On most days you head to the gym and ‘do the right thing’. You take out your training log, follow the reps and sets, add a little more weight than last week and walk out the door feeling pretty darn good about yourself. Other days, you’re not quite ‘feeling it’ and you spend less time deadlifting and more time chatting up the hot chick putting the finishing touches on her shredded stomach.
Then there are some days you just walk into the gym feeling extra pumped and super focused. Sure you could bang out your regularly scheduled training program. But, today, you’re same-old training program just won’t do. You want to tackle something tough. You want a challenge. You want to train so hard that you crawl out of the gym.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help. Each week we’ll give you a tough, one-off workout that you can try when you are looking for the ultimate training challenge of just feel like you need a break from your regular routine. But be warned, this training program will leave you totally CRUSHED.
Check out the workout on the next page.
The Frog in the Canoe
You may be wondering about the title of this particular workout. And what the hell a frog is even doing in a canoe. Well, truth is, you’re the frog. And the canoe is the rowing machine. Allow us to explain.
This workout utilizes two movements. The first is the row (on a Concept II or similar rowing machine), which not only serve to jack up your heart rate, but also coordinates movement between your legs, back, biceps and forearms. The second is the frog sit-up, where you lay on the ground with your knees bent and out to the sides (the soles of your shoes should be touching each other) and reach your straight arms from overhead to in front of your shoes. This works your abs while taking the usually overactive hip flexors out of play.
The goal is to complete this workout in as little time as possible. You are alternating between the rower and the sit-ups starting at 500 meters and 50 reps down to 100 meters and 10 reps. If you can make it in under 8 minutes, you earn the title of King of the Pond. If it takes you more than 15 minutes, you need to work on your conditioning, tadpole.
The Workout
1) Rower: 500 meters
2) Frog Sit-Ups: 50 reps
3) Rower: 400 meters
4) Frog Sit-Ups: 40 reps
5) Rower: 300 meters
6) Frog Sit-Ups: 30 reps
7) Rower: 200 meters
8) Frog Sit-Ups: 20 reps
9) Rower: 100 meters
10) Frog Sit-Ups: 10 reps
Leave the total time it took you to complete the workout in the comments section below. That is, once you regain the ability to type.
Dan Trink is a personal trainer, strength coach and nutritional consultant based in New York City. To find out more about Dan visit www.trinkfitness.com.
