10 Commandments of Fighting Fitness

Steve Baccari, RKC

January 15, 2008 07:19 PM

1. You can't out condition the dinner table.
   
   If you don't believe this, try the following experiment.
   Eat your favorite snack (junk food). Time yourself to see how long it took to eat, most likely 2-minutes. Then check how many calories it is, Say 250. Now get on a treadmill and see how long it takes to burn those calories. I think you will agree this is not a viable method to get rid of excess calories, so start your exercise by pushing yourself away from the dinner table and save your energy for more productive training.
   
   
2. Joint mobility comes before flexibility or agility.
   
   Before you can be truly flexible you have to be able to get your joints through a full range of motion. Start your days with super joints.
   
   
3. Pure strength or what Pavel calls "slow strength".
   
   The ability to generate maximum tension over a given period of time. I think this is the missing link in 95% of the strength and conditioning programs being used by fighters. The programs that they do use should be called conditioning and more conditioning routines, because they never work on pure strength. Whether you use your bodyweight, a barbell or kettlebells the protocol is the same. Slow grinding movements with maximum resistance in a low repetition range with a long rest interval.
   
   
4. Spinal decompression.
   
   If you are performing these heavy grinding lifts you should finish your training session with a spinal decompression exercise.
   You can hang off a pull up bar or hang by your feet with inversion boots. I can't give you the scientific reasons behind the effectiveness of this drill, but I can honesty say it has helped every single athletic I have shown it to.
   
   
5. "Grease the groove".
   
   This the most effective method of strength training for a fighter. In my opinion the only productive way a fighter can effectively increase his overall strength without over training. (See The Naked Warrior —Ed.)
   
   
6. Flexibility.
   
   You only need slightly more flexibility than your sport requires so forget the 104-degree yoga class.
   
   
7. Power.
   
   Is strength times speed, so unless you are already super strong, don't talk to me about plyos.
   
   
8. Never work out, instead practice.
   
   Webster's dictionary defines practice as repeated exercise to improve a skill. Sweat is a by-product of practices not the purpose, try to remember this the next time you are training.
   
   
9. The ladder
   
   The best way to increase exercise volume without it turning into a mindless workout. (See Enter the Kettlebell! —Ed.)
   
   
10. More is not better, it's just more.
    
    Focus on what you need to improve on not what you like to do, they are rarely the same things.

Back