I'm an old school bodybuilder at heart. I love the feel of building up my body, the lactic acid burn and the blood pumped into the muscles. However, I stumbled upon MMA style training when I was sensei teaching Jui Jitsu and Karate as well as MMA. These workouts not only burn tons of calories and shed bodyfat, but will also train you in such a way that you'll be able to handle just about any daily task or adventure that comes your way.
If building up your body, increasing raw power and strength is your goal, I always recommend good ol' weight training. I personally like to combine both styles of workouts for my own personal fitness. I have been doing the MMA/crossfit workouts once or twice each week and strength training/bodybuilding type workouts 4 days. Everyone can benefit from these type of workouts. From the athlete looking to improve stamina, power and agility to the non-athlete looking for general fitness to carry out daily tasks such as working in a garden or around the house to hiking. Working with objects such as a sandbag, sledge hammer, mallets and tire etc. are fun as well as challenging.
I have completed the following workout twice this past week. I have also put Katie and John through a similar workout with the exception of jump rope between each exercise and they completed 20 reps of each exercise... each stood strong and completed it like a champ!
Sledge Hammer, Mallet, Tire and Jump Rope Workout.
25 Sledge Hammer to Tire (repeat 25 reps each side)
30 sec Jump rope
30 sec Double Mallet to Tire (like banging on a drum)
30 sec Jump Rope
25 Sledge Hammer to Tire (swing to the side of the tire, 25 reps each side)
30 sec Jump Rope
25 Double Mallet to Tire (Tire standing up and alternating swings like a base drum in a marching band)
30 sec Jump rope
25 Fireman Sledge Hammer to Tire (Tire standing up pushing hammer into tire like breaking down a door)
30 sec Jump Rope
25 Mallet Jab-Cross (while balancing on tire)
30 sec Jump rope
25 Sledge Hammer Halos (Swing sledge hammer around the top of your head. Repeat 25 each direction)
30 sec Jump Rope
25 Sledge Hammer Chops (standing on the tire, swing sledge hammer from over shoulder hitting tire between feet)
I completed 3 rounds in approximately 40 minutes. This workout as witness by both John and Katie was both fun and functional. Both completed two rounds of a similar workout in under 30 minutes! This type of workout is not for the novice! If you would like to see videos of the workout or try one of these workouts, contact me... you will never look at working out as tedious or boring again!!!!!
*This workout can be potentially dangerous if you have not received proper instruction. Contact myself or a CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER for proper instruction and to ensure you are fit enough for the workout.
**Videos/pictures of the workout will be posted on Yahoo Groups on the following link...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/optimumfitness