Even Tougher: The Workout
by Tom Furman
I wrote, “Get Tough: The Workout”, and got some feedback on possible variations. With those in mind, welcome, “Even Tougher: The Workout”.
The link to the original workout is here — https://medium.com/@physicalstrategies/get-tough-the-workout-5130bf6b2725
This workout adds some variations to the six day week. It doesn’t add ballistic, crazy, stunts, but progressively challenging and interesting workouts. That way you never really get bored, you get tough, AND, you recover.
Let’s get started.
Day One. — Long Cycle Clean and Push Press,… Done Quick & Dead Style. This is a style that was organized by Pavel Tsatsouline. If I somehow corrupted the exact formula, I apologize and suggest you read his book.
[ https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Dead-Training-Advanced-Minimalist/dp/0989892425/ref=sr_1_1 ]
However, the basic theme is intact. Instead of the classic Girevoy Sport method of holding the bell throughout the workout, you will set it down between, ‘sets’, and alternate arms. The rules work like this,..
a. Pick a lighter weight to start. It’s about duration and pacing. Have a clock set up that you can see in front of you. Do 5 Clean and Push Presses with your left arm. Set the bell down and move around, shaking your arms and doing light mobility. At the top of the minute, do 5 reps with your right.
b. Repeat this, ‘top of the minute’, set of 5 reps, alternating arms. You can determine how long you want your workout to be, from 6 minutes to 30 mins.
c. Again, the warm down is alternating band pull aparts with bodyweight hack squats. 8–10 hacks, 20–25 band pull aparts. Go through three cycles.
d. For abdominals, do the Pilates Criss Cross. Most everyone does this quickly. That is not the way. You must hold the knee-elbow contact for a verbal count of TWO. Work to muscular failure. Then immediately roll over and do three, hard, stomach vacuums on your hands and knees.
Day Two — — Crawling. Again, set your clock. You will crawl and stop to catch your breath and try another crawl. During the, “catch your breath”, period, I want you to walk to a chinning bar and do 3–5 reps. Add weight to your body if your strength level and leanness allows it. Don’t push it. Just get them in. They are great for balancing the pushing nature of crawls. Don’t sweat whether it is 2 sets or 8 sets. Just do them.
This workout should take about 20 to 30 minutes. Warmdown is Stability Ball Curls done like this. 3 sets of 10–12. https://youtu.be/Sfx2G53riOs
Day Three — Easy Aerobics. Pick your mode. Running, Rowing, Rucking, Biking. 20 to 40 minutes of sustained heart rate. Check the, “Get Tough” article for specifics. Your warm down will be stretching using the, “Activate”, method. This is from my ebook. It is only $5. It will use isometric holds to elicit relaxation and mildly strengthen the joints. You can purchase here — https://www.tomfurman.com/product/activate-dynamic-range-motion/
Day Four — Couture Complex. Barbell complexes are single barbell moves, strung together. This particular one is demonstrated by Randy Couture. I use it because it is simple. Randy doesn’t only train with this complex and his training methods are highly variable. However this is clear instruction and a nice place to start. https://youtu.be/SRpPHlDUC0Y
Repeat 3–8 times, taking a 1–3 minute break between sets.
Bent Over Rows x 8
Upright Rows x 8
Military Press x 8
Good Mornings x 8
Split Squats x 8 (each leg)
Squat and Behind the Neck, Push Press x 8 (1 squat, then reset feet and do push press)
Stiff Legged, Deadlift x 8
Day Five — Plate Pushes and Backward Pulls. Keep these WAY light. It’s about pumping up the muscles and getting different ranges of motion exposed to lighter resistance. This is NOWHERE near maximum. You can use barbell plates or kettlebells on carpet or put them on a towel for tile surfaces. You will work by the clock and go for twenty minutes. Take breaks as needed, but as you condition yourself, these breaks will be shorter.
Here is a video on the plate pushes. https://youtu.be/oRyDt3ivTag
Here are the backward pulls. https://youtu.be/DLXa_FLl2Qo
Day Six — Repeat Day Three. Aerobics and Activate Stretch.
That’s it. If you need to take a day off after the aerobics day, do so. Just make sure to record everything including meals, bodyweight, waistline and workouts. There is enough hard, basic, work, yet enough variety here to keep you challenged, but not hurting. It will get your tough and perhaps even tougher.
