Vision Quest
By · CommentsI remember seeing Vision Quest for the first time when I was in high school. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s a high school wrestling movie that takes place in Spokane, Washington. It’s Louden Swane’s senior year (only his second year wrestling) and he’s going to drop down a few weight classes to wrestle Brian Shute, the two or three time state champion at 168. Everyone thinks he’s crazy to do this because Shute is a killer.
When I first saw this movie I couldn’t have weighed more than 97 pounds. I know this because I wrestled at 103 lbs. my sophomore year. As soon as I saw this movie my goal was to get up to 168 pounds to be jacked like Shute. Also, because I had a foster brother that was jacked and strong as hell who looked like Shute. I hit that weight a few years after high school while in the Marine Corps. At one point I actually got up to 196 pounds.
My point is I had a goal, something to shoot for that I couldn’t stop thinking about.
Just recently this movie came back up while training at the Gracie Barra Jujitsu Academy where I train at. A few guys had never heard of the movie which blew me away. My friend and training partner Ryan ended up watching it. We ended up throwing some lines around like you always do with good movies and he had a good idea to write a blog about
- vision quest
- making your mark
- doing something that others would think absurd
- looking back and regretting that you didnt put more into something when you had the chance
I didn’t know what the hell a vision quest was so I looked up the definition.
vision quest: an attempt to achieve a vision of a future guardian spirit, traditionally undertaken at puberty by boys of the Plains Indian peoples, typically through fasting or self-torture.
So this didn’t apply at all so I had to come up with my version.
Vision: Having a goal or something driving you that’s so powerful you can’t get it out of your mind.
Quest: How to get to that goal. Your plan is your quest.
Training without a vision quest is like getting in your car and having no idea what’s your destination, driving around the block a few times and ending up right where you started. When it comes to training I think most people are on auto-pilot. I’ve been a victim of this several times myself. know one can tell you what your goals should be. I’m merely suggesting that you should have some. And here is some great guidelines on how to set them up and measure them.
Making your mark: The only thing you have to prove anything to is to yourself. At the end of the day you’re the only one looking at yourself in the mirror.
Doing something absurd: I think people that don’t challenge themselves knock the people that do, not because they usually think it’s absurd, but to justify their own feelings of insignificance. Often times our society likes to label laser focused people as obsessed. What’s the alternative?
Looking back with regret: Who hasn’t experienced that and who won’t experience it again. Just remember, all we have is now. Yesterday is gone forever and tomorrow hasn’t happened and might not. I’ll paraphrase Billy the kid here, cause he said it best. “The day you stop testing yourself is the day you die”.
Einstein had some of the best quotes ever (my opinion of course). One thing he said was “you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, only the most resourceful”. Or something like that. If Einstein would have been a lifter I bet he would’ve developed some great concepts, and been a freak. The good news about training though is that you don’t need to be a genius, only possess great resources. For instance, if a guy has spent 20+ years under the bar getting strong, You can fast track your knowledge by just studying what he’s done.
The other day I did one of Date Tate’s Max Effort (ME) upper body workouts from his Stronger 2.0 ebook. One of the best workouts I ever had and my triceps are smoked. Here’s the workout.
1. ME 2 Board Bench Press: 3X1
2. 2 Board Bench Press: 75% of 1RM from 1. for 2X5
3A. Elite Rings Inverted Row: 4X 6-8 (used a weighted vest)
3B. Lying Triceps Extension from Floor: 4X6 (rest the bar on the floor for a second on every rep).
4. Standing Face Pulls: 3X12-15
If you want to get strong, learn from someone who is, and has been doing it for years. Get this book.
If you want to get motivated, try watching or reading something that provokes you to take action. For me with training it’s anything that gets me fired up (music or movies). And for learning it’s getting outside when the suns out, being around water, and thinking about a concept right before bed so my subconscious mind can deal with it while I’m sleeping.
While I was trying to find the Einstein quote I mentioned above, I came across this Youtube video. Check out the brilliance of this man.
Leg Training 101
By · CommentsHere’s an email I got on this video the other day. First here’s the vid.
Some Of The Best Leg Exercises For Building Mass
Great exercises for overal leg strength man loved the video… BTW do you split legs? anterior and posterior chain? one other thing is what exercises should one follow to hit the hamstrings for strength and how often to avoid overtraining? Thanks for the great post..
I don’t split up legs. In the past I’ve trained quads and hamstrings on different days when I followed more of a body building style. Now I either train with full body workouts or split up upper and lower body. Which one I do is dependent on a few things. How often I train jujitsu, how much time I can commit to training, and what I’m training for (conditioning, strength, or size). If I’m training for conditioning I use full body workouts. If I’m not and I can train at least three times a week, I split up the upper and lower, which I’ve seen far better results with than splitting up a bunch of muscle groups bodybuilding style.
All the hamstring exercises shown in this video can build hamstring strength. Some are more assistance exercises than anything. The hamstrings are predominantly fast twitch muscles, so anything to high in reps won’t really get them stronger, especially when training knee flexion exercises (I see the best results with rep ranges from 4 to 8). With hip extension exercises you can take the reps a little higher and still see strength gains. I generally don’t take these higher than 12.
My leg training is based around the squat and dead lift and all their variations. Assistance exercises are pretty much all the rest shown in the video. I use them to help bring up weaknesses that would affect the squat and dead lift. Here’s a few of my favorites.
- Forward Lunge onto Step: Really hits the glutes hard and inner hamstring and adductor muscles.
- Bulgarian Split Squat: Great quad dominant exercise. Also a good active hip flexor stretch on the back leg if the knee is behind the hip.
- Standing and Seated Good Mornings: Great hamstring exercise that can really bring up the squat.
- Glute Ham Raise (GHR): Trains both hip extension and knee flexion concurrently. Also a closed chain exercise unlike the lying leg curl.
- Backwards Sled Drag: This is the best exercise I’ve found for strengthening the VMO (Vastus Medialis Oblique).
The prowler with a ton of weight on is another favorite of mine for gaining strength/building muscle. And for conditioning if pushed with short rest intervals and/or over a longer distance (120 yard prowler push with the high handles for speed is a killer).
Those are just a few of many that I use. Some of the exercises shown in the video I no longer can do since I don’t have the equipment. I really miss reverse hypers.
That is what I do for myself. Here’s a workout me and my training partner did for legs just the other day.
1. Back Squats: 2 Waves of 5/3/1
2A. GHR: 4 Sets of AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible)
2B. One Legged Calf Raise: 4 Sets of 10-12 (for vanity reasons)
3. Back Extensions: 3 Sets of 10-12 (used a med ball for an external load)
For my athletes, it all depends what they need. For instance, If someone has a lot of structural imbalances in the lower body and can’t squat, I might use a lot of unilateral exercises to correct this coupled with mobility exercises. Lots of which are shown in the video. These are performed with rep ranges ranging from six to as high as twenty. I never train them as max lifts (reps that are between 1 and 5) because form usually suffers and starts to resemble a circus act. Getting anyone to squat and dead lift correctly should be a priority though. If you want strong legs nothing works better.
Overtraining is relevant to so many things such as
- Volume and Intensity: How many sets and reps you take. If you overtrain with volume you feel like you could sleep forever. With intensity you feel like you can’t sleep enough. And intensity isn’t based on how hard you think you trained or how good of a pump you got. It’s determined by your percentages to your 1 repetition maximum.
- Nutrition: Your nutritional needs must match your training. So if you’re training with high volume or high intensity you’ll need to eat more than your regular Joe.
- Sleep quality: 8 quality hours of uninterrupted sleep is what most people need. How good is your sleep quality?
- Genetics: Some people can just tolerate harder and/or more training more often than others. Dr. Peter D’adamo claims this is blood type related. The O blood types can tolerate more stress than the B types. I’ve heard others say it’s neurotransmitter related. Dopamine dominant people can ride the nerve a lot longer and harder than the gaba dominant. Some also relate this to the chinese elements, earth, water, wood, fire, and metal. I’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten older I can’t train as hard and as long as when I was in my early twenties. Taking a ton of glutamine can really help though.
Here’s three signs that you’re over training.
- You lack the desire to train when normally you have it.
- Your appetite is no longer there.
- Your numbers are dropping. The numbers I’m referring to are your reps and poundages. You are measuring these right?
Back To The Basics
By · Comments
If you can’t even do simple arithmetic, then there’s no reason why you should be attempting finite math.
You ain’t Good Will Hunting.
This had everything to do with training. Most people get so caught up in the latest trends that they can’t tell “Real” training from circus training.
I’m no slick multi-million billion gazillion businessman, but from what I’ve learned, business and life are no different. The best of the best have mastered the basics.
The other day while making my weekly trip to the bookstore, I picked up Forrest Griffin’s new book Got Fight? 
If you’re looking for an entertaining, funny, and thought provoking book, I highly recommend picking this up. This guy is a zen master. Check out what he had to say about the basics.
For a couple of years I was working out with a personal trainer, and he had me doing all the hip new exercise regimens, such as core training, kettle bells, and resistance training with rubber bands. Although I got something from each workout, I came to the conclusion that too much of any one gimmick is not good. Most of the time, you’ll benefit a lot more by focusing on the basics. It’s okay to supplement the basics with kettle bells or band training, but you definitely want to develop your base through good old fashioned lifting. It’s the same with fighting. Developing a mean spinning head kick and other flashy moves can certainly add to your fighting prowess, but you probably won’t get anywhere in fighting if that’s all you have in your arsenal. If you were forced to choose between flashy techniques and basic ones, always choose the basic ones. A good right cross will carry you a lot further in the Octagon than a crescent kick, just as a strong understanding of basic positioning will take you a lot further on the ground than a bunch of fancy submissions. Once you develop a strong foundation based on the basics, it’s okay to add some slick moves to your game. Just don’t base your game on those slick Bruce Lee moves.
This is exactly why most people don’t see great progress training at your typical membership gyms. To many choices with a bunch of worthless training equipment. PLUS
- Poor exercise selection. Get off the machines and stop doing dumbbell kickbacks and leg extensions and train the big compound lifts. Squats, chin ups/pull ups, dead lifts, rows, presses, etc.
- Poor technique. No garbage reps just for big numbers. Quality needs to come first. Quantity will be there once you strengthen the right muscles in the right recruitment patterns.
- Not having a plan and measuring it.
- Bad training environment. Train with like minded people that push you.
- Poor lifestyle. Not eating properly, poor sleep quality, negative attitude.
- Not having patience. Don’t train for a month, expect to see super strength gains, then quit cause it didn’t happen. Enjoy the journey.
- Seek out and learn from the best resources. If you don’t know what those are, look at the results they’ve achieved.
That’s just 7 of many.
Very important. Exercises and equipment are tools. You have to know what tool to pull out of your tool box. Hopefully you know what the basics are. I’ve discussed them several times.
Got Questions?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
