Why Should YOU Train Like A Warrior?

Upon hearing the name of my gym, Warrior Fitness Gym, and my 30 year martial arts background, many people become hesitant and ask me, “Do I need to be a martial artist to train with you?  Do I have to be a warrior?”  The answer to the first question is no and the answer to the second question is yes.

You do not have to train martial arts to join my gym, in fact the majority of the clients who train with me at the gym are not, but yes, you DO have to be a warrior!  The definition of warrior that I am using here is –  “One who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause, or conflict.”

Your activity is fitness training.

Your cause is to be the strongest, healthiest, best version of yourself you can possibly be.

Your conflict is fighting against mediocrity, laziness, and the pull of simply going along with the herd.

Good enough is NOT good enough, good is the enemy of GREAT!

If you are not a warrior, don’t worry.  I’ll make you one.

Why should you train this way?

Quite simple.  You are dissatisfied with the status quo.  You want something different, better, more effective, and quite frankly much cooler and more kick ass than traditional boring fitness workouts.  You want to walk tall and stand out from the crowd, not be lost in the masses as another wall flower.  You want to become the most powerful version of yourself possible and you will fight hard to do it.

Warrior training is the essence of fitness.  Remember that sports were created as a way for warriors to practice and hone thier skills in times of peace.  Almost all physical training that has stood the test of time was once warrior training.  In essence, training like this will bring you back to the root of what fitness training really is – training for battle.  Yes, even if you never engage in combat, this type of training will prepare you to face any challenges life may throw at you.

My recommendation?  Train with me.  Train like a warrior.

Jon Shizen

 

Why Eating Bitter is so Sweet

The Chinese martial arts have an expression, chi ku, which means to “eat bitter” or “eating bitterness”.  It is frequently used by the master to express to the students training under him the fact that if they want to become masters of  the art in their own right, they must suffer first.  The training is often very rigorous, both physically and mentally demanding.  It can also be extremely boring and repetitive sometimes as the trainees must perform the same movement patterns and work though the same solo exercises over and over again in order to burn it into their nervous systems so it becomes part of them.  This is the only way to do it.

Certainly this type of training is not for everyone.  Yet for those with the physical and mental fortitude to endure the long years of training and hardship, the harsh realities of becoming great, the rewards are vast.  The students develop formidable body skills and enourmous amounts of mental toughness.  For those that make it, they realize the training was intense, but they made it through.  They are now the masters.

As Jim Rohn famously said – There are only 2 pains in life.  The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.

It’s your choice.  Suffer a little now, endure the training, endure the hardships, endure the life adversity, and then look back knowing that you have walked through it and achieved your goal on the other side.

Or, be afraid of the hardship and pain and decide to back off and stay where you are.  The pain of discipline is avoided, yes, but what you don’t realize is that the pain of regret weighs much, much heavier and is in fact the greater of the 2 pains.

Eat bitter now and be able to endure physical and mental hardships in training.  Endure hardship and succeed.  The rewards are so sweet!

muhammad-ali

 

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit.  Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’
– Muhammad Ali

Top 7 Exercises for Warriors

Here is the list I put together of my Top 7 Exercises for Warrior Training.  Not that these are the ONLY exercises you should do or would ever need but, if I were forced to narrow down my selection to my top 7, these would be my picks.

The great thing about this list is that if you were to just do these 7 exercises combined into a progressive training program, you would get amazing results of strength building, metabolic conditioning, fat loss, and endurance.  The side benefits would also include greater core strength, agility, and coordination.  So go forth and add these to your training program!

 

1. Clubbell Mills / Reverse Mills

2. Jumping

Burpee 4

Any type of jumping is not only excellent conditioning for explosive strength, but also mandatory for a warrior.  You must be able to leap out the way of a sword strike or over an obstacle!  So, whether it’s box jumps, tire jumps, broad jumps, lateral jumps, etc, they are all important and necessary training.

3. Pull-ups

Warriors need pulling strength.  Get on the bar, the rope, the tree branch, or even the monkey bars at the local playground and start pulling!  Change up your grip each set.

4. Push-ups

Most people consider push-ups a basic exercise and only know a handful of variations.  I consider push-ups an amazing developer of whole body strength, coordination, and agility with almost limitless variations – ask my clients! 🙂

5. Tire Flips

Whole body strength and power plus the added satisfaction of flipping a 400 lb tire.  Simply badass!

6. Ground up lift

This can be any lift from the ground up to overhead.  Use a barbell, dumbbells, kettlebell, sandbag, keg, small child, whatever!  Clean and press it.  Snatch it.  Jerk it. Turkish Get Up it!  Just lift it!

7. Sledge hammer swings

 

These are simply awesome for conditioning, developing striking power, and super-transferable nonstop core power.  Plus they are fun as hell and great for stress relief after a bad day!

Bonus exercise – KB Swings

You are your weakest link!  For most people their posterior chain is a weak area on the body.  This exercise will fix it.  Oh yeah, if you still think you need to do more cardio, try banging out a few hundred reps of these bad boys!

 

What exercises would you include as part of your top 7?  Drop a comment below!

Martial Power

 

  • Ready for a 6 week program that will explode your development as martial artist?

  • Ready to take strength and conditioning to a whole new level?

  • Ready to become agile, mobile, and hostile?

  • Ready to blow away all your former training plateaus?

  • Ready to build insane mental toughness and work capacity?

Then the Martial Power Coaching Program is for you!  Spots are limited so ACT now!

Stay The Course

Stay-the-CourseOver the past few early January 2013 evenings I’ve been thinking deeply about my mission in life.  Some of my thoughts formed themselves into the lines below as I sat writing in front of my computer.

My goal here is to reach out to all those people who never quite manage to keep their resolutions and to help them.  They begin an exercise program, a diet, a martial arts class with the best of intentions, but somehow lack the ability to Stay the Course.  This is my advice to them, and to you too.

I haven’t really written any poetry since college when I took a few poetry courses, so bear with me!

 

Stay the Course

The road is hard and fraught with pitfalls,

Stay the course.

Intense effort, concentration, and focus are sometimes required,

Stay the course.

You will fall, get distracted, wander off the path every once in a while,

Stay the course.

The greatest part of it all is the journey, not the destination, revel in it and

Stay the course.

Redouble your efforts, push hard, live like a champion and,

Stay the course.

Do not allow your will, momentum, or motivation to falter,

Stay the course.

Seek guidance from others farther along the path than you.  They will assist in helping you to

Stay the course.

Do the work, reap the rewards.  Consistency is the key,

Stay the course.

Know that difficulties and doubts will arise along the path, keep moving, they will evaporate as you

Stay the course.

Understand the rhythm of your own body – some sessions breaking limits, some days moving lightly,

Stay the course.

Open the body. Breathe deep.  Stretch.  Feel your life force pulsing inside.

Stay the course.

Results come from constant effort, you must

Stay the course.

Nothing comes from quitting.  All that effort is wasted.  All steps in vain.  Therefore always

Stay the course.

 

I don’t think this poem is quite finished yet, there’s still more percolating around in my mind on this subject.  I have a feeling that I will be adding lines to this over the next few weeks as the thoughts crystallize.  But for now, it is an unfinished work in progress that I want to share with you.

Let me know what you think – drop a comment below or hit me up on the Warrior Fitness Facebook page!

Don’t quit.  Keep going!

If you need help, ask.  Whether you are local to Hainesport, NJ and want to train at Warrior Fitness Gym or you are far away and need online coaching.  Ask.  That’s what I’m here for.

 

 

7.5 Steps to NOT Achieving Your Fitness Goals in 2013

How to NOT Meet Your Fitness Goals for 2013….

I hope you all brought your sense of humor with you into the New Year.  Here are my 7.5, obviously tongue in cheek, suggestions for NOT meeting your fitness goals in 2013.  If you read carefully you may find hints as to how to properly go about it… :o)

missed-targetStep 1 – Move from workout program to workout program like a sugar addled child in a candy store.  This will insure you do not do one thing long enough to see an actual result.

Step 2 – Spend inordinate amounts of time boring yourself to death on cardio machines while tranquilizing your mind by watching TV while doing it

Step 3 – Make sure you do not change your diet to match your new found training regimen.  Eat all the carbs and processed foods you like.  Nutrition makes NO difference if you are exercising.

Step 4 – Do it yourself!  With no discipline, accountability, and support structure in place you are guaranteed to fail.

Step 5 – Hire the cheapest trainer you can find cause they have the LEAST amount of experience

Step 6 – Whatever you do, do NOT lift heavy weights!  You might accidentally challenge your body and engender a metabolic response.  Careful!

Step 7 – Do NOT initiate proper warm-up and cool down protocols in your training, they are for sissies!

Step 7.5 – Make sure you go as hard as possible at EVERY session.  Do not give your body a chance to recover.  C’mon, it’s not like growth happens during the recovery process or anything!

Happy New Year from Warrior Fitness!!