Five Months Without Weights, General

Five Months Without Weights

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Five Months Without Weights, General

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Testosterone Magazine | Issue 153 | Combat Conditioning
Combat Conditioning
Five Months Without Weights
by Mike Mahler
If you’re serious about living the Testosterone lifestyle, then you know you’re going to have to
train for the rest of your life. No excuses. It’s a fact that we’ve all welcomed and accepted. But if
you’re going to be working out your whole life, then you’re going to have to try some new stuff
occasionally. If you don’t, not only will your progress stop, but you’ll soon be bored out of your
skull.
Most of us are willing to try just about any new weight training program that comes down the
pipe. But would you be willing to try something so different that it doesn’t even involve using
weights? One of our loyal readers, Mike Mahler, did just that. And you know what? He got in the
best shape of his life. Believe it? You be the judge.
I’ll be honest with you; I love lifting weights! When I look back at how fast my body changed
from weight training and what it’s done to improve my health, energy, confidence, and overall
outlook on life, it just blows my mind. Bad habits I thought I could never give up quickly fell to
the wayside as I progressed on my journey through what old-timers called
physical culture.
Ever since I was 18 and became serious about lifting weights, I’ve been constantly looking for
ways to make my body more efficient. I wanted to become super strong without getting too
bulky and cumbersome. I saw the value in bodyweight exercises such as dips and chin-ups and
also incorporated power cleans and deadlifts into my routine. However, I never would’ve guessed
that a routine that consisted exclusively of bodyweight-only exercises would be of any value to
me. I mean, come on, push ups are easy, right? Bodyweight squats? No problem! Why waste
time with either when I have access to a weight room?
Well, after I got into martial arts and watched several fighters in no-holds barred events such as
the UFC, Pride, and K-1, I soon realized that the complete fighters and champions had strength,
heart, skill, and lots of muscular endurance. Guys like Frank Shamrock and Royce Gracie blew
me away and revealed a hole in my shield of armor. I realized my strength program was
incomplete and I needed something to enhance my endurance. I began scanning the net for info.
One name kept coming up in my search: Matt Furey.
Furey is a martial arts world champion, the first American to ever win a gold medal competing in
China, and a no-nonsense authority when it comes to disseminating quality information on
grappling. When it comes to whup-ass, Furey has cases of it, and he isn’t afraid to open up a can
in competition. Moreover, Matt has immense knowledge on both mental and physical
conditioning. When Matt released his book on bodyweight conditioning exercises entitled
Combat
Conditioning: Functional Exercises for Fitness & Combat Sports,
I immediately ordered a copy. I
was amazed that one of the world’s toughest men used mostly bodyweight exercises!
I got the book and started on the exercises immediately. Wow, what a variety of bodyweight-
only movements! Some of them looked pretty basic; however, some (such as handstand
pushups) looked nearly impossible! Always ready for a new challenge, I got excited and went to
work.
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Testosterone Magazine | Issue 153 | Combat Conditioning
I started doing what Matt refers to as the "Royal Court," which consists of three exercises: Hindu
pushups, Hindu squats, and the king of all exercises, the back bridge. In the beginning, I just
incorporated the exercises into my weight training routine. However, as I progressed in the Royal
Court I decided to give the weights a break for a while and start doing bodyweight exercises
exclusively.
In the beginning, doing 25 Hindu pushups was a real struggle. However, I quickly improved and
got up to 100 in about a month. Soon after, I got up to 200, then 300. As I progressed, my
confidence went through the roof and I started getting noticeably leaner. In addition, my energy
and overall sense of well-being went up several notches and I felt much more limber and lighter
on my feet. After I did 800 Hindu pushups and 1100 Hindu squats in one workout (no, that’s not
a misprint), I decided to start working on some of the other exercises in the book such as
reverse pushups, wall walking, fingertip pushups, and jumper squats.
All the exercises offered new challenges and once again my muscular endurance and confidence
went through the roof. My body fat went to an all time low of 6%. (I was on a fat loss diet as
well during this time.) I started working with a heavy bag again and was amazed at how much
easier it was to keep going without getting fatigued.
So, what the hell are these exercises and how do you do them? Well, let’s stop messing around
and jump right into the Royal Court and a couple of my other favorite exercises guaranteed to
kick your ass!
The Back Bridge
Tired of that nagging back pain and that stiff, weak neck? Well, this is not only the best exercise
for your neck, it’ll also help keep your back pain-free. Lie on your back and put your hands
beside your head. Push up off your feet and push your chest back at the same time. Rest on your
forehead. Now rock back and forth, decreasing the distance between your legs and head. Keep
your body really tight and flex every muscle from your chest, neck, back, all the way to your legs
and feet.
In the beginning, just work on being comfortable in this position and becoming more flexible.
Once you can touch your nose to the mat, try holding it there for 30 seconds. Once you can do
that, hold it for a minute, then two, then three. Once you can hold it for three, take your hands
away and fold them in front of you across your chest. Work up to three minutes. To make it
more enjoyable, try listening to music while bridging.
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Testosterone Magazine | Issue 153 | Combat Conditioning
Alternatively, you can count to 200 or set a stopwatch for three minutes. Try not to relax any
part of your body while bridging and really focus on keeping your body tight. The longest I’ve
ever held the bridge is fifteen minutes. Man, what a rush! Several
T-Mag
forum members have
started doing this exercise and are raving about how their neck and back pains have vanished.
Join the club and get started on bridging.
The Hindu Squat
I know, I know, most of you out there squat with hundreds of pounds so this exercise needs no
explanation, right? Wrong, this exercise is much different. First stand upright and keep your
hands to your sides. As you’re squatting down, raise your heels off the ground and go down until
your ass touches your calves. From there, explode up and swing your arms forward. Once there,
pull your arms back into your sides as if you were rowing a boat.
Also, make sure you breathe out on the way down and in on the way up. That’s not the way
you’d normally breathe doing squats, but believe it or not, it seems to work great for bodyweight
squats. You’ll find this helps you keep your balance, stay tight, and gets your upper body
involved in the workout. Really focus on breathing deeply and you’ll be surprised when your
chest gets pumped up after a hard set.
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Testosterone Magazine | Issue 153 | Combat Conditioning
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Testosterone Magazine | Issue 153 | Combat Conditioning
Have a short term goal of doing 100 straight reps and a long term goal of doing 500 in one set.
However, in the beginning, just focus on form and getting used to the breathing. Shoot for 25
straight squats with perfect form and breathing and then build it up to 100. Also, don’t do these
in "super slow" mode. Instead, work on doing these as fast as possible without compromising
form. When you can do 500 squats in sixteen minutes, you’ll be in awesome shape and ready for
combat.
The Hindu Push-up
This is a kickass exercise and one of my favorites. In addition to being a great upper body
exercise, it’s great for increasing flexibility in the spine and is a fantastic pick-me-up whenever
you feel lethargic. Get on all fours and press your butt in the air. (Insert your own sex joke
here.) Bend your back as if you were trying to make a triangle. Your head should be aligned with
your back facing towards your feet. Take a deep breath and then sweep down in a circular arc
motion and bend back looking up at the ceiling and breathing out. From there, push back toward
your heels and start over.
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