Have I missed something?

[David Bolton]

Here are a few things that are getting under my skin.

Wherever I go I here people saying distance running is totally worthless (not talking about this site). Recently I have started doing just about only distance running and have noticed tremendous improvements. I am losing weight easier and have more endurance in boxing training (sparring,bag etc). I was a bit skeptical about doing mostly distance running at first but now I am a believer. People say that distance running makes you slow,lose muscle mass and power, and is not as difficult as HIIT. Look at old time boxers like Livingstone Bramble, Ricardo Lopez, Terry Norris. Jeff Fenech etc. Nigel Benn was running 12-15 miles at his peak for a fight. Was he slow paced,weak and did he have not much muscle at all? There is not anyone around that couldn't run 4 miles and push so hard that they fall in a bucket of sweat afterwards. Distance running is meant to be done fast. Running several miles at a fast clip can turn out to be very challeging. Even more challenging than HIIT.

When people critisize Situps. Why the flying fuck are situps useless. When you do situps maximally contract your abdominals,do them slowly and don't touch your lower back to the floor. Do 100 of these and you will definetly feel it. Police offices,military,boxers,martial artists etc have used Situps for years and yet people still claim that Situps are worthless?

Weights are excellent but I see people completely neglecting calisthentics. Whats the point of having huge deadlift and bench numbers if you cannot pull yourself over a chinup bar 20 times?. Do you compete with a weight set strapped to your back? Pushups,Chinups,Hindu Squats,Situps,leg-raises etc should be inluded in your regime regardless of your goals and ambitions.

Keep in mind I am not talking about this site when I listed the points above. I find this site very respectful and the people here seem to have a lot of knowledge. These are just afew things I wanted to get off my chest. Some of you might flame me to hell for this post. That is okay. I would like to hear everyones opinions on this.

[BayAreaGuy]

I agree with you 100%. Boxers and other athelets run like crazy and none of them have any problems with losing muscle. It's also a myth that you can't get bigger doing bodyweight exercies alone- you can. You build muscle by 'breaking it down' and letting it recover and grow; whatever you do to break down that muslce will work. (unless of course we're talking about really light resistance for a really long period of time)

[JoeU1741]

Have you missed something? Yes you have. The HIIT craze baby!!! It's second only to Tae Bo and training on an exercise ball.

I think people just generally like to side with extreme positions. If you do long distance then you must be a marathon runner. If you do higher intensity stuff, then you must forgo all long distance work. But I've come to believe the truth is always in the middle. A bit of long distance, a bit of high intensity, a bit of calisthetics, a bit of weight training. A nice balanced program.

But I think in general the "experts" can't sell balance, so instead they push for either extreme.

[Tristram Shandy]

Originally Posted by JoeU1741

Have you missed something? Yes you have. The HIIT craze baby!!! It's second only to Tae Bo and training on an exercise ball.

I think people just generally like to side with extreme positions. If you do long distance then you must be a marathon runner. If you do higher intensity stuff, then you must forgo all long distance work. But I've come to believe the truth is always in the middle. A bit of long distance, a bit of high intensity, a bit of calisthetics, a bit of weight training. A nice balanced program.

But I think in general the "experts" can't sell balance, so instead they push for either extreme.

JoeU1741 hit it right on the head: running distance has been around forever and HIIT (in various forms) has been around forever, as well. Right now the "trendy-craze" pendulum has swung to the HIIT side. At the end of this decade you can expect to hear some salesman claiming that he "discovered" the benefits of long-distance running for combat athletes. One other reason I think that HIIT is easier to sell is that it takes less time. No matter how fast you're running 3+ miles is going to take up part of your day.

[Bamaispriceless]

Originally Posted by Pullup

Here are a few things that are getting under my skin.

Wherever I go I here people saying distance running is totally worthless (not talking about this site). Recently I have started doing just about only distance running and have noticed tremendous improvements. I am losing weight easier and have more endurance in boxing training (sparring,bag etc). I was a bit skeptical about doing mostly distance running at first but now I am a believer. People say that distance running makes you slow,lose muscle mass and power, and is not as difficult as HIIT. Look at old time boxers like Livingstone Bramble, Ricardo Lopez, Terry Norris. Jeff Fenech etc. Nigel Benn was running 12-15 miles at his peak for a fight. Was he slow paced,weak and did he have not much muscle at all? There is not anyone around that couldn't run 4 miles and push so hard that they fall in a bucket of sweat afterwards. Distance running is meant to be done fast. Running several miles at a fast clip can turn out to be very challeging. Even more challenging than HIIT.

When people critisize Situps. Why the flying fuck are situps useless. When you do situps maximally contract your abdominals,do them slowly and don't touch your lower back to the floor. Do 100 of these and you will definetly feel it. Police offices,military,boxers,martial artists etc have used Situps for years and yet people still claim that Situps are worthless?

Weights are excellent but I see people completely neglecting calisthentics. Whats the point of having huge deadlift and bench numbers if you cannot pull yourself over a chinup bar 20 times?. Do you compete with a weight set strapped to your back? Pushups,Chinups,Hindu Squats,Situps,leg-raises etc should be inluded in your regime regardless of your goals and ambitions.

Keep in mind I am not talking about this site when I listed the points above. I find this site very respectful and the people here seem to have a lot of knowledge. These are just afew things I wanted to get off my chest. Some of you might flame me to hell for this post. That is okay. I would like to hear everyones opinions on this.

The best athletes will do a combination of everything. LSD, calisthenics, and yes situps all have their place in a workout routine. The focus, however, I believe should be on Sprints, Weights, and harder core exercises (dragon flags, V-Ups, Russian Twists, etc).

Do we compete with a weight strapped to our back? No, but weight training obviously makes us stronger, more explosive, quicker, etc. Do we compete with a chinup bar? No. MMA takes everything, it's one of the few sports in the world that does. Maximal strength, endurance, speed strength, power, technique, and mental toughness. Anyone who focuses solely on 1-2 aspects is going to be at a disadvantage I believe.

[Nutt]

I would say its about efficency. optmising your training to get the best effect on your body in the shortest, most efficent way.

except for the possible enjoyment, why do 100 situps when ( in conjecture, I dont know what the actuall numbers would be) 2 sets of 20 weighted ones may cause better growth and conditioning ? why do 20 bodyweight pullups, when 5 heavily weighted ones would tax your muscles more.

why do 3 sets of 10 squats, when 5 sets of 3 at 90% max will increase your strength more, and allow you to move more weight in less time.

the old methods are good, but newer, scientificly investigated ones, show that potentially similar benfits can be had by training smarter, not nessisaraly harder.

[Brendon Katz]

Originally Posted by Nutt

I would say its about efficency. optmising your training to get the best effect on your body in the shortest, most efficent way.

except for the possible enjoyment, why do 100 situps when ( in conjecture, I dont know what the actuall numbers would be) 2 sets of 20 weighted ones may cause better growth and conditioning ? why do 20 bodyweight pullups, when 5 heavily weighted ones would tax your muscles more.

why do 3 sets of 10 squats, when 5 sets of 3 at 90% max will increase your strength more, and allow you to move more weight in less time.

the old methods are good, but newer, scientificly investigated ones, show that potentially similar benfits can be had by training smarter, not nessisaraly harder.

because endurance is built by high reps and low weight and endurance is important. balance man, balance is the key.

good thread btw.

[thedirtybadger]

distance running is much criticised as a sport-specific cardio training method for mma or wretling, becuase it does not mimic the sort of activity that you will require in a fight, which will usually be made up of short, sharp bursts of activity.

However, distance running is incredibly useful for fat loss and for base training, inital training of the cardiovascular system for increasing fitness. Just don't rely on it as training for an mma bout.

[$ick Money!]

Depending on your goals, different regiments are required. If your goal is purely fat loss, LDR is fine. If you are training for a fight, running at a moderate pace for an hour isn't the best way to go(not that it is completely useless) . HIIT will prepare your heart, lungs and muscles for short bursts where you go all out, like in a fight.

heavy weight, low rep weight training will help with strength, like say when you opt for a "rampage style slam".

high rep calistenics with help with muscle endurance. if you want to continue to make progress, you have to continuoulsy change your routine. doing the same work out every time will lead to plateaus and your speed/strength/endurance gains will come to a screeching halt.
to sum it up, change it up as often as possible. don't get stuck in a rut.

[Biggiebrother]

you need to do BOTH HIIT and some distance running but make sure you aren't running your long runs too slow