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ZGYM Benchmark Workout Challenge
August 11, 2017 | 
Zuzka
Equipment for this workout:
Select Warm up & Cool Down
Low Impact Warm Up
5 minute Dynamic Warm Up Routine
27 Squats Warm Up
Cool Down & Stretching for Busy Days
15 Minutes Cool down & Stretching
Cool Down & Stretching | Front Splits
16 Minute Upper Body Stretching Routine
MOB Therapy #1
MOB Therapy #2
MOB Therapy #3
MOB Therapy #4
MOB Therapy #5
MOB Therapy #6
MOB Therapy #7
Workout Routine
Choppy Videos?
Click and select one of the lower qualities like 360p or 540p.
Workout Breakdown
Challenge: Time Challenge
*however long it takes to complete all 4 rounds
- 5 reps - Hand release push up
- 10 reps - Competition Burpee
- 30 reps - Jump Lunge
- 20 reps - Pistol Squat - alt legs
- 60 reps - Everest Climbers
- 40 reps - Air Squats
_______
4 rounds
I decided to give you guys a fun 7 day challenge and the chance to win a $50 voucher to spend in my store. The challenge starts on Monday, August 14th, and the winner will be picked at my discretion and announced on my Instagram account on the following Monday.
Here are the guidelines:
- Do only 1 round of the ZGYM Benchmark Workout each day from Monday to Saturday and share your experience daily on your Instagram. You can post a picture of yourself, you can do a video and talk about your daily workout, or you can film yourself doing the workout. It’s up to you, you can be as creative as you want. On Sunday you will do the entire Benchmark Workout – all 4 rounds for time. Don’t forget to make a post about it!
- Make sure to tag me (@zuzkalight) and use the #zgymbenchmark so that I can see your posts and check in on you. Only a person who doesn’t miss a single day will have the chance to win. Remember that I won’t be able to see your posts if your account is private and you won’t be able to win.
Some of you are already familiar with the ZGYM Benchmark Workout and some of you have already done this workout a few times. If you don’t know what Benchmark Workout is, you definitely have to watch the video to see all the exercises, and easier modifications. The purpose of this challenge is not to beat my time or even your time. The purpose is to get you move every day and motivate you to want to be stronger and fitter. I don’t care how long will it take you to complete the workout on Sunday, I want to see your journey, and that you are participating.
Don’t be afraid to share if certain exercises are giving you a hard time. I’ll be checking in on you to support you and I’m sure others will too. You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to show up.
I’m really looking forward to see your posts. This is going to be a lot of fun!! Let me know in the comments if you’re in 🙂
P.S. For those of you who are worried about their privacy, you guys can create a special ZGYM Instagram account (example: @zgym_IrinaB) that you can use just for our challenges and giveaways to keep it separate from your personal accounts that you wish to keep private.
Progress Tracker
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Private Member |
colorado springs, co
I am in too!!!! awesome!!!
Private Member |
annandale, nj, usa
Hi Zuzka…Am I missing something here with your Friday Bonus Workout segment? When I click the link you have posted under the Work Schedule, it opens to Low Impact Lower Body #3. This is the 2nd time that I’ve encountered this problem. The 1st time happened last Friday. I didn’t follow-up b/c I’m on a time crunch and I needed to get to work. I just want to double check that you’re posting the correct workout. I work out early (4am) EST so maybe it’s my laptop that’s not awake yet. Thx! Alina
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
I see, I just fixed it, sorry about that.
Private Member |
annandale, nj, usa
Yipeee!!!! No worries. I survived. I did Body Crush #22 & 34 and LBS #9. Thank U!! 🤗
Private Member |
matthews, nc, usa
I’m in 🙂 ! I love challenges!!!
Private Member |
st. peter, minnesota, usa
I’ve only ever posted photos of my dog on Instagram, but I suppose I can try this.
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
haha 🙂 I’m looking forward to seeing you and your dogs!
Private Member |
czech republic
😀 nice
Private Member |
los angeles, ca, usa
This is perfect because I’m going to be out of town and working one of the craziest weekends of my life. So what a perfect time to have no excuses and do a challenge with bodyweight workouts. I’m in!
Private Member |
Definitely in ! It will be a great comeback.
I’m not sure how posture, form and flexibility will respond, but keeping up the progress should be fun.
Let’s do this !!!
Private Member |
Oooooh, this sounds fun. Who doesn’t love some Benchmark workout all week long, haha! 😄
Private Member |
I think I’m in! But have a trouble with Insta)
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka,
I’m a teacher who is currently doing a Masters in Educational Technology. I love developing digital material and managing social media for academic project, but I also keep a private profile due to my teaching.
The reason why I am writing to express this is because I would love to do this challenge, edit my videos with Premiere Pro, share my experience, but I don’t want to post it to a public Instagram account.
I am doing this challenge to have fun – like I always do with your workouts, but also to share my experience with the Zgym community. I can edit my videos in such a way that I remain anonymous, but this implies I would need to somehow send them to you. Maybe you may find them interesting and funny. I am not interested in the voucher – you have already given me a lifetime of health and fun voucher. However, I oftentimes find myself thinking of how I could show you my progress and thank you for your motivation. Please let me know if you would be willing to download little clips I make of me doing this challenge that I will be sharing with you via WeTransfer.
Once again, it is hard as a teacher to post your workouts and have students see you on social media – a friend of mine had photos of her from a pool party hacked by a student and a fake account created in her name!!! As proud as I am of what your workouts do for my body and spirit the nature of my work requires me to be very careful about my personal image on social media (not how I present myself, but what others would do with that information).
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
I totally understand what you’re saying. I am going to do this challenge, but I won’t be entering into the contest for privacy reasons. 🙂 I’ll be starting a medical practice soon, so I, too, have to be careful what content I put out there for similar reasons. Oh well, I know that Zuzka has regular contests that don’t require posting a picture or video of oneself, and there are plenty of people out there who enjoy this sort of thing and can do so without potential negative ramifications. There’s something out there for all of us.
Private Member |
Super-encouraging words! My friends never understand why I don’t post pictures of myself…With digital freedom come the ugly consequences too…When I was substituting at a school once a student filmed me without my knowledge (35 students per class that you never saw before and need to supervise…). He was nice enough to say: “look what a nice video of you teaching us! Do you want me to post it?” He had sincerely done this without meaning harm…So I replied: if you post I will be sanctioned for not having seen you were recording during class…He deleted it in front of me 🙂 Regulating social media in schools is such murky waters. I can only imagine healthcare is the same – you have senior clientele, religious clientele – you need to account for the public imagine people want to see (ALL of them).
As a side note – you comments on workouts are always super-motivating 😀 It was a really nice feeling to get a customized one :-*
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Yes, exactly. You NEVER KNOW who is looking at your content. I definitely have to protect myself if I want to keep my license!! Before I applied for my licensing exam (for TCM), I learned that the California Acupuncture Board does a thorough background check and review of social media for each applicant! They look at our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, blogs, youtube, Google+, etc!! I was told I needed to make sure I deleted anything that could potentially flag me. Luckily I don’t have anything to hide, but I definitely deleted all my political posts and anything with swear words. They are very strict because they want to make sure that only people who can conduct themselves professionally will enter into the field of medicine. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with filming or photographing oneself doing a workout–it is actually something really cool especially for someone in a health profession. BUT, like you say, you just do not know who is watching, what they could interpret, and what they may even do with the content. Anyway, I imagine it can be nerve wracking as a teacher. In the past 4 years of school, I’ve audio recorded most of my classes so I could refer back to them, and I can see how teachers may not particularly like that….
Thank you for the kind words!!!! I appreciated your thoughts on this, too. Instagram makes me a bit uncomfortable which is why I was a little bummed about the requirements for this contest, too. But I’m not complaining because I know there will be something for us, too. 🙂 🙂
Private Member |
Oooohhhhh! You’re a good student! I actually encourage students to bring audio recorders (like the USB Olympus one). Don’t worry about the audio part, no normal teacher/professor should mind, they should actually encourage it. It means you want to pay extra attention to what they are saying without focusing on note taking. For “expert” learners – people who have the knowledge basics and what to learn in depth, it’s the best way to attend lectures. 🙂
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Thank you for this expert advice! Yes, I am very much an audio learner and remember and recall information better if I’m listening more intently than if I’m busy trying to keep up with typing (written notes were out of the question in grad school). Every time students are in disagreement about what a professor said, I just whip out my recording for clarification. This is also what I’m doing to study for my boards. I record the review/drill classes and then go back and replay while I create flash cards with the information. And the recordings are great for going on walks while studying.
What do you teach?
Private Member |
I teach English as a Second Language to French Canadian highschool students. I recently started doing workshops about digital media with college students. Both are equally rewarding! What I enjoy most is seeing learners such as yourself that are highly autonomous and discover best learning methods on their own. It sounds strange, because what I do in my Masters, which is instructional design, is tailored to help dependent learners. However, I believe the most pleasant is to find the right curriculum design to also motivate super learners like yourself. Which is funny, because you are self-motivated! Kinda like Zuzka catering to beginners and super advanced. That’s a design thing in her workouts that’s just amazing! !! You can take the beginner workouts she does and make them advanced and vice versa! Benchmark is a super example! And the guided instruction she set up now. …just brilliant…:-)
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Oh wow, that is really interesting!! I see the connections that you see between your profession and Zuzka’s. I think it’s fascinating that what motivates, as you call, dependent learners, can be what makes independent learners bored or unsatisfied, and vice versa. Perhaps what makes independent learners happy is scary for dependent learners. Grad school will naturally attract independent learners, I think. But in high school you have a mix of people who all learn slightly (or very) differently. How do you define dependent and independent learners? That sounds like such an interesting topic that you’re studying because it is applicable in so many fields, including this one that Zuzka “works” in. You can see she does a lot of work to accommodate the varying needs of her viewers, which I think displays how much she cares about us all.
Private Member |
Hi F.P.! I got so excited when I saw your comment 😀 Dependent learners are those that do not have enough strategies (and most of the times enough knowledge) to study on their own. They need to be given clear and specific instructions, badges along the way to show their progress, everything needs to be explained as vividly as possible with really concise terminology they can relate to. Independent learners are those that usually are confident in the knowledge and experience they possess. They have acquired it through learning strategies such as discovery and perseverance. They are creative with the material given to them and require less detail and more opportunity to discover. Take the “Benchmark challenge” – a dependent (sometimes called novice) learner really benefits from all the visuals and cues of the workout, along with the beginner modifications. Novices will rejoice in being rewarded and feel motivated to continue and hopefully in time become expert (or independent learners). This is why, I believe, it will be more beneficial for a novice learner’s motivation to win this challenge.
Conversely, an expert (or independent learner) feels motivated by Z’s “get creative comment. The more vague it is, the better, because it gives the expert the opportunity to make the added challenge modification their own – for examples, it was you that discovered how best to split the jump lunges for fast and optimal results based on your expert knowledge of how much stress your quads can handle. If, say, you decide to do hand stand push ups instead of the regular 5 push ups, you feel pride you discovered this extra challenge. I think now you know where I am going with this. 🙂 Also, experts love helping novices (through posts and comments on their experience – peer support). Take care my dear expert learner!:-*
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Oh my gosh!!! That is so so so so interesting! Thank you for explaining this. Yes, because I have never enjoyed my classes where I’m told exactly what to do (unless I don’t care about the subject). I have always preferred classes/courses where I am given more freedom to come up with variations that suit me. I am always modifying Zuzka’s workouts for myself. I never follow along with the videos–I find that really unnecessary and annoying. I just learn the exercises, often modify them, and go at my own pace and try to beat my own ties.
That’s truly fascinating, and I hope that many teachers get to benefit from your work by learning how to cater to different needs! And students, too!
Private Member |
Wow F.P. what a fantastic compliment! You really made my day! I always think Zuzka’s personality and website attracts kind and considerate people! I feel so lucky to have interacted with you and be part of this community! Ditto for your future clients! I don’t live in the U.S., but maybe when we plan a visit we could meet! If ever you come to Montreal let me know! I obviously would be able to provide you with Zuzka home gym :-))))
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
So there was no reply button for your last comment, and that’s why I’m replying to this comment. 🙂 You are so sweet! Yes, I’m in Santa Cruz, California. If I’m in Montreal, I will most definitely hit you up! And likewise let me know if you visit around here! I agree that there are many fascinating and self-driven, passionate people such as yourself who are attracted to ZGym. They are self-motivated, as you are studying to help others to be. I think what you are doing is admirable because it will leave a lasting positive impact on all the people you reach, and especially because by reaching young people you also positively impact the future.
Private Member |
:-* Also F.P.: You are BOOTY GOALS! Makes your lean and strong body look fiercely feminine!
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
LOL, thank you! I am lacking in the boob department, so the lower body fullness is much needed…
Private Member |
So am I – cheasticles is my middle name, but it helps with workouts! Wink* Hubbie never complained!!! You know they love when they’re Glute-Lovin’ people! 😛
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
hahahahahaha! Small is beautiful, too. 🙂 Awww, your husband probably thinks your figure is perfect. My boyfriend feels the same way. We do have many advantages, and it’s not like we look bad naked 🙂 . I
Private Member |
ellijay, ga, united states
While I’m not in that sort of situation myself, I can COMPLETELY understand that! It’s crazy the kind of stuff out there one can “get in trouble” for. On one hand, I can understand where they’re coming from and why they’re cautious…and on the other, it’s a shame they don’t let people live their lives outside of work. <:-/ Even in not posting publicly, I'll bet it would be pretty cool to have a video progression to see how far you've come in just a week! (You could even edit it into montage form or something, at the end of it all! 😉 )
Private Member |
That’s absolutely correct! I think all this, is not as much connected to your public profile and the institution, but young and immature students..They still can’t seem to understand privacy and respect. The Internet and social media developed fast…and for young people with parents who don’t care to explain…they just act as young kids do…they comment exactly how they feel…unfiltered. …but creating a special zgym profile that s a good idea because I can use another name then my own and edit the videos like u suggested. 🙂
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
HI Irina and everyone. I understand your concerns, but unfortunately I have to keep this challenge on Instagram, and transparent as it is for everyone, not just ZGYM members. That said you can always share your videos here with the ZGYM community in the comments just like Christine did couple days ago. Another option for those of you who are worried about their privacy is to create a special ZGYM Instagram account (example: @zgym_IrinaB) that you can use just for our challenges and giveaways to keep it separate from your personal accounts that you wish to keep private.
Private Member |
Excellent idea!
Private Member |
nova lima, minas gerais, brasil
I’m in!!! Love your workouts Zuzka! I’m big fun of you! You are the best!