#10.0 Kangaroo Point Stairs Workout

Tired of road running?

Why not try something new and mix up your training!

By changing it up, I believe this can provide a great reset for your exercise routine and create an exciting new challenge.

A Sunday Morning

What better way than to destroy our calves bright and early on a Sunday morning.

Well, that’s exactly what we did.

Three of my mates from university rugby back in 2016, made a decision to go up to Kangaroo Point Cliffs and run up and down some treasured stairs.

The Workout Session

We parked up the top of the cliffs along River Terrace, Kangaroo Point (close by to Bar Spritz – info found in the link) and did some dynamic warmup stretching on the grassed area.
From there we went for a light jog to the first workout location at the cul-de-sac off Thornton Street.
Workout 1: At the Thornton Street Ferry Terminal we started at the base of the large set of stairs and proceeded to sprint (1 single stair at a time) up the set and then sprint to the top of the hill where Main Street meets at the start of the Story Bridge. To keep rest a steady pace, one of us stayed at the bottom whilst the other two completed a repetition. Workout 1 was completed a number of 5 repetitions. Each repetition was focused on speed and efficiency of the single stair rise and the hill sprint. Speed was key.
From workout 1, a light recovery jog linked to transition us into the next set. Once there a quick 30 second sip of water was enjoyed, but not too much (a stitch is no fun at all).
Workout 2: Starting at the base of the stair case that takes you to the top of Bar Spritz and the cliffs lookout, a challenging climb was undertaken to the top. We concentrated again on the speed of each individual step, only climbing one at a time, as fast as possible. Once at the top, a couple of steps to go around the light pole and then a steady walk back down to the bottom, ensuring to stay tall and keep the lungs open. 5 repetitions of this were completed.
From workout 2, another light recovery job moved us into the next stage.
Workout 3: Similar to workout 2, workout 3 is identical in nature, however instead of stopping at the first set of wooden steps (approximately half way up the cliff), a sharp turn along the bitumen path takes you to another set of stairs which furthermore, finds you at the top. We ensured that the path with the steep incline to the final stair case was sprinted and that the wooden chair at the top was looped around, signifying the end of the upward climb stage of each repetition. A steady walk back down initiated the two or one waiting at the bottom. 5 repetitions were completed.
From workout 3, another light recovery jog moved us into the final stair stage (don’t get too excited, it’s not over yet). Another opportunity to have a sip of water.
Workout 4: The final, and most intense of them all. Starting at the bottom of the Captain Cook Bridge (under the Pacific Motorway), we ran from the corner of Lower River Terrace and Ellis Street all the way until intersecting with Leopard Street. From the start to finish was made certain to be an intense hill race. The concluding hill sprint was repeated 2 times.
By now your calves have turned to jelly or you can hardly walk/breathe so we then walked to catch our breathe and began a light cool down jog back to where we parked our cars.
Job done. We did some static stretching to finish off and gulped back a couple of litres of water, especially still for this time of the year.

A teaser video and a map of the locations of each workout are all below.

Hope this provides some pointers to mixing up your exercise in these extremely unique times.

REMEMBER: 1.5 metres!

Thanks!