Intro: While the bridge can work the entire posterior chain through a mere static hold, the leverages of the body demand more difficult tactics to work the anterior chain. Otherwise, simply holding downward dog would be sufficient anterior training to guarantee martial strength. One of the best drills for anterior activation is crawling. This movement conditions just about every muscle in the body while developing many athletic skills at once.
Muscles Worked: All of them. All joints of the body are used simultaneously with the core stabilizing throughout. The wrists, forearms, shoulders, back, abs, chest, entire arm, entire leg, hips, and even the feet and ankles all increase in strength and flexibility.
Why Crawl?: Crawling is one of the most fundamental human movements. As a result, all of us are primed to crawl and the crawl constitutes a building block of all other movements. Crawling contralaterally (alternating left leg/right arm and right leg/left arm) improves neural strength and endurance as well as coordination and balance. Myofascial release can occur due to a rebalancing of muscle groups and the reclamation of functional movement patterns. Joint injury becomes less likely due to the unpredictable, repetitive pressures encountered during crawling. This competency at absorbing irregular shock is known as reflexive stability. The lack of an eccentric movement means that crawling will not result in excess soreness and will not interfere with any existing routine. Wrestlers and other specialists in ground game can develop sport specific movement skills with little more than crawling as a strength and endurance base. Indeed, learning to crawl as easily as walking can exponentially increase one's wrestling endurance. Those who find direct core work boring can maintain and increase midsection stability through daily practice of crawling progressions alone. Those who wish to maintain or build upper body muscle tone will find crawling thickens up the arms, shoulders, chest, and back just as well as a daily regimen of basic calisthenics with the added advantages already listed. Finally, crawling is an exercise in humility and is therefore well suited to a 'covered fist' approach to the martial arts. Few would be tempted to brag about how far they crawl per day or how weak they feel when they get done. Consequently, crawling can develop great power without corresponding hubris. The human body, being descendant from quadrupedal relatives, contains many vestigial structural imbalances due to incomplete optimization of the human frame for bipedal motion. Crawling develops and maintains patterns of muscle mass that can prevent structural imbalances and weaknesses caused by bipedal patterns of muscle atrophy.
Progressions: The Soldier Crawl: This initial variant is the first form of locomotion we all learn. It consists of contralaterally (left arm/right leg, right arm/left leg) moving oneself over the ground with opposing elbows and knees.
The Knee Crawl: By extending the contralateral crawl to the hands and knees, the strength demands are increased.
The Bear Crawl: This method consists of crawling contralaterally in the downward dog position on the hands and feet.
The Leopard Crawl: Again, on the hands and feet, this method involves flattening the back and bringing the knees forward between the elbows. The legs are bent and the arms are kept straight.
The Tiger Crawl: Exactly the same as the leopard crawl, except the knees are brought outside the elbows. The legs are bent, the arms are slightly bent.
The Alligator Crawl/Spiderman Crawl: This final progression of crawling consists of remaining in a low plank, or the bottom of a pushup and crawling contralaterally.
In all variations, the greatest benefits are derived from crawling as quietly and quickly as possible for approximately 100 yards, and never to failure.
One modification of the crawl involves crawling isolaterally, or with the same side arm and leg propelling the body. This variant is not recommended due to its inferior coordination, balance, and midsection strengthening benefits. To advance the crawling progressions more beneficially, crawl backwards, sideways, uphill, and downhill.
Likely Results of Crawling:
The results of crawling greatly depend on the physical build of the trainee. Larger trainees will become bear like. Smaller trainees will become cat/monkey like. One's habits of movement will influence which traits one acquires. As such, crawling is in close accord with animal metaphors of martial development.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Bear Style Muscle Building/Maintenance Protocol
For readers interested in building functional muscle without sacrificing flexibility, speed, or strength, the following protocol is an animal style bodyweight workout designed to build maximal muscle with minimal investments of time, skill, or equipment. You will literally only require 45 minutes, a modest floor space, and enough grit to complete the steps as written at least once per week.
Phase 1: Hold a neck bridge for at least 2 minutes, or 15.5 breaths at a rate of 8 seconds per breath. This important beginning step establishes a hormonal environment conducive to rapid muscle gain as a result of time under tension and nearly every muscle group in the body working simultaneously. Read my post on the Matt Furey bridge for form pointers. Roll on your spine afterward to decompress.
Phase 2: Perform 1 set of 10 half divebomber pushups (descend until you are in a low plank, then push back into downward dog for sloooow reps). This prefatigues the shoulders for the rest of the workout.
Phase 3: Perform 2 sets of 5 slow full divebomber pushups.
Phase 4: Hold a 30 second front neck bridge. This will balance neck development and activate the abs.
Phase 5: Hold another neck bridge for at least 1 minute, or 7-8 breaths at a rate of 8 seconds per breath. This phase will ensure an anabolic hormonal environment for quite some time.
Phase 6: Perform 2 final sets of slow divebomber pushups.
Phase 7: Hold another 30 second front neck bridge. This will again balance neck development and ab strength.
Phase 8: Bear crawl or spiderman crawl for app. 50 feet forward, 50 feet backward, and 50 feet forward to finish.
Work up to 3:00 minutes in a back neck bridge, nose to ground, hips high, no hand support (a mighty feat), 10 half divebombers followed immediately by 20 full divebombers without a rest, and 2 minutes in a front neck bridge, all while breathing deeply and moving deliberately.
Finish all extended sets of bridging by rolling on the spine to decompress the discs. Finish this workout (and all workouts) by crawling forward and backward to exhaustion or 15 alternations of left right crawling in either direction using a full range of motion. This practice leaves no stone left unturned and supplies a finishing dose of humility to one's workout.
This protocol, though simple, results in powerful muscle gain as a result of combining optimal hormone balance with targeted upper body exercise. Best of all, it requires no external equipment and can be completed quite quickly when in good shape.
Contraindications: Those with weak necks or lower backs should not attempt to bridge without doctor consultation, nor is this blog condoning your use of the bridge in the absence of appropriate medical evaluation, nor of any movement whatsoever, ever, under any circumstances.
The anabolic state created by this workout can seem to shrink cardiovascular capacity. Eat extra Omega-3 and Omega-9 oils (fish and olive oils) to ameliorate this feeling of high blood pressure and low cardiovascular endurance.
Of all my workout days, I look forward to this one the most for both its muscle building and limbering effects. My biceps are larger than those of any of my training partners, all of whom believe I lift weights. None of them would likely believe this workout, once per week, is the cause of my noticeable arm development. Ironically, the largest total muscle gain from my adoption of this protocol has been in my legs, which have outgrown 3 pairs of jeans, nearly as quickly as my wife can buy replacements. Kicking power and lifting endurance have been correspondingly improved.
Phase 1: Hold a neck bridge for at least 2 minutes, or 15.5 breaths at a rate of 8 seconds per breath. This important beginning step establishes a hormonal environment conducive to rapid muscle gain as a result of time under tension and nearly every muscle group in the body working simultaneously. Read my post on the Matt Furey bridge for form pointers. Roll on your spine afterward to decompress.
Phase 2: Perform 1 set of 10 half divebomber pushups (descend until you are in a low plank, then push back into downward dog for sloooow reps). This prefatigues the shoulders for the rest of the workout.
Phase 3: Perform 2 sets of 5 slow full divebomber pushups.
Phase 4: Hold a 30 second front neck bridge. This will balance neck development and activate the abs.
Phase 5: Hold another neck bridge for at least 1 minute, or 7-8 breaths at a rate of 8 seconds per breath. This phase will ensure an anabolic hormonal environment for quite some time.
Phase 6: Perform 2 final sets of slow divebomber pushups.
Phase 7: Hold another 30 second front neck bridge. This will again balance neck development and ab strength.
Phase 8: Bear crawl or spiderman crawl for app. 50 feet forward, 50 feet backward, and 50 feet forward to finish.
Work up to 3:00 minutes in a back neck bridge, nose to ground, hips high, no hand support (a mighty feat), 10 half divebombers followed immediately by 20 full divebombers without a rest, and 2 minutes in a front neck bridge, all while breathing deeply and moving deliberately.
Finish all extended sets of bridging by rolling on the spine to decompress the discs. Finish this workout (and all workouts) by crawling forward and backward to exhaustion or 15 alternations of left right crawling in either direction using a full range of motion. This practice leaves no stone left unturned and supplies a finishing dose of humility to one's workout.
This protocol, though simple, results in powerful muscle gain as a result of combining optimal hormone balance with targeted upper body exercise. Best of all, it requires no external equipment and can be completed quite quickly when in good shape.
Contraindications: Those with weak necks or lower backs should not attempt to bridge without doctor consultation, nor is this blog condoning your use of the bridge in the absence of appropriate medical evaluation, nor of any movement whatsoever, ever, under any circumstances.
The anabolic state created by this workout can seem to shrink cardiovascular capacity. Eat extra Omega-3 and Omega-9 oils (fish and olive oils) to ameliorate this feeling of high blood pressure and low cardiovascular endurance.
Of all my workout days, I look forward to this one the most for both its muscle building and limbering effects. My biceps are larger than those of any of my training partners, all of whom believe I lift weights. None of them would likely believe this workout, once per week, is the cause of my noticeable arm development. Ironically, the largest total muscle gain from my adoption of this protocol has been in my legs, which have outgrown 3 pairs of jeans, nearly as quickly as my wife can buy replacements. Kicking power and lifting endurance have been correspondingly improved.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Application Versus Understanding: Simplicity Versus Intricacy
In endeavors of importance the ways of application and understanding often stand in opposition.
The way of application favors simplicity, directness, confidence, and efficiency. For example, if one's application is self defense, one's methods must exemplify these values in the form of a small number of effective, simple techniques that can be learned and executed quickly with complete belief in one's mastery. Complexity, formality, humility, and excessive contemplation are all disadvantageous in this view of the 'martial arts' where one's success drives one's methods. Under this view of the 'martial arts' a person might learn only the palm heel strike and aggressiveness to be considered a complete 'martial artist.'
The way of understanding favors comprehensiveness, indirectness, humility, and organic evolution. For example, a tai chi student might be made to hold a stance for 30 minutes to develop deep sensitivity to balance, a runner might lift kettlebells to develop their endurance, or a wrestler might hold a back bridge to build explosiveness and endurance during mat work. These individuals might be easily defeated compared to pragmatic specialists in individual contests, at least initially, but will show their true value over longer periods of attrition. While application allows for the development of fast proficiency, it is a shallow and incomplete approach to the martial way. Some lessons of conflict require a lifetime of mindful self cultivation to fully appreciate, and the way of understanding nurtures one's growing awareness of place with respect to one's own desires, society, and moral development. Finally, the protracted war for individual peace must include humility in the face of one's limitations in order to better see one's strengths in specific contexts. If the way of application is equivalent to drawings in the sand which are quickly washed away, then the way of understanding is equivalent to carvings in stone which persist across generations for all to see.
If one seeks a short, conflicted life, the way of application can be useful. Soldiers, police, bouncers, and any other profession in which physical conflict is a tool will find this view most appropriate, as only this view can guarantee adequate preparation for the rigors of certain combat.
If one seeks a long, stable life, the way of understanding is superior. The warrior who has transcended the need for violence sees only human potential and strives to exemplify it more fully in themselves and others. In this view, a simple palm strike trained 3 times a week will not be sufficient to defeat one's inner war of overcoming the need to see violence done to others. To those with adequate safety and the ability to recluse from the savages of culture, the way of understanding accords most fully with the way of enlightenment and victory over the inner drive for war.
The way of application favors simplicity, directness, confidence, and efficiency. For example, if one's application is self defense, one's methods must exemplify these values in the form of a small number of effective, simple techniques that can be learned and executed quickly with complete belief in one's mastery. Complexity, formality, humility, and excessive contemplation are all disadvantageous in this view of the 'martial arts' where one's success drives one's methods. Under this view of the 'martial arts' a person might learn only the palm heel strike and aggressiveness to be considered a complete 'martial artist.'
The way of understanding favors comprehensiveness, indirectness, humility, and organic evolution. For example, a tai chi student might be made to hold a stance for 30 minutes to develop deep sensitivity to balance, a runner might lift kettlebells to develop their endurance, or a wrestler might hold a back bridge to build explosiveness and endurance during mat work. These individuals might be easily defeated compared to pragmatic specialists in individual contests, at least initially, but will show their true value over longer periods of attrition. While application allows for the development of fast proficiency, it is a shallow and incomplete approach to the martial way. Some lessons of conflict require a lifetime of mindful self cultivation to fully appreciate, and the way of understanding nurtures one's growing awareness of place with respect to one's own desires, society, and moral development. Finally, the protracted war for individual peace must include humility in the face of one's limitations in order to better see one's strengths in specific contexts. If the way of application is equivalent to drawings in the sand which are quickly washed away, then the way of understanding is equivalent to carvings in stone which persist across generations for all to see.
If one seeks a short, conflicted life, the way of application can be useful. Soldiers, police, bouncers, and any other profession in which physical conflict is a tool will find this view most appropriate, as only this view can guarantee adequate preparation for the rigors of certain combat.
If one seeks a long, stable life, the way of understanding is superior. The warrior who has transcended the need for violence sees only human potential and strives to exemplify it more fully in themselves and others. In this view, a simple palm strike trained 3 times a week will not be sufficient to defeat one's inner war of overcoming the need to see violence done to others. To those with adequate safety and the ability to recluse from the savages of culture, the way of understanding accords most fully with the way of enlightenment and victory over the inner drive for war.
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