Atletica Vol. 2

Ilaria Montagnani has come out with several new workouts. Because of my Cathe obsession it has taken me a while to get to them, but I’m working on it! Today was Atletica Vol. 2. I’m surprised it took me this long because I loved Atletica Vol. 1, but it did. Atletica Vol. 2 is very tough and it has me nervous for Altletica Vol. 3 which is already queued up for next weekend. It’s been a while since I did Atletica Vol. 1–but I am going to have to do it again soon to compare it to the new ones.

Atletica 2 is a very tough, advanced, total body strength/metabolic weight training workout. Ilaria, as usual, is an excellent and likable trainer with perfect form who cues perfectly. This is why I love her workouts. She is the best of the best. It does beg to question why I am obsessed with Cathe workouts and neglect my Ilaria workouts but I don’t have a good answer. Though they are both incredible trainers who create advanced and effective workouts, I am just somehow more drawn to Cathe than any other trainer. I think it is a fun factor. But I digress. This isn’t a review for Cathe workouts, so I’ll get back to Atletica 2.

Atletica 2 is a circuit workout composed of drills. They seem to be based on time, since Ilaria tells you how long you will be doing each drill, but she also is counting reps so that you hit each side equally–so I think the times she gives are just estimates. One exercise, she actually tells you how many reps and sets you’ll be doing, but the others she tells you how long you will be doing a drill for. And though one or two minutes doesn’t sound long in theory, if you are using challenging dumbbells–it feels like a very long and painful time. In fact, I am expecting some serious DOMS from this workout. It was hard. Ilaria and crew each had one set of dumbbells but no one says how heavy they are. By looking at them, they were anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds. I initially considered going straight for the 15 pound dumbbells, but decided to be smart and start with 10 pound dumbbells. This was a good move, because during the second half of the workout I had to drop to 8 pound dumbbells for one of the moves.

Let’s talk set and music first. I really liked the set of Ilaria’s earlier workouts. This one, not so much. It is an industrial looking set with a brick wall. Kind of dark and dreary–but not so dark it was difficult to see things. Their clothes were unattractive as well. Ilaria as always is ripped–she is so incredibly muscular. She is wearing a thin green, close-fitting wife beater which just isn’t flattering and some workout shorts that are really short. The other female crew members are attired better, but the one male crew member is dressed just like Ilaria and, well, it doesn’t do him any favors either. But whatever. It doesn’t detract from the workout. The music is good–has a great beat for a fast-paced workout. I really liked it. It has a chaptered menu so that you can go to different parts of the workout if you don’t want to do the entire thing.

The workout is 45:30 long; 1:30 minute intro, 3:30 minute warm up, 38 minute training time and 2 minute stretch. You need dumbbells. The crew only uses one set each, but I would advise having various weights nearby the first time you do the workout to gauge what you will actually need for each move. There is time between each exercise to swap dumbbells if you chose to on future workouts. In the future I will probably have a selection of 8, 10 and 12 pound dumbbells handy. The main part of the workout consists of a circuit of 5 exercises that you will repeat. When you repeat the circuit there are variations on some of the exercises.

1st Circuit:

1. With 2 dumbbells do 2 deadlifts, jump into sumo squat and do a one arm overhead press while still in sumo squat then walk back in. You will do this move for 2 minutes alternating overhead presses.

2. With one dumbbell you will do a kettlebell move, swinging the dumbbell between your legs while squatting to the side. Do this for 1:30 minutes.

3. Get into a lunge position, still holding one dumbbell and do static lunges while doing an overhead press. Each time you do an overhead press, at the top of the move, you pass the dumbbell to the other hand, doing alternating overhead presses with each lunge.  Do this move for one minute.

4. You will hold one dumbbell in both hands and circle it around (side, overhead, other side) then squat to the side while pushing the dumbbell in front of you. Do this for two minutes.

Repeat 2, 3 and 4 on other side of the body.

5. Grab both dumbbells and do 10 weighted squat thrusts. On the 10th, stay in plank and do 10 push ups. Do side plank for 30 seconds on each side of the body while holding one dumbbell overhead.

2nd Circuit: You will now repeat these 5 moves with slight variations in some of the exercises (not all):

1. With 2 dumbbells do 2 deadlifts, jump into sumo squat and do a one arm overhead press while still in sumo squat then walk back in. You will do this move for 2 minutes alternating overhead presses. The variation is to look upward during the overhear press.

2. For this move you will get into lunge position and do one arm dumbbell swings while doing a static lunge. You will do 6 sets of 8 reps. (This is the exercise that I had to drop to an 8 pound dumbbell due to pain–it seems to go on forever!)

3. With one dumbbell, squat with overhead press. At the top of the move raise onto toes and pass the dumbbell from hand to hand (so you’ll be doing alternating overhead presses, changing hands at the top). Do this move for one minute.

4. You will hold one dumbbell in both hands and circle it around (side, overhead, other side) then squat to the side while pushing the dumbbell in front of you. Do this for two minutes.

Repeat 2, 3 and 4 on other side of the body.

5. Grab both dumbbells and do 10 weighted squat thrusts. On the 10th, stay in plank and do 10 push ups. Do side plank for 45 seconds on each side of the body while holding one dumbbell overhead.

It’s not over! There is more! Three minutes of alternating snatches. You will have both dumbbells and be in a wide squat.

Core work: Holding one dumbbell you will do weighted sit ups for 1:30 minutes. Continue the sit ups with one dumbbell but at the bottom of the move bring the dumbbell overhead and at the top twist to the side, doing alternating weighted oblique twists. You will do the alternating oblique twists for two minutes.

Stretch!