Come See Me At UFC Gym

A couple of weeks ago, I started a new job at the UFC Gym in Mission Valley. After two weeks training at the corporate office and at the Mission Valley location, I felt like it would be fitting to post a blog and share my experience thus far, since it relates to workouts and fitness.

I can't imagine a better week of corporate training than training for a fight gym. It was awesome--full of honing skills, learning new skills and techniques, working out, learning fight techniques and meeting new friends. Since UFC specializes in mixed martial arts, I got to do some jujitsu, some boxing, and some muay thai.

Learning the MMA techniques was the best part of my week, and that carried over into the following week. Last week, I went through the first phase of onboarding at the gym. This entailed going over some of the inner-workings of the gym, becoming familiar with our supplement brand, and taking the classes the gym has to offer. I took as many classes as I could, without my body going into training overload--TRX classes, Daily Ultimate Training, Kickboxing, Matrix, etc.

I mention all of this because the classes we offer are just another way to not only learn fight techniques, but they're a great way to get in shape and some awesome cardio conditioning. For those of you looking to get out of the same tired cardio routine, I'd suggest trying one of our Kickboxing Conditioning classes or a Daily Ultimate Training. Both are sure to get your heart rate up, and I bet you'll have a ton of fun doing some bag work.

Sure, I'm trying to push my gym, but not as some marketing campaign. I'm pushing it because I believe in what the UFC Gym does. Of course, it's a fight gym, but our classes are for everyone, and I'm here to tell you that they'll kick your ass.

We also offer personal training, and we have all of the equipment you'll find at a normal gym--cardio equipment, machines, dumbbells, squat rack, bench, etc. So if you're looking for an extra edge in your training or you want a gym with a little twist, come see me at the UFC Gym.

Variable Resistance Training or "Let Your Chain Hang Low"

I’m always looking for ways to shake up my workout routine. Whether it’s to keep from falling into a workout rut or to give the muscles a little shock for the sake of gains, trying new things in the gym or switching up an old, stale routine is a great idea.

A couple of months ago, I joined a friend in a workout with a personal trainer at Vida in Washington, DC. My friend, who is in amazing shape, recommended a workout with Jack, and I take her recommendations seriously, so she set up a session for the two of us. As a personal trainer myself, I like dropping in on classes and experiencing other trainers’ methods and madness. Often it reminds me to switch up my workouts, and sometimes I get a taste of a new exercise or a new way of doing an old exercise that will shock my body into more gains. My workout with Jack was one such experience.

We did an upper body, chest-focused workout, and as you would expect, bench was our jumping off point. I won’t tediously take you through our entire workout, but I will sum it up in two words: bands and burn. Bands, because Jack employed resistance bands on the bench, which I, even with an adventurous workout spirit, have never tried. And burn, because that’s what I felt.

After my workout with Jack, I looked into training with resistance bands, and started to employ them in my workouts. Before this workout, I had tinkered with variable resistance training with chains. Chains and bands serve to “level-up” an exercise. And I’m here to tell you that if you’ve hit a plateau, or you’re looking to switch things up, or you just want to add difficulty to your workout, then variable resistance training is one way to go.

First, let me explain variable resistance training. With chains or bands, you start with the lightest weight in your movement at the beginning of the concentric phase—that is, with the chain dangling from the bar (or the bands stretched from bar to anchor point), as you lower the weight, in the eccentric phase, the links of the chain rest on the floor (or the band recoils), so that at the start of the concentric phase, more of the weight is resting on the floor (or the band hasn’t been stretched, so no load has been added). As you lift the weight, or move it through the range of the exercise, you move links of the chain from the floor (or stretch the band), adding more and more resistance as you progress through the movement, hence the name variable resistance training. With chains, there is a linear progression of the length of the chain to the load. With bands, there is a bit of a curve in the length-load progression, which means you’re getting a little more resistance from the bands at points in the movement.

Resistance bands also have the added effect of a pull during the eccentric phase—the bands literally pull the weight down. The pulling or recoil effect of the elastic bands, during the eccentric phase, increases muscle activity, which has been reported in several studies. Without diving into the science of loading during the eccentric phase, all this means is that the eccentric phase is enhanced, which will in turn enhance the concentric phase and the lift as a whole.

So what does all of this mean in terms of gains? With both chains and bands, you’re increasing the resistance toward the end of the range of movement, which means you need more force to move the weight. In theory, a higher force productions means more strength gains. More muscle activity, as experienced in the eccentric phase of a banded exercise, means more strength gains, but also an improvement in stability and balance.

I used bands daily in my workouts, as in I did at least one banded exercise a day—bench, squat, shoulder press, deadlift, kettlebell swings, etc—and after about a month and a half of training with resistance bands, my squat shot up about 10 pounds and my bench went up 5 (deadlift stayed the same), and I saw improvements in my clean, especially in the speed with which I moved the bar.

Bottom line is that variable resistance training is a great way to switch up your workout, and squeeze some strength gains out of those bored muscles.