Las 3 D´s enel entrenamiento o en lo que sea...

Determinación deseo  y disciplina, creo que esas son las 3 palabras que mejor definen la actitud de una persona 100% comprometida con entrenar y superar sus límites, crecer y trascender.

Con frecuencia me pasa que converso con personas que se entrenan y en algún momento de la conversación me cuentansobre que están molestas por no poder entrenar porque:

A. No tienen pisto para pagar el "GYM".
B. Fue feriado y no pudieron entrenar porque el "GYM estaba cerrado".
C. Se cambiaron de "GYM " y no les caen bien los entrenadores.
D. Una mezcla de las anteriores...

La verdad es que ninguna de las anteriores es válida...NINGUNA, si no tengo para pagar el "GYM" hago calistenias, salgo a un parquecito y me cuelgo de los pasamanos, corro, escalo, levanto piedras y si tengo un poco más de iniciativa compro un martillo, recojo por ahi una llanta,me voy a la termiy compro cuerdas, recipientes de plastico para llenar de arena y listo un Garage "GYM" básico.

En realidad no se necesita mucho para entrenar como un gladiador y en el proceso transformarse fisica y mentalmente en un especimen... Hablo en serio!!!!

Hace poco leí un artículo de Jay Ferrugia donde decí que no importa la situación en que se encuentre siempre va a contar con alguna forma de mantenerse fuerte y en condición, estoy de acuerdo, ninguna situación en la vida es idealpero nuestra capacidad para inventar, aaptarse y fortalecernos no depende del equipo porque eso lo llevamos...

Tatuénse en sus mentes y corazones las 3 d´s:

- Determinación: para entrenar, forjar mi cuerpo y mi mente, demoler obstáculos sin importarque pase por nuestras cabezas y si es necesario en nuestras vidas.

- Deseo: Tener las ganas, tener una visión querer ser más.

- Disciplina: La fuerza que nos mueve, perseverar ante todo!

Y ante todo confíen en el padre que todo lo concede a los hjos que son valientes....

NO SE TRATA DE DONDE ENTRENAS SINO COMO ENTRENAS!!!!!

Recuerdo bien la vez que le dije esto a un niñito del World Gym que me hablaba de su rutina, de su entrenador personal y las maquinas (como si valieran de algo a la hora de entrenar) de este gimnasio. Aquí y ahora les digo algo y no me importa herir susceptibilidades si alguien fuera de nuestro cículo lee este posteo:

Cualquiera de mi atletas es mejor que alguien que entrena enWorld Gym, cualquiera! y si alguien lo duda esta cordialmente invitado a entrenar GRATIS con nuestro equipo. Mis alumnos y hermanos no solo  porque saben entrenarse en cualquier circunstancia, con o sin equipo, sino porque han crecido para dejar de ser simples mortales en camino a convertirse en algo mas...en guerreros, sin excusas, sin dudas, sin huecadas...

 Entonces mi llamado es simplemente a que hagan algo, entrenen, la voluntad es más poderosa que cualquier otra fuerza, una voluntad fuerte de la mano de DIOS es imbatible...piénsenlo.

Cuando empece el programa de acondicionamiento enWarehouse a todos le dije que mi meta era transformarlos a todos en bestias...Esa es mi misión y viviere o morire con respeto y honor en el intento!!!!!

El mundo no viene a nadie hay que lanzarse y tomar lo que quieres, TOMALO!!!!!

Antes de escribirles cualquier cosa lean esto!!!!!!

Poisonous Protein Powders

In July, Consumer Reports magazine tested 15 protein powders for levels of 4 heavy metals:

1. Lead
2. Arsenic
3. Mercury
4. Cadmium

At certain levels, these heavy metals can be poisonous.
The worst thing is that they will accumulate over time so if you continue to use these products, you’ll accumulate more and more poisons in your system and they may reach a level that causes negative health effects.
What are these brands and what are the levels of these poisons?
Check out this chart first then I’ll explain more below:

First of all, notice that these are all based on 3 servings, not 1 serving.

So if you’re doing 1 serving a day, then you’ll be well below the daily limits for all of these brands.

But remember, these heavy metals accumulate, so ideally you want NONE!

Here are the daily limits for each metal:

• Arsenic – 15 ug
• Cadmium – 5 ug
• Lead – 10 ug
• Mercury – 15 ug

Amounts exceeding these levels are in BOLD in the chart.
By looking at the chart, we can see that the EAS Myoplex Shake and Muscle Milk products are the worst.
So I’d avoid these things at all costs.
And there are so many alternatives that there’s no reason at all to use these products.
One product I use is Hemp Protein vs. Whey.
No, you don’t get high from it (unfortunately).
I still use Whey occasionally, but find myself taking Hemp protein more often as it’s a) closer to nature and b) has protein, fibre and healthy fats, making it a more balanced food.
Plus, they keep coming out with new flavours vs. the original sludge flavour, so it’s actually tasty now!
Either way you go, I always recommend rotating brands – don’t use the same brand all the time.
This way, you can insulate yourself from potentially overloading your system with heavy metals or other toxins contained in these products.
And, your body doesn’t develop an intolerance to a particular brand and it’s components.
Another brand you can check out for Whey protein is Prograde.
They’re not the cheapest whey protein (which is probably a good thing) but they’ve got some videos taking you into their labs and I like to see the behind the scenes action when I can – it just makes me trust them a bit more.
Plus, I know the registered dietitian in charge of the whole operation (Jayson Hunter) and he’s a good guy and he’s also a martial artist himself.

SOBRE LA PLANIFICACION DEPORTIVA

Planificación del Entrenamiento Deportivo

DR. C. Rene Jorge Romero Esquivel, Cuba

La planificación determina a donde ir estableciendo los requisitos para lograrlos de la forma mas eficiente y eficaz posible, Todo lo que ocurre en el proceso de  entrenamiento y su interioridad es en una medida el resultado del pensamiento Del Entrenador Pero DEBE:

• Evitar la improvisación
• Apoyarse en la ciencia y tecnología.
• Integrar los conocimientos en un sistema estructural y organizado

Concepto: "...Es la  organización científica de todo lo que ocurre en la  preparación del deportista, es el sistema  que interrelaciona los preceptos de preparación y competencia con elementos técnicos de prospección, donde  las reservas individuales de rendimiento se educan para movilizarlas eficientemente en el momento adecuado". Romero R. Para ello será necesario que el entrenador conozca las características individuales, las fortalezas y debilidades de los deportistas.

Esquema sobre el rendimiento deportivo, requisitos para aplicar los diferentes sistemas de entrenamientos para obtener un alto rendimiento. Rendimiento deportivo Medios, métodos y sistemas de entrenamiento:

Desarrollar!!!! Aumento de # de miofibrillas Aumento del Vo2 Máximo Volumen sanguíneo Capacidad de recuperación Mejoramiento de los sistemas energéticos Perfeccionamiento de las percepciones especializadas

Evitar Ácido láctico La fatiga Respetar!!! Los principios del Entrenamiento deportivo

Rendimiento deportivo

Resultado alcanzado en su preparación

Las cargas en el entrenamiento deportivo

• l Constituye la célula fundamental del sistema de entrenamiento y del entrenador.

CARGA DE ENTRENAMIENTO

Contrae:

EFECTO BIOLÓGICO

Conlleva:

ADAPTACIÓN

Tiene por consecuencia:

MAYOR CAPACIDAD FÍSICO - FUNCIONAL

Potencia y capacidad energética máxima de los Sistemas de Producción de Energía

POTENCIA ENERGÉTICA MÁXIMA:

   - Máxima producción de energía en un tiempo determinado

CAPACIDAD ENERGÉTICA MÁXIMA:

   - Máxima reserva energética disponible.

SISTEMA ENERGÉTICO	POTENCIA MÁXIMA	CAPACIDAD MÁXIMA
ALACTÁCIDO	2 -3 seg., hasta 6 seg.	10 - 12 - 15 seg.
LACTÁCIDO	+20 seg., hasta 60 seg.	1.5 a 3 minutos.
AEROBIO	2 -4 min., hasta 29 min.	Infinita.

Objetivo: Profundizar en los mecanismos bioadaptativos que se producen, producto del entrenamiento deportivo.

¿Que es el Entrenamiento Deportivo?

Proceso biopedagógico encaminado a favorecer los procesos de Bioadaptación a las cargas físicas en el organismo del atleta.

BIOADAPTACION Se define: Respuesta de las estructuras vivas  a los cambios del medio que permite el mantenimiento de la Homeostasis.

En el deporte el factor mas importante consiste en la variabilidad bioadaptativa del organismo, es decir, aumentar sus funciones a un nivel óptimo en el menor tiempo posible según las exigencias y disminuirlas durante los intervalos de descanso relativo.

Homeostasis Se entiende como: el mantenimiento del equilibrio interno, es decir, de la constancia de las reacciones químicas y las funciones orgánicas imprescindibles para la vida.

Sistemas energéticos mediante los cuales el organismo

produce energía para la contracción muscular

(Garantizar el movimiento)

Sistema Energético:	Capacidades con las que se relaciona:
1.- SISTEMA ALACTÁCIDO	Rapidez    - F. Explosiva - F. Rápida     - F. Máxima - Resistencia Muscular Local
2.- SISTEMA LACTÁCIDO	Resistencia  a la velocidad - Resistencia a la fuerza
3.- SISTEMA AERÓBICO	Resistencia aerobia         (Endurance)

VEAMOS ALGUNOS EJEMPLOS

• EN LOS DEPORTES CÍCLICOS

• EN LOS DEPORTES ACÍCLICOS

Potencia es:

Alto nivel de movilización y desempeño de las capacidades del rendimiento con grandes  resultados  y con bajo gasto energético.

V=  S

      T

• La Planificación del entrenamiento deportivo es por capacidades de niveles de desplazamiento, no por indicadores

¡Educa tu ritmo! ¡Se eficiente!! Zona de potencia máxima Zona 1:

La Duración del trabajo no sobrepasa a los 20 segundos (Potencia alactacida)

Ø      Los síntomas de fatiga se producen a los 10 segundos generando una disminución de la potencia

Ø      El  trabajo se realiza bajo condiciones anaerobias

Ø      La demanda de O2 en el organismo durante el trabajo sólo es satisfecha una vez  terminado este

Ø      Durante el trabajo se presenta una deuda considerable de O2

Ø      El sistema energético de los Fosfágenos   (ATP y Cr P) es el que se pone de manifiesto

Ø      Debido a la poca duración del trabajo (durante un sprint de 100 m) la deuda de O2 es pequeña

Ø      Los procesos respiratorios y cardiovasculares antes del trabajo de potencia máxima se incrementan muy ligeramente

Ø      Durante este breve período el corazón incrementa ligeramente las contracciones pero el volumen sistólico se aumenta de modo insignificante (aumenta ligeramente el volumen minuto sanguíneo)

Ø      Como el trabajo es de poca duración el producto de las reacciones anaerobias llega a la sangre en pocas cantidades (no se producen cambios sustanciales en la sangre)     La frecuencia de paletadas es máxima, pero no sostenida y quizás, no tan efectiva  

 CAMBIOS EN EL Sistema. Nervioso:

 Ø      Las células del sistema nervioso central que envían sus impulsos a los músculos que funcionan con una potencia máxima a..Los receptores del aparato motor que son estimulados con los movimientos realizados con la máxima rapidez y fuerza envían impulsos extremadamente frecuente a los centros nerviosos La secciones aferentes y eferentes del sistema nervioso que está relacionados con una función con una función motora dada funcionan en este caso con una tensión máxima

Zona de potencia sub. Máxima (Potencia lactacida) Zona 2:

Ø      Su duración es de 20 a 30 segundos pero nunca más de 3 a 5 minutos

Ø      Junto con la desintegración de ATP y CrP se produce la desintegración del exofosfáto y la energía garantiza la resíntesis de ATP y CrP

Ø      Como resultado de la glucólisis se forman grandes cantidades de ácido láctico el cual se difunde hacia la sangre.

Ø      A estos procesos anaeróbicos se suman los procesos anaeróbicos incrementando bruscamente la respiración y la circulación sanguínea, asegurando  el aumento de la cantidad de O2 que fluye a los músculos a través de la sangre

El consumo de O2 va aumentando continuamente pero las magnitudes máximas sólo son alcanzadas casi al final del trabajo

Ø      La deuda de O2 es muy grande debido a la duración del trabajo

Ø      El O2 consumido después del trabajo se designa a la resíntesis oxidativa tanto en el ATP como en el CrP así como en los carbohidratos ocurren desplazamientos fisiológicos máximos en el organismo. Esto se refleja en el carácter de la fatiga que se manifiesta al final de la distancia. El deportista finaliza en condiciones de acumulación máxima de ácido láctico en los músculos y en la sangre y con un incremento en las funciones respiratorias y circulatorias al variar el PH hacia el lado ácido, así como un incremento del CO2 y de una disminución de la tensión de O2 en la sangre. En la sangre aumenta la presión osmótica debido al paso del H2O desde el plasma a los músculos y a la secreción sudorípara intensa que empieza.

Zona de gran potencia (Potencia aeróbica) Zona 3:

Su duración es superior a  3 o 5 minutos pero no más de 20 a 30 minutos

Ø      Incremento de la respiración y la circulación sanguínea toda su magnitud

Ø      Se produce con un consumo de O2 que se encuentra próximo a las posibilidades máximas

Ø      La deuda de O2 resulta mayor que las posibilidades de consumo La intensidad de los procesos anaeróbicos supera a la intensidad de las reacciones aeróbicas.

Ø      En los músculos se acumulan productos de la desintegración  anaeróbica y comienza la deuda de O2. Este O2 se utiliza para la resíntesis de los carbohidratos.

Ø      Durante los primeros minutos de trabajo la secreción sudorípara realiza una función termo reguladora para proteger al organismo contra el sobrecalentamiento.

Ø      Con el sudor se elimina una pequeña parte del ácido láctico y otros productos del metabolismo que llegan a la sangre procedente de los músculos y la parte considerable son eliminados por los riñones.

Ø      Aumenta las exigencias del trabajo cardiaco ya que debe funcionar casi al límite de sus posibilidades durante el transcurso decenas de minutos. 

Zona de potencia moderada

(Potencia estable mixta) Zona 4:

Su duración se extiende por más de 20 a 30 minutos. RB2

Ø      Presenta un estado estable (igualdad de magnitudes de demanda de O2 y del consumo en la unidad de tiempo) Sólo al comienzo del trabajo la demanda de O2 supera al consumo del mismo, sin embargo al cabo de varios minutos el consumo de O2 alcanza el nivel de la demanda de O2

Ø      El O2 consumido por los músculos durante el trabajo es doblemente utilizado: una parte para la resíntesis oxidativa de ATP y CrP  y carbohidratos, mientras que la otra se destina a la oxidación directa de grasas y carbohidratos.

Ø      La acumulación de ácido láctico no existe o resulta muy pequeña durante el estado estable real (no aumenta el ácido láctico en la sangre)

Ø      Las funciones  de la respiración y la circulación sanguínea aumentan grandemente sin llegar al máximo.

Ø      Durante un trabajo de muchas horas puede presentarse un agotamiento parcial de las reservas de carbohidratos en relación el gran gasto de ellos en los músculos.

Ø      El inicio del agotamiento de las reservas de glucógeno del hígado, conduce a la disminución de glucosa en sangre (hipoglucemia) 

La hipoglicemia se refleja negativamente sobre la actividad de los centros nerviosos y puede provocar que el atleta "explote" y a la aparición de la fatiga.

Ø      Una secreción sudorípara prolongada y abundante conduce a la alteración del equilibrio agua -sal en el organismo y aun aumento de la presión osmótica de la sangre.

Ø      El trabajo muscular intenso provoca la función incrementada de una serie de glándulas de secreción interna, particularmente las glándulas suprarrenales (secreción de catecolamina)

¡Zona básica del desarrollo!!!

Criterio cualitativo y cuantitativo a considerar al planificar el entrenamiento para los deportes de coordinación y arte competitivo.

Cantidad: Número de elementos, combinaciones, selecciones (dificultad B, C, D, E y Se) ejecutados en una sesión de entrenamiento, etc.

Al planificarse la carga debe considerarse la dificultad para facilitar el conteo de los elementos realizados.

Dificultad: Representa el índice de STRESS (tensión) sobre el SNC en la ejecución, se expresa por el No. de elementos de mayor dificultad incluidos en cada ejecución.

Intensidad: Cantidad de trabajo realizado en un periodo de tiempo determinado, este tiempo debe definirse para cada momento del entrenamiento.

Otros aspectos a considerar al planificar la carga

• Tiempo total de entrenamiento.
• Número de sesiones de entrenamiento
• Tiempo de entrenamiento en cada aparato
• Cantidad de elementos, combinaciones y selecciones
• Dificultad de los ejercicios
• Tiempo de descanso entre cada repetición.
• Nivel y características individuales del gimnasta

Proceso de la carga en su influencia sobre el organismo

Se adapta al entrenamiento

Desarrolla  las capacidades

Integra y consolida las capacidades

Las aplica durante la ejecución de partes, selecciones y competencias preparatorias

Entrena con las exigencias competitivas

Compite con el nivel asimilado

Se recupera y mantiene sus capacidades

Otros aspectos de la carga

	Magnitud de la carga	Tendencia de la carga
Carácter de la carga	Pequeña Media Submáxima máxima	Fuerza rápida Resistencia especial Capacidad coordinativa Rapidez otras
De entrenamiento De competencia Perfeccionamiento

Dirección del entrenamiento

Cargas

Medios Métodos Sistemas

Organización a través de ciclos, periodos y etapas Periodización en el entrenamiento deportivo ¡Existen técnicas y con esto diseños de preparación!!! Esta Periodización fundamenta la premisa de  construir, mantener y después perder relativamente la forma deportiva a lo largo de grandes ciclos anuales de entrenamiento. (Matveiev, 1961, 1977, 1981 y 1986)

¿Qué  necesitamos  conocer para entrenar a nuestros atletas?

• Sistemas Energéticos que predominan y como se alternarán en el entrenamiento.

Sistema anaerobio (Alactácido y Lactácido).Sistema Aerobio

• Las direcciones determinantes del entrenamiento.

Fuerza Rápida, Resistencia a la fuerza, Coordinación, Resistencia especial, perfeccionamiento mitades selección, estructuras nuevas, seguridad de los enlaces que conforman los programas  etc.

• Lo que necesitamos para obtener buenos resultados.

Mejorar la técnica, ritmo de trabajo, fuerza explosiva,  Preparación Física especial, Equilibrio, transformar flexibilidad pasiva en activa,  etc.

Estructura del macrociclo.

Periodo Preparatorio relativo a la:

Adquisición de la forma deportiva

Primera sección del macrociclo, donde se construye la forma, mayormente ocupa la mayor parte del tiempo en la planificación tradicional, los mesociclos mas utilizados son introductorios  y básicos, en los diseños contemporáneos, los de asimilación y transformación.

Indicadores a tener en cuenta en la planificación:

• Tiempo general del entrenamiento.
• Numero de eventos a ejecutar
• Progresión del aumento de la carga (elementos y selecciones)
• Se realizan los máximos volúmenes de elementos y selecciones
• Perfeccionamiento de las estructuras y partes deficientes de los programas de competencia que continuarán vigentes.
• Estudio y definición aproximadamente en un 90 % de las partes y enlaces a incluir en los nuevos programas competitivos.

Periodo Competitivo, relativo a la:

Estabilización de la forma deportiva

La segunda sección persigue la estabilización relativa de la forma, coincide con las competencias mas importantes son característicos los mesosciclos pulidores, precompetitivos y competitivos, en los diseños contemporáneos los mesociclos de realización

Indicadores a tener en cuenta en la planificación:

• La preparación con ejercicios especiales ocupa el mayor tiempo, fundamentalmente para mejorar las partes y elementos aún deficientes.
• Eliminación paulatina de los errores de ejecución que permitan mejorar la puntuación final.
• Se trabaja sobre el perfeccionamiento de los enlaces y combinaciones con mayores dificultades.
• Análisis colectivo e individual de los resultados de los controles y su plan de medidas para mejorar las notas de partida.
• Análisis de los % de rendimiento individual y colectivo
• Estudio de las bases teóricas de la competencia
• Se modelan el programa de la competencia fundamental.

Periodo de tránsito relativo a la:

Recuperación

Después de la competencia viene una fase de perdida de la forma y recuperación de las cargas intensivas, mesociclos recuperadores, en los diseños modernos se emplean microciclos de descarga o de recuperación os diseños contemporáneos los mesociclos de realización.

Indicadores a tener en cuenta en la planificación:

• Mantenimiento de niveles medios de preparación alcanzados que garanticen la continuidad del proceso
• Asegurar el restablecimiento de las zonas dañadas y la profilaxis de las que estuvieron lastimadas. 

 

Rodillas fuertes y poder de KO

Knee Stability and Punching Power Part 1

Picture for a moment that you’re standing on a tightrope… As you can probably imagine, it’s pretty wobbly.

                  

You’ve got absolutely no stability and at any moment it might feel as if you’re going to fall off. Now imagine throwing a punch while you’re standing on this tightrope. How powerful do you think this punch would be? Obviously, not very powerful and it definitely wouldn’t knock anybody out. So how does this all relate to your development of explosive KO power in your hands, you might be asking?

WHAT’S SAPPING YOUR POWER?

It has to do with the stability you have in your lower body, particularly the lateral stability of your knees. The first thing you’ve got to understand is the problem. The proper term is ‘valgus’ knee, which basically means your knee buckles inwards. It looks like this:

It can either be postural, meaning your knees are buckled in while just standing still, or it can be dynamic, meaning during certain movements, your knees buckle in. While both are issues, we’re going to address dynamic valgus of the knee, because it’s more important and more common in MMA fighters.

TESTING FOR DYNAMIC VALGUS

I look at 4 exercises to test for dynamic valgus:

1. Squat
2. Reverse Lunge
3. Squat Jump
4. Lunge Jump

The tests get more difficult as you go down the list, so  you can see exactly where the problem starts. The jumping exercises show the condition under explosive movements, which most relate to MMA and in this case punching power. What you’re looking for during these exercises is any buckling inwards of the knees. It may not be big, but it’ll definitely be noticeable in that your knees will almost tremble and shake at the bottom of the movements.

So check yourself out in the mirror when you do these exercises and if you notice the centre of the kneecap moving inside of the second toe (the one right beside your big toe) during any part of the exercise, you’ve got some work to do.

HOW VALGUS KNEE AFFECTS PUNCHING POWER

When you throw a power punch, such as a straight right (or straight left if you’re a southpaw) you should be throwing your whole body into it – starting from the hips, to the core, to the shoulders and finally through to your fist and into your opponent’s jaw. Here’s a great example from of what it looks like in action (my man Jeff Joslin):

But to give you true KO power, you need to create ’snap’ in the punch. The snap comes from your lead leg suddenly stopping this powerful rotation of your hips, core and shoulders, causing the whiplash effect. If you don’t quite get this, think of when you’re driving and you suddenly hit the brakes.

Your seat belt locks your pelvis down while your torso and head gets whipped forward violently. In this case, your head is like your hand during the punch and the seat belt is like your lead leg, suddenly stopping the motion and creating the snap. Now if you tested yourself and you have valgus knee during any of the tests above, you won’t be able to stabilize the rotation of the punch and you’ll lose snap and ultimately power. Your knee doesn’t lock you down and ground you, so it’s like braking slowly instead of stopping suddenly. Much less violent. Stay tuned for part 2...

DELOADING, excelente artículo de quién más? FERRUGIA

De paso guerreros, porfin entendí el concepto y como aplicarlo a partir de este artículo, lo recomieond totalmente, así como cualquiero otro de Jay:

How to Deload Properly… And Why It’s So Important

 Deload weeks are when you want to take plates off the bar. Once you’ve been training more than a few years the need to deload on a somewhat regular basis becomes more and more prevalent.

How often you do so depends on your training age, strength levels and injury history. Eastern Bloc countries and countless other successful lifters have had great results by training hard for three weeks and deloading on the fourth week.

It’s a pretty widely accepted formula and has been proven time and time again. So there’s really no need to try and reinvent the wheel. Three weeks hard, one week deload is my standard go-to-recommendation.

There are other options, however, and if you have only been training for a couple of years you won’t need to worry about deloading just yet. Beginners can go a few years without deloading. Eventually you’ll want to start with 12 weeks then work your way down to 10 and so on. When you get a little more advanced some people might be able to go 6-8 weeks hard before deloading. If you’re more of an early intermediate lifter, eight weeks may be a better option for you. If you’re more advanced and go eight weeks you might want to consider deloading for two weeks.

But to keep things simple let’s assume everyone is following the three to one rule. That’s the easiest thing to do since it fits nicely inside of a month.

I usually recommend reducing the total training per volume per workout by 40%. So say you normally do 20 sets per workout; on your deload week you would do 12 sets at each workout. On big barbell exercises that you do for maximal strength like a bench, squat, dead, military I recommend cutting the weight to 50% of your one rep max and just doing two sets of five. So lets say your 1RM on the bench is 315 and the previous week you were doing 255 for sets of 6-8, the deload week would be 155 (or technically 157.5) for 2×5.

The other option is to remove the lift all together for that week. I like this option for experienced guys who have a mastery of the lift and/or are also beat up from years of heavy training. The removal of the big barbell lift all together helps their joints recover. You also may kind of “lose the groove” if you do this, if you are more inexperienced, so it’s something you have to decide for yourself. But I think the benefits of taking that week off of heavy barbell lifting usually outweigh the negatives. You’ll get back in the groove in not time the following week.

For assistance exercises you have two choices. Intermediates should just do fewer sets but keep the intensity the same. You could do the same weight as the previous week or even try to go up. However, the intensiveness (not what some people mistake as intensity) should not be as high as the previous week . This means that you need to give your CNS a break on your deload week and shouldn’t be going to failure or getting overly psyched up on anything.

For guys who have been training a while and are a bit beyond the intermediate level I  recommend cutting the intensity by 20-40% on assistance exercises. So just take 20-40% off all your weights. If you did incline db presses for 10 reps with the 100′s on week three you would do 60′s- 80′s on your deload week. The stronger/more advanced/more beat up and further along in a training cycle you are the greater the drop off % should be. It also depends on the exercise. If you’re normally using 150lbs on a 1 arm row I would want to drop that down by a full 40%. But if it was just something like a face pull or curl you could easily get away with just dropping it 20%. You would do the same number of reps as the previous week but just cut the sets.

The other option is to just take the week entirely off from heavy lifting. I first did this back in the mid 90′s after a phone conversation with Ian King, and my results were awesome. My recovery dramatically improved, my testosterone went up, I was sleeping better and I had fewer nagging injuries. Like any good American I wanted more and got suckered into other stuff and got away from that for a while.

Be sure to lighten your weights on deload weeks

That was until I went to Nazareth Barbell one day for a visit and big Mike Miller told me that that’s what they did. Three weeks on of balls to the wall training, one week off entirely. They went at it hard and absolutely killed it for three weeks, then they rested. They were all monsters and I’m pretty sure Mike was the first guy to squat 1200. So it was hard to argue.

I went back to it again and had some of my over 35 year old clients doing it and they were making great progress.

Like the stubborn, glutton for punishment knucklehead that I am I have yet again gotten away from that schedule but it does work incredibly well and should strongly be considered by all those over 40 who like to go heavy and balls deep like we do. If all you do is some light bodyweight training or kettlebell stuff, deloading won’t be as important for you. But if you like moving iron and do stuff that stresses your shoulders, spine, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles regularly (like military presses, squats, farmers walks, tire flips, deadlifts- ya know, all the fun stuff) then  I would highly suggest deloading regularly.

If the over 35 crowd doesn’t want to take the week off entirely they should definitely at least reduce both the volume AND the intensity on their deload weeks. Not doing so really isn’t even an option, in my opinion, because it will keep you in the game and healthy a lot longer. Either you take the deload week and truly deload or you will be forced to deload due to an injury sooner or later.

Also, for the over 35 crowd I can’t recommend going more than 10-12 weeks without taking a complete week off entirely; with once every 8 (or fewer) weeks being an even better option. During these weeks you can stay active- walking, swimming, hiking, stretching, etc. But no lifting. Hopefully that gave you some good ideas about how to deload properly without being too confusing.

To sum it up…

- Reduce total # of sets by 40%
- Reduce intensity on big lifts to 50% of 1RM or just eliminate them all together
- Reduce intensity on assistance work to 80% of the previous weeks weight (if that doesn’t allow enough recovery drop the % down to 75% the next cycle, and so on and so on until you decide what % works best for you)

Excelente Articulo de Ferrugia Incluye a uno de mis idolos

Hill Sprints For Fat Loss 

 If you know me you know I like to keep things simple. I’m a big believer in the 80/20 rule. Focusing on too many things and making too many changes at once is always a recipe for disaster and will undoubtedly lead to lackluster results. So when people ask me for some tips on how to get lean I tell them two things- diet and sprint. Pretty simple stuff.

Diet is really 80% of getting lean but that’s another topic entirely. Today we’re simply gonna focus on hill sprints for fat loss. Mainly because not enough people are doing them and many of those who are, are doing them all wrong. If you are new to sprinting you need to take it easy. I mean reeeeaaaally easy. If the last time you ran a sprint was the week before senior prom you need to be very cautious or you’ll probably get hurt.

If this describes you I’d start with hill sprints. Why hill sprints? Well, firstly, because Walter Payton did them. And most of us should strongly consider doing whatever Walter Payton did just because he was that awesome. Because he was my favorite athlete growing up (along with Michael Jordan) I started running hill sprints way back in the 80’s when I found out that that’s what “Sweetness” did (and that poster, pictured above, was on my bedroom wall for years. You see how ripped Payton was?). When I found out a few years later that they were a major part of Jerry Rice’s off season training regimen, their greatness was reaffirmed in my mind.

Hill sprints place your body in a safer position because of the angle, so there is far less impact. The risk of pulling a hammy or popping an Achilles or something in your knee is greatly reduced. So, for most of us, this is the way to go. Another great thing about hill sprints versus other fat loss methods is that they also build muscle at the same time. Can’t really say that for the stairmaster, can you?

Now, before you get started you should warm up properly. Wearing some neoprene knee sleeves might be a good idea just to keep the knees warm. I recommend starting with about five to ten minutes of low intensity drills to get the body ready for the task at hand. A good warm up might consist of:

•    Jumping jacks •    Flings •    Seal jumps •    Ali shuffle •    Low pogo jump s•    High pogo jumps
•    Prisoner squats •    Gate swing s•    Wide out s•    Leg swings- front, back, side to side
•    Walking lunges•    High knees •    Butt kick s•    Tuck jumps •    Lateral shuffling •    Skipping
•    Etc.

The nice thing about sprinting up a hill is that you don’t require as much of a warm up. After hitting 5-10 minutes of the drills listed above start with some lower intensity sprints. Do one at about 60%, then 70%, another at 80%, one more at 90% and then you’re ready to go. For the most part I recommend that your sprint work be done at around 95-97%. Very rarely should you go all out at 100%. I realize that the difference between 95-97% and 100% may seem very small but an athlete in tuned with his body can tell the difference. And keeping the intensity just that much lower makes a big difference in overall recovery and CNS fatigue.

Again, if it’s your first sprint session in years you need to start way easier than you think. I recommend no more than FIVE sprints of no more than 40 yards the first day. Some times I see coaches or trainers recommend starting with ten 40-50 yard sprints. When I see this it’s immediately obvious that they haven’t trained too many people and haven’t done this themselves. Or they have been sprinting for years and forgot what its like to be a beginner. Beginners need to be extremely cautious and should start at only about 85-90% for the first week or so and keep the total number of sprints very low.

See how you feel after the first session and give it a go again in about five days. Slowly increase the intensity over time. Rest periods can be as short or as long as you need them to be. You want to keep your heart rate elevated but you don’t want to rest so little that your form starts getting sloppy and you risk injury. If you were training for speed you might be resting up to five minutes between each set. But since today’s topic is hill sprints for fat loss try to keep the rest periods a bit lower. We don’t need complete CNS recovery here.

The next thing we need to discuss is proper running mechanics. This is where most people get it all wrong. A couple weeks ago I went down to the field with my long time friend, Mike DeSanti (the creator of the recipes in the Triple Threat Muscle nutrition guide and our upcoming recipe book) and we ran some sprints. Since a qualified coach had never taught Mike how to sprint before he was just running like he always had without much thought involved.

I wanted him to feel the difference so I let him do about five or six sprints the old way. Then I taught him to run properly. His speed increased dramatically on the next one and when he hit the 50-yard line he broke out into hysterical laughter.

 

“I can’t believe I just learned how to sprint at thirty years old!”

“That was awesome!”

“I never moved like that in my life!”

“I was like a gazelle!”

He could barely get the words out through the laughter and since he was cracking up so hard I started dying, myself. We laughed uncontrollably the entire way back to the goal line and it continued throughout the rest of our workout. Mike was so blown away by the difference that proper running mechanics made that he couldn’t contain himself. So what did I show Mike that most people don’t know?

Since this is not a discussion on maximal speed training or mastering the 40 yard or 100 meter dash we won’t concern ourselves with the start so much. Instead, to be safe, we will use flying starts, meaning you start by running at less than your maximal speed and work your way up to top speed over the course of 15-20 yards.

•    Starting from the top down, the face must be relaxed. Do night clench your jaw or make any crazy faces. Relax.

•    Keep the chest up and shoulders back and down.

•    No side to side rotation of the pelvis, torso, shoulder girdle is allowed.

•    Hips remain forward toward the finish line at all times.

•    Arms should be bent ninety degrees with the hands open (no clenched fists or flailing, limp wrists).

•    When you are running the arms must pump vigorously, forward and backward. NEVER LET THE ARMS CROSS THE MIDLINE OF THE BODY. Only forward and backward. Little kids run with their arms side to side. Don’t do that or we will all make fun of you.

•    Think of pulling yourself through the air by driving your arms back as fast and hard as you can. The hands come up to a level even with the face and they come down and cross your pocket on the way back (but no further; don’t have them swinging way behind you).

•    Drive the knees high and be sure that the foot strikes directly under your body; not out in front of you (although, on a hill this may be slightly different depending on the incline).

•    Only the front portion of the foot should strike the ground; the heel should never make contact.

•    When the ball of the foot makes contact with the ground think of yourself as an animal pawing at the ground and rapidly pulling it behind you.

•    As Charlie Francis said, running takes place on the ground, sprinting takes place above it. If you do it right you should feel minimal impact or stress and should feel like you are flying effortlessly. If you’re taking a lot of pounding and it feels like a lot of work, you’re doing something wrong and should consider having someone watch or video tape you for some feedback.

What I listed above are basically the instructions for flat ground sprints but can easily be applied to the hill. A few angles will change here and there but for the most part, if you follow those recommendations you’ll be ahead of the pack and your sprints will be a lot safer and faster.

Just in case you aren’t convinced that hill sprinting isn’t the way to go just yet, consider that the current 49ers  head coach, Mike Singletary, who played most of his career with Walter Payton and had several outings against Jerry Rice, has taken a page out of the legends books and added hill sprints to the teams off season training regimen.

“There’s something about the hill,” Singletary told reporters back in mid-March 2009, after the 49ers first minicamp and the hill was on full display for the first time. “It’s beautiful to look at but what it’s going to do for our guys is it’s going to bring about something that you can’t really get in the weight room, something that you really can’t get on the track.”

“All the guys that I know that worked out on a hill, they were a cut above some of the other competition around the league and they had a long playing careers,” Singletary said. “So I’m excited about the hill and it just adds another dimension to our workout.”

So make like Payton and Rice and the entire current 49ers team and go find yourself a hill and start sprinting…

REvisen sus programas yo ya estoy revisando el mio!!!!!

MMA Workout Program Basics

By Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS

 

Strength and conditioning are keys to MMA success. Your MMA workout must develop all of the components you need for mixed-martial arts. In the past many athletes could get away with mediocre conditioning if they were highly skilled martial artists, but if you look at today’s UFC champs, they’re all highly skilled and in great shape.

So if you’re training MMA, to get the most out of your mixed-martial arts classes, you need to be in good shape. If you’re not in top shape, you’ll be more focused on your fatigue and breathing than on perfecting the details of the techniques you’re learning. And without good technique, you’ll waste more energy, creating a vicious cycle. If you’re out of shape, you need to focus on your base conditioning, before you can get the most out of your skills training. And if you’re in OK shape, getting into great shape will further enhance what you already know.

 

The 9 Key Components an
Effective MMA Workout MUST Have
(or you're just wasting your time and energy)

1) Workouts to develop all 3 energy systems: aerobic, anaerobic lactic (glycolytic), anaerobic alactic (ATP-CP)

• The Anaerobic alactic system gives you high-power for 10 seconds - that's the energy system you need to train to knock your opponent out or get an explosive takedown
  
• The Anaerobic lactic system gives you that burning feeling - it's what you need when you're in a heavy clinch or doing a lot of grappling
  
• The Aerobic system helps you stay fresh and recover between rounds
  
  
   2) Exercises designed to enhance movements specific to mixed-martial arts
  

Example #1 - Many people hate on bicep curls but they’re necessary to hold underhooks when standing or to defend an armbar, so they must be a part of the program
Example #2 – Powerful strikes come from having a high level of dynamic core stability in the rotational (transverse) plane of motion, so exercises like medicine ball side tosses are necessary

3 planes of motion

3) Exercises that work all 3 planes of motion: sagittal, frontal, and transverse

• Most exercises that you do are predominantly in the sagittal plane: Bench press, Squat, Deadlift
• Examples of frontal plane exercises include Side bridges and Turkish getups
• The transverse plane is where you earn your bonus for Knockout of the Night: again, Medicine ball side tosses are a great exercise for pure development of this plane

4) A workout program that doesn’t make you too sore so you can effectively train their MMA skills. If you're following a standard bodybuilder or powerlifter routine, you're going to get sore and it will hurt your ability to perform MMA techniques with proper form because the body always avoids pain when it can.

5) An effective MMA workout program must not put on too much muscle mass (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, like bodybuilding) – instead the focus must be on strength and muscle density (myofibrillar hypertrophy)

6) A progression scheme that peaks your conditioning level for the fight, taking into consideration the typical volume and intensity of MMA training leading to the fight

7) A workout program that doesn’t demand more than 3 days a week of strength and conditioning. Anymore than this will surely detract from MMA skills training

8) Exercises that will train all 8 biomotor abilities: strength, power, endurance, speed, agility, co-ordination, balance, and flexibility

9) Exercises that will help prevent common injuries to fighters:

Example – the shoulder is often a problem with fighters, especially those who rely on their boxing, which causes overdevelopment of the anterior deltoid and demands a lot of anterior acceleration of the humerus in the capsule – so to minimize the impact on the joint itself, the muscles that are responsible for deceleration (external rotators, posterior deltoid, scapular stabilizers) must be strengthened eccentrically

All of these points are essential to the complete physical development for a mixed-martial artist. There are many basic strength programs out there, like the 5x5 and Starting Strength programs, but they leave out some crucial elements such as training the transverse plane that is responsible for developing KO power.

Not to say that these programs are not beneficial, they definitely are better than doing something randomly or not doing anything at all, but they are not specific to MMA athletes, they are generalized strength programs.

Then there are the general conditioning programs, like CrossFit. Although they can be very challenging, they are random workouts with no goal in mind other than to make you sweat, again providing a more general type of fitness instead of the specific requirements needed by a mixed-martial artist as outlined in this article.

If you’re currently working out, look at the points in this article and add in what is missing and you’ll surely feel the impact on what matters most – your MMA performance.

REtomo actividades con un artículo de Ferrugia

 

Fat Burning Tips:

An Interview with Chad Waterbury

 

About three or four years ago Chad Waterbury and I connected for the first time through our mutual friend, Alwyn Cosgrove. Over several Jack & Red Bulls at a bar in Santa Monica, we discussed training for hours on end.  Despite the fact that we went into the meeting with seemingly very different views and theories, we concluded that we agreed much more than we disagreed. Since that night Chad’s become one of my good friends and we discuss training on a weekly basis. He’s one of the guys I trust most and I’m always interested in hearing what he’s been experimenting with as of late.

Since summer’s in full swing and a large number of people are in fat loss mode I grabbed Chad last week for a few minutes to sit down and share some of his top fat burning tips.

Here’s how it went…

Jason Ferruggia: Chad, the majority of people reading this site want to get bigger and stronger but many of them would also like to be learner as well. The problem, however, is that when most people embark on a fat burning phase the first thing that happens is they start losing muscle faster than King Kong Bundy pinned S.D. Jones at WrestleMania I (which I was at, BTW) How can this be avoided?

Chad Waterbury: You’re right. I’ve lost count how many guys I’ve seen who’ve lost almost half the muscle they gained once they try to get six-pack abs. It’s not easy to build muscle, but it’s definitely easy to lose it.

There are three keys to avoiding this. First, stimulate as many muscle fibers as possible with full-body workouts comprised of strength and cardio strength exercises that are performed at top speed.

Second, follow a systematic progression plan in order to make your body do more work over time.

Third, feed your muscles the nutrients it needs at the right times.

JF: What are the three biggest mistakes you see people making when trying to lose fat?

CW: The first mistake is performing long duration cardio at a low intensity. Nothing wastes muscle tissue faster than jogging for an hour. When muscles are forced to continuously contract for 45 minutes or an hour, that energy has to come from somewhere. The body is very stubborn and doesn’t want to use fat for energy because it’s much easier to break down muscle tissue instead. This is why marathon runners are skinny and weak.

Second, when people try to lose fat they drop too many calories, too fast. Your anabolic hormones are fed by certain, key nutrients. When people go on a low-calorie diet they end up giving their muscles fewer nutrients for support and recovery. This quickly puts the body in a very catabolic state.

The third biggest mistake guys tend to make is choosing the wrong exercises and workouts to lose fat. Most people end up lifting light weights for a ton of reps. This is the exact opposite of what they should be doing because they’re not recruiting the muscle fibers they’re trying to keep: the biggest, strongest ones.

Think about it. When people try to burn fat they instinctively do the three worst things possible to maintain muscle. I’ve seen guys lose 10 pounds of muscle in a matter of weeks when they combine low-intensity cardio, high rep weight training, and a low calorie diet. This is a travesty.

JF: What are your top three fat burning tips? Actually, let’s start with three for training and then we’ll go into three for nutrition.

CW: The first step is to make your cardio training short and intense. Tabata’s research taught us that high intensity cardio is the way to go because you’ll boost your anaerobic and aerobic power at the same time, and you’ll stimulate your metabolism to burn calories long after you leave the gym. Low-intensity cardio only burns calories while you’re doing it. High intensity cardio stimulates your metabolism to keep burning calories long after you stop.

Next, for every other workout it’s important to lift weights that are heavy enough to recruit your biggest, strongest muscle fibers. A 6-10 rep maximum is enough to get the job done when you accelerate the lift. There are two reasons why this is important. First, you’ll keep the muscle you have because you’re recruiting all of your muscle fibers. As I’ve mentioned in my books and articles, when you recruit the largest muscle fibers you’re also recruiting all of the other muscle fibers because of the size principle. As the saying goes: if you don’t use it, you lose it. Second, when heavy weights are performed in a full-body circuit with short rest periods, it drastically increases the metabolic cost of a workout. That’s essential for burning fat. But you can’t do much heavy training while cutting fat, so that’s why the next step is so important.

Third, you must perform cardio and cardio strength exercises at top speed.  There are no typical cardio exercises in my world. Instead of jogging on a treadmill I have my clients perform a circuit of, say, split jacks, jumping jacks, and burpees for multiple rounds as fast as possible. Then I have them do exercise pairings that don’t require a lot of weight, but still recruit all your muscle fibers when performed at top speed. I call this “cardio strength” training. A good example is the kettlebell swing and push-up pairing. Start with 13 swings, then immediately drop to the floor and do 13 push-ups. Jump back to your feet and do 12 swings followed by 12 push-ups. Then do 11 swings and 11 push-ups. Continue with this sequence until you reach one rep of each exercise.

Tomorrow I’ll be back atcha with part 2 where Chad discusses his top fat burning nutrition tips, shares some real life examples of what he’s doing with his current clients and reveals who won when he and I raced in a hundred meter dash…

Fortaleza mental en todos los aspectos

En estos tiempos ando en el rollo de a preparaci´øn mental y en este posteo les comparto un artículo de Vince Palko que en realidad trasciende el umbral deportivo y encuentra aplicacion en la vida diaria, aprovechenlo...

What do John Elway, Hines Ward and Brian Pruitt 

all have in common?

First, a lil diddy: Back in college it came down to the biggest game of my collegiate career - BG vs Central Michigan, the winner went to the Mac championship. Central had a top rated running back that year name Mike Priutt. Nothing did I like better than having the challenge rest on the dee to stop this guy. The first play from the line of scrimmage was a sixty yard scamper to the end zone by Mr Pruitt. After that, he was lucky to get fifty yards total.

On one play, I remember drilling Mike into the ground with everything I had. He let out a gust of wind emptying his lungs.... "Umph!" "Ya come on my side a-gain and yur gonna get more of dhat," I whispered in his ear hole.

"Vince, May God be with you!" "What?!?!?!?!" I thought. How can this be? I leveled him and his response was "May God be with you." My strategy for mentally messing with his head was trumped.

People who practice mental toughness have a knack for never letting you know an ounce of their pain inside. Theyre tough as nails. They eat thunder and crap lightning.

John Elway was another example of this. No matter how hard a linebacker would thump him he always stood-up displaying that cheshire grin. In fact, no matter if the Bronchoes were behind or ahead

he alwas seemed to have the same expression. As a fan on the opposing team it was frustating as heck to watch.Can you imagine being an opposing player and seeing that when you line up for every snap.

 Heines ward is another example if you want a more recent person who practices this "smile into adversity" principle. After every jaw rattling tackle he pops up off the ground with that cheesy smile. It almost looks fake if it were not plastered on his face - all game long.

So is this another one of my many ole football stories that I mindlessly pound out that have zero to do with your life. Hardly.

There are many folks who are in a world of hurt. Maybe not physically but mentally. If you are unemployed. If you are facing foreclosure. If you are at odds with your employer. Basically, if you are living life... chances are you are being challenged now more than ever.

So my advice is smile into adversity. Smile when it hurts most. Dont let the circumstances get the best of you; less you give your power away to people, places and things that dont count in the grand scheme of things. Or the big picture.

When you smile when you dont feel like it, you instantly change your energy. You change the way people respond to you. In essence, you activate your FAITH muscle trusting everything will be alright in the future. And FAITH is one of the key components to success and turning your life around.

La sabiduría de Cus D´Amato

On November 4th, it will have been 21 years since the death of Cus D'Amato - a man who helped alter the future of the sport and who developed some of the greatest fighters in history. To remember this legendary trainer we would like  to give you some of Cus D'Amato's words of wisdom and remember the great man and brilliant trainer/manager he was. 

Cus D'Amato on how the recognition and acknowledgement of fear is the crucial lesson he taught and was ignored by other trainers:

 
Fear is the greatest obstacle to learning in any area, but particularly in boxing. For example, boxing is something you learn through repetition. You do it over and over and suddenly youve got it. However, in the course of trying to learn, if you get hit and get hurt, this makes you cautious, and when youre cautious you cant repeat it, and when you cant repeat it, its going to delay the learning process.

When kids came up to the gym and say I want to be a fighter, the first thing Id do was talk to them about fear would always use the same example of the deer crossing an open field and upon approaching the clearing suddenly instinct tells him danger is there, and nature begins the survival process, which involves the body releasing adrenalin into the bloodstream, causing the heart to beat faster and enabling the deer to perform extraordinarily feats of agility and strength. It enables the deer to get out of range of the danger, helps him escape to the safety of the forest across the clearing, an example in which fear is your friend.
The thing a kid in the street fears the most is to be called yellow or chicken, and sometimes a kid will do the most stupid, wild, crazy things just to hide how scared he is. I often tell them that while fear is such an obnoxious thing, an embarrassing thing nevertheless it is your friend, because anytime anyone saves your life perhaps a dozen times a day, no matter what how obnoxious he is, youve got to look upon him as a friend, and this is what fear is. 

Since nature gave us fear in order to help us survive, we cannot look upon it as an enemy. Just think how many times a day a person would die if he had no fear. Hed walk in front of cars, hed die a dozen times a day. Fear is a protective mechanism. 

By talking to the fighters about fear I cut the learning time maybe as much as half, sometimes more, depending on the individual.

More words of wisdom:

"They say I 'mold' a fighter, but no. I help him mold himself. I bring out with him qualities that he has buried deep down, that many times he doesn't know he has. My job is to discover and uncover, bring 'em to the surface slowly or quickly, dependin' on how much dirt is layin' on top of 'em. When I bring 'em to the surface, I not only become fully and completely aware of 'em, but the fighter does too."

"The first lesson I teach these kids before I teach them to box is a lesson about Fear, about what Fear is and why we have it. Fear is like a fire. If you control it, as we do when we heat our houses, it is a friend. When you don't, it consumes you and everything you do and everything around you."

"I am a professional. My commitment demands of me... my pride. Everybody sets his own limitations on himself. I set no limitations on myself, except to do the job that I commit myself to do."

"I deal in minds and emotions."

"There is no such thing as a natural puncher. There is a natural aptitude for punching and that is different. Nobody is born the best. You have to practice and train to become the best."

"A boy comes to me with a spark of interest and it becomes a flame. I feed the flame and it becomes a fire. I feed the fire and it becomes a roaring blaze."

"Mike's (Tyson) punch is like an atomic bomb in that it is relative to nature. Both have no value unless you have a means of conveying it to the target. He is boxing-smart."

"When a fighter no longer wants to fight, he finds a convenient corner to lie down in. It's all psychological."

"Any kid coming here (Gramercy Gym) for the first time who thinks he wants to be a fighter, and who makes the climb up those dark stairs, has it 50% licked, because he's licking fear."

"People who are born round don't die square."

"No matter what anyone says, no matter the excuse or explanation, whatever a person does in the end is what he intended to do all along."

"Heroes and cowards feel exactly the same fear. Heroes just react to it differently."

"There are no stupid people. There are only uninterested people."

"People, especially if they come up in a rough area, have to go through a number of experiences in life that are intimidating and embarrassing. These experiences form layer upon layer over their capabilities and talents. So your job as a teacher is to peel off those layers."

"People talk about boxing as a 'brutal' sport. If fighters got hit as often as people think, they'd all quit."

"With fear, a man becomes emotionally tired and when he is afraid, he has no faith in himself."

"I believe nature's a lot smarter than anyone thinks. During the course of a man's life he develops a lot of pleasures and people he cares about. Then nature takes them away one by one. It's her way of preparing you for death.