Descending Sets To Start the Day

I had to change my workout up a bit, so I revisited one of my favorites: descending sets.

The workout is fairly simple in design, but tough to execute with good form. I typically do these with three exercises that work different parts of the body. For today I chose burpee-pullups, kettlebell swings, and ring pushups. The workout then consists of three sets of all three exercises. Each set has fewer reps – descending sets.

But first let me tell you a typical story about battling for fitness as a Cube Dweller. A story where I lost.

Ambushed at Work

While warming up I was thinking through my Monday at the Cube. I was ambushed by some typical office danger; junk food. It seems like any office is filled with it. Junk food is ready to ambush us and defeat our desire to eat and stay healthy. Yesterday was one of those days; and I lost the battle.

I had brought my water bottle to a meeting and had just eaten lunch. I thought I was fine, then … I saw them. Not just any cookie, these were chocolate with chocolate chip cookies. Did I mention that they were chocolate? I resisted … okay not really. John will keep me honest – I practically dove across the table to get to the box.

The cookies has won. I should have heard the honest help in John’s comment, “that’ll require more TGUs”. He had seen my post about Turkish Get Ups. But the ambush from the chocolate had already taken hold.

Truth be told, before the meeting was done I had consumed two of those double chocolate chip cookies. Tasty, but no where near healthy.

So I thought it was only fair to introduce my friend in battling the after-math of junk-food-ambushes … my 24kg kettlebell.

Brother in Arms against Junk-Food-Ambush

Of all the different fitness equipment I’ve used this simple mass of iron is my favorite and considered by many to be the best choice in battling fat. Using kettlebells allows you to combine both cardio and weight training that engages your entire body. Today was one of those days ….

Descending Sets

So this workout consists of three exercises burpee-pullups, kettlebell swings, and ring pushups. Pick a rep count that you can do with good form, then drop the rep count back for each set. I chose to do 21-15-9; 21 reps for the first round, 15 for the second, and 9 for the final round.

Burpee-Pullups

This exercise combines two killers: the burpee and the pullup. It is an excellent combo.

The sequence is as follows:

1. Start standing under the pullup bar.
2. Squat down, put your hands on the ground.
3. Thrust your feet straight back into a plank, the starting position for a push up.
4. Lower your self and perform a push up.
5. Bring your feet back up into the squat position.
6. Jump up to the pull up bar and continue to a pull up.
7. Lower yourself and drop to a standing position, repeat.

Kettlebell Swings

For the kettlebell swings I chose to do do a superset of one arm swings each side, then two arms swings. So I was really doing three sets of swings. The key with the swings is driving with your legs and hips to snap the kettlebell forward and up. Switching from one arm to the other forces your core to work to stabilize your body from twisting.

Ring Pushups

Using the rings makes the push ups harder since your body needs to stabilize your arms through out the movement. I couldn’t make it through 21 reps without a break, so I split the first round into two.

After each exercise let your body recover, then start on the next. Work through each round then drop the number of reps for the next round. Descending Sets are a great way to get going and burn off those calories from the office ambush.

According to my Garmin HRM this workout burned off 717 calories. That’ll help.