Forget the work-life balance! Let's talk about something much more important: the balance between mat time and conditioning. I bring this up because one of the questions I get asked most frequently is about how to structure one's training and conditioning for maximum benefit … [Read more...]
Overtraining
Slumps Vs. Plateaus
Acquiring new skill sets and polishing your existing skills is the very essence of training. When everything is working properly and you're surfing up the learning curve it is an exhilarating process. … [Read more...]
Train Hard, Recover Smart
Quick: what's the most important meal of the day? If you said "breakfast" then you're wrong, at least if you're a hard-training combat athlete. According to Martin Rooney, author of 'Training For Warriors, the Team Renzo Gracie Workout', the two most important meals of the day are your pre and post-workout meals. … [Read more...]
Always Injured, the Feedback
Several tips ago I gave some advice to a reader who had suffered a rather terrible string of orthopedic injuries while training in MMA . I also opened up the conversation to other readers of this newsletter and invited comments on several martial arts forums. … [Read more...]
Always Injured
A reader writes: Q: "I'm in my forties and and started MMA training a few years ago. Since then I have had many injuries including a shattered elbow, a torn knee, separations in both shoulders, and many, many more minor injuries. … [Read more...]
Monitoring Morning Heart Rate
Longtime readers will recall that I’ve written about overtraining, under-recovering and exercise-induced illness before (e.g. Don't Get Sick and Overtraining in MMA). It sucks to have a streak of hard training sessions interrupted by the flu, and being overtrained makes catching that flu almost inevitable. … [Read more...]
Training: How Often
Probably the most common question I get asked is "how many times a week should I train to make progress?" As with most questions the answer is "it depends". Once a week: If you are just starting grappling you can definately pick up a few things training even once a week, particularly if you already practice another martial art. … [Read more...]
More Sleeping
I recently wrote about how the first part of training is actually sleeping. Even though I'm writing this in the middle of the night and have to get up early tomorrow, I'll be a hypocrite and write a little bit more about the topic of sleep... … [Read more...]
“The First Part of Training is the Sleeping”
I had a nagging sinus cold for most of December. Right after Christmas, and just in time to ruin New Years Eve, this sinus cold was replaced by a wicked little flu that totally knocked me out. … [Read more...]