The Second of the Terrible Trinity:  The Gutbuster

Prior to my enrollment at NLXF I had never heard of a “gutbuster.”  I’d happily shopped at “Doorbuster” sales.  I’d enjoyed bargain fuel prices courtesy of “gas busters.”  But a “gut”-buster…well, our paths had never crossed.  Of course all that changed within a nanosecond of enrolling in the NLXF program.  And gutbusters are second only to burpees as my most loathed of exercises that we do at the gym.  And for that reason it holds the Number Two spot in the Terrible Trinity.

What exactly is a gutbuster?  Well, truth be told, the Gutbuster defies definition.  Really!  A google* search of the term “gutbuster” will not provide you with a Wikipedia description, a YouTube demonstration, or a succinct definition of this most favorite NLXF exercise.  What it will get you is thousands of hits describing ways to torment your body, elevate your metabolism, utilize an “ab” machine (of the same name I might add), or relegate your diet all in the pursuit of a finally toned core.  It will also produce a plethora of fitness challenges ranging from foot races, to uphill sprints, to triathlons, as well as pages and pages showcasing any number of epicurean delights guaranteed to stretch your stomach and cause heartburn for weeks!

Oh no…if you want to find out anything about that god-awful exercise Ryan fondly calls The Gutbuster, you must search for it by its real name:  The Squat Thrust Burpee. 

I knew it was a member of the Burpee family!  Will this insanity never cease!

Basically, the Gutbuster, a.k.a. The Squat Thrust Burpee, is a burpee WITHOUT the jump.  Whose idea was that!?!?  Let’s be real here…the JUMP is the EASIEST part of the whole damn thing.  I mean, c’mon, if you’re going to eliminate something from the regular burpee, how about…oh I don’t know…how about the catapulting of your body from a standing position to a belly flop?  Or what about that pesky plyometric move????  I think I could probably live without BOTH of those moves. But of course if you did that, then it would simply be a jump squat.  Or a push up plank.  Or foot fire into a push up.  And naturally, we do those as well!  I’m beginning to think that the Burpee is the seed that has spawned just about every exercise I really, really don’t like.

Anyway, I’m convinced that some person with too much sweat in their eyes, and too many exercise generated endorphins screaming through their body thought that eliminating the jump was THE essential element in creating THIS alternative to the burpee.

Sigh…a

 

And so we do them…lots!   And I suppose what annoys me most is that each and every time we do them I can’t help but feel that Ryan thinks he’s doing us a favor by “letting” us do gutbusters instead of burpees.

News flash Ryan:  the bigger favor would be to not have to do them at all!

Tomorrow starts week three of session nine.  I’m pretty sure that some gutbusters are in my immediate future…

 

*Note:  A google search of gutbuster WILL get you a direct link to my blog…you have no idea how that made my heart sing!

**Note:  see previous blog for description of other “fun” burpee variations.