Hell week
I love to challenge myself and other people at my gym. Not every week, but having a few weeks of insanity helps you build intestinal fortitude.
I use these challenges to set benchmarks or milestones. Here are a few challenges you can use to push yourself.
500m and 2k rower
I use these tests to completely exhaust all energy production pathways, especially for my Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes to mimic competition and full on rolling sessions. Good for maintenance with those with little injuries that prevent them from rolling. Always pulling for 7-8 minutes and the fact that you are crouched up makes it harder to breathe. The Concept 2 Rower is the best tool since it records the scores and the data is well indicated.
For the test, just do the distance as fast as possible. The 500 meters is more for strength endurance and the 2 K is for all-out war on aerobic endurance and guts.
If you look at the Concept 2 rower online rankings, the average in 2017 for man is 1 minute 43 seconds for the 500 M and 7 minutes 45 seconds for the 2K. For women, it shows 2 minutes 4 seconds for the 500 M and 8 minutes 57 seconds for the 2K. Considering they all train on the rower, probably extensively before they even put up a score, trying to reach the average is a good mark for BJJ athletes.
Death by prowler
Set the timer for 30 minutes and do the prowler for distance. Make sure to measure the turf before. Everyone who survived this challenge said that it was life-changing. At the 15 minutes mark, I spoke with an entity… His name was Gando, he offered his help, but I felt it was a trap… At the 20 minutes mark, even though I was more than halfway there, I began to doubt, started questioning my whole existence, but after all, was said and done, I definitely had to do it again. The second time, everyone who did it crushed their score and the time went by a lot faster.
Enjoy the great workouts.
Coach Eric