The COVID 'Combine': Playgrounds of the Pandemic - Part 2

       As summer is coming to a close and school is about to start (in some form or another, depending on your community), many gyms remain closed and the few outdoor pools that have been open will no longer remain available. As we await the reopening of gyms, indoor basketball courts, ice rinks, and other fitness facilities, I return you to a post from August 3rd ("Playgrounds of the Pandemic") in an attempt to further stimulate your imagination and provoke you to action (so this is also the second part of "think and do" I mentioned here a few days ago). 

       The NFL Scouting Combine began in earnest in 1982, when NFL Scouting, Inc. first coordinated a camp for its members in Tampa, Florida, featuring a series of physical drills and challenges. Each drill showcases the key physical attributes of the prospective player's position. The results in turn allow the scouts to predict the likelihood of success at the professional level (along with volumes of video on each player, of course).

       In my earlier post I shared how I was adapting workouts in various settings, such as the high school parking lot when the track was off limits to me. One such workout I mentioned, which has unlimited variations, is the HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). Today I offer you another adaptation, my own version of the NFL Combine. Namely, the BRCB workout, translated as Bike, Run, Cinder Block -- cinder block?! Yep, after doing laps on my bike through the neighborhood and running back and forth to a local school (complete with steps and pillars like the scene from "Rocky", minus the throngs of well wishers, unless you can count barking dogs), the finale is doing some lunges and lifts using cinder blocks in my backyard (which I purchased for under 2$ each -- compare that with traditional weights, if you can find them anywhere these days!). You can go on the internet under "Cinder Block Workouts", if you don't believe me (oh yeh, you might also want to purchase a cheap pair of protective gloves while you are at it). 

       So, the opportunities to engage our bodies, to be bodies in motion, are once again only limited by our imaginations and willingness (assuming you are free of any infirmities and get your doctor's clearance, and... all the other fine print that my lawyer would like here...). Now go and create your own 'Combine'--cinder blocks or not!