Balls 2 The Wall Booty Buster Treadmill Workout
By admin
Oh man has my booty been on fire lately.
After learning more about the upcoming 50K, training has changed significantly.
Gone are the hours upon hours of running, instead focus is on burning my legs out in an effort to prepare them for hours and hours of steep incline running hiking.
With less than 3 weeks until the big day, that translates to less than 2 weeks of solid training time left. The final week will be spent resting my legs, massages and lots of mobility work.
So it’s crunch time, balls to the wall baby!
And because I’m not one that likes to train solo, I wanted to share a great workout with you that I did just yesterday.
This is a great representation of what training workouts look like:
- Lots of treadmill incline work
- Lots of the stair stepper
- Lots of lunge jumps
- And lots of squat work
All in an effort to build both strength and stamina for what is to come!
If you want a challenge, then a challenge I have.
If you’re like me and LOVE feeling your legs then you’ll LOVE this workout.
You might be wondering, why don’t I do short bursts of incline sprints?
Because I won’t be doing that on race day.
In fact, after talking with Ashton, she let me know that at the start of the race, I need to plan and be okay with hiking up and up and up for HOURS without relief. Yea, there won’t be any sprints happening.
What you need:
For this workout, I used a treadmill, a stair stepper, and a wall-ball (#14).
I really love wall balls for my clients but I had outgrown the ones we have at the studio. When RepFitness offered to send me a new medicine ball I jumped at the opportunity!
The 14-pounder came just in the nick of time and has been awesome.
Quick note… RepFitness offers free shipping on their medicine balls! And honestly, has some of the best prices on these balls I’ve ever seen. We’ve needed a few new ones at the studio but because these generally don’t run cheap, I’ve put off on ordering any more.
Okay, so let’s get into this…
*Pre warning: I used a local gym for access to the treadmill and stair stepper, so I apologize for the dirty walls at the facility.
Balls 2 The Wall Treadmill & Strength Workout
Finisher: Complete as many lunge jumps as possible in 2 minutes!
Don’t have a full hour? Set a timer to whatever you can do!
Gym doesn’t have a wall ball?
No biggie, instead do 20 weighted squats!
Don’t have a stair stepper?
Use a 12-18 inch box and complete 250 step-ups instead!
Since I feel that stair steppers aren’t given the attention they need, let’s chat about these babies…
Is Stair Step Training Good Training?
Call me crazy, but over the past 1.5 weeks, I’ve used a stair stepper more times than I’ve used it ever. That poor machine just seems to collect dust and definitely doesn’t get the attention that treadmills and ellipticals receive.
Probably because they’re boring! At least at the gym I go to, it’s the only cardio machine that doesn’t have a tv…
… So you just climb.
But it really is an amazing workout for training the glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves. I love to run, but I know that I’m missing out on training my climbing muscles.
Hence my new love of the Stairmaster!
When I workout with Dan, he has us climb with a 30-pound pack on. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I don’t have such a pack so no weight for this workout. But if you’re looking for a challenge, grab a backpack and toss a sandbag or two in!
Now… let’s talk Stairmaster tips real quick so that you actually do get a workout…
- Resist the temptation to use the handrails. You can use them for balance/stability but try your hardest to not place your weight on them. Use the rails takes off some of the load and makes the workout easier. Not the point. If needed, just use one handrail for balance, and use your other arm to “pump” your steps.
- Allow the back leg to glide down to almost full extension before stepping, this will ensure full range of motion = full reputation and most bang for your buck.
- Play with the resistance! Start at level “x” then after a minute or two, go up a notch. Then up another notch before coming back down to start. This helps the time go by much faster, promise.
- Make sure to stand up straight! As you get tired you’ll feel the shoulders hunch over, the back curl. Stand up straight and engage the core for the best workout possible as well as helping to strengthen the bones for long term health!
How To Push Through The Pain?
I recently received an email asking how I get workouts done on days I’m not feeling it and how do I keep going when I want to stop.
I think this is a brilliant question! And this is a great workout for it! There were plenty of times when I wanted to quit, and say, “okay, that was enough!”
But then I keep reminding myself why I’m doing the workout: What is my goal? What’s the point?
Each workout right now for me is incredibly important, each helping to build my strength and prepare my legs. Quitting short, only hurts my gains. If I can’t make it through an hour long workout, what makes me think I can make it through 12 hours of hiking & running come May 31st?
That’s what pushes me to complete one more round, go for 5 more minutes or pump out 10 more lunge jumps.
It’s all about having a goal and expectations!
As for those days I don’t want to workout? I listen to my body. Sometimes I need a rest day and I take it. Other days, I ask myself it I just don’t want to or if I legitimately need to chill.
Most often, it’s mental and I’m looking for excuses. Those are the days I go over all the thoughts above and just go. I know that once I get started 8/10 times I’ll get in the zone!
Okay, so the big question…
I did 106!