Creative, intelligent training

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Wed May 19, 2010 7:33 pm

I like Scott Sonnon. I don't buy all his stuff, and I'm not one of his proteges. But he has been generous with me, and I do respect the way he thinks.

I do think his marketing is over the top, but that's because I'm a scientist. Nevertheless, I understand the need to differentiate yourself if you're trying to make a living in this fitness world.

I'm sharing this very short infomercial with you, because it reflects the kinds of creative training I work on, and am inspired by when I study Okinawan karate in its cultural context. If after viewing this material you choose to buy some of his products, well good for Scott. And you most certainly could do a whole lot worse.

I will say that this type of training is EXTREMELY important for our men and women in service who - while in the field - don't have access to fancy equipment. Being in top shape while in combat is important. And it isn't an endpoint; it's a process.

Here's a free plug, Scott. And keep on keeping on.

TACFIT R.O.P.E.

- Bill

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Thu May 20, 2010 1:21 pm

Here are some of the things I like about the exercises here.

In spite of no equipment but a piece of rope and nature, Scott has you doing exercises that are as good as (and in some cases better than) what you can do in a high-priced gym. This reminds me of how I first put muscle mass on after ending my career as a cross country runner. At almost 6 foot, I went from 145 to 175 pounds using nothing more than a loop of rope, a stick, and a door frame. My inspiration? Ads on television for The Bullworker. OK so my thingie didn't have a spring in it, but so what. It worked. (Essentially I created an isometrics program for my body.)

This kind of stupid-simple genius is what Scott has put together. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. If you're going to be in the field (or traveling a lot) and you want to maintain your training and you can't carry dumbbells, well this works. And unlike my Bullworker knock-off, this is actually better training than straight isometrics.
After years of trial-and-error training (not all of which was bad), I've gravitated to spending my most important training time exercising muscle groups together rather than in isolation (as in mindless sets of curls). And why?
- First... if you want to grow, you need to shock the body. And nothing shocks the body better than doing an exercise that uses as many muscles as possible at the same time. You stimulate testosterone and growth hormone more efficiently with this mega-taxing of the system.
- Second... If you just want to look good in your suit, well fine. But if you want to be a real athlete, then you want as much as possible to be learning how to use your body. The concept was once described by Dan Kulund as essential synergy. If you partake of granola and incense, you might call it that ugly "c" word. If you live with both feet on the ground and your head out of the pot smoke, it means training your neuromuscular system (not just your muscles) to maximize output.
- Third... Let's not forget that the cardiorespiratory system is a key target in training. So taxing the whole system rather than one muscle at a time is going to be working the heart and the breathing muscles, as well as bringing your metabolic system through its paces. And as I note from the pattern of Scott's program, he appears to be doing some semblance of interval training, which IMO puts this aerobics schit to shame. This is particularly true for the martial artist who needs to operate in the anaerobic spectrum to generate maximum power.
I see a lot of use of the core in Scott's exercises. Again, this is key if you want to be a good athlete. The core is where the power should start in an athletic technique, and it should radiate from there to the periphery. It's subtle how Scott is achieving that, but it's there. IMO it would take a coach to get it right (it's 50 percent what and 50 percent HOW), but a smart athlete should get it. In other words, posture and technique are key here.

And then when you have good posture and technique in these exercises, you take it straight to whatever event you're training for.
I love the way Scott mixes and matches how the body parts are working with each other. I was absolutely drooling over some of those exercises. I've never seen someone combine so many functional movements in one exercise as Scott has in several shown on film, but there it is. This is good for teaching you how to use your body. And it also fights an insidious problem in your training regimen - boredom. Keep it fun, and you're going to want to come back for more.

All good stuff here. I do love it. And I hope Scott's able to transfer some of these techniques to our men and women out in Iraq and Afghanistan who need this kind of elite training to keep fit and stay alive.

- Bill