Sometimes, our fans can teach us a thing or two, which is why each week Muscle & Fitness will be selecting a Bad-Ass Workout of the Week, submitted by one of our highly knowledgeable readers. Then our training experts will explain why we chose the workout, how how to make it even more bad-ass; and what training style it works for.
This week, Dan Trink, Director of Training at Peak Performance, assesses this routine from our Facebook fan Josh Camara. Let us know what you think, and show off your own workout at badassworkout@muscleandfitness.com. If we think it's worthy, we'll post it on the Muscle & Fitness website.
THIS WEEK'S OFFICIAL BAD-ASS WORKOUT
Start: 1 mile run on treadmill 1-minute rest
1. (3 sets — superset)
25 squats with 20-lb. medicine ball 30-yard sprint – back and forth 1-minute rest
When I received the email of this workout the subject line was “Not for the weak—Expect to puke and walk funny for the next few days.” So, already it wins the title for “Most Bad-Ass Subject Line of an Email.” Your championship belt is in the mail, Josh. As far as the actual workout goes, you’ve got sprints, sprints while holding a medicine ball, battling ropes, burpees and not one, not two, but three different exercises involving a tractor tire—which, as we know by now, is the most bad-ass thing you can do with a car part. I like that you’ve gone with supersets here utilizing various total body movements. That’s a great way to drive up the metabolic demand of the workout. Plus the upper body is often neglected in conditioning workouts but the battling ropes, tire flips and push ups take care of that problem nicely.
HOW TO MAKE IT BADDER:
Well, I know this is a modified strongman/metabolic type workout, which is great, just make sure you are getting some weight training in, either at the beginning of the session or on separate days. It’s the best way to make sure you are getting stronger and preserving muscle mass. Also, don’t confuse “metabolic conditioning” with “just getting as freakin’ tired as possible” so you may want reorganize this workout a bit and save the sprint work for the end as those are pretty tough to recover from. Finally, even though I have no idea how big the tractor tire you're using is, you can always get a bigger tractor tire. 'Cause bigger tires are always more bad ass.
WHO SHOULD DO IT:
If you are looking to shed fat and drive up your work capacity, this is the workout for you. Also, if you have a new puke bucket you are looking to break in, give this circuit a go. If your about to take your daughter down the aisle, expect to take a field sobriety test or anything else that will require you to walk in a straight line for a day or two after the workout, maybe you should try something else.
Dan Trink, CSCS, is a strength coach, personal trainer, fitness writer and nutritional consultant. He is also the Director of Training at Peak Performance in NYC. You can find out more about Dan at www.trinkfitness.com or on Facebook at www.faceboook/trinkfitness.
