A Warrior's Thougts on the Martial Arts

1 Introduction While S&C programming is no rocket science by any means, some thought needs to be put into designing a good program. The best way to reach a goal is basically determined by the factors. First, the goal needs to be clear. If you don't know where you want to go, any way will take you there. In the S&C world, this makes the difference between training and working out. Second, the starting point needs to be established. Quantitative and qualitative assessments help in that evaluation. Finally, the available resources need to be taken into consideration. Practicality trumps optimality. Adherence and consistency are the foundation for successful training, so a program must match the athlete's lifestyle and possibilities. For someone who can train twice a week  (for whatever reasons), a three day split is inappropriate, regardless of any theoretical benefits it might offer. Eric Helms covered this in detail [HEL+2015]. Of course, qualifying the ...

Today, I finished another 5/3/1 cylce. Tomorrow, I'll be on my way to Poland for a short vacation with my family. Good time for a deload week. The Program  I've covered the basic idea of 5/3/1 as well as my tweaks in quite a couple of posts, so here I'll just present the weekly schedule: Monday: Power Snatch from Hang, Power Clean from Hang Wednesday: Deadlift, Bench Press Friday: Squat, Shoulder Press I didn't always manage to stick to those days, so this week, for example, I had to work out on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. However, the general idea should be clear. For energy system work, I did the following: Tuesday: Anaerobic capacity (stationary bike sprints, I1/I3) Thursday: Aerobic capacity (steady state stationary bike, I1) Also, this time I tossed in some assistance work. After each 5/3/1 session, I'd do 4 sets of pullups to technical failure with 90 seconds of rest in between sets. The stats As a base for my calculations, I used the fo...

Ever wondered how it is that the martial arts are organized in weight divisions, just as weightlifting and powerlifting, but then tennis, soccer or volleyball are not? Well, I do, from time to time... Preamble Today I was ultra-busy sorting out some stuff that's remotely linked to my dojo, so I simply haven't had a chance to make it to the gym. I was like "don't fret" decided to go for a run instead. Now I usually don't run a lot because my knees give me issues, so the decision might not have been particularly wise. Funny how rope skipping never causes problems, regardless of speed and duration... Then again my knees are actually getting better - I guess all those squats and deadlifts are paying off. In fact, I actually enjoyed the run. Still, running probably won't become a major staple in my training anywhere soon. I know boxers, kickboxers and thaiboxers swear by it. Rocky did it all the time, so there must be something to it, right? (Caution: sar...

Chris and I have been following our four day program almost religiously over the last 5 weeks. Today, for the first time, we had to skip our gym session due to general exhaustion. You see, yesterday, beginning at 8am, we were teaching at a local secondary school. For me, it was five hours there, Chris did 7. But the day wasn't done for me, either, as I held another 3 lessons at my dojo. Now, working for 8 hours a day doesn't sound that hard, after all, that's what everyone's doing. Anyhow, teaching martial arts is not your ordinary 9 to 5 job. First off, it's physical work. Doesn't have to be hard physical work, but it definately is physical work. Besides that teaching means understanding one's students. Every problem of theirs is a problem of yours for the duration of the class. A teacher needs to be pretty empathic in regards to every student's personal goals, possibilities and limitations. People tend to carry a lot of ballast onto the mat - everythin...

There's been so much going on last week I didn't really have a chance to post. So today I'm beginning week four of my nine-week program. Sadly, I have to admit I missed quite a few sessions so far. To every bad thing there's a good thing, though. In my case, that's massive strength gains. Chris and I have just completed the second out of six cycles, each cycle consisting of three workouts. Altough I have been talking a lot about the program lately, I'll describe it here once again, this time with visual footage, as I'm convinced this is one of the best programs when it comes to building raw strength at a basic level. Introduction As I've been out of the strength game for about 6 months, I consider myself something of a beginner again, both in terms of technique (which needs to be rebuilt) as well as power (which I need to regain). The programs main purpose is injury prevention through muscular improvement. I once heard the sentence "a strong back do...

Today was strength day. To be precise, we had our "max-squat day". Now that's a good one. Interrestingly, there was no problem with the grip-strength today. On a negative note I missed some reps on the barbell rows as we upped the weight quite drastically. Today's stats: Squat, 1RM: 130Kg Bench Press, 4x8, 60Kg Deadlift, 4x8, 90Kg Bent-over barbell rows, 4x8, 45kg (failed on 3 reps here) Military press, 4x8, 35kg I'm positive I can go to 140kg on the 1RM on the next "max squat day", as I wasn't exactly at my limits today. For safety reasons, however, I decided not to go heavier than 130 on my first heavy squats in more than 6 months. For the warmup we did every "Movement Prep" exercise that can be found in Mark Verstegens "Core Performance" program. That stuff really does prepare you for strength training. The second workout - the interval swimming - I missed out of pure confusion. When we went to venice, I removed everything from...

Hit the weights the first time today. It's a great feeling to be completely wasted. Basically, the routine was: Deadlift, re-estimate 1RM Military Press, 4x8 Bench Press, 4x8 Squats, 4x8 Bent-over rows, 4x8 After readining Mark Verstegens "Core Perfomance Endurance", I've decided to try a very short and - for me - untypical "warmup". Basically, instead of riding a bike or stepping on the cross trainer, I've focussed on myofascial self-release and art techniques along with what Verstegen calls "movement prep" - that's exercise that revolve around the concept of doing specific, biomechanic-enchancing drills to prevent injury. Interessentingly enough, we have been using that concept for quite a while in the Shinergy system, at an even more basic level: we have our athletes stand correctly. Sound weird? Well, yes, I guess it sounds that way. Anyhow, proper standing contains anything that differentiates a "good" movement from a "b...

I wish you all a happy new year. Photo by camera slayer, found on flickr.org For me, the year won't start particularily good, I guess. On january 7th, the doc will put my foot into plaster again. This time, it's 4 weeks. After that, we shall see further. Now on the one hand, this is significantly screwed up. Gone are my plans of doing a max strength program to begin the year. Also, as a professional trainer, not being mobile at the beginning of the year means a serious handicap to my marketing actions. Novembet through February are, after all, the best months for any sports school, finance-wise. Also, I need to make up for all the losses my second studio has produced over the last year anyways. Instead of recovering financially, I'll now have to pay an instructor to teach my classes. Great. Not to mention all my plans of offering more classes at my Dojo. They're most definately put on a halt at the moment. As you can see, from a business point of view, my situation is s...

So today is the third day in the second phase of my HFT program. It is also the first day I completed the whole thing. During the last days, I just didn't have enough time to work all those 200 repetitions. The pistol squats can be done just about everywhere, however, the pullups and leg raises require some form of equipment. Today, I was teaching the the dayschool I mentioned in my original "Wednesdays are easy post", so I had three breaks of about 15 minutes each. Plenty of time, if you're at least a bit smart about how you organize your sets. As for the program, although it's a bit harsh (my quads are sore from the last two days, so stairclimbing is no fun at all), I think it's the right thing to do at the moment. My goals are, as mentioned before, better lower-body intermuscular coordination, a strong core that prevents spine injury and general upper-body strength. That's why I choose the pistol squat (lower body), the hanging leg raises (core) and the...