Hi Everyone! Pull up a chair and let’s have a morning cup of coffee (or whatever your favorite beverage is) together as I take you through the actual Drill Max workout 🙂
First let me define it:
Drill Max is a deliciously intense athletic circuit workout that exudes a hybrid of agility training, boot camp conditioning, and functional fitness at its best. There is something for everyone in this workout. To get the job done, you’ll need a standard step, stability ball, light to moderate hand weights, and a resistance band. Since everyone will enter the routine at different fitness levels, you will have to do the workout a couple of times to find that perfect weight (when required) that spikes the heart rate just at the right time. Also, once you found the perfect weight, try to run through the whole routine with just enough break to sip water. In other words the pacing of this workout is critical as one move feeds off the previous move to layer the intensity.
Warm up…Nothing fancy or complex here, this is your pep talk time….9 minutes of very basic movements which gradually pick up intensity so that by the time you start your first drill your muscles are totally ready.
Drill #1
Cardio:
(standing floor)…Grab 5 pounds and lets do a tap reach pattern with a controlled jump in the middle…this will change to weighted defensive squats…which layers into “line taps” which are basically double time defensive squats but you touch down to the floor on every single rep. Once our thighs are on fire, we stand up and do it again (insert witches laugh).
Cardio/wts:
Next, grab 10 pounds and do single low squats with a hammer curl as you go down. Now pulse down three and send the arms straight up on four for a few sets. Oh my, thats not easy, make sure you can handle the weight you chose and keep good form. Ok, my heart rate is beating now.
Wts:
Let’s calm it down (just a bit) and keep those 10’s in our hand and do 16 military presses. Ok, I felt those but now let’s really feel them and do 16 more!!!
Wts:
Time for our functional movement pattern. Grab 5 pounds and do functional rotational lunges combining overhead presses and front raises. Not feeling it yet?…..keep going til the end 🙂
Drill #2..(you didn’t take a long rest here, did you? Promise?)
Cardio:
Stand in front of step and do lateral skaters narrow, then wide, then wide lateral ski hops, then a jumping transition using the step and a lateral A step. We will do this pattern until you are ultra winded :-O
Now, don’t rest too long, grab a 10 pound weight and get into a deep plie squat and pulse down 16 times followed immediately by 16 low plie jumps. Do three rounds like this. Huffin and puffin now 🙂
Ok, we’ll cut a little slack here and let the heart rate down a bit for scapular retraction work for the back with the band.
Now that our heart rate has come down some, take it to the floor and do inverted bomb diver push ups. These are hard and used in the navy frequently. We’ll then go into core plank push ups. Both of these push ups are extremely advanced and a substitute push up of your choice is recommended if you can’t perform these. These push ups work the back, chest, shoulders, triceps and core.
Drill # 3
Cardio:
Time to stand up and get jumping again. For those of you who want some hi/lo, this cardio will especially appeal to you. You will do a fun jumping, jogging, and hopping combo with the ball (the ball adds additional caloric expediture due to the weight and leverage changes) Its more of a steady state feeling done for double the time of the others cardios to keep those calories burning. I found in rehearsal that the cast would enjoy this slight break here until we repeated it a second time and I made them JUMP HIGH on the squat jumps. I’ll make you do the same to, and thats an order (insert witches laugh).
Ok, keep your ball and walk to a wall in your house for wall squats while holding 5 pound weights in each hand. Yes, you’ll be holding your wall up for a while so be sure to find that special wall in your house now, as to not slow you down on your workout day, wink!
Keep your ball and come back to the center of the room (there you are, I missed you, ha) and do bicep curls on the ball with 10 pounds in each hand. You may need to go lighter or heavier but fight for it with good form.
Drill # 4
Cardio:
We’re using the step for this one. You will do an L-step pattern that involves jumping jacks and a plyo jack. Then you will add a piece that involves jumping onto the step. A modification is shown if you don’t want to jump. We will do traveling fast feet drills just because they work so perfectly with the music there.
Onto Firewalkers as seen in Butts and Gutts. No wasting time, you have seen the close up demo of how to put that band around your feet, let’s move it (was that a whip I heard cracking, wink).
Now, quickly get on your ball to ultimately fry your glutes with prone glute squeezes. Squeeze HARD and use good form if you want those well defined cheeks.
While you have your ball out, do push ups right there on it.
Now you can also get a 5 pound weight and do one arm rear delt presses. This is a tough pace here but make it work with good form.
Drill # 5
Cardio:
Okay, here is some hardcore heart pounding agility training (insert evil witch laugh again). You must jump with all of your might or it is considered cheating. 3 jumps in one direction and then jump turn ( do 8 laps) then rest BRIEFLY and do a forward bounding movement for three and turn (for 8 laps). We will do this until you …..
Now grab five pounds in each hand and do a variation of walking lunges and lateral raises for 8 laps.
Grab your ball and lie on it in a prone position and use light weight (3 pounds) for front/side raise combo. Then wide and straight rear flys for back/shoulder.
Drill # 6
Cardio:
Using the step as a prop you will do football drills for another agility/speed/quickness drill. You will straddle your step and run in a starddle to the end of it and then circle around the side and run back to your starting position. It’s hard to explain but you’ll see it soon enough. Because this drill is more of a coordination and spped drill, the heart rate will not come as high so I made the next two drills heart rate raisers to balance out.
Squat thrusts along side the step with a tuck jump as you stand up….then jump with two feet laterally across 4 times. We do 8 rounds of this and it spikes the heart rate if you tuck to your max on the tuck jump.
Forward/back functional reaching lunges using your ball as a reaching guide. This move will be mixed with a couple of power scissors to kick it up a notch.
Tricep dips on the ball followed by see saw push ups on the ball.
Plank push ups with three pounds in the hand. Feel free to use 5’s or 8’s but you will need to ignore the beat of the music if you go heavier to keep proper form.
Cool Down Stretch
I hope you enjoy it. I do! As I tell everyone, you can make a workout as hard or easy as you want by simply choosing to give it your all or not. What are you going to do????? ……..That’s what I was hoping to hear!