What’s up everybody?!
I’m coming at you guys today super excited to share with you my favorite type of conditioning.
It’s something I’ve used to help get myself and some of my clients down to single digit body fat.
But first I just wanted to give you guys a quick update…
First off, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has reached out via email or social media wishing me a speedy recovery. All of your support has motivated me to get back as fast as possible and that truly means the world to me.
My hand is getting better and I was cleared to start weight training again about two and a half weeks ago.
My grip in my right hand is that of an eight year old girls, but it feels INCREDIBLE just to get a pump again.
My current training is more of a body building template for the last two weeks just to get some muscle back on me. I lost about 12 lbs. of muscle over the course of my injury which is like being kicked by a mule in the genitals, but I’m happy to say my comeback has begun!
But Enough about my genitals. Let’s get into the good stuff.
Conditioning can be boring.
I’ve stressed a million times before that I am a huge fan of conditioning circuits, sprint intervals, bleachers, hill sprints and even strongman training for conditioning.
That’s all great stuff that I highly recommend.
However, if you’ve been training as long as I have, you’re always looking for different things to excite you while giving you a kick ass workout simultaneously.
It was in the winter of 2007 that I walked into my first MMA class.
I had not a clue what I was doing but was excited to try it out with my good friend and now TTS head strength coach, Ruben.
At the time we thought our conditioning was “decent”, but we learned very quickly that we were a lot fatter and more deconditioned than we thought.
After that one day, we were hooked!
And I believe that anyone reading this post, whether male or female, would feel exactly the same.
The idea might be scary to some people, but trust me, you’re not walking into a full-fledged fight the first time you walk in the door.
You can take up martial arts simply to learn a new skill, get an awesome workout in, test yourself and meet some new friends in the process.
It’s something I feel has made a huge difference in my life, and I would honestly recommend it to anyone that is willing to work hard.
In 2014 I competed in my first BJJ tournament which was an amazing experience. I can’t wait to get back out there but my hand isn’t quite ready for training until another 2-3 weeks.
But while I was training for that tournament, my diet was perfect for about 10 weeks. I was weight training 3 days per week and I was using my Jiu Jitsu training for conditioning 3 days per week. In those 10 weeks I went from 195 lbs. to 169 lbs. the day of the tournament.
Not only did I meet great people, I was having tons of fun while conditioning, learning a great skill and dropped 26 lbs. of fat in the process.
Jiu Jitsu wasn’t just helping me get lean but it was great to get competitive and learn a new discipline at the same time.
But if you’re not quite ready to give martial arts a try then I highly recommend joining some type of recreational sport that you enjoy. Whether it be soccer, basketball or touch football, the important thing is that you stay competitive.
Competition truly brings out the best in everyone, and is a much more enjoyable way to get in good conditioning work.
Competing in a sport is also a great way to improve your body’s natural production of testosterone. If you are suffering from low levels of T, then I’d definitely suggest you find a rec league ASAP.
I believe that at any age, competition is a must. I don’t mean trying to compete in the UFC. I mean being part of something that will bring out the best in you, and push you to work harder.
It’s something that gets us excited, and a lot of us lose that excitement for things over the years.
We need to get that back. We need to be kids again and have our “play” time.
Life is too short man, you have to enjoy every damn second.
Once I think about how fast it goes, I don’t ever want to waste another second on a treadmill again. It motivates me to do the things I want to do, and compete in the things I enjoy.
So get out there, work hard and play hard.
If you do I promise you will be healthier and leaner in no time.
Go have some fun, guys.
I’ll catch you all next week!