Great Workout to Try

Had a great workout outside on Sunday morning - before it got too hot out. Thought I'd share it with y'all so you could try it, too.

Basic Warmup:

1A-Jumping Jack/Seal Jacks x 30 sec
1B-Skiers x 30 secs
1C-Jumping Jack/Seal Jacks x 30 sec
1D-Skiers x 30 secs
*Repeat 3x, resting 30 secs between circuits

Lower Body Warmup:

2A-Squats x 10
2B-Jumping Jacks x 15
2C-Seal Jacks x 15
2D-Skips x 20 yards
2E-Side Lunges x 8 each side
2F-Side Shuffles x 20 yards
2G-Jump Squats x 5

*rest 1 mins

Anaerobic BlackJack (a workout I got from John Hackleman):

3A-Burpees - pyramid 12-1
3B-Dive Bomber PushUps - pyramid 1-12
*rest 30-45 secs between sets (78 reps total each exercise)

Finisher:

4-Kettlestack Swings x 8/8/8 (left/right/both)
*Repeat 3x, resting 45 secs between sets

Whole workout took roughly 32-33 minutes. Good stuff!

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com

New FREE Article at MMA Weekly.com

Just wanted to let y'all know that my new article, "Who Is Stronger?", is up at MMA Weekly.com.



Check it out HERE.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com

Good Words From a Good Friend

Just recently, a good friend of mine – Tommy Board – posted this “note” on his Facebook page. It really was flattering, and I thought I'd share it.

As some background – Tommy is a professional BMX racer in the NBL Vet Pro class. Tommy and I hooked up some time back, and it wasn't long before I was helping him completely re-design his workouts.

Due to location (we live in totally different parts of the country), we weren't able to train together in person, but Tommy is a hard worker, dedicated to his sport, and knows that you've got to put in the time if you want to succeed. So, truth be told, helping him out wasn't that tough – it was more of just giving old “Tommy 2x4” (his nickname) a the proverbial shove in the right direction...

Tommy came to me really in pretty darn good shape already. He's a fairly short guy like myself at only aroung 5'5”-5'6” or so (I might be an inch or two off on that measurement....)

*waits for fans of “The Office” to say “THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!”*

Tommy is also fairly light – only 155 lbs or so. But he was still one strong dude. Tommy could crank out squats with 315 lbs. for 8+ reps, and bodyweight exercises like chins and dips were nothing for Tommy.

After going back and forth about how his races went physically, I determined that strength wasn't what he needed, and he also really didn't need any sort of long-term endurance (musclar, strength, or cardiovascular). What Tommy needed was to convert that strength to power, increase his maximum muscular-endurance output at any one time (i.e. - specifically the ability to pedal at a faster rate for the entire duration of the race...roughly 40-45 seconds), and to increase his overall work capacity so that he wasn't getting tired after a day of races.

So, I set Tommy up on a program that would address all these issues. He was doing high pulls, cleans, jumps, swings, bodyweight calisthenics circuits, etc. As Tommy was the pro BMX racer, I let him design the racing-specific part of his overall program – I just was sure to find out specifically what he was doing and when, so we could design the rest of his S&C work around it.

Tommy was coming back to me after just the first workout saying how much different he felt at the end of it, and he couldn't wait to see how it affected his racing.

It didn't take long.

After just a few weeks, Tommy was commenting on how much faster he felt at the track, how much more power he had in his start out of the gate, that he could come back time after time around the track, and wasn't tired out by the end of a weekend full of racing – something he'd never felt before.

He was placing better, and was starting to get some great comments from others about how much faster he seemed at the track.

It should also be noted that though Tommy is a professional BMX racer, that unlike many other sports, there is little money if professional racing unless you're one of a select few. Tommy does all this in, more or less, his spare time, while working, going to school, and having awife and kids. In other words, the dude is pressed for time, but still figured out a way to get the job done!

(I still wonder how he convinced his wife to go racing on Valentine's Day!)

Unfortunately, Tommy has recently suffered a broken hand in training, and is going to be out for a couple months. However, when he comes back, we're going to have him getting more powerful, getting faster, and doing better than ever!

Here is Tommy's note:

late december, i hooked up with a personal trainer name Matt Wiggins. he's a mma trainer out of north carolina and he took time out of his schedule to dial me in for the winter months and guided me to stepping my game up to the next level.

i attended some elite open races with success! i won the elite open at the indianapolis regional and had it not been for a crash into turn one, i would have been in the main at the columbus national. i continued Wiggy's program throughout spring and was preparing for the big elite series races for south park and nashville. i went to the warsaw indiana elite open race and made day 1's main.

for 3 months people had been commenting that i looked even faster this year than last. i attribute Matt's knowledge and ability to dial in workouts to meet the need of the client. if you are looking for help in your workout, get intouch with Matt at

http://www.workingclassfitness.com/

just wanted to say thank you to Matt and i will be back in 8 weeks!!!

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com

I'm an "Expert"

It is with great pride that I make the following announcement...

The good folks at HybridFitness.tv have asked me to join their "Advisory Board" and be on their panel of experts.



In addition to two of the main dudes behind HybidFitness.tv - Jason Klofstad and Liam Bauer (creator of the famed "Taku's Intervals"), I have the honor to join such great folks as training and nutrition guru Coach Jaime Hale, and President of the IART, Brian Johnston.

There is a ton of knowledge that goes into Hybrid Fitness, and I'm pleased, proud, honored, and just plain stoked that they've asked me to contribute to their awesome site and company.

Hybrid's "official announcement" of me joining their cast can be found HERE.

Again, I want to thank Jason and Taku, and I can't wait to work with you guys. There will be some real kickass stuff to come!

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com

PS - A blog post wouldn't be a blog post w/o a sales pitch, right? ;-) Well, if you haven't got the "Working Class MMA Workout Program" and "Working Class Fitness - The Programs"...and SAVED 40% while doing it...what are you waiting for? CLICK HERE and (as my dad used to say) "get to gettin'..."

Interview - "Next Level Performance & Fitness"

Did an interview with Rahsaan Kimbrow over at www.nlpf.net last week. What a cool cat Rahsaan is. Dude really knows his stuff and has been 'around'. Hell, we spent as much time on the phone after the interview was over (talking training, the fitness industry, etc) as we did during the interview.

Rahsaan is an all-around good dude, and y'all should check him out.

Anyway, Rahsaan broke the interview up into 'nuggets', and posted it at youtube. The link to his blog post with the first part of the interview is HERE. I highly suggest you go check it out.

In the meantime, here are the vids.

"Intro":



"MMA Talk":



"Sandbag Training":



"Skills vs S&C Training":



Rahsaan has more to come, so keep an eye out. Again, be sure to check out www.nlpf.net.

And, if for some crazy reason you haven't yet, be sure to go HERE and buy my stuff (and save yourself some greenbacks while you're at it). ;-)

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com

My Boy Gabriel Kickin' Ass

You remember my last blog post about my buddy Gabriel? He was the national kickboxing champ from Puerto Rico.

Well, he sent me some youtube vids of him doing his thing, so I thought I'd pass them on.

Oh - by the way, remember how I said Gabriel was no chump? Well guess what - he holds down a full-time job being a supervisor in a window and door factory, has a wife, two kids, AND finds time to train...many times TWICE PER DAY! (The first workout of which he gets up at 5:00 am to do.)

I think we could all learn something from Gabriel's dedication.

I can't wait for his next fight! If he can implement the principles from the 'Working Class MMA Workout Program' (which you can SAVE 40% on HERE), he's gonna be even more badass!

Keep kickin' ass Gabriel!









Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com

Are you a CHUMP?

Been trading a few emails with a new reader - Gabriel - since last week. And I gotta say, these emails have been super cool.

Why?

Well, first of all, Gabriel is from Puerto Rico. And to my knowledge, this is the first time I've ever traded emails with anybody located in Puerto Rico. And it'd never have happened had him and I not been online.

God bless the intrawebs.

Second, what Gabriel was telling me was something I love to hear. (And NO, it wasn't about how awesome or good looking I am...hahaha.)

Gabriel had tried to order some of my books in the past, but unfortunately, paypal had given him trouble and the order wouldn't go through.

Damn intrawebs. ;-)

Right about here is where most people give up. As soon as they run into an obstacle...no matter how slight...they throw their hands in the air and just freakin' give the f@ck up.


Most people do that not because they can't succeed. Not because the task before them is too daunting. Not because they don't know what to do. Not because they have no idea how to go forward.

They do it because they're just damn lazy.

And that, my dear readers, JUST. PLAIN. SUCKS.

Got any idea just how further along we'd be as a race, a nation, a civilization, as plain old PEOPLE if we didn't give up so damn easy? A lot further ahead than we are now.

Most great people in the world weren't great because they had extraordinary brains or extraordinary brawn. They were great because they had extraordinary willpower.

In fact, just yesterday I was watching a documentary on the World's Strongest Man contest. (Thanks SILK - I owe you one! ;-)

It was being discussed that if guys who had won several contests (Bill Kazmaier - won 3x, the late Jon Pall Sigmarsson - won 4x, Magnus Ver Magnusson - won 4x, and Mariusz Pudzianowski - record holding 5x winner) could all compete against each other in their primes, who would be the best.


Kazmaier said something that was pretty awesome about Magnus (and I'm paraphrasing here):

"Magnus was never really the strongest guy in the contest. But he had a willpower that just wouldn't let him lose. That was why he always found a way to win."

Can you imagine competing with the strongest men in the world...and NOT being the strongest guy there? Yet, Magnus not only won the contest, but won it FOUR TIMES. Only two other people in the 30+ year history of the WSM contest have equaled or bettered that mark.

Pretty inspirational stuff, if you ask me. Especially coming from a guy like Kaz.

Let's get back to my new buddy, Gabriel.

Gabriel couldn't get his hands on my products. But he didn't let that stop him. He went to my articles page, and devoured all the info there. He started doing sample workouts and working his ass off. He wasn't quite sure how to do some stuff, but he just went with it anyway. And got great results.

Why did he get such great results? (Listen up folks - this is key, here.)

Because he did the work.

Gabriel didn't sit around, doing the whole 'woulda, shoulda, coulda'. He didn't feel sorry for himself because paypal didn't work in his native Puerto Rico. He didn't just quit, because he wasn't sure exactly what to do. (After all, hasn't the fitness industry all but convinced you that you have to be spoon fed everything?)

Instead, Gabriel just got down to business and got the job done.

And his workouts isn't the area Gabriel does this. Did I mention he's a Puerto Rico national kickboxing champion in the FPK (Federacion Puertorriqueña de Kickboxing)?

That means Gabriel is no chump. Which is why he busts his tail day in and day out. Doing one leads to the other.

What about you? Are you a chump? What have you gotten done today?

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com

PS - If you're no chump, but aren't quite sure what direction to go with your workouts, go HERE and get all the info you'll ever need. And for CHEAP.

Is it real...or is it Memorex?

HA - remember those commercials way back when?

In case you're too young to know, Memorex was an electronics company. They used to make video tapes (VHS), audio cassettes, and stuff like that. Their claim was that the products could reproduce visuals and sounds so clearly, that you couldn't tell if you were watching/listening to a tape or the real thing.

Hence the line, "Is it real...or is it Memorex?"

Believe it or not, training can be the same way.

Back in my teens, I did mostly bodybuilding-styled training. I've made no secret of that. I always wanted to be as strong as I could be, but I still used mainly bodybuilding principles, and I still cared quite a bit how my physique looked.

One day, my dad and I were talking training, as we used to do quite often. (My dad is where I got all my early training knowledge from.) We were talking about how to build that all-important (and sometimes ultra-elusive) "V-taper" on the upper body.

He asked me how I thought the best way to build a "V-taper" would be. I went on a diatribe about how to build wide shoulders, flaring lats, etc. He just shook his head.

"Nope. Go lose 15 lbs."

Huh? Go lose 15 lbs. What the hell was he thinking? I proceeded to give my old man my best "What you talkin' about Willis?" look.



He then told me to name off guys that had that great "V-taper" look. I named several bodybuilders such as Steve Reeves, Frank Zane, Serge Nubret, etc.

"What do they all have in common?" he asked me. "A small waist."

I started to get it.

"It's easier - and quicker - to lose 2 inches of fluff off your waist, then it is to gain 2 inches of muscle on your shoulders," he told me. "So, if you want that 'V-taper', go lose 15 lbs."

Made a lot of sense.

In training, sometimes the answer to the question we're looking for...the benefit we desire...is in a place that it seems like it shouldn't be.

Who has seen the movie Caddyshack? Everybody has seen the movie - that's who. (At least, anybody that's got any semblance of a sense of humor has.)

Remember when Chevy Chase's character, Ty, is out golfing with Danny Noonan as his caddy? Do you remember what Ty told Danny?

"The shortest distance between two points, is a straight line...

...in the opposite direction."

That's how training can be.

In my "Working Class MMA Workout Program" (which, by the way, you can save 40% on HERE), the very end of the 4-phases is designed to be right before a MMA fight. You are to be at your very best...you're the strongest, the fastest, in the best condition...you're ready to take on any opponent.

Yet, at the end of the 4-phases, you're actually the least amount of overall work than you are in the entire darn program.

Doesn't make much sense, does it?

Sure it does - you're doing the most intense work, you're doing it with the least amount of rest, and you're doing more skills work than ever, so, when doing your conditioning, you need to get 'in and out' as quick as you can, so you can save your time and energy for actual fight training.

But conventional wisdom would tell you that to be in the best shape, you have to do the most work, right?

Nope.

Sometimes that's the case. But not always.

And this is many times what training is all about - doing the opposite of what might make sense. Not because what 'makes sense' is a bad idea, but because there can be quicker ways to go about getting your goals achieved.

If you're not sure when to do what 'makes sense' and when not to, then I highly suggest you CLICK HERE and eliminate all the guesswork out of your workouts.

Train Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard-
Matt "Wiggy" Wiggins
http://www.workingclassfitness.com