Grandpa Bruce Series - Lifting for Beginners

GrandBatdad is BACK AT IT, AGAIN!

This time, he’s bringing you some of his favorite movements to do for his at-home workouts. Fun fact: Bruce LOVES Deadlifts and overhead movements, so this combines the two for a fun Ground-to-overhead Weightlifting series, perfect for strengthening the back, hamstrings, and shoulders!

This instructional blog is also perfect for lifting for beginners! All movements are modifiable to fit your needs!

Best workout pain face in the world… bar none.

A Little Bit About BatGrandDad

Meet Bruce Wayne… yes, the name on his actual birth certificate is Bruce Wayne Shimizu… we have his older brother Ron to thank for that!

68-year-old fitness superhero and granddad extraordinaire - he started working out regularly after retiring (almost 2-years ago), hitting up daily workouts with his daughter (Coach Cheryl) while she was pregnant with Jarrett! They scaled together, ain’t that adorbs.

To date, he has lost 40+ lbs., gotten off blood pressure meds, gotten his 5-rep max Deadlift up to 155 lbs., mile time down to under 10-minutes, can get up off of the ground unassisted, and is no longer pre-diabetic. 

How did he do this? Incorporating functional movement at varied intensities and modalities into his everyday workout routine. He used to go into a gym every day, but due to the recent pandemic, he has chosen to become a Gymparty #HomeWorkoutWarrior.

Follow the chronicles of Bruce Wayne and how he modifies movements to not only get in a good workout, but stay injury free at ANY age!

Lifting For Beginners: Ground-to-overhead

“Due to COVID I now work out in my driveway. I limit exposure to public places, so getting outside to work out is a release. I started doing Blue J's daily workouts at home and am able to personalize exercises to my own comfort so I get in a great workout.”

DB Snatch

• What it’s good for: strengthening single-arm strength and overhead stability.

• Level: MODERATE - not too back intensive, but requires more shoulder strength and the ability to lock out one arm at a time overhead.

• Lifting for beginners: if you are unable to keep your back in a flat position, instead of touching the ground, touch a stack of plates to elevate the DB contact point.

Plate Ground-to-overhead

• What it’s good for: helping to strengthen the back and shoulders while working on overhead mobility and range of motion.

• Level: EASY - since both arms are together, you can get away with some asymmetries between sides & requires less shoulder strength/stability.

• Lifting for beginners: if you are unable to keep your back in a flat position, instead of touching the ground, stop right around the knee and then up and overhead.

Overhead KB Swing 

• What it’s good for: working partial range of motion and helps to reinforce mechanics of hip extension into an overhead position - best if you don’t want to have to think and just want to move!

• Level: BEGINNER - less hamstring mobility required and the overhead position can be more easily maintained since arms are closer together.

• Lifting for beginners: if overhead strength or mobility is limited, only go to the level between the chest and eyes (half swing).

Grandpa Bruce Series - Burpee Alternatives

Our hero Bruce Wayne, no not THAT Bruce Wayne…this Bruce Wayne.

Bruce has been a member of our community for 4 months now. Based on what equipment he has at home and his range of motion, we provide different movement options for him so he can stay fit and keep up with Jarrett.

Watch his Burpees and Burpee alternatives in action!

I love knowing that I’m getting a well-rounded workout that I not only feel good after, but also not hurt myself since I’m 69 this year and don’t have any coach around to watch me!

The group is really fun and supportive and I’m motivated to tell them how I did because everyone else is so encouraging.

- Bruce Wayne Shimuzu

A Little Bit About Bat-Granddad

Bruce started working out regularly after retiring (1.5 years ago), hitting up daily workouts with his daughter (Coach Cheryl) while she was pregnant with Jarrett! They scaled together, ain’t that adorbs.

To date, he has lost 40+ lbs., gotten off blood pressure meds, gotten his 5-rep max Deadlift up to 155 lbs., mile time down to under 10-minutes, can get up off of the ground unassisted, and is no longer pre-diabetic. 

How did he do this? Incorporating functional movement at varied intensities and modalities into his everyday workout routine. He used to go into a gym every day, but due to the recent pandemic, he has chosen to become a Gymparty #HomeWorkoutWarrior.

Follow the chronicles of Bruce Wayne and how he modifies movements to not only get in a good workout but stay injury-free at ANY age! In this saga, we cover the Burpee and Burpee alternatives!

The Burpee

The Burpee, a movement many have a love-hate relationship with! … well, let’s say mainly hate! haha. When starting out any fitness journey, the Burpees and Burpee alternatives can be performed without equipment, anywhere, and is extremely effective.

What are the best ways to scale this movement during a Burpee workout? Yes, doing the movement full out is the goal, but depending upon where you are in your fitness capabilities, doing it “as prescribed” may not necessarily be safe or even doable!

Here are a few Burpee alternatives to help increase fitness, strengthen your core and shoulders, and get in a great workout, with the eventual goal of performing them unassisted!

Adjust the height:

• Instructions: elevate your Burpee by planking your body out to a higher object - use stairs, counter top, table top, the bottom of a chair, etc.

• What this version is good for: strengthening both the core and shoulders.

Modify the Push-up:

• Instructions: perform the Burpee to the ground, then when you are lowering your torso to the ground, lower your knees as well, performing a knee Push-up. 

• What this version is good for: strengthening the shoulders & moving quickly.

• This version is NOT videoed because it’s not appropriate for Bruce Wayne - he needs to work on his core MORE than shoulder strength!

Remove the Push-up:

• Instructions: eliminate the Push-up and just Plank your body out - this is called a Kick-back.

• What this version is good for: moving fast and eliminating the shoulder demand as it is more leg-intensive. Works well for high volume workouts where you want to get a good sweat.

Jump or Step-in-and-out:

• Hardest:  jump out into the Plank and jump the feet back in.

• Medium: option 1 would be to jump the feet back into the Plank then step feet back in, or option 2 would be to step the feet out and then jump back in.

• Easiest: step the feet back out and in on each rep.

• What this version is good for: maintaining pace for a workout with a lot of reps to try to help control heart rate and exertion.

The Bottom Line

No matter if you perform a Burpee or a Burpee alternative listed above, we want your elbows in to maintain a safe shoulder strengthening position with your body planked and flat, no sagging of the lower back! Choose a scaling that will allow good positions - never sacrifice the two things mentioned for intensity.

Best place to start? Elevate the Burpee with stepping in and out and then add in the jump! From there you can keep going lower and lower until you’re eventually on the ground and then try other methods of assisting the Push-up! Happy camping in your Burpee and Burpee alternative adventures!

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Recipe for Cooking with Kids👩🏻‍🍳

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They’re learning a ton during the process! How to measure, aka math. Practicing patience. Learning an appreciation for food and nourishment. Science! The list goes on. But most importantly, it’s quality time.

Our SIP Essentials

We’re three months in and no one could have predicted at the beginning of the year that we’d be spending our entire Spring and probably most of Summer at home sheltered in place.

But of course, as humans do, we adapt and find the joys of being inside. Each person on the team has their own essentials - what are yours?

Click on images to watch their video!