Last week I was chatting about self defence training and Brian sent back this great comment:
“Can't disagree with anything there Dave.
I'd add that building up 'fight stamina' in its various guises is necessary and this requires very regular practice.
Fighting is exhausting, and while hopefully if you're good enough, you'll finish it quickly, it's likely that even a quick physical altercation will prove to be far more strenuous than any training drill.
Cheers, Brian. “
Brian is dead right, there is fit and then there's fighting fit.
They are not the same.
Training combat sports folks can be tricky.
Some organisations have a nice schedule that gives time for peaking athletes for an event, resting them afterwards.
But many have a variety of events with no real rhythm or rhyme.
So for them we want to maintain a state of always ready.
Which brings another question up, this one from Aaron:
“Not combat athletes per se but security personnel involved in control and restraint do you have any thoughts on exercises for this demographic? (Fitness Training for security personnel) - Aaron”
Security personnel may be called upon to fight several times in a shift. Or not at all.
Long periods of boredom then immediately called into action.
That means being always ready.
What is “always ready”
It is maintaining a high level of strength, mobility and endurance, gradually increasing these attributes over time. But not being so sore or fatigued that you can't perform at a moment's notice.
For an athlete, it means being just below peak fitness, 2-3 weeks away from true performance level and weight.
For security and self defence, it's simply being capable at all times.
It's this that all the majority of the training I delivered in WG-FIT was always meant to achieve.
In fancy speak, we call in “GPP” or “General Physical Preparation”
GPP is General fitness.
It's the base of the pyramid. And the wider the base, the higher we can build that pyramid.
Specialist training (SPP) sits at the top of the pyramid, but is only ever useful when we have a good base.
So the difference between an Athlete with a long lead up to an event or an Athlete who may need to go at a moment's notice is simply whether they go up and down that pyramid at all.
Do we stay in the GPP segment, building a wide base covering all options, or do we go up into SPP territory where we train harder in a more focused manner.
Most folk do better staying in the general stage.
There are many ways to put a program like this together.
My two best examples are the Bootcamp and the Workout of the Day.
Both available from my TrainHeroic page. (CLICK HERE FOR TrainHeroic)
Workout of the Day type programs get some stick as people say “random training = random results “
But what if rather than random, the training was semi structured.
Each session being full body in nature, ticking the push-pull-hinge-squat patterns.
Some sessions though emphasising single limb lifting, other bilateral
Some sessions asking for sideways movement, other staying in the more typical sagittal plane
Some sessions emphasising one energy system, other different energy systems.
It's varied but not random.
Tracking progress can be tricky as the structure is changing.
But progress does come.
People following this type of training increase across all progress markers and find themselves ready for anything.
Not specialised in any way, and rarely too tired and sore they cannot perform.
The Bootcamp program differs in that it is structured with a 3 or a 4 day version periodised over 12 weeks.
The first cycle of this may be fatiguing, and some sessions may leave you a little sore.
However, that's not the intention.
Training is progressive over the 12 weeks before it restarts.
Each of the 4 week blocks should start easy with really only the 4th week being genuinely hard.
This program has had some very experienced trainees say that they have never been as capable after a few cycles of the Bootcamp program.
Final thought
Sports science researcher and former champion natural bodybuilder has literally written the book on hypertrophy, or muscle building.
Brad has done the research and published the evidence that we don’t need to train to failure in order to build muscle.
Which is good news for the “always ready” folk, as pushing into failure really eats into your recovery.
If you want size and strength you can’t go wrong with the good old fashioned 5x5
5 sets of 5 reps, done with a weight you could lift for say 6-8 reps.
Do 3-5 lifts per session, three full body sessions per week and you will grow.
Yeah, you'll feel fatigue, but you'll be able to function, never crippled with fatigue or DOMs
And you’ll get biggerer and strongerer
Simple
Not easy
Regards
Dave Hedges
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