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Tag: power

  • On Rest and Recovery

    On Rest and Recovery

    My daughter and wife have had colds for the past week or so…

    Stuffy (and snotty, crusty) nose is the main symptom, which has led to some early mornings where I’m up with Livia somewhere between 4:00-5:30am.

    Because of this, I’ve been a bit more tired and when I’ve been able to sneak in a 20-30 minute power nap, I’ve felt much better and operate normally.

    But when I haven’t my energy has definitely been sub-par.

    On Friday, I had a resistance training session scheduled but cancelled it in favour of doing some mobility work because I had absolutely no gas in the tank.

    Back in the day, I probably would’ve ignored my tiredness and “manned up”…

    Nowadays though, a little older, a lot less hair and hopefully a tad bit wiser, I realize that I’m not going to win any trophies and there’s no rush, so I have no problem not doing workouts if I think it’ll serve me better in the long run.

    Every workout you do depletes your energy and strains the tissues worked. Basically, you’re stressing your body out.

    It’s after eating and sleeping for a day or two that your body adapts and comes back stronger from that workout.

    But if we go into a workout already tired or in an energy-depleted state, we’re essentially going into it with elevated cortisol.

    Cortisol is a stress hormone that when elevated, inhibits the immune system leaving us open to getting sick and down regulates the function of the digestive and reproductive systems (more bloating, more constipation, less sex).

    So to get through a workout when we’re already drained, our bodies being ever-so-accomodating, get us fired up by activating the full “fight or flight” response.

    Think about it – we’re already tired now we’re going to go and lift 250 pounds on our backsor do a bunch of Chinups like we’re climbing a tree to escape a vicious lion – our bodies definitely see this as a fight!

    So, here’s what happens HORMONALLY in our bodies (and how we often react) when we get into the fight or flight response to workout when tired:

    1) We get an initial energy rush, fueled by the stress hormones adrenaline and/or norepinephrine, which can make us think, “See, all I needed to do was come to the gym. I feel great now.”

    2) Cortisol then gets further increased, which ensures that all energy is directed to the fight/flight muscles and not the other systems, giving us energy for the entire workout. “I feel perfectly fine and I’m just as strong as always.”

    3) We ride this hormone “high” for the course of the workout and end it by thinking to ourselves, “I knew it – all I needed to do was workout, I feel so much better now. No excuses!”

    And while it’s true that you probably feel better, it’s not a healthy better, but a stress-hormone induced improvement in alertness, energy and focus.

    One problem that you might not realize with this is that adrenaline in particular is great at dulling pain – so you may be injuring yourself and not realize it until afterwards and you won’t know why.

    But the big problem with this is that when you fail to see this and continue to use this strategy (workout as normal when you’re already exhausted), you’ll soon “break” this system and then you’ll be on the sidelines for a while.

    Adrenal fatigue is a term used to describe the syndrome of your adrenal glands (they produce the stress hormones) getting burnt out from being asked to do too much.

    It’s definitely not a state you want to be in, so I suggest you listen to your body when it’s telling you you’re dead tired and you’ve got a workout scheduled.

    Sometimes, it’s good to ignore it, especially if you know you’ve got lots of R&R time soon after, but sometimes, it’s good to listen, so you don’t burn yourself or your adrenals out.

    It just takes a little experimentation and observation of how your body reacts in either scenario to know what’s the right move at the time.

    Hopefully, this has enlightened you a bit and helps you not feel bad for “skipping” a workout, only when you’ve got a valid reason, of course.

    There’s obviously zero value in being a lazy bum, but I know you already know this otherwise you wouldn’t be here on this VIP Newsletter list. 🙂

    Anyway, just thought I’d share as this has been what’s been up in my life for the past little bit, hope it helps.

    Coach E

    P.S. Instead of my workout, I did a combo of the Kneeling Routine from the Hip Flexibility Solution and the Overhead Routine from the Shoulder Flexibility Solution, as well as some improv, but any work that is more about mobility, technique and activation is perfect for this kinda situation.

  • The Box [CAGE Cardio A+L Workout]

    The Box [CAGE Cardio A+L Workout]

    Today, I’ve got “The Box”, which is an A+L workout so you’ll be huffing, puffing and burning your fat down.

    It’s an advanced workout with difficult exercises so perform at your own risk.

    If you want to know how many reps, rounds and how long to rest between rounds, download the progression PDF below (you’ll also get access to downloadable vids so you can save this workout to your mobile device and avoid data fees):
    [thrive_2step id=’20676′]hookmeup[/thrive_2step]

    Would love to hear your feedbacknd would also really appreciate a Like!

  • “Power Pairs” – Build Power + Conditioning [A+A]

    “Power Pairs” – Build Power + Conditioning [A+A]

    In this workout, we go through the Power Pairs workout that is a part of the CAGE Cardio Bodyweight Fight deck.

    This workout will train your Alactic and Aerobic energy systems.

    One of the side benefits of A+A workouts is that they don’t overtax your muscular or nervous systems, allowing you more energy for your other workouts, whether it’s your strength workouts or MMA or martial arts training sessions.

    Maintaining proper form is especially important when you’re fatigued as that’s when your nervous system is most receptive to engraining movement patterns.

    If you want to know how many reps, rounds and how long to rest between rounds, download the progression PDF below (you’ll also get access to downloadable vids so you can save this workout to your mobile device and avoid data fees):
    [thrive_2step id=’20676′]hookmeup[/thrive_2step]
    Would love to hear your feedback and would also really appreciate a Like!

  • Eggs for High T | Piriformis Release | Glutes [ASK ERIC]

    Eggs for High T | Piriformis Release | Glutes [ASK ERIC]

    In today’s QnA video, I answer the following questions:

    I hate eggs but am trying your recommended T booster diet – is there a substitute?

    – Garry Mcdonell, Canada  [mm:ss]

    I do have a piriformis muscle issue. I was told the exercises you do for that depends on whether the muscle is shortened or lengthened.

    Do you have any help?

    – Joanne Attwood, Canada  [mm:ss]

    I went 3 weeks not missing a day but week 4 fell on the holidays and so I’ve slacked off a bit.

    But up to this point I have seen tremendous improvement in my hips.

    Since I’ve missed a week do you recommend starting from week 1 again or just pick up where I left off?

    – Aaron Cropper, US [mm:ss]

    What exercises have you found to best strengthen and add flexibility to the gluteal muscles?

    I am a physician and I appreciate your explanation based on muscle physiology.

    – Ronald Wong, US [mm:ss]

    When I sit, I feel real tight in the hip flexor / aDductor area.

    I can stand to take the pressure off, but I was curious if you have input on how to stretch/strengthen this specific area as it gets tight almost immediately when I sit.

    If there is an area of your HFS program I should focus on to help with this, please point me in the right direction.

    – Fletcher Wilson [mm:ss]

    If you’ve got a question about training for MMA or martial arts, nutrition, injuries or anything else that you’d like me to answer in a future QnA video, submit it here.

  • 1 Tip to Quickly Add 10 Pounds to Your Clean and Jerk

    1 Tip to Quickly Add 10 Pounds to Your Clean and Jerk

    True power comes from your ability to quickly go from rest to max force and back and forth and the Olympic Lifts are amazing at training your ability to execute this important skill.

    You don’t need to lift a lot of weight to benefit from the Olympic lifts, but you do need to perform them properly, or you won’t get the full benefits.

    Watch the video for a tip I recently implemented that helped me add 10 pounds to my Clean and Jerk.

    Before doing this, I’d get stuck on the Jerk above 165 lbs, but after I added this technique, I hit 175 lbs no problem.

    That’s the power of proper technique – you become more efficient and can do more with the same amount of energy or do the same amount with less energy.

    The Olympic Lifts are all about efficiency, which is why at the elite levels, athletes are lifting double their bodyweight (and more)  in both the Snatch and Clean and Jerk.

    I suggest that everyone training for performance learn the Olympic Lifts and continue to refine their technique.

    So whether you want to start them or improve what you’re already doing, check out this article where I give you 3 Tips to Mastering the Olympic Lifts.

  • 3 New Medicine Ball Exercises for MMA Quickness and Power

    3 New Medicine Ball Exercises for MMA Quickness and Power

    I almost melted shooting these 3 medicine ball exercises for you outside.

    But I soldiered on through the suffocating heat because I want YOU to be a quicker mixed martial artist…

    A more powerful wrestler.

    Or a more intimidating grappler.

    And you can do so by working the 3 med ball exercises I teach you in this video.

    Separately and even better, together, they’re awesome for various skills of MMA: particularly scrambling, defending takedowns and even scoring takedowns of your own.

    Check it out, and if you like it, let me know:

    It’s innovative drills like this that can not only help you develop your biomotor abilities (in this case, Quickness and Power), but also keeps your central nervous system (CNS) creating new pathways, keeping your brain healthy.

    Plus, shit like this is fun. 😀

    If you liked the vid, hit ‘Like’ below so I know it and if you’ve got any questions/comments, leave ’em below.

    HEADS UP: got some awesome stuff related to this video coming your way next week. Watch out for it.

  • TRXercise: 1-arm Power ROWtation

    TRXercise: 1-arm Power ROWtation

    The weather is getting nice which means I’ll start doing some more outdoor workouts.

    So I’ll be toting my TRX around and banging out a bunch of these:

    As I mentioned in the video, this trains something called the Posterior Sling system.

    Here’s a diagram showing you how it works:

    posterior-sling

    As you can see, the glute is attached fascially to the opposite lat.

    When you reach forward with your arm and opposite knee like when you run, it stretches this system and allows you to take advantage of the stretch-shortening cycle so when your foot lands and you drive off the ground, you can drive with more power.

    For punching, you can take advantage of this in the second punch of a combo, for example, you throw the left hook then follow up with the right cross, stretching the left lat during the left hook, then ripping the arm back to unleash the full power when you throw the right cross.

    Just another way to think to help you develop more power in your strikes.

    Got a Q or comment? Hit me up below.

  • Get Bigger (WITHOUT Slowing Down)

    Get Bigger (WITHOUT Slowing Down)

    This article is a follow-up to my last article called “3 Keys to Building Muscle”. If you haven’t read that yet, read it first here then come back to read this one.

    Bodybuilders who only bodybuild generally move like, well bodybuilders.

    Their choice of exercises, reps, sets and frequency create their physiques but also leave them slower and less athletic than if they weren’t so focused on hypertrophy all the time.

    But for the athlete who wants to increase their muscle mass, this approach won’t work.

    Another factor causing high T in college-aged males.

    One thing I must mention is that the strategies I talked about in my previous article aren’t necessary for the young college athlete whose gonads are pumping testosterone through their veins like gas stations pump fuel into SUVs on long weekends.

    If you’re one of these guys, focus on lifting heavy things with big compound movements and you’ll grow. You probably don’t even need to eat very well, as thousands of college football players provide evidence for.

    But if you’re 30+ and you’ve got a job, maybe a family, your T levels aren’t what they used to be, not to mention your recovery ability (which affects but is not completely explained by testosterone) AND you’re training martial arts or some other sport, you need a more refined approach to building mass than just lifting hard and heavy, because do that and sooner or later something will break.

    I explained the approach to building mass in the 3 Keys to Building Muscle article which outlined the strategy behind the eXplosive Muscle Building Blueprint (xMB).

    Now, I’m going to reveal the other side of the equation – the ‘x’ in xMB.

    Add the strategies I talk about here to the 3 Keys and you’ll be able to at the very least, maintain your current level of absolute speed/power, which is actually a relative increase, since you’ll be gaining weight at the same time.

    However, most of you who follow this blueprint will probably also increase absolute speed/power because all of the muscle you do add will be trained for explosiveness right from the get go.

    It’s all actually quite simple, really, here’s how to do it:

    After your warmup but before you get into your hypertrophy training, you start your workout with functional movements focused specifically on maximal speed/power.

    Kris Kross ‘ll make ya…

    Functional refers to whatever is functional for your sport, not single leg jumps off a Bosu ball, unless you’re a surfer practising bailing off your board.

    For MMA, the movements most important would be explosive lower body movements such as Squat or Lunge Jumps (and their variations) for things like takedowns, Olympic lifts, and rotational movements that will help with striking. Many of you already know my fave rotational movements and they involve whipping a medicine ball around.

    Doing this before you stimulate your muscles for growth is important because both your nervous system and your muscles are fresh and thus capable of maximal activation, training your now bigger muscles for max speed and power.

    The other point that must be made is about general speed/power training – you need multiple short sets and full rest to ensure this system is being maximized and the neural integration occurs.

    Sets that last more than 12-15 seconds start to tap into the lactic system, which we want for hypertrophy, but don’t want for speed/power.

    Sufficient rest (more rest is needed for exercises closer to the strength side of the speed-strength continuum) is usually a bare minimum of 60 seconds, but I tend to take more just to make sure I’m putting 100% into each set.

    In terms of how I periodize this approach in xMB, I start with concentric dominant exercises that won’t result in much if any muscle soreness so your MMA training (or other sport) can continue with minimal impact.

    After 4 weeks of this type of training, you’ll transition to exercises that train the stretch-shortening cycle and since you’ve progressed intelligently to them, soreness again will be minimized.

    You see, that’s one of the main goals I had when creating xMB and I believe at least for the guys who I mentioned would best be served by this approach, it’s the best approach available.

    So get started today and add 7-9 lbs of functional muscle to your frame in just 8 weeks:

    It’s difficult to see in the image above, but you’re also getting the xMB Nutrition Guide, which will give you everything you need to know to support your training efforts with proper muscle building nutrition. No fluff, just what works.

    And as with all of my programs, you’re backed by my industry-leading LIFETIME PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE.

    Ever have an issue with the program, even if you don’t get started until the year 2020?

    If you can find me (I’m pretty easy to find online) just send me an email and I’ll hook you up. No hassles. I just want you to be happy with the products and services I offer.

    And of course, when it comes to support, I’m there to help, as well as my lovely assistant Thea who is now back from her wedding.

  • 1 Little-Known Secret to Endless Cardio

    I’m baaaaaack with another Ask EricWongMMA segment.

    But I almost didn’t make it back.

    I was in the airport waiting around and was making my way to the departure gates.

    I walked through some doors, thinking they led to my gate, but when I looked back I thought, “Uh, oh” because they had those do not enter signs – you know the big red circle with the white line through the middle.

    DAMN YOU Chinese genes and your malfunctioning GPS for a brain for leading me astray (yet again).

    I asked one of the workers where to go by pointing to the gate on my ticketand he simply pointed to go that way to the end and up… When I got up there, I realized I WAS BACK WHERE I’D STARTED.

    I had to check in again, go through security and sprint to the gate. When I arrived, they looked a little upset and said I might have to stay another night in Barcelona. But they eventually let me on and my wife greeted me by laughing at me.

    Barcelona was a lot of fun and is very beautiful as well, as you may have seen in my Muscleups in Barcelona post.

    But all good things must come to an end and every ending is a new beginning so this week’s Ask EricWongMMA question came from Steve from New Zealand and I throw in some clips and relate my answer to this past UFC, specifically the two light heavyweight main event bouts.

    He asked about how to not tense up when sparring, and in answering it, I reveal 1 “Little-Known” Secret to Endless Cardio…

    Discover this secret in today’s Ask EricWongMMA video:

    The exercise I show you in the video above is best performed daily. It won’t feel like much. But it works.

    The keys are to:

    • Inhale, focusing on expanding the area below your nipples while relaxing your neck and shoulders
    • Breathe in through the nose and out through either the nose or mouth
    • Practice regularly!

    If you try too hard, you might even feel an intense shooting pain in your left chest/neck – this is a “spasm” in your diaphragm and nothing to worry about. It’ll go away after a minute or so.

    I’m going to do a post on the “hyperventilation” concept next week so stay tuned for that… It’s going to be pretty cool.

    As always, I appreciate your Likes, Shares and Comments – do so below.

  • My Supplement Secrets (Save Big $$$)

    If you’ve ever read through an MMA mag like Tapout, FIGHT!, Ultimate MMA, or any of the big ones on the racks at your local Chapters (or Borders, for you south of the border), you may have noticed that every other ad is for some new supplement that basically promises…

    Take This New HF-33 ISO MaxX XTREME and
    You’ll Turn Into Thiago Alves INSTANTLY

    Unfortunately, tons and tons of guys fall for the hype and misinformation…

    If that’s you, don’t worry, it’s not your fault.

    MMA is a crazy sport and it takes a ton of time, dedication, and hard work, so these shortcuts promised by the supplement mafia seem like they’re worth giving a shot.

    But they don’t work. Sorry to burst your bubble, but most supplements are garbage, and some might even get you to piss positive, hurting your career and embarrassing you in the process.

    However, there are some supplements that are tried and tested and will help improve your results, assuming that your training and nutrition are there first.

    Remember, they’re called SUPPLEMENTS for a reason – to supplement a solid diet and effective training program. (You’ll get both in my Ultimate MMA Strength and Conditioning Program)

    Anyway – I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that will help you get the best supplements you can on a shoestring budget.

    Doctor Wong’s Supplement Secret #1 – Pre/Post Workout Shakes on a Budget (That Actually Taste Good!)

    OK so pre and post-workout nutrition is often a heated topic, with people getting into fiery debates about the exact amounts and ratios of nutrients to get the maximum effect.

    But to get so into depth on such a small topic is a big waste of your time and energy, and ultimately, your money.

    So here’s what you can do to get a solid pre (during) and post workout shake in without breaking the bank:

    1. Buy some unflavoured whey protein isolate (or concentrate is fine too, it just doesn’t mix as well). It costs me $30 for 2 lbs of whey isolate at my grocery store.
    2. Buy your favourite juice. My choice is the No Name frozen pineapple juice – it costs $1.19 at the grocery store and I just mix it up with water and go.

    PRE (DURING) WORKOUT: I’ll mix up 1 cup of juice, which gives me about 30 grams of carbs coming from sugar, and about 1/2 scoop of whey, which gives me about 15 grams of protein. A perfect 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein to fuel my workout and make sure my muscles have some nutrients for energy and rebuilding

    POST WORKOUT: I’ll mix up 1.5 cups of juice and a full scoop of protein. This gives me about 45 grams of carbs and 27 grams of protein, again, about a perfect ratio of what I want post-workout to maintain muscle and replenish energy stores.

    If you’re working to build muscle, you can toss some creatine in both drinks. Just buy the regular, German creatine and you’re good to go.

    Why is this so good?

    Because it’s cheap and you don’t have to feel like an idiot after you spend $100 on a bottle of hype and end up exactly the same as you were before.

    And it tastes like your favourite juice, just a little bit creamier. So there’s no worrying if you’ll like the Double Mocha Java Chocolate or Banana Berry Blaster flavours – you know what juice you like so you’ll never be surprised (or disappointed).

    I’ve got a couple more great supplement tricks up my sleeve, but I want to hear your comments, any of your tricks, or just anything before I post them. I want to beat the most commented post on my blog (48), so…

    … give me 49 or more comments and I’ll hit you up with the #2 (killer fat loss supplement trick) and #3 (fat loss, cancer prevention, brain health, and more!)

    Don’t miss these tips – comment now: