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Category: Training

  • 7 Critical Flexibility Concepts

    Because of the overwhelming response and feedback received to my flexibility survey (thanks if you responded), I’m going to treat this topic more seriously than I initially intended.

    Why?

    Because I want to hear about and SEE your results. I don’t want to spend hours putting something together only to have it disappear into the ether of the internet…

    I’m definitely going to be putting a full-out premium course together including PDFs and videos like my other premium products because the confusion and mis-information needs to be eliminated and you need a simple and efficient program to follow to reach your flexibility goals. Unfortunately I won’t be able to get that together the for at least a month and a half.

    But with your hunger for knowledge and desire to finally fix your flexibility problems, I want to do something for you now.

    I’m not exactly sure what form this is going to take yet, but I’ve been thinking about it and you’ll be the first to know when I figure it out. I can tell you that I will have direct  involvement in ‘coaching’ you through this and if you want my guidance, this will be the time to get it…

    To start, I want to share 7 Critical Flexibility Concepts that you must understand before starting a flexibility program.

    Knowing these concepts will help you understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ that I’ll be showing you and help you achieve better and more long-term results.

    Understanding the ‘why’ will also help keep you on track in the face of others trying to force feed their (mis)information on you.

    These concepts are in no particular order and serve as the guiding principles behind the comprehensive flexibility training that you’ll be learning soon.

    Now, I often go back to Master Bruce for quotes, because his philosophy is very powerful yet simple.

    The quote I’m choosing today is this:

    “Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water…”

    I’ve used this quote because some of the concepts that you may learn from me might fly in the face of things you’ve learned in the past…

    Let go of the things you’ve learned in the past and flow with what I’m going to be teaching you. Empty your mind, be open to new ways of doing things and by doing so, you’ll increase your mental flexibility, which will ultimately manifest in increased physical flexibility.

    Open?

    Good.

    Then here are the 7 Critical Flexibility Concepts:

    • There are 3 main types of stretching exercises: dynamic active, static active and static passive, each corresponding to that specific type of flexibility. These 3 types of stretches overlap, meaning that performing one type of exercise will improve flexibility in the others, but it won’t be to as great an extent as the specific type trained. A real world example of this specificity is being able to do the side splits (static passive), but being unable to execute a powerful side kick to the head (dynamic active).
    • Dynamic flexibility is more correlated to sport performance than static flexibility.
    • The difference between your active and static flexibility is called your flexibility deficit. Your active ROM is generally lower than your passive ROM. The bigger the difference between the two, the greater your chance of injury.
    • The goal of flexibility training is not to achieve maximal flexibility, but to achieve OPTIMAL flexibility for your sport or lifestyle. Optimal flexibility is achieved when you have the flexibility to execute your techniques or movements freely and with speed and power, and a little bit more for a flexibility reserve. As mixed martial artists, that makes one of our goals to have just a bit more flexibility than needed to execute a fast and powerful roundhouse kick to the head. Another example is that as mixed martial artists, we have no need to be able to bend over backwards and stick our heads between our legs [I said I was going to post pics like this, but I actually find this one grotesque, but if it turns you on, go to FreakyFlexibilityFetish.com for more… you sicko :)]
    • There are 3 main factors you can address that  determine your current and potential flexibility: soft tissue (including muscles, fascia and tendons), neuromuscular (including pain threshold, various reflexes and conscious ability to let go of limiting tension) and strength, which you need to enter and exit end range of motion (ROM). Don’t think of these as hard classifications, since strength affects neuromuscular and vice versa. But it is a convenient way to understand the factors affecting flexibility. Different types of exercises affect different factors and you need to use the specific exercises that will affect the factors currently limiting your flexibility. That’s why simple static stretching doesn’t always work – because it may not address the specific factor causing your flexibility problem.
    • Flexibility can be limited because of ligaments. Stretching the ligament can cause joint instability and result in injury. It takes years to elongate ligaments. There are various tests that you can perform to know whether or not a ligament is the cause of your inflexibility. So if this is the case for you, it is a matter of risk vs. reward to proceed. If you do decide to proceed and attempt to lengthen your ligaments, you must concurrently develop a high level of muscular strength and stability around that joint to keep it safe.
    • Flexibility  can also be limited by the structure of your bones and joint capsule. If this is the case, you will not be able to improve your flexibility beyond the mechanical limitations of the bones. Don’t worry – for most people this is not the case.

    Phew!

    That’s a lot of info to digest there. But these concepts form the basis of a flexibility program that will work for YOU.

    Now I want to take the time here to address one thing that came up a few times in the responses to the survey.

    In terms of low back flexibility, for the most part, it’s not something we want a great deal of and training it aggressively can lead to injury.

    Training low back flexibility in either direction (flexion or extension) can cause damage to your intervertebral discs.

    Instead, you want to focus on hip and thoracic spine flexibility, while minimizing the flexion and extension of your lumbar spine. Maximizing hip and T-spine flexibility will give you what you need for most techniques in MMA, strength training, other sports and daily living.

    Low back flexion and extension isn’t something to avoid completely, however, since doing so will place stress on the ligaments and ligaments that experience stress respond just like muscles – they get stronger. But too much and under too great a load often results in disc injuries, so it’s not an area that I recommend you focus your stretching efforts on.

    Unless of course you want to go through my Bulletproof Back program – then stretch your low back until the cow comes home. 🙂

    And in MMA, the need to flex the low back to a great extent isn’t there. I can’t think of any techniques or positions where you’d need flexibility in your low back that you couldn’t get from your hips or T-spine.

    That’s it for Part 1.

    Let me know your thoughts and/or questions. Like I said even if I don’t always respond, I always read through them and it influences what I write about, create videos on and dream have nightmares about, like this Comment from GViera:

    “Outside of my hips. I can go a gymnast split fine but getting to a full straddle seem to be impossible for me. I want to be able to put some balls on the ground.”

    If I help you get this flexibility, make sure you pay attention when your balls are on the ground so nobody steps on ’em. Ouch!

    – Eric

    P.S. If you hit one of the magical buttons below, a unicorn will come out of your screen and give you a big hug.

  • What Are Your Flexibility Problems? [SURVEY]

    Some are born with it.

    Others spend their whole lives chasing it.

    I belong to the second group.

    How about you?

    It’s such a problem, it’s why I decided to pursue boxing over kickboxing or Muay thai. Because high kicks feel like they’re going to tear my hips apart.

    But about a month ago, I decided to fix my flexibility problems…

    I went to the gym to work the heavy bag. This was one of the first times after I started back after hurting my hand. [Remember the bag of peas on my hand?]

    There’s only 1 heavy bag in this gym and there was a guy working it before I got there. I figured with my celebrity status, once he saw me he’d drop everything and let me work the bag to my heart’s desire.

    For some weird reason that didn’t work. So I decided the direct approach.

    “Mind if I work in during your rest breaks to loosen up?”

    “Go ahead” he said, cool-ly.

    Probably didn’t want to seem too overly excited to meet me. I understand.

    While he was clearly not in fight shape, with his “case of beer a week belly”, he could still kick high and hard.

    A hell of a lot higher and harder than me.

    That’s when it hit me that I’d better address my flexibility issues once and for all, before I get old and weary and need help putting my socks on.

    So for the past month or so, I’ve been doing what I do best – diving head first into the research, into books and into whatever resources I could get my hands on. I talked to friends and colleagues in the industry and got their thoughts and insights.

    After hours of poring over the data and pages of notes, I feel like I’ve come up with a big reason why many people have trouble improving their flexibility, despite their best efforts.

    If you’ve ever had a flexibility issue that wouldn’t go away with simple stretching, this info will open your eyes.

    But I need something first. I have one question for you to answer:


    Q: What techniques, skills, exercises or situations do you wish you had more flexibility for?
    This is a two-way street and for this topic, I really do need your input and feedback.

    I was thinking about doing that thing where I make you leave 50 or 5,000 Comments or I don’t make my next post, but yeah, I think that’s kinda gay. Not really my style.

    All I know is that the last time survey I posted on injuries, your votes showed that shoulder injuries are the most common, and I put together that little INDESTRUCTIBLE Shoulder Program for ya.

    So I’ll leave it up to you or not to post your answer to the Q above.

    But if I don’t get any good feedback, there’s no point in me spending the time to write up an article on the TRUTH about flexibility.

    Plus, in the article, I might even embed some pics like this:

    Enjoys washing a car in a bikini and flexible? How could I NOT post this?

    So for anyone who really wants to know the TRUTH about flexibility, leave your answer to the question, “What techniques, skills, exercises or situations do you wish you had more flexibility for?” in the Comments below.

    UPDATE

    If hip flexibility is an issue, you should check this article out:

    high-kick-flexibility

  • 2 Field Drills for Quick Feet

    WHATS UP.

    I made this video for you a couple days ago when I was out doing an active recovery workout.

    I was recovering from an MMA Ripped ‘Live Sparring’ workout, which is a bodyweight circuit that surprisingly destroyed my quads and calves.

    So instead of limping around and feeling sorry for myself, I got out into the sunshine and helped speed the recovery process with the drills in this video.

    BTW – I think my video editing skills have been atrophying… Just no motivation to do them up proper anymore LOL – I chopped out a whole piece on planes of motion.

    One thing I wanted to make sure you realized was that these 2 drills train your feet in all 3 planes of motion: sagittal, frontal and transverse. Most guys only train their feet/quickness in the first 2, leaving out the transverse, which is a grave mistake, since so much movement and power is generated in the transverse plane.

    What made this workout active recovery was the fact that I didn’t really push any of my systems to the max. I made sure my heart rate never exceeded 155 bpm and rested until it got to about 120 bpm before performing another rep.

    When you do this, it stimulates your central nervous system in a way that accelerates recovery because its activity is heightened, but because you never really taxed it, it doesn’t create any effects that require regeneration.

    Thus, the “extra juice” that comes from the CNS’ heightened activity from this workout is directed towards recovery of whatever you need recovering from. In my case – repairing my damaged quads and calves allowing me to comfortably take a dump again.

    I performed 8 reps of each drill, which is a good amount for active recovery. Short and sweet.

    If you’re training Quickness Development, you want to go full speed but still keep rest times long enough for full recovery between reps, and perform 12-15 reps of each.

    For Quickness Endurance, you can shorten the rest times and/or increase the duration of each rep.

    So if you’ve got an open space, get out there and work your footwork a little bit and have some fun in the sun.

  • Shoulder Injuries: Rehab, Prevention and the Big Picture

    So it looks like shoulder injuries are the most common injury affecting all EricWongMMA readers and subscribers, so that’s what we’re going to talk about.

    I gives the peoples what the peoples wants, just like the People’s Champ:

    But I’m not going to show you the same old shit of some wimpy little rotator cuff exercises with a rubber band that is somehow supposed to get your shoulder back into shape so you can knock mofoz out with a big right hand.

    Oh no. We do things different ‘round here.

    I’m going to give you the BIG PICTURE of the shoulder, why it gets hurt, how to fix it when it does and most important of all: how to prevent it.

    Shoulder Injuries - The Big Picture
    click me
    One caveat – all the talk about injury prevention is great, but the reality is that in a combat sport like MMA, you’re going to get hurt sooner or later. If you don’t, you’re probably doing something that can be better described as Cardio Kickboxing rather than MMA.

    What I’m going to show you is how to minimize the amount of stress on your shoulder and ensure the muscles around the shoulder are all working as they should to minimize non traumatic injuries. Ya dig?

    This is going to be a 2 part series on shoulder injuries.

    Part 1 (what you’re reading here today) is all about the big picture so you’ve got an idea of my total approach.

    Part 2 will be shoulder injury exercises and programming. There will be video. That will be coming later this week.

    NOTE: If you’re not on my email list yet, get on the damn thing so you don’t have to waste time coming back to my site every few hours, hoping, just hoping that I’ve made an update. OK?

     

    Now, let’s get started…

    There are a couple of basic acute injury principles that I’ve got to remind you of, in case you’ve recently hurt yourself or if you do in the future.

    Basic Acute Injury Principle #1 – If you hurt yourself, icing it as soon as possible is generally a good idea. Ice for 10-15 minutes on, 5-10 minutes off for an hour once or twice daily for a few days after you first hurt yourself. Ice again after anything that aggravates it.

    Pain in your shoulder due to inflammation is a great way to screw up motor patterns and timing because your body will compensate to avoid the pain. Icing helps minimize pain and compensatory patterns, so do it.

    Basic Acute Injury Principle #2 – If a movement hurts, stop. If you tweak your shoulder and it hurts to throw a punch, stop. You’re only screwing yourself up more. The 2, 4, 8 or 12 weeks of avoiding these painful activities is a drop in the bucket if you want to be fighting or training for the long-term. I know “no pain no gain” and all that but there’s a difference between being tough and being stupid. Be tough, don’t be stupid.

    I just hit the heavy bag for the first time since mid-January because of my messed up hand (first MCP joint) and while it’s sucked, it would suck more hurting my hand repeatedly and having to have surgery and be out for 6 months. I have been able to work on other aspects of my game, such as conditioning, footwork, head movement, etc – so there is always something else you can do and probably need to be doing more of anyway. Spend your time on those things and stop wasting time and energy worrying about what you can’t do.

    To understand shoulder injuries, rehab and prevention, you’ve got to know a bit about the shoulder. I’m not going to give you a boring anatomy lesson, I’m just going to break down the important info for you in a way that you understand. That’s how I do.

    When we think of the shoulder, we usually think of the ball and socket joint. While this is the main part of the shoulder, other areas are important, including:

    • The scapula
    • The clavicle
    • The thoracic spine

    Shoulder Injury Anatomy

    Everything must work together properly to keep your shoulders healthy: joints must have necessary mobility, muscles must have proper balance of length and strength and good activation patterns. These things all work to ensure the ball moves smoothly in the socket. If something’s not working, nerve impingements, grinding out the capsule or wear of the ligaments occurs. Nasty stuff.

    This is a big reason why shoulder injuries happen
    so often – there’s a lot of range of motion and a lot
    of muscles are needed to control the motion properly.

    One common misconception about the shoulder is around the area of the rotator cuff. Because of the name, people think that these muscles are designed for rotational movements. While they do perform these movements, their main job is control and stability of the ball in the socket as you go through real-world movements. So isolating these muscles all the time won’t help train them for the function they are built for, although isolation is needed when imbalances are present (as we’ll talk about in a second).

    With respect to direct joint mobility, thoracic spine mobility is the most important to work on and needs to be worked on regularly by anyone who uses a computer, drives a car, watches TV or participates in a sport like MMA or boxing. That means YOU.

    Chronic Shoulder Injuries: Practical Demo

    Here’s an example of the importance of the thoracic spine on shoulder mobility, particularly shoulder flexion (raising your arms up overhead):

    1. First, hunch over like you’re depressed because your wife or girlfriend just told you, “Sorry honey, it’s true, I have been faking it all this time.”
    2. Next, slowly raise both arms up overhead as far as you can, keeping arms straight and close to your ears.
    3. Now, stand up tall and proud and do the same thing.

    • Notice how hard it is to get your arms overhead when you’re hunched over and how much more range you have in good posture?

    This is what happens when you’ve got chronically bad posture, specifically a hunchback, or the more scientific term “excessive thoracic kyphosis”.

    When you’re hunched and your arms are overhead, the ball is getting jammed up in the socket, grinding the capsule and impinging nerves. Not good.

    One exercise to address T-spine mobility isthe extension exercise over the foam roller that I show you here, in this classic era EricWongMMA video:

    A better exercise for this that I’ve been using now is the Bench Extension warmup exercise, (found in the Mobility Warmup of the Olympic Lifting Mastery Course).

    The other joints are controlled more by the active and passive muscle activation patterns at the shoulder vs. limitations in the joints themselves.

    I mentioned earlier that “muscles must have proper balance of length and strength and good activation patterns.”

    The balance of length and strength across a joint determines the resting position of the joint.

    Just like with the thoracic extension example, if your shoulders are rounded forwards (protracted), the same problems at the shoulder will occur: grinding of the capsule and nerve impingements.

    This problem is commonly due to something that world-famous therapist Vladimir Janda coined Upper Cross Syndrome.

    Upper Cross Syndrome is when the pecs and some posterior neck muscles are strong and tight, while the opposing muscles groups, the deep neck flexors, serratus anterior, rhomboids, lower and middle traps are long and weak.

    Upper cross syndrome is commonly associated with shoulder injuries

    So what’s the cure?

    Lengthen and loosen the strong and tight muscles while activating and strengthening the weak muscles.

    Simple, but effective.

    Doing so will put your shoulder girdle back into a neutral resting posture, which makes for one happy shoulder joint and one sad orthopedic surgeon.

    So far, we’ve talked about the importance of thoracic mobility, addressing muscular imbalances and ensuring that the muscles are activated.

    Specific exercises and strategies covering all of these topics to come in Part 2…

    You also need gross strength balance across your shoulder joint. Again, the concept is simple. You’ve just got to put it into play. Simply equalize the amount of weight you can lift in a flat dumbbell bench press with the 1-arm dumbbell row. So if you can dumbbell press 80 lbs for 3 reps, you should be able to do at least the same with the 1-arm dumbbell row (if not more). If you’re pressing a lot more than you’re pulling, you’ve got an imbalance that may contribute to a shoulder problem down the road.

    The other type of strength you need is absolute strength. In particular, I’ve found that people with shoulder injuries are extremely weak in the Side Lying External Rotation exercise.

    First, you need super strict form. Any cheating totally negates the benefit of this exercise and shifts the emphasis on other muscles.

    Here’s a video of something I see a lot with this exercise – a lack of ROM:

    The big dude is doing the exercise OK, but notice his total lack of ROM. You need more than that – at least 60 degrees, like this girl here:

    Important points: go slow, keep your wrist straight throughout and do your first set with a light weight, like 3-5 lbs, so you can see what kind of ROM you can get with a light weight before challenging yourself. You’ll find form quickly deteriorates if the weight used is even slightly too heavy. Any guy who fights should be getting 15-20 lbs for 8-12 reps if they want to bulletproof their shoulders. Girls should be in the 7.5-10 lbs range for 8-12 reps.

    The final topic I want to talk about in this article is specificity.

    Because we’re mixed martial artists here, we need to address punching and joint locks.

    Let’s start with punching.

    The first thing that you have to understand is why you don’t do exercises like this:

    Punching with bands is the fastest way to a shoulder injury...
    Fastest way to a shoulder injury…

    The full scoop is here: One of the WORST Exercises for MMA.

    For punching, the highest risk for the shoulder is at the very end of your punch when you change directions from throwing it out to bringing it back in. At the end (of a good punch) you turn your fist (internal shoulder rotation) to add that last bit of power. Bringing your fist back is reversing all of the power you put into the punch, starting with external shoulder rotation, which means you need to brake (eccentric) then pull it back.

    To train this, you can use an exercise like this:

    While it doesn’t look like a punch, it trains the specific strength of the external shoulder rotator muscles needed for when you’re punching hundreds of times a day to prevent throwing your arm out of its socket or overloading the muscles and causing a strain.

    Finally, with respect to joint locks, if you’re training and rolling, what I said earlier applies, “Be tough, don’t be stupid.”

    One tip that can help is to roll more relaxed. When you’re fighting and grinding away with your training partner, your muscles tend to be more tense. When your muscles are tense, you lose flexibility and if you get caught in an omoplata or something and you’re all tense, you can easily strain or sprain something.

    So chill out, work on technique and if you get caught, try to escape but if you’re stuck, tap early, especially with things like shoulder locks.

    Phew, that was a long one.

    Any feedback, thoughts, comments or questions?

    Let me have it in the Comments section below, but first remember to hit ‘Like’ or any of the other fancy sharing buttons below. Thanks for reading and your feedback!

    UPDATE

    Part II has been published. Check it out before I regain my wits and actually charge for this:

    ==> INDESTRUCTIBLE: Shoulder Injuries – Rehab & Prevention

    I promise that this ebook and the videos will be the most comprehensive yet practical on shoulder injuries you’ve ever seen.

  • Your Injuries?

    I’m going to be covering some stuff on various injuries in MMA, as I’ve been experiencing a few injuries myself lately.

    Recently, I’ve experienced a concussion (non-MMA related) and a hand injury (boxing).

    At least THIS didn’t happen to me…

    I also just attended a workshop where I learned some new stuff for shoulder injuries.

    So I just want to know what injuries you have currently or you’re recovering from?

    Vote below and it will help me help you!

    [poll id=”11″]

    If you’ve got any other Comments or questions, leave them below.

  • The Truth About Balance Training

    The other day I walked into the new big-box gym that I’ve been working out at and witnessed a ghastly sight…

    A 30-something guy who looked to be in reasonable shape but was probably a fat loss client was working with one of the Stock Trainers at the gym. You know, the beefy guy who makes workouts up as he goes and who’s only jobs are to count your reps, provide an occasional motivational quote (“ALL YOU”) and maybe a spot or two.

    Anyway these guys were chatting and then started doing something more ridiculous than Chael Sonnen calling himself the champ and carrying around a replica UFC belt.

    Now picture this: the Stock Trainer instructed his client to get up on a BOSU ball (uh oh), handed him a set of dumbbells (come on) and made him do a simulataneous squat and side raise (please god stop the madness)!

    Why? Why!?! WHY!!!!

    What the hell are you trying to do with this exercise?

    Let me play devil’s advocate for a second and consider the possibilities:

    POSSIBLE REASONING #1: increase fat burning by increasing the metabolic load due to the combination of 2 exercises with standing on a BOSU ball which activates more stabilizer muscles

    WHY THIS IS RETARDED: the limiting strength factor here is the amount of weight you can side raise, so the legs and hips (the much bigger muscles) aren’t stimulated at all. While standing on a BOSU does increase stabilizer muscle activation, doing so also decreases prime mover muscle activation and the prime movers (quads, glutes) are much bigger and will burn much more fat than the teensy-weensy little stabilizers.

    BETTER WAY: do a set of heavy squats supersetted with side raises. Then stand on 1 leg with your eyes closed during your rest time. Some things aren’t better combined, like blending together your dinner of steak, potatoes and broccoli.

    POSSIBLE REASONING #2: standing on a BOSU while performing different moves will improve balance and what’s wrong with working on balance once in a while?

    WHY THIS IS RETARDED: unless you’re training to be the seal who balances on a ball while balancing a ball on his nose, or you are a surfer or skateboarder, this is completely non-functional for your task.

    BETTER WAY: look at the needs of the individual and choose the balance exercises most appropriate for those needs.

    Now here’s where we get into some meat…

    Balance is specific to the environment and is a reaction or reflex that keeps you still.

    Unless you’re trying to play a statue, balance is a dynamic event.

    It’s like trying to drive straight – when you’re first learning, you take the grip of death on the wheel and try to lock it in straight. But once you learn to relax, you realize that it’s about making little adjustments as you go.

    That’s what balance is all about – your ability to make little adjustments to stay on track.

    There are 2 main types of balance to train: righting reflexes and tilting reflexes.

    A righting reflex is what you need when standing on one foot with your eyes closed.

    A tilting reflex is what you need when the ground is moving under you and you’ve got to adjust to it to stay balanced, like in surfing or skateboarding (or being a circus seal).

    In MMA and most sports, righting reflexes are what you need to be balanced.

    Now when you want to work on balance, you can focus on your specific needs and in the case of MMA: righting reflexes. So that means you have no need ever to stand on a BOSU ball or wobble board (unless it’s a rehab type situation).

    There are also 2 types of righting reflexes you can train: static and dynamic.

    A static righting reflex is when you’re standing in one place and have to keep your balance, like if you’re standing over a guy on his back trying to ground and pound him out while he’s trying to throw you off balance and get you to the ground.

    Here’s an example of a good exercise to train your static righting reflex (I can’t believe how old this video seems LOL):

    Now, a dynamic righting reflex is if you’re moving in and out and changing directions quickly, like Dominic Cruz’s standup game.

    Here’s a drill that you can do that will help with your dynamic righting reflex, and possibly help you be a little quicker and more nimble on your feet:

    [flv:http://ericwongmma.com/videos/x-drill-2-foot-180.flv 640 360]

    [More Info on the 6 Components of Quickness for MMA Here]

    So there you have the “Truth about Balance” training…

    Unless you’re a surfer, skateboarder, or circus seal in training, stay off the BOSU and focus on the specific exercises and drills that will improve your skills where it matters – in the cage and on the mats.

    PEACE

    Eric

    P.S. Please hit “Like” to stop the madness and spread the good word.

    [sharebox5_no_text]

  • Common Problems Learning the Olympic Lifts

    Like I talked about last post, one of the ways to force your body to make continued progress is to increase the complexity of exercises you throw at it.

    By doing so, you’ll build new neural pathways and become more efficient and coordinated on a neuromuscular level.

    The Snatch and Clean and Jerk are 2 exercises that are at the height of technical complexity.

    Master these exercises and you’ve mastered the most efficient and powerful tools in your exercise toolbox.

    Today, I’m going to be talking about some technical stuff and for the not real bright in the room who don’t care about technique it won’t really have any lasting effect.

    But for the intelligent MMA fighters and fitness enthusiasts here who understand that progression from white to black belt in all disciplines is the goal of all training including strength and conditioning, today we’ll go through how you can start using the Olympic lifts to continue making progress in your performance and fitness for life.

    [jwplayer config=”Posts: 560×340″ mediaid=”4242″]
    Be ready to invest time and energy in learning things properly and you’ll be on your way to mastery.

    As I’ve worked with fighters at all levels over the past 6 years, I’ve come across very few who were using the Olympic lifts.

    Some have even displayed absolutely horrible form.

    But if you’re in this boat, I’ve come to realize that it’s not your fault.

    A few months ago, when I first started training with a high level fighter, I asked him all about his exercise history.

    We talked for a while and then I asked, “Have you ever done the Olympic lifts?”

    “Yeah, a few times, but I’ve never really been taught them properly.”

    “OK, show me your form.”

    He went on to perform a few reps of the Power Clean and it was clear that it wasn’t an exercise we’d be using until I taught him proper technique.

    I then asked, “How were you taught the lifts?”

    He replied, “They were usually in the middle of a circuit, so…”

    BINGO.

    Running groups of guys through circuits, spending 20 seconds explaining each station, with stations that include technical exercises like the Cleanis NOT the proper way to teach or learn the Olympic lifts.

    Circuit Training
    I don’t blame you for being distracted when you were trying to learn good technique…

    Brutal.

    Dangerous.

    And completely unacceptable!

    These lifts are not meant to be taken lightly and doing so will crush any who show this level of disrespect.

    When watching these guys and other beginners execute the Olympic lifts, I’ve been able to observe common problems.

    Knowing these points and how to fix them will help you know what to look out for when you start training with the O-lifts.

    Common Problems With the Olympic Lifts

    Problem #1 – Lack of Understanding of Proper Technique

    One aspect of the old Soviet system of churning out Olympic athletes that I greatly respect is the time they took to educate their athletes in the science behind what they had them do on a biomechanical and physiological level.

    For the athlete, this leads to a deeper level of understanding of their craft and helps them execute more successfully.

    Understanding both the technical aspects of the Olympic lifts as well as why each element is there will go a long way towards your safe and effective use of these powerful exercises.

    What I’ve done is my BIOMECH Breakdown of the lifts so you understand each phase and its importance, giving you the foundation you need for proper execution.

    BIOMECH Breakdown

    Problem #2 – Poor Mobility

    The areas where mobility is most needed is in the ankles, hips and/or shoulders, which is pretty much everywhere. 😉

    Unfortunately, the latter 2 are areas where regular MMA training (fight stance, guard, getting your neck cranked, etc) and modern society (sitting and driving) cause restrictions.

    Addressing these areas is necessary for being able to properly do the Clean and Jerk and especially the Snatch.

    I’ve personally had to spend a great deal of time on my hips and shoulders.

    My hips from years growing up playing hockey without performing any compensatory stretches or exercises, and my shoulders from the first couple of years of weight training where all I did was Bench press and Bicep curl. [Which way to the beach?]

    From my personal tightness and experience, static stretching just didn’t work for me.

    But I’ve uncovered a few critical dynamic mobility exercises for quickly fixing these troublesome areas up that I’m going to guide you through.

    Problem #3 – Bad Movement Patterns

    Incorrect training in the past has to be broken down, deconstructed and re-programmed for correct technique.

    You start by stopping the full lift that you’re trying to fix and start performing component parts of it properly.

    This allows you to develop the proper patterns while avoiding the old, inefficient movements you used to do.

    Then, you progressively put the movements together until you end up with the full lift in flawless technique.

    I’ve used the BIOMECH Breakdown of the Snatch and Clean and Jerk to create a step-by-step program that starts from the ground up.

    I call it the “Rapid Mastery Training Sequence” (RMTS) and it involves 4 levels:

    1. Fundamental Patterning
    2. Isolated Movement
    3. Level 1 Integration
    4. Level 2 Integration

    Once you complete Level 2 Integration, you’re ready to put it all together and start banging out quality lifts.

    I’ve put all this together in a program designed specifically for guys who have never done the lifts or guys who have done them before but know they need to improve their technique.

    If you’re in this group, the Olympic Lifting Mastery Course is for you.

    The Olympic Lifting Mastery Course

    The Olympic Lifting Mastery Course is now LIVE: check it out here.

  • 4 Program Design Tips To Avoid Plateaus

    We had some great answers to the little “quiz” I gave you in my last post.

    If you haven’t read the answers, check them out as you’re sure to pick something up, especially from the doctoral thesis Danavir posted… 🙂

    In today’s article, I’m going to present some of the factors you must take into consideration when designing “Energizer” programs.

    What’s an Energizer program?

    Just like the Energizer Bunny, it’s a program that keeps getting results without stopping.

    Hahahaha I’m so clever.

    I’m also going to give you some of the thought processes behind it instead of memorizing “rules”, you can think things through on your own to choose the best method for your situation.

    That old “teach a man to fish” thing…

    Now it’s important to understand that nothing I’m talking about here exists in isolation – each factor overlaps and interacts with the others.

    So it’s something you’ve got to read carefully, digest and synthesize into something practical in your own mind.

     

    1. ACUTE EXERCISE VARIABLES

    • The exercise iteself
    • Reps
    • Weight / Intensity
    • Rest Periods
    • Sets

    These are at the heart of strength training program design (PD) and are the first factors to learn to manipulate.

    When manipulating these variables, it’s necessary to consider your overall PD.

    Here’s a simple table you can refer to based on variables I use when designing programs:
    [ws_table id=”2″]
    These aren’t necessarily all straight from the textbook, but guidelines I’ve found effective when training my athletes.

    The key to manipulating these variables is knowing your goal and understanding how the different goals build on one another:

    Hypertrophy -> Strength -> Power ->Speed -> Endurance

    Follow this simple template and you’ll take a lot of the guesswork out of designing your programs.

    What you’ve got to ask yourself is, “What’s the ultimate result I want to achieve?” then you can assess and see what factor to work on first to achieve that goal.

    NOTE: we’re talking about the neuromuscular system here; we’re not even going to touch the cardiovascular system in this article, we’ll get to that in the future.

    Now, I’ve got some additional tricks up my sleeve to take it up a notch…

     

    2. PERIODIZATION

    Now, one of the big guns – periodization.

    It basically means how you plan your PD out.

    If you ever decide to hire a trainer and he doesn’t lay out a plan that’s at least 4 weeks long in front of you, save your money, say, “Thanks but no thanks” and quickly walk away.

    Unfortunately, most trainers are like this.

    But it’s not always their fault – I used to be a trainer at a big-box gym making $20 per client and training 11 clients per day.

    That doesn’t leave you a lot of energy or desire to write out 4-12 week periodized programs.

    I quickly realized I would either burn myself out and stop caring, doing it just for money, or I’d have to leave.

    I chose the latter and it was one of the best decisions of my life.

    Anyway, a monster tip is to think backwards… Ask yourself, “What is the end result I’m looking for?”

    Then plan backwards from that result and design the program accordingly.

    Training fighters makes this convenient as the obvious goal is to be a beast in the octagon, so I can easily count the weeks backwards from there and put a plan into place.

    If you’re not a fighter but you train MMA, train yourself like you’re going to fight and you’ll feel the power of this method.

    If you’re into general fitness, set a goal, whether it be a body comp goal like dropping 10 lbs of fat in 6 weeks (or 20-30 lbs in 8 weeks like many of my MMA Ripped members) or a fitness goal like increasing your Back squat strength by 30 lbs in 4 weeks.

    Whatever your situation, you can create a periodized program based on it to get the best results.

    Manipulate the acute variables as mentioned in 1 every 3-5 weeks (more advanced guys need to change things up more frequently) and you’re good to go.

    It’s also vital to include lower volume/intensity weeks (deload) as you cannot simply push and push your body into making progress.

    Rest and recovery are when your body adapts, so schedule them in and prioritize them.

    That was a quick run-through of the basics.

    Now, let’s get to a few of the tweaks that can take you from good to great…

     

    3. ORDER OF EXERCISES

    The order with which you perform exercises plays a big role in how much an exercise can cause adaptation.

    The basic rule is that exercises performed early in the routine will have more of an effect than exercises later.

    This is obvious as later on in your routine you’re going to have less energy to give.

    HOWEVER, there are some non-obvious factors that you can manipulate to your advantage:

    • Pre-activation: an exercise done to activate a certain muscle group before another exercise where that muscle might not normally work due to inhibition
    • Pre-fatigue: an exercise done to pre-fatigue a certain muscle if you want other muscles to work more during a certain movement; can be used in conjunction with pre-activation
    • Potentation: an exercise done to “charge” the nervous system before another exercise to improve performance in the 2nd exercise

    These are very powerful tools in your program toolbox that can be used depending on what you need to do.

    For example, if you, like many, have sleepy glutes, doing a pre-activation exercise like a Hip extension before doing Squats will help you fire your glutes better when squatting.

    Or doing a power exercise before a strength exercise can help recruit more muscle for your strength exercise, as long as you don’t drain yourself too much with the power exercise.

     

    4. NEUROMUSCULAR COORDINATION

    This is topic that can get a little “science-y”, but I’ll do must best to keep it understandable.

    There are 2 types of neuromuscular coordination: INTERmuscular and INTRAmuscular.

    INTERmuscular coordination happens between different muscle groups – for example, coordination all of the different muscle groups involved in the Squat.

    INTRAmuscular coordination is the coordination within a muscle group, for example, how advanced lifters activate a higher % of their muscle fibres than beginners during a simple exercise like a Biceps curl.

    Now, to enhance both of these types of coordination, it’s necessary that you repeat an exercise over and over as opposed to changing it too often.

    This is the problem with the theory of “muscle confusion” – change a program too much and you’ll never improve your coordination.

    If you don’t improve your neuromuscular coordination, you’ll never develop long-term performance improvements or changes to your body.

    Even with hypertrophy training, which is more muscular than neuro driven, improving coordination through repeated exposure to the same exercise improves the % of muscle fibres firing, which increases the # of fibres that have the potential for growth, helping you get bigger.

    When it comes to INTRAmuscular coordination, greatest improvements will be made when you’re fresh, so early on in your workout and taking lots of rest will give you the best results.

    With respect to INTERmuscular coordination, the same rules apply, but the improvements you make will depend on the complexity of the exercises you perform.

    A simple exercise like a Bicep curl requires a lot less INTERmuscular coordination than a more complex movement such as a Back Squat.

    But if you’ve been Squatting for years, then you may be ready to take it to the next level.

    That’s where the Snatch and Clean and Jerk – the Olympic Lifts – come into play.

    These exercises require POWER (you can’t perform them slowly) AND concentration on proper technique, building new neuromuscular pathways in the process.

    A month or so ago, I conducted a poll where I asked, “What is your experience with Olympic Weightlifting?” with the following results:

    86% of respondents wanted to learn how to safely and effectively perform the Olympic lifts.

    So if you’re reading this, you’re probably in that boat.

    I even ran a webinar where I broke down the Snatch, but I knew that for most, that wasn’t enough to go out and start hammering out the O-lifts with confidence.

    That’s why I’ve gone ahead and created a program designed to take the raw beginner to confident execution of the Snatch and Clean and Jerk in as little as 3 weeks.

    Clean and Jerk

    I gives the peoples what the peoples wants. 🙂

    Just like how I summarized program design in this post in a way that will have all you trainers and guys who write your own programs designing better programs than the majority of trainers who make $60 per hour.

    TOMORROW, I’m going to show you how to simplify the complex and learn the Olympic lifts even if you’ve got no experience OR confidence.

    So if you’re like the confused monkey above when it comes to the Olympic lifts, you’re in for a treat.

    And if you’re the intelligent type who knows when a little guidance and coaching is beneficial (like when trying to learn highly technical exercises like the O-lifts), this will be perfect for you…

    … especially if you’re not ready to shell out a few hundred bucks or even a thousand bucks for personal training sessions.

    Again, that’s coming tomorrow, so stay tuned if you’re ready to learn how to properly perform the most eXplosive exercises on the planet.

    JUST RELEASED:

    Olympic Lifting Mastery Course
    CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

  • How to Punch Harder – Part II

    In Part I of this article series on “How to Punch Harder“, I asked you what you thought the specific cue was that I used with my athlete as we were doing the Medicine Ball Scoop Toss exercise.

    Load to EXPLODE

    I was looking for one specific phrase.

    When I started reading the answers and re-watched the video, I realized that there were a few things that I said in there.

    The majority of answers included “driving from the ground up” and integrating the “hips and core“.

    (more…)

  • How to Punch Harder

    Last week I posted an exercise to help you kick higher, so this week, I thought I’d throw in another article that I know is going to be popular on how to punch harder.

    Punch is one of those funny words if you say it enough times, it starts to sound comical.

    Punch.

    Punch.

    PU-nch.

    How to punch harder like GSP

    Don’t agree? OK maybe I’m just a weirdo or I’ve spent too much time with this article rolling around in my head then. 🙂

    Before continuing – take this poll/quiz, I’m just curious to see where you’re at:

    There are a lot of myths out and about talking about how to punch harder.

    Let’s bust those then get on with how you can actually go about increasing your punching power properly.

    How to Punch Harder MYTH #1 – Increase Tricep Strength

    I remember watching a video put out by one of those fitness magazines that shows a trainer ‘teaching’ the magazine interviewer guy how to punch harder.

    One of the exercises he shows is the standing tricep cable extension, saying that it’s a good exercise because you need tricep strength to punch harder.

    He then goes to punch this geek in the gut when he’s not expecting it, crumpling him, “proving” his theory right.

    WRONG.

    Tricep strength contributes very little to punching power, which comes more from the hips and core.

    How to Punch Harder MYTH #2 – Punchers Are Born, Not Made

    Your genetics and build play a role in your punching power through their effects on muscle fiber type, neuromuscular activation speed and tendon length, to name a few. [For those with more background about the human body, even tendon insertion points that increase moment arm size to increase force production at that joint]

    However, you can take the most genetically gifted freak in the world and if he’s never taught proper technique, he’s probably not going to have ridiculous KO power.

    Anybody can wind up and throw everything they’ve got at a bag, but this is useless since something like this will never work in a fight (maybe in the street, but not against a trained opponent).

    So we’ve got to talk about punches that have a chance of landing, and with this, technique is first and foremost.

    Teaching technique is one way to “make” punching power.

    After that, we can train the body strategically to improve two of the genetic components (in italics) mentioned above.

    OK I’m done with myth-busting. Let’s move on to what to actually do to punch harder instead…

    1) We know that before punching power can be developed, you’ve got to master technique.

    2) We also know that much of your punching power comes from your hips and core, not just your arms.

    Because I’m the S&C guy, I’m going to leave #1 to your striking coach. [f you don’t have one or you’re not confident in what he’s teaching you, talk to Jeff Joslin]

    What I am going to do is address #2.

    And I’m going to do it in a 2-step process, because I want you to think about this and understand it.

    Once you understand it properly, you’ll start to practice the concept in all of your training and you’ll punch a hell of a lot harder than ever before.

    Step #1 is for you to watch the video on this page and identify the key concept that I’m cueing my athlete to focus on.

    Step #2 is for you to leave your answer as to what you think the key concept is in the Comments section below.

    When you leave your comment, scroll right to the bottom of this page so you don’t see anybody else’s answer and it doesn’t influence yours.

    Remember – you’re not doing this to prove how smart you are, you’re doing it to deepen your understanding.

    There are 2 exercises shown in this video, both of which are in my Ultimate MMA S&C program.

    I want you to focus on the exercise that more closely resembles throwing a punch and listen closely to my coaching cues.

    Ready?

    Identify the “Cue” to Punch Harder:

    [jwplayer config=”512×288 with controls” mediaid=”3684″]
     

    I also want to encourage participation – so let’s get at least 50 answers here and in addition to revealing the magic cue to punch harder, I’ll also outline why we’re doing what we’re doing in this short clip, so let’s hear your answers!