Tuesday, January 13, 2015

ZWOW#5 is coming, Alternatives to Pistol Squats, BR Day 59 from HIIT MAX Week 12

Tomorrow we will be getting a new ZWOW#5 in the ZGym. It is actually on YouTube - the older one, and it is bicep curls into overhead presses (2 days in a row with bicep curls? And Zuzka uses heavier weights here than she does now), mountain climbers on a medicine ball (she no longer uses a med ball), sumo deadlift high pulls with a Kettlebell and competition burpees.
I am curious to see how she is going to make this different for her new ZGym.
Any thoughts?! The original one was filmed outside. I miss her outdoor workouts. I always liked it when they were filmed outside.

Zuzka has a couple of interesting posts on her FB page - about Squats, New Years Resolutions, and her Dietbet challenge. I liked her one about squats. I know people with knee pain often complain about squatting, but as Z says, it is often not the squat move itself, but an imbalance elsewhere or bad form. Squats can actually help knee pain as it can strengthen the muscles around the knee to hold it in place.
Speaking of squats I saw an interesting article on alternatives to pistols. I liked this article as I struggle with pistols so much. His variations are no walk in the park though. Yikes!
http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/3-alternatives-to-the-pistol-for-single-leg-strength
I have a love/hate relationship with pistols. Being that from heel to hip is 41" on my body, and from top of hip to top of head only 26" it is no wonder I struggle with them. LOL. I'm ALL leg. :)

Day 59 is here from Lisa. The cardio move is a crazy burpee combination. I've done this one before in a boot camp class. It is hard and I did actually like it. I always think that straight on burpees are the hardest though. It is the constant motion of going to the floor and then back up again one right after another that makes it so difficult. Adding in a jump in between is fine and still super challenging, but I think the traditional way is always harder.
The strength move is weighted step ups. I LOVE weighted step ups, but I would use a higher step than Lisa shows. Talk about getting your heart rate up and working those legs!
The reverse pull-up & change legs exercise that Lisa does is one that I definitely want to try. I'd have to finagle a little set up with my bench and pull-up rings to get that to work.

Lisa also does one arm tri dips. I'm actually not a fan of triceps dips unless you are actually doing real dips (which Lisa does plenty of for us)! It puts a lot of stress on the shoulders and elbows in an awkward way. But that't my opinion. I get a lot more out of true tri dips - even if they are modified with one foot on the floor. Works larger muscle groups that way too. Even with that being said, it might be fun to try this and see how it feels. It is a new one.
Lisa makes a comment that if you are doing this workout in a gym - that everyone is probably looking at you. Ha, ha! Is that a good thing? Ummm.... I'm not sure I would like that. :)


1 comment:

  1. Any time I find myself in a public gym (which is rare) I find I get looks, but in a good way. :) I'm glad I can work out at home, though, because I don't always like the attention, especially when I get in my zone, lol.

    My goal in the next month or so is to either buy or make equalizers to do these reverse pull ups and dips without an assist.

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