Weekend warrior

Yup, I like to think myself as one. Not a strong man by profession or a bodybuilder who trains relentless hours in the gym, but just your Average Joe who would like to stay fit and health by a bit unconventional means.

At home I got:-

- a TRX tactical force kit
- a 45kg sandbag
- a Lifeline USA TNT cable set (with 3 cables of 60lbs).
- Running shoes

For me, that's enough to do the basic exercises that can train you for functional strength.

Being a husband and family man, I can only find bits and pieces of time to do my workouts. There is no schedule, but rather squeezing as much as I can into a workout, to get the best effort at minimal time. So, for this to happen, I look for metabolic workouts that can make my heart pumping, my breathing heavy, and muscles sore for days to come.

Amongst my favourite exercises are:-

TRX metabolic workouts
They are 2; workout A and B. I would suggest to alternate the two each time you do it so maximise the workout. Its great as it utilises only the TRX and gives a total body workout.

TRX tactical workouts
This came with my TRX force kit. Designed for response teams and US Navy, its goal is to train you for peak functional strength within 12 weeks. The workouts are tough, and the tests (which you will have to do every 4 weeks) are grueling. I haven't finished this as it takes more time than my other exercises (60 minutes), but it gives really good strength workout and burns a lot of calories.

The last time I did it, I was into week 4 (!!!), the workout took around 40 minutes and burnt around 470 kcal.

Spartacus Workouts
Of all the years reading Men's Health, I found this the most useful (or maybe only useful) workout from that magazine. The workout consists of 10 stations (workouts), which you will have to do for 1 minute each before moving to the next without any rests. When you finish, you rest for 2-3 minutes, and start again.

This workout is gut wrenching! The first two times I tried, I spewed my lunch / dinner out, so I had to modify it slightly to meet my physical demand. I've of course have improved and am slowly (yet painfully) moving back to the prescribed workout.

So far they have came out with 6 or 7 of these workouts, and are now charging for the newer ones (3 and above). I found the 2.0 the most usable; not because it's easy, but because you can substitute some of the workouts that uses dumbbells with sandbags (the 1.0 can't, however).

Its a bit cheesy that Men's Health has started to charge anyone who wants to use the newer workout. Veterans can easily study the workouts and create new ones.

300 Workout
This was inspired by the movie "300". It was said that after 3 months of gruesome training, only half of the movie cast did this gruesome workout as a test (Gerrard Butler was not one of them). The best time was 18 minutes. I could only finish mine in 29-30 minutes.


What I like about these workouts is that you only spend less than 40 minutes doing them (with exception of the TRX tactical workouts, which are more focused on strength training rather than endurance). Thats the length of time for a tv episode. The only comparison is that you're making yourself stronger, healthier and burn 300-500 kilo calories, in comparison with making yourself more sedentary, and only burning 45 kilo calories.

Enough of that rambling, now to report my weekend workout.

Saturday - TNT cables curl and press - 10 minutes - 100 kcal.

Sunday - 300 workout - 30 minutes - 300 calories (pure coincidence).

Saturday was a rest day for me, but I get restless if I sit down too long (was working half day and driving around plus a family reunion on my side of the family). Just needed to break a sweat.