Workout of the Week (WOW)
I am pleased to announce the inaugural Workout of the Week (WOW). Before we get to the workout, first an explanation…
What is a WOW?
In short, WOWs will test your agility, balance, coordination, endurance, speed and strength. They’ll periodically incorporate Sprinting and Moving Slowly, but will usually emphasize Lifting Heavy Things. Expect to see variations of the 4 Essential Movements (e.g. lunges, dips, rows, kippings, burpees etc.), plyometrics, and HIIT (both time and task priority). WOWs will often ask you to use added weight. In most cases, the kind (sandbag, kettlebell, dumbbell, slosh tube, plate, etc.) and amount (5 lbs, 20 lbs, 50 lbs, etc.) will be up to you. Thus, I generally recommend that you master the 4 Essential Movements of PBF Lift Heavy Things before attempting WOWs, and then using WOWs in place of one or both of your regular PBF LHT days each week.
Anything goes for WOWs, including fun, conceptual Grok workouts (if you don’t know what this means stay tuned!), so check back each week for a fractal workout that mixes things up and keep things interesting.
To learn more about how WOWs fit into the Primal Blueprint Fitness plan get the 92 page eBook for free.
The First Ever WOW
For the very first WOW I’m keeping things simple. No story. No complicated rules. No partners or equipment needed. Just you, your bodyweight and a place to move.
Maximum cycles in 12 minutes of:
50 Meter Sprint
10 Squat Jumps*
10 Pushups
*Just like it sounds. Perform a full squat. When you come up leap straight into the air bringing your hands over your head and your feet off the ground. Then drop directly back down into the squat position and repeat.
Warmup: A static Grok squat and a few 50 meter runs at moderate effort.
Variations: If you are unable to do pushups or squat jumps substitute movements from Levels 1-3 of Primal Blueprint Fitness Lift Heavy Things.
Don’t wait to try this WOW. Make time this week to get active and make Grok proud!
Record and Share
Record your workout in your PBF Logbook. The PBF Logbook can be found at the end of the PBF eBook. Be sure to note your state of health, energy level, motivation level, and the degree of difficulty. WOWs will be repeated on MDA, so this information will prove useful in assessing personal improvements and growth.
Also, share your experiences in the comment board. WOWs, and PBF in general, isn’t a competition, but it can be fun and motivating to compare your personal achievements with others.
The First Ever WOW Video Submission
A big thanks to Mark’s Daily Apple reader and PBFer Brett Yahnke for submitting the first ever WOW video. Grok on!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
Sweet! Looking forward to the first WOW. Thanks Mark!
Sounds awesome – have torn a ligament in my ankle and cannot do this, which is so unfair. When I get to it – should we rest between cycles?
I would guess do not rest between cycles unless you have to. It says to do as many cycles you can in 12 minutes. If you rest you will not be allowed to stop the time.
You can actually do whatever the hell you want, lol. But, if you are to follow what the WOW says to do then do as many as you can in 12 minutes with no rest or very little if needed – just keep the time ticking!
AMRAP… As many rounds as possible. If you’re not bleeding or throwing up at the end, you’re not working our.
Talk about simplicity! I love it Mark. I did the full workout from the e-book this morning and loved it! Depending upon when I feel up to it I will be doing this WOW soon. My aim is Thursday but Friday will be fine and if I feel great on Wednesday then sweet!!
I will record myself and submit when finished. I hope I win!!
Love it! Can’t wait to try it out. Thanks, Mark!
Sounds awesome. I still haven’t done any sprints just because I haven’t had the time. I really haven’t. Plus I’ve really hit the kettlebells hard. Like today, I did a variation of the turkish get up, give it a try guys:
- Perform a turkish get up
- In the top position, do a negative kb-press (lower the kettlebell slowly to the rack position)
- Lower the kettlebell to the ground
- With the other hand, without pre-swing, snatch the kettlebell once and return it to the ground
- with the other hand (the one performing the rep), clean&press the kettlebell (without pre-swing) to the top position of the turkish get up
- finish the turkish get up by returning to the lying position
Repeat with the other hand.
Do five times.
Awesome workout. Added in some pistols and dragonflags.
That is a great complex! Love it.
ooh, nice, gonna try that one, thanks!
Help – a few questions. Is this every day? Can this replaced with other exercise programs or routines?
I don’t always have access to running – have access to treadmill though. Is that ok?
No, not every day. Read chapter 5 of PBF to learn more about how this fits into the program.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-fitness/
I wrote an email – but for some reason it won’t let me access the ebook. It says I’m already joined.
If you are already a subscribing member you received 2 emails last week giving you access to the eBook. And every future Wednesday newsletter will also provide access. Check your inbox. Grok on!
thanks!!!
How could you not have access to running? It can be done almost anywhere.
My 2 children go into an hour long day care at the gym when I work out. also – winter isn’t that great around here for running, not that it’s winter yet.
You could do a fifty meter run in front of your house, and do the jumps and pushups in your lawn. Do you have a TV?
Easy: Get on a rowing machine for 75m or so each round, do about 5-10 box jumps each round, do single or double unders (idk, maybe 10 or 20 each round)…the subs are endless, depending on how creative you are.
Fantastic! Can’t wait to give it a whirl. All my friends think I am nuts for going primal. I bet no of them will put down their arm curls and leg extensions to give this a try.
Dang! That would be so much fun! But my week is already stuffed with dragon boat training and a full cup on Saturday. So, no chance for extra energy expenditure.
Funny… I’ve been primal now for 4 months or so… today I did 5 80 m sprints, 4 sets of 20 pushups, 3 sets of 15 chinups (biceps) … kind of close to this weeks wow.
I’ll do it tomorrow for sure. And btw, I’ve never been leaner, more fit and had more muscle than now at 32. I was a competitive basketball player… but I’ve never been more fit than now.
Also, my wife can’t keep her hands off my new abs
Good deal for a $30 book eh?
Hello from Canada
Great! Just started the PBF today with some novice sprints up a hill on my property (out of sight of neighbors who might think this 51 year old lady has gone daft). I can get two 50 m sprints in on the same hill with a rest and a walk downhill in between. Wore my KSOs on the soft grass – great feeling. Looking forward to a play/move slowly day tomorrow. I felt worn out immediately after the sprints but about 20 minutes later felt completely energized. I’m starting at the bottom level of everything but that’s fine with me! Again, thanks to Mark for providing all of this for free. The WOWs look like fun!
Laurie, Fantastic to read your post! I’m just getting started on the exercise part of Primal (have been eating mostly primal for some months now). I’m 56 and just did the exact same workout…zig-zagged up and down the woodsy hill in back of my house! Good for BOTH of us!
Yeah! Go 50-set!
yeah who cares what the neighbors think it feels good to be female, strong and almost (in my case) 50
Loved reading both your posts! Fitness after 40 is awesome.
Count me in! Just turned 50 & I feel way better than 40, maybe even 30! All thanks to PB & MDA, for over a year now. Jest getting started in the fitness aspect & lovin it! ahhhh
(Join “council of elders” in groups!)
Keeping it simple… I like it. Going to try this today. Might even test out the HD video on the iPhone 4 for the contest!
I’m all over this! Thanks Mark.
Hey, hey, hey I wanna be a Grok Star!
I started my sprints last night, went bare foot on the local playing field, got some strange looks but loved it. Local kids even raced me! I won.
Cant wait to try this WOW, but I need a little practice first!
In Crew (rowing) we used to call the squat-jump “jumpies” for short. Those things BURN. That looks like a good workout
I’ve printed the Fitness Book and read through all of it and plan on giving it a try, however, I sure wish some of the workouts like the WOW and the LHT were on a dvd – it’s hard for me to just read the workouts and do them. Have you ever thought about making a fitness dvd program, Mark?
He has a youtube channel
this may help a little http://www.youtube.com/user/MarksDailyApple
Maybe something in the future, Kathy. Stay tuned!
Many of the exercises are already on youtube. Perhaps searching around the internet would be useful to you.
This is telepathy! Just before getting your post, I had performed the 50 m sprint and squats (OK, not the pushups yet) out of intuition. I felt energized afterwards.
Thank you, Mark for your encouraging and support.
Nice! This will be my Wednesday workout! Looking forward to it!
Mark – I have a suggestion: When prescribing excercises that involve weights it’d be a good idea to to give the weight as a fraction (or multiple) of the person’s body weight. For example:
- 10 back squats, 1/2 your body weight.
I thik that doing this will make it more meaningful when people post their results here. Because a good strength-to-body-weight ratio is what we’re after, right?
Thanks for the suggestion, Danielht. You’ve read my mind. Grok on!
So with sprints in this wow. Would you still have a day dedicated to just aprints. Maybe a harder set?
If we submit a video, do you want us to film the entire 12 minutes?
An excerpt or a video edited together with clips from the workout would be great.
Sounds like CrossFit….can you really take credit for a program that you didn’t create?
I’ve been crossfitting for close to 7 years. Here’s my thoughts…
CF didn’t invent the sprint, squat, clean, push up or rope climb but they have done a wonderful job at packaging workouts into effective programming…so long as it is done properly.
Mark has been on the CF journal, and many other times has given CF credit for their work. Of course the WOW looks and feels like crossfit, just like the Burger King Whopper is like the McDonald’s Big Mac.
Coach Glassman is proud to see everyone copying his concept because he knows it works, and Mark is a smart business man, why wouldn’t he follow in the CF foot steps, look at most of the blogs that post workouts, they are all following the same format.
Also, this is not a CF workout, anyone can put 3 exercises together, give them numbers and set the circuit to a time. No need to worry about this.
You should also take note that this workout is quite a bit less strenuous than the vast majority of crossfit ones. Body squats and push ups are relatively simple exercises and everyone should be able to sprint. If anything, these will be a great stepping stone for people who may have considered CF but feel as if it’s an unrealistic program for them.
I signed up for one of the CF forums, I wanted to start doing CF. But it was all so confusing, and I’m generally not one that can’t figure things out easily, that I just gave up. So far this just seems so much simpler, at least it’s broken down into the basics. I haven’t read the book yet, but I’m planning to. Signing up right now…
Yes, with the WOW I knew there would be comparisons made. Of course, PBF is different that CrossFit in numerous ways. Have you read the eBook, leah?
CrossFit is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, and I think the PBF fills a very important niche (well done Mark).
Personally, I follow CF programming, but I actually find myself recommending PB to more people than CF.
@leah Read page 90 of the Primal Fitness PDF. I don’t think Mark is taking credit for anything. He references CrossFit 7 times in the e-book.
WOW Mark! I’m looking forward to the rest of the workouts of the week and, of course, reading your e-book. Also, oft-times the simplest workouts are the most effective. And oft-times the flashiest workouts are the least effective. But hey, it’s all in good fun and fitness and this simple workout sounds like it can be fun!
I’m lucky to live next to the coast and have a trusty terrier to do this workout with me. So my sprints were chasing the dog who was chasing the ball…and of course it was all barefoot.
Tried this WOW just now (after months of being out of shape postpartum from baby #2). It kicked mah bootay in a major way; I only made it a few minutes in! (Ooof!) But it does feel good to get started because I don’t want to be new to be brand new to the concepts come the September Primal Challenge. Looking forward to someday soon being able to complete an entire sprint set as prescribed.
I’ll be giving this workout to my Airmen tomorrow morning, probably scaled for 15 minutes. Thanks for the simple, group-appropriate workout!
I wish you were my DH’s Sergent, they just make him run. :p It’s bad for his knees.
Mark
when you say we should do our low level workouts at 55%-75% HR(max) how do you calculate this?
Assuming HR(max) = 220-age (in the abscence of a test) = 185 for me
would this be a straight %?
i.e. HR(max)*55% = 102
to HR(max)*75% = 139
or do you calc it like some runners as the % between HR(max) and HR(rest)?
i.e. HR(rest)+55%*[HR(max)-HR(rest)]
= 60 + 55%*(185-60) = 129
to 60 + 75%*(185-60) = 154 (assuming HR(rest)=60)
maybe I am thinking too much about this…?
Thank you.
It’s the former of the two calculations. As the eBook details, it can be helpful to use a heart rate monitor to learn what 55-75% max HR feels like. Then you can develop an intuitive sense of when you’re in that zone.
thank you for clarifying that for me.
fwiw when i was younger i was a typical chronic cardio guy. more recently i trained for a half-marathon whilst not exceeding 135bpm (60% runners’ style – slow enough to hold a conversation). initially it was really difficult to stay below that threshold; as soon as I started to run my HR would spike and I would have to force myself to walk until it returned below 130. my ego took a beating but gradually i was running more and walking less until I could adjust my running pace to keep below threshold. then my times started to improve too. a side benefit was that i also enjoyed the run as opposed to just the completion/after effects.
from what i have read in PBF, the running is not the problem, just the effort level. therefore I can run long and be primal as long as I just take it easy right?
As I often say, make your long, slow workouts longer and slower and your hard, fast workouts harder and faster.
thank you again for taking the time to respond and also for all the other information you provide here for free. very glad that i have found your website. now i just need to get back to encouraging my wife off the grains…
Mark,
I have been a subscriber to the newsletter for same time, so how do I get the Ebook on fitness? Did I miss a message with instructions?
thanks,
Alex
The last 2 emails I’ve sent to you as a subscriber explain how to get the eBook. If you don’t have those emails anymore stay tuned for tomorrow’s newsletter.
Just completed this workout. 7 rounds. The sprints were the limiting factor this time.
Looking forward to many more WOWs.
WOW is very appropriate. just finished a set and WOW that was tough. completed 7 full rounds as well but i don’t think i would have driven myself through the seventh if i hadn’t seen your post earlier, thanks for setting the standard. for me the limiter was the squat jump. going to feel that tomorrow for sure!
Mark, a great first WOW. Managed 14 times through on a lovely summer evening in England (a rarity). Sprints were a killer after the jump squats but sure beats working out in the gym.
Many thanks.
14! holy sh1t. I was destroyed doing just half that. guess i will be the one getting eaten for dinner.