The TT Hardcore Class Is In Session

Hey folks!  About a month ago Bally the Dog and I visited North Park High School in Brampton, Ontario, a city just outside of Toronto. And while Bally did his own maniac workout, I shared nutrition and fitness tips with the students, including TT Hardcore 2010.

It was a lot of fun and they were even nice enough to give me a North Park T-shirt afterwards!  So today and tomorrow you’ll find detailed instruction on how to make your way through each of the workouts, including the warm-up, so you can get the most out of the TT Hardcore.

Let’s begin…

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First off, these workouts are ADVANCED and they will take you about an hour to get through them.

For our Hardcore 2K10 warmup, start out with a bodyweight squat with your arms straight out and keep your chest up high as you squat and drive back up.

Next, we’ll get a little dynamic flexibility work for your hamstrings with some leg swingsEach repetition you will go a little farther than the last one. Don’t over-do it because you haven’t been really warmed up, but this will give you a good stretch and a better range of motion in your hamstrings.

After you’ve done both legs with the leg swings, move into a lateral lunge.  Step out and down and drive up with your leg while you keep your chest out.  This will give you a nice stretch through the groin.

Next, move into a prone stick-up to get your upper back and shoulder mobility going.  Lay down on your chest and squeeze your shoulder blades down and together as you move your arms out.  Tuck them back in and back down.

Close grip pushups are next.  Place your hands shoulder width apart, keeping your body in a straight line with your abs braced.  Drop down with your elbows tucked in and drive back up through your triceps, chest and shoulders.

These workouts have quite a bit of INTENSE hamstring contractions in them, so we’re going to warm them up more with a 1-leg Romanian Dead lift (RDL).  Stand on one leg and drive your hips back with your other leg behind you.  Stretch the hamstring of your planted leg and bring it back up.  Repeat on the other side.

Next, we’ll finish with 2 stretches….

…The first one will be a hip flexor and psoas stretch.  Kneel down with one arm up and lean back and to the side a bit.  You’ll feel this through your rectus femoris, quads and through your waist.  This area gets very tight with all the sitting we all do.  Hold this for 30 seconds and then repeat the stretch on the other side.

The next one will be a chest stretch.  Place your hand against a wall and rotating away.  Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side.

Rest 1 minute and repeat this circuit one more time before you move into Workouts A, B and C of TT Hardcore 2K10.

Okay, so now you’re ready to move into Workout A from the TT Hardcore 2K10 program.

We’re going to start with a metabolic resistance circuit of 4 exercises starting with an explosive power exercise with 3 vertical jumps (each one being its own repetition).  You can do these with your hands up behind your head.  Squat down and drive up and land soft on your feet with your knees bent and your hips back.  Use your muscles to absorb the force.

You will next move into dumbbell chest presses.  Lie flat on the bench and press up and in, slowly lower down and out for 3 reps.

Next, move into dumbbell reverse lunges (you will probably use lighter weights than you were using for the chest press).  Step back with your chest up, using your lead leg to pull you back up while you contract your glute.  Do all reps on one side and then switch to the other side.

The next exercise will be a 45 second stability ball plank. Keep your body in a straight line and hold with your abs braced and breathe normal.  This is an advanced exercise.

Up next, we have another metabolic circuit of 5 exercises starting with pull-ups.  I want you to go 2 reps short of failure, so if you can do 10, you will only do 8. Take an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder width apart, pull your chest up to the bar and keep it controlled on the way down.

Next, move into dips, doing 2 reps short of failure.  I want you to keep your knees up and your body forward to keep the stress off of your shoulder joints.  Slowly lower down and drive back up.

Next up are dumbbell rows with 12 reps per side.  Start with your knee bent and a flat back with a slight bend in your elbow.  Row up and slowly down.  Repeat reps on other side.

Cross Body Mountain Climbers are next.  This is one of my FAVORITE oblique exercises.  Start out in a pushup position and brace your abs.  Bring your right knee to your left elbow, keeping your abs braced and alternating sides.

Grab another set of dumbbells for rear deltoid raises.  Press your hips back with a flat back.  Raise your arms out to the sides and slowly lower down.

Go through this circuit a couple of times and then finish with adrenaline interval training (24 seconds on and 36 seconds off) each week you will do more according to the manual.

This is a really TOUGH workout and will probably take you close to an hour to get through it, but this is hardcore.