Countdown Progressions

by Greg Newton

The first time I ever saw a countdown workout mentioned was on the old Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling program when I was a kid. Canadian Strongman/Wrestler Dino Bravo was challenged to an Ironman contest by a brash young loud mouth named Ric Flair.

The competition started at 50 push-ups and 1 squat. Then you did 49 push-ups and 2 squats, and so on until you had 1 push-up and 50 squats. The progression is a brutal test of strength and endurance. Of course Bravo never accepted the challenge. Ric had been trained by old school wrestler and promoter Verne Gagne and the emphasis at his training camp was on conditioning. This is why Flair in his heyday was known as the "sixty minute" man who was just getting started after sixty minutes of performance "wrestling."

That workout stuck in the back of mind over the years of training I've done with weights and martial arts. I even tried it a few times with less than stellar results. A few years ago though, GB introduced me to countdown workouts.

Very similar to Flair's Ironman workout challenge, this was a modified and doable system of progression with countdowns. The advantage of countdowns being that you are building strength, endurance and stamina in one workout.

GB had come up with several countdown strategies. The most basic is a 13, 14, 15, 16, 15, 14, and 13 rep countdown that adds to 100 total repetitions. The format is simple. Choose two or three exercises and alternate the exercises as you do your repetitions. Your progression comes from using harder versions of an exercise or decreasing the time it takes to complete the workout.

The next level is a half countdown. This is an even/odd workout starting at 24 and 2 repetitions. One exercise is done for 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 repetitions for a total of 156 reps and the other is done for 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23 for 144 reps. The good thing about a half countdown is that you can complete it within 15 to 30 minutes, depending on which exercises you use, and that gives you time to work with isometrics or

self-resistance exercises afterwards without burning out your recovery ability.

The third level is 300 reps of each exercise. You go 24 to 1 on one exercise and 1 to 24 on the other one or two exercises. This will generally take 30 to 45 minutes to complete. This is conditioning for a competitive athlete to pursue. The best I ever did on this, with using good form on my exercises was 34 minutes for feet elevated push-ups, crunches and free hand squats.

Now obviously your choice in exercises makes a difference in how fast you can get a workout done, and your own particular genetics in how easy certain movements are for you plays a part, so don't consider that a bench mark of some kind. It is just an example of what can be done.

Another time a former student of mine, who is proudly serving in the United States Marines these days, did the 300 countdown with burpees with me. I started with 24, he did 24 and on down. We finished in 47 minutes, and neither one of us had the inclination to do that particular workout again! So be forewarned of overkill.

And that brings up another point. How can a measly 24 reps of a body-weight exercise be effective? I used to ask myself that same question, until I started doing countdowns. Several times in years past, I had worked up to doing 100 reps or more of various types of push-ups, sit-ups and squats. When I started doing countdowns I found it hard, because you are doing sets almost back to back with no rest. The fatigue adds up quickly, to where you are longing for those transition sets to other exercise, but then it becomes harder with that next exercise as the numbers increase. The good thing is, you aren't over working your joints by doing high repetitions consecutively.

I highly recommend you give countdowns a try. I am a very busy guy. I don't have time I can spend on going to the track or a gym. I don't have time to do both strength training and cardio as separate workouts. It fits into a busy schedule.