Hardcore Conditioning.

Alright I am not sure where to put this as it involves a couple subjects so I placed it here.

I leave for BUD/s this fall (YAY FINALLY) and would like to be in greatest shape possible. I would like some input in hardcore conditioning training, strength, endurance, speed.

It will be me and two friends doing this for the first month and than just me for the majority. So partner training advice would be great.

Right now the only ideas I really have is weight training ( Any good high strength training plans would be GREAT) Tabata sprints, tire throws/ 20lb sledge swings, weighted spints (sprinting with harness tied to tire/ anyother heavy object I find)

Would really appreciate any input. Thanks guys and gals.

 

Some ideas on body conditioning:
1) "striking surfaces" (hands etc) I found you get good results by hanging a phone book over a brick wall and striking it at 1/4 power repeatedly. Building up to 1/2 and full power over time. Then using half then book, then 1/3 and so on until its just wall.
2) I had a book called "The Iron Hand of the Dragons Touch" which recommended a method for building a striking board that I had great success with. Get two inch or so think planks (I used oak) an a few inches of rubberised foam. Place the foam in between the boards, then wrap the boars in Hessian sack cloth and you tie it together so it is slightly compressed. Strike it around 25 times on each striking surface and build up from there. The Hessian will cut the skin lightly and cause calluses that will protect the bones while they develop. Di Da Jow helps

An idea for speed:
1)This was described to me as dynamic tension training. Simply take up a short fighting stance and lift the back heel until you feel the "spring" and tension in your calf and up your leg, then lunge, reset, and repeat. Then try this as a pad drill, then sparring. Once this can be done on both legs the body should start to naturally fall into a position of dynamic tension.
2)Practice the drive from the leg and throwing the hip at the same time. This should build both speed and power into the technique.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope it helps.

 

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

 

Strongly suggest this training. If you can develop strong "twisting" power, it will be very useful in your throwing skill development. You will get better result in this then from the bench press because the benefit is "direct" instead of "indirect".

http://johnswang.com/sc20.wmv

 

If you are going for BUDs then I suggest you get your swimming up to top notch. It is crucial to you getting through it. I have several cousins all of who went through the program and graduated down in San Diego. Tough program. Produces tough, intelligent people. Good stuff. I don't think the entire time they were in service they got to see their family much though.

Here are some links that might be of interest:

http://www.military.com/military-fitness/navy-special-operations/top-things-to-know-before-buds

http://www.navyseals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132478

I can remember going to their graduation in Coronado as a kid. Cool life size statue of The Creature from the Black lagoon wearing a webbing belt with a big Ka-Bar knife on it. hahaha... cool stuff as kid.

FWIW - and I'm sure you know... BUD's has sweet **** all to do with martial arts training... it's all based more on mental fortitude... physical endurance and the ability to think and act while under great mental and physical duress - think cold and wet and sandy. But mostly cold and wet. Most martial arts training isn't going to get you anywhere in the area of where you need to be for BUDs. Focus on workouts and training specific to BUD's.

 

Classic stuff. That is brilliance. Not sure it's much help specifically for BUD's but overall I love it. This is text book rotational power. Great use of functional strength.

What film does that clip come from!?

I have to get it. This is the same movement shown in The Method of Chinese Wrestling by Zhongyi Tong.

 

Honestly, if you're going for BUD/S, you can do all the crazy fun conditioning stuff as a supplement but I'd still stick with a lot of the same old basic stuff. There's loads of books out there on what to expect but really this is what you should be looking at:

(1) Bodyweight exercises, and lots of them. Expect to be doing lots of push-ups (regular and dive bomber), pull-ups (all sorts of variations), abdominal exercises (all sorts of variations), and leg exercises (squats and lunges especially). You will be doing a TON of flutter kicks as well.

(2) Swimming. Expect to do a lot of it. Swimming several hundred meters with the combat swimmer stroke ([ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lUHudMN1TU"]US Navy SEALs Combat Swim - YouTube[/ame]), treading water for several minutes, swimming underneath the water for the length of the pool, retrieving objects from the deep end of the pool, all stuff you're going to be doing at BUD/S. You want to be just as comfortable in the pool as you are on the ground.

(3) Running. Expect to do a lot of it, especially in "boots and utes" on the beach. You'll want more staying power than sprints, as you do some long runs.

(4) Rucking. Again, expect to do a lot of it.

I recommend Stew Smith's book "Navy SEAL Fitness".

http://store.stewsmithptclub.com/cogutonasefi1.html

 

Thanks guys, yea I have the SEAL book that was a big help and I have been living in the pool for at least an hour and a half everyday for some months now. At the moment i'm worried about my core the most. Thanks for the links very good stuff.

 

Nice. You could probably do that with a 55 gallon drum with a bunch of sand or gravel thrown in it.

I love old strength training stuff like that. I'm actually building up a lot of hojo undo (supplementary training for karate) equipment this summer to add into my training. I've got the plans made and a hole dug already for an ude kitae (striking post) with tire halves as targets. The next project is a standing makiwara.

 

I got it as soon as it came out. I'm using his plans for the ude kitae but adding on the tire halves separately. It's a fantastic book btw.

 

wow... this looks good!!!

 

It's great stuff. The author is a 7th dan in Goju Ryu and really covers everything well. He describes all the different implements as well as how to make them, and then shows you a variety of exercises to use with it.

The main thing he expresses is that hojo undo can be done with anything, it just takes some creativity and dedication.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTFWl6ejKxE"]Wrestling King - Jiao Wang / Chinese Kung Fu Tv drama MV723c - YouTube[/ame]