With Ted Gibson’s cutting-edge workout, you’ll shear off layers of lard, pack on slabs of muscle, and elevate your overall fitness to phenomenal new heights.
Designed By: Pat Davidson, training director at Peak Performance in New York
Best For: Burning stubborn body fat and building solid muscle
Equipment: Medicine ball, box, dumbbell or kettlebell, cable machine, Swiss ball, barbell, bench, prowler plus weight plates (optional), low step or mat
Kilojoules Burned: 2 092 to 2 928
Time: 60 minutes
*As measured by a fit 1.9m, 84kg man using a Polar M400 heart rate monitor
Directions: For the warmup, complete 3 sets of the first exercise and then 3 sets of the second one. Then do 3 rounds of circuit A, followed by 3 rounds of circuit B. For each circuit, complete all your reps of one exercise, rest 60 seconds, and then move on to the next exercise.
Warm Up
1/Half-Kneeling Overhead Med Ball Slam – Grab a medicine ball and put your right foot forward and left knee on the floor. Hold the ball overhead. Brace your core and explosively slam the ball against the wall. Catch it close to the wall and immediately slam it again. Do all your reps; switch legs and repeat. Reps 10 each side.
2/Box Jump – Stand facing a box. Raise your arms and squeeze your glutes. Quickly lower your arms and drop into a quartersquat position, your hips back and knees slightly bent; then explosively jump onto the box. Land softly with your knees bent. Step down and repeat. Reps 8
Circuit A
1/Goblet Squat – Grab a dumbbell or kettlebell and stand with your feet just beyond shoulder-width. Cup one end of the dumbbell with both hands and hold it vertically next to your chest. Push your hips back, bend your knees and descend as far as you can while keeping your back straight. Pause; push yourself back up to the starting position and repeat. Reps 8
2/Lat Pulldown – Sit at a cable machine. Grab the bar using an overhand, shoulder-width grip. Moving only your arms, slowly pull the bar down to your chest. The bar should pass directly in front of your face. Pause and squeeze your shoulder blades together. Now slowly return the bar to the starting position. Repeat. Reps 8
3/Swiss Ball Hip Raise: and Leg Curl Lie on your back on the floor and rest your lower legs on a Swiss ball. Place your arms out to your sides, palms facing up. Now raise your hips so that your body forms a straight line from shoulders to ankles. Without pausing, pull your heels toward you and roll the ball as close as possible to your butt. Pause and reverse the motion by rolling the ball out until your body is once again in a straight line. Lower your hips to the floor and repeat. Reps 5
Circuit B
1/Barbell Bench Press Lie on a flat bench. Using an overhand, shoulderwidth grip, hold a barbell above your chest, arms straight. Lower it, pause, and press it back up. Keep your elbows tucked so that when you’re in the down position, each upper arm forms a 45-degree angle to your side. Reps 8
2/Prowler Push – Grab the high handles of a loaded prowler sled and push it the prescribed distance. No prowler? Perform 10 dumbbell reverse lunges (step back, knee to floor) with each leg. Distance 30 metres
3/Belly Lift Walkup: Assume a push-up position, your hands elevated on a low step or a rolled mat. Keeping your legs straight, “walk” your feet as close as possible to your hands, rounding your upper back. Actively push your heels into the floor and your palms into the step or mat. Stop when you can no longer keep your legs straight. At that point, take a deep breath in and then exhale fully. That’s 1 breath. Don’t shrug your shoulders or rush your breathing. Breaths 5
