The Death Of Spartacus : Blood And Sand

By Coach Cj Swaby

Yesterday the sad news surged across the internet and into mainstream media, Andy Whitfield had died. Andy had contracted non Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2010 while filming the hit, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. He appeared in all of the original series, and the network agreed to wait until his health returned to continue the story (filming the prequel in the meantime) but this was not to be. You can find out more about Andy Whitfiled HERE.





I only recently got into the series Spartacus, after Coach Sabina Skala bought me the entire series DVD box set. I was at first reluctant to watch it, as I was a fan of the original Kubriks 1960's film staring Kirk Douglass. To me, Kirk Douglass owned that role, and I thought no other could do the role justice. I was mistaken. Whitfiled brought new life to the role of Spartacus and was different than Douglass' version. In short, Andy Whitfield made you believe HE was Spartacus, a man that was at once noble, yet flawed. Fair, yet vengeful, strong yet compassionate, essentially a diverse human being capable of a broad spectrum of emotions and qualities.


S what's this got to do with CJS Fitness? We're all about physical training and mental preparation. No we are not Gladiators of the arena like in Spartacus, but everyone has their own challenges in life, and for some cancer is one of the ultimate tests they will face - and this strikes a chord with us.

In the coming weeks we will be posting about WHAT is Cancer? WHAT Type of treatment is available? WHICH resources are available to support cancer patients? WHAT can cancer survivors do to regain their health & strength? WHAT carers of Cancer patients can do to help themselves? Our aim is to help slay the Dragon, or at least cut the Dragon down into manageable pieces, so that you can look it square in the eye, knowing you've giving your all to the battle. R.I. P Andy Whitefield, our thoughts go out to you and your family.


Yours in Strength


Coach Cj Swaby

Wild Physique Unleashed: My Journey Into Strength Pt 7

By Coach Cj Swaby




Step 7: Mastering Injury


There is a thin line between mental toughness and stupidity, and at Body Power 2011 I clear crossed the line with wreckless abandonment, destroying any chance I had of competing in The Strength Power Meet 2011, or the British Power Lifting Open. Here's what happened.

At the Body Power Expo, central to our space was a rig supplied by Beaver Fit. Similar to the Beaver Fit Commander FTR (pictured below).



A few of us had come up with the idea to do explosive pull ups form the bottom bar to the top of the wing in one move. After a few attempts, I managed to nail the trajectory, and executed it effortlessly drawing attention from onlookers, who watched a few of us mastering the move in awe.

As the day continued, I demonstrated the War Machine, delivered Kettlebell Workshops with my good friend Matt Whitmore of Fitter London, plus a body weight demo with Legendary Coach Martin Rooney to the thousands in attendance. The show had come to a close and a few of use were shutting down the stall, and were playing about on the rig. Someone asked to see me to the explosive pull up to the top bar as it was quite some angle (the top bar was about 11 - 12ft high and at a 45 degree angle to the lower bar of about 7ft). I set my self into position and exploded up, I felt the tips of my finger grab hold, then all of a sudden I was falling backwards, legs in the air watching the bar slip away into the distance. I was falling, in that split second I realised I had to break fall and tuck my chin in as I was about to hit solid ground.


I slapped the floor on impact to disperse the force. I lay there flat on my back, looking up at the bar bemused. What just happened?! I had been doing this all day.

Mistake Number 1

I did not realise how fatigued I was. I had been training at a sub maximal intensity all day, but did not recognise the impact on my performance.


Mistake Number 2

Partly in disbelief, and mostly being the stubborn guy that I am, I promptly got back up and attempted the explosive pull up again.


This time I came hurtling towards the ground, and executed a breakfall again. On- lookers winced and turned away. My friends encouraged me to quit.


Mistake Number 3

I didn't listen. I didn't listen to my body, or those who had a better vantage position to see the situation differently.

I attempted the explosive pull up again, to the same result. I smashed into the unforgiving hard ground of the expo. Something didn't quite feel right. Legs splayed in the air, laying flat on my back I finally listened to the voice inside my head which told me "You better quit this one Cj before it gets real ugly."



Mistake Number 4

I didn't check myself properly for injuries. I continued packing up the stand at the expo, I even went out for dinner with The Fitter London Crew, Iron Mac, and Jonathan Lewis. Later the following day the extent of my injuries soon became apparent when I could not extend my wrists pain free, hold weighted objects or put pressure through my hands. I was later to discover I had fractured the small bones in both hands.


WHAT Can You Learn From This?

There were a few critical mistakes that I made, as I previously outlined, attempting to execute demanding feats when fatigued, not listening to my body or those around with a better vantage point so that I could see the bigger picture, and not checking my injuries properly after an accident. These are things that if brought to the fore front of our awareness, injury can be easily avoided. Mental and physical fatigue is the domain where injury and "accidents" happen.

A key thing that I failed to realise at the time is the impact that accident would have on my training and ultimately my goal. Remain focused and don't be swayed or distracted from your aim. Something as trivial as the explosive pull up to the top bar (which in the grand scheme of things wasn't that important) ended any chance I had of competing, and became significant for the wrong reasons.



The accident happened in May, and its now September, I've only recently began to train in earnest as was limited in what I could do. In the next entry I will look at HOW I worked around my injuries, WHAT I did to refocus after feeling sorry for myself (briefly)and the importance of getting specialist help when appropriate.




Yours in Strength



Coach Cj Swaby



p.s If you haven't had a chance yet, my homeboy Matt Whitmore over at Fitter London has been documenting his Journey into Strength and unleashing his Wild Physique. Its an inspiring and thought provoking read. Check it out here.

Full Throttle Fitness New Timetable

Coach Cj Swaby








So we've added some new classes to the timetable to give you even more opportunities to come down and get a fantastic workout and have fun. The ultimate Kettlebell Class in London also combines bodyweight exercises and odd objects, sprinkled with a twist of uncertainty as Coach Sabina Skala, and Coach Cj Swaby skillfully craft Full Throttle Fitness.

With Kettlebell Classes in Fulham, and Kettlebell Classes in Clapham you now even have choice of two prime locations. Ok, Ok, so when are they? Simply check below



Full Throttle Fitness Timetable


Tuesday 7:30pm - 9pm Balance Physiotherapy, 113 Gauden Road, Clapham, SW4 6LE

Thursday 8:45pm - 9:30pm, Energie Gym, The Pier Buildings, Carnwarth road, Fulham, SW6 3EF


Saturday 12:15pm - 1:15pm Balance Physiotherapy, 113 Gauden Road, Clapham SW4 6LE



Price: 10.00 GBP pay as you go or

Full Throttle Saturday WOW #1 (after holiday break)

By Coach Sabina Skala

First FULL THROTTLE session after our holiday break had to be "special" :).
This is a very similar session I did with one of our athletes during last week of his pre-MMA fight preparation.

So here is what we did:

2 rounds of 45sec work 15 sec to change the station

Heavy bag slam
Burpee
Partner turtle lift
Swings outside the knees
Frog Hops

Rest 1 min inbetween rounds

Then
2 rounds of of 45sec work 15 sec to change the station
Bearcrawl (with KB's - dont use your legs, drag them as you move forward)
Partner work - Roll and jump over
Partner lift (TGU)
Farmers carry
Renegade Rows

Rest as above

then
1 round of of 45sec work 15 sec to change the station

Partner deadlift
Fireman carry
V- sit up
Plank (with your partner on your back)

Rest 4 mins

then
8 rounds of 20 sec work/10 sec rest
Alternate between

Deck squat to shoot
Frog hop

Job Done!

If you are not sure how Partner turtle lift looks like, here is a good example (this is one of the conditioning session I did with our Fighter Development Program athlete Scott Jansen)

http://www.youtube.com/user/FDPUK#p/a/u/1/1Z2ewE4umcw

Enjoy!

Sabina

CJS Kettlebells Goes LIVE!

By Coach Cj Swaby


CJS Kettlebells,London is finally now live! The online Kettlebell palace will feature exclusive kettlebell exerices video clips, interviews and articles with leading international Kettlebell experts, details of Kettlebell training workshops, Kettlebell classes in London and in the UK. Plus a great selection of Kettlebell sets, books, and training DVDs.

Basically, CJS Kettlebells, will be to Kettlebells what Usain Bolt is to 100m sprinting (when he's not too busy making false starts that is). To kick start the blog the first lady of Kettlebells Svetlana Writtle has graced us with two exclusive kettlebell training clips, that demonstrate the Kettlebell exercises that keep her in fantastic shape.



Simply check out the new website cjskettlebells then click onto the blog to check it out, we've also got a great interview with the legendary Mike Mahler.


Big shout out to Emma Rose Watts of www.Bootcamp Revolution.co.uk who posed for the photoshoot for the new promo poster. In the coming weeks CJS Kettlebells will be featuring Emma and finding out how she incorporates Kettlebell training into her boot camps and what she does to stay in jaw dropping shape.



Yours in Strength

Coach Cj Swaby

CJS Kettlebells UK Launch

By Coach Cj Swaby


Sunday 28th August will see the launch of the brand new website CJS Kettlebells. London' s Kettlbell Mecca. The website will cover the best of the best in Kettlebell training. Whether you want to buy Iron Russian Kettlebells, download some DVD's on Kettlebell Training, book on a CJS Kettlebells Training Workshop, or attend a REPS Kettlebell Instructor Course, buy Steel competition Kettlebells - we've got it covered.

The new CJS Kettlebells website will feature the best of the UK Kettlebell Coaches, from Matt & Keris at Fitter London, Christian Villa & Mark Stroud of Brighton Kettlebells, Rannoch Donald of Simple Strength to the first lady of Russian Kettlebells, Svetlana Writtle - this new CJS Kettlebells website will cover the everything Kettlebell training related, to help add value to your training and improve your quality of health.

To help celebrate the launch, CJS Kettlebells will be giving FREE 90 minute Kettlebell Training seminars every month from 29th September for a limited time only. Details will be available from the 26th August.


Yours in Strength


Coach Cj Swaby

Strength training for Combat Sports - Q&A with Joel Jamieson

By Sabina Skala

Last year I came across a book - "Ultimate MMA Conditioning" by Joel Jamieson. I read it several times and I still keep coming back to it every week. It does sound like a serious book crush, but I consider "Ultimate MMA Conditioning" to be one of the best books on the subject of conditioning for combat sports that is available on the market at the moment. I also spoke to Joel several times and he is definitely a coach I would seek information/ advice from on the subject of conditioning for combat athletes.

For those who are not familiar with Joel's work here is a short info:

Joel Jamieson trained over 30 of the biggest names in MMA, including Rich Franklin, Chris Leben, Spencer Fisher, Tim Boetsch, Demetrius Johnson, Hayato Sakurai, Matt Brown - just to name a few.

He formerly served as the Director of Strength & Conditioning for Pride FC and currently works in a similar capacity for Dream. Prior to his work in MMA and combat sports, he spent time training D-1 football players and worked in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks. He has trained countless teams and athletes from the NFL, MLS, NHL and NBA and Olympic competitors from 5 different sports.

His articles have been published in a variety of online and print magazines (also in UK versions - check out recent issues of Fighting Fit magazine) and journals. Joel is a frequent presenter at local and national training conferences.

Since I have started working with fighters I have been asked numerous questions (by trainers and fighters themselves) about strength training for combat. Everyone who works with me knows my view on the subject. I asked Joel to look at a few questions I came across, so here you can get the answers from one of the best coaches in the industry.

Sabina: There is no doubt that strength training is highly beneficial for combat athletes. The question is - how strong is strong enough? Some trainiers believe that once certain strength standards have been achieved, fighters should only maintain them and spend more time focusing on technique and/or game plan. Others believe that an athlete can never be strong enough. What is your view on it?

Joel: At the highest levels, there is always an inherent tradeoff between strength and power and the ability to maintain it. This is why you’ll never see a world class sprinter capable of running a marathon and vice versa. In combat sports, we’ve all seen examples of this as the strongest, most powerful fighters have often also been the ones with the worst conditioning.

The more muscle tissue an athlete has and the more force they are producing, the more energy is required to sustain it and this means that in combat sports, there definitely needs to be the right balance between strength, power, and endurance. At the end of the day, strength is only as good as a fighter’s ability to use it effectively throughout a fight, so the tradeoff between force production and endurance should always be kept in mind when it comes to training combat sport athletes.

As far as how much strength is enough versus how much is too much, it’s a very individual thing and it really comes down to the physiological capabilities of the athlete. Genetics probably play the biggest role in this regard. Everyone is different and must find the right balance of strength, power, and endurance based on their own limits of performance.


Sabina:Training camps are very popular with fighters. If you only have a chance to spend a few weeks (3-4) training a fighter before the competition, would you spend any time on strength development?

Joel: With only 3-4 weeks before a fight, strength work will be done only a maintenance level. You’re not going to be able to build a significant amount of strength in such a short period of time and the athlete needs to be spending the majority of their time training specifically for the fight. I’ll usually have guys do one strength session per week for 45-60 minutes or so when we’re 3-4 weeks out from a fight. More is not necessary and will likely take away from their more specific training.

Sabina: How many compound lifts would you use in a single strength session, and why?

Joel: It depends on the session, but anywhere from 2-4 compound lifts can be used in a single strength session. I tend to keep things simple from an exercise standpoint as far as general strength is concerned and there are only so many good general compound movements that effectively develop the CNS.

Sabina: Do you tend to work with 1RM or 5RM when training your combat athletes?

Joel: I work with a range of volumes and intensities so I don’t know that I have a tendency towards either one. I use anywhere from 1RM – 6RM for strength/explosive work depending on the situation and the athlete, both ends of the range have their place in the development of strength and power.

Sabina: What is your view on olympic lifts and their derivatives. Do you use them when training fighters?

Joel: I think there are advantages and disadvantages to using the Olympic lifts and if you have an opportunity to work with a fighter for the long-term, then they definitely have their place in the training program. The main disadvantages are that majority of the force generated through hip extension is vertical and this is quite different from the rotational/horizontal nature of a great deal of combat sports skills and also they are technical lifts that take quite a bit of time to learn to do properly.

I think their best application is for the wrestling/grappling components of combat sports where explosive hip extension is used in takedowns and if I’m working with an athlete over an extended period of time, I’ll typically incorporate some Olympic lifting into their program. As a whole, I think the Olympic lifts are good tools when used effectively, I see them simply as one of many different means that can be used to develop explosive power and strength.

Sabina: Thank you Joel and we are looking forward to your upcoming seminars in UK

Joel Jamieson will be visiting UK for a series of seminars/lectures. Check out his website for details
www.8weeksout.com.