Tag Archives: workout

Psyathlon Workout

Posted on May 30, 2014 | 2 comments
This is what my t-shirt looked like after martial arts practice on Tuesday.

This is what my t-shirt looked like after martial arts practice on Tuesday.  What does this have to do with the “psyathlon” workout?  Absolutely nothing.  I just couldn’t think of anything better.

I usually limit my workouts to one hour, but yesterday I felt like blowing it out a little.  I call this 90 minute workout a “Psyathlon” because it’s not a real triathlon (it’s too short and you don’t have to get wet, except from sweat of course) but it is at least psychologically similar to a real triathlon.

Psyathlon Workout

Full warm up from head to toe and then:

(1) 30 minute calisthenics “swim”: 30 sec/10 sec HIIT/Tabata of Prison Push-ups,  Swimmers (like a Superman but keep arms and legs moving like a swimmer), Flutter Kicks, Elbow Planks.
(2) 30 minute bike ride: Cover as much distance as you can in 30 minutes.
3) 30 minute run: Cover as much distance as you can in 30 minutes.

Enjoy, and let me know how it goes.

2 Comments

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , , ,

Introducing PTDICE — well, almost

Posted on March 3, 2014 | Leave a comment

PTDICELOGOI got so much traffic whenever I blogged about my homemade workout dice that I’ve decided to pursue marketing them.  As of right now we are still working with manufacturers to get the best pricing and service, formatting packing and instructions, etc. but we hope to be on the market soon.

You can check out the new PTDICE (c) website here.

More to come…

Leave a comment

Posted in Martial arts, Writing

Tagged , ,

Workout Routine: Self Destruct Sequence

Posted on November 18, 2013 | 4 comments

Here’s a little slice of hell that I’ve started trying to get through that I call “Self Destruct Sequence.”  So far I’ve only made it through at half of the listed reps (to be fair though, I’ve been doing it with a weighted vest, so there’s that).

This workout appears in my Top 10 calisthenics ebook — click here to download!

By “get through it” I mean completing all of the exercises without taking any rests longer than ten seconds.  I’m sure that if I took plenty of breaks and stretched it out to an hour I could go and do it right now — but my goal is to get through this thing in less than 40 minutes.

Give it a shot.  Let me know how it goes…

  1. Zombie Squats (50)
  2. Pushups, diamond (25)
  3. Jump Squats (100)
  4. Bodybuilders (25)
  5. Pikes (25)
  6. Jump Squats, split (50)
  7. Pushups, barrel roll (25)
  8. Bicycles (50 each side)
  9. Burpees (25)
  10. Twisters (25 each side)
  11. Wall Touches (100)
  12. Pushups, hopping/clapping (25)

4 Comments

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , ,

10 Min. Solo Ground-fighting Conditioner #2

Posted on July 30, 2013 | 1 comment

Awhile back I put up a 10 min. solo ground-fighting conditioning workout to help you stay in shape between sessions with a live partner.  That seemed pretty popular.  So here’s another.

  1. Mount your heavybag.  Strike it 10 times as hard as you can.
  2. Drop, lock, and roll so that bag is ontop of you.  Knee boost the bag as hard as you can.
  3. Mount the bag.  Strike it 10 times as hard as you can.
  4. Drop, lock, and roll so that bag is ontop.  Reverse/roll the bag to mount.
  5. Repeat.

Complete as many rounds as you can in 10 minutes.

1 Comment

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , , ,

10 min. Solo Ground-fighting Conditioner

Posted on June 17, 2013 | 2 comments

Here’s a short conditioning workout you can use to help keep your body in the game between live sessions with a partner.  It can also be used as a warm-up before you roll.  All you need is a heavy bag and a timer.

First warm-up fully for ten minutes.  Place the heavy bag in the middle of your work-out space.  Set a timer to beep every 2 minutes (no breaks).  There are 5 rounds to this little workout.

Round 1: Place forearms on heavy bag and toes on floor with no other points of contact with anything.  Keeping forearms on the bag, circle the bag using only legs and feet,like the hands of a clock, one full revolution.  Reverse and repeat until the bell rings.
Round 2: Mount the bag.  Strike the bag 10 times AHAYC (elbows, punches, hammerfists).  Body lock the bag and barrel-roll once.  Mount and repeat until the bell rings.
Round 3: Lay on your back with the bag on top of you.  Lower end should be mid-thigh, upper end near top of your head.  Push up the bag with one hand and elbow/punch/hammerfist it five times with the other.  Switch hands and repeat until the bell rings.
Round 4: Side Mount the bag.  Scissor your legs in each direction 3 times.  Scramble over the bag to the other side using technique used in Round 1 and repeat.
Round 5: Lay on your back with the bag perpendicularly ontop of your body.  Roll it up and down across your torso, pushing and pulling it like a rolling pin to strengthen your ribs.  If you are strong and durable enough, push it up and let it drop.

2 Comments

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , , ,

Random Workout Generator

Posted on June 10, 2013 | 3 comments
image

1.5″ wooden blocks made into dice to create random workouts

Random workouts are a fun way to shake things up.

They’re a particularly cool idea for martial artists.   If you want to be ready for anything real life throws at you, try throwing unpredictable stuff at yourself in the gym.

I have two dice — one for Skills, the other for Fitness.  I roll both dice, warmup for ten minutes, then practice whatever the Skills dice says, followed by whatever the Fitness dice says.

My Skills dice has Heavybag, Knife, Cane, Kicks, Shadowboxing, and Wrestling on it, while my Fitness dice has Constitutional (twice), Hiking, 10-Min Max Output, Pyramid, and Sprints on it.

You can get wooden blocks at a craft store, or you could steal a set of dice out of that old Milton Bradley game in the back of the closet and put stickers over the dots.  Hobby shops specializing in games used to sell blank dice, but I haven’t been in one in awhile so I’m not sure they still do.  If you can’t find a way to make dice do something else.  Doesn’t have to be dice…you could just as easily put scraps of paper in a fishbowl and make a workout raffle, or write on ping-pong balls, put them in a cage, and play workout Bingo.

How you do it doesn’t matter. The point is that introducing some randomness into your workouts is a great thing.

3 Comments

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , , ,

What Cabal Fang Looks Like

Posted on May 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

“What exactly do you guys do out there at the park?” is a question I get asked a fair amount when I tell folks about the martial arts club.

So I shot a video.  This is us throwing an intro session for a few people trying out Cabal Fang for the first time.

Leave a comment

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , , ,

The “666” No-gear Workout

Posted on November 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Run (6) twenty-five yard dashes, do (60) Prisoner Squats, and do (6) Jackknifes.  That’s the “Six/Sixty/Six.”  Repeat six times.  If you get it done in twenty minutes or less you may not be the beast but you are definitely a beast (it took me 24:48).

Leave a comment

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , , ,

20 min. Half-Pyramid Workout

Posted on November 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

Do one Prisoner Squat, one Wall Touch each hand, one Jack-knife, and one Steam Engine.  Then, 2 of each, then 3 of each, then 4, etc. up to 13.  That’s 91 Prisoner Squats, 182 Wall Touches, 91 Jackknifes, 91 Steam Engines in 20 minutes.

Leave a comment

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , , ,

20 min. Core Workout 11/20/12

Posted on November 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

Sprint (5 meters out and back); Walking Plank (left knee to chest, then right); Jump Squat; Steam Engine. 1 of each, 2 of each, etc. up to 8 and then back down to 1. Total: 20 mins, 64 of each exercise.

Leave a comment

Posted in Martial arts

Tagged , ,