One of the quickest ways to derail a fitness regime is to underestimate the importance of proper recovery. And by proper recovery we mean more than a a five-minute warm-down at the end of your workout followed by five hours in the foetal position on your sofa.
Manor, a boutique gym based in flexible working spaces in Victoria, Vauxhall, Old Street and Oxford Circus, takes recovery seriously, going as far as including recovery classes in its schedule, along with strength and conditioning sessions, strongman challenges and boxing classes.
“Recovery is a key element to optimise your health and fitness, and performance and wellness as well,” says Charlie Watts, Manor founder and former MMA fighter. Watts’s colleagues are ex-professional fighters and athletes too, and that’s where this emphasis on recovery comes from. “It’s something we all used when we were competing as athletes and we saw the benefits,” explains Watts. “People are training hard and smashing workouts but they’re not necessarily mobilising, stretching and resting properly. Health and fitness are two completely different things, and we wanted to educate people a bit more on that.”
All great stuff, but not much use if your manor isn’t SW1, SE1, EC1 or W1, so we asked Watts for a session for readers to follow and he came back with not one, but two workouts. The first requires a gym and is best attempted by experienced gym-goers – the meat of the workout requires 50 back squat reps and 50 pull-ups.
There’s also a home workout that doesn’t require much experience beyond knowing the correct form for four classic bodyweight moves. You’ll need bags of grit though.
Each session then moves on to a boxing section, finishing with a period of recovery. You may feel tempted to adopt the foetal position and skip it, but don’t – it’s worth it.
Manor’s Gym Workout
Part One: Train
Assault bike
Start the session by jumping on an air resistance bike and riding until you burn off 50 calories.
Ten-minute EMOM
At the start of the first minute, perform ten back squats, then rest for the remainder of the minute. At the start of the second minute, perform ten pull-ups, then rest until the end of that minute. At the start of the third minute, perform ten back squats, and so on until ten minutes is up.
Assault bike
Finish as you started by burning 50 calories on the air resistance bike.
Part Two: Fight
Practice the sweet science with these three-minute rounds.
Round one
Shadowbox with regular ten-second bursts of rapid, straight punches.
Round two
Move to the heavy bag and work on your jab, concentrating on the placement of your feet and finding your range.
Round three
Continue the heavy bag work, finessing your jab and including regular bursts of straight shots to raise the heart rate.
See related
- Punching-Bag Workouts for the Gym
- The EMOM Sandbag Workout For Rock-Hard Abs
- An AMRAP Workout To Build Strength, Fitness And Mental Toughness
Part Three: Recover
Meditation
Time 2min
Lie flat on your back and relax. Monitor your breathing by putting your hands on your stomach and breath deeply into your diaphragm. Focus on inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Any time your mind wanders, refocus your thoughts on the inhale and exhale.
Downward dog
Time 30sec
Start in a top press-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart and feet hip-width apart. Without moving your hands or feet, lift your pelvis as high as possible so your body forms an inverted V-shape.
Pigeon stretch
Time 30sec each side
From a top press-up position, bring your right leg forwards and place it on the ground so your knee is by your right wrist and your right foot is by your left wrist, with your shin parallel to your chest. Sit down into the stretch.
Hip flexor stretch
Time 30sec each side
From standing, take a long step forwards (further than you would with a lunge), resting your back knee on the floor. Gently move your hips forwards until you feel a stretch.
Hamstring stretch
Time 30sec each side
From your hip flexor stretch position, move your body back, hinge forwards at the hips and straighten your front leg.
The Manor’s Home Workout
Part One: Train
Eight-minute AMRAP
Set a timer for eight minutes. Perform ten reps of each of the four bodyweight exercises below in order.
Do as many rounds as possible before the timer goes off, taking a break when you need it. Keep a record of your performance and try to beat it every time you do this workout.
Part Two: Fight
We’re guessing you don’t have a heavy bag hanging around your home, so knock out two three-minute stints of shadowboxing with regular ten-second bursts of alternating straight lefts and rights.
Part Three: Recover
Meditation
Time 2min
Lie flat on your back and relax. Monitor your breathing by putting your hands on your stomach and breath deeply into your diaphragm. Focus on inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Any time your mind wanders, refocus your thoughts on the inhale and exhale.
Downward dog
Time 30sec
Start in a top press-up position with your hands shoulder-width apart and feet hip-width apart. Without moving your hands or feet, lift your pelvis as high as possible so your body forms an inverted V-shape.
Pigeon stretch
Time 30sec each side
From a top press-up position, bring your right leg forwards and place it on the ground so your knee is by your right wrist and your right foot is by your left wrist, with your shin parallel to your chest. Sit down into the stretch.
Hip flexor stretch
Time 30sec each side
From standing, take a long step forwards (further than you would with a lunge), resting your back knee on the floor. Gently move your hips forwards until you feel a stretch.
Hamstring stretch
Time 30sec each side
From your hip flexor stretch position, move your body back, hinge forwards at the hips and straighten your front leg.
