Varied, Hard, Fun, Short Work for Desk Jockeys

[Mark Fenner]

Hi all,

I'd like to gather a toolbox of short metcons. I'm not familiar enough with the base CF workouts to know which ones are supposed to be short and which ones are "marathons".

I suppose we need to define "short". My inclination is to say under 10 or 12 minutes (similar to Gant's Hybrid Program thread). This would put a two mile run at the long end (ok, at the long end for some of us). However, something like 10x100m with (in)complete rest would also be nice to include because it's fun and hard.

I have a whole folder full of various complexes with barbells. But, honestly, I like my barbells heavy. I'll try to outline (or link to) some of the articles but I'm strongly leaning towards keeping my barbells heavy and my conditioning work sans barbell. So, sledgehammers, kettlebells, dumbbells, tires, kegs, running, jumping, medicine balls, sleds, calisthenics, rings, etc. seem much more appealing. Especially using them in planes that don't normally get hit in the artificial world of the weightroom.

So, maybe I'm not looking so much at metcons per se, but just varied, hard, fun, short work for those of us that are desk jockeys most of our days. In which case, post your favorites!

One of mine, that I really like, is Tabata sledgehammer swings against a tire -- I like to do 5 right to left diagonal, 5 left to right diagonal, 5 straight down and then pick up where I left off for the next cycle.

An old standby running protocol is sprint the straights, walk the curves on a 400m track, repeat as necessary.

Jumping: a parkour running session would certainly qualify as fun, but would probably be a bit longer if you aren't good enough to push the intensity. Practicing "tricks" would fall in a similar category. Maybe a simple plyometrics routine, outdoors would be good enough (I personally enjoy doing simple jumping drills outside, barefoot -- maybe my boredom threshold is pretty high).

Now that I've written this, I realize I need to poke back through Dan John's "Carried Away" DVD and Forencich's "Play as if Your Life Depends on It". Ross Enamait's books also have lots of ideas.

Regards,
Mark

[Garrett Smith]

Double Tabatas, done for 6 rounds. I like alternating V-ups and push-ups at work.

Or pick a metcon and simply stop doing it at 10 minutes. Try to do more within that timeframe the next time.

[James R. Climer]

AMRAP in 10 minutes:
25 wall ball shots, 20# ball
25 ball slams, 20 # ball

[James Evans]

Burpee intervals - 30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest for between 6 and 12 intervals.

Jump rope 100 turns (double unders if you can)
20 Ball slams or 15 burpees
60 second rest
6 rounds
(These first too are Ross E)

Kettlebell snatches 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps each arm

20 Kettlebell swings
5 Kettlebell snatches each arm
3 rounds

Kettlebell snatches or clean & jerk (one arm at a time)
60 seconds
50 seconds
40 seconds
30 seconds
20 seconds
10 seconds
Count total reps

20 KB swings
Sprint 20 metres
15 Burpees
Run back
5 rounds

15 Thrusters
12 Sumo Deadlift High Pull
10 Burpees
5 rounds
(this is actually a bitch - I use a 30kg bar but a sandbag would be a good substitute and you could drop to 3 rounds and up the intensity)

Pinched from Alwyn Cosgrove:
24 squats
24 lunges (12 left, 12 right)
24 jump lunges (12 left, 12 right)
12 jump squats

Every 30 seconds for 7 minutes perform a 20 metre shuttle run (sprint) touching the ground on 20 metres. That's 15 intervals. Should be roughly a reverse tabata of 10 secs work - 20 secs rest. (Thanks Rob Shaul for that).

Experiment. See what works and what doesn't. Some of Ross' stuff I find relatively straightforward, others crush me.

[Dave Van Skike]

I like one I saw on Nick McKinless's blog.

basic, pull and push.

row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups.......

sub Pushups for burpees, or KB clean and press or whatever.

Nice and simple with zero gymnastical jackassery.

[Garrett Smith]

On the rowing note:

20 rounds of
20 sec. hard rowing
40 sec. rest

I pick a power output and try to keep each round's wattage above that number.

[John Alston]

There's some nice barbell complexes down a little in this thread http://www.irongarmx.net/phpBB2/view...95030&start=50

[Ben Langford]

20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 KB Snatches
split with
Run 100m


15-30-15
Burpees
Sit ups
Back Extensions

[James Evans]

Originally Posted by Dave Van Skike

I like one I saw on Nick McKinless's blog.

basic, pull and push.

row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups
row 500m
20 pushups.......

sub Pushups for burpees, or KB clean and press or whatever.

Nice and simple with zero gymnastical jackassery.

I left the C2 out of the equation because Mark didn't mention it but if we're allowed that:

Row 500m
Tabata 1
Row 500m
Tabata 2
Row 500m
Tabata 3
Row 500m
Tabata 4

Transition as quickly as possible between row and tabatas (will not be very quick by the last one). 8 intervals per tabata. Use burpees, swings, snatches, squats, db push presses, db thrusters etc.

[James Evans]

Other stupid shit I've done:

Clean & Press a keg 5 times
Flip tire 25 metres (with in and out jump each rep)
Snatch heavy db (with curiously thick handle) 5 times each arm
Roll tire back to start
Repeat for 5 rounds

Swing a db 21 times
Chuck the db into an already loaded wheelbarrow (making it about 50kg) and wheel the bastard 300m
20 Box jumps
Grab an awkward weight (in this case a telegraph pole - sandbag will do), shoulder it and run 100m. Change shoulders. Run back
Repeat for 4 rounds.

Stuff like this is fun but takes longer. Totally different feeling to banging out 50 or 100 burpees against the clock.