Free Grappling Concepts DVD

My good friend and BJJ mentor Stephan Kesting is giving away a free DVD to help promote a his new Grappling Concepts Ecourse.

I have always been a fan of Stephan’s work but he seriously over-delivered on this one. Check out the video below to hear my thoughts.

If you want to see what Stephan is offering asap please go here: Free Grappling Concepts DVD.

Building Local Muscular Endurance

Building local muscular endurance is a very important element for complete combat sports conditioning.
Depending on where our fighters and combat athletes are within their training schedule we like to spend several weeks developing local muscular endurance.

We run through several circuits that consist of several exercises for each muscle group. Below is a quick sample of our push circuit.

Please note: Every exercise within the circuit does not need to be a true pushing exercise. We look more at the muscle group involved…the pecs for example in the following video.

Stability Ball Tight Rotations

I posted a video a few days ago about Power Rope Tight Rotations for developing incredible abs. This stability ball exercise is another example of “Tight Rotations.”

Both of these exercises have their place in any well designed program, however, the Stability Ball Tight Rotation is a bit more re-active and not so cyclical.

It keeps you guessing and I like that!

I personally like to use these as a finisher at the end of a circuit.

Advanced MMA Power

If you’ve been following my work for some time you know that I love to work with combat athletes and martial artists of all skill and fitness levels as well as various martial art backrounds.

I train my share of MMA athletes and boxers but what really get’s me going is working with BJJ and judo players. That’s where my heart lies most.

That’s exactly why I like to network and share training ideas with strength coaches that might specialize in other areas, for example…Eric Wong.

Eric’s passion is working with MMA athletes and he’s released several great resources for MMA conditioniong. His latest resource is called Advanced MMA Power. Advanced MMA Power is one of the most well-written and science-based training programs that exist for MMA athletes.

Eric was kind enough to sit down and speak mma conditioning with me for a couple minutes over the phone and we recorded it all so you could listen along.

Eric shares some great insights within this interview so please check it out below. When you get a chance please visit Advanced MMA Power to see what Eric is offering…it really is an oustanding resource for all serious MMA athletes.

P.S. I don’t think Eric is keeping that sale up for very long…maybe only a day or 2 and to be honest, I’m probably a little late letting you know about it so I recommend you head over to Advanced MMA Power asap to check it out. Peace.

Tight Rotations for Core Conditioning

If you want an ab exercise that truely addresses the true design and function of your entire “core” region that you have to try Nick Tumminello’s “Tight Rotations” Series. Nick highlights several levels of his tight rotations on his blog at Nick Tumminello. 

We do something similar in our training with power ropes. Any training tool is great but the key to successful training is progession and regression of exercise variables. Our posture is a little lower than Nick teaches but having having an upright posture is just so damn hard with the power rope tight rotations.

Try it out and you’ll quickly become a believer.

Sandbag Conditioning for Combat Sports

The simple sandbag is one of my favorite conditioning tools for combat sports conditioning.

Simple. Effective and easy to understand. Fill up a canvas seabag or duffle bag with sand and lift, carry, throw and slam that thing in just about any direction.

Here’s a short clip of one of my favorite sandbag exercises for combat sports:

Be Physical

Be Physical! A few weeks back I listed some tips that BJJ specialist Mario Roberto suggests for all combat athletes and submission fighters. You can see it here: Mario Roberto

Mario’s 1st tip is “Be Physical!”

Hearing his 1st tip was music to my ears…being a strength and conditioning coach for MMA fighters, BJJ and Judo players I’m always concerned with the physical conditioning of my athletes. I leave the technical development up to their BJJ and mma coaches.

As you’ll see in the video below, being in top condition for your BJJ or MMA matches is under your direct control and is one of the easiest elements to improve.

Under a well designed strength and conditioning program for combat sports you’ll be able to see improvement and progress in your conditioning within a few weeks, where as technical development may be a much slower process.

Also, at the highest levels of combat sports competition,technical skill is mostly equal and the element that determines the winner is usually the conditioning levels of that combat athlete.

5 Minute Post BJJ Workout

We use this workout as a finisher after BJJ (Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu) class. Tim Hart, owner of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu 360 and BJJ Brownbelt is getting ready for an upcoming no gi competition.

Every minute for 5 minutes we start a new round of:

• 10 Gable lock Pull-ups 5R/5L
• 10 Hindu Push-ups
• 15 sit-throughs

The faster you work the more you rest. Most BJJ athletes usually end up with 45 seconds of work/ 15 seconds of rest.

We consider this a Specific Physical Prepartion workout for BJJ and perform it closer to competitions.