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 hitting your pecs and more time chatting up the hot chick working on her core strength. Hey, it happens.
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. Hell, the way you’re feeling you could probably hit a couple of PRs. 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. You want to GET CRUSHED.
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 or 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 Mechanical Drop
A great way of prolonging a workout in which you may have reached muscular fatigue without having to change the weight on the bar is to use a mechanical dropset. Essentially, you are moving from a less advantageous position to a stronger position using a similar movement pattern. This type of protocol is used in the workout below with three variations of overhead pressing movements. The first is the most difficult, the strict Military Press. The second is the slightly easier Push Press, which uses leg drive to get the bar overhead. Finally, there’s the Push Jerk. This last move utilizes both leg drive and a dip under the bar, which requires more technique, but less overall strength than the first two movements.
Before you send us a thank you note for making the movements easier as you fatigue, you’ll also notice that we slapped a 250 meter row between each overhead pressing movement. Remember, this is GET CRUSHED – not Aunt Sadie’s Retirement Luncheonette – you are tackling this in order to work as hard as possible. Pick a weight that allows you to get 12 reps of the Military Press and stick with that for the entire workout.
Let us know how you did. Leave your total time and any thoughts you have on the workout in the comments section below.
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.
