Today’s workout is from the Master of Madness, the Devil of a Designer, the Baron of Bootcamps, Garry Robinson. It is continuing his 5 part series of bootcamp workouts.
(That introduction was completely unsolicited 🙂 – Kyle)
The Clockwork Chipper
Bootcamp Endurance
Category: Bodyweight Circuit
Method: High Reps, Low Resistance
Purpose: Strength (Endurance)
Equipment: None (Just a Stopwatch and 12 Cones or Markers)
This workout, I call the Clockwork Chipper, is designed to train the first of the five pillars of general physical preparedness – muscular endurance.
Training for endurance involves high repetitions of movements done at relatively low intensity. This increases our capacity to resist fatigue, which makes it an important trait to develop.
The workout is fairly typical of “bootcamp” styles of group outdoor fitness programs. Still, it’s important to know what you are doing and why you are doing it. This doesn’t make it any less relevant. However, most trainers inadvertently give too much bias to this modality and overlook the other 5 pillars.
One of my favourite high-rep, low-resistance training modalities is the chipper workout. It’s called a chipper because you just chip away at each task, breaking it down into as small as sets as necessary in order to get the job done.
Mark out 12 stations in a large circle and label them 1 to 12 corresponding to the hours on a dial of a clock.
In the clockwork chipper, the idea is to get through a full day’s work (12hrs or 24hrs).
But….in the clockwork chipper world, minutes are reps. So there are 60 reps in an hour.
Victims move around the circuit clockwise, starting at 1 o clock and finishing at 12 o clock
For some people, ‘time’ will pass quicker than others so you will need to scale each exercise according. I put some suggestions below.
It’s important to maintain the high repetitions, so scale each exercise back to a point where everyone can do the full 60 reps.
Once round the clock will take an average group around 20-25 minutes. You need to decide whether or not you use a 12 hour clock and go round once, or a 24hr clock and go twice for an absolutely epic workout.
| Station | Exercise | Scaling option |
| 1 o’clock | 60 prisoner squats | n/a |
| 2 o’clock | 60 sit ups | Crunches |
| 3 o’clock | 60 push ups | Knees on ground |
| 4 o’clock | 60 sprawls (hips to ground) | Air squats |
| 5 o’clock | 60 calf raises | n/a |
| 6 o’clock | 60 windmills (pushup) | No pushup |
| 7 o’clock | 60 glute bridges | n/a |
| 8 o’clock | 60 lateral jumps (feet together) | Step overs |
| 9 o’clock | 60 walking lunges | n/a |
| 10 o’clock | 60 reverse curls | n/a |
| 11 o’clock | 60 single leg dead lifts | n/a |
| 12 o’clock | 60 steps of sprinting in one direction / jog back | n/a |
About Garry
Garry Robinson is a Group Outdoor Personal Training Expert and the creator of Bootcamp Workout Ideas, a field manual for personal trainers who love training outdoor fitness groups.
Originally from England, he now lives in Sydney, Australia, where he has developed his own unique brand of group outdoor fitness. He is a massive fan of outdoor exercise and continues to research ways to make fitness camps fun and effective for participants and profitable for their owners.
You can receive free weekly workouts and business building advice by subscribing to his newsletter and blog over at www.kaizen-fitness.com
Other Workouts in this Series
- Burpee Accumulator – Anaerobic Energy Pathway (CTP)
- Bootcamp Aerobics – Aerobic Energy Pathway
- Bootcamp Intervals Se7en – Anaerobic Energy Pathway (Lactate)
- The Clockwork Chipper – Muscular Endurance
- Coming Soon – Strength Power
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Garry Robinson is a Group Outdoor Personal Training Expert and the creator of Bootcamp Workout Ideas, a field manual for personal trainers who love training outdoor fitness groups.
Originally from England, he now lives in Sydney, Australia, where he has developed his own unique brand of group outdoor fitness. He is a massive fan of outdoor exercise and continues to research ways to make fitness camps fun and effective for participants and profitable for their owners.
You can receive free weekly workouts and business building advice by subscribing to his newsletter and blog over at www.kaizen-fitness.com
I reckon the photo was taken in Adelaide
cheers!
Cath 🙂
Good try Cath 🙂
City for clock workout is Hobart. Pic taken in Battery Point
Ah I think we have a local! Well done Lynette. I’ll send you an email shortly.
What do you use the stopwatch for in this activity?