Over the past few weeks I've been posting short but regular 60-sec video blasts to my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts...

​The idea behind this new project is to quickly share some of the stuff we get up to at the dojo, introduce a selection of the core concepts behind our approach to karate and hopefully, provide mobile friendly bite-size inspiration...all within the space of only one minute!

I've had a few requests lately to detail the 500-rep workout I been undertaking lately in my garden dojo. So in the spirit of sharing, I thought I'd write a little about it here!

Although my exercises and routine tend to vary quite considerably throughout the year, this particular workout is generally based around the following framework.

Please note that this is a pretty intense full-body workout and therefore, should NOT be performed multiple times per week. It should be regarded as more of a challenge you can do from time to time, to help break away from your schedule, shock the system and to test your generic fitness/recovery levels.

The workout is split into two parts. The first consists of 200-reps and mixes up some body-weight, heavy kettlebells and bulgarian bag exercises. The second part consists of an upper body compound push/pull routine and totals 300-reps. It combines functional movements with more 'standard' compound exercises, mixing up explosive and 'grinding' actions, powerful exertion with more controlled motions. There are no pure isolation exercises here - the idea is to utilise multiple muscle groups together and develop integrated human mechanics.    

Make sure to perform an adequate warm up to begin with, along with a light cool-down afterwards.

​OK, here we go...     

The first part of early morning training in my dojo is always to run through a full-body joint mobility routine. This is also something that I encourage my students to undertake before each training session. Many traditional karate styles incorporate such activities as standard in the dojo, Goju Ryu and Uechi Ryu being two notable ones, and I think that the benefits of this practice go further than a physical preparation of the body for upcoming activity.

The first occasion where many people talk about their joints is usually when describing some sort of pain or restricted motion. Because of this, it is common for us to isolate and focus singular joints (such as knee or ankle) in our mind without appreciating the fact that all the bones, muscles and connective tissues surrounding a joint and indeed throughout the human body, act together as a fully integrated movement system.            

Over the past few years within the health and fitness world, we have seen a boom in more functional and old-school methods that have in some ways, turned the whole industry on its head.  No longer is it cool to lock yourself into a vertical chest press machine and crank up the pounds, but rather for those who are looking to gain more functional development for a particular sport or skill, then asymmetrical challenges, core blasters and dynamic full-body integration exercises are the order of the day.

As a traditional karate practitioner, seeing things develop in this way puts a huge smile on my face.  What many people would consider as being cutting edge principles today is often nothing more than the re-birth of some of the most effective training tactics that were considered mainstream only a couple of lifetimes ago.  In terms of karate, there are many connections between traditional supplementary training methods (hojo undo) and modern-day functional practices.  Furthermore, in the spirit of constantly evolving the art, linking these to other influences from around the world can yield some fantastic benefits.

Yesterday, I had a great deal of fun (well, my kind of fun) trying out a multiple Tabata style workout with the use of my Bulgarian Bag and a good old-fashioned skipping rope.  Not a difficult or highly complex workout, but it certainly got the heart, lungs and muscles fired up!  Sometimes, simple is best, so I thought I'd share it here :-)