Sitting is the new smoking my friends – it’s really, really not good for you. So if you’re doing a lot of travelling, otherwise known as sitting on your ass, then you’ve got to offset it with some exercise.
So go to your hotel, check in, and before you go for dinner and before you dive into your emails… GO GET A SWEAT ON!
It doesn’t need to be an epic workout, immortalised in poetry and song…
For efficiency a whole body is usually best. There are many different ways to organise a whole body workout but here’s my usual checklist of what I have to get done…
- Challenge my heart and lungs (aerobic or anaerobic cardio)
- Work my legs (squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc.)
- Push something away from my body (pushups, bench press, military press, etc.)
- Pull something towards my body (pullups, dumbell rows, lat pulldowns, etc)
If you’re interested in program design then please check out the more detailed article I wrote called On Starting a Conditioning Program for BJJ & Submission Grappling.
But if you just want a quick example of such a workout (plus a little bit of behind the scenes footage) then check out the video below for a quick workout I did in a hotel that only had a so-so gym (i.e. no squat rack and no kettlebells heavier than 35 lbs)
Most of the workout was pretty standard, but did I mention that the hotel gym didn’t have a squat rack? Disgraceful!
So instead of squatting with a bunch of weight on my shoulders I dug back into my exercise archives and did squats with only one leg and use only my bodyweight.
These one-legged bodyweight squats are also called ‘pistol squats’. I used to do them pretty regularly, but that was 20 years ago!
Anyhow, they were a little shaky and I had to alternate legs, but I was thrilled that I could still do them. Here’s what they looked like:
Hopefully with more practise my pistols will get more smooth, athletic and graceful.
And maybe with a LOT more practise I’ll be able to pull off this one legged squat sequence here, although I promise I won’t be wearing her outfit!
Long story short: sitting is bad, so if you have to sit then make sure you go and sweat too!
Cheers,
Stephan
P.S. Would you like my checklist of BJJ positions and techniques to make sure you’re not overlooking some aspect of your game?
These checklists are in my book called A Roadmap for BJJ, and you can get your free digital copy instantly by entering your email in the box below.
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