Workout Wednesday: Ladder

I love this challenging workout.  It forced me out of my comfort zone and got me to pick up much heavier weights than I normally would have, if only for a few reps.  

This workout takes a bit of forethought and planning.  Make sure that you pick up weights that will be challenging by the time that you reach the 14-16 reps, but that aren't so heavy that you won't be able to increase your weight as you move to the 10 and 6 rep rounds.  For example, for the squat with shoulder press, I started with 15 pound weights for 16 reps, then increased by 5 pounds for the next two rounds (so I was using 25 pounds for the round of 6 reps).  

For deadlifts, I ended up using two 40 lb weights for the round of 6 reps.  That's about 20 pounds more than I ever used for deadlifts, but it was totally manageable for only 6 reps. 

This quickie workout took me a bit less than 30 minutes. It hit all the major muscles and left me a sweaty mess.

Enjoy!