For the final workout in our month of Sunday challenges, I’m sending you a full body conditioning workout that is a sequence of exercises known as “25 Repetition Roulette”. From the feedback I’m getting this month, most of you completing these challenges are experienced with many exercises and feel as though you’ve ‘done it all’. I’m posting this challenge with you in mind!
I came across this brief yet complete workout challenge quite a while ago while doing some regular ‘networking’… There are some go-to people in the world of strength and conditioning that I regularly learn from via seminars/webinars, conferences, blogs and even the old-fashioned textbook. When these masters refer to the work of others, I’ll most often check out what they are doing as well… and that’s how I first found the creator of the challenge I’m posting here today! This workout was designed by strength and conditioning coach Ross Enamait and was originally published about 10 years ago. Think about how you were training 10 years ago and then take a look at this!
25 Repetition Roulette
The workout was originally designed using a sandbag for resistance, but most of you won’t have one of those. I’ve made a modification from the original plan so you can use a set of dumbbells that you likely DO have. Obviously since everyone is different, I can’t tell you exactly how much weight to choose. As always, quality is more important than quantity – proper form and technique is a must. My advice is to start out with weights that are lighter than you think you’ll need and increase as you can. Here’s my modified version of Enamait’s “ 25 Rep Roulette” workout:
To get started…
1. Place a set of dumbbells in on the floor in front of you. Perform a complete burpee (including the push up at the bottom and the jump at the top).
2. Once you’ve landed from your jump, pick up the weights and perform a curl-and-press to extend the weights overhead.
3. While still holding the weights overhead, perform a reverse lunge (stepping back) with each leg.
4. Control the weights down and out of the press and uncurl them back to their starting position. Place the dumbbells back on the ground in front of you and go back to the beginning, starting with the burpee.
You can guess where the “25-Rep” part comes in… going through the sequence once counts as 1 rep! Of course, the original challenge was written with 25 continuous reps in mind – and, by all means, go for it if you can! If you’re ready to give it a shot (when you feel comfortable with its components and can sequence them together with good form) see how many reps you can complete and WRITE IT DOWN. Keep this brief workout challenge in your archives and aim to beat your previous score next time. Record the number of reps you complete as well as the time it takes you to complete them.
What’s so great about this workout?
You are starting with an explosive action – the beloved burpee. From there, you’re using your strength to curl and press the weight. Performing a reverse lunge (with the weights still held overhead) really calls on your core and balance. The whole body is involved in completing the components of each ‘rep’ and it will obviously become challenging to maintain your best form and technique once fatigue sets in. Given the above, Enamait also makes the point of saying that, despite the short duration of this workout, you will have done a considerable amount of work by the time you have completed it. No kidding.
This challenge is geared for those of you that have been training regularly but can absolutely be modified for those of you in the earlier stages – please email me for specific modifications based on your needs. *As always, include an appropriate warm up and cool down period to your session and LISTEN to your body.
Now that our Sunday morning challenges have all been posted, let me know which ones you liked most! Do you have a workout challenge you want to share? Post your feedback, comments, scores and/or inspirations! I know you’re out there… you’re just a little reply-shy it seems! Thanks to all who have commented in class about the challenges and have shared their scores. You guys are AMAZING!
