Kicking some boot camp obstacle butt

So, last month I went to Boston Mania, a fitness conference. I was telling one of the conference coordinators about my boot camp class and she gave me a great idea for a different format...an obstacle course! So here's the obstacle course I did this past Saturday. The class is an hour and a half. If you wanted to do it in an hour, I'd just reduce the time in the obstacle course and then not do some of the secondary muscle groups, like gluts or adductors. Or just take out the second exercise on each muscle group.

Warm-up - 5 minutes

Obstacle course - 5 minutes
Think of it like it's set up in a box around the room with the center open

Straddle run - set up 8 benches next to one another (horizontally) at different heights - the first bench with one riser, the second with two, etc. Then run over them laterally (don't step off the front facing forward). Go through twice, the second time facing the other direction to work the other leg evenly

10 Jacks

Walking lunges - all the way to the wall

Hot lava (3 times through) - set up 8 bosus on diagonal angles from each other (from the first one, the next bosu is about a foot away at about 2:00, the third at 10:00 from the second). Level 1, step from one bosu to the next. Level 2, step both feet to each bosu as you go. Level 3, jump from one bosu to the next - pretend the bosus are made of hot lava, so you want to touch each one for as little time as possible (don't run down the bosu line, both feet touch each bosu).

5 Squats

Lateral shuffle (5 times back and forth)

Repeat until 5 minutes is up

Weights (2 minutes per exercise)
Set up benches in the center of the room. Put three risers under one side of the bench, one riser under the other. Work with a partner. You'll need mats, bars and handweights (if you don't have bars, you can use handweights). Each exercises comes in a pair. With your partner, you each do one for two minutes and then switch.

Exercises 1 & 2

• Chest flies (chest) - lie on the bench (head high) with handweights. Wrists face each other with hands overhead, slowly bring your hands out to shoulder level and then back up.
• Bent over rows (back) - standing with the bar in hand, knees slightly (but not very) bent, bend over at the waist with abs in tight and back nice and flat. Pull the bar in to the belly button, letting your elbows skim your sides.

Exercises 3 & 4 (even the bench out, two risers on each side)

• Tricep dips/extensions (triceps) - sit on the bench, hands down on the bench with fingertips curling off the side (fingers facing your legs). If you have bad wrists, you can support your wrists on large weights on the bench. Lift your butt up off the bench, then lower it down towards the floor, your butt skimming against the bench on the way down. The farther from the bench your feet are, the harder it is.
  
• Bicep curls (biceps) - standing, bar in hand with an underhand grip, elbows securely sitting on your ribs. Contract upwards, bringing the bar towards your shoulders (not too fast).

OBSTACLE COURSE - 5 minutes

Exercises 5 & 6

• Frontal raise (shoulders) - standing straight, raise bar to straight out in front of shoulders, then release.
  
• Kayak abs (obliques) - sit on the bench with the bar in hand. Lean back at an angle so your abs are engaged. Raise the bar in front of you, now dip one end of the bar towards the floor and pretend you're digging a kayak oar through the water. Bring the bar back up and dip down the other side (keep your motion nice and smooth).

Exercises 7 & 8 (halfway there!!!)

• Plie squats (adductors, quads) - toes pointed out towards the corner of the room, shoulders back and chest open. Don't lean forwards as you squat down, make sure your knees track over your toes (rather then facing the front of the room), and keep abs in tight.
• Pushups/low back (chest, low back)- do as many pushups as possible (at least 8), then release down to prone position. Take your hands under your forehead and lift your upper body off the floor, abs tight, working through the low back. Return to pushups.
  

OBSTACLE COURSE - 5 minutes

Exercises 9 & 10

• Reverse flies (back) - with weights in hands, bend at waist with back flat. Wrists face each other, hanging down below. Raise arms out to the side, squeezing up through the shoulder blades. There a really fine line on this exercise on this between shoulders and back. Make sure you squeeze your shoulder blades together like you're cracking a nut between them, or it turns into a shoulder exercise.
• Preacher curls (biceps) - sit on bench with weights in hand. Set your elbows against the inside of your thighs (but don't put your weight through your elbows or it will hurt - just push out through your elbows). Now, bicep curls slowly down and up.

Exercises 11 & 12

• Glut squeezes - stand on the bench, balancing on one foot, pointing the other toe out behind the bench. Now squeeze the pointed toe up behind you, squeezing through the glut. Don't lean forward at the waist.
• Bicycle crunches (abs/obliques) - lie on your back, fingertips behind neck, one knee bent, the other extended out. Bring the opposite shoulder to the bent knee, then switch. Don't go too fast. Don't worry about where your elbow is - if you focus too much on bringing your elbow to your knee, it could make your low back start to hurt. To make it more difficult, lower the straight leg closer to the floor.
  

OBSTACLE COURSE - 5 minutes

Exercises 13 & 14

• Hamstring roll-out - on your back on a mat, put one foot on a ball, other foot flat on the floor. Lift your hips up off the floor and roll the ball out and in (keeping your foot on the ball, not letting it roll to your calf). To make it harder, you can lift the other foot up in the air, or put both feet on the ball. 1 minute each leg.
• Lateral raise (shoulders) - raise handweights out to the side to shoulder height

Exercises 15 & 16

• Tricep kickbacks - weight in one hand, same side foot on the bench. Lift weighted elbow up and kick back wrist until arm is straight. Pretend your shoulder is fused and can't move, just hinge at the elbow.
• Plank reach (abs) - plank position supported on your elbows. Keep your hips down in line between your shoulders and ankles (if you drop your hips lower, it stresses your lower back. If you lift them higher, you don't get an ab workout). Now, reach out one hand and tap the floor in front of you, switch.

Stretch