From the email responses I’ve been getting, it’s clear that many of you, like our clients, travel considerably and are pressed for time to get in a good workout. From what we know of many successful Santa Barbara residents and business people all over the world, you are not alone.
As a part of our budding business development strategy, when Crossfit Pacific Coast first opened, Eric and I went around to as many local business owners as possible to introduce ourselves and to begin to get to know the neighbors. One interesting conversation that I recall was with someone who claimed to have experience training athletes and told me with conviction that if you’re not working out for at least two hours then you aren’t accomplishing anything.
My jaw almost hit the floor. Two hours?! I challenged that assertion greatly and told the gentleman that I was equally convinced that I could ruin the entire remainder of his day and the subsequent 48 hours if he was willing to work out with me for somewhere around 10 minutes only.
My conviction comes from years of putting people through a very specific CrossFit workout named Fran (feel free to Google). Does it take two hours to get through? Not at all. Does it feel like it’s taking you two hours to get through while you’re doing it? Absolutely. Will you feel your legs aching and have trouble reaching your head to wash your hair two days later? Give it a go and see for yourself.
(I was never taken up on my offer, which is unfortunate because it’s a little known fact that every time someone gives up on an exercise fallacy, an angel gets its wings.)
This week I had the opportunity to sit down with the country’s best exercise program designer — Eric Malzone — and ask him to create three of the most effective workouts that he could. The only two parameters that I gave him were that the workouts had to take 10 minutes or less to complete, and they all had to be doable without any equipment. Fortunately for me, Eric’s always up for a good creative challenge. Here’s what he came up with.
Workout #1 — AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)
In 10 minutes of four push-ups, eight sit-ups and 16 squats.
For this workout you’re trying to complete that series, in order, as many times as you can in 10 minutes. Round 1 is four push-ups then eight sit-ups and then 16 full-depth squats.Repeat all the way through the entire 10 minutes but only count the last full round when tallying up your score. Use a piece of paper and pen to mark down each round since you’ll have a lot of numbers in your head at the same time. Rest when needed, but keep it short — the repetitions have been purposely kept low to allow you to get through each round without stopping very often.
Workout #2 – 100 Burpees for Time
Holy smokes, I can’t believe he threw this workout in here! This is a kick in the pants, but follows the criteria that I set up to a tee.
A burpee for those of you without access to YouTube is when you start in a standing position, place your hands on the floor as if you were about to do a push-up, throw your legs behind you into the standard push-up position, complete a full chest to floor push-up (the actual movement standard for a burpee is to have both your chest and thighs reach the floor on every rep) and then jump your legs back up into the squat position. From here, jump straight up into the air and clap your hand over and behind your head.
This is a perfect workout for when you have only a short amount of time but need to blow off steam. Rest when needed, but again, keep the rest short since this is a sprint.
Workout #3
Eight rounds of 30-second handstand holds (against a wall) and 30 jump lunges.
We have a handstand tutorial here on Noozhawk from a few weeks back if you’re looking for some help getting inverted (we also highly recommend watching Top Gun before each handstand workout).
Each jump lunge is exactly how it sounds — you’re going to jump from one lunging position to the next. If you’re on a carpeted surface, then it’s fine to touch your knee all the way down to the floor, but protect yourself if you’re outside on concrete. If you have to come down and rest somewhere in the 30 seconds of handstands, just note where you are on the clock, get yourself back into the position and start counting again.
Give these three workouts a try the next time you have the need to get your energy moving and break a sweat but don’t have access to a full two hours, nor a gym full of equipment.
Have at it.
— Traver Boehm is co-owner and coach at Crossfit Pacific Coast, has a master’s degree in Chinese medicine, is a licensed acupuncturist at Alki Wellness, and a nutrition specialist. He can be contacted at traver@crossfitpacificcoast.com.