WOW – Week of 3/24/14: Squat, Stagger, and Roll

The WOW, or Workout of the Week, is a short workout that you can do on your own as an add-on to your training. These workouts are designed to be mostly equipment free (so you can do them anywhere) and of medium to high intensity. Modify as you need depending on your fitness level and intensity needs.

In this week’s WOW we’re hitting your legs, shoulders, chest, arms, core, and back. Now that’s a WOW!

For the squats use a medicine ball, kettlebell, dumbbell, or bodyweight, and do each rep as a 1 1/2 squat. That means you’re going to go all the way down, come halfway up, go all the way back down, and then come all the way back up. That’s one rep. This a a great way to build strength and increase the intensity of the squat, especially if you’re doing bodyweight squats.

The staggered hand push-ups will work your chest and triceps, like all other push-up variations, but your front arm will do a little more work than in a standard push-up. You’ll also get the added bonus of extra work for your rectus abdominis (your six-pack muscles) and external obliques.

The Half Rollback with Arm Scissors is a variation on a Pilates exercise. Usually done as a part of the beginner series in Pilates, this variation will challenge even advanced exercisers because of the addition of arm scissors and the 30 second hold. Your core muscles will get a ton of work as they are used to stabilize your spine in the rollback position while you scissor your arms. Make sure you brace your belly throughout the movement.

Squat, Stagger, and Roll

Do 5 rounds of the following:

1.5 Squats (10)
Staggered Push-ups (8/8)
Half Rollbacks with Arm Scissors (30 seconds)

Click on the video above to see the full workout. Post your thoughts and time to comments below.