Garage Gym Circuit Training: 4-9-2012

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in Circuit Training - Garage Gym

See the illustrations below for the garage gym circuit training workout that we did tonight.  I added a new exercise to the mix: the “Zercher Good Morning” deadlift.  It’s an awesome glute and hamstring strengthening movement, and by holding the barbell in the crook of your elbows you target your shoulder and core musculature in a unique way.  Give it a shot; I think you’ll like the variation.  If I’m not mistaken, I think I saw a picture of Pavel Tsatsouline doing this variation in Tim Ferris’ “Four Hour Body”.

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At home circuit training: 4-8-2012

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in At home circuit training

I know some people have a crazy hard time motivating to get to the gym or to sweat through a full-blown garage gym workout, so I’ve started creating some mini circuit training routines that you can do at home.  The one I’ve posted below has you warm-up with some jumping jacks, and then 100 air squats.  You’ll love those, I’m sure.  Then, the circuit entails 3 different movements: dive bomber push-ups, dumbbell curl and press, and dynamic side planks.  Rotate through 3 to 5 sets as your time allows.  Given the mix of movements, you should feel like you’ve worked all body parts pretty thoroughly. Enjoy!

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Garage Gym Circuit Training: 4-5-2012

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in Strength Mob Workouts

Well, what can I say? It was only me in the garage gym last night – no one else showed up.  I needed a workout, so I just busted out the one I had planned.  Going solo is so different than with a group!  I ended up muscling through the workout faster than we would of as a group (it took me 35 minutes), but it was certainly harder to complete the full duration of some of the movements, without your buddies egging you on.

Have fun with this circuit training – the pairing of medicine ball thrusters with squat jumps ended up being pretty killer on the legs!

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Garage Gym Circuit Training: 4-2-2012

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in Strength Mob Workouts

Ahh, finally: Spring is in the air in Portland. Well, at least there is sunshine for a day.  Given the remarkable yellow orb that is currently floating over PDX, I wanted to commemorate tonight’s workout with a solid burner.  I think you’ll find that the warm-up of walking lunges and mountain climbers (with a medicine ball) will get you more than ready to spring into the action of corkscrew lifts and barbell front squats.  Oh yeah, by the way – your triceps should be feeling might fine after the bench dips and tricep kickbacks.  Grab your buddies and get to Mobbin’!

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Kneeling Get-up Variations

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in BPM Rx Video Blog

The kneeling get-up is an awesome body-weight exercise for strengthening your quad and glute musculature.  Think of it as the top half of a Turkish Get-up; rather than dropping all the way to a reclined position, you just stop with both knees on the ground, than stand back up.  Exercise doesn’t get much more functional than that.  Mixed martial artists (MMA), parkour athletes, and board sports (snowboarding, skateboarding, etc.) aficionados should all find it a helpful movement to improve hip and knee stability.  Aside from just performing the movement with body-weight, try to add difficulty via holding a weight plate, barbell, kettlebells, or even dumbbells.  Trying to hold that weight overhead is the ultimate challenge, once you’ve mastered the basic motion.  Have fun with it – I’m sure you’ll come-up with your own variations.  Kneeling burpee get-ups, anyone?

For more exercise ideas, check out the Strength Mob archives, or if you’re a personal trainer/physical therapist give the BPM Rx software a shot.  The exercise prescription library has over 1000 unique pictures, to impress your clients.

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Garage Workout: 3/29/2012

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in Strength Mob Workouts

I’m back amongst the living!  There’s been a wicked flu bug going around Portland, and it laid me up for a mighty hard number of days. That’s all over now, and I’m back in action, ready to unleash some serious garage gym circuit training madness. Everything is pretty self-explanatory with circuit shown below, but note that if you don’t have a bench, you can do the warm-up of lateral hops back and forth over a line on the ground. Gather up some friends and get to Mobbin’!

These images come from the BPM Rx physical therapy exercise software library.

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Parkour Conditioning: Body Weight Circuit

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in Strength Mob Workouts

Anybody familiar with the art of parkour, understands the need to do routine training and conditioning to keep the body up to the challenges of bounding over obstacles, scaling walls, and occasionally taking falls.  I created this 3 circuit body weight routine as a quick conditioning program that can be done with nothing more than a pull-up bar and plyo-box (bench, stairs, whatever).  If you’re not into parkour, don’t be afraid – there’s nothing fancy about the workout… you’ll still find it a good burn.  Warm-up with some jumping jacks and commando crawls, then do 5 sets of the circuit, rotating through the 3 motions.  Cool-down with some reverse crunches and dynamic stretching, then get out and play!  (Check my showreel if you need some motivation.)

 

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At-home circuit training workout – something quick and effective!

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in Strength Mob Workouts

Here is a quick at-home circuit training workout that you can do with just a medicine ball, some empty floor space, and your own body weight.  There is a brief warm-up of swing squats, followed by a three exercise circuit of: “T” push-ups, prisoner lunges, and twisting pelvic thrusts.  You’ll note that the reps of each exercise ramp upwards, to account for the difficulty of each exercise. Try to shoot for 4 to 5 sets of the circuit.  Be strong!

 

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Garage workout: Upside-down pull-ups!

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in Strength Mob Workouts

One two-car garage + eight athletes working out = pure awesome! I don’t know about you, but come Monday evening I need a little release after a long day of work.  Hustling through a forty five minute workout with your buddies definitely provides the needed anecdote. Today’s Strength Mob garage workout introduced two new movements to the circuit training mix. Say hello to my new friends: the upside-down pull-up and a “cocoon to moth” sit-up. They are both awesome body-weight movements and perfect for anyone looking to build strength for martial arts, parkour, snowboarding, etc. (Like me!) Round up the posse, and get to Mobbin’!

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Group workout: Strength Mob garage gym style

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Ben Musholt posted in Strength Mob Workouts

Here’s another Strength Mob garage gym workout, for you and your group of friends to hustle through.  This one is a bit heavy on the legs… as you know I’ve been recovering from a shoulder dislocation. The cool-down is a killer ab burner, guaranteed to make you feel like a barrel-chested gorilla after you’re done with it. To make the negative sit-ups most effective, don’t lower all the way to the ground, which would momentarily take pressure off the contractile tissues.

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