The Rainbow Challenge...Week 4 Team Training!

Team Training Tuesday (yes, I just made that up) came around once again and, quite surprisingly, most of us showed up in the 'Skills Zone' at 11am sharp.  After last week's torture session, you'd really have to wonder if we would, but apparently The Works makes 'em tough.  ;-)

So there we were, 4 of us lined up, striding out our warm-up on the treadmills & feeling pretty darn invincible(it was the stuff movies are made of, seriously...).  The excitement soon turned into anxious anticipation as we caught sight of our trainers Matt and Deb out in front (yep this week we had 'double trouble'), setting up steps & dumbbells (& not little PINK ones, either!) & putting a long list of painful-sounding exercises on the whiteboard (WHAT?? We're going to climb a mountain?!?). 

If we thought the previous workout was tough, we were about to find out just how far we could REALLY push ourselves...Did someone say 'cop that'??

The Rainbow Challenge

Power Overs

15 reps

(over & back is 1 rep)

*from this position lower your left arm down to the floor beside the step, then return up to the centre position; do the same on the right side, then return to the centre- this is ONE rep.

Squat Thrusters

15 reps

*hands on the end of the step

Mountain Climbers

20 reps

(each leg...so 40 single reps)

*hands on the end of the step

Jump Lunges

15 reps

(each leg...so 30 single reps)
*performed on the step instead

Renegade Rows

10 reps

(each arm...so 20 single reps)

*remember to keep your hips stable- don't twist them up as you lift the weight up
(as you fatigue you will find this to be the case...fight it!)

Shoulder Press

10 reps

2km Bike Ride

Weights Lifted & Time Taken:

Krystal      7kg Dumbbells  (14kg total)    34min 25sec
Jo          3.5kg Dumbbells  (7kg total)     39min 34sec
Kirsten      7kg Dumbbells  (14kg total)   43min 19sec

Emilie        5kg Dumbbells  (10kg total)   39min

And if we still haven't convinced you that this workout is 'all that', check out these stats:

Krystal & Kirsten each lifted a total of 1400kg ...yeah, nearly 1.5 TONNE...just not in the one rep! ;-)

Emilie lifted a total of 1000kg

Jo lifted a total of 700kg

We ALL did a total of 425 reps & biked 10km!!

So, what did the girls have to say about this??  Read on...

"The 'Rainbow Challenge' really pushed me out of my comfort zone, which was a great way to test my mental ability to keep pushing & to stay strong.  But I won't lie, there were times when I wanted to stop & have a breather, but working out as a group helped because I saw the other girls working hard which encouraged me to keep going.  The renegade rows were a tough exercise & I woke up the next morning feeling sore, so that means it worked..!! :-) Overall, it was a tough but great workout, which left me feeling exhausted afterwards. - Krystal

"Firstly, I'd like to thank (from the bottom of my heart!) DEB for choosing the 'tiny' 7kg dumbbells for me...geez woman, you don't like to make it easy for me do you?? ;-)  Secondly, I'd like to say just how damn sore my core is, the day after doing this workout (c'mon abs, I know you're in there somewhere!).  I feel like I've been shot in the stomach (cus I really know what that feels like??)...I rolled out of bed onto the floor this morning as I couldn't physically sit up; and I have to stop myself from sneaking out to the gym today at work to lay backwards over a gym ball to try and stretch out.  This was, quite possibly, the most hard-core workout I've done...EVER...& I can honestly say that without Matt & Deb there pushing us (& the girls!), I wouldn't have made it....I may have nearly started crying in my last set (don't judge me!), but I managed to push on...sweating out about 5kg in the process (SO sexy, I know!)." - Kirsten

"I found this workout very tough.  I doubted that I could finish.  It pushed me past what I thought was my limit. Words of encouragement from my fellow sufferers & our poor PT's Matt & Deb helped me to push on.  Makes you believe in yourself." - Jo

"The Rainbow Challenge was my first group challenge.  It was extremely tough and there were a few points there where I had to stop & take a few moments because I thought I was going to throw up!  By the end of it though, I felt really great & a little proud that I actually did it, ha-ha.  I enjoyed working as a team because it was very motivational but I was VERY sore for a few days after :-(  I can't wait to see what the next challenge is!" - Emilie

FUN FACT: - This workout is so tough, that it often induces vomiting, hence the name 'Rainbow'....yeah, NICE.