I’ve always been athletic but I kind of grew up as an athlete without a sport and when I started training Muay Thai, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the right fit. Thankfully, I have great trainers and training partners who were able to keep me motivated and helped me develop some decent skills. I put in a lot of hard work, time and mental energy into learning the sport and changing from an athlete to a fighter.

On January 2 I learned that all of the work was going to pay off. On that day, I was notified that I’d have my first amateur fight on January 28th, giving me 4 weeks to prepare. I can honestly say that I have never worked this hard for anything. The combination of a very strict diet to get my weight down, running and 2+ hour training sessions (while still working) have definitely taken their toll but I’m also in the best shape of my life and there is a sense of accomplishment that goes with completing a training camp like this.

It’s strange to think that a person Can work so hard for something in which he isn’t getting paid and there is a risk of injury but it’s one of the most valuable experiences of my life. The focus, work ethic and drive that I developed are things that only this sport could have extracted from me but they translate to all aspects of life. If I gain nothing else out of it, I know what I’m capable of when I put my mind to something and that’s a very valuable lesson.

As for the fight itself, I don’t know much about my opponent which is usually the case at this level. I do know that I’m putting my best foot forward and Saturday night, win or lose, will be a big personal milestone. Will post results.

Go to TheWat.com for more info.

By Jim Rollince of Gym Source, a vendor of home fitness equipment, including bikes, arc trainers, treadmills, ellipticals and more!

For most gym dwellers, it is believed that strength training is the ultimate way to “get in shape.” However, recent studies have show that a decent amount of eccentric exercise may provide serious benefits.

If you aren’t already familiar with eccentric exercises, they consist of lengthening the muscles. Leg extensions are a fine example of this type of exercise. The more popular concentric exercises consist of things like curling, whereas your contracting muscles to lift something.

A study that will appear in the January issue of the journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, there will be significant evidence that supports the theory of eccentric exercise as more beneficial. In this study, twenty women were randomly doled out various exercise groups that performed either concentric or eccentric movements once a week, for eight weeks. Congruently, each exercise group was tasked to perform leg extensions (targeting the quadriceps). The results were quite shocking!

According to the researchers conducting the study, the eccentric group displayed the following:

Increased muscle strength and performance
Decrease insulin resistance
Improved blood lipid profiles

In fact, each category of improvement was significantly higher than that of the concentric group of exercisers. But it didn’t end there, they found that after two months the eccentric group’s resting energy expenditure (calories burned) increased 5 percent – Very similar to what’s normally seen during an immense bout of endurance training.

Not only does this provide beneficial for gym junkies and those looking to stay in shape, but it also gives athletes and intramural players a competitive advantage. Keeping up with seasonal sports like soccer and basketball can be extremely tough during the off-season, and this is a great way to smoothly kick it back into gear.

Accordingly, these doctors and examiners came to the conclusion that entertaining these ‘bouts’ of eccentric exercise each week may certainly gain better results than that of traditional concentric practices.

This is an advanced movement but one of the best core exercises.

The shoulder is a very complicated area consisting of a lot of muscles. Within that one joint you have the 4 rotator cuff muscles and the chest an lats also insert in that area. The large muscle that we generally refer to when discussing the shoulders consists of 3 heads, the frontal, medial and lateral heads. It is important to understand this when working out the shoulders.

The first thing to take into account is that she shoulder joint is a very complex joint which assists in just about every upper body movement. Because of this, it serves many different and sometimes conflicting purposes. For this reason, it’s always important to exercise safely when working on the shoulders.

As I mentioned before, the shoulder joint is the home to the rotator cuff muscles, which rotate the arm internally and externally as well as assist in stabilizing the joint. I like to begin a shoulder workout by working (lightly) on the rotator cuff muscles as a way of reinforcing my shoulders stability for the heavier lifting.

The deltoids consist of 3 heads, the frontal (located on the front of the shoulder), the medial (located on the middle of the shoulder) and the lateral (located on the back of the shoulder) heads. In order to fully develop the shoulder one would need to work all three. Front raises are great for the frontal head. Lateral raises and upright rows are great for the medial head. Rear delt flys and reverse pec dec flys are great for the lateral head. Exercises like shoulder presses are also very effective because they require all three muscles working together as well as assistance from the rotator cuff muscles.

When training the shoulders, it’s important to look at it as a complicated joint which needs it’s parts worked both individually as well as together to get the best results.

Answer: The proper order of exercise, especially when it comes to stretching is one of those topics where you can ask 10 people and get 10 different answers. While I will answer your question, I will also try to answer the larger order of how to combine all of the different training modalities.

Warm up- When we work out, it is always important to warm up. The warm up can be a light jog or performing specific exercises or movments slowly or with little resistence. The idea is to get the body lose and the blood flowing in preparation for the intense exercise. Working out cold can sometimes lead to injury.

Resistence training- Resistence or strength training should be the first thing you do after the warmup if you are planning on it. The energy stores and muscle fiber types needed for resistence training will be the first to go so it’s important that if you are going to strength train that you do it first as you will likely not have as much energy later.

Cardiovascular training- Cardiovascular training relies primiraly on oxygen so it should always be done after your strength training. Some people prefer to do it first and while this is fine, it will take away from the energy needed for the workout.

Flexibility- Flexibility, or stretching should always be saved for the end of the work out unless there is a specific injury or severe tightnedd which needs work on prior to a workout. Stretching prior to a workout can interfere with the neuromuscular system and can cause the muscles to work in a less than efficient manner.

Cooldown- A cooldoen should always be done at the end of a workout. A stretch can be a way of cooling down but if you chose not to stretch, it is important to do something which will serve to cool the body down, rather than to stop

This weeks tip: use an ottoman as a bench and storage. I train a couple and they live in a studio apartment. While they have a pair of bowflex dumbbells, there is not enough space to have a lot of fitness equipment. They came up with a brilliant idea to use a storage ottoman. It serves multiple purposes. In addition to it’s normal function, it is used to store fitness equipment when not in use and can be used as a bench for dumbbell presses, dips and tons of other exercises.