Saturday, July 14, 2012

Gladiator Gauntlet with Hubby!

Every Saturday my gym has an outdoor "class" called Gladiator Gauntlet.  It is "Tough Mudder" style training.  High intensity interval training (HIIT), mixed with weights, and resistance - done in a group environment.  FUN!!!

There is a warmup - consisting of jumping jacks, burpees, squat jumps, pushups, mountain climbers amongst other heart rate elevating exercises.  Each is about a minute long with a 20 second break in between - that's a great warmup!  The last part of the warmup is a 4 minute run - with a 10 pound dumbbell in hand.  You raise it and keep it elevated while running every 30 seconds, then bring it back down and continue running.

The class consists of 3 stations that you do consecutively and repeat 3 times - with 3 water breaks in between each set.  The first station was lunges with weights.  With each lunge, you raised the dumbbells over your head, as you came up - they remain at shoulder level (you can't bring your arms down).  The second station was with the elastic bands.  Your partner tries to hold you back while you are running forward, then you switch.  The last station was all about the abs!  Alternating knee to elbow crunches and raised leg shin touches.

Then you get a minute water break and repeat the whole thing over again - 2 more times. You end the class with some stretches and sighs of relief that it's over.

 I do this class after a 40 minute warmup on the treadmill.  I usually put it at a 15% incline and just walk at 3.5 mph.

I finally convinced my husband to try the class with me.  I thought it would be a great bonding experience for us.

This has nothing to do with the class, but I just wanna show how strong he is! :)


I promised him it wasn't hard.  Halfway through warmups he gives me the death stare.
I ask him, "Baby, are you going to kill me when we get home for bringing you here?"
He responds, "If I have any energy left, yes."

He is definitely not out of shape, like he claims.  His job is very physical - and I probably wouldn't be able to do anything of what he does.  But this class definitely tests your cardio fitness, endurance, and stamina.

He threw up during the dumbbell run warmup.  After that he said he felt better and took it a little easier on himself.  He used to be a lifeguard and a lacrosse player, so he was definitely familiar with the workouts and the idea of conserving your energy if you're tired.

After we finished our workout, I made him a super healthy breakfast - spinach omelette with a side of steamed broccoli.  He was still hungry after and had turkey on whole grain bread with hot sauce.

Only after breakfast did he tell me that he was feeling GREAT.  He asked me if that's how I felt every day after my workouts.  I replied - ABSOLUTELY!  That is one of the main reasons I do them.  You feel as if you can do anything you set your mind to after completing a workout like that!

Since this is an HIIT class, it boosts your metabolism for the entire day.  So as I suspected, he is hungry every 2-3 hours!  Which is awesome because this is how often I usually eat.  I'm making sure to feed him healthy, nutrient packed meals - not to undo all the work he did this morning.

He liked it so much - he told me he wants to do more of these workouts with me!

Mission accomplished :)


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