Fight Fit El Dorado Hills July Program

July Workout

     

WARM UP:

1.    10 min of walking, running, jump rope, biking etc

MOBILITY

1.    Foam roll back and gluteus

2.    Lacrosse ball shoulder blade (if you have it)

3.    Big and small shoulder circles

4.    Hollow body

5.    Anke rolls

6.    knee rolls

7.    Hip twirls

8.    Handstand

WORKOUT: 

 

Day 1: 

Circuit

Week 1: do 3 sets of 10.  Week 2: do 2 sets 15.  Week 3: do 1 set of 20 and 1 of 10

1.    Pull up or row 30

2.    Press over head 30

Goblet Squat 50

Farmers walk mark distance or count steps (Week 1: do 1 walk.  Week 2:  rest for 1 min and do a second walk, Week 3:  3 walks)

Day 2:

1.    Instead of Goblet Squats do 50 athletic burpees 

EDH Fight Fit 

916 595 4064

See you on the mat! 

Summer Fight Fit Program for June

June Fight Fit

1.    Warm up   (If not already warmed up)

2.    Mobility

•  Lunge stretch 

   (drop bent knee to the outside)

•  10 - Straight leg lunge stretch (dynamic)

•  Wall Quad stretch

•  10 - Sumo Squat 

   (hands on the ground to a full squat)

•  10 - Side lunges 

   (staying as low as possible)

•  Duck walk (full squat waddle)

•  Ostrich walk (keep legs as straight as possible and place your hands on the ground.  Press your hands off the ground and clap each time you take a step)

Workout

1.    Tabata (20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest)

2.    We will start with 4 rounds of each exercise.

3.    Finish all 4 sets before moving to the next exercise

4.    Each time we do the work out we will add  a round.  (example: next week we will do 5 rounds)

Tabata

•  Squat

•  Deadlift (or burpee if you have no weights)

•  Push up

Fight Fit

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Strength, Flexibility, Speed

3 Ways to Improve your Jiu-Jitsu at home

         In my opinion, there are three basic activities a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner could be doing outside of scheduled practice hours to help improve their game. The first and probably most obvious is Strength Training. This doesn't necessarily mean going into the gym to do exercises on a machine or training with weights. There is plenty you can do with your body weight and material in your surrounding. For example, you could use a swing set to do a set of pull ups or balance your upper body on the swing to do push ups. There are many different and creative ways you can build your strength. 
         I like to think of Jiu-Jitsu requiring both Basic Strength and Focused Strength. Basic Strength would refer to the general strength training required to keep the body strong enough so you are able to use your technique (people who have previously done competitive sports or go to the gym regularly would already have developed this). Focused Strength refers to developing your strength that would enhance your ability to execute a move. Here are a few examples and exercises of Focused Strength.


Grip Strength Exercises:
- Pull ups on a swing set
- Hold two 10 lb. plates in each hand (don't drop them on your toes!)
- Pull ups using a towel
- Grip racquet ball
Leg Strength Exercises:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Sideways Lunges
- Wall Sits
Core Strength Exercises: 
- Superman Arch (on stomach, lift chest and legs off the floor at the same time)
- Back Bridge
- Trunk Twists
- AB exercises


       The second area you could train is flexibility. Flexibility training is easily overlooked when compared to Strength training activities, but can provide just as much and in some cases even more benefits than Strength training in your Jiu-Jitsu game. In Jiu-Jitsu, just like many other sports, it is important to limber up the muscles in the hips, groin, hamstring, and back. Even some of the biggest Sumo Wrestlers in Japan who weigh over 300 lbs are able to do the splits and touch their foreheads on the ground. Stretching is a great way to start or end the day, throw 5 to 10 minutes of stretching into your morning/evening routine and you will start to see some results. If you are looking for a more intense stretching routine try some cross training workouts with Yoga! 
       The third activity is visualization. Visualization is my favorite way of training. You get to close your eyes, relax, and you don't even have to break a sweat! These days I have to make time to make this happen, but while I was living in Japan I could easily fit it into my weekly routine. While I was in Japan, my commute to the Dojo was about a 20 minute train ride and a 15 minute jog from the train statin to the gym. While I was on the train I would close my eyes, relax and go over the technique we learned from the previous practice session. I would see a person doing the move step by step by step. The best comparison I can think of would be pushing the play and pause button on the remote control.  As I became better at visualizing, I would start to do it while I was jogging to the dojo as well. (Yes, my eyes were open! But my body was relaxed) In many ways this solidified the moves, and reinforced what we were learning. I also felt refreshed at the end, and think visualization took on a form of meditation. 
       Strength, Flexibility, and Visualization are great additions to your Jiu-Jitsu game and daily lifestyle. You don't have to do it all at once, and it doesn't have to be for hours at a time. However, the key to seeing results is consistency. Do it on a daily basis for 5 to 10 minutes and check back in a month to see if you have made any progress. 

Eliot Kelly 

www.edhbjj.com
El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu  

"Positive consistency will make you a Champ! Negative consistency will bring you down. Bring POSITIVE consistency into your life from as many directions as possible."

Fundamental Jiu-Jitsu Lessons from My Cat (Part 1)

I used to think cats were the laziest and most boring pets to own, but recently realized I was just never around long enough to appreciate their unique characteristics. In the last year my wife and I have acquired 2 cats, and it has been enlightening to see them play and roll around with each other. In my opinion, it sometimes looks like a simplified application of no-holds-barred Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Recently I have found myself observing my cats with a keen eye, hoping it would somehow enhance my awareness on the mat. Here are three very dominant traits that I have noticed from my cats, Maru (the runt of a litter born near our apartment), and Tomo (a tomboy adopted from the SPCA).

The first trait would be my cats’ ability to establish a solid guard. While observing my cat in the guard, I noticed how the back of the head was off the ground, the feet were up and positioned between the bodies, and the limbs were used to test the balance and posture of the other cat. Rather than keeping the back flat on the floor, the cat would roll from shoulder to shoulder and post up on an elbow (or whatever joint that could be comparable to an elbow) when there was a small gap between the two. When the cat on top would make a move, it forced the other to reposition in guard using a hip-escape.

The second trait would be the hip-escape. Also known as shrimp-ing, this action is one of the fundamental movements in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  Not only is it an essential movement when trying to move and position your body on the mat, but it’s also an essential action to create or take away space. Whenever it looked as though the cat on top was positioned a little out to the side, the cat in guard would casually push off the ground to distance the hips in order to maintain a position where their bodies were facing one another. Within this display of Jiu-Jitsu movements, I realized flexibility was a key factor allowing for the action.

The third trait would be flexibility within the back and hips. Although I have never seen my cats do the butterfly stretch, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have any problem doing so. Their flexibility allowed them to move freely and maximize the use of their body without strain or discomfort. They have also shown me the ability to curl into the smallest ball or arch backwards into a semi-circle.

Although it may be a little silly to compare cat’s play with Martial Arts, we should realize the movements we are acquiring follow principles that exist in nature. The movements we train our bodies to do instinctively “make sense” in nature and therefore are practical and applicable. We are essentially re-teaching our bodies to do what we have untaught ourselves. What tied all of these traits together were Maru and Tomo’s ability to adjust their speed and balance, maintain an element of surprise, and stay relaxed all while having fun.

Eliot Kelly
www.edhbjj.com