JC's Journal

[JohnnyCage]

Did some core work today here was what i did

High-Low Woodchoppers 3x8
Low-High Woodchoppers 3x8
Full Contact Twists 3x8
Cable Crunches 3x8
then i did a whole mess of situps on the decline bench

Anyway, I was just wondering, what would be a better routine for improving lifts such as the clean and press, squat and deadlift, 5x5 program, or 3x3 program?

[p.s.]

Did some core work today here was what i did

High-Low Woodchoppers 3x8
Low-High Woodchoppers 3x8
Full Contact Twists 3x8
Cable Crunches 3x8
then i did a whole mess of situps on the decline bench

Anyway, I was just wondering, what would be a better routine for improving lifts such as the clean and press, squat and deadlift, 5x5 program, or 3x3 program?

This is called training abs and this whole core thing is about as funny as "new" techno words get. In all honesty if ya want to improve your squat and deads etc then you need to address the weak points in those lifts, so take the time to see what portion of the lift you're having an issue with and then formulate a plan of attack to get over the sticking point. Oh and by the way squats, deads, cleans etc ARE "core" exercises, and when you stop and think about it if your dead is say 550 and you can't get past that due to sticking at say the knees with the bar the light situps, woodchopping, twists aint gonna help, but heavy good mornings, rack deads will the same goes for squats or cleans ie you have to identify the weak points on a lift and then train that area/portion of the lift heavy and hard.

[JohnnyCage]

I did pretty good today! I was happy to see that I was quicker and hitting harder than Nick. I wish we taped the fight it was fun but only two three minute rounds before I hit him behind the ear real hard and he couldn't keep his balance afterwards. Anyway, the ab exercises was to help get harder abs so if i get hit it would maybe hurt less (but it still hurt like a bitch) and to develop stronger rotational strength to throw more powerful punches since the serratus anterior rotates the body when throwing a cross or hook.

I am not sure if I want to keep boxing though, I am swaying back and forth between that and bodybuilding and theres no way I can do both because using a bodybuilding program will yeild less strength gains than what I am currently doing and might make me slower. I want to look good for summer but I enjoy boxing very much 

[p.s.]

And don't forget that the bigger your pecs are the harder it is to cover up the solar plexus and the bigger the guns the tougher it is to just keep up any type of guard never mind throwing a lot of jabs etc without becoming exhausted.

Personally I'd stick with BBing as it's not as hard on the body and you'll have greater longevity with less injury etc.

[JohnnyCage]

This is true, but I have gained alot of strength on the 3x3 strength program and I did do pretty good fighting yesterday. The good thing about both is they r both very hard and challenging sports and I love challenge.

[JohnnyCage]

Just made a slight modification to my strength workout, instead of the Clean and Press, I will just do the Military Press since it is better for strength, then I will do the Clean on a different day when I do explosive lifts.

[JohnnyCage]

Today I did some bagwork and sparred with my boxing partner Anthony. It was a good fight, but he didn't want to allow for headshots today, and we weren't hitting hard, it was more of a skills session. It was fun anyway, but if we had been hitting hard, it would have been very brutal because he is southpaw and I am currently fighting orthodox style and we kept landing alot of shots on eachther. Tomorrow we will step it up a notch either accepting headshots or increasong the power in our punches.

[p.s.]

Just made a slight modification to my strength workout, instead of the Clean and Press, I will just do the Military Press since it is better for strength, then I will do the Clean on a different day when I do explosive lifts.

If ya do the cleans before deads you'll find that you'll have much greater explosiveness out of the "hole" on the deads.

[JohnnyCage]

Thanks for that tip p.s. I will do them before deads then. Im actually sparring today, so I will do my lifting now, gotta train my legs and back hard. I will be worn out for sparring, but Anthony did work also so we will both be slightly tired. I figure if I fight southpaw today, when he tries to jab at me I can slip in a right shovel hook, then follow up with a quick left.

[JohnnyCage]

We moved it to tomorrow. He stayed home and did his static contraction training. He keeps telling em its better than what I do, but he doesn't realize that he will gain too much mass from that type of training and will only see significant strength gains in the range he trains in. Im not a kinesologist or whatever they are called, but I think developing powerful punches should be trained using full range motions for legs and arms because he is an inside fighter and when he punches he doesnt extend his arms and legs as much as someone like me would and while STC provides better strength yields, it is only in the almost fully contracted position (plus studies show they decrease elasticity of the muscles, and worsen coordination). Am I right in thinking this way, he contradicts everything I tell him although some of his reasoning does make me want to give them a go as I am an outside fighter

[p.s.]

If memory serves I believe that "static contraction training" was at one time called "dynamic tension" and was popularized in the backs of comic books by a fellow named Charles Atlas using the classic skrawny kid turned "he-man" to avenge a wrong done to him by a bully to sell the course.

I get a kick out of these "new" ways to train that you guys stumble across as they are just slightly warmed over and renamed old training systems. Anyway just stick to full range of motion training with moderately heavy weights for 8-12 reps and you'll continue to make strength gains that will transfer to your sport.

[JohnnyCage]

8-12 reps for strength? Dang Ive been lifting 3 reps for 5 sets on mas effort and 5x5 on dynamic effort. For my bench and military press, should I be lifting slowly or explosively for max strength gains?

[p.s.]

8-12 reps for strength? Dang Ive been lifting 3 reps for 5 sets on mas effort and 5x5 on dynamic effort. For my bench and military press, should I be lifting slowly or explosively for max strength gains?

IMO one should lift in a way that is conducive to the type of sport one is training for, but to stay in the 3-5 rep range will cause you to of course gain strength/power however you will also fatigue more quickly. Therefore I feel that if your sport requires that you be able to sustain your strength (fighting rounds as you do) over a period of time then higher reps with minimal rest will help in this area.

Once a month go ahead and do some low rep work on the basics (bench, deads, squats, military press) if you feel you need it (this is more for ego than anything really), but otherwise work in a higher rep range. As far as explosive lifting goes this makes better sense than slow reps as your fighting requires that you be explosive when you throw a punch or a kick.

[JohnnyCage]

That is true. Circuit training is very useful for strength endurance as well as conditioning with high reps. I've stopped doing conditioning for a bit to do more actual bag work and sparring since I feel I am well conditioned, but just want more power behind my punch. Also I found that doing 5 second isometric punches against the wall at half and almost fully extended helps add more speed and snap to my cross and jab. Tomorrow I will do complex training.

[p.s.]

As no two training routines yield the same results for each individual who uses them it's good that you are experimenting with exercises and putting together what works well for you. So many people just get on a generic routine that will give some results but with some effort on their part in experimenting with different routines and sets/reps they could have a truly unique routine that is more closely tailored to them and their needs.

So good work on your part in working towards a routine that addresses what you need to be successfull in your sport.