Tuesday, July 31, 2007

New Column - "MMA Road Warriors"

In case you didn't see it, my new column, "MMA Road Warriors" is up at MMA Weekly. Check it out:

LINK

Wiggy

Cardio or Strength?

Recently over at the Underground Forum (www.mma.tv), a discussion took place about which was more important to your MMA Training - cardio or strength.

Here is what I posted:

Personally, I would say that "conditioning" is much more important.

It might seem like semantics, but note that "conditioning" and "cardio" are (as I define them) two different things.

"Cardio" refers to you cardiovascular/cardio-respiratory ability.

"Conditioning," on the other hand, is not only comprised of "cardio" (cardiovascular endurance), but strength and muscular as well. You not only have to have the ability to get enough oxygen, but you have to be able to exert high amounts of force (strength endurance), and contract muscles many times and/or for long duration (muscular endurance).

All are as important as the others - none of them are "unnecessary." It's like saying "I want to compete in MMA, which is more important - takedowns, submission defense, or striking abiility?" You need it all.

Just my two cents...


Wiggy

Friday, July 27, 2007

RIP Jesse Marunde

American pro strongman Jesse Marunde has died.
http://www.konp.com/local/2994

Sequim strongman collapses, dies July 26th, 2007 - 8:41am

(Sequim) -- A Sequim man considered one of the strongest men in the world has died. Twenty-seven-year-old Jesse Marunde died last night after collapsing while doing exercises at his home in Sequim. Friends of the family confirm he died last night after stopping his workout when he felt dizzy. Marunde and his wife Callie had just celebrated the birth of a baby about six weeks ago. Marunde also has a nine-year-old son from a previous marriage. Marunde finished second in the 2005 "World's Strongest Man" competition. He continued competing in similar competitions and ran a gym with his wife in Sequim.

************

RIP

Thursday, July 26, 2007

I'm here and it's freakin' HOT

Well, I finally got to my final duty station located in Diwaniyah, Iraq. I got in a couple days ago.

Things aren't too bad here - could be better, could be worse. I was pretty disenfranchised when I first got here, but I'm warming up to it.

Speaking of warming up, it is FREAKIN' HOT here! Today at a little past noon, it was 144 degrees - 122 in the shade.

**Boys and girls, this blog post was brought to you by the word "Dehydration."**

Man, cold water never tasted so good...

I've yet to make it to the main gym yet (I had to send my sneakers home at the last minute due to baggage weight limit restrictions so I need to get them sent to me). There is a smaller gym closer to the living area that I can use, though. There's a Concept II rower there... ;-)

I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories as time passes, so be sure to check back often.

I'm also way behind on my articles at MMA Weekly. Never fear, though - I'll have a couple done shortly and submitted. They should be up soon.

Well, it's been a long day, and I'm about to turn in.

Y'all take care of each other and ENJOY BEING HOME!!! I wish I was... ;-)

Wiggy

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

...Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again...

;-)

Well, I'm in the Middle East.

In case you're a new reader or didn't know - I've taken a job in the Middle East with a govt. contractor.

I'm not to my final work location as of yet, but I'm in transit in the Middle East.

I hadn't updated the blog in a while, so I figured I'd better let y'all know...

More soon.

Wiggy

Friday, July 06, 2007

Joe Rogan Likes My Stuff...

I had the opportunity to trade emails with UFC Color Commentator Joe Rogan a few days ago through MySpace.

Most folks know Joe for his time on Fear Factor, and now on the UFC. However, Joe is a VERY accomplished martial artist. Before learning of MMA, and training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (he's a brown belt under Eddie Bravo and Jean Jacques Machado), he was a US Open Tae Kwon Do Champion (at only 19 years old, no less), and went on to be a Middleweight and Heavyweight TKD Grand Champion. Needless to say, he's been around the block a couple times.

Here is what Joe had to say:

"Hey man, that's so f@#$ing crazy that you just emailed me, I'm reading your article about sand bags right now on MMA Weekly! I would love to try one of your workouts. I've read several of your articles, and I really like your approach...You've got some great ideas, man. I really liked the sand bag article. Thanks again, and take care,"

The sandbag article Joe was talking about was the one I recently had posted at MMA Weekly. Here is the LINK.

The good words about Working Class Fitness just continue to spread...

Let's keep it that way! ;-)

Wiggy

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Happy 4th of July!!!

I want to wish all my fellow Americans a VERY Happy 4th of July!! Have fun with your family and friends, and don't blow any fingers off with your fireworks!!

;-)

Wiggy

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Newest Edition - "Working Class Fitness Newsletter"

I just sent out the newest edition the "Working Class Fitness Newsletter."

In it, there is an awesome testimonial from Matt Macaluso. Matt tells how he used "Working Class Fitness - The Programs" not only to prepare for a fight in him MMA Training, but then at fight time, to end up being put into the main event against a former multi-time champ who outweighed him by 30 lbs. And because of superior strength and conditioning, MATT WON!!!

Congratulations Matt!!

If you're not on my newsletter list, you'd better SIGN UP pronto. I'll make sure you get a copy of this latest newsletter ASAP.

To sign up, just an email to newsletter@workingclassfitness.com

Wiggy

Interesting Take on Neural Adaptation...

I was having a conversation with a physical therapist I know the other day. She was telling me about a case/patient she was working with who had just had part surgery on her L3/L4 discs in her lower back. I don't know the entire extent, but evidently she was having numbness in her leg and other associated problems due to a pinched nerve. (NOTE - I might be mistaken, so don't quote me on that.)

She (the physical therapist) was telling me about the rehab she was having the patient doing, and that it didn't take long for the muscular strength to come back, but rehab was going to take weeks longer. I asked her why, and then the conversation got kinda interesting...

She told me that because the patient had numbness in one leg, and there was some trouble walking, that the patient had to do a lot of training to improve her neural pathways and to train herself to walk, jump, climb stairs, etc. as easily as she once had again.

As I understand it, the pinched nerve led to the numbness. The numbness was (more or less) her leg not being able to communicate with her brain. Because of that, her brain couldn't tell her leg what to do, and became weak. The weakness wasn't a result of muscular atrophy or a loss of muscular strength - rather, it was a result of decreased neural adaptation.

I then brought up how neural adaptation (or "Grease the Groove" - a term popularized by Pavel Tsatsouline - as it's popularly known) is used in strength training to increase RMs/performance on certain exercises.

She told me that it was similar in principle, but not really the same thing. What she had to train the patient for wasn't strength, per se, but rather endurance.

REALLY?

I told her that GTG is usually the opposite of what's used for endurance type training. In fact, many have found that while GTG can be good for single rep/set strength and/or performance, it does little for multi-set performance, and the carryover from gains made with GTG to sport and/or other activities (aside from the trained ones) was debated a lot.

She told me that what they're training isn't really based in strength - rather in balance and proprio-reception. Those are the qualities that the patient was lacking. And the patient needs those qualities to be second-nature - they are highly endurance-based. The patient can't just walk a little bit at a time - but rather all the time.

I asked her if it would be somewhat analogous to somebody practicing walking on a balance beam - she said it would. You might be able to walk a few feet, but if you wanted to walk long distances, or wanted to stay on that beam for extended periods of time, it wouldn't be a strength-based event. It would be endurance-based.

I asked how far this kind of training could be taken, and her opinion was that it could be taken as far as the trainee wanted, given that they were physically up to the task. Again, we discussed the balance beam. A female gymnast has to have some incredible strength and power for her bodyweight. But that is to perform many of the feats on the beam. Just to stay up there would require balance - and that can be trained with neural adaptation.

When I asked how they did their training (multiple times per day, every day, etc.), she said it varies, depending on what the patient's medical problems/history is. But, when I discussed how GTG is used in strength circles, she said there were many times they did similar - it would depend on whether the patient needed equipment for training, special rehab massage/therapy, etc.

Interesting stuff to think about and how you could apply it to your own life...

Wiggy

Monday, July 02, 2007

It's Official...

I got my travel itinerary a couple days ago. I'm going overseas. I leave for Houston, TX for processing this Sunday (08 July 2007). I will be in Houston, TX for roughly 10-14 days, and then leave from there.

As of now, I'm going to Afghanistan, though I don't know where. I still might end up back in Iraq, but I won't know for sure until it's time for me to leave for the Middle East.

Wiggy

Sunday, July 01, 2007

New MMA Weekly Article - "Scale The Great Pyramid"

My new article, "Scale the Great Pyramid" about pyramid training and how to work it into your programs is up at MMA Weekly.

LINK

Wiggy