A good conditioning routine was in order today. The women all did as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
- 40 yard Duckwalk
- Jog back to start
- 40 Grasshoppers
- 40 Jumping Jacks
They killed the workout and each packed in 10 brutal circuits.
Davage, Luker, and I decided to spar once everyone else left. It was grueling as we each went a total of 6 rounds of sparring and 3 rounds of bag work. Dave and I will most likely have pretty shiners and sore abdomen tomorrow and Luker suffered a bloody nose and mouth. Nothing beats good sparring for conditioning or fun!
Friday afternoon I was privileged to see a friend and client push through a thick mental barrier. Last Wednesday morning, Ben was mentally and physically abused in his first crack at the Prisoner Burpee Challenge, a brutal 210 rep workout. He was upset due to the fact that he didn’t meet his time goal. I assured him that finishing such a workout is a major accomplishment in itself. So, I gave him his space for a day but told him that it is vital for him to get back on the horse immediately and destroy a workout. This would prevent mental burnout and keep his body motivated. Honestly, I didn’t expect to hear from him until the following week. To my pleasant surprise, he called me the very next night and told me that he wanted to do a Wildcat; one of our regular and tough running-based workouts. I was pumped for him! The next afternoon came and as we entered the stadium at AHS, we couldn’t help but notice that we were not alone. There was some sort of pep rally and practice going on Ben decided to run over to Joe’s Hill instead and do sprints. A bold suggestion knowing how bad his legs still hurt from the burpees. We got to the hill and Ben never hesitated or complained- just worked. He methodically cranked out his hill sprints and we ran the two miles home. No reaction of the week, no passing out, no throwing up – just digging deep and conquering a mental giant.
This afternoon I did something I have not done in more than two years. Sparring! I am lucky to have Davage training with me as he is a very experienced, well-trained, and good technical boxer. Not to mention he has a four inch height and at least a six inch reach advantage on me! He’s been doing it for over a decade, on and off, so I can always learn something new when we spar. Here is one of the clips Ashley took from the living room window (redneck, I know. But I don’t have an official ring)
After sparring, the group was punished by suicides, jack and press with a medicine ball, and walking lunges. This was done in the partner format where the partner doing the suicides dictates how long everybody else works based on how long it took them to complete their suicide. It tends to make the person sprinting go a lot faster, knowing that their friends are suffering at their expense.
Ash cranking it out, even after running ultra miles yesterday. Beastly!
