This month’s No Excuses workout from strength coach Andy McKenzie is all about losing fat with full-body movements in minimal space. You're going to use nothing more than a weighted bar to turning you into a machine, a machine that better be good with burpees as active recovery!
How to do the workout
The bar weight for the entire workout should be 50kg. There are six sets in total with 60-second ‘burpee rests’ between each set. The exercises flow into each other with the count of two reps for deadlifts, four reps for hang clean low pulls, six reps for hang cleans, eight reps for push presses and finally ten reps for front squats. You then have 60sec rest, with burpees giving an element of active recovery. The first rest will include ten burpees followed by eight, six, four, two and ten burpees.
The exercises
Deadlift
- When done with the correct form, this is a fantastic exercise for building an injury-proof body.
- Avoid ripping the bar off the floor.
- Focus on your hands becoming a point of attachment and ‘stand’ the bar up, keeping it close to your body throughout the move.
Hang clean low pull
- This will improve your hang clean technique and help you get more extension as you jump.
- Keep your shoulders over the bar before each rep, push your glutes and knees out behind you and feel tension in the hamstrings before jumping as high as you can.
- Ensure you keep your arms straight. Arms bend, power ends!
Hang clean
- As you explode up you will naturally shrug the bar.
- Bend your arms and get underneath the bar and land in the catch position.
- As you land, think heels, elbows high and getting the bar across your front deltoids.
Push press
- With the bar resting on your shoulders, adjust your hands and get ready to drive the bar above your head.
- Push your chest up to maintain an upright torso and keep the shoulders in a safe position.
- Quarter-squat dip and drive through the heels.
- If you’re new to this move, look up slightly to avoid the bar hitting your chin.
Front squat
- Keeping your elbows high will naturally keep you upright.
- Keep the weight distribution through your heels and pause for 1-2sec at the bottom to develop your muscles and protect your knees.
Penalty
- 10 extra burpees for every instance of bad form. Time the first and last set of ten burpees – if the second version is slower then it's sixty burpees to finish and complete one hundred reps.
