Warmup: 30 second Grok Squat, lateral, forward, and backward leg swings (10 each leg).
I was privileged to speak at Bo Railey’s fabulous Indy HIT seminar last month in Indianapolis. While there, I had the the pleasure to train with Bo and Dr. Doug McGuff, of Body By Science fame, using the SuperSlow Systems equipment at one of Bo’s Exercise Inc. facilities. I did a row, an overhead press, and a leg press. “Pleasure” may not be the right word, because this was not pleasurable. It was over quickly, but it was intensely unpleasant in a good way. I’ll invite Doug to guest post on the concept in a few weeks.
I’m still not a machine guy – though I admit they are effective, especially when helmed by a guy like Doug or Keith Norris – but I thought it’d be interesting to see what it’d be like doing bodyweight movements using the super-slow protocol. It turned out pretty well. The pullups in particular got me sweating and straining, and I got a nice bit of DOMS the following day. For a change of pace, it’s worth trying. Let me know what you think.
A few things to remember:
For pushups, go four seconds down, pause for a second, then push up for four.
For squats, go four seconds down, pause for two seconds at or below parallel, then go up for four.
For pullups, three seconds up, hold for two seconds at the top, then lower yourself in four seconds.
Break up the reps as needed, but try not to.
Variations:
No variations this time, but feel free to do the movement progression step that you feel most comfortable doing. These are tough, even if they don’t look like it, so you’ll want to choose the progression that you can actually complete as described.
What Are WOWs?
Workouts of the Week (WOWs) are an optional component of Primal Blueprint Fitness that add a fractal and often fun and playful quality to the basic PBF protocol.
In most cases WOWs should only be completed by those that have mastered Level 4 of each Lift Heavy Things Essential Movement. Also, it’s recommended that WOWs replace one or both Lift Heavy Things workouts or the Sprint workout (depending on the WOW) each week instead of being done in addition to the Lift Heavy Things and Sprint workouts.
Learn more about WOWs and Primal Blueprint Fitness by getting the free eBook. And access all Workouts of the Week in the WOW Archive.
Mark Sisson is the founder of Mark’s Daily Apple, godfather to the Primal food and lifestyle movement, and the New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet. His latest book is Keto for Life, where he discusses how he combines the keto diet with a Primal lifestyle for optimal health and longevity. Mark is the author of numerous other books as well, including The Primal Blueprint, which was credited with turbocharging the growth of the primal/paleo movement back in 2009. After spending three decades researching and educating folks on why food is the key component to achieving and maintaining optimal wellness, Mark launched Primal Kitchen, a real-food company that creates Primal/paleo, keto, and Whole30-friendly kitchen staples.
