Machete

I've used those for years. Excellent stuff. And his voice and accent motivate me even more, because it's Bas Rutten.

You can do Pistol Squat progressions by a chair, a desk, or a doorknob. Here are some things you can work on that would keep you occupied: One-arm pushup progression. Ab wheel rollouts. L-sit progression. You could also go to the park or something.

Spent a few years without a gym, and I've had to do some workouts to stave off boredom. Some of the more monotonous workouts I've done are bodyweight squats for max reps, pushups for max reps (rest position authorized), and 100 Burpees for time. They're mind-numbingly simple, and the improvements are in the numbers. I also like to perform CF Hero WOD "Murph" (run 1 mile, 100 Pullups - 200 Pushups - 300 Squats partitioned the way you want, then run 1 mile). I've also utilized progressions in gymnastic positions, like the L-sit, the back lever, the front lever, and the planche. That's at least a year's worth of training right there. Maybe try checking out Beast Skills. Good stuff. Recommended reading: "Building The Gymnastic Body" by Christopher Sommer, "The Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness" by Ross Enamait "The Naked Warrior" by Pavel Tsatsouline Also I cannont leave out Hannibal for King.

Keep practicing. Kip a lot; it will work your technique and muscle-up efficiency. If you're doing it for Parkour, I see no reason as to why you wouldn't want to use your whole body for the movement. Once you get the movement down and can perform a good amount on a bad day maybe you can transition to straight-arm bar muscle-ups to push it a bit further.

Here is an article about the core from the NSCA.

I do sit-ups only when I have to. For "fun abdominal exercises" I personally like L-sits, flags, and front fevers. It takes time to learn the progressions, and that's what makes them fun.

There's a good article at Precision Nutrition on Hacking Sleep. I personally hate waking up. It usually takes me 75 minutes to get ready for work, and I don't even shower. I crawl out of my bed into the kitchen, grind coffee as I boild the water while leaning up against the counter, and press my coffee. I turn on all the lights, and by the time I sip I'm awake. I think it's mostly the routine that wakes me.

I usually do the once-a-week 24-hour fast. I can usually power through a long submaximal training session right at the end of my window, then get my post-workout meal as my breakfast (literally). I did complete 30 days of fasting for Ramadan earlier this year though, with a 4-6 hour eating window at night. Yes, I sometimes would feel like I was about to puke (even though I had virtually nothing to throw up) after Muay Thai, but I was still hitting good numbers on my lifts and WODs. I believed what helped a lot were the coffee, BCAAs and Glutamine (abundant in MusclePharm's pre-workout Assault), and hot green tea. Dr. Berardi has a great article about his self-experiment with IF (http://www.precisionnutrition.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Intermittent-Fasting_Precision-Nutrition-2.pdf). Also I'd recommend reading "The Warrior Diet" by Ori Hofmekler. He speaks of starvation putting your body on survival mode where you theoretically perform at your best. Pretty interesting stuff. Stay strong. Respect.

I fasted for Ramadan earlier this year, but I have had some experience with the 24-hour protocol. (The first fast was the worst.) I had a 4-hour window to eat (the sun refused to go down in Alaska), and I would shovel pancakes, milkshakes, and protein powder, trying to meet my daily macros. I was also still training every day, so I made sure to keep hydrated and took BCAAs. Also drank quite a bit of coffee. Far as I observed, my body composition was pretty good.

It's largely food and water manipulation. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone not actually competing in weight divisions, and even then it's not absolutely necessary. Frankie Edgar beat BJ Penn without cutting weight. Also, on punching power I would reccomend two things: punch from the ground (keep your punching leg grounded and dig it into the floor with the toes pointing the direction of power) and use more ass (self explanatory, you just feel it). Yeah, technique is 90% of it, but raw strength does make a difference. If you're competing in a weight division you have to find that weight and composition where you are performing optimally against other people, but if you're not then you can be as big as you want to be. Also, besides the technique and the speed, telegraphing your strikes is a big thing. Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdPP0TmqKiU.

Just saw this. I have participated in 30 organized combat sport bouts, but I have never been in a street fight in my life (as of now, a perfect self-defense situation). I keep out of sight, try not to particularly piss anybody off, but also not appear to be a victim. What I have learned from all my years of martial arts is that fighting is largely unpredictable. I'm not much of a gambler and the probability of that one lucky drunken shot that I may receive in a bar fight over a girl is not worth putting my well-being against. Besides, I'm 130 lbs, the size of a high school girl; I can't really afford to pick fights with people twice my size. Even if I do win, I will probably end up hurt and really tired. Nevertheless, self-defense (I like to call it self-preservation) is an everyday necessity, because this is a cruel and unjust existence. One's most effective tool I believe is situational awareness. When you are aware of your surroundings, when you always have an exit strategy and know the quickest way to get out, and when you have a plan every time you leave your base camp, it increases your chances of getting out of a potential situation. Backup would also be a valuable asset. Keep your friends close, because two pairs of eyes and ears are better than one. (The person could also cover you while you move.) Never go out alone. Another would be physical fitness. As Rippetoe said, "strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general", and I believe that to be true. One of the Krav Maga places I went to put particular emphasis on conditioning in their training. Really, if you're strong, fast, and agile you probably have more of a chance of surviving anything than someone who has done nothing but play video games for the past 10 years. (The maximum effective range of a normal handgun is around 50 meters. It takes 3-5 seconds for someone proficient to line up the sights and acquire a target. If you're fast and lean the chances of you getting shot as you run away are smaller. That is why I think only 1 in 4 people who run away from a handgun get shot.) Finally, diplomacy. Some people are just blessed with the ability to talk themselves out of any situation, some people learned how to do it. I believe this to be a very useful skill, survival situation or not. P.S. I recommend reading "Meditations on Violence" by Rory Miller, and "Sharpening the Warrior's Edge" by Bruce K. Siddle. Good luck, and stay safe. P.P.S. Just read a good point: firearm knowledge would also be useful. I watched this documentary about a group of mountaineers who were kidnapped by terrorists in one of the 'stan countries. They were able to intercept one of their firearms, but I didn't think they knew how to use it (because no, it's not point-shoot). Personally the first time I got my hands on a Kalashnikov rifle I had no idea what the hell it was. Didn't know where the safety was, or how to load and charge the damn thing, so it was pretty much useless in my hands.

Thanks. Machines probably have their use, and I'm positive one can incorporate them into a proper program. However, seeing that most of the gym lore comes from oral tradition, a lot of folks tend to make misguided conclusions, as evident in the "overheard at the gym" thread. Personally, big commercial gyms terrify me because of (1) the people and (2) the machines. I walk into a commercial gym and all I see is this:

Some little brown guy with earbuds on, 130, maybe 135 soaking wet, performing CF WOD "Fran", grunting and dropping the barbell all over the place, and hogging the power rack for all of 6 minutes. After completing the last set of pullups you can hear him singing Alicia Keys' Teenaged Love Affair to himself. ... Wait, I think that was me.

EDIT: Double post.

Slow and steady, that is the way to go. Stay grounded and draw energy from the earth. (An instruction I have used to improve punching power.) (I do however find that self-loathing is my main strategy, so I probably would be of little help in that aspect. Haha)

Thanks. Glad to be here. Started a challenge about a week ago (couldn't wait). Going well so far.

I like the protein intake goal. Not a lot of people pay attention to that.

Outstanding entrance, fellow newcomer. I wish you the best of fortunes on your quest.

Nice. Do you have a plan for your workouts and running? (I hate running.)

So first week done. 4 barbell sessions, 3 locomotion sessions, and 3 martial arts sessions. I'll give it a B overall.

What up?

Pretty much this. Every dude seems to be an expert at gymming, and telling them otherwise would be akin to questioning the size of their penis. Even moreso in a martial arts scenario. No guy ever wants his fighting ability to be put into question, so as a former instructor I just cringe and try not to laugh as tough guys with Tapout shirts (and no drive to actually attend a martial arts class) flop around and slap the punching bags with lousy techniques they "learned in the streets". With females, especially attractive ones, I don't bother. It would probably be like the 6th time they were approached by a guy trying to give them "tips" at the gym that day (when all they were really offering was a different "tip").

A race would be good. Learning how to properly run was pretty entertaining for me. I got myself some minimalist running shoes and a metronome, and worked on decreasing ground contact with a midfoot strike. A heart rate monitor is also useful, if you're training for cardiac output with long, slow, boring FM 21-20-stlye runs; or if you want to run at around your lactate threshold. Believe it or not though, I actually broke the 14-minute mark in the 2-mile when I started strength training.

Ah. I used to be that guy, running 11-minute miles. Hahaha. Have you read FM 7-22? Good stuff. Really underrated. On another note, is it 50 pullups in one session, or 50 pullups straight (which is a bit of a tall order)?

Gentleman. Scholar. Sinner. Skilled lover. Centurion. Gladiator. Night's Watch. Philosopher King. Closet romantic. Man for all seasons. Village Idiot. Chronic underachiever. A man has been called many things in his life, but his present desire is to be but three: Strong, Fast, and Brutal. These are qualities that a man lacks. Although persistence will eventually take one to one's destination, a man believes that a little bit of intensity goes a long way. So the goal is simple for a man's first challenge: QUEST: INTENSITY 1. STRONG: Barbell Training session (A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0) 2. FAST: Bipedal locomotion session (A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0) 3. BRUTAL: Martial Arts Training session (A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0) SIDE QUEST: WISDOM Complete NESTA's MMA Conditioning Certification program and pass the final exam. MOTIVATION Somewhere out there, somebody bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, richer, better-dressed, and prettier than you is training while you are not.