Beau & Jester’s Fantasy Fight Club
Hero’s Journey Fitness is a nerdy gym in Burbank, CA, dedicated to the conviction that fitness belongs to everyone. We help our fellow nerds get strong and healthy through collaboration, not competition. David is one of HJF’s owners.
At Hero’s Journey Fitness on Saturday, August 24, we introduced our Critical Role themed CritFit workout, “Beau & Jester’s Fantasy Fight Club.” Sadly, not all Critters live within a driving radius of Burbank (and we’d have a hard time fitting all of you in the gym if you did, though you can bet we’d damn well try). So, we thought we’d post the workout here, in case any Critters wanna try it at home.
This is a long post, so bear with us.
First, you’ll find the workout exactly as written for our gym, including all adaptation stacks and gym equipment. Then, a version of the workout that’s more appropriate for your living room, with implements you likely have in your home. If you see a movement you don’t know, you can almost always find a demonstration video on YouTube if you search — we’ll have such videos of our own, eventually. When we do, we’ll come back & add them in ;-)
This is primarily a conditioning workout — cardio & power throughout, with no pure strength movements. With 1:00 cycles & lots of rest, nerds will control intensity through pace, and in a few cases in the implements they choose. Fast pace = more intensity. EZ Pace, more rest = more recovery. Like Fight Clubs, this is a sweater, not a thinker. Remember, you are in charge of your intensity. Listen to your body and work at the pace that fits your journey. If you’re just beginning, you may want to break this in half, and do just the first or second half as your workout. Or, you might want to do both halves, but each only one time through. OR, you might increase the transition time between stations to 1:00. Adapt the workout to fit your needs, and be patient with yourself. Every journey has got to start somewhere.
Throughout the workout, you’ll see a movement adaptation stack. It looks like this:
- Base Movement (Simplest Adaptation, Simpler Adaptation, Simple Adaptation | Complex Adaptation, More Complex Adaptation, Most Complex Adaptation)
This allow you to choose an adaptation that best fits your body and ability. The pipe (“|”) shows where the base movement is in the adaptation stack.
The Story:
Beau & Jester are characters from Critical Role: Campaign 2, heroes and members of the adventuring party The Mighty Nein. Early in their adventures, the Mighty Nein stumble onto a secret Fight Club, and the two of them decide they want to give it a try. Beau is a Monk and master hand-to-hand combatant, and Jester is a Trickster Cleric who loves sweets, and not much of a boxer. When Caleb (the party’s Wizard) uses a Haste spell on Beau right as the fight starts, Jester uses her magic powers in response to gain the upper hand (inflict wounds). Beau responds by going punch-crazy, handily defeating Jester. Fortunately, once Jester awakens from Beau’s knockout blow (after being splashed with a bucket of water), they both agree the fight was AWESOME!
BEAU & JESTER’S FANTASY FIGHT CLUB
a Critical Role themed workout at Hero’s Journey Fitness
Warm-Up: 5:00 Cycle — Easy Pace
The warm-up is meant just to get you moving & your blood flowing before you commit to the workout. Take it slow and easy. Cycle through these movements for 5 minutes, with 1:00 of easy cardio at any point during the 5:00. You’ll likely get through it once or twice. If you’ve got a warm-up you rather do, go for it — whatever gets your blood flowing and your body ready to work.
- 5x Banded Passthru
- 5x Banded Pull-Apart
- 10x Air Squat (Bench Squat |)
- 10x Chest Raise (| Sit-up)
- + 1:00 Cardio any time during cycle — Row, Ski, Run, Jump Rope, Jumping Jacks, Seal Jacks, Step-out
Work Out — 35:00, including rest
Recovery Options:
Remember, you can lighten the load in this workout with:
- Slower Pace
- More Rest
- Lighter Weight
- Burrito (BYOBurrito)*
Workout Part 1: Joyful Fisticuffs
Beau & Jester jump into the ring, and a friendly battle begins (and quickly turns ugly).
Structure:
Move through each station, one at a time, then do each station a second time
Station 1: Beau Leaps Into The Ring:
- 1:00 Broad Jump (bench squat, air squat, ring asst lunge, reverse lunge, weighted reverse lunge |)
- 0:30 Rest
Station 2: Jester Climbs Into The Ring:
- 1:00 Ring Rows (| Plank Pulls, Pull-Ups)
- 0:30 Rest
Station 3: Caleb Casts a Haste Spell:
- 1:00 Challenge Pace Cardio — Row, Ski, Run, Jump Rope, Jumping Jacks, Step Outs
- 0:30 Rest
Station 4: Jester Casts Inflict Wounds:
- 1:00 Slamball (chest raise, sit-up, medball slam |)
- 0:30 Rest
Station 5: Beau’s Flurry of Blows:
- 1:00 DumbBell High Pull (| BarBell High Pull, DumbBell Pull Press, BarBell Pull Press)
- 0:30 Rest
After you’ve finished Part 1: Rest 2:00–5:00
Workout Part 2: The Gloves Come Off
Once Beau unleashes her Flurry of Blows, it’s pretty much over for Jester. In our version, however, Jester gets a few more licks in before being stunned, thanks to her Spiritual Weapon.
Structure:
Move through each station, one at a time, then do each station a second time
Station 1: Beau’s Flying Leap:
- 1:00 Box Jump (bench squat, air squat, jump squat |)
- 0:30 Rest
Station 2: Jester’s Spiritual Weapon:
- 1:00 Mace Strikes (DumbBell Shoulder Press, DumbBell Thrusters |)
- 0:30 Rest
Station 3: Beau’s Fists of Fury:
- 1:00 Fists of Fury: Boxer’s Rope Drill (DumbBell Biceps Curls |)
- 0:30 Rest
Station 4: Jester Takes a Stunning Blow:
- 1:00 Plank (active tabletop | super-plank)
- 0:30 Rest
Station 5: That Was Awesome! — Leaping Hi-Five:
- 1:00 Jumping Jacks (Step Out, Seal Jacks | Burpees )
- 0:30 Rest
This Workout At Home
Here’s a quick adaptation of the workout for the kind of equipment you’re likely to find in a home gym. It’s actually not a lot different from the version we did in the gym; almost every at-home adaptation comes from the original adaptation stack. We’ll skip all the structural explanation, and just list the stations & their at-home substitution.
Part 1:
Station 1: Beau Leaps Into The Ring:
- Broad Jump (bench squat, air squat, reverse lunge |)
Station 2: Jester Climbs Into The Ring:
- Inch Worms (rise-ups |)
Station 3: Caleb Casts a Haste Spell:
- Challenge Pace Cardio — Jump Rope, Jumping Jacks, Step Outs
Station 4: Jester Casts Inflict Wounds:
- Sit-Up (chest raise |)
Station 5: Beau’s Flurry of Blows:
- 1:00 DumbBell High Pull (| DumbBell Pull Press)
(you can use water bottle or soup cans for dumbbells, if need be)
Part 2:
Station 1: Beau’s Flying Leap:
- Jump Squat (bench squat, air squat |)
Station 2: Jester’s Spiritual Weapon:
- 1:00 DumbBell Thrusters (DumbBell Shoulder Press |)
Station 3: Beau’s Fists of Fury:
- Boxer’s Rope Drill, Sans Rope (DumbBell Biceps Curls |)
Station 4: Jester Takes a Stunning Blow:
- 1:00 Plank (active tabletop | super-plank)
Station 5: That Was Awesome! — Leaping Hi-Five:
- 1:00 Jumping Jacks (Step Out, Seal Jacks | Burpees )
And that’s it! We hope you enjoy this as much as we loved doing it at the gym. Remember to listen to your body, and do the work that’s right for you. If you’ve questions about anything here, please reach out to us. And, remember, every Saturday at 9AM our Community CritFit Class is always Free — if you live in the Los Angeles area, we’d love to play with you.
Thanks so much, and be well.
~Christy & David
Hero’s Journey Fitness
HerosJourneyLA.com
You Can Sit With Us
- About a month before HJF opened, we were testing a new workout with a small group. One of our advisors & friends, Blair Herter, rode his bike over to the gym to see what we were up to. While we did the workout, he sat and watched us while eating a burrito. He decided to modify the recovery adaptations to include his burrito, so he felt like part of the workout. So, every workout at HJF includes the recovery option, “burrito,” but you must bring your own burrito ;-).
