4-week Steel Mace & Bodyweight Workout Plan - The review

Yesterday (well, I'll be honest, today.... more on that later....) I finished the following workout plan: https://www.setforset.com/blogs/news/4-week-steel-mace-bodyweight-workout-plan

In a nutshell, it's a 4 day workout program (every other day) with 3 active rest days. I started it to take a small break from lifting and I've really enjoyed the possibilities that swinging a mace around has opened up.

Why the steel mace and bodyweight 4-week workout plan is great:

• The steel mace is an all in one fitness tool so you don’t have to lug around a lot of equipment or get to a gym.

• You can do these workouts anywhere.

• This involves multiplanar training (a lot of workout plans don’t put emphasis on, or completely skip, the transverse plane).

• The difficulty increases slightly each week so you can progress.

• These workouts will boost athleticism and overall sports performance.

• It's fantastic for full body conditioning.

• The steel mace and the workouts involved will be a fun, new way to train.

• It’s crazy effective.

Target: Conditioning, Burning Fat & Getting Lean, Muscle Endurance, Strength, Core, Balance & Coordination

Type: Full Body Workouts/HIIT

Skill level: Intermediate to advanced

Duration: approx. 60 mins/workout

It's a pretty decent program. I had a few issues with the program that I slightly modified early on.

The first day (at least to me) seemed a bit too light. I added some additional mace workout to the first day workout. Here's what I did:

• The Lunge Offset - I worked in a Shield flow into this Lunge Offset (to add a bit more challenge)

• The Half-Kneeling Upper Cut Press - I turned it an active lunge

The seventh day was a bit tricky on the first week. I had misread that day's workout slightly.

Isometrics:

Handstand holds - 3 sets x 30 seconds Push up holds - 3 sets x 45 seconds at 3 angles (top, halfway to 90 degrees, 90 degrees) Pull up holds - 3 sets x 15 seconds at 3 angles (top, middle, bottom) Wall sits - 3 sets x 45 seconds at parallel

Specifically the push-up holds.... I did the hold total for all three angles for the prescribed time. A push up hold at top, halfway, and bottom for 15 seconds each position is fairly easy, right?

I did adjust and the following week I did the prescribed time for each angle (not splitting it).

So before I wrap this up, the "yesterday/today" statement. I am currently doing Intermittent Fasting (almost a year now). For anyone not familiar with it, the name is kind of self explanatory. I eat my first meal of the day at 11:30am(~ish) and my last meal of the day before 7:30pm(~ish). Usually on Sundays I get home after hanging with my son by 4:00pm. By the time I get in, do my usual before going out to the garage and get out to the garage, it can be close to 5:30pm. Counting winter is.... well.... cold and my garage isn't insulated but has a small 30,000 BTU heater, you can see how this snowballs.... There's been a few times I didn't time my workout start time to end by 6:30pm to 6:50pm unfortunately. I cannot lie, I've taken some days workouts and broke them out to be continued the next day. And... it's honestly worked out pretty decent. Yesterday's workout is a prime example. (Italics was done yesterday, bold will be done today)

Plyometrics:

Box Jumps (use picnic tables or anything that will allow you to jump a good height) - 3 sets x 16 Burpees - 3 sets x 16 reps Clapping Push Ups - 3 sets x 16 reps

Isometrics:

Handstand holds - 3 sets x 30 seconds Push up holds - 3 sets x 60 seconds at 3 angles (top, halfway to 90 degrees, 90 degrees) Pull up holds - 3 sets x 30 seconds at 3 angles (top, middle, bottom) Wall sits - 3 sets x 60 seconds at parallel

Transverse Focused:

Tire slam rounds (or Mace Side Swings if you don't have a tire accessible) - Do 25 seconds on 20 seconds rest for a total of 10 times. this will take you about 7.5 minutes.