Tag Archives: gaming

The Iroh workout

Greetings dear readers, it has been a while but after a brief sabbatical I have returned. Speaking of returns, the warm weather is looking to make a return to prevalence after a moderate winter. After all these months of hibernation it is time for summer sports and activities. The best way to get ready for the more active time of year is preparing our physical health for outdoor projects and other activities.

For this year’s preparation I will share my latest workout plan I have prescribed myself to during the last several weeks. This plan comes inspired from one of my favorite shows growing up: Avatar the last airbender. Mild spoilers for those that haven’t watched this masterpiece of a series: one of the main characters, general iroh, is imprisoned and during his time in prison he spent time planning and preparing his body for his eventual escape from his captors. I will highlight his training regimen during his time in prison: sit ups, clap push-ups, hand stand push-ups, one hand pull ups. Inverted sit ups at the top of his cell. Of course there are more workouts one could do to develop more strength but I will focus on exercises one can use with limited to no equipment.

General Iroh aka the dragon of the west

I will divide these exercises into specific levels to work up to as time progresses. I’ll also include alternatives to mix things up as needed. For an extra challenge, you can also increase the set totals or reps per set (I recommend increasing the reps by increments of five). I would recommend 30 second to 1 minute rest periods between sets as you progress.

Level one:
3×10 Pike Push Ups

3×15 Sit Ups/Crunches

3×20 Push Ups

3×25 Lying Leg Raises

Level Three:
3×10 Handstand Push Ups ( alternatively I used incline/decline Push Ups as I can not do a successful handstand…yet)

3×15 Pull Ups (regular or door trainer modified. Check out my paid link for a good starting door trainer)

3×20 Sit Ups

3×20 Clap Push Ups

3×25 Hanging Leg Raises (or lying leg raises with ankle weights if available)

Level Four:
3×5 One Arm Pull Ups (each arm) or do a door frame row to work your way up

3×15 Inverted Sit Ups

3×20 Handstand Push Ups (alternative incline/decline Push Ups)

3×20 Clap Push Ups

3×25 Sit Ups

I have tried this workout program for myself, and it has been a very good series that doesn’t require heavy weight. This is perfect in a limited to no equipment environment and for those who love callestenic workouts. Until the next time, dear readers. Excelsior!

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Motivated May: The Vergil Workout

For those that know me personally, I am an avid gamer and a fan of working out and maintaining my physical abilities. I came across two websites called superherojacked.com and beagamecharacter.com which had many of workouts inspired by different characters and celebrities alike. I took on some of the different workout programs to much success and decided to attempt a custom program of my own inspired by a character of my choosing. For this series I will be drawing inspiration from Vergil from the devil may cry series. Vergil is an accomplished swordsman and has incredible superhuman strength and agility, I decided to craft my series based on this premise. I took the approach of using body weight exercises to make it more realistic for a wandering swordsman character such as Vergil. This is a six day program but go at a pace that will work for you and also remember to warm up beforehand!

Strength training (5 sets of 5-20 reps depending on experience follow up with low intensity cardio of your choice)

Workout 1

Step up lunges (5 x 5-20 each time)

Triceps dips (5 x 5-20, using a set of chairs work well for this)

Door rows (5 x 5-20 each side)

Plank (5x 30 sec-1 min or more)

Arm circles (5 x 5-20 both directions)

Workout 2

Pike shoulder press (5x 5-20)

Chin-ups (5 x5-20)

Good mornings (5 x 5-20)

Sit-ups (5 x 10-20)

Hindu squats (5 x 5-20)

Incline/ decline pushups (5 x 5-20, I switched from incline to decline to mix things up a bit)

Workout 3

Pullups (5 x 5-20)

Alternating width pushups (5 x 5-20, I switched from wide grip to closed grip pushups for this)

Shoulder touch (5 x 5-20 each side)

High knees (5 x 10-40)

Hanging leg raises (5 x 5-20)

Cardio

In conjunction to the strength training Vergil has a lot of endurance and cardio for fighting for extended periods of time. For cardio I suggest going with a HIIT approach with these (for those who do not know what that is, it is simply engaging in high periods of activity with resting intervals)

Cardio 1

Jog/run (one and one intervals for a 5k length or build up to it depending on your experience level) 30 min

Cardio 2

Shadowboxing (1 min work with 30 seconds of rest between sets) 30 min

Plyometrics

Vergil has explosive powerful movements with his fists and his sword, so it is only right to combine the two of them together. I also use a steel club to build on forearm strength and shoulder mobility. Check out my paid link for a good starter club.

Burpee (3 x to failure)

Plyo pushups (3 x to failure)

Medicine ball toss (3 x to failure)

Club/hammer swings (3 x to failure)

Club/ hammer abdominal twists (3 x to failure)

After giving this series a try I felt much stronger after the fact. Train well in preparation for the summer months and in general. Excelsior!

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