Since we’ve spent a year now facing the challenges of training through this Pandemic what a lot of you are telling me is, you’re becoming frustrated and losing focus with training on your own. You’re telling me you are not making any progress and the strides you had gained in overall skill, health and wellness seem to be eluding you now because training at home alone is not working for you. You miss the encouragement found in classes and the people with a like mind helping you achieve your training goals.
however, you are not alone! Therefore, I am pleased to put forth this series which I hope will motivate and help steer your personal training in the right direction. I am going to put forth some significant training tips, specific to training structure and efficiency as you train at home.
as I transitioned from simply conducting live training events into having to train at home myself and still maintain endurance and athleticism and not let skill fade set in. I feel strongly about getting this home-grown training revised and an enhanced version out into the world to share what I’ve learned – especially as it relates to the self-defense techniques themselves. In my own program I have reworked that program to be more dynamic, resulting in gains achieved during these times of lock downs. Since most of you are not going to have a lot of training equipment to work on (a heavy bag, or water bag is suggested but not required) and it can now be done entirely from home. One needs to set aside a room as a training area; I have both a small inside bedroom converted to train in and an area outside weather permitting as well. In order to get the greatest return, you’ll need to set aside a time to train at least 1 hour per day if possible. Your approach should be to make an appointment for yourself to train just like you did when you went to your school or club for classes. This will help you set or reset your emotional attachment to the actual act of training and sticking to the commitment; after all we are worth the investment especially during these unprecedented times. So, in this time we need to get the most time and energy spent to realize the greatest mental health return. Of course, the corner stone remains a holistic approach, with a focus not simply on self-defense or on strength gains and diminished body fat percentage you may have gained during COVID, but rather on all that encompasses complete combatives training mentally, physically and tactically. Then too there is the spiritual component to Wolfes Combatives which helps us to develop lasting energy, rejuvenating sleep, mental clarity, enhanced creativity and reducing our chances of developing cardiovascular disease and/or these strains of COVID-19 all around us today. I think striving to develop and/or maintain strong lean, functional muscles and lower body fat percentage will result, but there is so much more to be gained and that we all need because I honestly don’t see this world-wide situation going away and normalizing or returning to the status quo anytime soon.
You’ll need to create a synergy, not one of balance as many trainers will be telling you to do. This common saying that, for good health, one must lead a balanced life that includes work and recreation. During these times I see it differently. Balance today is a compromise: for one aspect to be enhanced (go up), the other must be taken from (come down). This means a little less sitting on our asses watching NetFlex, eating or drinking too much because that is probably not making you feel good about yourself. You must find scale; Therefore, I do not suggest you find balance. I see you follow a more complementary program and this is what we want to help you build.
It’s a common statement. Yet I honestly believe I don’t have time not to work out (and that’s coming from a guy who is a senior citizen with 4 small children). I find the hour or so I spend training in the morning far offsets the time it consumes. This is what I get from my training at home and I think you should strive for similar returns emotionally and physically with the content of your workout. The first return is the endorphins that enhanced drive and focus that gives me the general feeling of wellbeing. I did mention to a greater level of clarity, sharpness, and creativity (to write blogs) is the result. There is no balance there – simply a purposeful, integrated holistic program (and yes, I include diet here as holistic) that works synergistically with my age and the milage my body has been put through over the last 6 decades and that program you embark on should follow the simple and effective guidelines we set out in this series of blogs. That should be your Wolfes Combatives home workout program.
Now go off if you have not done so before this and setup your training area(s). Start reviewing your Wolfes training DVD’s and/or Wolfes Combatives On-line College. Watch for the next blog as we look at the ‘how to’ design format of your personal home training sessions.