A Red Rocks workout for beginners

Steve: I've been telling you for a long time now about how I'm trying to get healthy. My good buddy Jamie Atlas invited me out here to Red Rocks to put me through the wringer. It's beautiful.

Jamie: Beautiful.

Steve: So I'm out here. What are we going to do?

Jamie: Well, man, let's just get started. I'm going to show you some Red Rocks stuff. You ready?

Steve: I'm ready. Let's do it.

Jamie: All right, cool. I'm just going to hop up the bleachers right here. And then the next one. You've got that? Just like that. That's good, that's good. All right, maybe let's try something different. Let's go this way. Here's what we're going to do: we're going to power straight up the rocks, one stair at a time. Just keep the posture tall, swing the arms. Easy peasy. Ready? Only one leg. Just like this: boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Just like that. Let me see it. All right. Steve, let me ask you: do you work out much?

Steve: Man, I don't.

Jamie: Okay, okay, sorry, my bad. When I come to Red Rocks, everyone does these kinds of workouts, but it's important that people know how to do a beginner-style version. Do you want to do a beginner-style workout instead?

Steve: That sounds great, let's do that. That's precisely the reason why, when I come here and watch people do stuff like that, I get super intimidated, because I'm a beginner. I can't do the stairs, I can't do the plyo boxes.

Jamie: I get it. It's fun to do the exciting, big, powerful things. What's important is that we do a workout that fits you. So what I'm going to show you is a little power circuit that anyone can do at any level of fitness. You just adjust it to what's right for your level.

Steve: Kind of like beginner Red Rocks.

Jamie: Exactly. So here's what we're going to do: two flights up, two flights back. We're going to get a little cardio blast. Power up the stairs, at a level that feels good to you, and then walk back down one step at a time. Ready, set, go. Boom, two steps, two steps at a time. Good. Shuffle. Boom, boom. Good. And then bring it back down, one step at a time. Make sure to look up and see the amazing scenery. Remember where you are.

Steve: Right. Amazing.

Jamie: Now, if you wanted to, you could just use your own body weight. What I've done is take some duct tape and two water bottles, which I'd probably bring up here anyway.

Steve: Yeah, you'd certainly want to bring some water in this temperature.

Jamie: So you hold that. We're going to go squat and press. Show me that. Squat down and press up on the way up. You've got it. Good. Boom, boom. Good. Now here's a little extra challenge: try to press up on the way down. Feel the difference there? When you come up, you can use momentum to help your shoulders. Now let's go here. One foot here, and I'm just going to go high knee and return back. High knee, return back, return back. Let's go: boom, boom, boom. This will help with balance. Boom. Fantastic. Any time you're on one leg, you want to make sure your muscles are switching on, so that you stay safe. Again, if you had a bad knee, I'd say stay down here, on just one step.

Steve: Gotcha.

Jamie: You've got it. Sweet. I'd do some on the right, some on the left. So right now we've done run up, walk back, we've done our squat and press, we've done a high-knee return. Now we're going to use our water bottle again. If this is too heavy, just drink some, pour some out. It's yours to make. Turn and face me, put one leg back, and we're going to drop down and then press up again. Boom, just like that. Boom, boom. Now you're getting that balance again, and all sorts of different muscles are kicking in compared with your squat. You've got it?

Steve: Yep, I got it.

Jamie: I'd say do five reps of everything for the first round, six for the second round, seven for the third round. And from there, rest up, go do some stairs, enjoy yourself, do some of the fun things you saw today. The most important part is to make the Red Rocks workout your own.

Steve: And making it possible for people like me to do.

Jamie: Exactly. And know that every time you come, you'll be a little bit fitter.

Steve: Now, something that's happening today that I'm super excited about: Fitness on the Rocks. This whole area is going to be covered with fitness friends of all shapes, doing Zumba, doing yoga, doing every kind of workout you can imagine for every level of fitness. It's already started this morning, but it goes until 2:00, so there's plenty of time to come down and have fun. If you haven't been, I can't recommend it more highly. Jamie Atlas, thank you so much for making me better and getting me to attempt this.

Jamie: It's a pleasure. Thank you.