Awesome Conditioning
Conditioning, Endurance, Mental Strength, Power, Speed Strength

Awesome Intervals

I always look forward to a conditioning session, call me  masochist but I need to be pushing my limits every training session. To get anywhere in life you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. There is no growth in comfort, so if you are not going to put in 100% effort when you train and push the envelope you are not going to get where you want to be.

Mix it up

There are an abundance of exercises that can be used with different goals in mind. I enjoy the challenge of creating new routines, with different training protocols such as Intervals, Circuits, Tabata etc. If I do stick with a routine it is because I am getting a measure of progress, say if I am measuring endurance or power, whether my work capacity is improving or if I want to achieve a certain level of conditioning.

Awesome Intervals

Check out this interval circuit I tried out today, my focus was on power and endurance. This is as tough as you make it so I suggest you dig deep, bite the bullet and get it on!

  1. Lateral Burpee Pushup
  2. Explosive Step ups
  3. Dips
  4. Box Jumps
  5. Med Ball Slams
  6. Skipping rope (Double Unders)
  7. Med Ball Squats
  8. Narrow Push ups

Inverted Rows – Finisher

Although a standard definition of an interval is performing an exercise then performing rest, I have enhanced this protocol by grouping the above exercises as one unit and so performed 30 seconds of each without rest until the circuit is complete. Then I rested for a minute. You can judge your work capacity this way by seeing how quickly you recover after completing each round of exercises. I performed six rounds of this interval circuit and man it was a killer.

I finished the session off with bodyweight inverted rows, a great way to hit your back in an explosive fashion, in this instance I set a rep range so I could push more out before reaching failure.

A little over 30 minutes and you are done. Of course if you are pushed for time or if you are just starting out you can cut the amount of rounds or reduce the amount of exercises to suit your needs. Just don’t do it to make it easy!

To get a great overview on why conditioning is so important, get over to and check out my article.

I haven’t listed exercise descriptions here, but if anyone is unsure about how to perform the exercises then drop me a comment below.

Be strong

Dean

 

 

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Med Ball Plyometrics
Conditioning, Power, Speed

Medicine Ball Plyometric Training

 

Hey, hope everyone is doing great, feeling good and getting into great shape.

I cranked out an amazing conditioning session today and thought i would share it with you.

Latest Craze

People are always looking for the latest and greatest craze to get them into shape, some new fad that all the “celebrities” are doing. Hell, I know some people try that crazy shit out, just because they won’t put the effort into a hard session that would actually give them the results they want. I have given up telling them because they won’t listen, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped!

Training Tool

Anyway, today focuses on  a training tool that has been around for the longest time, boxers and athletes have been using them for years for explosive conditioning drills and yet I rarely see them being used or in gyms and even if they are in a gym they are gathering dust! the training tool I am on about (and I assume you have guessed by the title of the article) is a medicine ball.

Medicine Ball

A med ball has a multitude of uses, comes in various shapes and sizes and can be used in countless exercises. Today it was used for explosive or plyometric training. Most body weight exercises are suited to this type of training and almost all bodyweight exercises can be enhanced with a medicine ball. Plyometric training is designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system.

Todays session revolved around 5 exercises:

  1. Med Ball Squat Jump
  2. Med Ball Slam
  3. Med Ball Burpee
  4. Med Ball Power over
  5. Med Ball V-up or jackknife sit up.

Each exercise is meant to be performing an a fast, explosive manner. In this case the tabata training protocol (20 seconds activity followed by 10 seconds rest for 8 rounds of each exercise). For this session it meant short sharp bursts of each exercise before moving swiftly onto the next exercise.

Of course you don’t have to do 5 exercises, you could pick any between 3 and 5. Mix it up by changing the timing to 30 seconds of activity, then 30 seconds rest. or even pick a rep range and perform for repetitions. Change the exercises around, pick different ones. Keep it interesting!

Above all else, it is meant to be difficult, push the envelope!

I would love you to drop me a comment about this workout or anything else you want to discuss. Just hit me up with a comment or an email!

Stay strong, stay fit and I will speak to you soon.

Dean

 

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20 Rep Shuffle
Conditioning, Mental Strength, Power, Speed

20 Rep Shuffle

Hey there, just wanted to post up my training session from today.

You don’t need much equipment to put yourself through a gruelling training session. As you can see from the picture, a box, med ball, a pair of dumbbells and something to jump over is all I used, hell you could get away without any at all, your bodyweight would take care of the rest.

Today was a conditioning day and so used a modified version of the conditioning circuit I gave my class last night, they rocked it and I missed out, so not to be out done I swapped it about and changed the rules using repetitions instead of being against the clock.

The difference between reps and time is that depending on time limits, reps can be harder, no clock saving you, you just gotta rep it out!

I picked 10 stations, 20 reps per station and no rest until the circuit is done. By completing 5 circuits it gives you 100 reps per exercise!

  • Box jump – Standing jump on and off a box, bench etc
  • Dips – Off the box or bench
  • Frog Jumps – Squatting down palms on the floor and jumping up
  • Dumbbell punches- Light dumbbells, arms moving in and out in front of you
  • Prisoner Squats – Hands behind your head, squatting down and up
  • Med Ball Slams – Pick a med ball above your head and slam to the ground fast!
  • Dumbbell Lunges – As you lunge down, press dumbbells into the air
  • Lateral Burpees – Perform burpee, jump sideways over an object and repeat
  • Pushups – Different variations (Wide, Normal, Narrow, Pike, Divebomber)
  • Skipping rope – High knees, keeping a fast cadence

So 20 reps per station, with the exception of 2, You ain’t gonna get much from 20 dumbbell punches and 20 rope turns, so I upped them to 100 each.

Train Hard, keep lean!

The beauty of the 20 rep shuffle is that it is versatile, exercises can be changed, number of reps or number of circuits. But remember… IT IS MEANT TO BE HARD….. No shirking off!

This is a great way to burn fat, save lean muscle and build explosive power and build a high level of stamina, muscular endurance all in one simple workout.

I would love you to drop me a comment about this workout or anything else you want to know

So there you have it the 20 rep shuffle…….With a twist

Stay strong, stay fit and I will speak to you soon.

Dean

 

 

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Body weight Squat
Conditioning, Mental Strength, Power, Speed

Circuit Training Variations

I have been playing around with different circuits to keep things interesting and thought I’d share this cool conditioning circuit.

Using  the “integrated circuit  training” principle, I created a 10 station circuit using a combination of body weight  and weighted exercises. The premise is simple, each station lasts 30 seconds before immediately going onto the next exercise, this continues until the 10 stations are complete.

Make no mistake this is tough, it is meant to be, pushing your body through fatigue increases your general physical preparedness (GPP) and allows your body to adapt to train further during fatigue as well as decreasing your recovery time.

I aim to to 5 circuits with 1 minute rest in between each one. However if you feel you need more rest then take it, however I’d advise to keep it as minimal as possible.

Here’s the circuit:

  1. Body weight squats (with or without 5kg dumbbells)
  2. Body weight Lunges (with or without 5kg dumbbells).
  3. Heavy Bag Punching.
  4. Elevated Push ups.
  5. Burpees.
  6. Squat Jumps.
  7. Dumbbell Alternating shoulder press (high tempo).
  8. Bench Dips.
  9. Skipping.
  10. Heavy Bag punching.

In this circuit I emphasise “doubling up” on upper and lower body exercises until station 9 and 10. I wanted to create more fatigue on the same muscle groups with a combination of exercises. You can just as easily make it upper/lower. The exercises are not set in stone either, there are plenty substitutes if you don’t have a heavy bag, Shadow boxing with a pair of light dumbbells would suffice.

The key here is that the circuit is continuous. It is possible to play around with the amount of stations, the time at each station and of course the exercises.

Don’t forget an interval timer such as a gym boss is an excellent training tool here, it takes care of the time so you can concentrate on the training.

Stay sharp and train Hard!

– Dean Coulson

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Conditioning, Martial Arts, Power, Speed, Strength

Heavy Bag Conditioning

Ever used a heavy bag or punch bag for conditioning? Unless you have a martial arts or boxing background I doubt many people would have. However you don’t need to be a fighter to use one, they are an excellent conditioning tool and a great alternative should you wish to add another dimension to your conditioning arsenal.

 

For Everyone

As long as you have access to a heavy bag, then this tool really is for anyone. I get people saying to me that they cannot punch. How else to learn but to do it? you are not trying to be a boxer here and for a lot of conditioning drills, two straight punches are my favoured techniques for simplicity. don’t forget you bag gloves!

 

Keep it interesting

I never get bored using a heavy bag, I can play around with one for ages. There are endless ways to keep this activity interesting. You can keep the training session light and fluid or you can dig in and go for big power shots. You can mix it up, drill for speed or power. You can even add other exercises into the mix such as skipping or burpees or squats in between rounds. One thing is for sure, if it is used right this training tool will wipe you out.

 

Plan your session

If you are going to do a conditioning session on a heavy bag then decide before you start what your goal is. Is it muscle endurance? speed? power?

Work it in rounds and decide how many you are going to do, how long each round is going to be and what you are going to do in each round. A perfect tool for timing your session is a gymboss interval timer. I recommend you get one for all your conditioning work so you don’t have to worry about watching a clock or counting rounds.

Many people think of Three minute rounds when you think of boxing, but it doesn’t have to be on a heavy bag. It would be practically impossible to go all out for 3 minutes, even 2 minutes. If you ever watch boxers in a ring, there is a lot of inactivity interspersed with short periods of activity, even elite boxers cannot sustain long bursts of exertion, your body cannot sustain energy release that quickly for long periods.

 

Push through Fatigue

mayweatherThis type of exercise is anaerobic, the body relies on energy stored in your muscles (ATP) as this can be broken down the fastest. This however is short lived as there is only a finite amount stored there. This type of energy is designed for short bursts, Ideal for this type of exercise.  Training in this way can teach you how to push through fatigue, get your body used to the discomfort so that over time you will be able to go for longer periods and reap the rewards.

I always recommend a thorough warm up of the muscles and joints before commencing this as they will take a lot of stick. As I said before, this doesn’t have to be fancy if you are new to it, stick to straight punching, always keep your hands up (which places extra stress on the shoulders) and elbows down before and after executing a punch.

Here are some examples for you:

Example 1

Round 1 – nice and easy warm up round.

Round 2 – Hands at a faster pace

Round 3 – heavy power shots

Round 4 – Hands at a faster pace

Round 5 – Heavy power shots

Round 6 – all out, mix it up fast and powerful shots.

Each round lasts 1 minute with 30 seconds of rest in between. Don’t pace the round, give it everything!

Example 2

  1. light fast
  2. power shots
  3. speed drill

Use the above as a template. Pick a number of rounds, for example 12 and do the exercise in rounds of three

Example 3

One Minute on the bag, followed by one minute skipping rope. Go straight from one exercise to the other without stopping. This really hits the shoulders, upper back and arms and builds good muscle stamina. This doesn’t have to be skipping rope, it could be squats, push ups, pull ups, burpees etc, use your imagination!

Example 4

For those of you that understand the different punching techniques, you can use the following on a bag to keep it interesting. Aim for 12 rounds of 1 minute, each round with a different combo.

NOTE: Because this is only for one minute, it should be all out, no slacking or resting in the minute, keep your work rate up. Give yourself no more than 30 seconds between rounds, challenge yourself to have minimal rest!

  1. jab/Cross
  2. hooks, 2 body, 2 head
  3. jab, cross, hook, cross
  4. hook, hook (same hand), cross
  5. jab/cross, jab/Cross
  6. rapid 16 straight punches is fours
  7. Double Jab/Cross
  8. 2 hooks body, 2 straight to the head
  9. Jab/Cross/Hook
  10. 2 hooks to the body
  11. Jab/cross. Jab/Hook
  12. All out, anything goes!

Please feel free to add to this post with your comments and ideas. I want this to be a good flow of information for everyone to voice opinion or follow.

 

to your strength and health

 

Dean

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