Dueling ladders workout

Last Thursday I wanted to do a different kettlebell workout and knew that upper body work was off limits due to some tough workouts done earlier in the week.  I wanted a different round repetition cadence than recent workouts; something that was creative but also predictable.      

Since I only own one 20 kilogram kettlebell, I chose alternating arm swings (switching arms with every swing rep) and single-arm squats as my two exercises with a “dueling ladders” count-down and count-up cadence as follows:

(1)   Number of rounds to complete:  20

(2)   Start a new round:  every 90 seconds

(3)   First do alternating arm swings and then do the squats

These are the round repetition counts for each exercise: 

	Swing	Swing	Squat	Squat
Round	Reps	Start side	Reps	Start side
1	2	L	10	R
2	20	R	1	L
3	4	L	9	R
4	18	R	2	L
5	6	L	8	R
6	16	R	3	L
7	8	L	7	R
8	14	R	4	L
9	10	L	6	R
10	12	R	5	L
11	12	L	5	R
12	10	R	6	L
13	14	L	4	R
14	8	R	7	L
15	16	L	3	R
16	6	R	8	L
17	18	L	2	R
18	4	R	9	L
19	20	L	1	R
20	2	R	10	L
Total	220		110

What I liked about this approach is that it gave my muscles being worked from the exercise a rest of sorts every other round while still demanding significant cardiovascular effort.

I'm sure you figured out the count-up and count-down cadence.  The count down skips a round and is replaced with a count up and vice versa for the other exercise.

The challenge of this workout is demonstrated in my heart rate stats.

It took me 28:42 to complete this workout.  My starting heart rate was 88 beats per minute (bpm) or 48 percent of my maximum heart rate (MHR).  My average HR was 160 bpm or 86 percent of my MHR and my peak HR was 180 bpm or 97 percent of my MHR.

In other words, this workout worked me hard!  And it felt like it reminding me of yesteryear days when I would go out for a hard 3 to 5 mile evening run.

This dueling ladders rep cadence works well with any two exercises of your choosing picking them wisely to work within this suggested structure.  For some, perhaps bar dips and pull-ups would work while for others it might be bodyweight squats and pushups.  The possibilities are endless.

And you could certainly modify the dueling ladders making them longer or shorter to meet your workout design needs.  For example, the long ladder might go from 10 reps down to 2 reps and the short ladder from 1 rep to 5 reps.  You can also make the intervals different than 2 reps and 1 rep respectively.  Just use your imagination.

When you’re up for something new, give this a try; I think you’ll like this dueling ladders workout.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum