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Date d'inscription : 28/05/2005
 | | Warrior Training | |
Mini-Article: Warrior Training
by the editorsIf you want to learn how to fight like a man, there's only one
place to go: the world famous Lion's Den dojo. The Lion's Den was
started by Ultimate Fighting Champion, pro-wrestler, and "world's
most dangerous man" Ken Shamrock. The Lion's Den is home to some of
the toughest men alive. No matter what you call it —
Pankration, Vale Tudo, reality combat, no-holds-barred fighting,
Pancrase hybrid wrestling — this is the place to go to learn
the fine art of whup-ass.The Lion's Den doesn't accept just anyone into its ranks. Those
wanting to train with Shamrock first have to try out. During this
grueling tryout, hopeful fighters are put through a series of
bodyweight-only exercises. (Shamrock keeps plastic buckets handy
during the tryouts. One guess what they're used for.) Those left
standing at the end are put in the ring with the veterans who take
turns testing the mettle of the wannabes, i.e., beating the shit
out of them. Usually one guy is chosen to join the pride based on
this final test.It may surprise you that the world's leanest and meanest
fighters follow a core workout of bodyweight exercises. Sure,
Lion's Den fighters do bench presses, weighted squats, and curls
(in fact, the clean and press is a favorite), but the majority of
their training revolves around bodyweight exercises Shamrock picked
up from his own tryout with the Japanese fighting circuit and his
stint in the Marines. After several months of Lion's Den training,
fighters are expected to be able to perform the
following:
500 bodyweight
squats
100 push-ups
100 crunches
20 chin-ups
The really advanced warriors can do all these exercises without
rest. Ouch. Pass the bucket.Take It Like A ManThere are several reasons why you may want to incorporate some
of these exercises into your current program. First off, this is
real-man cardio, not that pussified form of aerobic training you
get from treadmills and elliptical riders. You really want to be in
there with the rest of the goofballs riding bikes that aren't going
anywhere? Instead of the usual stuff, use this type of training as
part of your next fat-loss program.Second, this is the perfect type of training to do if you're
stuck in a hotel room or are snowed in and can't make it to the
gym. Don't believe us? Try it and see how your legs feel the next
day. Lastly, think of this as a test of mental toughness. Can you
take the pain? Can you keep going when every fiber in your body is
screaming for you to stop? Try it and find out.Keep in mind, though, that these high-rep bodyweight workouts
aren't the best thing for building muscle, if that's your only
goal. The intensity is too low and the reps are too
high.The ExercisesThe Bodyweight Squat: This is the core of the submission
fighter's training. Shamrock says that strong legs are the
foundation of fighting and squats are the ultimate test of a man's
heart and lungs. While Shamrock never mentions speed of movement in
his book Inside the Lion's Den, most tend to use a fairly
fast tempo, something like 101. (That's one second to squat down,
no pause, and one second to come back up.)Keep your feet about shoulder width apart, maybe a little wider.
Some prefer to keep their hands down at their sides while others
prefer to hold their arms out in front of them for balance. Squat
down to just below parallel and come back up to near
lockout. The Push-up: You probably don't need much of an explanation
here. Go down until your nose or chest brushes the ground and come
back up. Again, the tempo is fairly fast, around
101. The Crunch: Shamrock notes that the abdomen is like the hinge
between your upper and lower body. No matter how strong your gate
is, if your hinge is weak you won't last long in the octagon. While
Shamrock prefers to do these in more of a sit-up fashion with a
partner holding his feet, you can do them solo just as easily using
crunch form. He has his fighters use a slower tempo here, exhaling
every rep.  Progressions and OptionsAfter ten bodyweight squats you may be laughing about how easy
this is. After 50, you may be tempted to take a little breather.
After 100, you may need to sit down. Most men never make it to 300.
Shamrock says you should shoot for 500 if you're a real warrior.
Now, before you get discouraged here, he also says that you should
start with sets of 25 or 50, then "build, build, build." We'd say a
good goal the first time you try this would be:
100 squats
20 push-ups
20 crunches
If you can, try not to rest between exercises. If you have
access to a chin-up bar, you may try to knock out 10 chins as well.
The next time, try to add numbers to each exercise. If you can
eventually hit 500 squats, 100 push-ups, and 100 crunches, then you
are an official bad-ass mutha!Another option is to forget about counting reps and shoot for
time. Get an egg timer or a Timex Ironman watch and simply squat
for five minutes; then do push-ups for two minutes; and crunches
for another two. Then do the whole circuit again if you're up for
it. Being an official bad-ass mutha himself (and perhaps their
leader), Shamrock sometimes watches the clock and squats for a full
30 minutes without stopping. We say five or ten minutes would be a
good place to start for mere mortals.The last option is to use a variation of the rest/pause method.
For example, set yourself a goal of doing 200 bodyweight squats. Do
as many as you can, rest for a few seconds, then do some more. Keep
this up until you reach your target number. If it takes six sets,
fine. The next time try to do it in five.That's it. No more excuses when you can't make it to the gym.
Now go see what you're made of. | |
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