Centurion Method Workout #8: The Village Idiot

The following workout is enough to make you feel like a blithering idiot. And if you can't be smart, the least you can do is be strong! Your arms, shoulders, legs, and lungs will be viciously burning at the end of this training session.

You might think so in the middle of this.

Workout #8: The Village Idiot
(Rest 30 Seconds between sets and exercises)

1. Burpees- 3 Sets of 30
2. Strict Pull-ups- 3 Sets of 5
3. Push-ups- 2 Sets of 50
4. Pistol Squat- 2 Sets of 10
5. Triceps Dips- 3 Sets of 20

Notes:

• Beginners do burpees without the jump. Pull-ups can just be negatives or half pull-ups. Push-ups can be on your knees, if necessary. Squats can be done with both legs or pistols to a box.
• Advanced can use a weighted vest or do 2 or more rounds, as your fitness improves.
• Don't attempt harder variations of the exercises until you can do the easier versions without stopping. If you're still having to do your sets of 50 push-ups in 2 sets of 25, you're not ready to add rounds or wear a weighted vest. 

Centurion Method Workout #7: Cuchullain

Named after a hero of Scottish Folklore, who was known to transform in the heat of battle into a ravenous monster of a warrior, unable to separate friend from foe. By the end of this workout, you'll have the same problem.  Through the sweat in your eyes, you'll see images of things that just need to be crushed and tossed out of your way.  This workout will help sculpt the warrior beast scratching in the back of your brain until he becomes strong enough to tear the door down and make his way across the threshold of your psyche.

Until then... enjoy!

Workout #7: Cuchullain
(30 Seconds Rest Between All Sets)

1. Weight Lift Burpees- 3 x 10 Reps 
2. Weighted Bag Box Jumps- 4 x 5 Reps
3. High Jump Squats- 3 x 20 Reps
4. Broad Jump Squats- 3 x 10 Reps
5. Single Leg Squat Hops- 3 x 8 Reps
6. Jumping Pull-ups- 3 x 5 Reps

Notes:

1. If you are new to exercise, do all the exercises without jumping and replace the box jumps with step-ups.
2. For Weight Lift Burpees, perform a Burpee with a 20kg (~45#) weight in front of you. As you stand up, grab the weight and jump with it as you raise it overhead.
3. You will wear a backpack of some sort for the Box Jumps with at least 20kg of soft weight (like a sandbag). You will squat down to full depth, jump on the box, stand up all the way and then jump off the other side into a squat. That is one rep.
4. You should be trying to jump as high as possible on each High Jump Squat. 
5. For the Broad Jump Squats, make sure you squat first before jumping as far as you can ahead of yourself, landing in a squat. Stand up all the way to complete the rep. 
6. For Single Leg Squat Hops, you will stand on one leg, with the other out in front of you. If you've done Pistol Squats, this is the same thing, however, as you come out of the bottom of the squat, do so explosively so that you hop at the top. Switch legs and repeat for 1 Rep. If you cannot do one-legged squats, you may do them to a box as a one-legged box squat/sit and stand.
7. For jumping pull-ups, squat down and jump up to the pull-up bar, pulling until your chin reaches over the bar. 

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Centurion Method Workout #6: That Awful Sneer

This workout is a ton of fun, because it just leaves you dripping with sweat, muscles burning, and with that awful sneer of you beating your ass during a training session. You'll need a pull-up bar or something to do pull-ups on, but no other equipment.

Workout #6: That Awful Sneer

1. 5 Strict Pull-ups
2. 10 Push-ups
3. 10 Squats
4. 5 Burpees

--10 Rounds

Notes:

• For beginners, you can do negative pull-ups or jumping pull-ups, kneeling push-ups, and half squats.
• To make the workout harder, do harder variations of the exercises above, such as clapping push-ups, jump squats, or burpees with various jumps like broad jumps, high jumps, or star jumps. You can also add a weighted vest.
• Make sure you keep your form perfect on all of these exercises, because once you get a few rounds in, if you're trying to get through it super fast, but your form is slipping, you're likely to hurt yourself. 

Centurion Method Workout #5: Couple's Night

This Centurion Method workout is a partner workout! If you don't have a partner, keep a timer handy so that you can know how long you need to do the corresponding exercise.

Workout #5: Couple's Night

1. 3 x 20 Burpee Clock --- Plank 
2. 3 x 20 Pull-up Clock --- Bear Crawl
3. 3 x 1 Minute of Slow Leg Raises --- Rest
4. 3 x 1 Minute of Inch Worms --- Rest
5. 3 x 1 Minute of Frog Leaps --- Rest

Notes:

• To explain, you will perform 20 Burpees while your partner is planking. When you get to 20 Burpees, you will switch and you will plank while your partner does 20 Burpees. Same thing for Pull-ups and Bear Crawls. Repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 sets per partner.
• On the last three exercises, one partner will exercise for the listed time and the other partner will rest. You will then switch. 
• You can do leg raises lying flat on the ground or hanging from a bar. Try to do them as slow as possible.
• For Inch Worms, you will hinge at the hips with your legs straight, walk your hands out to the push-up position, then walk your feet up to your hands while keeping your legs straight. Stand up to complete one rep. Repeat for listed time.
• Frog Leaps are performed by squatting until your hands are on the ground and then exploding up into the air. Land and repeat.
• To make this harder, double the sets. 

Berserk/Vinland Saga Master Post

The Centurion Method

1. The Leaper In-Between.
2. The Tidal Mark
3. Conan
4. Hercules
5. Couple's Night
6. That Awful Sneer
7. Cuchullain
8. The Village Idiot

Centurion Method Workout #4: Hercules

Here's another workout from the Centurion Method for you guys!

Workout #4: Hercules

1. 30 Second Sprint (Recover 30 Seconds)
2. 1 Minute Sprint (Recover 30 Seconds)
3. 20 Strict Pull-ups
4. 20 Wall Balls (20-25#)

--5 Rounds

Notes:

• The sprinting is as hard as possible. The recovery times are not listed in the original manual I received, so I added them to make a little more sense of it. 
• The pull-ups need to be done with no kipping or swinging. If you need to scale them down at any point during the workout, however, you may do so. 
• I really recommend buying a medicine ball or making a sand bag to do Wall Balls. To perform the exercise, you start by standing in front of a wall, holding the weight at chest height. Squat down, until your hips break parallel with the floor, and then, as you come back up, press and toss the weight up to a height of 10 feet. As the weight rebounds, catch it and repeat the next rep. Don't start your next squat until the weight is in your hands again. 
• This workout is going to leave you breathing very hard. Rest as you need to, but try to complete the workout as quickly as possible. 
• To make this workout more difficult, you can wear a weighted vest.

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Centurion Method Workout #3: Conan

This is the third workout in the Centurion Method Training Program, which is the patron training deity of both Berserk and Vinland Saga.

Workout #3: Conan

1. 13 Push-ups
2. 13 Strict Pull-ups
3. 13 Hanging Leg Raises
4. 13 Jump Squats
5. 13 Hill Climbers

--5 Rounds

Notes:

• To make this workout harder, you can use a weighted vest. 
• To make this workout easier, check out our Level Zero post for ideas on scaling exercises down.
• For the Hanging Leg Raises, hang from a bar or a tree limb and (without swinging) raise your legs up to parallel with the ground and then straight back down. 
• On the Jump Squats, squat first and then jump. As you land, immediately drop into the squat again. Make sure you are breaking parallel with your squat.
• On Hill Climbers, you start in a plank position on your hands. Pull one knee up toward your elbows and then put it back next to your other leg. Repeat on the other side for one total rep. As you get more coordinated, you'll be able to go a little faster. 
• As you do this workout, put yourself into a warrior mindset and channel the Barbarian Spirit within! 

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!!

Centurion Method Workout #2: The Tidal Mark

Here's the second workout in the Centurion Method Program.

Workout Two: The Tidal Mark

1. 5 Weighted Plank Walks
2. 15 Hanging Leg Raises
3. 5 Dead Leg Drags
4. 5 Weighted Stalking Walks
5. 15 Weighted Box Jumps w/20kg (45#)
6. 20 Chest Raises* w/20kg (45#)
7. 20 Farmer's Carry Lifts w/20kg (45#)
8. 15 Burpee Pull-ups

--For Time

Notes:

• For the plank walk, you will go into a plank position with a dumbbell, kettlebell, or other weight in your hands. You will lift one weight and move it out in front of you and do the same on the other side. That is one rep. Since there are only five reps, the weight should be relatively heavy. 
• For the hanging leg raises, you should keep your legs as straight as possible and, without swinging, raise them until they are parallel with the floor. 
• The dead leg drags will require you to put a weight on your ankles or feet and pull yourself forward. There is not a set distance or weight that is listed in the workout, so I would start with 25 meters and 10#. After that, you can increase the distance or the weight, depending on your goals. 
• On the stalking walks, hold the weight up high on your chest and get into the bottom position of a squat. Then, you move forward on each leg and that is one rep. 
• The weighted box jump are going to be difficult. You can use a bar, a plate, a sandbag, or any other weight during the exercise, but please be comfortable with box jumps to begin with and start off with a shorter box once you add weight. 
• Weighted chest raises in the program sound a lot like an upright row, so that's what I've done them as when I did this workout a few times. Holding the weight down by your groin, you will pull up your body in a straight line, your elbows coming up and out. The weight will stop at your chest, just under your neck. Reverse the movement to the starting position to complete the rep. 
• Farmer's carry lifts start with holding a weight in each hand. From here, you attempt to raise the weight as high as possible on each side along your body. Your elbows will go out behind you as you complete this lift. 
• Burpee pull-ups are brutal for a lot of people. You start by completing a burpee, chest to the ground and jump at the top. While in the air, grab the pull-up bar above you and complete a pull-up. At the bottom of the pull-up, release your grip and immediately start the next burpee. 

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Centurion Method Workout #1: The Leaper In-between

I wasn't planning on posting the workouts for the Centurion Method, even though the program is used for our Berserk and Vinland Saga training, but since the book has been discontinued and the author does not have a problem with posting the workouts online, I will be posting them here. As I have done the majority of the workouts, I will also be putting my two cents about the training on here as well. Please note that there are slight variations from the original text, but only stylistically. Nothing in the meat of the program should be lost.

Workout One- The Leaper In-between 
1 Minute of Work Per Station

1. Push-up-Row-Burpee
2. Strict Pull-ups
3. Weighted Box Jumps
4. Bear Crawl Push-ups
5. Plank

--3 Rounds

Notes:

• Progression: Increase weight used or increase the height of the box jumps. You may also do the workout all over again. 
• Place a dumbbell, kettlebell, or a rock beneath you (or in each hand), do a push-up and then row once on each side. You'll likely have to spread your feet in order to stay balanced. After this, jump up without the weights in your hands and then do a burpee before returning to the original position. All three movements are one rep.
• Strict Pull-ups just mean that you may not kip. You need to go all the way into a full hang and make sure that your chin goes all the way over the bar. 
• Weighted box jumps are kind of dangerous if you are holding the weight or it is on your back, because if you fall you will not be able to catch yourself properly. However, you may use a barbell, dumbbells, a sandbag, medicine ball, or a weighted vest. When you jump onto the box, make sure that your hips come to full extension before you come back down. They may do so on the jump off. You don't have to jump, you can step down if you feel so inclined. 
• Bear Crawl push-ups are a stationary "Dragon Crawl." One side is long, with one hand reaching out in front of you and one leg straight behind you. The other side is short, with your hand right next to your foot and your elbow on the inside of your knee. To go down, bend your outside arm and lower your shoulder and chest toward the ground. Come up and switch sides. That's one rep. 

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!!