An Old(young) hack wanting back in the game!

[KAS]

Hi All,

I am following Coach Sonnon's advice and posting my training needs here. If you look at my intro in the Welcome Mat you'll see that I have been off of my game for a number of years now and it is time to get back into it. Specifically I want to get into fighting condition.

Primary Goals: I want to 1) get into "shape" and 2) participate in competitive martial arts (not point sparring or NHB) for fun. I was specifically looking for Sambo training but I can't find that in Sacramento, California so I think I am going to go with Judo as we do have one club in town. Note that I will be starting as a total beginner.

Background: I have extensive training in combat martial arts but no experience with competition. You just can't practice Wing Chun or Ninjitsu in a competitive form =) Because of my past training, I feel like I have good "street worthy" techniques but no real competitive, fighting spirit to facilitate the application of those techniques when needed.

Current Situation: I am 6'3", 186lbs., 24 years old with no medical conditions. I can gain or lose body mass (fat or muscle) very fast. ie. I can go from a near 6 pack to a flabby tummy in a matter of weeks if I stop training. I can also see higly visible muscle growth and tone in 2-3 weeks by doing some pushups every night.

I am pretty well out of shape (carido, muscle strength / endurance, flexibility). My grappling / Chi Na skills are adequate but no where near competition worthy.

I am in escrow on my first house so I will be penny pinching for a couple months and won't be buying any new excersise equipment. Just sticking to body weight excersises, heavy bag, jump rope, bicycle and the gym at my work. I work a full time + job and go to college part time so time is limited but I can squeeze in a work out in the morning or during lunch.

It looks like I will only be able to attend Judo training on Saturday mornings (10-12:30) because their training schedule doesn't mesh with my work and school...but I still need to practice alone in a way that will benefit my martial arts.

Summary: So that is the gist of it, as honest as I can think to be. Any insight from the cadre?

Thanks in advance!

Kyle Short

[Scott Sonnon]

Kyle,
What materials and equipment do you have? How much training time do you allocate per day per week, and how much do you have available? What specific goals do you want to accomplish in 12 weeks?

[KAS]

Coach, Thanks for the reply! Here's what I've got...

Equipment @ Home:
* 9lb. medicine ball
* 80lb. heavy bag
* Bokken
* running shoes
* road bicycle
* pushup / pullup bars
* exercise mat
* of course my own bodyweight =)

Equipment @ Work Gym:
* treadmill, stationary bike, eliptical trainer
* dip bars
* legg press & squat machines
* dumbbell set up to 55lbs.
* pullup station
* cable station (tricep pull downs, rows, lat pull downs etc.)

Baseline: These are basically my rep max but with a little rest I can do multiple sets.

* I can run 1 mile in about 8 minutes
* I can do 2-4 pistols in a row
* I can do 6-8 pullups
* I can do 30-40 pushups
* I can just reach my toes on a sitting toe touch, but even that is a stretch =)

At my peak conditioning a few years back I could run a 6 minute mile, do about 100 pushups and 15 pullups...but I always figured I could do more.

Time:
I can afford about 45 minutes in the morning, 45 minutes at lunch and about 15 minutes in the evening nearing sleep time =) During the weekend I can pretty much afford all the time in the day.

12 Week Goals:
I am finding this rather difficult to quantify. I can't really say that I want to reduce my body fat to X percentage or put on X percent more mass or do X number of reps of Y exercise at W weight. Maybe because I don't know what I should be gunning for.

One thing is for sure. In the next 12 weeks I want to get comfortable using my body. This means that when I have to break out into a sprint my quads and hams don't ache for 2 days afterwards. When I have to pull myself up onto my roof, my arms won't shake. When I spar or wrestle I'll be able to focuss on my technique and not worry about making my body work.

So eventually I want to be a well oiled machine with about 10-15 more lbs. of funcitonal muscle, but for the first 12 weeks I want to get the well oiled part down and then I will focuss on building the machine =)

Thanks again for your time and I hope I am not writing too much!

-Kyle

[Scott Sonnon]

Kyle, I haven't forgotten you. Give me some time and I'll get to your program.

[Scott Sonnon]

Kyle,
We're going to compose a medley of activities to get your GPP up for combat sport prep.
Twelve Weeks to a Lean, Mean Fighting Machine
You will work three sessions per day: 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes in the afternoon and 15 minutes in the evening. You will do this every other day. On the in-between days, you'll have one session in the morning, with the option to move it to the afternoon if you need more rest.
Your morning session will be a BWE Ratchet Circuit.
Your afternoon session will be a Dynamic Range of Motion session.
Your evening session will be Strength Endurance Resistance Training.

BWE Ratchet Circuit:
A Ratchet ladder is like two steps forward one step back. This produces a superior training effect because we adapt to linear progression in strange and idiosyncratic ways. Some people adapt to it in such a way that they are only marginally challenged and then suddenly meet with volume too overwhelming to perform. I used this method in my "slaughter circle drills" I would have my athletes do in Sambo and they met with great success for strength endurance. I called them "Ratchets" (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 5, 4, 5, 6, et cetera) due to the similarity of the action of cranking back a ratchet to torque a step forward. Ratchets trick your CNS into slight recovery to diminish fatigue without significant decreases in activity. I'll be publishing an article about Ratchets in the next issue of CST Magazine, so stay tuned while you try them out.

The exercises selection is based upon the muscular action you'll need for Sambo competition - pulling power, yielding strength, stored elastic energy release for pushing power, and holding strength.

Do the following circuit one exercise after another without rest. When you complete the exercise series, that counts as one 'repetition.' Follow the Ratchet advancement scheme (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 5, 4, 5, 6, et cetera) until you cannot possibly do any more. Take a 15 second break in between each set.
Pull-up
Drop down into a Flat-Foot Squat
Touch the floor and push your legs back into a Quad Squat
Quad Hop once
Quad Hop back into a Flat-Foot Squat
From the Squat jump up and grab the Pull up bar and perform another Pull-up
Repeat
Each session, your goal is to go one step farther with the Ratchet Circuit than the session prior. Push yourself. Watch your breathing. Exhale on effort. Stay relaxed and go for volume. Keep perfect form.

Dynamic Range of Motion session:
In the afternoon, find a quiet place where you can focus internally on your patterns of tension and resistance. Most people give the least amount of attention to this session because they don't feel like they're 'working out.' Unfortunately for them, without this sandwiched session, the quality of their work sessions is severely diminished due to the Sensory Motor Amnesia and Residual Muscular Tension (read Body-Flow (http://www.rmax.tv/bodyflow.html)) which LIMITS work capacity in the work sessions.

If you can get a hold of the Warrior Wellness (http://www.rmax.tv/warrior.html) courses. If not, just do some basic circles with every joint - head to toes (literally) - be thorough and keep moving them in slow and smooth circles until there are no clicks (crepitus).

Strength Endurance Resistance Training:
In the evening, you will do a Density Training scheme of dumbbell swings. You should be able to find the technique online, or if not, go to the Olympic Clubbell Sport (http://www.circularstrength.com/clubbellsport.html) official webpage and look at the Swipe video. The swing phase of the Swipe is similar to how you want to swing your dumbbell, except it will be between your legs and held with the handle pointing right-left not front-back.

Over the course of the next twelve weeks, you'll be compressing the rest periods by increasing the volume of your dumbbell swings in the following progression:
Week 1: 20 sets of 5 in 20 minutes
Week 2: 18 sets of 6 in 18 minutes
Week 3: 16 sets of 7 in 16 minutes
Week 4: 15 sets of 8 in 15 minutes
Week 5: 12 sets of 9 in 12 minutes
Week 6: 10 sets of 10 in 10 minutes
Week 7: 8 sets of 12 reps in 8 minutes
Week 8: 7 sets of 14 reps in 7 minutes (due to reps/minute this step should nearly be one full minute)
Week 9: 1 set of 100 (no time limit)
Week 10: 1 set of 100 in 12 minutes
Week 11: 1 set of 100 in 11 minutes
Week 12: 1 set of 100 in 10 minutes
You should begin with which ever weight you feel comfortable, but you may probably be able to start with 40-55lbs.

The entire program I designed for you is based upon DOUBLE-D (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/17/sonnon1.html) (or Double Density) method of Recovered but not Rested. Read this to understand the method (and appreciate the sandwiched DROM session!)

The action of the Swings is the opposite motion of the BWE Ratchet Circuit, so you're conditioning symmetrically (like the symmetry of following a back bridge or arch with a Downward Facing Dog.)

Off-days:
Make sure that you complete a DROM session on your non-work days. You may also want to add one of these sessions before your Judo class. Take Sunday completely off. Perhaps go for a walk with family, or a swim.

Eat well, rest well, drink a lot of water. Don't get stressed out.

Personal Training Log:
Part of your obligation for my creating this program for you is to set up a daily diary of your progress in the Personal Training Logs section. Assign your name and the name of the program, and then EVERY day, come and post your results, progress, discoveries, insights and questions, so we can monitor your development, critique your comments, and offer critical suggestions which may prevent injury, overtraining, and may accelerate your progress.

You'll be a Lean, Mean Fighting Machine when you're finished - guaranteed or your money back 8) . Now, get to work!

[KAS]

Coach Sonnon,

I can't even begin to express my gratitutde for your taking the time to work on this for me. I had no idea that I would get so much and I have spent the last two hours with a goofy grin on my face that everyone at the office simply attributes to the recent performance of our company's stock :D Ah if only they new that I am on my way to becomming a lean, mean fighitng machine!

The clarity of your wisdom is both refeshing and encouraging and I will certainly honor it with daily personal log postings.

Onward!

Thanks again,

-Kyle