MMA Strength & Conditioning

If you are looking for the best form of strength & conditioning for MMA, and are not yet training in kettlebells with a skilled instructor, you are driving with the handbrake on! Most forms of training, including some sport-specific programs, lack the training to give you the mental focus required to be at the top of your game. Other forms of training are seriously struggling to keep up with kettlebells for conditioning the body for extreme deceleration. Dynamic loading of the hip muscles for powerful contractions is fundamental for athletic ability, and kettlebells are miles ahead in this respect. Kettlebell movements build deep neuro-muscular foundations for athletic strength & power with forced acceleration and deceleration, abdominal pressurization, multi-planar muscle movements and hand eye coordination. The extreme body awareness created through repeated tension and relaxation, concentration on proper breathing techniques, and mental focus often draws parallels with martial arts or yoga training. Kettlebell training will teach you the fundamentals of strength training whilst delivering brutal conditioning. You will develop all-purpose strength to easily handle the toughest and most unexpected demands. You will maximise your staying power because the last round will decide the winner, and you will forge yourself a fighters physique, because the form must follow the function. What are you waiting for? Start swinging!

Challenge everything, especially yourself.

A few home truths

So many people are getting sucked into believing utter nonsense about exercise, nutrition & health. Not only are people always looking for an easy short cut to strength, health & fitness, but I see so many trainers making things worse by wasting clients time with exercises that, at best lead nowhere, or at worst are dangerous. Then when their clients don't see results it is blamed on hormone regulation, stressed out organs or some other intangible no-fault-of-the-trainer-or-the-client reason.

Come on people! Do I really have to point out to you that the people who are seeing results are the ones who are consistent with good nutritional habits, and exercise with intensity. I see so many people "training" and they NEVER break a sweat! Well here's a newsflash, you will NEVER get results. It's that simple. Don't go blaming your hormones, your metabolism, your organs or your glands if you are not putting in the effort.

I do believe that hormone regulation to achieve better results is a fact - but that is for athletes looking to make a small amount of difference to their ALREADY fit, strong & healthy bodies.

If you want to see change in your body, sort your nutrition out first. Don't get sucked into nonsense like blood type dieting, metabolic typing or anything else. Good nutrition is not complicated so don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You can fine tune it like anything else, but the basics are the basics, so start there and be consistent.

When it comes to exercise, push yourselves! So many people go to the gym for years and never see results. Why? Because they just don't the effort in. They don't put the effort in to sorting out poor nutritional habits and they don't put the effort in when they exercise. Keep good form above all else, but lift heavy and pick up the pace! A good trainer will understand how to put exercises together so that your body can cope throughout the entire session, and not have you collapsed in a heap gasping for air after 5 minutes. Going hell for leather without an intelligent structure doesn't do you any good either.

If you need direction with nutrition & exercise, employ a personal trainer. But remember 2 things:
1 - make sure they know their stuff
2 - make sure you follow their advice
If the trainer can't tell you why you are doing something, or what you should expect from it, they aren't worth your time or money. If you don't follow their advice, then you're wasting your own money and time. The personal trainer is not a magician. The PT will guide you, but actually putting the effort in and making the changes is still down to you.

Get training! Challenge everything, especially yourselves.

Bad advice

I had a client in one of my classes the other day say something strange, and I had to comment on it. She had been told by her masseuse NOT to lift heavy weights, the suggestion being that she was now too tight in her muscles as a result... Unfortunately now I have to re-educate her that lifting heavy is actually a good thing! Of course always make sure you warm up before a work out, and you can cool down with stretches afterwards, and if you are STILL feeling tight - go to a masseuse! By let them just do their job, not mine (I am a qualified masseuse, so I am happy to do their job though!).

There are always people out there that will give bad advice. So question everything; even what I tell you! Challenge it, research it, experience it - decide for yourself if it is good advice. By telling someone they shouldn't lift heavy, good form allowing, is ridiculous. If you do not want to challenge yourself, get back on the sofa and stay away from the gym.

Changes to studio class timetable

The new schedule for the Kettlebell & Bodyweight studio classes is as follows:

Tuesdays 7pm
Chase Sports & Fitness (opposite Southend Hospital)
250 Prittlewell Chase
Westcliff-on-sea
ss0 0pr

Thursdays 7pm
Iron Den Studio (see www.idpt.co.uk for a map)
Unit 37
Laurence Industrial Estate
Eastwoodbury Lane
Southend-on-sea
ss2 6rh

Prices are £6 for the Chase, and £8 for Iron Den

Spaces are limited to 16 at the Chase and 10 at Iron Den
Please book in advance to avoid disappointment!

A Saturday morning class may be introduced soon if there is enough interest.

Challenge everything, Especially yourselves

To Eat Meat Or Not To Eat Meat

Enough Already! I have just read another article that says we actually evolved into carnivores. If evolution is true, we were probably more physically akin to carnivores earlier on during our evolution than later on. The bottom line is humans are capable of, and designed for, an omnivorous diet. There is scientific evidence for both sides – carnivore & herbivore. Which makes us omnivores. Which in turn means we are more than capable of surviving on various diets. It is not about eating meat or not eating meat. It is about eating a clean, healthy, balanced diet that provides us with all the nutrients that we need.

I have chosen a vegetarian diet, and I do very well on it. I have my reasons for being a vegetarian, and if you would like to know them, just ask me. My diet is not lacking in any nutrients, protein, vitamins, minerals... I get everything I need from a vegetarian diet. If you think that isn't possible, just look up famous vegetarians or vegans. You will find world class athletes, bodybuilders, cage fighters and strength coaches.

I cannot stand it when vegetarians are portrayed as skinny, weak and malnourished. Sure, there are vegetarians out there that are, but they are not following a good, balanced diet. Have you noticed how many meat-eaters are fat, weak and malnourished? Just because your diet includes or excludes certain foods doesn't mean either is a good, healthy diet. Both diets can be good, or bad.

I follow a vegetarian diet. For those of you who remain unconvinced that a vegetarian diet can be healthy and provide everything an athlete requires, I challenge you to come on down and join me for a workout. So far everyone who challenges my diet hasn't even come close to challenging me physically.

FIT AND FAT

Most people start physical training to alter their body shape. A few will be looking to gain muscle size, or train for performance, but most people want to reduce body size (or more importantly; body fat). Making changes to our body shape is predominantly down to what we eat and drink, in other words, calorie control. Yet the shocking truth is, exercise is an inefficient form of calorie control. Yes, you can be fit & fat! Exercise does drive our bodies to change, but slowly without quality fuel. You may have a killer training session in the gym, but a (insert dietary no-no here!) later on can easily undo all that hard work, and even put in more calories than you burned. You could have a great gym, a personal trainer and be following the best program in the world, but if you neglect to put effort into changing your diet, you are setting yourself up to fail, or at best, driving with the handbrake on.

Remember, we get healthy to lose weight, we do not lose weight to get healthy.

Different diets

As I am the process of the Excel Body Transformation process, my dietary intake is foremost in my mind. I would like to take this opportunity to let those of you who do not know, that I am a vegetarian. I am often amused at how shocking this news is to some people! You may find it more shocking to find out that there are many world class athletes who follow a vegetarian diet. Bill Pearl is the first who comes to mind – 4 times Mr Universe – proof that huge muscle growth is possible on a vegetarian diet. Mike Mahler, a world class kettlebell strength & conditioning coach is a Vegan. Other examples are Olympic athlete Carl Lewis and tennis player Martina Navratilova. The list goes on...
With proper planning, it is perfectly possible to obtain all your protein requirements from vegetarian sources. Remember, being a vegetarian doesn't mean excluding a food group. Vegetarians do not excluding protein (or more correctly, amino acids), They simply choose to exclude meat.
Some people may argue that being vegetarian is not a healthy choice, but I would strongly disagree. I have followed a vegetarian diet for many years with exceptional results. However... the bottom line is it works for me. I feel stronger and healthier than I ever did before. There are many dietary options out there – find the one that works for you. If you place or have a restrictive diet for any reason, it does not mean you cannot get the results you want. Do not avoid something because it is difficult – find another way to accomplish your goals.