In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to PROPERLY perform bodyweight squats, plus 2 new squat variations to try.
But before we get into that, I want to talk about something important…
I teach a lot of exercises and how to perform them correctly on this blog, but first and foremost, I am a STUDENT OF THE GAME.
I may be more experienced than you (or maybe not, there are a lot of great trainers and coaches that visit here) when it comes to S&C, but one thing I’ll never, ever do is consider myself a ‘master’.
I believe that once you consider yourself to be a ‘master’ at something, it’s easy for you to think you know it all and stop learning and growing.
With the weather this gorgeous, I have to do more videos outside like this one on sprint training technique…
I mean, I’m the boss, I might as well enjoy the weather, don’t ya think? đ
So anyway, check out this video and then the description below where I summarize the key technique tips to effective sprint training. If you like it, do me a favour and email it to your athletic friends, trainers, or anyone who enjoys improving their physical fitness.
SPRINT TRAINING TECHNIQUE SUMMARY
There are 4 keys to effective and powerful sprint training technique. Letâs start at the top and work our way down.
Sprint Training Technique Point #1 – Posture
Forward lean during acceleration
Stay tall in good posture, chin tucked at max speed
DONâT: slouch, lean back
Sprint Training Technique Point #2 – Arms/Shoulders
Hands relaxed
Movement at the shoulders
Elbow can extend/flex slightly
DONâT: hunch shoulders, clench fists, straighten elbows, run like a fairy
Sprint Training Technique Point #3 – Leg swing (recovery leg)
Butt to heel when pulling leg through, andâŚ
Pull the knee up with the hip flexors
DONâT: pull the leg straight through
Sprint Training Technique Point #4 – Foot strike
Whole foot can land or land more on the forefoot
Eliminate/minimize braking action â foot lands as it is already traveling backwards (negative foot speed)
DONâT: land too far ahead, heel strike
Those are the 4 keys to effective and powerful sprint training technique. Implement them into your workouts and youâll develop a more powerful and integrated body thatâs able to better transmit forces from the ground up through your core.
Leave any questions and/or comments you have about sprint training below.
To followup last post where I shared the Towel Bicep Curl exercise, I’ve got another great exercise to use to add elbow-popping submission power AND the stamina to last that I invented called the Good Morning Curl.
But before we get to that, last post I posed the question, “Why do you think I named my new program Python Power?”
The most powerful submission artist on the planet…
Most of the answers described the obvious link of how the python powerfully constricts and suffocates it’s victims to death…
Many of you also told me how once a Python gets its grips on its prey, the prey will never escape…
In my last post I shared a video that I dubbed my “Lowlights” video…
I asked you to guess why I named it such and Jay_G got it right with his Comment:
Because Jay_G watched the video and left his Comment, he’s going to win the new Python Power Program that I’m releasing on May 30. [Congratulations Jay_G! I’ve got your email and I’ll be in touch when the program is live with your D/L link]
That just goes to show that it pays to read the articles, watch the videos and COMMENT.
Maybe next time you’ll win something cool, but you won’t win anything if you don’t participate. You might even get that chance right now in this article… Read the whole thing to be sure… đ
Now you may be curious as to what this Python Power Program is all about…
This was from the Joslin’s 2008 Canadian Open Grappling/BJJ tourney…
Why do I call it a ‘lowlight‘ reel instead of a highlight reel?
I’ll be sharing it in my next post, but watch the video and Maybe YOU can tell me:
QUESTION: Why do you think I’m calling this a lowlight reel?
[I’ll give you a hint – it’s not because I came in 4th instead of 1st]
* Leave your guess in the Comments section below *
Next post I’ll be sharing the (embarassing) truth in as well as the immediate actions I took to fix this problem PLUS a new exercise most of you have never seen before.
I was going to hit up the boxing gym on Tuesday night but the all-day grey sky and rain sapped my motivation to make the 30 minute streetcar ride over.
Rain, rain. Go away…
So I decided to stop in to Toronto Kickboxing and Muay Thai (TKMT) for a drop-in class instead, which is a quick 7 minute walk from my place.
I’ve never been there before but it turned out to be a good call. I had a great workout, met a dude who’s on my email list (what’s up Mark), ran into a friend from Uni (hey Lisa) and gave my body something different, as I haven’t kicked or thrown a knee in a long-time since I’ve been focusing on being a pugilist.
In fact, I’ve shied away from Kickboxing/MT because my hips *were* in really rough shape and kicking irritated the hell out of them.
But I got some deep myofascial work done that ended in February this year (about $1600 worth… ouch) and now they’re feeling a heck of a lot better and the kicking didn’t irritate them like it used to.
So it looks like I may have to start training Kickboxing/MT more now. Yeeee-haw!
Over this past week, I’ve noticed some terrible things happening in the gym…
UFC 129 just went down in Toronto and it was a crazy night. I was there with my man Claude Patrick and he won his fight vs. Daniel Roberts via UD. Here’s the team in the locker room after his big W:
Claude Patrick with his team after his dominant UFC 129 victory vs. Daniel Roberts
After Claude’s fight I joined my fiancee, bro, sister and 6 friends in the stands to watch the rest of the card. The experience was unlike any UFC I’ve been to before, as a coach or a fan. 55,000 people can make a lot of noise!
My favourite moment of the night, second to Claude’s win, was Machida’s jumping front kick KO of Couture. I hate to see Couture end his career like that, but Machida’s kick was pure mastery, very reminscient of Anderson Silva’s front kick KO of Vitor Belfort.A lot of people have been hating on Steven Seagal since he’s been in the MMA spotlight, but there’s a reason guys like Silva and Machida have him around and it’s definitely not for his looks.
Steven Seagal giving Lyoto Machida pointers before his UFC 129 fight vs. Randy Couture
Now, onto today’s article…
Power is your ability to rapidly generate force.
The stronger you are, the greater your potential for power. Once you’ve got a good base level of strength, then you can focus on learning how to rapidly explode.
The Push Press is a great exercise for learning how to do this because if you’re slow, it turns into a Shoulder Press or Military Press, so you get a clear idea of how powerful you are.
Check the video for full details on how to execute this important technique for training MMA Power:
Learning to generate force with the lower body and transfer it through your arms is the key to developing explosive punches. While this exercise trains the vertical push pattern which isn’t as specific to punching, the neuromuscular timing is similar in terms of what muscles activate and in what sequence to properly execute this exercise.
Give it a shot and let me know what you think below!
“What the heck are you talking about, MMA training burns?”
It not only burns, but MMA training will elevate your grappling prowess and help you grind down your opponents.
Here’s what I mean…
In this case, the MMA in MMA training doesn’t stand for mixed martial arts, but Mixed Metabolic Acidosis training.
This is just a fancy sounding acronym to describe a specific style of training that I use to train the lactic acid energy system.
It’s ‘Mixed’ because you use different types of exercises, it’s ‘Metabolic’ because as a side effect it really ramps up the metabolism and it’s called ‘Acidosis’ because that’s what happens in your muscles due to the training and why it burns like hell!
So for the rest of this article, when I mention ‘MMA training‘ I’m talking about the new acronym I just came up with, not our favourite sport. đ
It’s also an extremely effective method that will help any mixed martial artist improve their grappling power, helping you hold tighter submissions and dominant positions.
Obviously technique is king but we can’t all be black belts so sometimes you just need to physically dominate your opponent and this will help you grind them out and wear them down, a la Jon Fitch or Cain Velasquez.
Not to mention the metabolic effect that will help you get LEAN.
But it’s a powerful method not to be overused. Let’s get into it…
Today we’re going to talk about negatives and their value in your MMA training workouts.
This all came about because last blog post I shared a funny story that happened to myself and Claude at the gym.
I also asked for YOU to post your gym etiquette breaking stories and got some hilarious responses.
But this one from Mark takes the cake:
“Once I had a guy ask me for a spot as he was doing ânegativesâ on the bench. He loaded up the bar with 225, I thought it to be light for negatives, but later I was very gratefull he only used 225.
He got down on the bench and when he gave me a signal I lifted the bar off the rack. He slowly lowered the bar to his chest, I grabbed the bar and began to lift it up, as I struggled with the weight I couldnât figure out why it was so heavy, I finally got it where I could rack it.
He said âa couple moreâ, I politely told him I couldnât because I was exhausted. I looked in the mirror, my face was purple, eyes bloodshot, every vein in my neck was sticking out.
I asked him, as I was gasping for air, how he does negatives, still trying to figure out why the weight was so hard for me to lift, after all I was âspottingâ not working out. Standing there not even looking like he had just completed a set, he informed me the correct way to do negatives was when the spotter pulled the weight up, he would be pulling down as hard as he could!!!
I saw a couple of guys laughing and found out they had spotted him before.”
I’m sure glad I wasn’t spotting this guy!
Anyway, this story raised the question, “Are negatives good for MMA training?”
