It is amazing how sometimes your trainer knows you better than you know yourself. I came into the gym today in a foul mood. Why? No idea. I was just grumpy. I wanted to push iron. I wanted angry workout movements. No squirming on the ground strapped to something. The Sac Fitness Fairy Rosanna had just the workout for me.
Before I began, I let SFF know that I was hoping to save my calves and ankles for actual mileage running, vs the mill. Something about treadmills just doesn’t work with my legs and it seems my knees, ankles and Achilles always suffer when I push too hard on the mill. Plus there’s the waste factor. In my mind mill miles are junk. I’m sure many will disagree, but I prefer to be out in the world, spinning the planet under me. Without missing a beat SFF suggest I hit the rowing machine. Exciting! I’ve never rowed before but I’ve watched videos on the proper form so off I went. 10 minutes of easy to moderate rowing got me warmed up and ready for the carnage.
The workout we did doesn’t have a name, but Fifties is a good moniker for it. We started with wall ball, 50 reps, with a 25lb ball. Then we moved to dead-lifts, around 50lbs, also 50 reps (yeah, ouch…)
Then we moved on to the squat station and did 50 squats with an empty bar. SFF is aware of the issues I have with squats and my knees, but the movement is so effective that even if I have to do them with very little weight (the bar weighs 30lbs) it is still very useful to do. Finally we dropped down into reverse pull-ups, but cut the reps to 25. Round 1, done. Then one more time through.
Finally we ended with a solid 10 minutes of rowing. I have to say, rowing is awesome. I always thought of it as a primarily upper body type of movement, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. A proper row utilizes legs, core AND upper body, and you can really work up a sweat. As a bonus, it seems to help with grip strength, which continues to be a weakness of mine. Perhaps with enough sessions on the rower that will be fixed. I definitely recommend checking out proper rowing technique on Youtube before getting on a machine, the danger of seriously borking your back is very real, and is something a neophyte could easily do.
