little mouse ears

( or moose antlers?)

As soon as I can I have clients trying to do sit ups without their feet anchored..

Really if you can't do a sit up then why are trying to do any kind of direct abdominal work.
When you can do a sit up, then you can think about moving onto other 'core' work.
I don't know of a single client I've ever had that didn't lace their fingers behind their neck and use the 'jerk' method to develop momentum to enable their sit ups.
* if you are jerking yourself up, then you are not properly utilizing your core/abs. you're wasting time and encouraging injury
* sit ups should be slow and controlled (especial the down faze)[eccentric contraction is such a big word]
* as soon as you can, you should be doing sit ups without anchoring the feet
* I like to 'grip' the floor with my heals.
* using the mouse ears takes the pressure (even if unintentional) off the neck.
* the mouse ears add resistance ( as apposed to hands across the chest)
* hands across the chest encourages the 'jerk' reflex
* anchoring the feet uses more hip flexors than abs (so don't anchor the feet)

so whether you call them mouse ears or moose antlers (depending upon your clients I guess ) its just a better way. stick the thumbs in the ears and blow raspberries at your coach as you sit up.

the sad truth about diet

the truth about diets is that they work, until, you relapse.
anytime you cut calories there's going to be some reduction in mass.

the source of your calories determines the type of mass you maintain, gain or lose!
in other words your macro nutrient ratio is what you need to be paying attention to.

you want to be loseing fat not muscle.
if all you're taking in is carbohydrates (hello vegans) then you are going to suffer from a plythora of vitamin, mineral & amino acid deficincies.

sugar, flour, bread, pasta, rice, syrup, jam, = energy.
gasoline
if you take in more energy than you burn up, then you will have greater mass.

traditional vegetables/fruits = energy, fibre, minerals, vitamins
break fluid, transmission fluid, battery

steak, lobster, salmon, chicken, = building blocks, muscle, immune system
chasis

walnuts, olives, fats of anykind = bridges and communication.
oil, electrical transmission

the number one way to lose weight and harden up is the way thats been around for 100s of years. cut the carbs. i garantee, you are way overconsuming carbs (unless you are a competitive bodybuilder).

its hard to get too much protien. really hard. and if you keep your fats congruent with your protien then they will be under control.

the biggest lie on the world public is drop fat to get lean. want to be lean and muscular drop the carbs and manipulate the protiens.

the best results my clients get are by
not eating bread
not eating pizza
not eating cookies
not eating ice cream
not eating pasta
not eating canned meat

by eating more eggs

the newest trend (fad) in dieting seems to be the intermitten fasting bug.
i don't know why they call it that (yes i do but) its really just skipping breakfast and having a late lunch.

guess what, this diet has you cutting calories, just like any other diet.

i do like a lot about this eating style and there is a lot there for those that want to search it out and experiment.

it has several names, mostly paleo, warrior diet, renegade diet, etc. all have good ideas and bear some research just to further your knowledge but at the end of the day the keys to weight control are:

(bugs, high protien is always on the menu)

don't eat if your not hungry.
eat slow
when your not hungry stop eating
keep your sugar and flour stuff to a minimum
(actually just don't eat sugar, hell, its poison)
sit down away from the tv or computer to eat.

let me break it down simpler ( KISS right)
hungry eat
not hungry don't eat.

people want diets so they dont have to think,
just follow the rules of the diet, but the rules are many and complicated
so here's a diet with 2 rules.
hungry eat meat or eggs
not hungry- dont eat

stick with that for 2 weeks .
then
eat like a bear
http://primordial-athletics.blogspot.co.nz/search?q=eat+like+a+bear

hard yakka: tough drills

take one flat basketball. fill it with sand.

makes a better medicine ball than anything you're likely to buy at your local sports store.
with this drill we picked up the ball from the ground
     cleaned it to the chest
     extended overhead and
     threw it as far as we could
     then ran to it and repeated twice
     (total 3 times)
then sprint 30 meters and do 10 pushups
then jog back
kept it up for 5 min.
1 min rest
3 sets

good luck

train like tesla

(this guy knew a lot about energy)
all things being equal the strongest one wins.
I've heard this again and again, naturally since the world I swim through is full of guys always trying to become stronger and sell their stronger is better ideology.
I DO agree with this 100%
but
almost nothing is equal.
I have trained a lot of fighters over time and one thing I'm big on is the importance of relative strength, maximal strength and the ability to end a fight quickly.
This article is not more about strength training however, its about energy. Sometimes, the guy or gal, who can dig deep into the tank is the one who comes out on top whether all other things are equal or not. That fighter who just keeps on chugging, getting up time and again. You know, your opponent is bigger, stronger, more experienced, hell, just plain better, but if you can endure, eventually they will get tired and you can go home with the belt or purse or inflated ego, whatever.

when Ortiz went up against Shamrock, it was Ortizs' energy levels (his astounding amount of cardio fitness) that overwhelmed Shamrock
The ability to create movement, slowly wearing down your stronger opponent, grinding away, until they just have nothing left.
'so how do I get energy like this' How do you become a big cat instead of a paper tiger?
move!
continuous motion.
when I'm training fight specific I always put in one more minute, one more round.
when we are not doing fight prep, we work 20 min circuits. my rule, if you can go for 21 min. then the first 20 weren't hard enough.

I like to start with some heavy work ( pick up heavy stuff- my number 1 rule) in the 1-3 rep range then jump into other exercise where we watch the clock or sprint; the rest period is spent with the jump rope.

i also try to hit the whole body and develop exercise that will accentuate the athletes ring performance.

good coaching, with these grueling routines, is very important, proper exercise technique must be maintained and the athlete must keep going. no surrender. a constant reminder, go, go , go , push, push, push.

music can be beneficial too, not wayne newton, but some alice in chains, drop kick murphys, metal church....



here's some evolutions we have used:
exercise reps rest
deadlift 1-3 0
sprint 1 0
pushups 10 0
jog 1 *
*continue for the duration of 1 round, rest one minute then repeat. ( start with 3 sets working up to 5 )

floor press 3-5 0
pull ups 10 0
stone lift/carry 1 0
sprint 1 0
kneeling pile drivers 6 30 sec.**
** if at all; 5-6 sets

jump rope 1min 0
bear crawl 1min 0
jump rope 1 min 0
bag work (arms) 1 min 0
jump rope 1 min 0
bag work (legs) 1min 0
3 sets; no rest


squats 20 0
hanging leg raise 6 0
pushups (rings) 7-9 0
one arm row 3 0
other arm 3 0
bag cleans 20 0
one arm db floor press 3 0
squats 20 as long as it takes.
2 sets, if your bad to the bone
( remember, the first set of squats should make you want to quit, you have to do a gut check and finish the rest of the routine)

these evolutions should be put into your program along with your regular strength training. about twice a week depending on your recovery abilities. they can be used on different days, later in the day, or at the end of a heavy session. if you choose to do this after a heavy session, make sure that session doesn't last longer than half an hour. maybe you choose to do one of these circuits every sat or sun? then head to the beach, river, swimming hole, pool.... as fights come up and training focus changes these routines should be usable right up until the week before fight night.


alternatively, if you just wanna burn fat, well, these routines will do that too.
once again i will reiterate, if you can go over 20 min. you've been goofn' off!

this is the kind of training i call 'gut check'. its tough and its designed to push the limits of your capabilities.
it requires max strength as well as endurance. it requires mental toughness and the ability to think and concentrate while winded.
it develops your ability to continue digging deep when the well is empty, to go further than the guy who is more skilled or stronger or faster. Even when things aren't exactly even, sometimes its the last one sparking that takes home glory.