Day 3 at IHP

Wednesday started early with an observation of Conan Silveira, (the owner of the American Top Team) performing a fight specific workout with his trainer, Seth Jordan from IHP. This was another chance to see the triplexes (combination of 3 exercises) in action, with a strength emphasis. He was doing a heavy exercise, followed by a cable/band exercise then followed with a Stability ball exercise. All of these exercises were specific to the movements performed in MMA.

The first lecture of the day was with Griff Fig, IHP’s most senior trainer. Griff discussed the need for rotation exercises for the improvement of speed. This was illustrated with a video analysis of a top Olympic sprinter. This rotation is a result of core strength from the ground up, so implications in terms of core exercise prescription need to be based around exercises that are performed in a standing position.

We then discussed various warm ups and how to integrate dynamic movements that are specific to the movements performed in the actual working sets. Griff then highlighted how traditional exercises can be paired with functional exercises to provide the performance related gains that every client is looking for.

The afternoon session was a practical with Cesar and this was a chance for us to feel how a biplex (e.g. 2 exercises- one traditional paired with a functional exercise working opposite muscle groups) or a Triplex (e.g. Pushing exercise followed by a pulling and a core exercise) session would be for a client. I really like the triplex as it allows the fitness professional to create a great balance between  upper and lower body work and upper or lower body balance/core work. I’ve found this method of training highly effective with clients who I have used it on in the past, in particular for athletic development.

I then finished off the day with a Legs dominated training session with Cesar, based around the biplex method. I concentrated on a heavy first exercise followed by a functional exercise for the back of the core, as my abs were on fire from Tuesday. Here’s how it looked!

1.       Barbell Squats                                                      (3×12) (Heavy legs)

2.       Reverse Hyperextensions on Stability Ball            (3 x 15) (Functional back)

1.       Dumbell Split Squat                                              (3×10 each leg) (Heavy legs)

2.       Band Swimmers to Bicep Curl                              (3 x 15) (Functional back)

1.       Barbell Deadlift                                                    (3 x 10) (Heavy Legs)

2.       Band Step & Press                                                (3 x 20) (Functional chest and front core)

So this was another fantastic day, and I’m extremely excited about getting back to the UK soon to implement the new methods and principles that have been learned during this course.

Take it easy, and I’ll write again soon!

Andy

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 11:49 pm and is filed under IHP Functional Training Mentorship with JC Santana.