Some thoughts and discussions from me.
Soldier of Steel Workout
Good morning 
Ya’ll know I like to be 100% authentic here on the blog, so in the effort of full disclosure: the following post is sponsored by Fitfluential LLC on behalf of Soldier of Steel
I did a different workout yesterday in lieu of my usual resistance training. I recently found out about the Soldier of Steel Transformational Workout, developed by Man of Steel TM (yep, like as in the movie that’s out in theatres right now!) Trainer, Mark Twight.
The workouts consist of a lot of functional training, which I’m a big fan of. I always use functional training in my boot camp and HIIT classes, and often use FT exercises in my clients’ and my own workouts. Push ups, goblet squats, split jumps, pull ups, walking lunges, squat jumps, and everyone’s favorite….burpees are just some of the exercises you’ll find in the Soldier of Steel workout. “Soldier” because Mark trained soldiers of the National Guard in order to better prepare them for their duties!
Before doing anything, I watched the Soldiers of Steel video, as well as the videos on the warm up and workout
I’m so glad Fitfluential brought Solder of Steel workouts to my attention. So many of my clients (especially those climbers!) l-o-v-e functional training workouts that are going to leave them wiped at the end of their workout.
As I mentioned earlier, yesterday in between a couple clients, I had an hour to get my own workout in. If you go to the website and download the workout calendar, you’ll have a month’s worth of Solder of Steel workouts, along with demos and descriptors for each exercise. Here’s the one I did today:
Um. Yeah. This kicked my beeehind. Burpee pyramids are NO joke. Especially after you’ve already done 25 “proper” push ups (see below for my demonstration and description of those bad boys.)
And in case you were wondering, plank pull ups are what I call inverted rows, or these:
(PS – I like to do these with a door and a sheet if I don’t have a bar!)
I also really loved Mark’s demo and explanation for a proper push up (side note: whenever I say or hear “proper” I immediately think of my friends who lived in England for a while 
)
Proper push up:
- Start in a push up position with shoulders over elbows, over wrists, slightly wider than shoulder width
- Lower until your chest touches the ground
- With hips off of the ground, bring your arms straight out to the side
- Bring the arms back in, and push back up, keeping your abs engaged and your body in a straight line to the push up position
And although this one wasn’t in the workout today,I read through all of the exercises and demos and I really liked an exercise called the Deck Squat:
Deck Squat:
- Lie supine on the ground with the knees bent at a 45 degree angle, arms above the head
- Throw the hands forward, tuck the heels into the hips/butt
- Push the heels and fire the glutes to come into a squatting position
- Stand all the way up
If you’re into functional workouts, and are looking for a way to fire up your current routine, I’d recommend checking out the workouts! A word of caution: the ARE tough. Hey, they’re designed for soldiers!
Have you ever heard of the Soldier of Steel workout?
What’s your favorite functional exercise?
loved the man of steel workouts, and your tips! I can’t wait to try this out. Will superman be by my side? wink wink
lindsayc recently posted…National Drink Your Veggies Day #drinkVeggies
Psh. Girl, you ARE superman 😉
You both rock, seriously – when do I get to meet you two!?!?!?
Electra Liontis recently posted…No Gym Necessary
I haven’t heard of this, but this looks killer!!
This looks awesome! I’m a little afraid of the burpee pyramids though;)
I’ve never heard of this workout, but I’m all for it.
Lisa recently posted…The Perfect Diet For Everyone
Definitely looks interesting, I might have to give it a try!
Katie @ Talk Less, Say More recently posted…Play Time
I love functional training! Thanks for sharing!
Danielle recently posted…Food lately
Looks intense! But FUN! I love box jumps for a functional exercise.
Ashley @ My Food N Fitness Diaries recently posted…Bestowed Box Giveaway
I need to do the deck squat! That looks killer! Love the full push ups. My clients hate me for them, but I do love them!
Sarena (The Non Dairy Queen) recently posted…Low Sugar Cheesecake and NuNaturals Give Away!
What does burpee pyramid mean?
Lindsay recently posted…dreams reveal the truth.
Oh wait, do you do the pyramid all in a row and just rest a few seconds after each “step” of the pyramid? I’m, clearly, a novice 😉
Lindsay recently posted…dreams reveal the truth.
It’s a 1:1 work:rest ratio, so, you would do 1 burpee, and then rest the time it took you to complete that burpee. Then you would do 2 burpees, and rest the amount of time it took you to complete those 2 burpees, and so on, up to 10, and then back down to 1 :-X
Oh shoot! Can’t wait to try that 😀
Looks like an intense workout! Burpees are definitely a love-to-hate thing…I’ve never tried them in pyramid form like that though, it’s worth a shot!
Sam @ Better With Sprinkles recently posted…Not Superwoman.
Your description of the moves are AWESOME. Love the step by step photos. I just marked the website to check out later today!
Erin @ A Girl & Her Mutt recently posted…Boston Brunching: Blunch at Vine Brook Tavern
I can’t wait to try this workout after my marathon! Looking forward to it and love your photos and demos! Great post, Paige.
Bonnie recently posted…Virtual Coffee Date
Tried this for the first time today..WOW!! Wasn’t able to do the full five rounds (only two). But, I’ll keep shooting for more.
Totally stalking your old posts now. Thanks for sharing the workout! I’m always looking for challenging at-home routines for when I don’t feel like driving to the gym or if I just want something different. 🙂
Brianna K. @ Hungy Gator Gal recently posted…Quick Bicep & Tricep Blast Workout
There’s quite a few under the “workout” category. Thanks for reading, Brianna! 🙂