Workout Submission

This is kind of long.
From Josh Barnett's MYSPACE page:

Some work and then some.

The work in question here is not 9 to 5, clerical, labor, busy or normally classified as work in general. The work I'll ramble about today is work in the gym or lifting weights. Oh, so because you do BJJ, Kickboxing or some other "Martial Art" you have now put-off or even perhaps shunned weight lifting or strength training? What's that? Your Sensei/Professor/Sifu/Guro/Swami has you do ancient martial breathing and a few body weight exercises so you don't need to lift weights? Same "Amazing Kresskin" says, "Lifting weights will make you big and inflexible and less able to deflect chi attacks"? All of that is shit and when push comes to shove being bigger, stronger and faster always means something. Always.

I here so much talk about technique conquering all and to practically sacrifice athleticism for technique in sparring. While I can certainly agree that technique is a very crucial and vital aspect in martial arts, I always preach: "Technique within strength." This means that if you lack the strength or athletic ability to make said techniques work, then you are bound to fail. I have witnessed and been subject to countless times when the more skilled technically athlete is unable to execute simply because they were not strong enough or fast enough or both.

This is were strength training becomes vital and by strength training I don't just mean hopping into your local iron works, doing some bodybuilding and thinking you're building the foundation for success. I mean building raw, usable, explosive power that you can execute over and over again throughout a match without tiring. It also means gaining size in lean mass and dropping excess fat…well as much as some of our genetics allow sometimes. This kind of training is not the sort of thing you will find on the shelves in muscle mags or in books on bodybuilding; which is why I am here to throw some light on this.

First off I'd like to say that bodybuilding training is not useless to the combat athlete. Why? Because bodybuilding builds strength, size, looks (Don't kid yourself, it's important.) and most importantly because in our sport often we end up in positions where limbs become isolated and we are unable to recruit a lot of other muscle groups to help. Where bodybuilding training can help is in strengthening muscle groups in isolated exercises and certain small muscles that may be bypassed by larger, stronger movers in more power/explosive movements. For example, the rotator cuff muscles. Bodybuilders spend time working these muscles to give their shoulders the perfect symmetry and shape but because they are a small muscle group, exercises like overhead pressing will recruit more from the delts, triceps, pecs, and other big movers leaving the rotator cuff underdeveloped. When I trashed my shoulder, all the time I spent working my rotator cuff helped me from tearing them to and having even more surgery done.

As combat athletes thought the most beneficial work will be gained from explosive full body movements, heavy power work, endurance circuit training and above all: Always working with intensity. Without intensity you will not even come close to pushing your body to the limits and over. When you compete your opponent will do all they can to stop you from doing what you want to do and work as hard as they can to force their strategy on you. This is not a waltz or even lindy hop, this is muscle against muscle and at high intensity. Training should mimic this and with intensity you will be able to break through what you think are your limits. Intensity is "attacking" the weights, not just hoping to lift them. Intensity is using the same force to accelerate 40lb dumbbells as you would to move 80lbers. Intensity is going for one more rep then you think you can, one more set or more than your partner.

For combat athletes I can't stress enough that grip training is crucial in this. I don't let the people I train nor do I use straps 95% of the time. You want a grip that can crush and hold like a vice. Nothing says manhandled like having someone with a monster grip grab you and jerk you around the mat.

Another important aspect is speed. Get in and get out. Don't waste all day between sets as your opponents won't give you that much time to rest. Plus, the more work you do over a length of time the more work you will have accomplished. If you lift 400lbs once in 5 minutes you will have done less work than if you had lifted 200lbs 10 times in that same time span. I take about 20-45 seconds rest between sets usually. Rest between circuits is a different animal though. At Lou's, I will get 2 minutes to rest but I spend 11-14 minutes working…and that's going balls-to-the-wall, at the top of my anaerobic threshold. Didn't I say something about intensity?


Some of my favorite movements for this kind of training are:

-Deadlifting and squatting because nothing builds raw power like these two exercises.

-Olympic lifting such as cleaning, snatch, high pulls, clean and jerk push presses. These can be done with a barbell or with dumbbells which can add a lot of diversity to your training.

-Pull-ups and dips. I know when I am strong by how many pull-ups I can knock out. Dips are another great power builder and both can be done with weight by simply using a belt harness or even by crossing your ankles and having your partner put a dumbbell between your legs.

-Dumbbell pressing. Flat bench, incline, overhead you name it.

-Strongman (Thanks Tim) and unorthodox lifting. Log pressing, stones, sandbags, sleds, bands, tires, axels, ropes, Indian clubs, the Macebell, hammers. Moving weight in multiple planes, dead weight, and full body work. These are true tests of power and are a great way to make lifting fun.

Ok, so you have some exercises in mind now what do you do with them? Therein lies the fun and some of the most difficult part of the equation. How you put together your training is crucial. Opinions most certainly vary and even mine could take more pages than I am willing write. But we'll keep it simple, point you in the right directions and give you a place to start from.

-Variety. Not just in movements but in changing your routines on a regular basis. I usually won't do the same exercises from week to week and focus more on what muscle groups or concepts I want to work and just make it up when I get there. Variety can also be creating cycles of specific training, for example: Doing a power lifting program for 4 weeks, then an endurance/speed program for 2 weeks and then back to power lifting again.

-Supersetting. I love to superset. Not just like movements or exercises that hit the same areas but opposites as well. One of my absolute favorites is Westside Barbell Club's "Push and Pull" method (Nod to Tim Nagy for showing me this). I will do pull-ups with dips or push-ups. Or maybe bent-over rows with overhead presses. Of course your classic superset like barbell curls with preacher curls is still valid and can be great for building endurance and over taxing the muscle groups. I include drop sets in this kind of thinking although not something I do much of.

-Circuits. Non-stop movement from one exercise to the next is a great way to build endurance, power and increase your anaerobic capacity. You can design your circuits around specific groups or say to simulate rounds for competition. If you can blitz throw circuits of 5 minutes pushing towards your limits then when on the mat or in the ring fatigue should at least be something to not be concerned about.

-Splits. I like a 3 day a week split, my brother-in-law Pat who was a competitive power lifter used to have us do 4 day splits. I have some fighters doing only 2. The main thing is you need to have rest in between your training and there is still time to be put in on the mats. Sometimes you may dial back mat time to improve strength and therefore use some of the time you would have been at the dojo resting. Other times you need just the opposite. For some it's about time management but either way you can't not go at all or go everyday.

And to address stretching this is so simple: Just do it. Who said lift but don't stretch? I have heard so much ignorance from folks saying oh I can't lift weights because I will get stiff and lose flexiblility. Yeah, because your dumb ass stopped working on flexibility. Flexibility allows you to be stronger and faster, period. Extreme examples that counter that stupid notion of weight lifting decreasing flexibility is many of the pro bodybuilders who are way bigger than any of us will likely ever be who can do the splits and more. When Bob Sapp was 370lbs with abs he was more limber than I was. And on a side note (this mostly applies to women) I hear the "I don't want to get big". Guess what? You won't. Unless you have the genetics or are really putting in the effort to do so it won't be a real problem. Trust me.

Last thing to say is that in the end this training is designed to augment and help your combat training. Nothing can take the place of that. Your technique is key but with the added strength and power behind it now you have increased you success rate several fold. Also, when all things are equal whoever is stronger or gets it first wins. Now go throw some iron and rip an arm off or two!