes the weight and rep scheme chosen for the Single DB Devil’s Press.

• Recovery

  • Child’s Pose with Lat Stretch (2 min. per side)

  • Wide Leg up the Wall - 5 min.

Day 7

Rest Day

• Try and fit in two to three walks of 1.0-1.5 miles apiece.

• Another good option is a light jog / Stand-up paddle board / hike / slow bike / etc.

• Mobility and/or restorative yoga are other great options on rest days.

• Some is better than none.

• Getting outside in any capacity is encouraged!