http://bodydevelopment.co.uk/
This was to discuss specific training techniques for MMA fighters/wrestlers/martial artists and what methods were indicated for these individuals.
The course exposed me to a lot of new information that I had never come across before, especially in the type of implements that can be used to train these athletes. Within the course we used such things as Indian Clubs (imagine a big heavy rounders bat or skittle), stick fighting, using an implement called a mace which is effectively a heavy concrete football at the end of a pole as well as numerous other things.
It's important with fighters to increase grip strength in tangent with increasing self awareness to use your whole body to strike with your fist or leg. Using certain exercises to improve brain awareness of certain muscles that are sometimes hard to address with bigger movements.There was not a huge emphasis on core conditioning and certainly not laying on the floor and doing crunches, more using exercises that braced the core in a functional standing position such as sledgehammer drills or heavy bag work which transfer to martial arts a lot more.
We got drilled for 2 x 15 minute workouts to show the sort of work capacity that Tom expects of his fighter athletes. One using a combination of body weight exercises, the other using a weight circuit specific to the sport. We also got showed the 'Card workout' where you cycle through a pack of cards rotating exercises and the reps is indicated by the number on whatever card you pull out. We rotated 9 cards and we were in pieces! Tom expects his athletes to complete it in under 18 minutes if they want to be trained by him.
Overall it was a great day and i recommend his training facility and courses to anyone, especially if they work with the type of athletes I mentioned above.
