Ask Dave: I Gas Quickly When Drilling Power Punches, How Should I Train Them?

8 05 2013

This question was asked on Sunday at the end of the Basic Self Defence Skills workshop.

I know the asker well. He’s no spring chicken and a lifetime student of the martial arts, a guy who has attended several workshops I’ve either run or hosted on self defence and even attended Wild Geese Martial Arts classes on and off for several years. These days he trains mostly out of his garage.
He’s the kind of guy who has thought long and hard, who has tried and tested, and when he asks a question, he’ll see right through you if you attempt to feed him with bullshit.

He’s my kind of student!

So when he asked the question in the title, I had to turn the answer into a blog post, because, like most of Brians questions, if you haven’t thought about this yet, you will.

So, you’re training to hit with maximal power, yet you find yourself gassing early.

This is problematic, especially for those with a self defence / combatives mindset.
Training for combat sports is very much centred around conditioning, it’s about building up to and peaking for an event where there are a predetermined number of rounds with predetermined work and rest times. Your opponent will be matched as closely as possible to you in terms of weight and experience.
If you stand on the door, work in any field of security/law enforcement or hold down a full time job and have a family you train to protect any time, any where against anyone, it’s a little more tricky to prepare.

That isn’t to say the protocols used by the combat sports athletes aren’t useful to you, they are. They just may not be ideal. So lets look at how we can train with maximal efficiency in minimal time.

Rule 1: Train like a sprinter or Weightlifter

sprint absThis is a debate I’ve had ad-nauseum with several other coaches, but I will stick to my guns here.
I do not, never have, probably never will mix high level skill training with high level conditioning training.
This means that if you’re working to train that perfect punch, you need to prioritise the mechanics of the hips and shoulders as well as the alignment of the skeleton upon impact above all else.
Fatigue will reduce the ability to focus upon and develop quality.

So we take a look at the training undertaken by sprinters and 1 rep max weight lifters.

These guys spend a large part of their training time doing nothing at all, yet they are some of the most powerful people on the planet. Yes, their cardio may not be that of a UFC fighter, but in the combatives world, our job is to end a fight as soon as possible, we’re talking three to five seconds. The longer it goes on, the higher the stakes get.

So, train like them. Short bouts of incredible effort with plenty of rest.
If you’re building pure power into your strikes, do them in sets of 3-5reps. Treat each rep as a single unit rather than a set of 3 reps (think along the lines of rest-pause training), so do one, quick reset, do the next one until the set is done. Then take all the time you need before repeating.
Maybe set a timer, have the buzzer go off on the minute, even every 2 minutes. On the sound, bang out three to five perfect and powerful punches. This goes on until the impact, speed or movement quality begins to break down.

If your happy with the quality and are looking for the ability to hammer in a cluster of strikes, be that a simple repeat of that big right hand or even a more boxing style left right combination, then we do things slightly different.
Set your timer now for 10 seconds work with 1-2 minutes rest.
On the sound, launch into the heavy bag with everything you have. Make it swing away and use your strikes to keep it at that angle until the 10 seconds are up, then rest.

Perform several rounds of this, as many as you can while maintaining quality of work.

Rule 2: Keep You Conditioning Work Short and Sharp

Short, intense bouts of conditioning work are the order of the day here. Simplicity works best, don’t add anything complex to these workouts as you’re looking to improve your power output, power endurance and strengthen movement patterns.
Use whatever equipment you have at hand, but focus on developing hip extension, Core Stability (including the shoulder) and upper body strength.
Train the body as a unit, as a whole.

For this I advocate circuits, especially Power Circuits and / or complexes.
Keep these tight, 20 minutes or even less. Work hard, but maintain quality. If you’re training with and anyone-anytime mindset, you can’t afford injury or burn out. These workouts must support and improve your main training, not hinder it.

Here’s me doing a power circuit:

Rule 3: Every now and then, go fucking nuts!

One of the greatest assets a fighter can develop, any fighter whether their arena is the ring, the octagon, the pavement or the jungle is tenacity.
It’s the will to push and push. To work beyond their physical limitations.

For this I advocate that from time to time, it may be once per month, once per quarter or even once per year, but be sure to take on a challenge that pushes you way out of your comfort zone. Something that leaves you sick in the stomach just thinking about it. The kind of thing that keeps you awake at night.
See it through, no matter how much you want to pull out before hand or how much you want to quit doing it. See it through.

You can make yourself more accountable for these kind of events by using them as charity fundraisers, or you can simply do it for yourself.

It could be entering a competition, be it Kettlebell lifting, Power Lifting, amateur boxing. It could be a marathon or a mile of walking kettlebell swings.
The actual nature of the event is unimportant, it’s the physical, mental and emotional stress it instills that counts.

A training session may look like this (example only):

1: Power emphasis: Rear Cross 10 sets of 3L/R, full bore strikes.

2: Speed / Power Endurance: Repeating Rear Cross (piston style) x 10sec burst x 5rounds L/R

3: General Fitness Power Circuit:
3A: Deadlift x 3-5
3B: Clean & Press x 6-8
3C: Seated Russian Twist x 6-8 L/R
3D: Anything goes bagwork x 30seconds
Repeat for either 3-5 rounds, adding weight to the deadlift each round, or do a 20 minute AMRAP with a set load.

4: Yoga type stretches to cool off.

If you don’t have time for this, separate it into two sessions, combatives specific in one session, circuit in the next.

If you train out of your garage, or even if you are training for general fitness but with a view to being able to protect your family if needs be, try this training template 2-3 days per week and see how you get on.

Regards

Dave
http://www.WG-Fit.com


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Categories : Ask Dave, martial arts, Mental Strength

Ask Dave: How Does One Increase Their Capacity for Work?

15 04 2013

It appears that the “Ask Dave” category is kicking arse. You comment, email and stop me in the gym to ask me to write about some of the best topics.
And I like that.

From time to time I get completely stumped by a question, which means I’m guaranteed to hit the books and scour the internet to fill that knowledge gap.

From time to time I get asked a question that stops me dead in my tracks, something that is asked in a way that I’ve not come across, or is searching deeper than the norm. I love these as it shows a genuine interest in fitness and training.

And from time to time I get questions like below, where people are asking how they can do a little extra to improve themselves, and that I love.

The following question comes from the US and a woman who says she came to fitness late in life, she’s in her 40′s, and from what I see, she’s killing it! We’ve chatted over facebook a few times and I’m blown away by her attitude, so when she asks something I do my best to answer.
I’ve a feeling this’ll be a long post, but first, here’s the question.

Shannon talks about her journey into fitness in the My Mad Methods magazine

Shannon talks about her journey into fitness in the My Mad Methods magazine

“May be a topic to write about?? How does one increase their capacity for work?

I have my regular work in my 6AM class and yet I still want to improve other fitness skills. Dan John talks about “greasing the groove” and if you want to be better at a skill, do it daily.

I found when I did an additional workout over lunch or after work for a period of time, that I got a little “wonky” in my brain… more tired, more whiney, more grumpy, too serious about it all. I backed off the add’l work and things improved mentally as well as physically in my AM class.

Tho’ it seems to me bodies can be conditioned to do more… people train for so many endurance events and do such demanding things all the time with life in general vs. an hour workout a day.

What are your thoughts about your clients doing more on their personal time and improving thier skill base? Curious.

Cheers!”

So, work capacity and skill building. Two things close to my heart.

Lets start with the part on “Grease the Groove”
Grease the groove is a concept that has garnered popularity through Pavel Tstasouline. Dan John does a lot of work with Pavel and is a giant in the industry. If Dan gets behind and idea, then its a good idea.

Pavel

Pavel

But what is Grease the Groove?

Simply put, it’s practice. It’s taking a skill that you want to develop and practicing it as frequently as possible, but never to fatigue.
If we take strength and look at it as the skill of activating our muscle fibres in the right sequence, at the right time to create powerful movement, then we can see how frequent practice can be useful.
Any skill requires practice, if you want to get that perfect triangle choke, you practice it at every opportunity.
If you want to kick a ball like Johnny Wilkinson, you kick at every opportunity.
If you want to get good at pull ups, you need to hit them at every opportunity.
If you want to play guitar like Mark Knopfler, you pluck the strings at every opportunity.

But you must always, always ALWAYS prioritise quality over quantity. Always.

So when it comes to fitness related goals, we must avoid the one thing that most people actively seek in the gym, fatigue.
You must not approach this with the “workout” mindset, we’re not looking for the pump, we can’t afford to take a set to failure and we certainly don’t want to induce DOMS. Hell, we should barely break sweat.

So pick your lift. I mentioned pull ups and that’s the one that comes up the most in my gym, and pull ups actually do reward frequent training. But it could also be deadlifts, clean & press, maybe you’re learning the olympic lifts.
A basic start point to work with is to work at 50% of your training max. But even less is fine.

If I can do ten perfect pull ups and want to get better, then I’ll do sets of 5 over the course of the day.
If I can press that 32kg bell for 3, but want to do it for reps, lift it once, maybe twice in a set but do it frequently over the day.

Never go to failure, avoid fatigue at all costs. The more tired you become, the less total work you’ll be able to achieve, which is detrimental to what we’re trying to achieve.

So that’s Grease the Groove in a nutshell. It means practice.
My old karate instructor, Jack Parker, the man who bears much of the responsibility for who I am today, used a similar idea, but he told it differently.
Jack gave me the following nuggets of advice:
- Everytime you go through your bedroom door, do some push ups.
- Practice wherever and whenever you can, if your brushing your teeth, punch with the other hand, if you’re sat on the toilet, visualise your kata, while you wait for the kettle to boil, practice your stances.

They’re not his exact words, but you get the drift. He espoused grease the groove, before grease the groove was even heard of.

It is Jack’s teachings that form the foundation of many of my training beliefs and principles, add to that the research and reading from many other coaches. There is no doubt in my mind that people should practice outside of their training sessions and that greasing the groove is probably the best way to do so.

Next then is overall work capacity.

This is a deeper question for several reasons, no less so as Shannon is a touch over 21 years old.

We’ll start with a nutshell, a soundbite that is easy to understand and pretty well on the button:

You can only train as much as you can recover from

Now here’s the catch, as we age, we recover more slowly.
The harder we train, the longer it takes to recover.
Duration can take longer to recover from than intensity.

The more we do, the more fuel we need, so our calorie intake must go up accordingly. This simple fact seems to be the most often overlooked element when people up their training load.
There are too many nutrition programs out there to follow, and the main ones work. However I strongly advocate listening to your body before listening to any Guru.
It took me a long time to realise that I do well on a high fat intake but still need a good amount of carbs. Too few carbs and I’m not a nice man, too many and I’m sluggish and lethargic. Get it just so and I’m the duracell bunny!

Like I said, it took a good bit of experimentation to figure this out. You must do the same.
Livestrong.com have a nice food tracker, it’ll tell you your macronutrient breakdown. See what you do best on and stick with it.

Overall, we can adapt to anything, so if you want to train every day, even twice per day, it is possible. Just be sure that you have the recovery protocols in place, that means, stretching, eating, hydration and sleep.
We must also build slowly, gradually ramp up the work load, don’t just jump in with both feet.
If this means cutting your regular training back a touch while you add in an extra workout, do it. Once this is working, start upping it again.

Slow and steady wins the race on this one. Shannon doesn’t state how she trains or her training goals, so I can’t be too precise with advice here.

The next question that must be addressed is kind of the elephant in the room.
Is increasing my training volume going to work to my advantage or detriment?

Chatting to James Fennelly, Irelands strongest man and recent Worlds Strongest Man competitor. These strongman guys know a thing or two about work capacity. James’ specialty is the deadlift, yet he only trains the lift every two weeks.

355kg for 11 reps, gotta be the socks!

355kg for 11 reps, gotta be the socks!

Recently I dropped my training from 4 days per week to three with an optional fourth. As soon as I dropped a day everything improved.
My energy on the floor coaching went up, my overall productivity increased and I hit a PR pretty much every week while my injuries and well and truley in check.
So overall, it’s a plus.

Prior to this I was training 5 days per week in a competitive cycle, after that I started a 4 day strength program. I have in the past trained up to 20 hours in a week, but right now, with my other commitments, 3 hours is plenty.

Well three hours plus some playing and a bit of grease the groove and a 4 mile cycle to & from work each day….

So, we’re almost at 1500 words and I’ve probably created more questions than I’ve answered.
Lets see if we can round it up with a summary of some sort:

  • You can adapt to anything, just do it slowly.
  • You can only train as much as you can recover from, so prioritise this.
  • Get your calories. “There’s no such thing as overtraining, only undereating” – A bodybuilding maxim that holds a fair bit of truth.
  • Ask the hard question, “will added work hinder or help?”
  • No seriously, ask the question and give an honest answer.
  • Set your goals, then arrange your training to get you there, not the other way around.
  • Little and often is usually good advice.

Now, if that makes sense to you or leaves you completely confused, leave me a comment or hit the share buttons.

Regards

Dave
http://www.wg-fit.com


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Ask Dave: Can you Still Make Progress While Training Without a Routine

9 04 2013

Here we go with another Ask Dave question.

This one comes from Peter out in Ennis. Peter is a friend of mine, he drops by the gym every time he comes to Dublin and was a long time user of the (now defunct) online training service. He’s also the guy I use to proof read and edit my eBooks.

That last fact may surprise you when you read his question which I copied and pasted direct from his email with no alteration….

“I had a question/suggestion for you that might make fodder for one of your articles…
It has to do with assessing progress while using the sort of short intense programmes you post for lunch.
Kinda – how do you balance exercise and work style variety with a framework where you can accurately assess your progress.”

Essentially Peter wants to know if it is possible to track your progress while following an unstructured training program.

Most days I post up on the WG-Fit facebook page the workout that my lunchtime crew did. Each day it’s a short, full body workout using Kettlebells and Bodyweight exercises. Due to the nature of the lunchtime sessions, we have a variety of people coming in of a variety of fitness levels with a variety of goals. They also come in at various times and with varying frequency.
So while many do have bespoke training programs that they follow, many simply look at the workout written on the wall and get on with it.

So what’s on the wall?

Here’s a few from the last week or so:

1A: Split Squat x 4-6L/R
1B: Pull Ups x 80%
3 rounds

2A: Clean & Press x 4-6
2B: Double Swing x 8-12
3 rounds

3: Hand to hand swing x 100

———————————

1A: Push up / Renegade row combo
1B: Deadlift
1C: Cleans from dead start
1D: Thrusters
1E: Front Squat
4-6 reps of each, no rest between exercises.
4-6 rounds, rest as needed between rounds.

—————————————

1A: Clean x 4
1B: Press x 1
Amrap x 15mins.

—————————————

1A: (Jump) Lunge x 5L/R
1B: Swing x 20
1C: Sit Through x 5L/R
1D: Swing x 20
1E: Hindu Push Up x 5
1F: Swing x 20
AMRAP x 20mins

—————————————

1A: Clean to Front Squat x 5 x 5 (don’t be shy with the weight)
1B: Push Ups x 12 – 15
2A: Clean & Press to Windmill OR Side Press x 5L/R
2B: Lateral Lunge x 6-8 L/R

3: Hand to Hand Swing x 100

—————————————–

As you can see, there is a variety of styles using a variety of exercises.

So can you track progress?

Yes.

There are many movements that repeat, Front Squats and Clean & Press are staples. As are pull ups and swings. It’s a simple enough to monitor how these individual lifts are progressing.
But perhaps a better way of judging is the use of what crossfit call “Benchmark” workouts.

This is exactly how the Boot Camp program has run. The Bootcamp is a structured program but it begins and ends with a fitness test, a single test that brings together all the attributes we aim to develop over the 4 week program, which are:
Strength, Power, Endurance and Mental Fortitude.

If the second fitness test is done quicker than the first, then the program has been a success.

But back to our lunchtime fitness  sessions. Every now and them we throw in a test, or a favourite workout.
These workouts pop up more frequently than any others and always follow the same parameters and so can be used to check progress.

Can you perform the workout quicker? If yes, then you’ve improved your power output.
Can you perform the workout but do more reps? If yes, then you’ve improved your work capacity.
Can you do the same workout but with more weight? If yes, you’ve gotten stronger.

So from this we can see that a highly structured training program isn’t always necessary  unless you have specific goals in mind.
If general fitness is your goal, variety can keep life interesting while still providing gains.

Just be sure to test every now and again.

Regards

Dave
http://www.wg-fit.com


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Ask Dave: Why is core strength so important?

28 02 2013

Over the weekend I was over in Galway as a guest of the inimitable Sarah Smith, owner of Galway Kettlebells, where I taught my bodyweight training workshop.

The workshop is always a blast to teach, each time I run it I’m more than impressed by the level of questions that get asked.
On this one though I got a doozy.

A 17 yr old martial artist was on the course, a bright wee lad who is relatively new to the whole fitness / strength & conditioning world.
So often the best questions come from those with the least knowledge, and like I said, this was a corker.
He asked,

“So why exactly is core strength so important?”

Usually I am asked about developing core strength, this is the first time I’ve been asked one of the most important of all questions, “Why?”

To really answer, first of all we all need to be on the same page as to what exactly the “core” is, I personally use three definitions dependent on the context I’m working from.

Lets go over these three definitions:

1 – The Water Bottle Concept

This idea came to me while teaching seminar on Kettlebells to group one day. I asked the group, who were mainly young fitness instructors for their opinions on how to define the “core”
Needless to say I got a lot of blank looks followed by stumbling descriptions and a lot of pointing at the stomach.
At that moment I grabbed my water bottle and used it to illustrate a simple view of the core as a singular unit as opposed to a jumble of parts. Here’s a short version how the speech goes (for a full version, get the Level 1 Kettlebell Manual):

A plastic water bottle, even an empty one, can support a good portion of my bodyweight without any issue. Assuming I can balance on it, it can support my entire bodyweight with a degree of deformity occurring.
Now if put the tiniest hole in the bottle, or simply unseal the lid, it will collapse under a fraction of that weight.
How does the sealed bottle hold me up where an open one collapses? It is after all the same bottle made of the same thin plastic.

A sealed empty plastic bottle supporting a 10kg plate

A sealed empty plastic bottle supporting a 10kg plate

But if we remove the lid....

But if we remove the lid….

It’s the internal air pressure that supports my weight. The walls of plastic merely present the air escaping so that there is sufficient pressure to support me. As soon as the air finds a way out, through a weak spot in the plastic, the bottle collapses.
This is almost exactly how our abdomen works when we are generating high levels of force. The air pressure in the torso stiffens the body so that the hips and shoulders can use it as a platform to push from.
The water bottle even helps us with the anatomy.
The front side is our Rectus Abdominis, or “6 pack.” Directly opposite this on the back of the body is the Erector Spinea. The sides represent our obliques.
The label illustrates the Transverse Abdominis nicely as it goes around the bottle, albeit on the outside rather than the inside.
The base of the bottle is the Pelvic Floor and the lid represents the Diaphragm.When all of these elements are working together, we are strong. Individually they are pretty much useless.

How does this help us?
It shows us how the core works as a unit, stiffening to both protect the body ans also to transfer force from one end of the body to another.
For our martial artist, that means when his fist lands, the core stiffness so that the force is transferred not just into, but through his opponent with minimal recoil reverberating back through himself.

punched_face_02

2 – From the Hips to the Shoulders

I don’t use this one as much as the water bottle idea, but I find it useful for getting the contact athletes and fighters to reconsider their training needs.
It’s a simplified version of the next definition that follows this.
The way I like to illustrate this is with 2 pens and an elastic band.
Put a pen through the band and hold it steady, now put the other pen through it and start twisting. After a few twists hold that pen steady and release the bottom one. What happens?

That’s right, the bottom pen spins as the band unwinds. That’s exactly how a Thai boxer throws a kick, wind the top so that the bottom whips around.

BOOM!

BOOM!

Now if the bottom pen is out hip and the top pen is our shoulder, then the band is our core. What connects the hip to the shoulder? A whole host of muscles, including everything talked about in the Water Bottle idea and adding in the Glutes, Lats, Rhomboids, Traps and so on and so forth.
Look at thrower, be it shot put or baseball, doesn’t matter. See how the et their hip all the way around so the torso is twisted like our elastic band visual. Then, as the torso teaches its maximal stretch it snaps the shoulder through, whipping th arm out and propelling the
ball at rocket speed towards the target.
Every muscle that was involved in that stretch can be construed as the core. It’s not just your abs, it’s the entire connection between the hips and shoulders.

3 – The Spine

This is the real core.
It is a series of 33 bones, 24 of which are able to articulate against the bone above and below it. The spine can flex, extend and rotate, essentially moving in each and every plane. It also protects our spinal cord and acts as an anchor point for a huge amount of muscle.

spine
If we really want to talk about our core, we have to talk about the spine.
In the world of power generation and athletic movement, the spine is a BIG player. Let’s use throwing a punch as an example:
A punch starts in the ground, we extend our rearmost ankle and knee which pushes our rear side hip forwards. This all happens fairly fast with each joint accelerating the next.
Now assuming our abdominal muscles have enough elasticity and strength, the hip turning while the shoulder is stationary will torque the midsection, the spine will become twisted and many the muscles the attach to the spine will either become lengthened (stretched).
The spine then will unwind, releasing that stretch and literally slingshotting the shoulder forward throwing out the arm and knocking out the person opposite you.

If you get nothing from that other than the word “slingshotting” I’m cool with that, just as long as you use that word at something today in conversation. Drop me a comment letting me know how you get on….

Cue one of my favorite self defence coaches, Mick Coup, talking about the punch:

The flexion / extension of the spine in the saggital plane is used by strongman and Kettlebell lifters during presses and jerks to propel weight efficiently overhead with a whip or wave like action.
Combine the forward flexion with rotation and you have a tennis serve, reverse it and you have a suplex throw.

Really, the spine is the core. Muscles are designed to move joints and the spine has 24 articulating vertebrae, as well as the sacroilliac, the atlas and others. That’s a lot of joints, all of which needs to be controlled by muscular contraction.

Now, does the core need to be strong?

Abso-fecking-lutley!

It also needs to be mobile, or “elastic” as I prefer to think of it.
So don’t just do your strength work, be sure to do some mobilisation work too.

I hope this offers some food for thought, I’d be fascinated to hear your opinions on the topic.
I’ll talk about strengthening the core in another post.

Regards

Dave
http://www.WG-Fit.com


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Ask Dave: Bodyweight Training for Rugby

2 10 2012

“hey dave,

I just wanted to ask you if you had any ideas on bodyweight exercises specific to rugby.
I train twice a week at rugby but have no access to weights or equipment outside of my training time.
Would be awesome if you could help
thanks man!
Liam”

Hi Liam,
Thanks for the question.

First, there are no exercises that are specific to any sport other than the sport itself. We use exercises to develop attributes that make us better able to perform the sport.
With that in mind, we need to think about the needs of a rugby player.

Now if this was private consultation I’d quiz you on your individual wants and needs. Usually I half listen to your wants and wait until you get round to telling about the things you really suck at. This is where program design starts.

My training philosophy is and has always been to figure out the weaknesses and hammer them into strengths. If we keep doing this, always reassessing, always looking to see what is our weakest link and then bringing that up, we should end up with a truly well rounded and well prepared athlete.
of course I add in a few “wants” just to stop keep you interested……
Now back to the question.

A rugby player needs:

Strength, Power, Agility, Speed, Quickness, Resilience the ability to recover quickly.

The order these fall in will vary according to position. There aren’t too many super agile prop forwards or massively powerful fly half’s, but everyone has a finger in every pie.
So what bodyweight drills will help tick of these boxes?

Strength:

Unilateral Drills such as 1 Arm Push Ups and Single leg Squat variations.
A sample bodyweight only strength session may look like this:

  • 1A: 1 Arm Push Up x 3-5 L/R
  • 1B: Pull Up x 3-5
    perform 3-5 rounds with 1 min breaks between 1A & 1B. A backpack stuffed with books will add weight to the pull up whereas simply elevating the feet will increase resistance in the push up.
  • 2A: Pistol Squat x 3-5L/R
  • 2B: knee jump x 3-5
    perform 3-5 rounds with 1 min breaks between exercises. Pistols may be performed to a box/step/coffee table if full range is too much.

Power:
Plyometric and Jump training, such as broad jumps, knee jumps, plyo push ups.

Reps here should be kept low, personally I stick to 3 or 4 reps on plyo’s with plenty of rest between sets. The goal is to get more bounce, more height and this takes rest.
Plyo’s must come first in the workout.
Jump training doesn;t rely on the stretch loading cycle and are generally done from a dead start. These can go from 1-5 reps in a set.

Agility:
Burpees, Deck Squats, Sit Throughs, Bear Crawls, Spiderman Crawls,
Depending on how you wish to structure your training I’d do a double whammy and put these into a conditioning circuit.

Speed:
Sprints. Find a hill, sprint up it for 20seconds, walk back down. Rinse and repeat.

Quickness:
Agility Runs, just mark out a few plays with rocks/t-shirts or whatever is handy and away you go.
Now, if your Rugby coach has you doing these you can skip these in your conditioning. Otherwise it’s a good idea to either schedule a session just for these and hill sprints, or add them to the end of a strength session as a conditioning finisher.
Remember, you are trying to build skills here, so each round should be as explosive as possible.

Resilience:
Higher rep training helps hold the body together, as does some core specialisation. I like guys to finish strength workouts with high rep sets of push ups or squats. Not only are these great conditioning but they also help keep the body running right. There are other ways of achieving this, with bodyweight circuits on the clock. This is also a great time to add in animal drills that develop coordinated movement.

Recovery Time:
Circuits and interval training are key here. As a rule of thumb, set up work to rest intervals of 2:1. Eg 30 seconds work, 15 seconds rest.
Make it as close to match conditions as possible, so short intense bursts of effort, some static work (like plank or bridge holds) some explosive work.

The next question then is how to structure all this?

Click Here to begin Training like a Combat Athlete

In the WMD manual, which is my now infamous Boot Camp program, I split the week into three training sessions each with a specific focus:
Mondays – Strength, often opening with Plyometrics before hitting up a full body strength set.
Wednesdays – Cardio, alternating between callisthenic drills and sprinting for time.
Fridays – High Intensity Circuits to develop recovery time.


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Categories : Ask Dave, Bodyweight training


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