Spartacus Workout + 15:00 Incline Treadmill

It's back! THIS IS SPARTA! Not really, but, still. This was the workout I was super into last fall -- it probably found its way onto my schedule 3-4 times a month, which is a fairly big deal for me as I get easily bored. It fell of the radar a bit over the holidays because, let's be honest, it's hard and I was most definitely not going all-out at the gym around Christmas. The cookies (and cake. and brownies. and booze. and... beef.) I ate instead were DELICIOUS. Sorry I'm not sorry.

However, now it's February, the holiday excuses are long gone, I've got a month of working out and eating vegetables under my belt and I'm totally back in the groove. Time to dust this baby off. It might suck, it might not, but it's time to try. Shall we?

As a reminder, because I definitely had to look it up myself, this workout is done HIIT-style, with :50 of work followed by :10 of rest before moving on to the next exercise. I've made some modifications to the moves because my gym decided to ax the hexagonal dumbbells and like hell am I trying to do pushups on ones that roll. We'll see how they turn out.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: none, really

Yesterday: Biking! also, butter. Minimal alcohol!

Environment: indoors

Workout
Equipment: dumbbell: 15; kettlebell: 25
Work Time: 30:00 45:00

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 2: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 3: Reps - Weight [type]
Goblet Squat	20 - 25lb [KB]	23	21	22
Mountain Climber	100	110	105	100
Single Arm DB Swing	15/side - 25lb [KB]	14/side	13 R / 14 L	14 R / 13 L
T-Plank with Touch-Through	12/side - 15lb [DB]	8 R / 7 L	7 R / 8 L	8 R / 8 L
Split Jumps	50	44	46	50
DB Row	35 -15lbs [DB]	38	35	35
DB Side Lunge	10/side - 15lb [DB]	8/side	10 R / 9 L	10/side
Plank Tricep Kickback	10/side - 15lb [DB]	11/side	12/side	12/side
Standing Oblique 'Crunch'	10/side - 25lb [KB]	10/side	9/side	10/side
Explosive Overhead Press	20 - 15lbs [DB]	22	16	20

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Cardio Bonus!
Equipment: Incline Treadmill

Minutes	Intensity: MPH	Incline: ° [time]	Total Distance (mi.)*
0:00 - 6:00	3.0	9.0 - 24.0 [+ 3.0 every 1:00]	~.3
6:01 - 8:00	2.0	27.0 - 30.0 [+ 3.0 every 1:00]	~.38
8:01 - 10:00	2.0	27.0 - 24.0 [- 3.0 every 1:00]	~.43
10:01 - 15.00	3.0	21.0 - 9.0 [- 3.0 every 1:00]	.68
Total: 15:00	2.73 [avg]	18.8 [avg]	.68 mi [638 vert. m]

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 3
Sore Areas: Obliques, Hamstrings

Comments
On the one hand, it's as hard as I remember. On the other, it's only as hard as I remember! Well, the split jumps were a little harder then they were last year, but that's understandable seeing as how I've done virtually no plyometrics training in recent memory.

Since this was the only day I wasn't rushed at the gym I went ahead and tacked on a short cardio workout when I was done with Spartacus. I had hoped to be able to run a mile or two, but I decided that since I'm entirely incapable of running at one speed on the dreadmill for any length of time when I'm fresh and ready to go, there was no way I was going to survive attempting to do it while tired. I knew I needed some intervals, but also knew I was too tired to sprint, so I settled on walking hills. My hamstrings are definitely feeling it, 24 hours later. Today's going to be an 'active rest day' -- planning on taking the dog for a nice long walk. Everyone wins!

Spartacus Workout

I apologize that this workout has monopolized my lifting routine for the past few weeks. Things have just been crazy busy so I don't have a lot of time to devote to lifting, but with the race looming I don't want to skimp out on things either. After moving finishes this weekend, and the tri next weekend, I should get back to mixing things up again. Expect more 15-minute workouts and maybe more jump roping. Until then... here's the usual. I've upped my goals for a few of the exercises -- here's to hoping I'm stronger than I was when I started!

Workout
Equipment: dumbbell: 30lb [x1], 15 lb, 12 lb [hex]; 18lb medicine ball
Work Time: 30:00

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 2: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 3: Reps - Weight [type]
Plie Goblet Squat	20 - 30lbs [DB]	22 - 25lbs	24 - 25lbs
Mountain Climber	110
Single Arm DB Swing	15/side - 18lb med. ball
T-pushup	12 - 12lbs [hex DB]
Split Jumps	52
DB Row	35 -15lbs [DB]
DB Side Lunge	10/side - 15lbs [DB]
Plank Row	13/side - 15lbs [DB]
Standing Oblique 'Crunch'	12/side - 8lb med. ball
Explosive Overhead Press	22 - 15lbs [DB]

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Ab bonus!

Time	Exercise
0:00 - 0:50	Plank + Leg Lift
1:00 - 1:50	T-Plank - R
2:00 - 2:50	Plank
3:00 - 3:50	T-Plank - L
4:00 - 4:50	Half-Laying Leg Circles

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]:
Sore Areas: 

Comments

Spartacus Workout

I didn't end up swimming yesterday as planned -- the pool doesn't open until 7:30 on Tuesdays and I didn't feel like wasting that much time waiting around. So instead I did my new favorite lifting routine: Spartacus!

I'm *still* trying to find a good twisting lunge replacement. I just can't get the reps I'm looking for because I take 948 years to lunge and come back up. So this week I'm going to try the (very basic) standing oblique crunch -- I'm sure you know the one: you stand, lean as far as you can to one side, then come back up to vertical. Easy!

Workout
Equipment: dumbbell: 25 [x1], 20 [x1], 15 [hex];
Work Time: 30:00

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 2: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 3: Reps - Weight [type]
Goblet Squat	20 - 25lbs [DB]	20	20	20
Mountain Climber	100	114	112	92
Single Arm DB Swing	15/side - 18lb med. ball	14/side	13/side	13/side
T-pushup	12 - 12lbs [hex DB]	11	10	8
Split Jumps	50	52	53	43
DB Row	30 -15lbs [DB]	39	35	36
DB Side Lunge	10/side - 15lbs [DB]	9/side	9/side	8/side
Plank Row	13/side - 15lbs [DB]	14/side	11/side	10/side
Standing Oblique 'Crunch'	10/side - 8lb med. ball	10/side	10/side	10/side
Explosive Overhead Press	20 - 15lbs [DB]	22	20	20

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Ab bonus!

Time	Exercise
0:00 - 0:50	Plank + Leg Lift
1:00 - 1:50	T-Plank - R
2:00 - 2:50	Plank
3:00 - 3:50	T-Plank - L
4:00 - 4:50	Half-Laying Leg Circles

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 3
Sore Areas: Obliques

Comments
Well those oblique leans might be easy, but apparently they're very effective -- my abs hurt like hell! As far as the workout went -- you might be able to tell that I died sometime mid-third set. Don't know if it was because I haven't done this in awhile or because I forgot to drink enough water, but set 3 was Rough. I found myself considering giving up a lot. Bad news. Next time will be better!

Workout Wrapup + Spartacus

It's been a crap month. There's no excuse for it, it just has been. Three weeks later and I still don't have anywhere to call home next month and I think the stress is getting to me. Instead of planning workouts all my spare time has been devoted to canvassing Craigslist in an effort to find a place that I can both afford and bear to live in. Harder than I thought it would be. Plus we've been rejected from the only two places we were really excited about, which was disappointing. Back to the drawing board...

Moving has been affecting my workouts too. I think I only made it 2 or 3 times last week -- I can't even remember! I know there was a decent run in there -- around 6 1/2 miles or so -- as well as a halfhearted lift. I might have jumped up and down at the park too? I can't remember. I do know that Monday I swam. It was a fairly slow 100 x 20m. Our pool does this stupid thing where they make the lanes go across the pool during public hours, using the short side of their 25 x 20m pool for lanes. I never noticed how much I counted on those giant +s to tell me where the walls were until they were gone. I must have nearly brained myself half a dozen times...

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 2

Sore Areas: Stress headache.

Yesterday: Slug. No alcohol, no exercise.

Environment: Indoors. Not too hot outside though.

Workout
Equipment: dumbbell: 25 [x1], 20 [x1], 15 [hex];
Work Time: 30:00

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 2: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 3: Reps - Weight [type]
Goblet Squat	20 - 25lbs [DB]	18	21	22
Mountain Climber	100	107	107	110
Single Arm DB Swing	10/side - 20lbs [DB] 18lb med. ball	14	13	13
T-pushup	10 - 15lbs 12lbs [hex DB]	11	10	9
Split Jumps	40	46	44	50
DB Row	30 -15lbs [DB]	32	31	32
DB Side Lunge	10/side - 15lbs [DB]	8	8	8
Plank Row	10/side - 15lbs [DB]	30	24	24
One-Arm Overhead Lunge	12/side - 15lbs [MB]	11	5	7
Explosive Overhead Press	20 - 15lbs [DB]	20	20	20

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 3.5
Stretch Time:  10:00
Total Time: 57:00


Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas: Legs

Comments
So glad I actually got to the gym and did this, it made me feel better about almost everything! Haven't done it in awhile, so I was a bit worried I wouldn't be as good as last time, but I think I held up. The only thing I still can't figure out is what to put in the next-to-last position. They're supposed to be twisting lunges, but I lunge so slowly I can't get a decent number in during the :50. So I switched it out for one-arm overhead lunges today, which according to Self are kind of the 'advanced' version of the previous move in that they work the same muscles but are harder, but they EXHAUSTED my shoulders and my overhead presses were excruciating. So that spot is still up for debate...

I'm also disappointed we don't have 15lb hex dumbbells -- I thought we did! Guess I'm stuck using the 12s for my pushups -- I'll just have to do them faster if I want to get better.

Spartacus Workout

Well, I've been bad this week. Time to pay the price. But, hey, at least I had fun!

So it's very rare that I repeat a workout as often as I've done this one, but I really enjoy it! 30 minutes, in, out,  on my way. I'm going to slightly modify it today -- I'm going to concentrate on making my split jumps deeper, more like lunges, so I'm aiming for fewer of them. I'm also getting rid of the lunge + twist, since I can't seem to do that with anything even remotely approaching speed, in favor of some reverse wood-chops. Same twisting motion, similar leg work, but I might be able to do them faster. We'll see.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 3

Sore Areas: Back? From working, not working out, most likely. Stupid desk job...

Yesterday: Alcohol, no exercise.

Environment: indoor - ? I haven't been outside today.

Workout
Equipment: dumbbell: 25 [x1], 15, 10 [hex]; medicine ball
Work Time: 32:00

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 2: Reps - Weight [type]
Goblet Squat	20 - 25lbs [DB]
Mountain Climber	100
Single Arm DB Swing	10/side - 15lbs [DB]
T-pushup	10 - 10lbs [hex DB]
Split Jumps	40
DB Row	30 -15lbs [DB]
DB Side Lunge	10/side - 15lbs [DB]
Plank Row	10/side - 15lbs [DB]
Reverse Woodchop	12/side - 20lbs [MB]
Explosive Overhead Press	20 - 15lbs [DB]
Swiss Ball Rollout
Swiss Ball Russian Twist
Plank + Opposite Lifts
Prone Cobra
T-Plank L
T-Plank R

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4
Stretch Time:  10:00
Total Time: 55:00


Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 
Sore Areas:

Comments
I got to the gym and opted to change this workout slightly. Instead of doing 3 sets of the lifts and one set of abs, I added the 6 minutes of abs to the bottom of the workout and did 2 sets of 16 minute intervals. I was kind of in a hurry, and for some reason 2 sets of 16 minutes seemed like a better idea than 3 sets of 10 minutes + 6 additional minutes. Those 4 minutes I saved really helped... probably...

Spartacus Workout

Very little post-vacation progress, according to the scale this morning. That's super disappointing, so I'm making an extra effort this week to be good. Trying hard to stay away from the chocolate. More veggies in my life.

Since this workout last week was the hardest thing I've done in a good long time, I thought I'd revisit it again now that I've recovered (barely). Going to tweak a few of the weights and reps to more manageable numbers -- we'll see how it goes. I'll remember to stretch this time around and maybe tomorrow I'll actually be able to stretch my legs.

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 3

Sore Areas: None, really

Yesterday: No Alcohol! Cardio!

Environment: indoor - hot

Workout
Equipment: dumbbell: 25 [x1], 20,* 15, 10 [hex]
Work Time: 30:00

* Edit: Didn't have any 20lb weights available, so I improved!

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 2: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 3: Reps - Weight [type]
Goblet Squat	20 - 25lbs [DB]	21	21	21
Mountain Climber	100	104	106	90
Single Arm DB Swing	10/side - 15lbs [DB]	7/side	7/side	7/side
T-pushup	10 - 10lbs [hex DB]	10	11	10
Split Jumps	42	52	50	45
DB Row	20 - 20lbs [DB] 30 -15lbs [DB]	33	31	31
DB Side Lunge	10/side - 15lbs [DB]	9/side	8/side	10/side
Plank Row	10/side - 15lbs [DB]	11/side	11/side	11/side
DB Lunge + Twist	10/side - 20lbs [DB] 12/side - 15lbs [DB]	8/side	8/side	6/side
Explosive Overhead Press	20 - 15lbs [DB]	23	20	21

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Ab bonus!

Minutes	Exercise
0:00 - 0:50	45° Laying Scissor Lifts
1:00 - 1:50	T-Plank, R
2:00 - 2:50	Laying Leg Circles
3:00 - 3:50	T-Plank, L
4:00 - 4:50	Pushups -- 20

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 4!
Stretch Time:  15:00
Total Time:70:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 2
Sore Areas: Legs, Upper back

Comments
Much better this time around! I felt like I worked my arms more, which was nice, and I hit more of my goals or beat them by only a smidge, which means I found better weights. Still having troubles with the lunges though -- seems like regardless of what the weight it, I just do them slowly. Sigh. I'll have to focus on them -- I'd like to at *least* be able to get to 10 on a side in 50 seconds. Two and a half seconds per lunge doesn't seem outrageously fast...

And my legs weren't nearly as useless the day after. Win!

Spartacus Workout

Still shaking off the lingering effects of vacation -- healing the sunburn, doing mountains of laundry, trying to to long for the weekend too much...

Back to the gym! Today's workout is called the 'Spartacus Workout'. I grabbed it from the Women's Health personal trainer website. It's a total-body workout completed as 3 sets of 10 exercises, done for 1 minute each. I think I'm going to alter it a bit to be 50:10 intervals, just so everything lines up nicely. In theory you're supposed to do this workout 3 times a week and end up with abs like a greek god [ancient Thracian hero?]? I guess?  Here's to hoping...

Pre

Energy Level [1-5]: 4

Sore Areas: Upper back

Yesterday: No Alcohol! Cardio!

Environment: indoor - hot

Workout
Equipment: dumbbell: 20,15, 10 [hex]
Work Time: 30:00

	Goal	Actual*
Exercise Name	Reps - Weight [type]	Set 1: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 2: Reps - Weight [type]	Set 3: Reps - Weight [type]
Goblet Squat	20 - 20lbs [DB]	22 - 25lbs	22 - 25lbs	23 - 25lbs
Mountain Climber	60	104	105	96
Single Arm DB Swing	20/side - 15lbs [DB]	12/side - 15lbs	13/side - 15lbs	14/side - 15lbs
T-pushup	10 - 10lbs [hex DB]	6 - 10lbs	7 - 10lbs	7 - 10lbs
Split Jumps	50	40	33	40
DB Row	20 - 15lbs [DB]	30 - 15lbs	26 - 20lbs	24 - 20lbs
DB Side Lunge	20/side - 15lbs [DB]	8/side - 15lbs	7/side - 15lbs	8/side - 15lbs
Plank Row	10/side - 10lbs [hex DB]	13/side - 10lbs	10/side - 15lbs	8/side - 15lbs
DB Lunge + Twist	10/side - 20lbs [DB]	7/side - 25lbs	8/side - 15lbs	6/side - 15lbs
Explosive Overhead Press	20 - 15lbs [DB]	18 - 15lbs	18 - 15lbs	20 -15lbs

*Color key: green = accomplished goal, blue = exceeded goal, yellow = did not meet goal

Post
Energy Level [1-5]: 2
Stretch Time: 10:00
Total Time: 60:00

Day After
Sore Level [1-5]: 3
Sore Areas: Legs, Upper Back

Comments
Oof this one was hard. Exhausting -- I got home and wanted to just sit on the cough. Means it was good for me though! Not sure if there were enough arm exercises to make them work-- I might try to factor in more pushups in the T's and the Plank Rows. I've also discovered that I lunge very slowly -- both sideways and while twisting. With that in mind, I'm going to readjust some of the weights and reps next time around.

Update: Took me 3 days to walk pain-free after this. It's a killer.