Just gotta say that I loved Machida’s fight against Evans this past weekend and look forward to seeing more from the Dragon…
———- BIG NEWS ———-
This week, I’m going to post an awesome workout for you and announce something pretty cool – make sure you check back Wednesday/Thursday to see…
The UFC is running a little vote on their site for the Top 100 Fights of all time. Because I don’t really have the time or care to go through the 181 fights they have posted on their site, I figured you’re probably in the same boat.
But that doesn’t mean that we can’t choose from a more select list of fights. Now I’m not going to say that these are the best fights to have ever taken place, but for me, they came to my mind first.
So here are 3 of my top MMA fights of all time for your viewing pleasure, in no particular order:
I’m holding a workshop for MMA fighters called “How to Prevent Shoulder Injuries in MMA”. To see full details, check out the flyer by clicking the image below:
By attending this workshop you’ll learn everything you need to know to ensure your shoulders are as strong and stable as they possibly can be. Obviously if your shoulder gets cranked to hell there’s not much you can do, so I’m not going to say, “You’ll NEVER get a shoulder injury, ever again!” But apply the techniques you’ll learn and you’re doing your best.
As stated in the flyer, here are the details:
Workshop Details
Date: Saturday, May 2, 2009
Time: Noon – 1:30 pm
Location: xelf fitness centre
1000 Upper Gage (click here for map)
Inside the Runner’s Den
Cost: $20 before April 29
$30 after April 29A workbook is included.
This workshop is LIMITED TO 12 ATHLETES. To register, simply click the ‘Seminars’ tab at the top of this page and enter your payment and you’re in!
See you there.
Eric
I was out for a long walk the other day and where I was by Lake Ontario, which is really close to where I live. It’s one of the 5 Great Lakes as they’re called in North America.
Unfortunately it’s polluted as hell from all the steel companies and other industries that dump their toxic waste into them, but it still looks nice on a sunny day.
Anyway I was walking on the shore and came to a spot where there were those big rocks that they sometimes have near water. As I was jumping from rock to rock, I, for some reason, thought about the fact that barely any fighters (or anyone in the gym) trains their single-leg balance.
Training your single-leg balance will not only improve your performance in the cage, it’ll also help to keep your ankles and knees healthy.
One thing you don’t want to do (unless you’re rehabbing an injury) is focus on standing on unstable things like BOSU balls, discs, or foam rollers. These tools don’t do anything for performance and limit the strength you can build.
You might think they’re great for balance, but the truth is, the ground doesn’t move under you, you move over theground, so it’s a different neuromuscular pattern that doesn’t transfer over to a real life situation.
So what kind of exercises do you want to do?
Check out videos of 3 of them here:
=> Balance Exercises for MMA Training
As I mention in the videos – these are not meant to replace your traditional strength exercises, they’re supplementary.
Train smart,
Eric
If you’ve ever heard some fitness professionals talk, they make it seem like cardio is the worst thing ever. They make it sound very black and white like cardio = fatness.
Now while I agree that just doing cardio is not the best use of your exercise time, I do contend that you can lose fat with cardio as your only mode of exercise. The thing is, most types of cardio doesn’t help your overall movement, it doesn’t make you stronger or better able to navigate the demands of everyday life, and it can wreak havoc on your joints if you don’t have an efficient running gait or your body isn’t strong enough to take the impact of running. Every step you take when running causes an impact 4-7 times your body weight. If your muscles aren’t ready for it – your joints are going to take this impact and complain at you later.
Important Tip: if you’re currently out of shape and you want to run, first get in shape through strength training and lose some fat by changing your eating habits, then start running.
Anyway, if you want to get lean, running long distance can help, and it definitely is good for your heart and lungs. Just remember the caveats above. But like any exercise, you have to constantly force your body to do more than it’s used to, otherwise why would your body change?
To illustrate my point that runners can get lean, here are some pictures from a 30km race that was held in Hamilton/Burlington called the Around the Bay race. The track comes right in front of my house. Plus, check out the dude in the pink tutu – he’s pretty lean!
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These are variations of traditional exercises that increase the recruitment of the core muscles in a stabilization role, which helps you develop explosive KO power and a shredded six-pack:
Had some fun with some buddies of mine today taking them through a boxing-style workout. After that, I did a lower body day:
1) Front squats 5 x 4
2) Deadlifts from pins (kneecap height) 5 x 4
3) Bulgarian split squats 3 x 6
4) Leg curls on ball 2 x 15
Felt pretty strong today, although because I haven’t done front squats in a couple of months, my hands gave out before anything else, as I use a clean grip.
I’m curious as to what your workouts are looking like, so leave me a comment with what you’re doing these days.
Eric
One of the most important things to make sure you’re doing to make progress and continually get results is to follow a program.
Even if the program isn’t that well put together, following any program at all is better than showing up to the gym and saying to yourself, “What do I feel like working today?”
Unfortunately, most gym-goers and athletes do just that. I talked to 4 different guys at the gym today, and guess what, none of them were following a program.
One guys was doing pushups and I asked him how many he was doing 2 weeks ago. He replied, “About 25.”
I asked him how many he did today.
Guess how many?
That’s right – “About 25.”
Do you see the problem with not following a program or keeping progress?
So the program I’m currently following is by Eric Cressey which is outlined in his book “Maximum Strength”. Right now, I’m training 4 days a week, so since his program is 4 days a week and my goals right now are to bump up my max strength in the big lifts – squat, deads, bench, chins – I figured I’d give it a go.
Now this wouldn’t necessarily be a good program for a fighter because there’s just too many workout days to get in on top of MMA training, but it’s a good one if you want to build your, surprise, surprise, max strength.
So if you’re just going to the gym and working out, get a program PRONTO and start to get some real results.
If you’re a fighter – check out my Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning program.
If you’re an MMA fan interested in general fitness – read about the MMA Ripped Fat Loss Program.
It seems like the UFC is wising up a little bit – the UFC 95 card seems pretty lackluster overall, so they’re rightfully giving it away for free on Spike.
But still, I’m looking forward to a couple of fights, the main card pitting Diego vs. Joe Stevenson, and the Demian Maia fight.
I think the Diego vs. Joe fight is going to be interesting and I’m really not too sure how it will turn out. I really don’t think Diego is going to be any bigger or stronger than Stevenson, because when I saw him up close before one of his fights, he was a pretty small guy. So that advantage is out.
But the thing that’s got me interested is the fact that Diego’s been training at altitude to get in top shape for this fight, which will actually LIMIT his performance.
(I just wrote about this at length in my newsletter, describing exactly why this is. If you want to see this article – post a comment here and I’ll put it up. If you don’t want to miss any future articles, sign up to my newsletter at the top right of this page.)
For this reason, I’m picking Joe “Daddy” to win this fight.
Now I’m just looking forward to the Maia fight to see if he will continue to win through top BJJ skills. His fights have been great to watch because he’s winning with pure BJJ technique. I think he’ll pull it off, what do you think?
One more fight that I’m curious about is the Junior Dos Santos fight. Let’s see if he can pull off another ‘Sho-ryu-ken’ this fight! He puts Ken and Ryu to shame…
If you live in Ontario like I do, you were lucky to celebrate your first Family Day ever today. Thanks Liberal government of Ontario – you’re the best at giving us days off!
To celebrate Family Day, I’ve decided to publish an instructional video featuring my niece Maddie (listen for what she says at the end of the set – it’s hilarious!).
Now for real, if you’re doing chinups, MAKE SURE you do these things:
If you get good at chinups, moves like this one will be a lot easier to pull off:
~Happy Family Day~