These are a few of my favorite things

I had a grueling workout yesterday:

• 3 sets of kettle bell squats/Russian twists - 18lb kettle bell. Let your arm hang and squat until it almost touches the floor, then stand up while extending your arm toward the ceiling. Do 15 reps with one arm, then switch. After both arms are done, sit on a mat with your kettle bell. Lean back and pull your feet off the floor (knees are at about 45 degrees). rotate the weight back and forth from left hip to right hip 30 times.... that's one set.
• Bench press. 135lbs, then add 4 5lb plates to each side (that's 175lbs). Do as many as you can. Spotter pulls a 5 from each side. Do as many as you can. Spotter pulls a 5 from each side. etc. etc. until you're down to 135... do as many as you can.
• Cable rows. Same thing as bench press - start at a weight where you can do about 10 reps, then immediately go one plate lighter and do as many as you can. Repeat 5 times. Yes, you look silly on the last one because you are struggling to pull a very little amount.
• Lunge/step-up pyramid thingy. You and workout buddy alternate. We used an 18lb medicine ball. Lunge to right, left, and forward with each leg. Step up on a 24in box with right foot and bring your left knee as high up as you can (like you're kneeing someone in the face). You should be holding the medicine ball on the side of the knee that comes up. Step down. Step up with left foot and right knee comes up. Step down and throw the ball to partner. He goes through it and throws it back. Do the same thing, except this time step up 2 additional times (once per leg, so total of 4 step ups). Go up to 10 step ups and then back down to 2.
• Box jumps. This sucked. Lay out your line - 24in box. Space about 4 feet then a swiss ball. Space 4 feet then another 24in box. Jump onto the first box, down, over the swiss ball, up onto the next box, and down. Turn around and jump through it again. That's one rep. Do 5 reps - 3 sets. On the very last jump on the very last rep, try to jump over the last box instead of on to it... dont kill yourself.
• Death run. This is thanks to Zach, aka vitamin Z, aka orange crush. Set treadmill at 6.5 speed, 3 incline. Start running. Every 15 seconds go up .5 incline. Go up to 10 incline. No, this is not a long distance. Yes, it is hard after all of the jumping and other leg work. If you still dont think it's hard, once it's at 10 incline, continue to run for one more minute. If your heart rate isn't elevated you are a better man than I.

Thankfully, after I got home, I had a shower with a glass of a decent malbec. Try a hot shower with a glass of wine and tell me it's not the most relaxing thing ever. Seriously. Ok, I know what you're thinking - why not a bath? Well, if you're 6'3" and all elbows, the standard bath isn't as comfortable as you'd think. About 1/2 of my body is out of the water at any given time and that's no fun. Enjoy the workout and the mental images.