The Pit Workout

John Hackelman
Year Released: 2006

Categories: Total Body Workouts


This set is 2 DVDs in one case - disc 1 contains the upper body workout and lower body workout and disc 2 contains the full body workout and bonus features

Each workout is chaptered if you hit the next or skip button on your remote

The set is a gym with several wavemaster bags. Music is rock, some vocals (nothing I recognized)


Workout 1 - Upper body - 65 minutes

Warmup (10 minutes) - jumping jacks, neck rolls, arm circles, punches (jabs, hooks, elbows, etc), knees, more jacks

Round 1 (5 minutes) - alternate 30 seconds of burpees (drop to a pushup, then jump back up, then down to a push up) with 30 seconds of shadowboxing (you do your own thing)

45 second rest

Round 2 (5 minutes) - alternate burpees and shadowboxing

30 minutes alternating sets of pushups and boxing (again, on the boxing you do your own thing - it's not choreographed). The exercises are: wide pushups (prepares you for hooks) alternated with shadowboxing or the bag (they show people doing both), then "robot" pushups alternating your forearms, then box, then kenpo or judo pushups (divebombers from P90X), then box, then over/under pushups - one arm in front of your head, the other arm down by your waist - then the bag or shadowbox again, 2 count pushups with a pause at the bottom, explode up, then box, then 4 count pushups (3 counts down, explode up), decline pushups, box, knuckle pushups (builds up wrists for punching), box, 10 "pit" pushups - that increase incrementally - on 1 you do 1 push up, 2 you do 2, etc., up to 10, then the bag, pushups where you start down and only come halfway up each time, box, last set is regular 1 count pushups, then boxing

45 second rest

Then John has you do 5 minutes of kick drills on the bag (or in the air, if you don't have a bag) - low kicks, body kicks, head kicks

45 seconds rest

6 sets of jumping rope (and one person jumps without a rope) alternated with - guess what! - clap plyo pushups

Final set is some more shadowboxing with a reminder to stretch (there is a stretch workout included in the bonus features on disc 2




Workout 2 - lower body - 52 minutes

7 minute warm up - jacks, neck rolls, arm circles, side bends, forward bends, wide leg squat, knees, jacks

5 minutes of squat kicks

Alternating side kicks for a minute

4 minutes squat kicks again

High front kicks for a minute

Squat all the way down like a catcher in baseball, then stand and kick, repeat sequence for a minute

45 second rest

Jabs - on the bag or not - for 2 minutes

45 second break

2 minutes of hooks

2 minutes of combos - hooks, jabs, whatever you want

Then "4 punch" drills to build hand speed

Gloves off now, back to legs. You do an exercise that John calls "Christinas" (I've seen this move before in my Ravi and Ana discs, called froggies - you start in a deep squat with your hands on the floor, then straighten your legs but keep your hands on the floor, repeat), alternated with kicks for 6 sets

About 4 minutes of deep squats

45 second break

Warm up with the jump rope, then 5 minutes alternating regular jumping with one legged jumps

Shadowbox for a few minutes to cool down - then a reminder to stretch



Workout 3 - full body workout - 51 minutes

There is no equipment used in this workout - John says you can do it anywhere

5 minute warm up - jacks, neck rolls, upper body twist, side bends, knees

10 minutes of drills - shadowbox, then sprawl, repeat, then shadowbox, throw in some tuck jumps, box, sprawl, repeat

45 second break

20 minutes of the Pit "blackjack" section - the exercise reps in each set add up to 21

20 pushups, 1 squat thrust, then
19 pushups, 2 squat thrusts
all the way down to 1 pushup, 20 squat thrusts

45 second break

Triple punch section - get in a deep wide squat (horse stance), do many sets of 3 quick punches (left right left, right left right) for about a minute

Jump rope for about 9 minutes

45 second break

Then the abs section:

Lie flat, sit up and reach for your toes, then back down, repeat for a minute or two
Then put your hands under your lower back/butt, lift your legs up and lower legs down for a minute
Then bicycles, 4 count, for 50 reps
Then 2 sets of "rusties," I think he calls them - seated, with your knees bent, feet off the ground, rock and pull your elbows back, kind of like a rowing motion
Then for your final ab set, you do twists - same position as rusties, but twist side to side (Tony Horton does a similar move in Ab Ripper X, but here you don't need to touch the ground on each side)

And a reminder to stretch


The bonus features are:

Stretching (about 6 minutes)
Handwraps
Techniques
Credits

If you’re already familiar with boxing/kickboxing technique and you’re looking for a tough, basic workout or a chance to really use your wavemaster or heavy bag, you might enjoy this workout.

Instructor Comments:
John Hackelman is the professional trainer of former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. John owns a gym called The Pit. John’s manner is direct, no nonsense, and sometimes amusing.

judy5150

06/06/2007