Here are a few things that I would do/change. First of all… that circuit is only 20 minutes and there is too much time to rest in there. That stuff is good but it shouldnt be your toughest workout. Let me suggest a few other options…
Get Ups – Instead of doing 2 rounds of two minutes each, do 3 rounds of 5 minutes each with a 1 minute rest in between. Also, the 20 is too light. I was doing it was a 25, so start with that, or maybe move to a 30. Or maybe do the first round with a 30 and then go to the 25 for the last two. Start with the 30 and feel it out. But do a 5 minute round instead of a 2. Make sure you use good form and keep your arm locked out the whole time. Ask Dan about the form if you have any questions. If you are doing this okay, up the weight. Make sure you protect your shoulder and rotator cuff… ask Dan about this and he will explain. Its very important.
Man Makers with Rack Walk (should always be done together) – Ask Dan about these too. In my experience, this is one of the toughest workouts ever. Its basically a 20 minute workout with no break. You do high pull snatches with the 25 pound bell and then run on a treadmill (or jump rope) as your rest. There is no set rest interval, its a feel thing. So do sets of two of the high pull snatch on each side for as long as you can go, and then hit the treadmill or jump rope until you feel rested. You want your rest to be as short as possible. You want to work up to basically doing high pull snatches at a good pace for 20 minutes. You have to be the judge of the pace on this. Nothing is timed and its all feel, so don’t cheat yourself or be smart and take breaks when you really don’t need them. When you finish the man maker, you should feel like you just got hit by a train. If you don’t, you rested too much. The idea is to work up to nonstop work for 20 minutes.
Once you do the 20 minutes, there is a 3 minute cool down which is an overhead rack walk. Its basically… walking with the bell you just used above your head with your arm locked out. Do your left for 30 seconds, then your right for 30 seconds, then your left for 30 seconds and so foth for 3 minutes total. This should be done at the end of your workout, so get a good sweat going by grappling and hitting mitts before you do this… and then go the fuck home after you stretch out. Very important to stretch your hamstrings and groin after this. Ask Dan about the man maker, overhead rack walk and the stretches to do… he can explain better in person but if you have questions you can ask me. Real tough to describe all the stretches.
The Man Maker while tough isn’t a substitute for grappling and boxing… its additional. Don’t just go in and do a man maker and then go home. Get a good workout in first, and then finish up with this.
Up Downs – You need two or more people to help you with this. You are going to do this for 3 rounds of 5 minutes each. Its an interval routine where you do an Up for 1 minute and then a Down for 1 minute. After 5 minutes you get a 1 minute rest. If you finish a round with an up, you start the next with a down. An Up = Standup while a Down = Grappling. Start with an Up and hit mitts at 100% or spar with someone at like 70%. Then for your grappling, grapple at 100%. Dont let yourself stall though while grappling and dance around looking for a takedown… so start in a clinch or in a position. Here is a sample Up Down…
Rd 1 – Minute 1 – Up – Hit Mitts hard with Pomfret
Rd 1 – Minute 2 – Down – Pummel with D-Lau
Rd 1 – Minute 3 – Up – Box with Eric
Rd 1 – Minute 4 – Down – D-Lau in your guard… try to get up
Rd 1 – Minute 5 – Up – Mitts with Pomfret
1 Minute Rest
Rd 2 – Minute – Down – Alex Dunworth with side control on you
Rd 2 – Minute – Up – Box with Eric
Rd 2 – Minute – Down – D-Lau starts deep on double and you defend
Rd 2 – Minute – Up – Mitts with Pomfret
Rd 2 – Minute – Down – Alex Dunworth starts with back control
1 Minute Rest
Rd 3 – Minute – Up – Non Stop Kicking the Thai Pads with Pomfret
Rd 3 – Minute – Down – Pummel with D-Lau
Rd 3 – Minute – Up – Box with Eric
Rd 3 – Minute – Down – You with Side Control on Alex
Rd 3 – Minute – Up – Non stop power combinations with Pomfret on Mits
When you are doing an Up, its striking. When you are doing a Down its grappling/wrestling. You shouldnt be doing MMA on your down because we are trying to focus on stressing your muscles by squeazing and not having them pop with punches. You want to be able to pop as best you can while doing your up. The key on these is to have fresh people constantly… getting 4 people is best because you have two for up and two for down… so they are constantly fresh and able to push you.
Don’t do all of these at once, hah. Do you have weights at home? If possible, do a get up in the morning at home and do the Up Down at night at RSD. The Man Maker and Overhead Rack Walk is a killer workout on its own… so put it after everything else, but its the most important thing you can do strength and conditioning wise.
The Manmaker and Get Ups are AWESOME for your shoulders. My shoulders used to get tired but once I started doing those it got 100 times better. I was doing them for about a month when we sparred last and I noticed a big difference.
Let me know what you think after you try it out