I am always a bit confused when I hear the term, sport specific strength and conditioning. To me, there is sport specific skill work, and strength and conditioning to make an athlete strong and conditioned. Now I believe that being strong and conditioned will make you better at your sport. But maybe I am just… Read More
Without strength, flexibility is completely useless. You can have the ability to touch your toes, put your palms on the floor with your legs locked, even put your feet behind your head, but, if you are not stable (read strong) in these positions, they are not doing you a whole lot of good. In fact,… Read More
Recently a good friend of mine asked if I could write a strength and conditioning program for him. If you have read any of my other programs, or have trained with me in the past (or even just spoken with me) you probably can guess my mind instantly went to heavy barbell movements with some… Read More
Do you have a body that will survive the rigors of your sport, or look as though it could (for the aesthetically focused reader)? Imagine the punishment the body takes in three five minute rounds in the UFC, or even one ten minute round in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition. Your body cannot display all… Read More
“You will get better results from being consistent on a bad program than from being inconsistent on a great program” Not exactly sure where I heard this quote or where it originated, but it certainly sums up my thoughts on adherence well. I preach this to every one of my clients and everyone who attends… Read More
In my last article, “A Short Introduction to Kettlebells” I introduced you to the ballistic and grinding kettlebell movements: the swing, the clean, the snatch, the squat, the press, and the Turkish Get Up. Simply using these movements a very comprehensive and complete strength and conditioning program can be designed. I will show you how… Read More
Many of you may have noticed that I have been talking (tweeting, facebooking, etc…) about kettlebells lately. A lot of my focus has been channeled into these bells due in part to completing my RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) and spending a weekend with Pavel Tsatsouline and other great minds in the kettlebell community. Although bells… Read More
Thus far in my series I have discussed reasons why I believe strength training should be a part of any combat athlete’s training program. Injury prevention, mass gain, movement selection, and program choices have all been discussed, but one question remains, how does one put it all together? In this, my final article of the… Read More
This month I am going to step back from my strength training for the martial artist series to talk about another important topic, mobility. The concept of mobility is fairly broad and can take on several shapes, what I would like to address is mobility’s place in helping an individual recover from modern day… Read More
During my time studying and practicing combative martial arts (specifically Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) I have made three observations. Great fighters are well conditioned and technically sound, they seem as though they have motors that will not quit and a wealth of knowledge regarding striking and submission techniques. But, and this is the… Read More