A small crew at MMA Wednesday, but very focused. First we did a four station, strength circuit in a 20/70 second, work/rest interval. The effect is somewhere between muscle mass building and pure strength. We set up heavy deadlifts, strikers floor press, goblet squat, and Hardstyle, Russian push-ups. We cranked this out for 20 minutes. That’s 13 intervals. Next was a fast lift circuit: swings, push-press, cleans, and floating lunges. This was done in the infamous 30/30 interval for 25 minutes. There was an awful lot of sweating and heavy breathing, but no complaining. Alix did her double kettlebell cleans in a very rapid tempo, never actually stopping in the rack position, but striking the ‘bells back down in full flight, with a sharp pulse of full body tension. This kind of lifting is only for the extremely adept, and it packs a much larger amount of work into the active time interval.
Circuits have a purpose, they are not just fun. Many trainers use circuits because he or she honestly does not know what to do, and the trainer has heard that circuits are popular. So they just throw a little of everything at their clients, hoping something might work. That’s not how we do it. We use a combination of movements that work synchronously with each other for a definite purpose. For instance Wednesday’s strength circuit alternated the most powerful, fundamental, lower body centric lifts with simple arm extension drills. This arrangement has a number of benefits. One is spreading the load throughout the body, so no muscle group gets exhausted before the others are sufficiently worked. The lifts we chose Wednesday night were especially symbiotic. The deadllift and the goblet squat are full body lifts in which the lower body produces movement and the upper body stabilizes the kettlebells. The striker’s floor press and Hardstyle push-ups are the reverse, upper body extremities producing force, with the lower body stabilizing. We also impose limitations to encourage creativity from our students. The kettlebells are fixed at the stations, so if your favorite kettlebell is not there, you might use a heavier kettlebell and limit your reps, maybe even do two quick sets with a short break in between. You may have to use a lighter kettlebell, or two. You could do an easier version of the drill specified, or a more difficult one. In other words you will be forced out of your comfort zone and into a realm of exploration, discovery, and by design, accelerated progress.
We finished with a long session of restorative drills to relax brutalized muscles. After class a few of us discussed how to do pull-ups. Many comrade ladies find these difficult, even impossible. Pull-ups are most correctly a full body movement. It’s not just about arm strength, though that certainly helps. John demonstrated the kind of pull-up guys who have very strong arms do. He just hauled himself straight up, slow and controlled. I demonstrated the explosive, tactical pull-up we practice and test in the RKC. Then I showed a few simple but powerful body connection drills that help get you there. It all starts with hip power surprisingly to some, just like push-ups, and everything else. Guru Mel Hebert’s Philippine martial arts class was arriving, and Mel demonstrated the use of negatives to build pull-up strength.