In school, we have to get through a series of passages of work, disciplines, subjects, to make sure we have a wide range of knowledge and ability to take into the outside world. Bit by bit, and when kids follow a syllabus, they get where they want to be however tough and sometimes unenjoyable it is along the way.
In mixed martial arts, you see their students learn kicks, punches, chokes, out to escape from seemingly impossible situations until they become excellent righters prepared for any eventuality. It all takes time but is very much worth it, the most dedicated become in the ring fighters that we admire.
At the gym, I see it important to prepare you for any eventuality in terms of daily life, sporting performance, gain excellent balance, gain impressive strength, develop lower limbs that can be strong, jump well, stay on one leg no problem and attain excellent endurance that lets you take on any task or activity you choose.
This is why your programme must always always have some weight training in it, why you must always test your heart and lungs to gain great endurance, why you must develop great balance through a lot of time on one leg and balance pads, why you develop great power through prowlers, sleds and ropes that can’t be replicated on any machine, all of these exercises count much more than you ever thought.
To achieve anything meaningful in life and in particular good health, we need to get good at a number of things, even at some of the things we don’t think we are good at, because a complete programme demands we work on our weak points as well as our obvious strengths.
We may struggle at times but long term we will be much happier we tested ourselves, and came through the other side much better for it.
