Pain Lab Resources

1) Zero to Low Impact, no High Impact. Zero is two feet on the ground, Low is one, High is both feet leave. Focus on exercises where you are always planted in some fashion.

2) Word of the day is “Modify”: if an exercise cannot be completed, always try to have 1-2 ready to go to accompany. And to that end, separate the body into 3 parts – legs, trunk, arms.

– If a man has a quad injury and cannot squat, have him air shoulder presses (they will catch up to him!).
– If a man is too big to do Imperial Walkers, have him do alternating high kicks instead.

The rule is, if a part is injured, try to have two options to throw at The Pax. You’ll find some fun in making a spreadsheet and separating exercises into 3 segments, then making another column with weights added.

3) The default rest pose of Plank remains. People may finish something early, may have an alternate, but bark at them to get in Plank when we stop.

– Getting the timing down on a Painlab Q can be tricky! That of course is still up to the Q, when to rest and when not to. When you work weights in, the body can use some rest between sets!
– It’s fun to get creative when structuring, and super-sets work wonders (one exercise goes directly into another, but never more than 2….such as front lateral shoulder raises goes into military presses, but that would be it!).

WARM-UP
Try to get all parts of the body warmed up, as in Painlab you’ll likely hit them all.
So adhering to rule of being planted, can’t go wrong with this:
– Moroccan Night Club
– Imperial Walker
– Don Quixote
– Low Slow Squat
– Merkins
– LBC
(And you can comb the lexicon for more.)

CARDIO
As long as the rule is applied, just have fun borrowing from a regular Q but changing things up. Let’s take 11’s for instance. Instead of running to and fro, do lunge walks one way, then high knees back. So Squats on one side, Merkins on the other, and you can easily pivot into alternates as needed. DORA is great here too, and I’d encourage bear crawls, crab walks, ski lunges, slow karaoke, high kicks, and even seal crawl. You just need to know your crowd.

MUSCLE WORK
Two categories here. Always encourage getting gear here. Blocks are the cheapest way out: you can get 10 cinderblocks that weigh about 16 pounds for cheap. Then, take duct tape and wrap them. Good to go, and 75% of kettlebell exercises can be done with blocks.
If you all decide to get kettlebells, here’s a common mistake: average starting weight for men is 16 kg (35 lb). Most guys go lighter, but don’t let guys do this! Anyways, kettlebells open up a whole world of low/zero impact strength and cardio via two main exercises we’ll cover in a bit (Russian Swing & Turkish Get-Ups). Also, I had some 25 lb plate weights, and 10 lb. plate weights I would bring. My usual would be 2-3 kettlebells, a couple of blocks, and some plate weights.
The other category of non-weighted can be done, but I would focus more on core (Mary on steroids).

STRETCH
It’s important that after all the muscle work you stretch the guys. Do this via Yoga, no way to do this other than to review some YouTube videos so you can see the poses, learn the breathing, or just go old school like BEFORE you’d do a sports practice but instead do it at the end. As older guys our muscles are more prone to tear if DON’T stretch .
Lastly on the format, there are great, great tools that you can also use (but will cost money): battleropes, slamball, etc. You know another piece of gear? Sidewalk chalk. That way you can make stations, and rotate people through them.