I’ve mentioned death circuits before in at least one other post. 

Basically, what they are is four exercises super setted (some might refer to as a giant set) where you’re alternating a lower with and upper exercise.

They can’t be sissy exercises though, they must be Big Bang lifts, the ones that will give you the biggest return on your investment (this is probably the biggest reason why I get my grapplers conditioned with weights and not from just jumping around on bosu balls and other gay sh**). Get strong and conditioned and kill two birds with one stone, and your opponent I might add.

The other rule is the rest between exercises must be short. I like 60 seconds. A lot of people might think less time would be even better.

Not necessarily.

You would have to you less weight, which wouldn’t necessarily get the heart rate up as high. And trust me, if you’re using “Real Man” exercises, you won’t be asking for less time.

Here’s an example of a death circuit:

  • Back Squats: 4 Sets Of 12 Reps  Rest: 60 secs
  • Close Grip Bench Press: 4 Sets Of 12 Reps  Rest: 60 secs
  • Reverse Dumbbell Lunge Off Podium: 4 Sets Of 12 Reps  Rest: 60 secs
  • 1-Arm Dumbbell Row: 4 Sets Of 12 Reps  Rest: 60 secs
The reps are 12 so you’re under tension time long enough (roughly 45 seconds) so the waste by-products can really accumulate.
 
Sometimes I like to lower the reps down a bit, but then I also lower the rest a bit as well. This is because of what I just mentioned. Less reps equals less time under tension so waste by-products wouldn’t build up quite as fast.
 
Here’s an example:
  • Front Squat: 5 Sets Of 6 Reps  Rest: 30 secs
  • Supinated Chin Ups: 5 Sets Of 6 Reps  Rest: 30 secs
  • Romanian Dead Lifts: 5 Sets Of 6 Reps  Rest: 30 secs
  • Close Grip Incline Barbell Bench Press: 5 Sets Of 6 Reps  Rest: 30 secs
If a fighter or grappler hires me to get them conditioned and I don’t have a lot of time, I need to find out where they are at on a conditioning continuum. So often times, I’ll put them through a death circuit like the ones mentioned.
 

Recently, Cliff hasn’t been able to train with me because of scheduling conflicts. So when we did get a chance to train together again, I tested him out to see where he was with a death circuit and he puked.

You can lose this level of conditioning pretty quickly, but you can also get it back pretty quickly if you know what you’re doing with progressions.
 
Currently, Cliff is doing one of my sprint intervals training the anaerobic lactic capacity system and now he can do a death circuit with absolutely no problems.
 

He has an MMA fight coming up on Dec 13th and I’ll be there and make sure I get some good footage. I’m sure he’s gonna dominate this guy.