Stephan Kesting gets away from training and advice on grappling, submission wrestling and Brazilian jujitsu for the next couple of weeks. Don’t fret due to large interest in off dojo training the next couple of issues will have Kesting describing his training sessions with respect to workout and circuit training. Get a look at what it takes to better a better mixed martial arts fighter thought means outside the normal training and instruction you get from classes. His workout are no only for MMA fighters but are also great for everyday workouts for all types of body types and exercise goals you may so desire.

So take a look at what Stephan does to keep in shape when he is not fighting or rolling with his teammates.
------------------------------------------------

The Next Three Issues

OK, the feedback was unanimous: you want more examples of my workout routines. Accordingly the next three newsletters will cover the physical conditioning I did during my week's unintended layoff from grappling.

You guys also had a lot of fitness and conditioning questions, including requests for descriptions of specific exercises. I'm going to hold off answering them for another few days, until I'm done describing all the actual workouts. Then I'll try to answer all the questions in one long Q&A session.

Please keep in mind that this is what works for me - every person reading this will be younger or older, lighter or heavier, and more or less fit than I. Every person will have different genetics and fitness goals as well. What I'm getting at is that the exercises YOU need to be doing might be quite different from what I'm doing.

Finally, if you're not interested in this conditioning stuff just bear with me for another few days - we'll be back to discussing grappling and jiu-jitsu next time.

------------------------------------------------

Another Day, Another Circuit

This being my second day without grappling I was determined to go hard today. Since yesterday's workout focused on the upper body, I started today with a crossfit-style workout that I call 'Reid' (in honor of my friend with whom I dreamed up this torture sequence).

Circuit 1: The Reid

For this sequence you combine barbell squats with running stairs. I usually aim to complete 10 circuits in 20 minutes or less. Today each circuit consisted of:
1 - Barbell squats: 8 repetitions with 225 lbs on the bar
2 - Stair jog, 7 1/2 flights of stairs up, 71/2 flights down

I went directly from the squat rack to the stairs, and from the stairs back to barbell. I finished 10 circuits in 18:58, which is a personal best!

Kettlebell Swings

After lying on the floor for 5 minutes to recover from the Reid, I moved on and did two sets of kettlebell swings. For the first set I used a 24 kg kettlebell and swung it from between my legs up to head height with a straight arm 10 times using my right hand, 10 times using both hands, 10 times using my left hand, and then 10 times with both again.

For the second set of swings I used a 32 kg kettlebell, and did 32 repetitions (8 with each hand, 16 with both hands).

I like kettlebell swings because they are basically rhythmic and repetitive Olympic lifting, without having to catch the bar at the top of the movement. As such I think one gets a lot of the benefit of Olympic lifting, especially the explosive hip movement, without being forced to learn all the difficult technical details of the Clean and Jerk or the Snatch. Many kettlebell exercises can also be done with dumbbells if kettlebells aren't available to you.

Final Exercises

My next exercise was dumbell curl and press for arm and shoulder strength. To do this you first curl dumbells up to shoulder height, and then press them overhead. I did two sets of 8 repetitions with 40 lb dumbells.

I then did some abdominal work, doing 12 hanging ab knee raises (knees to wrists, just like yesterday) and then two minutes of twisting crunches.

My last exercise was to strengthen the back of my neck: I used a neck harness with 45 lbs attached to it, and lifted my head up and down about 20 times.

It sounds like I did a lot of stuff today, but the core of the workout is definitely the Reid; I kept everything after that pretty easy.


That combination of barbell squats and running stairs is an absolute killer! If you don't have a long stairwell or tower near your gym you could always try using a steeply inclined treadmill or a stairmaster instead.

Stephan Kesting
www.grapplearts.com

Bet at SportInteraction for MMA and UFC Fighting Today