My gym like any other is loaded with expensive, high tech devices designed to improve you cardiovascular fitness. Some, like the treadmills, have magazine holders so you can read "People" magazine while the high tech versions have tv screens built right in so you can watch "Oprah". The stationary bikes have computers on them that take a half hour to figure out and a heart rate monitor that few have a clue how to use or what the data actually means to their workout. Then there are the elliptical machines and the stair steppers.

Thw owner of my gym has a 100,000 square foot warehouse that have rows and rows of this stuff acquired from defunct facilities. It almost looks like a scene from a Star Wars movie.

There is a LOT more money in this stuff than barbells and dumbbells, but none of them hold a candle to them in terms of functionality. You can do almost an infinite variety of exercise with the simplest equipment…or none at all to get a superior "cardio" workout, (and I don’t even have to wait for someone to get off a machine). Which leads to tonight’s workout.

3 rounds of Crossfit warm-up
4 rounds, for time:

65# barbell thrusters, 30-21-15-9 reps
4 x 400 meter runs

Time was 19:19 and I didn’t need a heart rate monitor to tell me I was at "red-line" heart rate for the entire time.

Unlike the machines where you just move your legs and your upper body goes along for the ride, thrusters involve the entire body in this cardio party. Everybody is invited to do their part to to get the body in "shape". It is easy to learn, hard to do, but the rewards are great!

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