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
Love the concept. CrossFit rules, but without a membership to a box, the specialized exercises and multiple subs make it really difficult to follow.
This WOW, done barefoot and outside, with 0 equipment, was an AWESOME workout. Shredded me. Beautiful. Keep ‘em comin’.
9 rounds. Tons of fun. Consider me a convert to PB fitness. Only thing missing is a clever primal name and theme for this workout.
I did this Saturday morning at a hotel in Austin while I was waiting for my family to wake up. I did a “50 yard” sprint on the treadmill. I did 6 cycles. It was a great hotel workout!
Can’t wait for the next one!
That’s awesome that you did this at your hotel!
I’ve qualified for Boston Marathon, competed in numerous Triathlons, 2 female figure (bodybuilding) competitions and NOTHING I’ve ever done was as hard as those 12 minutes!!! I’ve been eating Primal Nutrition for almost two weeks and started to exercise this way today. What a change!!!
I finally did this, a week late, and it kicked my ass, hahaha.
I did 8 cycles, although I don’t know if it was 50 yards.
Also, for my sprints, I gave it all I had, but I’m thinking the last few didn’t look like sprints to onlookers, hahaha.
I also got my gf to do the pushup/squat jump part of the workout for fun (for 10 mins), and it killed her too.
I’m loving these short, intense exercises. Looking forward to doing more of these.
Great start to the WOW program… Score = 12
My target was one round per minute which I managed with 4 seconds remaining. However, my pushups were on the knees from round 7 onward. Hope to have my pushups sorted out for next time.
Killer workout – can’t wait for the next WOW…
Thanks Mark!
This looks like CF for weak people. Very original indeed.
Does it make you feel good to insult people on a website geared to encouraging people? Fit, weak, strong… Everyone needs to start somewhere. I am extremely fit and did the 12 minute workout and kicked my butt. I did very high intensity, no breaks. My husband did it with me at his level and also had an amazing workout.
Priceless. I just meant that Mark have sort of re-invented the wheel by taking the same movements that are used in crossfit and sprinkled it with “the grok-crawl” etc. Why not call the sprint “caveman run”? I know that Glassman also reinvented the wheel with crossfit. If you looken at how people trained in the 1920′s its obvious that crossfit isn’t completely original. Atleast Glassman reinvented somethibg that was almost forgotten.
By “weak” i meant that there is little to non weightlifting in the “Wows” so far. Do you agree with that?
Ok, I read the whole thread now and CF vs Blue print have already been discussed. Seems like I am reinventing the wheel here. Sorry about that. Peace!
Oh, really ? and how many rounds did you do in 12 min. ??
I did the workout this afternoon and managed 13 rounds + 50m sprint + 10 squat jumps + 2 pushups. How many did you do?
The workout was, of course, very taxing but I knew it would be. I do this kind of workouts, and harder ones, at my CF box everyday.
Your comment is very mentally weak.
I figured since I do 10 x 100-meter sprints every week, this would be a piece of cake. I was wrong. It totally kicked my ass. Completed 6 full rounds. After the sprint portion, doing the jump squats really nails you. You are in anaerobic distress as the whole body has already burned off your quick fuel. Then you hit the pushups. More times than I would care to, I had to pause and a catch my breath. And during sprinting, normally I fly using Vibrams on flat grass. The WOW somehow saps my step form, so I’m fast on the sprint but it’s a real effort and not smooth. Could be the effect of the squat jumps and hardly any rest between exercises. (When doing 100-meter sprints, I take a 2-minute walking break between runs.) This is definitely one workout to keep for testing fitness, and a challenge to get more rounds in. Note to self: Must do more jump squats. The good thing? The pain only last 12 minutes.
10 round even, outdoors on grass, barefoot. 6′ 175lb 40 yrs
9 rounds + 6 jump squats
Tried it out last night. It was much harder than I thought, as many others here seems to have experienced. Made 15 rounds, but could barely go home afterwards!
12 rounds in 11:53
Can you move the camera around a little more, jackass.