Author: Eric Wong

I was talking to a supplier for a new project I’m working on (it’s gonna rock) via Skype last night and as I was busy asking for all the changes I wanted, I catch my wife staring at me from the hallway.

When we make eye contact, she raises both hands in front of her, palms facing down and makes the universally accepted motion for “calm down”.

I then realized that my shoulders and neck were all tense, my head was jutting forward like a Tyrannosaurus Rex and that area between my eyebrows was scrunched tightly together like I was trying to crack a nut in there.

And I was holding my breath.

After I calmed myself and took a deep breath, my whole energy level changed and the rest of the call finished off as well as it would’ve had I been all tense, probably better.

This is why when I’m coaching athletes through tough exercises or circuits or even intervals, the most common thing I say is, “Relax. Breathe. Stay loose.”

While staying relaxed, breathing and loose might seem counter-intuitive to what you need to do when it feels like you’ve got to bite down and grind, it is EXACTLY what Doctor Wong ordered if you want to push your limits.

You see, when your neck muscles and traps are all tight, it slows blood flow.

Slowed blood flow means delayed delivery of fresh oxygen and delayed removal of waste products of metabolism.

Not good.

Plus, it takes energy for tight muscles to be tight, thus taking energy away from what you actually need to do.

After all, you’ve only got so much energy to play with. Better put it all towards what you want to accomplish, not unnecessary tension.

And when you breathe shallow (or hold your breath) you’re not getting any new oxygen in or getting rid of all the CO2 you’re generating.

Again, not good.

Finally, tensing that little area between your eyebrows makes it look like you’re taking a poo, and didn’t your mother teach you to keep your poo face to yourself?

This is a skill to practice and continually develop.

I continue to develop my ability to relax what I don’t need tight and breathe deep while pushing myself to the limits every day.

This is one tip that you likely won’t hear anywhere else that really will make a huge difference in your conditioning.

That’s why you’re such a smart cookie for being here. 🙂

So the next time you get on the treadmill, hit the heavy bag, push through a killer bodyweight circuit or even carry a heavy load of groceries from the car to your kitchen, practice what I’ve taught you here.

The best workouts to practice this tip are tough bodyweight circuits, particularly NRG System Complexes, since rapidly changing exercises challenges your neuromuscular system and you’ve got to quickly activate certain muscles while relaxing others due to the different movements.

Click here for a collection of bodyweight circuits designed by yours truly that will get you in elite fight shape that include a few of these killer complexes.

The quote from the title came to my head as I was reading through some questions I got last week.

I interpret the quote to mean that the higher the level of mastery you desire is, the more time and energy you must dedicate to it.

Logical.

That also means that the fewer things you’ve got going on, the more time and energy you can dedicate to mastery of what it is you want to master.

So, the question that spurred my thoughts came from my man Jacob from the US of A about my CAGE Cardio Bodyweight program:

“Does the program help develop muscle and strength on top of the cardio?

It looks like a great program:-)

I’m in the process of moving my family so the short bodyweight workout sounds perfect.

Especially because all my weights will be in storage for a bit.”

It’s a good question because whenever you see workout and fitness advertising and marketing, the descriptions often say things like:

Build Muscle! Burn Fat! Increase
Strength, Power, Cardio AND Speed!
Improve Your Math! Make Your Dog
AND Woman Finally Listen To You!

Look familiar?

Here’s the thing – these claims are TRUE…

For BEGINNERS.

When you’re all rosy-cheeked and new to training, you can build muscle, burn fat, increase your strength, power and cardio all at the same time.

When you first start acting more confident, both your dog and woman will take notice and take you more seriously.

[As for the math thing – unless you’re Asian, work with what god gave you. ;)]

However, once the honeymoon period is over (anywhere from 4-10 months of consistent training), doing all-in-one workouts with no clear focus will bring your gains to a screeching halt.

So the answer to Jacob’s question is simple…

CAGE Cardio will help you improve your cardio and build muscle and gain strength…

If you’re a beginner.

But once you pass that stage of your training life, the program is designed specifically to drastically improve your conditioning especially for MMA or any martial art and that’s my promise to you.

I don’t market my programs to beginners using all the hype and claims that many others do.

I market my programs to those who appreciate the fact that I respect their intelligence and want to follow a scientific approach without needing a university degree in science to understand it.

So if you follow what I write and publish, that says a lot about you and YOU are who I like to work with.

The rest of the sheep are free to buy into the hype and fluff and try all the new tricks while going nowhere.

We’ll just continue to be patient and do our thing and make consistent, measurable progress.