It’s no surprise to those of you regular readers that I LOVE a good conditioning session.  Conditioning is invaluable.  Being able to last is a huge plus in my world.  Whether you play in a competitive sports league, crossfit, or just love the iron like I do, conditioning is essential to your continued progress and success in those endeavors.  Below are the 3 conditioning tools you must have in your arsenal.

1.  The Hill

Hill sprints are my favorite form of conditioning. Nothing will get your fat burning furnace stoked higher than regular hill sprints.  Running uphill is much more efficient for your joints, safer than regular wind sprints for the novice trainee, and will jack up your heart rate like no other.  I have an awesome hill right in front of my house.  I’ve talked about it before here but I love standing at the bottom and seeing how many sprints (~50yds) I can complete in 20 minutes.

2.  Bodyweight

Your body may be the ultimate tool.  Don’t neglect using it.  Push it, pull it, run, and jump.  You can make up a whole circuit with just bodyweight movements.  Set the timer and see how many rounds you can bust out!  Below is one of my favorite bodyweight conditioning circuits.   A couple of the moves here are bodyweight only but you’ll get the point.

3.  The Sledge Hammer

You can get these at any hardware store for next to nothing.  It might be the simplest tool to use.  Just grab it and start whaling away on an old tire.  Sledge swings are great finisher to a training session.  If you’re a beginner, set the timer for 10 minutes and do 10 swings, alternating between left and right on the minute until time expires.  If you’re more advanced, start cutting your rest time and see how many rounds you can complete in 10 minutes.  I prefer to use the sledge hammer as a part of some kind of conditioning circuit.  Below is a conditioning session I captured doing just that.

I could’ve easily made this a top 10 list but who has the time to read all that.  Like my training I wanted to keep it short and sweet for you.

Let’s keep this list going though.  Drop a comment and turn this post into a top 10 list.