Bigger arms from bodyweight training

12 06 2009

Can you build arms like a gymnast with a No Equipment, No Excuses style workout?

It just so happens that we can.
Two of the best arm building drills available are mere bodyweight drills. No need for bar and dumbells, benches and all the other paraphernalia the average bodybuilder needs to do an arm workout.

All we need is something to hang from to do pull up and chin up variations and something to dip from.

At home you can grab a couple of chairs and blast you triceps into submission with dips. You can wedge a door open and demolish your biceps with pull ups.

Other variations:
Triceps

  • Push ups, especially one armers
  • Handstands, hold for time, build to handstand pushups
  • Tiger bend push ups, a brutal tricep isolation. Imagine doing a skull crusher with about 70% of your bodyweight!

Biceps

  • Chins
  • Overhand pull ups
  • Rope climbs
  • Towel rows
  • Inverted rows
  • Bicep curls using bodyweight. You’ll need something to hang off.

You’ll notice most of these drills are big compound movements. Not only will you’re arms grow but you’ll also build real strength. Your shoulders and back will fill out, your core strength will increase and all your bodybuilding mates will be sick with envy.

However if getting huge is your main goal, you will have to add external resistance at some point, but don’t change the drills. A weighted vest is ideal, but for the real budget or travel option, simply strap on your backpack and away you go.

Let me know how you get on.

Regards
Dave
www.wildgeesema.com / noequipment.blogspot.com
info@wildgeesema.com
+353 087 672 6090
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Race For Life, Raising Money for Cancer Research

11 06 2009

The following is a message from Kez Hedges.
She will be taking part in the Race For Life event to raise money for Cancer Research.
I ask you to support her, here’s what she has to say:

——————————————————————————————
Hello,
Thank you very much for visiting this important page – you are already a star for coming here. If you sponsor me then you are officially an angel.
My friend Liz challenged me to enter the Race for Life event with her and I just couldn’t say no. I am not the fittest person in the world and have entered late but will be doing my best to get healthier before the event. I will even give up chocolate a week beforehand!!

  1. I am taking part in Race for Life for four reasons:
    In memory of my Uncle who lost his battle to Prostate Cancer last Christmas and I miss him.
  2. For my cousin who has had cancer and currently has the all clear. I would love to think that a cure could be found when it eventually returns, which sadly it will.
  3. To raise money for more and more research into cancer.
  4. To become healthier than I am now.

I know times are tough but please dig deep and sponsor me to make a fool of myself – I even promise to wear something pink and fluffy!! Every penny you give will go directly to Cancer Research UK and help with their life saving work.

Oh, and don’t forget that if you are a UK taxpayer please tick the Gift Aid box when you donate. Do this and the charity gets even more money – an extra 25%.

So please sponsor me and help make a real difference
Thanks for you support – it means a lot :0)
——————————————————————————————

As she is my sister, and she’s running on behalf of my Uncle and Cousin, I’d like to donate 50% of each sale of the eBook, No Equipment, No Excuses, to her chosen charity.

So either click on this link to sponsor her directly, or this one to buy the book and automatically donate €7.50 to her cause.

So there’s two ways you can support her.

Regards

Dave
www.wildgeesema.com / noequipment.blogspot.comi
nfo@wildgeesema.com
+353 087 672 6090
subscribe to our newsletter simply send a blank email to:
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Categories : Bodyweight training

Honeymoon sale ends tomorrow.

31 05 2009

I just realised it’s the 1st june tomorrow.

The day I said my honeymoon sale will end.That gives you till the end of tomorrow if you wish to recieve a 50% discount on the eBook, No Equiment, No Excuses or on my Online Personal Training Service

Till tomorrow then….

Dave Hedges
Author: No Equipment, No Excuses – Bodyweight training for the Home, Office or on the Road
info@wildgeesema.com
+353 87 672 6090
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It’s Not What You Know

18 05 2009

It’s how well you know it.

As martial artists grow and gain experience they are often looking for the next new piece of info, the newest technique, the next drill.

In fact the opposite should be done. Strip away the excess, loose the junk and use the extra time to work on the things that really work.

Forget fancy, go for simple. Review the techniques and drills you have, are they of any use? Will they work for you in the real world? It will nearly always the things you learned when you were a white belt.
Why do we get taught fancy stuff? Usually to keep students interested, that’s not completely true. Advanced techniques are necessary, but they should build directly on the foundation of the basics, they should be ways of making the basics more effective, not replacing them.

If strength and fitness are included in your training (and why wouldn’t they be?) then the problem is compounded further. Just open a muscle magazine or look on youtube for some of the weirdest exercises ever conceived. Things that do nothing more than waste time that could be better spent on more productive endeavours.
The funniest are from the “functional fitness” people, but they will never be as functionally fit or strong as a grappler/boxer or strongman competitor who does non of the strange circus tricks often advocated (Bent over rows while balancing on a bosu ball anyone?)

Stick to the basics. Get results. End of.

PS Don’t forget, No Equipment, No Excuses – Bodyweight training for the home, office or on the road is on special offer for the next two weeks only, get it while it’s cheap!It will show you the best bodyweight only drills to complement your daily life, with progressions from beginner to advanced, with no fancy b*ll*cks.

Regards

Wild Geese
every cause but our own
Kenpo / Eskrima / BJJ / Strength & Conditioning
www.wildgeesema.com/ wildgeesema.blogspot.com
info@wildgeesema.com
+353 87 672 6090
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Wild Geese @ The Martial Arts Academy

5 06 2008

Wild Geese Martial Arts and our newer Personal Training and fitness wing will now be operating full time out of Dublin’s Martial Arts Academy.

At the academy we run regular Filipino Martial Arts, Anti Stab knife defence and Control & Restraint classes and courses.

We also have a selection of basic strength equipment, Barbells, plate loaded dumbells, a selection of kettlebells as well as some of the best conditioning tools ever invented, skipping ropes and punchbags.

So if you fancy training in a non conventional gym under the watchful eye of a qualified and experienced trainer using the types of methods used by fighters and old time strong men to forge physiques like stone and near legendary conditioning levels.

We offer Personal Training, Semi Private training and Supervised training.
Personal Training – You, Me and your personalised program, be it Martial Arts, Self defence, strength, weight loss and fitness. This runs at €50/hr
Semi Private – Bring a friend, up to a maximum of 6. You will then help and hinder each other to accelerate the results in the field you choose, strength, fitness or fighting. We charge €70/hr for the first 2 people with an extra €10 per person up to a max of 6.
Supervised Training – Come in and do your own training under our watchful eye for a nominal fee. Simply €10/hr or €50 per month.

You may combine packages to suit, and if you block pay for classes you can use them as you wish.
For example pay €100 and get 1 hr personal training and 1 month supervised training
or
Pay €100 and get 1 month supervised training and jump into 5 scheduled Wild Geese Martial Arts classes

For a map to our location click here:

http://maps.dublinbynumbers.com/visiting-dublin-map-gyms.html#

We are number 19. Alternatively visit our websites listed below.

Regards

Dave
Wild Geese
http://www.wg-fit.com/
http://www.wildgeesema.com/
any cause but our own


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Old School Core Training

31 05 2008

Old school seems to be back in vogue, crunches are on the way out and real core strength is on the way back in, hence the popularity of Kettlebells and Jim Smith’s excellent work www.CombatCore.com

Here’s an exercise that’s been around for generations in the martial arts world. Fighters need a strong core, both for generating and for absorbing power. To this end kata’s/form’s such as Seisan and Sanchin were devised, I demo seisan here:

Fans of Dragon Door will recognise the first section of the form is based around “Power Breathing”, the second section is more about releasing the pent up tension. Oh and you get to practice your fighting techniques while you’re at it, how’s that for functional training?

Wild Geese
www.wildgeesema.com
www.WG-Fit.com
any cause but our own


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The worlds most universally abused exercise

21 05 2008

Lets face it, most lads are in the gym cos they want to look big, and they want big guns.
No I don’t mean AK-47′s, I mean arms, more specifically Biceps.

Men want big Biceps. So men do Bicep curls.

Or do they?

I’m currently working out of one of the commercial gym’s in Dublin city centre, yesterday seemed to be the official arms day (Monday is reserved for chest, so arms are on Tuesday), now I’m a freelance PT, so I’ve no business interfering with the general populace but it’s just so heartbreaking seeing so many people making such a mess of what is essentially one of the simplest exercises on the menu.

The biceps curl. All you have to do is straighten and bend the arm at the elbow, that’s it.
Yeah I could go into engaging the core, breathing techniques blah blah. In essence, a bicep curl involves starting with a straight arm and bending it until the hands come close to the shoulder, extend the elbow until the arm comes straight and repeat for the number of reps you have planned in your log (oh wait, that’s a whole other post!!)

And yet as I look around I see the majority of lads using weights that are that bit too heavy and compensating by only extending the arm to 90 degrees. The only rep worth anything was the first one when the arms were actually straight, subsequent reps were only half reps and were heavily assisted by the front delts and by the hips (as you swing and lean back).

Lads, leave the ego at the door, Iron is always going to beat muscle (unless your into bending nails), so find a weight you can control not a weight that will control you.

Better yet, forget curls and get on the pull up bar. Actually don’t, cos I need it.

Dave

Wild Geese
www.wg-fit.com
www.wildgeesema.com
any cause but our own

PS if it’s big guns you want, check out this article by Jason Ferrugia: http://www.wg-fit.com/Articles/gethugearms.htm


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Big Picture

18 05 2008

I get all sorts of students coming to learn Martial Arts/Self Defence, many of whom have experience in other arts, even if it was from many years ago. It’s amazing how their former training stays with them.
In some ways this is a blessing, as they will have many of the movements, if not the skills. In other ways this is a curse as it can mean I have to spend so much time breaking their old habits before creating new ones.

One of the biggest obstacles is the fascination with the small details, and the lack of a big picture view.
What do I mean by this? Well, say for instance I show a drill that is based around footwork and body movement (Taisabaki), I’m invariably asked about what the hands are doing, the answer nothing, it’s about the body movement.
Showing a strike, I’ll be asked about the angle of the fingers/knuckles, but never about the feet, knees, hips or shoulders.

There is a fascination with the fine details (this is fine with advanced students who have the basics) but a lack of interest in the larger, more important details.

If your feet aren’t right, your hips won’t follow through, the waist won’t turn right and the shoulder will be out of line, all before you even get to consider the angle of the wrist.

Now but this into the real world. In a real conflict situation, it’s the big picture that matters, the feet will get you out of trouble and the hips will end it for you, concentrate on the big picture and the details will fall into place. Look at footwork and body mechanics, this is how you avoid being hit and generate the power too hit.

How do people become like this? I think much of the blame lies with their former teachers. Instructors that have either misunderstood the art they’re teaching, or simply have never had to use it. Too many styles concentrate on looking pretty, rather than effectiveness. So many students are encouraged to specialise too early rather than understanding the overall art. As a result the students end up earning more of a dance than a combat art.

I ask my students to remember why they are learning martial arts, remember what the arts are designed to do and keep a big picture view of how the let the art turn them into warriors, not dancers.

Wild Geese
www.wildgeesema.com
www.wg-fit.com
any cause but our own


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The importance of hitting things

11 04 2008

I was covering a Kenpo class there yesterday, I wasn’t too familiar with the student as he belongs to another instructor.
The lad is dedicated and bright, but when I asked him to show me which Kenpo techniques he wanted to go over, I was frankly gobsmacked!!

One of the things that I have always loved about Kenpo, since I first came across it in 2001, was the speed, power and efficiency involved in it’s movement. I’ve always disliked the overly complex syllabus, but we can’t have it all our own way.

Now watching this lad show me a few of the techniques from the green belt, i could barely believe what I was seeing. Now just to clear this up, the lad is able and dedicated, he does what he’s been shown. So the mistakes he was making are purely down to the instruction he has received.

Here’s a fella, comes in 3-4 times a week, is in the intermediate stages of the syllabus and has no concept of body mechanics, power, moving from the hips, pushing from the ground and poor balance. How did I remedy this, simple, introduced a thing called contact.

I took the fella over to the bags, broke the techniques down to simpler combinations and had him spend about an hour repeatedly executing these combo’s with power on the bag.

The result.

1 a greater understanding of the techniques
2 the ability to balance
3 moving from the hip
4 strength delivered from the legs
5 no longer leaning away when striking
6 a big boost in confidence

This lad, like countless other around the world has suffered due to instructor laziness and lack of imagination.
Traditional martial arts already take enough of a slagging because we spend our time waving our arms in the air doing forms and kata. And to a degree it’s deserved. If you teach a class invest in some strike pads, focus mits, punch bags, whatever you have the funds and facilities for and have your students spend some time hitting things, the founders and fighters from your style/system certainly did.

Your students will thank you for it.

Wild Geese
www.wildgeesema.com
www.wg-fit.com
any cause but our own


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The Wrong End Of the Stick

4 04 2008

I often find that peoples view of the Filipino Martial Arts is somewhat inaccurate. I hope here to put it right.

FMA otherwise known as Eskrima, Kali or Arnis are the fighting arts native to the Philippines, and are a complete combat method. Unfortunately the popular view of these arts is that it’s just “Stick Fighting”.

This was illustrated most clearly by the owner of the Martial Arts Academy when he offered to make up posters to advertise our class. Guess what we got.

Yep, you guessed it. “Learn Stick Fighting”

Now while we do train with sticks, no argument there, we also fight with sticks. This is the start point for any new FMAer, learn to swing a stick. But that’s just the beginning.

As I said it’s a complete fighting system used throughout the ages to fight off rival tribes and invasions (including Magellan and the Spanish and later the Japanese in world war 2), would stick fighting cover this.

No. Most people fail to see the unarmed combat, the knife/machete use and defence. The Filipino method is to teach you to instinctively use any weapon that comes to hand to fight against any weapon that comes at you. Be it a punch, kick, blade or blunt instrument. It is this versatility that attracted notable martial artists like Ed Parker, Bruce Lee and Dan Innosanto to add elements taken from Kali/Arnis and add it into their respective styles.

Within FMA there are many areas to cover and masters do specialise, Momoy Canete specialised in longer range Espada y Daga, Cacoy Canete specialised in close range stick fighting. Antonio Illustrisimo specialised in the blade, Joe Borces uses “eskrido” a combination of traditional FMA and Aikido/Judo methods.
But these are the masters. Any student must be able to defend themselves against unarmed and armed attacks while they themselves may or may not be armed.

I have my students fighting 1 on 1, 2 on 1, 2 on 2, every man for themselves and many other combo’s.
I have an unarmed guy fighting against a knife man, or a single stick fighting against double stick. We allow disarms but expect the fight to continue so a fight er becomes used to loosing a weapon but carrying on unarmed, or to suddenly find a weapon and instantly use it.

The competitions may be about “stick fighting” but FMA is about surviving by using whatever comes to hand. It’s about assuming the other guy is armed. It’s about adapting to any scenario.

We are lucky to have had coverage on the recent TV shows. Our own Doce Pares HQ in Cebu was visited in the BBC’s Mind, Body & Kick ass Moves and the History Channels Human Weapon. While Fight Quest remained in Manila showing Pekiti Tirsia and Modern Arnis. Where different aspects of our arts are being shown. But for more info come and visit us, look on you tube (Rapid Arnis have some good clips).

We are also hosting FMA master and Security Expert Steve Tappin in May. Expect to see how FMA is truly effective on the streets of Europe as Steve regularly travel to the worst spots in Europe to train their respective police and security forces.
I almost feel sorry for the criminals, almost.

Come to Steve’s seminar and see how your own training can be enhanced by the Filipino martial arts.

Wild Geese
any cause but our own


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