As I mentioned in a previous post I had to shuffle the days a bit and today was the first go on my new toy (see pic).  A bucket of sand!!

I’m always on the look out for new methods of working out to keep myself fresh.  Nothing worse than getting bored of workouts – motivation killer!!  While I was out I decided to stop by the DIY shop and buy a bag of sand to do hand training (grabbing, punching, etc).  I saw the buckets next and grabbed one of those too.

Well my bucket + sand has now turned into a new set of exercises.

Sand Bucket Exercises

  • Side Bends – With the bucket at my side its great for bending and lifting to get the abs working.
  • Front Lift – This is similar to the band-through-the-legs-lift that Ross uses in his books.  Basically have the bucket in front of you and lift it carefully – using your back not your legs.
  • Lift Round – I got this idea from Ross’ books but he uses a dumb bell for this.  To help with core rotational strength and speed you can lift the bucket from one side of your body to the other.  Sounds simple but trust me – this really works the whole of your abs.
  • Calf Raises – The dumb bell wasn’t enough.  I was able to knock out 20 reps of calf raises with no probs.  So now I have the bucket in one hand and the dumb bell in the other.  Now I can do 10 and after two sets I fail. :)
  • Punching and Grabbing Drills – I’m old school when it comes to hand training for punches – I just need some dit da jow.  Also good for grabbing and twisting – if you haven’t got sand use rice.

Today’s Strength Workout

Well it was a big one that I’d been working up to all day.  I only did 20 push ups in the morning as part of my new greasing the groove routine.  After the hard Saturday I spent most of the day recovering.  After a hearty meal of chicken and potatoes I set to the following:

  • Pull Up Bar: 1 + 1 + 1 pull ups; then 1 chin up.
  • Elevated (my feet up high) Push Ups: 10 x 2 sets
  • Partial Single Leg Squats (to table): 5 x 2 sets
  • Calf Raises: 10 x 2 sets
  • Dumb Bell Wrist Curls: 10 x 2 sets

Core Workout

  • Sit Ups: 10 x 2 sets (slow – 3 count midway up)
  • Sit Ups: 20 (fast)
  • Sand Bucket Lift: 10 x 2 sets
  • Sand Bucket Side Bends: 10 x 2 sets