Post-Halloween “Back from the Dead” Workout

If you’re like many people, you bought a little bit more Halloween candy than you ended up giving away to trick-or-treaters, and hey, who wants to let a perfectly good bag of fun size Milky Way bars go to waste?

But now you woke up with the world’s worst insulin crash, and you’ve been dragging all day. What to do? The idea of an hour-long training session sounds entirely unappealing, and lifting heavy won’t go so well with all of that newfound fluid in your joints from your sugar binge. You’d rather get in, get out, and forget that this day ever happened.

If that sounds like you, try this tonight:

Pairing #1: Kettlebell Swings with Push Presses

For big-money movements, the standing press is a no-brainer, as is the deadlift. However, if you’re not in the mood to move some weight, swap out deadlifts for some kettlebell swings – the movement pattern is similar and it’ll crank up your heart rate faster. Use a weight that’s reasonably heavy for the swings and explode up. Do the same for the push press, but control the lowering portion for about 2 seconds.

Pairing #2: Walking Lunges with Dumbbell Snatches

These two exercises fill in the gaps that weren’t hit in pairing #1 – a quad-dominant leg exercise, and a big upper body pull.

Pick a weight you can lunge with about 20 yards, set it down, take a quick breather, and then perform 6-8 dumbbell snatches with the same weight. Do your snatches from a hang position – that is, don’t let the dumbbell touch the floor between reps; keep it above your knees instead.

All four exercises are very dynamic movements, with all but one using an X0X0 tempo – that is, as fast as possible on the way up, no rest, and lowering quickly back to the bottom position before beginning the next rep.

The Workout

A1) Kettlebell Swing – 20-25 reps, X0X0, rest 15 seconds
A2) Barbell Push Press – 8-10 reps, 20X0, rest 60 seconds, repeat for 5 rounds
B1) Walking Dumbbell Lunge – 20 yards, X0X0, rest 15 seconds
B2) Dumbbell Snatch from hang – 6-8 reps, X0X0, rest 60 seconds, repeat for 5 rounds

Viola! You’re done!