Issue 044
December 2008
By Barry Gibson. This article involves you playing with sandbags again, so if you didn’t follow the instructions on how to make one from issue 37, dig it out and get cracking!
For the first routine take yourself to a place where you have a fence at approximately waist height - so you’re going to be outside for this one. Make sure your bag is up for some abuse, as you’re going to be throwing it around. Stand to one side of the fence, heave the bag off the floor and throw it over the fence – immediately vault over the fence, and repeat for twelve reps.
You will follow this with some sprints and body weight callisthenics, so the first circuit looks like this:
- Bag toss / fence vault – 12 reps
- Sprint 50m
- 15 burpees
- Bear crawl 50m (back to fence)
Repeat for as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes – rest only as required.
For the second circuit, we’re going to use a ‘sequenced’ complex format, so you’re completing the reps of each movement before moving onto the next, and only resting after all exercises are completed. This one can be done anywhere and looks like this:
- Clean and press – 6 reps
- Zercher lunge – 6 reps (3 each side)
- Thruster – 6 reps
- Shoulder squat – 6 reps (3 each side)
- Sprawls – 18 reps
Perform the above with no rest between movements – rest no more than 30 seconds between entire complexes, and only if you have to.
Perform 3 sets of the above complex but, on set two, double the reps for the sprawls (36), and treble the reps (54) on set three. The sandbag movements stay at 6. This is very unpleasant on the legs!
These routines will test your heart and lungs to the max, but your grip will get a good hammering too, so for you gi grapplers out there you’ll spot the carry-over immediately. MMA-ers will need this too, as the strength you’ll get from this will help to protect you from the hand injuries that seem to be so common with strikers.
Perform either of these on your conditioning days and they’d be more than sufficient as stand-alone workouts. If you are new to sandbags, take it steady with the weight and volume of work you do.
Always wanted to know...
What are the benefits of metabolic conditioning compared to slow-state steady cardio, and how will it make me a better fighter?
In a nutshell, metabolic conditioning is a very specific form of performance enhancement. The adaptations that occur allow the body to better tolerate the fatigue and lactate build-up associated with fast-paced, intermittent activities such as combat sports. Steady-state cardio or long slow distance (LSD) will do little for your fight fitness unless you actually fight at that pace – in fact, it can be detrimental in terms of a loss of power or speed. Plodding along at a steady pace produces plodding fighters. Metabolic training is also handy if you need to drop some bodyfat, as your metabolic rate stays elevated for longer after the exercise session, burning more calories. If you want to run marathons, go running – if you want to fight, intense intervals geared towards the sport are the way to go.
Barry Gibson is a kettlebell and fitness instructor based in North East England. A strength and conditioning trainer to MMA fighters, he holds a third dan in judo.
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