Interesante Artículo de Grapplearts

So You Want To Train BJJ in Brazil?

An Article by Mark Mullen

 

 Introduction

 As I lay gasping on the cold pavement of the Trans Canada Highway, the 18 wheeler that had just plowed me over belching diesel exhaust into my face, my life essence slipping into the next plane of existence, my last thoughts were "Shit!! I never made it to Rio de Janeiro" I bolted upright, awake out of that feverish dream, heart pounding. I had daydreamed about going to Rio to train jiu-jitsu for over 10 years, but never found the right circumstances, time or money. I resolved right then and there in the darkness that I would go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the next year of my life. 

Aged 41, living in Canada, I have a brown belt in Judo and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu - I had been training rather recreationally (and truth be told - sporadically) over the last few years. I planned to do some jiu-jitsu while in Rio, but the focus of my trip was to sample what life was like for those fortunate carioca who had grown up in the "cidade maravilhosa". I had always envisioned the idyllic life as a jiu-jitsu / beach bum down on Copacabana Beach, training jiu-jitsu in the morning and spending the afternoons at the beach with friends, watching the world famous brazilian girls while sipping agua de coco.

The trip was 6 weeks in length - with a laptop in my apartment, I could stay in touch with my webdesign clients and even work a little. Through a website that offered to rent apartments to gringos - I booked a simple bachelor apartment with an ocean view of Copacabana Beach and less than a block from the infamous Help Discotheque. I received a 20% discount for booking longer than 30 days and for $150 - I had a maid every second day for the entire 6 weeks. I saw some arrangements of staying in a house near an academy with a bunch of other foreigners - but frankly, staying in a big dog pile and sharing a room with a bunch of sweaty, stinky guys didn't have much appeal.

The Academy

I told the guys in my home academy (Gracie Barra Calgary with instructor Josh Russell) that the main focus of my trip to Rio was to enjoy the beach, food and garotas - but if you were a Catholic in Rome, you had to visit the Vatican. When in Rio, I had to visit "the Church of jiu-jitsu" - the Carlson Gracie Academy. There were several small academies within blocks of my apartment and the Gracie Barra Academy was way too far from where I was staying in Copacabana. The famous Champion Factory - where my first jiu-jitsu instructor, Marcus Soares had come from - had produced many of the greatest MMA fighters and his stories had fuelled the dream of someday myself stepping onto the mat. 

Took me 3 attempts to find the academy (no signs). I stopped at a sucos bar, frustrated and exhausted from the heat and in a last ditch effort asked the juice jockey where the academy was - he had never heard of it. Fortunately, a businessman overheard and offered to point me in the right direction "but I think it closed when Carlson passed away?". And there it was,..non descript, the entrance on a side street above a beachwear shop. Ari Galo is the morning instructor at Carlson's Academy - 150 reals (approx $100) for a month of classes. The Carlson Academy was far smaller and humble than I had imagined. There is no air-con in the academy and I had sweat running down the tip of my nose as I put on my gi. It was the realization of a long held dream to cinch up my belt, bow and step onto the mat at the Carlson Gracie Academy :-)

I trained at the 8am class - I can't imagine how sweltering the temperatures would be inside the academy under the midday equatorial sun. The instruction was in Portuguese and I did my best to keep up and nod and smile alot. Most of my friends in Canada had expressed some apprehension that the Brazilians would try to headhunt the gringo. I found the exact opposite to be true. I was matched up with one of the very best brown belts - who dispensed advice and tapped me out in equal measures, but I never felt like I was getting my arms cranked. Obrigado to Fernando. 

Most classes there was usually maybe 1 bluebelt, no white belts with the majority of the 12-15 students at any class being purple through black belts. Few of the students appeared to do any weight training with average looking physiques. One slim individual came in to class one morning with no muscular definition to speak of; I immediately evaluated him as a soft beginner. He put his worn blackbelt on and was an absolute monster on the mat with a relaxed rolling style until the timing was right and he would explode into a submission. A few guys who fought MMA professionally would come in and roll with everyone in gi - I saw zero no-gi grappling my entire stay.

Most of the guys back home wanted to know about the differences between the North American and Brazilian academies. a few observations:

• Far fewer techniques demonstrated in Brazil. Maybe 2 per class and it was not uncommon after a brief warm up to hear "ok,..today we go to training". The emphasis was on rolling in 7 min timed rounds.
• No stand up. The blackbelts explained that the only time they performed sparring from standup was in a week or so before tournaments. They felt that standup grappling was more likely to result in training injuries.
• I found the jiu-jitsu much more "feint" oriented as opposed to straight ahead pressure. The majority of the techniques were explained in the context of setting it up with pressure to one direction and then reversing to take advantage of your opponent's reaction. The softer, more flowing style of jiu-jitsu was described by Ari as more pure jiu-jitsu - that is to say in Brazil, there was less influence of other arts like wrestling in the jiu-jitsu.
• No one had stripes on their belts. The majority of the blackbelts were not competitive wunderkind - rather, guys who just had been training for a long time.
• You don't pick your own sparring partners - the instructor always matched me up.
• I felt that people were less concerned with "who tapped who" or needing to establish the pecking order than in North America.
• The atmosphere was very relaxed - some guys dropping in, having 1 roll and then getting back into their street clothes to go back to work!

When I returned home there were the inevitable questions about "How did you do down there? Did you tap everyone out?" I laugh and respond "I didn't bring anything down there that they hadn't seen before or know how to deal with!"

Conclusion

The trip to Brazil was a life changing experience. It should come as no surprise that a trip to Rio would re ignite ones passion for jiu-jitsu. I resolved to do less weight training and more attention to smooth jiu-jitsu based on leverage, timing and reading my opponent's energy. And more importantly, I changed my attitude towards showing up at the academy back home. Whereas before I frequently would be too serious about training - all or nothing mentality - don't tap to this person or self flagellation at missing a class or getting your guard passed.

The Brazilian blackbelts seemed to have a different approach: it was part of their lifestyle and they just went to the academy because it felt good. Instead of intense pressure on having to improve all of your game immediately, they just got on the mat, enjoyed rolling with their friends and along the way,...managed to develop some great jiu-jitsu!

I experienced some perfect days down there in Rio. Wake up hearing the surf crashing outside your window. Grab your gi and flip-flop your way along the beach down to the academy; looking out at the ocean mentally running through your techniques. Have a few laughs and practice my Portuguese on some new friends while learning my favourite art in one of the world's best academies. Acai or fresh squeezed juice at a street side sucos bar before heading to the beach all day. The lifestyle down there is fantastic.

One of my travel buddies put it best: in his broken english "All the time in my life before I came to Brazil was wasted!"

Mark Mullen is a Calgary-based web programmer and BJJ purple belt.

Entrnamiento en todos los niveles, un artículo de Ferrugia

Muscle Building Workouts: The Difference Between

Beginners and Advanced Lifters

By Jason Ferruggia

Many people often ask me how a beginners and/or weak hardgainers muscle building workouts should differ from the programs of strong, advanced lifters.

There are four important things that differentiate the training of a beginner or hardgainer and an advanced trainee. Firstly, beginners and hardgainers who want to build muscle fast need to do fewer exercises than advanced lifters. A basic upper body push, an upper body pull and a compound lower body movement makes up a great beginner/hardgainer workout. The more exercises you are doing the more difficult it becomes to master them. So keep them to a minimum.

Secondly, a beginners muscle building workouts need to include more sets per exercise. While advanced lifters can get away with working up to one or two heavy sets per exercise it is much more beneficial to the weaker newbie to do multiple sets at a lower intensity in order to perfect their technique and improve intramuscular coordination. Instead of the 1-3 sets per exercise that I recommend to advanced lifters I recommend 4-6 sets per exercise for the weak newbie.

Thirdly, they need to train each body part and exercise or movement pattern with a higher frequency than advanced trainees. Again, this has to do with improving intramuscular coordination and perfecting technique. It also has to do with the fact that when you are weak it takes you a lot less time to recover between workouts because the training is far less demanding on your muscles, your joints and your nervous system. So while an advanced trainee may be able to wait 7-10 days between squats and make improvements, a weak newbie would actually get weaker by waiting more than 48-72 hours. Squatting 500 pounds takes a lot more out of your system than squatting 95 pounds does and thus requires a lot more recovery time. 

 The fourth difference between the training of weak newbies and advanced lifters trying to build muscle is that the beginners should keep most of their training on the lower end of the rep scale. Despite what you may have been told or read, high rep training is a waste for beginners. Not only that but it’s dangerous and only teaches you poor form on your exercises. An advanced lifter may be able to make tremendous size gains by doing one arm rows with a 130 pound dumbbell for 20 reps or squatting 315 for 20, but a beginner wont have anywhere near the same success. 

 Weak newbies don’t have the control or the stabilizer muscle strength to maintain the proper postures need to safely perform a high rep set. Nor do they have the strength to get anything out of high reps. If you can only squat 95 pounds for five, squatting 65 for twenty isn’t going to elicit much of a growth response. You need to keep the reps low in order to perfect your form, keep yourself safe and place the maximum possible overload on your muscles. This can only be done with sets consisting of five to eight reps and no more than that.

El componente mental, el arma definitiva para vencer

Este es de Eric Wong,  BSc, CSCS, MMA Performance Coach y me gusto mucho por el contenido sobre el elemento mental, clave para esforzarse más botar barreras y alcanzar nuevos niveles de desempeño,  pónganle coco!

 Your Most Powerful Weapon

Joe and I were working together preparing for his first MMA fight which is coming next month… He’s been training hard and he started training with me because he wanted to be 100% confident that he was in top shape going into this tournament… By doing so, he feels that whatever the outcome, he’ll be his best come fight night…Atta boy Joe!!

So we started the session off doing strength training and finished with some intervals on the Airdyne… if you don’t know what an Airdyne is, it looks like this: It’s an awesome tool for interval training because the harder you push, the more resistance is created since it’s driven by a fan…. plus it’s virtually indestructible… Anyway, this is NOT the most powerful weapon for MMA…

The most powerful weapon was revealed to me as Joe was in the middle of the 5th 60 second hard interval…

The interval started off like every other one, nice and strong, lots of power.

But about 20 seconds in, Joe cried,  "My legs feel like Jello!"

Right after he finished saying the ‘o’ in Jello, his speed dropped dramatically and it looked like all of the gas was sucked right out of his body with a shopvac. The rest of the interval was a bit of a drag, despite my coaching and cheesy motivational lines "Come on man, it’s all you!!" (just kidding, I don’t use ‘it’s all you’)

Once the hard interval was done, I asked Joe if he realized that right when he said "My legs feel like Jello" his speed completely dropped. He noticed it too and for the next and final hard interval, I coached him to get ready to give 100% for the entire minute and stay positive, only thinking about the next pedal stroke.

I told him to imagine that it was the last minute of the fight and push as if the title was yours if you just gave 100%.

Guess what? Joe killed the last interval. Absolutely KILLED it! It was his fastest one of the entire session! After he finished up, we sat around and talked about it, and it’s like a new skill was revealed to him (and me)… Now, he knows what he’s got to do to make sure he’s at the top of his game when it comes time to fight.

Here’s the truth about what it takes to be a champ in MMA: You don’t win the fight during the fight, you win the fight in all of the little battles you have with yourself, day in, day out.

If you can harness the power of your mind to be at your best everyday, you’ll go far. It’s making it to all of your training sessions instead of tapping out to some lame excuse…

It’s pushing yourself through grueling workouts even though you want to quit…

It’s eating properly and fighting the urge to pig out on junk…

It’s getting to bed on time instead of dicking around on the internet so you’re fully recovered for the next day of training…

And everything else that goes into being a champion. So I’m wondering, how are your day-to-day battles going? Are you winning, or are you losing?

Every choice you make is either getting you 1 step closer to your goals, or 1 step farther. So start making the choices that will get you closer to your goals today!

Your pal,

Eric Wong

click here to get the Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Program today.

Si vas a entrenar, hazlo como un atleta, Elliott Hulse toma la palabra

5 Big Reasons Why Everyone Should Train Like Athletes 

By Elliott Hulse Co-Creator of Lean Hybrid Muscle 

If you’re like me, you probably want nothing more than to feel like a ’super-stud’ every time you take your shirt off in public. You want to have the confidence to say, ‘Boy, this sweaty shirt is chaffin’ me’, then reach over your shoulder and tear your shirt off like Brad Pitt in Fight Club. When you know that your pecs look like two soup bowls inserted beneath your skin, and your abs are as hard the asphalt you stand on, it’s tough to keep your shirt on!

Today you are gonna learn the top 5 training principles that you MUST implement in order to make your physique and performance goals… a reality. But, before I open the info-floodgates, there is something you’ve got to understand. Men… all men, should recognize that we are athletes and our training programs must reflect this.

Even if you’re a ‘pencil pusher’ or a ‘white collar crook’, the essence of your being is athletic. In order to see any type of fitness results it is essential to recognize that Squats, Power Cleans, 40 Yard Dashes and Vertical Jumps are not only for NFL Combine participants… they are for you!

1. You’re An Athlete By Design

The foundation principle of everything that I teach all begins with one extremely powerful phrase: “We are primal beings living in a modern world”

Our physical bodies have been unchanged for thousands of years. In fact, today, our bodies are an exact expression of what our ancestors were over 100,000 years ago. It is believed that it takes about 100,000 years for 0.001percent of a genome to change… so yourself and Primal Man are for all intents and purposes… the same.

What has changed is how WE have chosen to live, if you can even call it that. As we have ‘advanced’ in technology we have regressed in physical strength and stature.

We function at a much lower capacity than were inherently capable of. This is analogous to those people who buy off-road vehicles that will never see anything but concrete! You’ve been given the ultimate athletic tool… use it.

2. Short, Hard and Intense Workouts Yield Lean, Hard and Muscular Bodies

When you spend over an hour in the gym sitting on useless ‘fitness machines’ while you’re waiting to do your ‘next set’…your nervous system’s primal response is to release Cortisol and Glucocorticoids - which are stress hormones, (these make you sick, sad, fat and, stupid) in response to your body thinking… “Holy Cow, we’ve been training for over an hour… perhaps we’re being chased by a tiger and need to preserve body fat”, then it begins sacrificing muscle tissue for energy! This is called The Catabolic Effect. Also, workouts exceeding 1 hour have been shown to be associated with a rapid decrease in androgen levels.

This is why marathon runners look so emaciated… id much rather look like one of those Lock, Stock & Ready Sprinters with muscles rippling across their backs and abs.

3. Aerobics and Cardio Training Is Boring & Ineffective

Strength coach Charles Poliquin has coined the phrase “Chunky Aerobic Instructor Syndrome” (CAIS). You’ve seen them, they do cardio all day long… don’t you think that they would be a bit leaner? Well, there is a scientific reason as to why they are cubby even though they bounce up and down on those colorful blocks all day long. In fact research has shown that aerobic instructors who taught an average of 3 hours a day maintained a body fat of 22-24% - mind you, that Olympic athletes hover around 9%.

Especially with repetitive exercises like aerobics the body adapts quickly to the stimulus and ceases to respond to the stimulus. Also, you begin to become very fuel-efficient… Listen, think of a metabolism that has adapted to long treks of cardio as being a Honda… it burns very little fuel (i.e. fat) but can go miles and miles. Think of a metabolism that is roaring with increased mitochondria activity (as is present in someone who weight trains with circuits) as a Hummer, large fuel combusting metabolism!

Here’s Why this is so important! You want a stronger heart, without the fat saving response of long boring cardio treks. That is why I teach my clients how to do work capacity sets. We take 4-6 exercises and complete them back to back with no rest and aim to complete them all with in about 2 minutes… if your heart is not ready to pound out of your chest after that, then maybe you should visit your veterinarian!

Here’s a simple circuit that you can do at home - first 20 squats, then 20 lunges, then ’step ups’ on a bench 10 each leg, finally do 10 squat jumps and get it all done in less than 90 seconds! Kick-ass workout!

We begin every session with Plyometrics and then get right into 3-5 “work capacity” sets for upper and lower body.

4. Get High on Oxygen & Sunshine

Besides the fact that training on treadmills and ’sit down’ exercise equipment is less effective than getting your feet on the ground and learning how to use your own bodyweight, training indoors can be detrimental to your performance and fitness results.

As ‘primal beings’ we are in need of several vital elements and forms of energy. The suns rays are nourishing to your mind as well as body. It is well documented that those who live in the cooler northern climates that enjoy less sunshine through out the year are several times more likely to suffer from depression.

Also, if you’re like most Americans you work and live indoors (maybe). In fact, the average person spends 90% of their time indoors. Several health experts have propounded that our homes and workplace are the most toxic environments in our lives. Many studies have stated that toxic particles and fumes found in your home and workplace include: air fresheners, spray starch, paints, mothballs and even ‘new car’ smell kills more people every year than automobile accidents!

So, what do you do? Train in the great outdoors! When I train my Strength Camp clients at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg Florida, not only do we benefit from the sweet bay breeze but also the scenery is beautiful enough to give a nun spring fever!

5. It’s Gotta Be Fun!

Drop out rates for exercise programs are almost as high as the drop out rate in my old middle school! The bottom line is, if you don’t enjoy it - you wont do it. The most effective way to ensure that you stick with your training program is to change it often. This doesn’t mean hop from one modality to the next before you get any results. It means stick with your weight-training program for a minimum of 90 day but change the exercises you use for each body part at least every 3 weeks.

This not only keeps you interested but also, your nervous system will be challenged with the new exercises and be forced to adapt. This yields fast and long-lasting results!

Lean Hybrid Muscle is the World’s Fastest Way To Furn Fat & Build Muscle.
** Learn More here => http://www.leanhybridmuscle.com/build-muscle.html

De vuelta a los dias de gloria con De Franco

DeFranco's Training Rules for Washed-up Meatheads  by Nate Green

Dear Washed-up Meathead,

Look, I've got nothing but respect for you. You gave me Playboy, bourbon whiskey, and barbells. You taught me how to pick up girls, when to flip the burgers, and why I should always wash my hands immediately after using Icy Hot. (Worst ball scratching experience ever.) You took me to the gym, handed me a program, and told me to bust my ass. And it worked. Over the years, I've gotten bigger, stronger, and more confident. 

But then I noticed something. I noticed you're still doing the very program you handed me years ago. Well, let me tell you, sir, it's gone stale. You've gone stale. You may be a washed-up meathead, but that doesn't mean you should be doing a program that doesn't hold water. 

So I've decided to pay you back. I want you to be in the best shape of your life. I want you to grow some bigger muscles, shed some fat, and start performing like the badass you once were. That's why I contacted self-proclaimed washed-up meathead Joe DeFranco to help whip you into shape. He's got five rules for writing your own badass program and even included a sample program at the end of the article. You can thank me later.

Sincerely,

A Young Punk

  

A quick note from DeFranco

"I've received a lot of hate mail over the past few years from the 30 and older meathead crowd. 'Your programs are just for athletes,' they say. 'I don't have time to do all that stuff.' And I know how they feel. You get older and take on more responsibilities. You have a career. Your joints hurt. The days of college, eating shit foot, getting hammered, sleeping for a few hours, and waking up refreshed are over. You don't want to train six days per week.

The guys who email me or show up to my gym have been lifting weights their whole lives. It's nothing new to them. And that's the main problem. Without variety, you won't gain muscle. But really, what good is gaining muscle if your joints hurt all the time or you can't even wipe your own ass?

What these washed-up meatheads need is functional muscle. No, I'm not talking about any bullshit Bosu balls. I'm talking about benching heavy weight without your shoulder hurting. I'm talking about coaching your son's football team and running a few pass patterns to show the little suckers how it's done. I'm talking slabs of muscle, no fat, with lungs of steel.

I've got five rules for these guys. And if they follow them, I have no doubt they'll be built like a badass."

DeFranco's 5 Rules

  

Train Three Days Per Week

"Recovery is the key to strength and looking good," says DeFranco. "You can't come into the gym sore because you won't have the strength or endurance you need for the workout." But is three days really enough? "If you're busting your ass and doing the right things, it is. Even if I had a guy who won the lottery and told me he could train as much as I wanted him to, I'd still keep him on the three-day schedule." Here's how DeFranco sets up his training week:

Monday — Upper Body
Wednesday — Lower Body
Friday — Upper Body

Why only one lower-body day?

"You'll get enough muscle stimulation from that one day to carry you through to next week," says DeFranco. "Besides, I've got some fun "finishers" that'll hit your legs, too."

Use the Max-Effort Method (With a Few Slight Twists.) 

Yeah, you probably know the old-school Westside max-effort method. Well, DeFranco has made a few alterations. "First off, squat and deadlifts are interchangeable," he says. "We're not gonna force-feed these guys."

According to DeFranco, both of these exercises will accomplish the same thing, more or less. "All we need is a main lower body exercise that you can go heavy on. Some people are built to squat because they have the right leverages. Some guys like to pull heavy stuff off the ground. Doesn't matter to me."

And it's not like you're replacing squats with leg extensions.

"We're definitely not letting them cop out," says DeFranco. "But I want to give them something to look forward to. My favorite moment is watching my guys come in to look over the logbook with the day's training. They're nervous and excited, like 'Oh, shit, what do we have to do today?' That's how it should be."

Next, of course, is the bench press. "What washed-up meathead program would be complete without it?" asks DeFranco. "Guys like to see how much they can bench. They like to brag about it. And, hell, they're gonna do it anyway even if I don't recommend it. We might as well program it effectively."

Fair enough.

Now here's the interesting part: DeFranco includes the chin-up in his max-effort work.

"It's key. Not only is the chin-up a great upper back exercise to counteract the bench press, it's the relative strength exercise that will make you clean up your diet."

What's that mean? "Well, if your bench and squat are going up it doesn't mean much other than you're getting stronger. That's cool, but you could still be a fat-ass, you know? But if your chin-up strength is still the same or going down, it means you need to get some conditioning in and keep your freakin' hands off the Haagen Dazs because you're getting too fat to pull yourself up."

One last point about the max-effort work: DeFranco is a huge proponent of using percentages of your one-rep max. "I'm all about steady progress," he says. That means you actually have to test all three of your lifts. Testing your bench press and squat or deadlift is straightforward—just load a bar with 60 percent of your "perceived" 1RM and build up from there.

To test your chin-up, grab onto the bar with an underhand grip and do as many as you can with perfect form for one set. That's your max. You'll see how DeFranco programs it in a bit.

Your training week should now look like this:

Monday — Bench Press
Wednesday — Squat or Deadlift
Friday — Chin-up

The purpose of the max-effort work, explains DeFranco, is to ramp up the nervous system. "After the first exercise you should be fired up and ready to train," he says. "That's because it's either going to be a heavy movement or a jump (on lower-body days), which will excite the nervous system." The stimulatory effect is nice, but the key point DeFranco makes is that by exciting the nervous system, you'll be able to recruit more muscle fibers in the exercises that follow. Which brings us to our next rule.

  

Use Bodybuilding Methods

If the first exercise is neural, the second one is "muscular." "I like to get into some high-volume work for the guys so they can build some muscle," says DeFranco. While he usually recommends between six and twelve reps, he sometimes gets into the very high-rep sets. "I like to bump it up to 20 or 25 reps every now and then," he says. Hello, lactic acid. But what's the point? "I don't feel there's too much correlation between getting a pump and gaining muscle, but let's be honest, it's fun as hell," he says. "Why not get a pump while your nervous system is jacked up? The more blood that floods into your muscles, the more nutrients you get. It's a great environment for growth."

DeFranco likes to divide his bodybuilding methods into movement planes that correspond with the max-effort exercise for that day. So if you did the bench press, you'd do other horizontal plane work like dumbbell presses and rows. If you did chins, you'd do some overhead pressing and lat pull-downs. If you did legs, you'd do, well, more legs. One thing DeFranco is adamant about is not doing forced reps or going to complete failure. "Always leave a little something in the tank," he says. "No one wants to pull a bar off you."

Use "Finishers" 

This is both "show" and "go.""Too many guys avoid any type of cardio, but it's usually the finishing touch that can really burn some calories and strip the extra fat," says DeFranco. Another reason, naturally, is to increase your athleticism. And since DeFranco is best known for his work with college and pro athletes, he knows a thing or two about conditioning. "Look, every guy should be doing barbell complexes, push-up and squat ladders, jump rope, or at least be able to run a mile. They act like it'll kill them or they'll lose all their muscle mass. Bullshit."

Warm-Up, But do it Quickly

Yeah, he saved this rule for last since he knew most of you would skip right over it if it were at the top.

DeFranco has a simple warm-up routine dubbed The Agile Eight. "It's helped powerlifters, washed-up meatheads, and other anti-mobility dudes really feel better," he says. The Agile 8 will make you sweat, prepare your joints, stretch your muscles, and best of all, it'll only take ten minutes. "Hell, I even do it on the days I don't train," says DeFranco.

The Agile 8 

1. Foam roll your IT band — Start just below your hip and roll up and down to your (outer) mid-thigh ten to fifteen times, focusing on any tight spots. Then perform ten to fifteen "rolls" starting at your (outer) mid-thigh and rolling all the way down to the outside of your knee. Again, focus on the tight areas.

2. Foam roll your adductors — Start just below the crease of your hip and roll up and down your (inner) mid-thigh ten to fifteen times, focusing on any tight spots. Then perform ten to fifteen "rolls" starting at your (inner) mid-thigh and rolling down to the inside of your knee. Again, focus on the tight areas.

3. Glute/piriformis myofacsial release with a tennis ball — Take the tennis ball and sit on one your left butt cheek with a slight tilt. Cross your left leg. Roll for 30 seconds or so. Switch cheeks and repeat. Feel free to cry.

4. Rollovers into "V" sits — Perform ten reps.

5. Fire hydrant circles — Perform ten forward circles and ten backward circles with each leg.*

6. Mountain climbers — 20 total reps.

7. Groiners — Perform ten reps. Hold the last rep for ten seconds. Make sure to push your knees out with your upper arms while dropping your butt down.

8. Static hip flexor stretch — Perform 3 sets of 10 seconds on each leg. Complete all three sets on one side before moving to the other. 

You've read the rules, but now it's time to see what the program looks like with everything in order.

DeFranco's Sample 3-Day Program

Monday — Upper Body

Max-effort
1) Bench Press: 72.5% of your 1RM x 8, 77.5% x 6, 82.5% x 4 or more
Bodybuilding
2) Flat DB Press: 2 x Max Reps using the same weight for both sets. (Choose a weight that you can get around 20-25 reps with on the first set.)
3A) Seated Overhand-Grip Cable Rows: 4x15
3B) Cable Triceps Pushdowns (straight bar): 4x15
4A) DB Shrugs (2-second hold at the top): 3x15
4B) DB Lateral Raise: 3x15
Finisher
5) Barbell Complex (Deadlift, Bent-over Row, Hang Clean, Push Press, Back Squat) — Do two sets of 10 reps on each exercise. Rest 90 seconds between sets.

Wednesday — Lower Body

Excite the nervous system
1) DB Squat Jumps, holding 10-pound DB's: 4x6
Max-effort
2) Squat or Deadlift: 72.5% of your 1RM x 8, 77.5% x 6, 82.5% x 4
Bodybuilding
3A) 45-Degree Back Raises (hold weight plate over chest): 3x15
3B) Seated Medicine Ball Twists (feet off ground): 3x20 each side
Finisher
4) Timed one-mile run: You can do this on a treadmill or outside on a track. If you're unable to run due to injuries, you can substitute this with two miles on the exercise bike or elliptical. Whatever you choose, make sure you try and complete the distance in the least amount of time. Record your time!

Friday — Upper Body

Max-effort
1) Chin-ups (total reps) — Chin-up max + 50%
Note: If you got 20 reps when you tested your chin-up max, you would take 50 percent of 20 (10 reps) and add that to your total to make it look like this:
20 reps (max) + 50% (10 reps) = 30 total reps of chin-ups.
Break it into as many sets as you need but make sure every rep is perfect.
Bodybuilding
2A) Lat Pull-down (Wide, overhand-grip): 2 x Max Reps using the same weight for both sets. (Choose a weight that you can get around 20-25 reps for your first set.)
2B) Standing DB Military Press: 2 x Max Reps using the same weight for both sets. (Choose a weight that you can get around 15-20 reps for your first set.)
3A) "Rolling" Triceps Extensions — 4x8
3B) Hammer Curls (both arms same time) — 4x8
4) Core Circuit: x 2

a. 20 Toe Touches
b. 30 Bicycles
c. Side Plank x 30 seconds each side

Finisher
5) 100 push-ups as fast as possible. Record the time it took you to complete all 100.

Wrap-up 

To DeFranco, the term "washed-up meathead" isn't derogatory. "It just means you've been around the block a few times," he says. "It's a sign of respect. It means you've put in the work, gained some serious muscle, and know your way around the weight room." It also means you're probably a little stuck in your ways. "The older meathead guys are stubborn," says DeFranco. "I should know because I am one. Still, one of the best things you can do for you body is surprise it. And this is the best way I know how."

Now get to work, sir.

Drill for Skill

Drill for skill fue un proyecto en línea que tuvo (o tien) Bas Rutten en su Sitio, aki les dejo 2 excelentes joyas de artículos que descargue en su momento de Drill for Skill

Self-Efficacy

In last week’s article, it was discussed that one aspect of a fighter’s desire to compete is based on internal and external rewards, or motivators.  There are several other components involved in competition and training, not the least of which is a person’s feelings of self-efficacy or self-confidence.  If we believe we will be successful at something in life, we are more likely to participate.  For those of you who teach, consider when you first began teaching.  You were probably nervous, felt unsure of yourself, and didn’t know if you were up to the task you had agreed to complete.  Whether you covered this up by being very aggressive, or acting nonchalant, or if your nerves were out there for everybody to see, the base feeling was that you were not confident.  Think about how you feel now when you teach.  It’s a non-issue, it’s easy, it’s fun, it’s a paycheck; of course, good instructors will take time to think about and plan their classes, but that’s not about confidence.  It’s the same thing when fighters fight in an organized event for the first time- they aren’t sure they’re ready. Self efficacy is defined as a judgment about one’s capability to perform a task at an advanced level, with certainty, repeatedly over time.  It relates to your perception of your ability to perform specific skills and abilities, or take advantage of opportunities.  But self-efficacy doesn’t make you sit on your butt because you think, “I’ve got this,” like Rocky in Rocky III.  Athletes with higher self-efficacy try harder, persist longer, feel less nervous, and choose greater challenges.  True overconfidence, the kind that makes you not train, eat right, or take your opponent seriously, is so rare that some sports psychologists don’t even think it should be a concern.  Often, people with the biggest bravado, those who do the most trash-talking, do not have true feelings of self-efficacy. High self-efficacy can overcome very significant motivation killers.  Think about how long it really takes to become an NFL player, never mind winning a shot at the Super Bowl, or how many hours in the gym it takes to get a fight in the UFC.  While our “sport” is arguably a lot smaller than others, think of all the people who train in kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and MMA.  Think of the odds of one of those people becoming a professional fighter…not good, right?  But spending time envisioning yourself as successful (as a result of high self-efficacy) is sometimes just what you need to remain motivated.  If Chuck Liddell, at the beginning of his career, sat down and thought about the odds of him becoming the successful fighter we know today, and considered every step it would take, he probably would have put on his headphones, gone home, and started studying for a career in architecture.  But by keeping his focus on the belief that he could do it, this carried him forward into the manifestation of that very belief. High self-efficacy is key to sustainability, which is the type of motivation that allows you to stick with something long-term.  The other important factors that tie into sustainability are task-mastery orientation and ego orientation.  People with task mastery orientation take pride in their improvement over past performances, like runners who are trying to beat their old times.  Many of us who train but do not compete are sustained by task mastery orientation; we think about how silly we felt when we first started training, and compare it to now when perhaps our striking is clean and strong, or our jiu-jitsu is beginning to flow.  Or, those of us who were out of shape think about being winded after two minutes of jumping rope, whereas now we can do five.  People with ego orientation are focused on demonstrating their superiority over others and are motivated by social comparison.  Many fighters fall into this category; think of Ken Shamrock as a good example.  I think this is also the “ego” that everybody dreads when they enter a MMA gym for the first time. When a sport situation doesn’t match an athlete’s orientation, his/her interest wanes.  Your orientation is probably the reason you are interested in the sports you are interested in, in part, and also will likely dictate whether you like to train alone, with other people watching, whether your goal is to compete or not, or whether or not you jealously guard your informal position as demonstrator in class.  But every sport has aspects that appeal to both types of orientations; the trick is finding out what aspects will appeal to your orientation as an athlete.  Examples of ego orientation are replete in MMA; think of every time someone calls the person with the belt out.  But there are also examples of task mastery orientation; think about when commentators remark that a certain fighter has been working to improve his ground, stand-up, etc. So, how can this help you? 1.  Consider which aspects of your training you feel effective at, and identify them.  Is it a given to you that you’ve got a great left hand?  That’s a feeling of self-efficacy.  Identify those aspects of your training that you don’t feel you are as good at, and make a plan to improve them, whether it’s supplemental training, working the Bas Rutten tapes, conditioning, etc.  Now:  stop telling yourself that you suck at these things.  Stop making a face or inwardly groaning each time your instructor/trainer announces that you will be working on them.  Instead, turn it around into an opportunity to improve in these areas.  By avoiding them and not wanting to do them, you won’t get better, and you’ll continue to avoid and not want to do them! 2.  Determine whether your tendency is to task mastery or ego motivation.  Are you always comparing yourself to someone in class?  Do you hear yourself telling friends you could “take” Georges St. Pierre?  (Right).  Then you are ego oriented.  Do you think about how far you’ve come?  Is it rewarding to hear your instructor say you’ve improved?  Do you often think about “then” and “now?”  You are task mastery oriented. 3.  Identify ways to facilitate your orientation in your training.  If you are ego-oriented, you’ll be happy with people watching, on the busiest nights at the gym; maybe you could even select someone as an “opponent,” someone to become better than.  If you are task-mastery oriented, start keeping a training diary.  Have someone film you and analyze your solid areas, and your areas of desired improvement.  Track your development.

Motivation

Motivation.  It’s what makes disciplined fighters like Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz excel in their cardio, technique, and skill.  Motivation is what gets you to the gym on rainy, snowy days, and it’s what makes you do one more round, one more combination, one more rep when you feel as if you are at failure.  As important as it is, motivation is one of the hardest things to grasp and maintain in any sport; we’ve all heard stories of fighters and other athletes who seemed to be unshakable but somewhere along the line lost their spirit.  I’m not going to name any names, but a couple Brazilian fighters come to mind.  Why are some of the most readily available motivators, like prize money or belts, ineffective long term? The most successful fighters not only have good physical genetics- strength, size, good reflexes, and so on, but also good mental genetics, such as high pain tolerance, natural inclination toward aggressiveness, initiative, attraction to challenges, and inner determination.  Towards the end of a fight, fatigue, thirst, and pain begin to override these natural tendencies, and a fighter’s system can work to put the goals of rest, hydration, and healing above those of winning, competitive drive, and fighting well.  As you can see, environment has a strong impact on motivation; however, we can all identify situations in which we ignored our biological drives and acted contrary to them- like when we wake up at 5 a.m. to work out, or delay eating because we have work to do.  Humans have free will, and regardless of the influences surrounding us, we choose our actions, interpretations, focus, and attitude. Essentially, sports psychology recognizes two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic.  §                       Intrinsic motivation comes from inside the athlete- when he fights or trains because doing so is inherently pleasurable, because it is based on the enjoyment of competition, excitement, or improvement.  §                       Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the athlete and includes things such as belts, money, and fame.  It’s important to realize that neither type of motivation is superior to the other; they complement each other, and most athletes fight because of a combination of both.  Interestingly enough, however, research has demonstrated that athletes who are motivated intrinsically lose some of their enthusiasm when extrinsic incentives are added.  Which is weird, right?  Because most of us who train started out training because it interested us; then, those of us who were talented, had the time, and enjoyed it decided to try taking it to the next level by maybe doing a charity fight, a local tournament, or perhaps by becoming an instructor.  The research has shown that when athletes view their training or competing as external to themselves (i.e. when they believe that a sponsor or manager is calling the shots), they feel a lessened sense of determination (remember, we said earlier that all good athletes have inner determination), and their will to train and compete drops off. But didn’t we just say that extrinsic motivation was not inferior to intrinsic?  Yes.  It’s just appropriate for different things.  For example, anybody who’s ever tried to make weight (hell, anybody who’s ever been on a diet) knows that it’s not fun.  And there are other aspects to training that aren’t fun, that we wouldn’t do purely for the pleasure of it (in my case, this includes sprawling drills).  But, we realize these things are a part of the sport; if we want to be in better condition, we might need to change our diet to include more protein and less ice cream, or we might have to do wind sprints or plyometrics.  For unpleasant modes of training, research has demonstrated that extrinsic rewards increase motivation. How does this apply to me, and how can this help me improve my training? §                       Take a few moments to identify why you train or fight.  Many of us have automatic answers we give people like, “to keep in shape,” or “because I love it.”  Think about why you love it; think back to your best moments in training or competition- why were they your best?  What did they give you?  Think physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Was it the adrenaline high?  Or was it a feeling of success after you finally mastered how to execute a perfect triangle? §                       Now, consider what you don’t like about it.  The runs on off days?  Focus mitt work?  Think about what you can add as an incentive to improve your outlook on these things.  If you’re not trying to cut weight, allow yourself some of your favorite food on the days you do your least-liked activity.  By countering something negative with a primary positive reinforcer, like food, you send your brain a powerful message about motivation.  An extrinsic motivator can also be something like keeping track of, let’s say, how long it takes you to do 20 jump squats, 20 squat thrusts, and 20 squat thrust jumps.  Seeing your improvement in black and white is highly motivating.  One thing to note- your extrinsic reinforcer should be something you can give yourself that day; i.e. don’t save up your “positives” to buy that rash guard you’ve been wanting.  The key between pairing the negative and positive to improve motivation is immediacy. Jennifer Predolin has a Master’s Degree in Psychology, and is currently in her third year of doctoral training.

Preguntas y Respuestas con Coach Staley

Sports-Specific Training Questions and Answers

By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS Director, Staley Training Systemshttp://www.staleytraining.com

Got something a little different for you this week! I've put together 5 sport-specific questions that I've received along with my answers to those questions. If you're a coach or athlete, this is really informative stuff that can really help you improve performance.

QUESTION: Dear Charles, My football coach will not let us do curls he says they have no place in training, but I say they do. The biceps must be there for a reason, right?

 

ANSWER: Since the biceps is often thought of as a "show" or "beach" muscle, bicep training is often over-worshiped by young male trainees, but also excessively discouraged by well-meaning coaches. To say, as many coaches do, that the biceps has no function for a football player demonstrates a basic lack of understanding. I understand your coach's sentiments — he's just trying to emphasize function over aesthetics. However, it's kind of like telling school kids not to read the latest controversial book— it’s the best way to guarantee that they will! The biceps plays a pivotal role in the function of the shoulder and also in the articulation of the hand. It also balances the forces created by the triceps at the elbow joint.

So I hope your coach will someday take less of an "extremist" position about this issue, but in the mean-time, see if he'll allow you to perform more chins— a great bicep movement, but just tell him you are doing it for your back strength!

QUESTION: Charles, I'm a 17 year old varsity wrestler. I want to strength train, but cannot outgrow my weight-class. Can I get stronger without gaining any weight?

ANSWER: If you're trying to get stronger without a weight gain I would recommend relatively heavy explosive weight training with very little emphasis on the eccentric portion of the lifts.

You obviously should not train the same way a bodybuilder does (unless you want to increase your bodyweight). However, if you do realize a weight gain from low-rep strength training, you probably are headed in that direction anyway. What I mean by this is that if you gain weight as an adaptation to low rep, high intensity work, it tells me that you are already neurally efficient as you are going to be at that weight and can only see physical (as opposed to technical) improvement with a bit more muscle on your frame. This commonly happens in boxing where a fighter gradually finds it harder and harder to make it down to their weight class, and then must make the move up to the next class. At your age, this scenario is inevitable, it just a question of how long it's going to take before you have no choice but to move up.

QUESTION: I am a young personal trainer that works with high school athletes. I find my athletes get bored with the routine of sets and reps without a lot of change. I do change up exercises as often as I can but some things stay the same because they are effective. I am wondering, what kind of things you tell your athletes to keep them motivated? I would really like to know what you say to an athlete when you are first starting with them? 
Most of the athletes that stick with me will stay motivated by the results but it's hard to keep an athlete with me sometimes because I put them on a workout that seems boring to them. I do plyometrics, speed training, and the strength training progresses but I believe its just the routine that bores them and not the actual exercises. So when you give an athlete a workout, how do you prevent them from giving up too early?

ANSWER: Great question Nick, and thanks for your kind words. Motivation is a "lost art" among trainers. Actually, that's being too kindm I suppose, since many trainers never "find" that art in the first place! I place a lot of value on connecting with each client personally— in both formal (interview) and informal situations. And very simply, ASK the client, in a sincere way, what they're hoping to accomplish. Then (and here's the important part) LISTEN. 

Your client may have a strong passion to (for example) lose bodyfat, gain upper body strength, overcome an injury, or he may want faster sprint times. As your client talks, take note of their body language and vocal tone. If your client becomes excited and animated as he explains his passion to squat 405 pounds, it's a message you need to pay attention to. Then, in subsequent workouts, when the going gets tough, link the current task back to the passionate goal: "Listen Salvatore, I know this exercise is difficult, but trust me, this is the price that needs to be paid for that 405 squat you're looking for!"

Finally, it's important that YOU are motivated! Not in an insincere way (which is almost a hallmark of bad trainers everywhere!), but in a sincere way. Nothing is more motivational than your client sees that his coach is genuinely interested in his accomplishments. Thanks for the great question!

 QUESTION: Charles: Most people say you can improve your tennis game with strength training; however, I see few top-notch pros with physiques that are above average. Is strength training harmful for tennis players?

ANSWER: It’s true, few elite male tennis players possess the muscular physiques often seen in other anaerobic strength endurance sports such as baseball, basketball, football, etc... Even more perplexing, some top female tennis players, such as Venus Williams do possess superior levels of muscularity compared to their male counterparts.

Is there an ideal level of hypertrophy for male or female tennis players? I don’t think so. I suspect that tennis, the quintessential gentleman’s sport, may have dodged the no- so-gentlemanly iron a little longer than other sports and is just now catching on. There’s no reason that strength training would improve physical capacity in other games but not in racquet sports. Michael Chang, who champions the case study supporting strength training with his well-developed lower body, developed a hard-hitting baseline game despite a lack of advantageous height. Tennis requires high levels of starting strength, agility, strength endurance, and flexibility. All of these qualities improve with a properly executed strength training program. Let’s look at them one by one:

Starting Strength

Starting strength, or the ability to recruit as many motor units (all the muscle fibers controlled by one motor nerve) as possible in an instant is required from the first swing of the racquet. It is technically considered a component of speed strength.

It should be obvious that 80-140 MPH serves and furious sprints to the ball are not performed without quickly accessing high-threshold motor units. Of course, muscle fibers usually remain somewhat dormant until presented with tension that "recruits" them in order to overcome the resistance.

This challenge can easily be provided in the form of a well-designed resistance training program. Once the motor units have been trained, it becomes much easier to access them for tasks that require acceleration against small resistances, i.e., the racquet.

Explosive Strength

Explosive strength is the ability to keep muscle fibers activated once they have been innervated— it is the second component of speed strength.

Explosive strength is required for sprinting after a return, or generally, any rapid accelerative movements. This presents the most obvious need for strength training which can be developed in the weight room very easily and safely.

Remember not to mistake strength training with bodybuilding. The development of force can be greatly increased without significant gains in mass. Athletes are recognizing the need for strength training in tennis at a very rapid rate.

Agility

Agility is the ability to integrate starting strength, explosive strength, and balance within a single movement or movement pattern.

A common tactic employed in tennis is to physically and neurally exhaust an opponent by constantly firing cross-court shots, forcing repeated and rapid directional changes, debilitating the opponent’s energy stores and strength levels.

Because it is a complex quality, agility is a trainable characteristic. A strength training program won’t make a player look like Flex Wheeler, but the improvement in agility will save him in the late sets.

Strength Endurance

Strength endurance is the ability to perform sub-maximal efforts over a duration of time.

Tennis matches often endure for four or more hours. Increased levels of maximal strength provide a strength reserve so that, for example, repetitive tasks which used to require say, 21% of a player’s maximal strength might now require 17% of maximal strength. This is what improves the player’s ability to remain effective for a longer period of time.

Flexibility

A great concern among tennis coaches and players is that resistance training will decrease an athlete’s range of motion (ROM). Although resistance training without stretching might limit an athlete’s ROM, performing regular stretching exercises will prevent a loss of flexibility.

Although many athletes believe they are better or healthier athletes when they are more flexible, there is such a thing as too much flexibility.

Limit your flexibility training to ROM development specific to performing your sport, with a bit of room to spare for unforeseen events, such as slipping into a partial split position as you reach for a long ball.

Two things scare me (and Austin Powers): nuclear weapons and carnies! Please don’t show me your contortionist act, save it for the circus.

QUESTION: Hi, I'm 25 years old and I've been climbing for two years now, and have been lifting for three years. I've been off the climbing crag for about a month, and just started EDT this week— I wanted to ask you how can I can mix the EDT with the climbing (giving more importance to EDT). I usually climb two to three hours, three times a week. Thanks in advance.

 

ANSWER:Thanks for writing! First, EDT is a great way to improve muscular endurance for climbing, or any other sport which requires muscle endurance. The trick is to develop a schedule that allows you to lift and climb in a way that helps your performance. After all, if you can't recover from your workouts, your fitness levels will decline instead of improve. In this case, you have two choices: Either perform EDT on "non-climbing" days, or perform EDT on climbing days. In the latter case, you have the additional choice between lifting and climbing in the same workout, or in different workouts (in the same day).

There are a few different ways to arrive at the best decision:

1) If climbing is your primary training concern, and you wish to use EDT mostly to help your climbing, I'd suggest positioning your workouts in such a way that you're most recovered prior to climbing sessions, as opposed to lifting sessions. This can be accomplished by placing your EDT workouts soon after your climbing sessions, to allow for maximum rest until your next climbing session. This arrangement poses an obvious problem however— EDT is difficult enough, without having to do it right after a climbing workout!

2) If you wish to give equal importance to climbing and lifting, I would simply alternate between climbing workouts and EDT workouts, separating each workout by at least one, but perhaps as many as three days— whatever is required to facilitate adequate recovery.

There are a few other "tricks" that you might also consider:

1) Climbing is stressful to the hands and fingers — try to choose resistance-training exercises that are gentle on your hands, and/or use lifting straps to reduce the load on these tissues.

2) Skilled climbers rely mostly on lower body strength, whereas novice climbers tend to over-rely on their upper body to scale their climbs (many years ago I did some climbing for a short while, and I was in the latter category!). In either case, leg training should be emphasized in EDT workouts. For climbers, I like pistols, step-ups, and lunges.

3) Since climbing is an endurance-oriented event, target maximal strength in your EDT workouts: Instead of 10RM weights, use 6RM loads and start your PR Zones with sets of 3, working down to doubles and singles as you begin to fatigue.

About The Author

Charles Staley...world-class strength/performance coach...his colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.

Click here to visit Charles' site and grab your 5 FREE videos that will show you how to literally FORCE your body to build muscle, lose fat and gain strength with "Escalating Density Training," Charles' revolutionary, time-saving approach to lifting that focuses on performance NOT pain.

http://www.staleytrainingprograms.com