Might As Well Jump

 

Every now and then, it's good to just jump and play. Work the fast twitch muscle fibers and make a game out of it. Being explosive has its perks regardless of age. I mean, come on, many of us grew up watching Tigger bounce around since he's the embodiment of someone with ADHD. He made jumping fun. In reality, things like frog jumps, jumping rope, explosive pushups and even burpees had their ways of making a person worn down but have a solid feeling afterwards. Some took these to extremes to the point where they wrecked themselves but if you learned how to balance out what's possible, being able to jump can reap certain benefits.

I don't do a ton of explosive stuff and for specific reasons but when I do play around with them especially when it comes to animal movement, it shoots levels of endorphins and hormone entities that help keep you vital and strong. Sometimes jumping like a frog, hopping like a rabbit or bouncing off the ground like a Kangaroo makes things interesting and when you see and hear things in your imagination, it can make a workout really goofy or stupid serious. Either way, you're getting something in.

Not all explosive movements are created equal, there are some things that aren't meant for certain people. Not because it isn't cool, some just don't have the capacity or the strength to do certain aspects of Explosive Training and it is ok. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. 

Take into account what is possible and build from there. There are some athletes that are just fucking nuts when it comes to things that shoot off like a damn rocket. Some of those old time Russian Wrestlers were insane with the stuff they did and when you look at someone like a Alexander Karelin, you will find out what made guys like that incredibly tough to beat. For other reasons to jump around, it can just be doing a few reps of certain movements just to warm yourself up or cooldown from a crazy workout. Just doing a few jumps per exercise can have an impact on how you work things and find the creative side of training.

Be playful and have fun with it if possible. It's not mandatory and you don't HAVE to do any of these if you don't want to. If you choose to do them, make them work for you and keep it as basic as possible. Training is meant to be adventurous and discovering what your capabilities are. 

Be amazingly awesome, be playful and get to it. It's never too late to explore yourself. 

Slamming With Pure Vengeance In 5 Minutes

 

Short Workouts can be not only beneficial to your fitness but also can be very therapeutic when it's so intense that once it's over, you feel like you're walking on Cloud 9. Getting something in as little as 5 minutes with great effort, can have as much of an impact on your conditioning and long term strength within a regular 1 hour workout. 

One of these entities is the classic Slam Ball Slamming. Just picking up a 10-20 ball and slamming it hard to the ground with such such fucking force, you'd think you have hatred in your heart. Just this exercise alone generates incredible benefits of conditioning, strength, explosiveness, lung power and turning you into a machine. They've been used in Wrestling, MMA, Football, Crossfit and other formats of training. They can be used as a finisher, in between sets or as stand alone. 

As a finisher, it is as nasty as it gets, you've already obliterated a workout but you still need to go through hell to get that last bit of a tank you have left and burn more calories than you already have and enhance your muscular endurance. 2 workouts I've done recently were using a slam ball as a finisher, busting ass for 15 on, 15 off for 5 minutes. First workout, I would get in about 4-5 reps a round, the second, I was able to get 6, that's a PR for me. 

For a stand alone, my idea was to get as many reps as possible in 5 minutes which on paper may not sound like much but when you're constantly picking up and slamming as hard as you can and torching the muscles especially the Core, it becomes a mental game of how much you're willing to take. My personal record with a 20 lb Ball is 105 reps in 5 minutes. If you're new to it, take a breather every few reps or so cause you will feel it practically off the bat. Keep a record of how many you've done, each session, try to rest a little less and see if you can get a few more reps in. Little by little keep going until you're able to keep going practically without stopping. Pace yourself and let the speed and explosiveness come naturally. You may not be at the same speed in the beginning and you may slow down as time goes on but you can still go. To do an average of 20 or so reps a minute is pretty damn fast. DO NOT TRY THIS EVERYDAY!!! 1-2 times a week is more than enough, it's practically sprinting without the running. 

This is the type of training where you may not tire out as quickly doing other things and it can enhance your endurance for possibly hiking, swimming, jogging, climbing stairs or doing labor. It will definitely give you boosts of HGH and give you that driving power for takedowns in wrestling, tackles in football and throws in MMA. It is one of the most intense forms of exercise around and it can make you a damn beast either on the mat or on the gridiron. It's simple, yet hard. Short, yet hellish and it will question your sanity whether as a finisher or by itself. 

Be amazingly awesome and never underestimate the power of short workouts and/or finishers, they will make you question your life choices but at the same time, they build toughness and strength that isn't easily described.  

Sprint Training With The Dopamineo Band

 The workouts are getting better and better and today was no exception. I've done sets of sprints with the band in recent workouts but haven't done a full on sprint session until a while ago. I would do Bear Crawl Sprints (which to me is tougher than normal sprints) but today, I wanted to see how many Hard (Bipedal) Sprints I can do in a workout. Granted you're not going very far and the band can only be stretched out so much but nonetheless, I would do a set, rest and repeat until I feel I've had enough. 

I haven't done a full exclusive sprint workout since probably April when I first got hurt but I've been training hard getting back into shape and workouts with the Dopamineo Band are paying off. Today, I did a total of 60 Sprints (10 of them on film) just going hard until I hit a peak, walk back and repeat. Did them in sets of 20, 10, 10, 10, 10. My legs felt great, no pain or even discomfort. Rested as long as I needed since these are brutal and you're doing shorter distances than say on a field or a hill. 

This was one of my goals and I achieved it. I have done sets of 10 until I reached 30 but that was part of a workout that included various exercises but this was full on, in your face, being explosive as possible sprint training. I cannot stress enough how awesome an investment this thing has been. Very grateful and being inspired by the Degastani Wrestlers and American Athletes that use this thing is just incredible to be a part of. 

Sprint Training has been a favorite for years doing Hills and doing them animal style and this is now a part of my arsenal and could be a powerful tool to use in the winter to stay in solid shape. This band goes beyond most other ones and mainly just turns athletes into machines. Wrestlers use these either on active rest days or to train with after a wrestling workout when they've already brutalized themselves, that's just insane. I started studying and researching on wrestlers from Dagestan and the style is similar to what is done in Freestyle, Greco-Roman, Judo and BJJ but these guys up the ante and have a higher level of relentlessness. These are some of the toughest athletes in the world. 

This type of sprint session may be only once or twice a week cause there are other exercises to do that give you that full body work that just hits like a freight train. Other days are doing punches, animal crawls, squats, waves, rows, jumping and other things. Keep the variety open. I like to do combos like a Squat & Push Press or Upper Cuts mixed with pulls, whatever comes to mind. Training with this a few times a week would be enough for most and it can be used as a warm-up, full session or a cooldown to keep the calories burning after a hard workout. Find what works for you and get your hands on a band that's suited to your size or weight class. 

Train with a vengeance and strike down your goals with intense prejudice as you become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Keep being amazingly awesome.