Last week I talked about how you sometimes have to bail out of a planned training session. Well let's turn the situation around and talk about motivating you to get your butt back on the mat. … [Read more...]
There Can Be Only One! The Best Exercise for Grappling Cardio…
A Grapplearts reader writes: Q: "If you only had time for one cardio excercise which would you choose: swimming or running?" A: Swimming and running are both awesome exercises, and both have their pros and cons. … [Read more...]
Anaerobic Ideas
A reader writes: Q: I was wondering if you had any tips/techniques/ideas/routines for anaerobic conditioning drills? A: Yes I have some suggestions for you... … [Read more...]
Stair Torture
I have a love-hate relationship with running stairs. Today it hurts to sit down and it hurts to stand up. I limp around slowly, but still feel a bit smug about having had a great workout three days ago. … [Read more...]
My Numbers
Whenever I read an interview with a fighter there is usually a question that goes something like "what do you do for conditioning?" Too often the fighter says something like: "I run, I swim, and I lift weights" … [Read more...]
A HIIT of LSD?
I have always loved running at nightfall. Tonight I slipped out of the house at 9:30 pm, and ran for 40 minutes, thinking mainly about two things. … [Read more...]
A Workout Challenge for You
This week I added a new article to the Grapplearts library called The Drills of Shaolin. In this article renowned BJJ and MMA fighter Vitor 'Shaolin' Ribeiro show four of his favorite drills that he uses for conditioning and sport-specific skill development. … [Read more...]
Pull-ups Continued
In the last tip I talked about my favorite upper body strengthening exercise: the pull-up!. Here I tackle a few questions I’ve received since last week. Q: How many sets of pull-ups do you do in a session? … [Read more...]
My Favorite Upper Body Exercise
If I could do only one upper body exercise it would have to be pull-ups. Grappling is much more about pulling than pushing, and pull-ups are a convenient way to develop strength and endurance in your lats, biceps, and other pulling muscles. … [Read more...]
My Default Cardio Workout
Some people say that you should change your conditioning workouts on a weekly or even daily basis; "you have to shock your body" they say. I believe that there is some truth to this, but I also think it is important to have a routine, or a constant workout that you do repeatedly. … [Read more...]
Two-Person Drills
Two-person drills are important training methods to develop skills on the mat. They can be used to warm up at the beginning of your training session, as part of your conditioning program, or as a finishing exercise. … [Read more...]
Going Anaerobic Part 3: More Routines
Here are some more ideas if you want to try anaerobic conditioning. The common theme this week is that more time is spent going hard than resting, so willpower is important here! … [Read more...]
Going Anaerobic, Part 2: Some Sample Routines
Last week we discussed some of the factors around incorporating anaerobic training in your conditioning routine. As promised, here are some real-life examples of anaerobic workouts: this week all the sample workouts have more recovery time than exertion time (don’t worry, you’ll need it). Finally I should mention that you want to be fully warmed up before you try any of these routines. 1 – … [Read more...]
Going Anaerobic, Part 1
I get asked fairly often when someone should incorporate anaerobic training into his or her conditioning regimen. By "anaerobic" training I basically mean sprints and interval training – where you go hard and fast for a relatively short period of time. … [Read more...]
Doing Something is Better than Doing Nothing
Too often martial artists fall into the trap of being unable to do their regular routine and as a result do nothing at all. Getting back in shape after these layoffs is always a long and difficult process. … [Read more...]
All else being equal, work on your endurance
Endurance is the key. It doesn’t matter if you run in the park, skip rope, swim in a pool or go mountain biking: if you aren’t training to increase your stamina you are short-changing your potential on the mat. … [Read more...]