Team Alliance is already hard at work preparing for the 2011 season, to start off with the European Open in Lisbon on January 27, and physical conditioning coach Edson Ramalho is there doing his part for the team as well.
“This week we tested everyone, to see how they’re doing, and now it’s all about getting everyone in shape to withstand next season. We started doing a lot of strength work so that everyone will be explosive and durable later,” remarks the coach.
According to Edson, the fighters will already be in good shape in Lisbon, however, they should be at their peak later on in the year, closer to the Worlds.
“For the Euro, the aim is to get everyone recovered. The greater goal is halfway through the year, when the tougher championships come up, like the Worlds. Now we’ll be showing up at about eighty-five or ninety percent physical capacity. They didn’t let up at the end of the year. I asked them to rest a bit to not overtrain, because they’ve been training hard since December. They rested a week, so we’re already going at a strong pace,” says Ramalho, who also elaborates on the way he works.
“I use functional exercises as a mainstay, because I believe that’s the type of training that works best for each specific modality. We replicate in training moves that are very close to real Jiu-Jitsu moves. We work as closely as we can with the movements specific to each sport. I have one peculiarity, though, as I mix a bit of physiology in there too. I work in a bit of weightlifting too, as well as some exercises using a snorkel, among other things,” he says in summary.
Get in on the European Open. Find out how by clicking here. Check out a video of Michael Langhi’s gruelling workout, below.