Hey guys,

Monday’s workout at Bootcamp Effect “Beets” is a moderate lower body resistance training day. The workout is a EMOM circuit so you are moving to a new exercise every minute. If you finish early, you get a rest and can adjust weights if necessary.

The first exercise in the circuit is 8 deadlifts. With reps, I would choose a weight you can perform with perfect form for 10 reps in your first set. If that weight feels comfortable, increase your weight by 10-20lbs.

Perfect form definition: perfect form should never cause or inflict pain in any part of your body. A weight that is too heavy for you will tend to want to pull you out of perfect form, as the human body will automatically look for a biomechanical advantage to finish a lift.

Make sure you set up your bars before the workout starts, you shouldn’t have to be scrambling around to find a weight that is appropriate for you. Feel free to share a bar if you and a fellow bootcamp member are of similar strength in this exercise. 1 minute is more than enough time for 2 people to do 8 reps each.

Don’t feel rushed. Take your time. Reset your grip between each rep if you need to. Don’t use momentum by bouncing it off the floor every rep.

A Few Deadlift Cues to Remember:
In the starting position with your hands on the bar…
Chest up.
Squeeze your core tight (you can do this by making a hissing sound).
Contract your lat muscles (can be achieved by trying to bend the bar without trying to lift it).

As you lift, maintain all that tightness while driving your heels into the ground as if you are trying to break it.

As you come up start to take the front of your hip to the bar and squeeze your butt in the standing position.

And of course, if you need any additional help, we will be there for you in the gym!

Next up in the workout is 6 squat to press or 6 thrusters. I always recommend going with the dumbbells on this exercise if you have any shoulder limitations. Dumbbells allow you to rotate your shoulders to where you will be most comfortable in the lift. The biggest limitation with dumbbells is if you get so strong that getting them into the starting position on your shoulders does not become feasible (a perfect time to move to the barbell!)

With thrusters, the biggest limiting factors are range of motion at the shoulder joint and wrist flexibility. If you are unable to keep your elbows up during the front squat portion of the exercise, you are better off using the dumbbells. If you really want to increase the weight that you use in a thruster, you must be able to wrap your fingers around the bar during the entire lift, that way you can transition from the front squat to the press portion of the exercise seamlessly. You may be able to front squat the weight and you may be able to press it, but can you transition between the 2? Work on getting more flexible in the wrist flexors and undo all that tightness from typing!

There are other exercises in the circuit, you will have come do the workout to see the rest of it!

Monday’s Finisher. 3 rounds for time. 15 minute time cap
This time cap is definitely long enough for most people to finish. Try not to waste your time with transitions from exercise to exercise. When you look at the whiteboard look at your next 2 exercises. work hard and stay below your red line. The exercises in this finisher all work similar muscle groups, so if you empty the tank on 1 exercise it will make the others increasingly more challenging. This is the perfect type of workout to find someone in the room you want to quietly compete with. Whether it be keeping up with them or staying ahead of them, it is always a nice way of maintaing a good challenging pace. One that may surprise you.

Committed to your success,
Josh Saunders
The Bootcamp Effect