Skill aside, the most physical fighter WINS! Fighting really is survival of the fittest. Everybody should be the most physical person they can be. Fighter, athlete, or not, being the most physical fighter (person) has everything to do with Strength, Power, Flexibility, Mobility, Nutrition, and your body’s ability to attain Peak Aerobic/Anaerobic Condition. Heart Too. In my opinion, this should be the standard for everyone. Not just the most physical fighter, but the most physical YOU. Training and Living your Heart out. Within this mantra, there are no gimmicks. Within this mantra, you will not go wrong.
There Is A Reason Why He Can Keep Up With The Bigger Weight Classes. Check Out National Jiu-Jitsu Silver Medalist, Golden Gloves Boxing Champion, World Tournament Muay Thai Kick Boxing Champion, And Now MMA Fighter- 'Lil Bomb (Gerald Javier) Box Squatting More Than 3 X His Fight Weight For Reps. In Case You Are Wondering: 365 x 5 @ 120 IBS.
To kick off 2012 ( The Year Of The Dragon In Chinese Culture), I'm going to give you some insight on how to adjust your physical training (In The Gym) while dealing with Physical, Mental, and Emotional Stress (Outside The Gym). This is usually referred to as "LIFE". We are all going through it. The Good and the Bad. How do you manage your training while dealing with "Life"? The "Good" is easy. Most can do it. The "Bad"? That's where solid programming comes into play. Also, your character. Your Heart. Finding ways to make shit happen during the bad times is what defines you. Do you have Heart? Or, are you the throw your hands up in the air " Oh Shit, We Are Going To Die" Kinda guy? Are you going to find a way through your own personal Hell and fight back? More mental then you may think.
Physical stress outside the gym can come in many forms via sickness (Flu & Viruses), injury (Sprained Ankle, Broken Hand, Broken Nose), or a big increase in a short period of time within your skill training. Skill Training as in Sparring, Grappling, Mitt Work, Heavy Bag Work, Etc. We have all been there with this one. We all have to make the adjustment and get work in when we can. Sparring and skill training in some gyms is not consistent and not always available. When it is, you have to take advantage of it. Even at the cost of cutting back strength work. At the end of the day, you have to do what your coach tells you to do too.
Training around a physical injury is easy. Maybe not for the Ego because you cannot do what you want to do in the gym, but you can still train. What to do? Train around the injury, be creative and make exercise adjustments to accommodate the injury and train what is trainable. Do this until the injury is healed. Easy, right? Easy compared to training around Mental and Emotional Stress.
Although It Resulted In A Broken knuckle, This Is Easy.
Obviously, we face circumstances that are out of our control. Things that will take us away from our training and the gym. Take for example, Family issues. In my life, family always comes first even over training. I would never want to be that selfish. I don’t think my family would let me get away with being the “All About Me Guy” anyway. Don’t be the selfish bastard! Take care of what you have to take care of.
On the other hand, what I have found in most cases though, that in “life”, no matter how bad, you find a way to make something happen. You find a way to prioritize the stuff outside the gym. All while still finding a way to train. If you want it bad enough. A lot of guys reading this want to be the next champion of the world, so this is where their character has to comes in. Their heart. Your character. Your Heart.
During hard times, it comes easy for most to throw up their hands and quit. To Use “Life” as an excuse to quit. To give up on a dream or something they have been working so hard for. Don’t quit. It can be habit forming. Not because I say so. It’s just a fact. If you quit, you might quit in the ring too. You might quit in other areas of life. So, if life is hitting below the belt, here is how you can manage your training and start fighting back. Consider this a battle strategy to do so. A battle strategy to get work in the gym and not throw in the towel. A way to keep fighting in life.
To start, you have to come to the realization that just getting work in the gym is enough. This is not the time to break records and up the conditioning. You might have been thinking, at this point, blowing off your training entirely. So, it’s time to except that getting some work in is better than getting no training at all.
Now that you are looking at your training differently during your own personal issues, make these programming adjustments with these “Training Variables”:
TRAINING INTENSITY: How Much Weight You Use. This is not the time to make a 20 pound jump on the Squat, but a time to still be in the fight with the amount of weights you have been lifting. I would start by dropping 10% off the bar. If you are Squatting 400, during this time, 360 pounds is still in the ball park. It’s not a knock out, but you hitting back and the Ref ‘ain’t stopping the fight. You are still being productive and have every chance of coming back to win it. This 10% may be a step or two back, but will catapult you a bunch of steps forward after the shit storm passes. Once you are feeling good again.
TRAINING VOLUME: How Much Work Is Done. Unlike the amount of weight you use, Training Volume has to do with how much work you do in the gym. Instead of five movements, you might have to kick it back to three. Instead of three exercises, you might have to perform the main lift and call it a day. It’s about prioritizing what is most important (main lift) to least important (last exercise). Choose how much to do according to how you physically feel. Simple as that. We do this all the time at the Barbell Club. Stay away from the bull shit concept that you have to do a bunch of exercises in order to progress and become stronger. Sure, 4-5 exercises is more ideal than 1, but probably not for your situation. You can actually become stronger if you only trained one movement. A main lift. Why it’s not ideal is that strength increases with only the main barbell lift will come at a slower pace over a longer period of time. 1 movement is just a less aggressive approach. That and among a few other things. It’s doable though. Don’t ever underestimate the importance of the Barbell Lifts (Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Overhead Press).
SETS: How Many Sets You Choose. Sets and Reps make up and add to Training Volume. When dealing with sets specifically, adding on extra sets when life is trying to kick you in the balls is once again, not the time. For the fighters at my gym, this is manipulated on a weekly basis. Sets and Reps. If they had hard sparring the night before and are set up for another bout of sparring tomorrow, I’m dropping the amount of sets performed and the amount of reps for that week. I’m adjusting the Training Volume. Sparring (fighting) is priority. As important as the training at the Barbell Club is, it’s still secondary. They are not power lifters, but fighters. If they can’t fight because I didn't make the proper training adjustment for them, then I am doing them a disservice. Don’t do yourself a disservice, make the adjustment. If you have been performing 5 sets, you might want to drop it down to three sets. Keep perspective. You are still performing the exercise and getting work in. All you did was cut back a bit.
REPS: How Many Total Reps Is Performed. Same as what was stated above for sets. Perform the reps you need to get in and no more. See how you feel and go from there. If you are going for max reps, don’t. If you performed the prescribed reps and felt you still had gas in the tank, walk away. This is what you want at this time.
MIND SET: Mental Focus. As much as the shit is hitting the fan in your life, discipline yourself to leave it outside the gym. You should be doing this anyway when times are good. There are many forms of mental preparation. If you are religious then pray. If you are spiritual then meditate. All I’m saying here is do whatever you have to do to “Will” yourself into the gym. Focus and see yourself doing what you have to do for that short period of time. You do not want your head in the clouds when your sparring partner is laying into you. You don’t want to be thinking anything other than lifting the weight you are lifting in the weight room. This is just another form of discipline. Practice it enough times and you will get it down. Even during the hard times.
This is not fluff! I experienced what Hell can really be like. I made a “Heaven” out of it though. I did this in the gym and in my life. I didn’t quit or give up. I practiced what I preached. Especially what is expected from our fighters. I put to use what I wrote above.
Last year’s recap hurts to even type:
- My Daughter (6 months old at the time) had a major physical setback. Hipdysplasia.org. Check it out. I talk about this in Part II.
- Both of my parents were in and out of the hospital with life threatening illnesses. Thank God Mom & Dad are good now. Life wouldn't be the same.
- My Mother In Law was in the hospital for weeks and is still receiving rehab as I write this. She is a great woman.
- I found myself on the emergency room floor 5 months ago and had a major surgery. I talk about this in Part II as well.
- My Son, who is only 4 years old, has been in and out of the hospital up until last week. Things are looking really good now. Very tough kid. He's a Rossi.
- My Brother In Law just came off the ventilator on Christmas Eve and is now gaining function back after contracting a life threatening disease called Guillainn – Barre Syndrome. Support his cause by checking this out: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001704/
Black Cloud? Bad Luck? Law Of Average? I don’t believe it. I didn’t care. I was too busy finding a way, trusting in GOD, and not using “Life” as an excuse. I trained through it all. Ask my wife. Ask the great people at the Barbell Club who I am around every day. Take those training variables and put them to good use. Find your way through and don’t use “Life” as an excuse.
In 2011, End Of The World -2012, & Adjusting Training To Life Part II, I will give you some insight of my post training surgery with video. I will also talk about me and my 6 month old daughter’s time in the hospital.
Sacrifice For Reward Is YESS TRAINING,
