Rainy Day Workout

Here in my neck of Central Virginia, Hurricane Sandy went easy on us. Still, I decided not to run Monday night in the cold rain and high winds. (I know. That's just weak.)

Falling back on some of the body weight moves I learned from Adam Steer and the guys at ShapeShifter, I still put in a decent workout with 30 seconds each of: 

• Bucket Drops
• Burpees with Push Up
• Mountain Climbers
• Jumping Jacks

Followed by a short rest.

I wasn't feeling terribly scientific, so I just cycled through this routine until I had worked up a good sweat and felt about the same as I normally do at the end of a hard run.

The Mountain Climbers, in particular, imitate the burn you get from that final kick. When I perform my Mountain Climbers, I only let my extended foot rest on the ground. I find that keeping the opposite leg slightly elevated puts some extra pressure on the core.

Give this a try next time you get rained in. As a bonus, here's a video of Adam Steer with one of his body weight cycles. This video demonstrates (among other things) the bucket drop. Of all the moves listed above, it may be the most unfamiliar. But it's a great way to get the whole body moving and the major muscles groups working together.