Renowned ‘cardio strongman’ Ross Edgley is an ultra-endurance legend. Not only is he the author of best-seller The World’s Fittest Book but he’s also a perennial record-breaker.
During his 34 years on this planet, Edgley has achieved such milestones as being the first person to swim around the UK, completing a rope climb equivalent to Mount Everest’s height in 19 hours and running ‘the world’s strongest marathon’ while tethered to a small car.
He’s also proved Herculean strength and triathlete-tier fitness don’t have to be mutually exclusive (something DMARGE reported on last year).
However, he may now be facing his toughest task yet: staying fit in Australian hotel quarantine. Edgley told his followers he was going on a trip to Australia a few weeks back and since arriving has been sharing sneak peeks of how he is keeping fit during lockdown limbo.
His two saviours? An exercise bike and free weights.
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That said, just because he has a few pieces of equipment doesn’t mean Edgley is immune to the struggles many other travellers in Australian hotel quarantine have reported.
“Ross 0 vs 5 Jetlag,” Edgley captioned the above post. “The battle continues through the night… Truth is I don’t actually mind the solitude, I train and write all day back home anyway, but this feels quite nice with the mini routine I’ve created… almost like a monk (for those who’ve read #TheArtOfResilience you’ll know what I mean).”
Edgely also yesterday shared a tongue-in-cheek image of a rather grim-looking rotator cuff workout, apparently conducted on his hotel room sofa.
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Beneath the post, Edgley wrote: “Do you even ‘rotator cuff’ bro? Determined to emerge from quarantine with ‘Delts of Doom’ to superset swimming and surfing with slices of cheesecake.”
Besides proving a hint at what Edgley plans to get up to once his 14 days of limbo are up (as well as the sparse resources available to those hoping to stay ripped in quarantine), this hotel quarantine fitness post also demonstrates – arguably – the perfect ‘pre-Australia’ workout for any Poms moving down under and hoping to test themselves in the aquatic playground that is the Land Down Under. Those broad surfer’s shoulders don’t make themselves…
The posts also encapsulate Edgley’s approach to fitness, which – as he described last year on Instagram – involves “training anything and everything, anywhere and everywhere.”
Presumably, once Edgley is done with quarantine and able to work out in earnest once again, it will also demonstrate another underlying fitness truth: if you’ve been strong once it’s much easier to get it back than if you’ve never been that way ever.
Edgley also recently (on September the 12th) shared a photo of himself doing sand sprints – his last on British soil for some time – before leaving for his trip to Australia.
This, combined with the aerobic workouts demonstrated above on the stationary bike, and the strength-generating free weight exercises demonstrated on the sofa, are a great combination of springtime exercises we’d argue any aspiring Australian fitness freak would do well to emulate (adjusting the intensity to their level of preparation).
According to elitefts.com, “Sand is one of the best surfaces to do some all-out sprints or HIIT cardio on.” They claim this is because “sand surfaces are harder to walk and run on than other surfaces because the feet slip and sink, which requires the leg muscles to stabilize the feet during the application of force.”
“Your joints will thank you in the long run, along with the rest of your body.”
Inspired? The sand dunes, weights and your dusty old exercise bike all await…