Yeah, Nah: An ode to burpies, grave diggers, bingo wings, and time ladders

Take 150 push-ups, burpies, grave diggers, tricep dips and sit-ups, add 30 laps of the room and you get a group of very tired ladies.

The upside to the 150 Challenge was that you could share the workload with one other lucky lady.

The motivation to pull your weight, so to speak, is a fantastic antidote to laziness and moments of weakness.

You know you’ve had a good workout when you can barely manage a hi-5 with your partner after conquering the challenge.

By the way, if you’re thinking “what the heck is a grave digger” try this for size.

On Thursday the “Time ladder” and I met for the first time.

The basic idea is that each round you add on one exercise.

I thought that it would be fun, mixing it up and doing a different set of exercises each time.

Yeah, nah. It turns out that press-ups were the first exercise of each set, meaning that we had to do them every time.

It is my dream one day to conquer my nemesis, and be able to clap in between each press-up. Thankfully, dreams are free.

As we reached the half-way point something glorious happened.

Our trainer Rachel Dombroski announced that we would be taking off one exercise each round.

On the back end of the ladder were tricep extensions. The triceps fondly known as “bingo wings” are located on the back of the upper arm.

Lifting 5kg above your head doesn’t seem too strenuous. But after you’ve done over 100, your arms feel about as strong as overcooked pasta.

But that’s when that group motivation comes into play, where you don’t want to be that one person who has to have a rest.

Group exercise plus peer pressure, works every time.

See earlier post