Didn’t have much energy so I decided to lift a bit to wake up.
Hang clean 155 x 4
Stiff leg deadlift 155 x 8
1-leg SLD 40 x 6
Bench press 205 x 6
1-arm cable press, lunge stance 80 x 8
This workout did the trick – I feel a lot better now than before I started!
Get back to my normal program tomorrow. This was just therapeautic.
I can’t tell you how excited I am about this fight. It’s been a long-time coming, and the hype that’s been building has gotten me fired up – good job Dana!
I like both fighters. GSP is a fellow Canadian, so that gets him some points, and I like his growth and admire his explosiveness.
But BJ is a character and his talent is extraordinary. So whoever wins, I’m happy.
Here’s my prediction:
BJ will take it in the 3rd round by a ref stoppage due to strikes. GSP will take some licks in the first round on the feet becaues BJ’s hands are so fast, and he’ll take it to the ground from then on.
I don’t think BJ can submit GSP because of his strength and explosiveness, but I do think that BJ will be able to get some good positions on the ground and that’s why he’ll end it with strikes.
That’s my BOLD prediction – what’s yours? Leave a comment.
I remember when I first met one of my fighters and I asked him about how he was working out and he said, “I like to blast my chest, I’ll do bench press, then dumbbell press, then flys, then pushups.”
As I shook my head in disgust, I replied, “If your goal is to go on stage with a fake tan wearing red underwear, then you’re on the right path.”
If you train like a bodybuilder, you’ll look like a bodybuilder.
But if you’re interested in training to be athletic like a mixed-martial artist (and look the part), then pay attention to this final tip…
Tip #3 – Create a Program Based on Movements, not Muscles
If you train based on muscles, you do exercises for your chest, quads, hams, delts, lats, rhomboids, low back, calves, biceps, triceps, etc.
But if you train based on movements, you do exercises based on 7 fundamental patterns:
You will be using some of the same exercises, but the overall program design will be different.
Your goal is to have exercises from each of these patterns in your program.
From an efficiency point of view I recommend working out 3 days a week, alternating between 2 different workouts. For example:
Day 1
Day 2
There you have every movement pattern in 10 exercises, split up into 2 workouts. This program I’d do for 4 weeks, then switch it up.
The thing is, you’re hitting every muscle in your body in the way that it was designed to be worked, instead of strapped into a chair straightening your legs out like a leg extension!
My upcoming MMA Ripped Fat Loss Program is based on movements, not muscles, and if you want to train for athleticism and leanness, I recommend you do the same.
The program launches in less than 10 days, and I’ve got some ultra-cool bonuses as part of the launch promo. If you’re considering picking up a copy, get it right when it launches to take advantage of the launch promo.
Stay lean,
Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS
MMA Performance Coach
From my previous post, you learned that to get a ripped, athletic looking body instead of the big, bulky, blown-up bodybuilder physique, you need to focus on compound movements instead of isolation exercises.
These are exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, chinups and bench presses. Now, in Part 2 of ‘How to not get bulky lifting weights’, we’re going to talk about how to setup your actual workouts.
Tip #2 – Use (mostly) full body routines.
With respect to isolation exercises, I said to minimize them, not eliminate them completely.
That doesn’t mean you do NO bicep curls, it just means your workout doesn’t consist of 8+ sets of bicep curls, like most people’s do!
So with respect to program design, you want to use mostly full body routines. Split routines are beneficial in some cases, but you have to know why you’re using them.
If you want to put on some muscle mass, then split routines can contribute to that goal.
BUT – out of a year, I would spend maybe 3 months on a split routine, the remaining 9 months being on some sort of full body routine. That’s because my goal is strength, power, athleticism, and leanness, not never-ending hypertrophy (muscle building).
Now what exactly is a full body routine? Here’s an example:
1) Squats
2) Chinups
3) Lunges
4) Bench press
5) Prone bridge
This routine is using every muscle in your body, for what your body was designed for – movement and core stability.
Compare this to your traditional ‘Chest + Biceps’ workout:
1) Bench press
2) Incline dumbbell press
3) Flys
4) Standing barbell curls
5) Hammer curls
6) Preacher curls
Let’s do a little visualization exercise here – I want you to picture the human body, and picture that the muscles
working are all turned red.
Now compare what the guy in the first workout looks like versus the second – he looks like he’s on FIRE compared to
the other guy!
Well that’s exactly what happens to your metabolism – it turns into a raging fire, helping you melt body fat all
over your body.
So that concludes Part 2 of my series on ‘How to not get bulky lifting weights’ where we look at the actual workout.
Part 3 is going to put what you learned in Part 1 and 2 all together for you.
Stay tuned,
Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS
MMA Performance Coach
When I first started working out, my goal was to get big. I was a skinny dude all my life and I needed to put some muscle on to help with sports (and girls).
Once I got to a size that I thought was good, I changed my training up so that I could continue to build strength without putting on any more mass.
All the research and training that I did helped me achieve this, and also helped give me a foundation from which to train MMA fighters with.
Mixed-martial artists don’t want to get bigger but they do want to be as strong and powerful at their weight-class as possible.
Unfortunately, you see a lot of guys out there who look like they never considered the concept that being too big makes you look like a gorilla!
I don’t blame them, because most of the training programs you see on the ‘net and in magazines are designed to bulk you up like a bodybuilder.
But if you’re like me and you think being strong and powerful, is a worthy training goal, and you think looking lean and athletic is better than looking like you can’t scratch your back, then over the next 3 e-mails, I’m going to share with you my top 3 tips to achieve this:
Tip #1 – Avoid (minimize) isolation exercises.
If you’re doing a lot of exercises like barbell curls, tricep extensions, and dumbbell side raises, then you’re wasting time that could be better spent doing big bang exercises like squats, bench presses, chinups, and lunges.
Most guys do multiple exercises for their biceps, but they never do 1 set of squats!
This not only contributes to the bulked up bodybuilder look, but it also minimizes the amount of fat burning you’re doing, since you’re spending so much time working such a small muscle group compared to bigger muscle groups like the quads and glutes.
And, if being lean and cut is your goal, when you do these big bang exercises that work your whole body, you’re burning much more fat after your workout compared to doing isolation exercises.
In fact, studies have shown that you can burn fat for up to 48 hours following a weight-training session that includes big bang exercises like squats and bench presses.
Plus, the big bang exercises contribute much more to athletic performance than exercises like bicep curls and tricep extensions. So if you not only want to look better but also move better, then stick to big, compound movements for the majority of your training.
Now that you know you’ve gotta focus on big compound movements, you’re ready to learn Tip #2…. which you’ll learn about in a few days.
Train smart,
Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS
MMA Performance Coach
Foam rolling is a cool technique that is like giving yourself a massage. It can get out some trigger points that lead to muscular imbalances, pain, and worst-of-all: injury.
Check the video and add it in after your workouts to speed recovery time and decrease injury.
What are your goals this year? Have your first pro fight? Compete
in 3 tournaments? Get your blue belt in BJJ?
Whatever they are, many people make New Year’s resolutions and don’t
achieve them. Often, it’s because they’re missing some key elements of the
goal setting process that will change it to a goal GETTING process.
Key #1 – Make a True Commitment
When most people set goals, they say something like, “I want to lose
weight this year” and leave it at that. Unfortunately, approximately 60%
of Canadian adults are overweight or obese, and that number is still rising,
despite the fact that most of these people want to lose weight.
When you make a true commitment to a goal, it involves action. So when you
set your goals this year, ask yourself this question “What are the actions
that I must do to achieve my goal?”
These actions could be training 4 times a week in MMA and 3 times a week
in S&C, or eating healthy foods 90% of the time, or getting your body fat
to under 10% so you can finally see your abs. When you invest your time,
effort, and money into these actions, you are saying to the world, “I’m
committed to my goals!”
Whatever actions you think will help you get your goals,write them all
down. Once you know what actions you must do, move on to the next key.
Key #2 – Make a Plan
The old saying goes, “Fail to plan, plan to fail.” When it comes to
losing weight, most people fail to plan, and the results are predictable.
Planning is not rocket-science, but it does take a little time and effort
to do.
If you want to train more in 2009, here’s how you can succeed with
planning: get your calendar out on Sunday evening and look at what’s going
on for the upcoming week. If your plan is to train 5 times a week, then
schedule those workouts in just like a doctor’s appointment or oil change.
When you take the 5 minutes to plan on Sunday evening,you’ll see
potential conflicts and adjust accordingly, sky-rocketing youradherence and
ultimately your results!
Now that you know what you’ve got to do and you’ve go the roadmap to do
it, enlist the power of the third key to help you achieve your2009 fitness
goals.
Key #3 – Get Social Support
When you keep your goals to yourself, you can easily justify missing
workouts, or eating in a way that you know won’t help you.
That’s because you’ve been studying yourself all your life, and you know
the best ways to convince yourself of anything!
When you tell others about your goals, you now have something more powerful
than any supplement or exercise gadget on TV: Accountability.
The best way to do this is to tell a few different people close to you what
your plans are, and that you’d like to check-in with them on a weekly
basis. Also mention that if you don’t say anything, you’d like them
to ask you what’s going on.
Or you can post a training log somewhere, like on the forums at
Master-MMA, and you’ll have a group of other MMA athletes to answer to,
instead of just telling your buddy to shut up and quit bugging you.
Once you have this accountability, you’ll choose to stick to your plan
instead of face the embarrassment of having to own up to your
failure face-to-face with someone.
I can’t stress how important getting social support is for achieving your
goals. Just make sure you choose people who you are in contact with
regularly, are positive, and who will listen to you and call you out
if you’re not on track.
So take these 3 keys and use them to help you succeed with your goals in
2009. Have a great New Year and enjoy being one of the few who is a goal
getter instead of a goal setter.
Eric Wong, BSc, CSCS
ps. If you’re working out instead of training on a full program, you’re
wasting your time. CLICK HERE to check out the program that’s helped
fighters from around the world have the ability to pressure for 3 hard rounds.
As a Canadian, it’s my duty to be a rabid hockey fan, especially whenever a Team Canada plays. To many, Christmas means a time for gifts and family, but also the World Jr. Hockey Tournament. I was lucky to be able to check the pre-tournament game at Copps Coliseum vs. Slovakia and saw one of the best goals by John Tavares. Check it out at about 1:29 in this vid:
If you want to develop knockout power with your strikes, then the first thing you need to do is learn the proper technique. It’s not about slugging your opponent, it’s about the snap. Nobody teaches this better than my man Jeff Joslin.
Once you have your technique down, then it’s about training specific exercises that will allow you to maximize your skills. But most traditional gym exercises like bench press leave out a key component for developing KO power, which is improving your power in the transverse (rotational) plane.
Striking power comes from rotating the legs/hips/core into the punch, and finishing with the fist. That’s where rope ball exercises come in. You’ll not only specifically target the transverse plane, but you’ll also train that ‘snap’ that is necessary for KO power. Medicine ball throws are good as well, but the rope ball is what you need to really take it up a level. Check out two of my favourite exercises in this video:
Sunday, November 9th was the Joslin’s tourny. If you were there, you’d have experienced one of Canada’s largest grappling tournaments.
I participated in the 155-169.9 lbs Beginner’s (0-1 years experience) gi division. I’ve been grappling for about 4 months now and have just under 30 classes under my white belt.
This was my first tournament and it was a really eye-opening experience. The thing that really took me by surprise was how my nerves affected me in my first and subsequent fights. After my first fight I felt like I’d been in an all-out war – but in reality I was just too ramped up and was not relaxed (or breathing?) for 5 minutes straight. In class I’ve grappled hard for 15 minutes straight and didn’t feel nearly as exhausted, but it wasn’t my muscular or cardiovascular system, it was my nervous system. Luckily I had my good friend and coach Youssef Dimassi in my corner all day – he helped me a ton with good advice, having been in the same place ayear ago.
I’d never felt this way before in training or any athletic event in my life. There must be something about facing off against an opponent knowing that you have 1 chance to move on or go home.
Plus, the stakes were high for me. Back in April of this year, I was talking about goal setting to a group at a nutrition workshop that I was running and I told everybody (about 25 people) that a goal of mine was to win Joslin’s Canadian Open this year. I didn’t say that I wanted to compete, I said I wanted to win.
This was a pretty big goal, considering I wasn’t training at the time. Even then, I only started to roll in July, and from July to September I went 1-2 times a week to class. I still wasn’t really committed.
But one thing that I’ve learned is that if you want to make a goal happen, just tell a bunch of people that you know, and once you do, that’s instant accountability. Now, I either work towards it, or look like a fool.
Well, I didn’t win. But I came 4th in a field of 52 competitors, and I’m very happy with my performance. I got everything on video, and I can clearly see where I could have improved, but hindsight is 20/20. Here are some highlights: