New years workout

I'm doing a couple short blog posts on getting back into shape after the holidays. I say they will be short because there won't be much bullshitin' as you know, I like hearing myself talk but for today let's get right to the workout.
{Remember that you should always check with a medical professional before starting an exercise program. This workout is pretty hard and the people I am training have been doing this for a while so you might need to work your way up to this intensity.}


The next couple weeks we are trying to get back into the swing of things so we went a little easy on the workouts. The first day we did aerobics mixed with some plyometric intervals of one minute followed by a small circuit of weights. It went like this:

First we did a slow warm up and then 10 minutes of medium impact aerobics; ie. Jumping jacks and twists etc. Once well warmed up we did some plyometric interval sets, going from a high intensity sport-specific movement to a more plyometric movement. These you can mix up any way you like for your sport.

Do each set 3 times.

Set 1. Straight punches for 1 minute then hit the floor for wrestling hip heist 10 times.



Set 2. Punch, knee punch knee alternate sides for one minute then hit the floor for 10 clap pushups



Set 3. Left and right upper-cuts fast for one minute then hit the floor for sprawl to knee alternate sides.




Then we switched to full body weighted movements
1. Squat press - 20 reps



2. "Raise the dead" (stiff leg deadlift to a front row) - 20 reps



3. Curl to press - 20 reps




Then we did another round of aerobics with plyo intervals.




Try this out yourself this week and I'll shoot you some more later.


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The next 2 workouts will be based on Tabata intervals.
A Tabata interval consists of the maximum reps or intensity you can do for 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest. Do up to 7 of these interval sets for each exercise.

Periodized AthleticTraining Schedule For Fighters And Atheletes

I often wonder what it would be like to be immortal, how many books I could read and how good of musician and martial artist I would be if I had unlimited time to study my techniques and hone my skills if there was unlimited time and resources. The reality is that we only have time for a certain amount of training so we have to make the best use of it.
A very big part of fight training today is the athleticism, the Mixed Martial Arts fighters of this decade are proving to be some of the most diverse, well rounded athletes in any sport. To have the strength of a power-lifter, the flexibility and agility of a gymnast and the stamina of a tri-athelete is required to compete in this age. I have said before that the fighters in the first 3 U.F.C. were training in isolation; one guy with a 7th degree black belt, training only with other Karate students from his own dojo, relying on the one magic technique that would destroy his opponent. The days of the old man on the mountain, the grandmaster from whom all ninja wisdom doth rain down upon the lowly pilgrims is long gone and the fighter who adapts will be the most successful. Remember Maurice Smith vs. Mark Coleman U.F.C. 14, what looked like a miss-match in Coleman's favor turned out to be the beginning of a new phase in MMA as Maurice had been training in wrestling and submission grappling with Ken Shamrock at the Lion's Den and from this formed the first real MMA partnership called "The Alliance".
I want to take a look at the physical aspects of the fighter's training. Lets start with the idea that the old "roadwork" our coaches used to put us through for an upcoming boxing match is an outdated form of conditioning. Remember, you are not going for a light 20 mile jog while in the ring so jogging as a mode of training is pretty much a useless waste of time. It seams obvious that you would want to prepare the body for the ordeals it will be facing.
Picture the fight; multiple punches and kicks, grappling either standing or on the ground and lots of pushing and pulling.

1) A fighter needs to be strong in ever aspect of fitness starting with cardio. I am not talking about chronic, mindless treadmill humping with the magazine and the bottled water, I'm talking something like plyometric intervals interspersed with body weight exercises at the highest intensity possible for the duration of the rounds you will be fighting. Try this; alternate 10 burpees and 10 chin-ups non-stop for a 2 minute round, take a 30 second break and do it all at least 3 rounds. This approximates the feeling of brawling it out in a ring fight. Not a jog in the park right?
The action in a fight is unpredictable but never without physical demand, sometimes lots of clinching, sometimes flurries of combinations and then the adrenaline, if not controlled, will take your cardio capacity down about 10 notches! You train 12 hard rounds and feel like you are ready for your 3 round amateur bout then you get into the ring and after the first round you can't seem to get enough air into your lungs as hard as you try!

2) Another area we sometimes neglect is power training. It is not a bad idea to set yourself up with a personal trainer, get some instruction on Olympic lifting, power lifting (and while you got him there, some VO2 max testing). This type of exercise takes some instruction and supervision do learn it safely.

Here is my basic formula for getting a fighter physically ready for a match. This is only a guideline but it could help you to develop a better over-all regimen.

6 weeks
Periodization for fight preparation:

2 weeks; strength conditioning 620 protocol (6 seconds eccentric, 2 seconds hold and 0 seconds concentric)1 to 2 minute rest between sets.
Day 1 and 4

-squats. Three sets 3 rep max
-bench. Three sets of 3 rep max
-deadlift. Three sets of 3 rep max
-weighted chins. Three sets of 3 rep max
-dumbel incline bench. Three sets 10 rep max
-bent or seated row. Three sets of 3 rep max
-standing calf raises.
-dumbel incline bench. Three sets 10 rep max
-upright rows. Three sets 10 rep max
-dumbell bent row. Three sets 10 rep max

Day 6
0lympic-lifting




2 weeks of pylo-weight intervals:
Day 1 3 and 5

-20 raise the deads
-10 burpees
-10 10 10 curls
-20 alternating presses
-10 burpees
-50 pushups
-20 seated twists
-10 burpees
-side lateral raises
-20 squat press
-10 burpees
-reverse flys
-20 sprawl to rows!!!
-10 burpees
-20 alternating upright rows

Day 2 4 and 6
Padwork min. 5 rounds
Sparing min. 5 rounds


2 weeks of endurance conditioning

Day 1 3 and 5
Bag work:
All of these non-stop full speed working your endurance

Rnd 1-1212 (left jab, right cross)
Rnd 2-2323 (right cross, left hook)
Rnd 3-low - 3434 (left hook, right hook to the body)
Rnd 4-5656 (right uppercut, left uppercut)
Rnd 5- 20 left/ 20 right kicks (turning kicks 0r Te)
Rnd 6, 7 and 8 Skipping (double skips)
Wind sprints at a local track - Full sprint on the straight-aways and jog the curves - run 6 to 10 laps like this.

Day 2 4 and 6
Padwork min. 5 rounds
Sparing min. 5 rounds

Try this for your next fight and see what results you get.

Wrestling 101 - Cutting Wieght

A lot of people are concerned about there weight, but probably none more so than fighters. As fighters we are under a lot of pressure to be bigger, stronger, and faster than our opponents. We cut weight to be at the top of the weight class. The more you cut the bigger and stronger you will be, theoretically. If done wrong though, all that size and strength won't help you if you're not at 100% on the day of competition. We are going to look at some ways to make the cut easier as well as how to stay at 100% for fight day.

Let me first make something really clear, cutting weight is not the same as losing weight. You are simply removing the water from you're system to help drop a couple of pounds. As soon as you reingest water you put the weight right back on. As I cover the weight cutting process remember that these are the tips that work for me, some people drop the water easy while others have a hard time with it.

The water cutting process generally starts a week out from when you have to weigh in. During that time I will increase my water intake to about 4 - 6 litres of water a day, more if I'm working out hard. Now what this does is trick my body. Most people are dehydrated in their day to day lives. Their bodies retain water out of fear that more water isn't coming for a while. By drinking extra water, or what I like to call super hydrating, our body is forced to get rid of the water instead of retaining it to make room for the more that is coming. Another thing you need to do is cut out salt as it makes you retain water, therefore making it harder to lose it. We keep this up for the whole week.

The night before weigh in I take my last drink of water as well as my last meal. The day of the weigh in is when I start the hard work. Basically you need to sweat. Simple. By super hydrating the week leading up to our bodies will give up the water easy, but we don't replace it. Our bodies won't have enough time to readjust to retaining water therefore it will be easier to dehydrate ourselves and drop more weight. Some people like to give themselves two days to cut weight if they have a lot to lose. Say you had to drop 12 pounds to make your weight class, you could cut 7 pounds the first day and drink back 1 pound of water throughout the day and the next day you drop 6 more, effectively dropping 12 pounds. If you do this make sure to eat dry foods throughout the first day, no fruits, vegetables or anything else with lots of water in it. For any serious weight cutting I recommend picking up a sauna suit.

Now that the weight is dropped many people think they are done, but the most important part to being 100% is how you replenish. Make sure you gradually introduce the water back to your system. Pedialyte is a really good drink to replenish with as it has electrolytes and other stuff you lost during the sweating period. If you drink to quick you will cramp up and feel really bad. By this point you're probably thinking with your stomach instead of your head, but we have to make sure we eat properly at this point. That means go back to your routine leading up to this weigh in. Don't go get greasy nachos right after weigh in as this will be a shock to your system and not make you feel very good. The other really important thing is a good nights rest as you body needs to recover.

Now remember that this is just to cut water weight. To control your weight you need to eat properly. As far how much you should cut, that all depends on you. If you've never cut weight before then I recommend a practice cut to learn what is feasible for you. Now as the tournament is this weekend here is a highlight of Genki Sudo, one of the best/most entertaining grapplers and MMA fighters ever.

Functionality Part 2

In the gym we see people banging away on some machine or grunting under the weight of a barbell, each person envisioning the body part or muscle growing or shrinking. We often treat our bodies like a bunch of individual parts, molding and shaping, making them stronger and longer. Imagine a car with a 1000 horsepower motor and skinny little tires, you hit the gas and burn all the rubber off without making it to the finish line!
Look at a complete athlete like George St.Pierre; he is not obsessed with having huge biceps or massive pecs, rather, he trains his body as a cohesive unit.
If you haven't heard of "core" training you probably live in a cave, in which case you most likely are not reading this blog post. Core training is much more important than building big muscles when it comes to fighting or any sport for that matter. Throwing a powerful punch, turning out of a rear-naked choke, upa bridging or kneeing to the face all require a powerful core.
Try thinking of your body as a torso first with no arms or legs,then break your body down to 3 major areas. A) the shoulder girdle, consisting of the humerus, scapula and the clavicle. B) the core which consists of your abdominal, torso and back muscles. C) the pelvic and hip stabilizers. Without strength in these areas you would have no need for legs or arms!
Here are some good exercises for strengthening the shoulder, hip and core stabilizers.
1) Forward and back lunges: hold dumbell in each hand at your side, step forward and dip knee an inch or so from the floor then step the same leg back and perform the opposite movement.
2) Side to side "sit outs": From the push up position kick one leg out to the side and drop your hip to the floor, then repeat the movement on the other side. Switch back and forth fast to add some cardio to the exercise.
3) Perform a set of leg raises then flip over and do 10 sprawls. Repeat this for 5 or more sets then do 2 minutes or more of planks, front and side.
4) Try some Yoga "cobra" or sometimes called the "Hindu" push ups. these are done by going from downward dog, skimming the ground in a scooping motion to upward dog and scooping back to down dog. Try doing 10 of these if you think you have strong shoulders!
5) Lie on your stomach and, keeping you abs tight, lift one leg and the opposite side arm. Alternate and do 10 reps per side then lift both arms and legs at the same time for 10 to 20 reps.
These are a good start but I recommend that you incorporate a more comprehensive regimen in your daily routine.
I recommend the book you can find in my blog Amazon store; Core Performance Essentials by Mark Verstegen as a very good guide and there is a full workout plan that will give you a great base to improve your
performance.
Now think of your car with 1000 horsepower and traction bars and 30 inch meats in the rear! Now yer gonna get somewhere!!

P.S. here are some vids that might help:

Wrestling 101 - Mentally Tough

Last week in Wrestling 101 we talked about the most basic of wrestling and grappling fundamentals, the body follows the head. We looked at a double leg takedown to illustrate our point and this week we're going to build upon that by going over some of the most basic takedown defense, a sprawl.

If the body follows the head and I want to stop my opponent from picking me up then what do I have to do? Push his head down! This should be your highest priority when defending a takedown. Without good posture, i.e. head looking up, then your opponent will have a real hard time lifting you off the ground. Any one who has ever done any squats or deadlifts knows that looking down as you lift results in not being able to lift the weight and potential injury. Why would this principle change just because the weight is changing from a bar to a human being. Now just pushing the head down is not enough, we have to keep it down by kicking our legs back and dropping the weigh of our hips on to the back of his neck and shoulders. This action of a good, heavy sprawl can be very disheartening to your opponent and mentally shut them down in a match. Which brings us to our next point, attitude.

A good offense is the best defense. It's a cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason. To win you have to want it. That doesn't mean trying not to lose but actually going out there attacking trying to win. Vince Lombardi, one of the best coaches of not only football but of any sports put it this way:

"I think winning is the result if mental toughness. I think mental toughness is many things, and it is very difficult to explain what it is. First, I think mental toughness is humility; I think that it takes humility to realize that greatness is really simplicity. Mental toughness is made up too of the spartan qualities of sacrifice and self-denial. Mental toughness is loyalty. You cannot win consistently without it, and as you win each man grows because of it"

Dan Gable used these same principles to not only be one of the best wrestlers in the world but coach one of the best teams ever to compete. To be sucsessfull we need confidence. Confidence in our technique. Confidence in that we get out what we put in. Confidence that the people around us, coaches, teammates, all have our best interests at heart. Without this confidence and mental toughness you'll always be trying not to lose instead of going out there and winning. Here is a clip of Alexander Karelin, one of the most sucsessfull athletes ever

To win you need to be confident. To be confident you need to feel prepared. To feel prepared you need to put the time and energy in. You need to train how you wish to compete, with the same intesity, the same drive, and the same will. To be the best doesn't make you great, to be great you need to be ready to give up everything. You need to be mentally tough.

Functionality part 1

Functionality is a word that is floating around quite a bit lately. I think that the concept is quite sage and sound. The idea is that we might be doing too much of the wrong things and not enough of the correct things.
An example of this is the age old boxing training practice of "roadwork" or, jogging. When a person is fighting in a boxing, kickboxing or m.m.a. match the physical exertion the body is under hardly resembles a 20 kilometre jog. Imagine a long distance runner, having trained for his event for many years, the long thin musculature and the lean upper body are not favourable to a fighter.
All three types of muscle tissue (cardiac, smooth and skeletal) are made up of fibre-like cells.
The skeletal muscle tissue can be changed dramatically by the manor of the training.
1. Plyometric exercise; A combination of cardio and resistance training encourages the formation of type IIa fibres or "fast twitch".
2. Resistance exercise; weight training etc. builds up type IIb and somewhat IIa fibres, forming thin and thick myofilaments, increasing the size of the muscle
3. Endurance exercise; Cardiovascular training, prolonged intervals using less force over longer periods result in vast increases in blood flow and type I or "slow twitch" fibres, also known as "slow oxidative".
The human body will recruit the necessary fibres and combinations of fibres as well as the proper level of vascular efficiency to best suit the activity that you do most often.
Therefore, if I will be swinging punches, torque my body violently while pushing around someone my identical weight for 5 rounds (intervals) of 3 minutes, for example, how would I benefit from jogging around for an hourStay tuned.
Coach Toby