Friday, October 25, 2013

My Physical Conditioning At 47

Over the years I've always mixed up the physical conditioning aspect of my fight training. By the time I was 12, I could do push ups on my thumbs and on 2 fingers. I could sit in a split and sqeeze my legs to a standing position. I would go on runs with my big brother (who ran track) so, I got track workouts and hill training. My other brother was into bodybuilding and powerlifting, so I would go to muscle gyms during the 1980s and learn various techniques from the 2 methods. Training in Taekwondo and Boxing gyms, I would learn different methods of fight training to meet the demands of those sports. Cardio was key for both, and lots of functional training with bodyweight was key. I learned about ciruit and interval training. I even did some ballet and step classes and all the machines (universal, nautilis, cybex, stair master, etc.). As I added kickboxing and grappling training, I learned more exercises and impact training methods (bags, padwork, etc.). I would swim in the morning, go to the fight gym in the afternoon, and run in the evening. I've done the kettlebells, olympic lifts, plyo ball, etc. I would train TKD one day and the next box/kickbox. A lot was going on over an almost 25 years of full contact competiton. OK, let's get to the present. What does Rich do nowadays. I still mix it up because I never like set routines. I train Shidokan Karate, Kickboxing (elements of boxing, American kickboxing, and Muay Thai), and Judo (including some training in BJJ and MMA). I do lots of bodyweight exercises, lots of impact training (bag and pads), and lots of stretching. I train 6 days a week and my workout time is 90 minutes to 2 and half hours depending on the day (some days I train twice a day doing mid day karate or kickboxing workout and a judo workout in the evening). I will go through cycles that including weight/kettlebell routines and running routines. I can easily skip rope for 30 min, spar 8 to 10 good rounds (hard ones) kickboxing. I still have good splits. My Chinese split isn't what it used to be (after tearing ligaments in both knees), but it's coming back. I can easily pump out 100 push ups and I can get 30 straight pull ups after a hard workout. I just turned 47 years old this month and I still feel like I'm 27.

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