Workout of the Week: Hybrid Conditioning

Here's what I did today:

I decided to start focusing more on conditioning because I really don't do nearly enough of it. I love the versatility of kettlebells, sledgehammers, and medicine balls so I combined them. Now, since I'm a little limited in sledge weight at the moment, there were a few movements where I used two 8lb hammers in substitution of one 16lber. All kettlebell movements were done with a 24kg (53lbs) and the med ball was 10lbs.

10 Rounds, 1 minute rest between rounds:
10x One-Handed Swings (5 per hand)
10x John Henry Sledge Slams*
10x Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
10x Double Hammer Shovels
10x Med Ball Reverse Chops

*John Henry slams are named after one of the greatest hammer-wielders of all time, known to work with a 20lb hammer in each hand. More on him in a future article. The exercise is executed by holding one hammer in each hand and staggering the legs, then slamming down onto the ground (dirt is best), onto a tire, or (if, say, you are doing this workout indoors) more of a swing where you keep it controlled and reverse the motion before the hammer reaches the floor/ground.

If this is too much (trust me, I understand), you can easily scale down a few ways. First, you can reduce the weight of the kettlebell and med ball. Second, you can either use two hands on one sledgehammer or reduce the weight. Third, you can reduce the number of sets or reps. I would recommend reducing number of sets so you can still get the maximum conditioning benefit.

Train hard, and train smart!