Greg

5 Nutritional Necessities Needed For Combat Athletes

 Nutrition  Comments Off on 5 Nutritional Necessities Needed For Combat Athletes
Nov 082011
 

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has taken the sporting and fitness world by storm over the last 15 years. Professional athletes from other sports are training in MMA to improve flexibility, power, and mental strength. To complement the hard training needed to compete in MMA or other combat sports like Boxing, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, it is of paramount importance to consume the best nutrition to ensure proper energy and performance levels, if you want to learn more about nutrition you can also go to this blog to find more about this. So what are the elements needed to empower yourself and supercharge your diet?

1. Cleanse – clear out the toxins from your body. From the air we breathe to the unnecessary additives and preservatives in our food, we are unconsciously limiting our athletic potential by carrying a lot of toxic baggage in our bodies. Eating healthy is great, but what good is it if too much junk in your system is limiting how well you absorb the food?

2. Protein – though there are dozens of protein sources – not all have the same biological value. Protein is essentially for maintaining and growing muscles.

3. Vitamins, Minerals, and Anti-Oxidants –  the proper blend of vitamins and minerals aid in processing food, rejuvenating the body, and help to fight off cancer causing free radicals. Like with protein, you want to make sure that you are giving your body only the best.

4. Joint and Relief Support – in combat sports the joints take a lot of abuse. One can be the best conditioned athlete in his or her sport, but if the body’s joints aren’t well lubricated, the fighter maybe be at a mechanical disadvantage. Minimizing inflammation and scar tissue is key for any future in MMA.

5.  Recovery – Hard training, stress from work, school, or family obligations can put one’s central nervous system at a deficit. A concentrated blend of herbs, botanicals, and anti-oxidant properties will help assist in overcoming the energy draining effects of stress.

To learn more about improving athletic performance through nutrition CLICK HERE

How To Improve Reactive Skills

 Core values  Comments Off on How To Improve Reactive Skills
Nov 022011
 

 

In the security profession, the central goal is to prevent a crime or incident from taking place. The onus is on security managers to be pro-active in their protective strategies and tactics. Security professionals have improved their pro-active decision making capabilities in leaps and bounds since 9/11. However, one area that still needs improvement within a security or police department’s role of responsibilities is response. Response time in emergencies is critical. The tactical operator has to identify, assess, decide, and act within seconds. Unfortunately many first responders are handicapped often by their own bad habits or lack of knowledge about improving their own tactical fitness performance.  Here are five elements which influence one’s’ reactive skills; improve on one or all five and you will see better results and a better prepared first responder team:

1. Sleep – we need it to properly function and to stay alert through out the day.

2. Diet – the average American diet is carbohydrate loaded causing spikes in blood sugar, often resulting in over eating and causing a sense of drowsiness. A balanced meal plan will provide the energy you need through out the day.

3. Over caffeinated – I love coffee, but moderation is the key. Like with carbo-rich foods, alertness levels can go up and down sometimes causing us to feel lethargic when we come down off the caffeine high. Imagine if a close protection agent has four more hours to go on a shift, yet is dying for some coffee yet can’t leave his post.

4. Fitness Level – I’m not talking about “beach muscles” but training the body to be primed for any type of hard, fast, and repetitive physical engagement.

5. Supplementation – Separate from eating whole foods, the right supplementation plan can help the body process food more efficiently and keep the mind sharp.

Improve in any of the five areas and you will see results. For those seeking more immediate nutrition and wellness solutions click here.

 

 

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Warrior Nation

 Warriors  Comments Off on Warrior Nation
Oct 122011
 

 

 

 

 

 

Within even the most pacifist  person among us, there is a quest to emulate, praise, or be a warrior. Grit, determination, and command presence are just a few of the traits that make a warrior. Who wouldn’t want to possess such characteristics?
For those that opt not to serve in combat, there are other outlets to bring out your internal warrior. Warrior Dashes, Tough Mudders, and Spartan Races are just a few physically demanding races that are spiking in popularity across the world. Participants get to train and feel like they are warriors of ages past without the combat.

Another popular warrior outlet is MMA- mixed martial arts and combat sports in general. The conditioning of these athletes is extraordinary. Though mental toughness is a requirement for the endurance races mentioned above, a whole different type of mindset is required to be willing to give and receive kick, punches, throws, submissions, locks, and chokes.  Like with the races, MMA is a casual hobby, but for an elite bunch, there are numerous professional circuits – UFC, Strikeforce, and Pride. For the casual participant, the training and conditioning for MMA is quite demanding, just be prepared to enjoy the occasional black eye, puffy lips, and numerous rashes and skin scrapes.

In my line of work, many tactical security professionals commit to acquiring the skills of a warrior, though the chances of an incident are quite low in the continental United States, overseas the chances of engaging in close combat increase. There are many courses offering to train security professionals into becoming modern warriors. Protection work is generally very sedentary and defensive in nature, so buyer beware of tactical shoot ’em up courses unless you are in fact going to work in a dangerous hot zone.

Finally, the largest population of warrior thrill seekers are not athletes; they do not get up at 4:30 am to train, don’t follow diets, and rarely move 10 feet. The group I am referring to are the gamers. The gamers play in a fantasy world where they are the kings of the mountain, elite commandos, spies, and assassins. The gamers identify with warrior-esque characters because it makes them feel good about themselves, offers them the opportunity to encounter and overcome danger in a make believe world.

I’m not passing any judgements but you can figure out how I would prefer to attain warrior status.

 

 

Slam Dunk Quest

 Fitness  Comments Off on Slam Dunk Quest
Oct 042011
 

I am slowly making progress on my goal to grab the rim and eventually slam dunk a basketball. I have been practicing doing explosive snatch pull lifts with 200 pounds for 5 sets of 5. I also have been doing 30 inch box jumps for 10 at 3 sets. Also included are kettlebell one arm snatches with 53 lbs. The kettlebell snatch will help with the extension of my hips and shoulders, key for reaching for something high off the ground.

Zero to Hero

 Core values  Comments Off on Zero to Hero
Oct 032011
 

In many tactical professions-  within military, police, and security organizations – the soldier, officer, or agent is often stationary for many hours on end. Whether it is standing at a guard post or driving or riding in a patrol car, the tactical operator’s muscles are generally cold, (provided the environment isn’t extremely hot) the heart rate is low, and the joints maybe stiff for not being engaged for so many hours. What happens if one needs to engage all of their senses and athleticism within seconds. From standing post or riding patrol for hours now go engage an enemy or chase and apprehend a suspect where your heart rate will spike and you have to call on your slack muscles and stiff joints to get yourself moving. You have to go from Zero to Hero and hope that you have trained your body well enough to sustain combat, police, or protective operational duties.

The value of tactical fitness is realized in these moments when official duties require you to operate with efficiency and supreme confidence. As a tactical operator you have to train your body to always be primed for action, which means less focus on how much you can bench press (maximal strength) and more focus on improving fast twitch muscle fibers and anaerobic strength.

Contact Battle Tested Fitness for more details on how to get your body prepared for battle:

greg@battletestestedfitness.com Tel:650-235-5459

 

Leadership – Step Up or Step Aside

 Core values  Comments Off on Leadership – Step Up or Step Aside
Sep 302011
 

Leadership is a valuable trait to posses. There is no singular leadership style that is better than others, but certain leadership principles may be more appropriate than others given the situation or environment. No matter what one’s leadership style is, leaders are confident and possess a certain command presence that demands respect. A leader can be big, small, tall, short, etc. yet most leaders all possess a physiology where their shoulders are broad and a gaze that is directed forward.

There is an old adage that says that “leaders are born not made”. I disagree. Though not everyone can be a leader in every situation, we are leaders of our own lives and have the opportunity to influence outcomes that directly affect us. To be an effective leader we have to internalize and exhibit many mental traits – determination, honesty, integrity, confidence to name a few. In addition to possessing mental skills, possessing a high degree of fitness and health is also key for developing the leader within each of us.

Can anyone imagine a leader with shoulders internally rotated, a pot belly, and a gaze that is directed downward? No. But is such a person doomed to be a follower and not a leader? Also no. Possessing the physical traits of a leader is accessible to anyone, the hard part is knowing where to begin.

Stay tuned for leadership building fitness plans from Battle Tested Fitness.

 

The Slam Dunk Challenge

 Fitness  Comments Off on The Slam Dunk Challenge
Sep 192011
 

The Mind is our greatest asset and greatest liability. If we will something to happen, more often than not we can find the strength to do something we thought unachievable. Conversely, if we let fear and doubt dominate our mind and thoughts, our actions will mirror our inner beliefs. There are tomes of research and material on this very subject

Sometimes despite the best mental imaging we do, our bodies maybe incapable of performing what we ask of it. So what does one do? You put your mind to it, to create yourself or find a professional to design a training program to get you to your goal.

At 40 years old and at a height of 5’7″, I would like to slam dunk a basketball. As of now my body can only take me to grab the bottom of the netting. So I would need to increase my vertical leap by about 8-10 inches to grab the rim and perhaps five more to really dunk a ball. It might sound crazy but I am intent on at least being able to grab the rim in 6 months time. Is it crazy? Perhaps not.

I know that I will need to develop the power in my legs by incorporating Olympic lifts into my fitness regime – the Clean and Jerk , and the Snatch. I will also work on my ballistic strength by plyometric training – doing repetitive jumps at various heights while minimizing the time my feet touch the ground.

I will post updates as to my progress.

Stay Tuned…

Save Your Life with A Strength Endurance Work Out

 Fitness  Comments Off on Save Your Life with A Strength Endurance Work Out
Sep 092011
 

Strength endurance is a critical element of our fitness capabilities. Developing strength endurance does not occur overnight but after several weeks or months of training. At the elite level of sports and tactical performance, supreme strength endurance is the result of years of training. We see examples of strength endurance when a baseball pitcher throws a fast ball at the same velocity in the 8th or 9th innings as he did in the 1st. The best boxers, MMA fighters, and other combat athletes demonstrate great strength endurance when their punches or kicks are just as hard in the later rounds as in the first.

In the tactical community, infantrymen are required to carry heavy loads over long periods of time, firefighters must be prepared to carry people, hoses, and heavy equipment repeatedly when fighting a fire for several hours at a time, and SWAT officers must possess the strength reserves to conduct a hostage rescue after stand-offs that often last hours.

For the lay person, imagine if you got separated from your young child in a busy store in the midst of a rush of holiday shoppers. You see your child briefly 20 feet away, fall to the ground amongst the chaos, you are surrounded by a throng of dozens of people intent on rushing to the store to get the best items on sale. Adrenaline will only take you so far to push people out of your way, get to your child, lift him or her, and then fight the masses as you make your exit. This scenario is quite common at music and sporting events too.

Here is a sample work out for improving strength endurance and remember to always warm up first:

1. Clean and Press from the floor a weight 50% of your maximum overhead for 30 seconds (Rest 45 sec)

2. Kettlebell Swings for 30 seconds (Rest 45 sec)

3. Back Squat a weight 50% of maximum for 30 seconds (Rest 45 sec)

4. Pull a weighted sled of your bodyweight 40 yards or Deadlift your bodyweight for 30 seconds (Rest 45 sec)

5. Farmer’s Carry of heavy (relative to you) sandbags, dumbbells, or kettlebells 50 yards. (Rest 2-3 minutes then repeat  the whole circuit)

If you can do multiple circuits of without being too taxed, then reduce the rest period to 40 and then 30 seconds. The next progression would be to increase the weight. The workout is designed to improve your muscle and anaerobic recovery which will result in greater strength over a longer period of time. The order of the lifts can also be changed to add variety.

This workout can be done two-three times per week for a period of four to six weeks.

 

 

 

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