EDITOR’S NOTE: These workouts are designed by coach Nick Tumminello, owner of Performance University, which provideshybrid fitness training for athletes and educational programs for fitness professionals worldwide. Nickhas worked with a variety of clients, from NFL athletes to professional bodybuilders and figure models to exercise enthusiasts. You can learn more about Nick and his work at his blog, Performance U.
TSC stands for Throw-Sprint-Carry, which are the three main components of each metabolic circuit workout. We designed this protocol to be used as an adjunct to strength and hypertrophy workouts. In other words, if you want to gain muscle without losing your hustle, the TSC circuit is just what the doctor ordered. Here’s a bit about the three components of TSC circuit training:
- Throwing medicine balls. These require total body force summation in different planes of motion (depending on how you are throwing the ball) at fast speeds. This is something that you certainly don’t get from doing compound lifts, which is why feel it serves as a nice complement strength training.
- Sprinting: I certainly don’t have to tell you about the benefits of sprinting, or go into detail about how it’s a pillar of athleticism. I will say that, we incorporate sprints second in the TSC sequence, because we found that beginning with the medicine ball throws serves as a nice preparation to explode into the sprints without fatiguing the legs and increasing risk of injury.
- Carry Complex: Technically this is what we would call a farmer’s walk complex, which is a series of dumbbell exercises interspersed between several sets of dumbbell (farmer’s) carries.
There are six total workouts, which will be posted over a four-week period. You can jump in any time or follow along as we go. If you want to add these workouts into your current training schedule, here are the days the workouts will be posted:
- Week One: Monday (Workout 1) and Thursday (Workout 2)
- Week Two: Monday (Workout 3)
- Week Three: Monday Workout 4) and Thursday (Workout 5)
- Week Four: Monday (Workout 6)
I invite you to no only try out the workouts provided, but to use this approach as inspiration to develop your own TSC metabolic circuits. To learn more about TSC circuit training, you can read this article I wrote explaining the program in greater depth. Now get to work!
Week 1, Day 1 – TSC Circuit A
Perform 3 rounds with 3 minutes of rest between rounds:
THROW
Med Ball Push Throw w/Alternate Leg Step (8-12lbs): 3 x 6
Med Ball Side Rotary Scoop Throw (8-12lbs): 3 x 6 per side
SPRINT
Shuttle (25yds between cones): 300, 250, 200
CARRY
Heavy Dumbbell Racked Carry x 50yds
Light Dumbbell Uppercuts x 10 (5 per side)
Heavy Dumbbell Farmer’s Carry x 50yds
Light Dumbbell Bent Over Rows x 8
