Doing it old school! Here’s a fantastic old time strength and conditioning workout from Rich Man’s Gym. This old-timey physical culture workout can be performed in the great outdoors, at your local park, in your garage or in the back yard. That’s what Rich Man’s Gym is all about! Training and creating results without having to bare the hassle of going to the gym! For those who would like to join in, pop some ragtime on to enhance the mood for your old time strength and conditioning workout! Here’s your workout plan!
Old Time Strength and Conditioning Warm Up:
- 5lb alternating dumbbell curls 100 reps
- 5lb alternating dumbbell reverse curls 100 reps
- 5 lb alternating dumbbell iron cross curls 50 reps
- 5lb dumbbell iron cross curls 25 reps
- Indian Club Swings practice 10 minutes
Kettlebell Dumbbell Drop Set Of Death: 100 reps = 1 round. Perform 3-5 rounds
- Double Kettelbell Seesaw Press at 16 kg (go till 1 rep short of failure)
- Dumbbell Seesaw Press at 15 lb dumbbell (go till 1 rep short of failure)
- Dumbbell Seesaw Press at 10 lb dumbbell (go till 1 rep short of failure)
- Dumbbell Seesaw Press at 5 lb dumbbell (go till 1 rep short of failure)
Basically, grab a pair of pseudo heavy to you Kettlebells and do as many Seesaw presses as possible with good form. Once you’ve walked to the edge of muscular failure, set the KBs down and grab a lighter pair of dumbbells and resume. Once you’ve nearly maxed out with that weight, go down again and keep going down until you’ve hit 100 reps total. The weights listed is me using what I’ve got. Adjust your weight selection accordingly. After the hundred, grab a sip of water, shake out the tension, regroup and start over. 3 rounds minimum and 5 if you’ve had poems written about your handlebar mustache!
Chest Expander Pulls / Walking Lunge super set – 5 sets of 20 reps
With these two drills, really try to flex the rear delts and traps at the top of the movement. Press your chest out proud like the old time strongman of yesteryear! Then during the walking lunge slowly make sure your knee connects with the ground.
Alternate the two. Do 20 Pulls with the Chest Expander, then immediately do 20 walking lunges. Walk back to your starting point and repeat. Keep the rest to a minimum here.
Jumping Jacks 3:10 seconds of work / :50 seconds of rest – 3 rounds
For this finisher, you’re gonna need an interval timer. While the Gym Boss may not be “period” it certainly does the trick! If you’re a stickler, get an egg timer or traditional stop watch. The work to rest ratio I have here is my answer to conditioning for a traditional boxing match. Have the endurance to go a little more and rest a little less. This is a great way to finish a the workout and train the core from the inside out.
How often should I do this workout?
As far as timing and frequency of this particular old time strength and conditioning routine and considering this workout can be very progressive, I’d recommend following this for four to six weeks and performing it every other day or 3 days a week. On the Seesaw Press Drop Set of Death, the main goal should be as many reps as possible with the heaviest weight. So try to add one or 2 additional reps each time you do it. Which means you’ll want to keep a training journal or sorts.
Also, depending on your goals, this total body workout can also be combined with endurance training like swimming, running or biking. So you could do this on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday go for a run, bike or swim.
Give this one a try and let me know your results. Would love to hear from you and your experience with this routine!
Who’s got two thumbs and is about to do it old school?
Classic Rich Man’s Gym Movement