Jay was looking for a way to get more active, to get in some conditioning. Jay hates boring cardio and, being an ex football player, he likes to hit things. The 690 Gym’s Mittcons program was right up his alley.

Jay enters the program at the Prospect level, but if he keeps up with it, there’s no doubt he’ll be a champ and experience a good deal of positive lifestyle change.

For myself, it’s the first time I’ve caught a southpaw. Top that off with the fact that Jay hits HARD and we end up with quite a training session for myself.

While on holiday I was looking for a short, intense training session that was also a lot of fun. After posting the Clubbell and Gymnastic Ring Cycle video, a few people inquired about variations on some of the movements.

Enter the Clubbell Time Squat Complex.

Perform each movement for 20 seconds, back to back; then rest for 20 seconds.  Rinse and repeat for 6 rounds, a total of 12 minutes.  Mirror asymmetrical movements each round.

Clubbells and Gymnastic Rings.

Having just come off my Rings 1 3 month cycle, I was looking to get back into some Clubbell training.  However, I’ve grown to love the Rings so much that I thought it would be twice as much fun to combine both the Clubbells and the Rings into a cycle.

Also decided to use one of my favorite protocols:  density.  In this case, we’re looking to perform more work in the same amount of time as we progress through our program.

As many rounds as possible in 25 minutes of: Ring Pull Complex x3, Ring Push Complex x3, CB Hands of Time Squat x5, CB Cossack Row x5, CB Fireball x8, CB Eagle Press x8.

Prep with joint mobility, compensate with asana. Walk away worked but more energized than when you walked on.

Rings, Clubbells, Density, Compound Movement, Six Degrees of Freedom equals mucho, mucho FUN!

Gold Medal Bodies Rings 1 program drops today.  I’ve been using the program for the past 3 months and can’t say enough good things about it.  Check out the video below to see my progress and some of my thoughts on the program itself.

Here’s What’s Included:

Two DVDs
80+ Page Printed Manual
Two Difficulty Levels
Tons of Exercises
Full 3-Month Training Programs
Unique Rings Flows
Full Body Workouts

Pre-Order Special:

Bonus Digital Edition
Download your digital copy immediately

Feel free to hit me up with any questions regarding the program and obtaining a set of gymnastic rings.  Click here if you’re interested in picking the program up.

There’s nothing much sweeter after a bout of conditioning on a hot summer’s day than a fruit smoothie. After Mike’s first session of Mittcons I whipped him up an old favorite for a job well done.

Ingredients
12 oz water
1 heaping tbsp flax seed (ground)
1 handfull sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds
2 fresh dates
3 bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries
dash of cinnamon

Blend it up and have at it. For a thicker shake add less water or more nuts/seeds. The recipe works best using a high-powered blender such as a Blendtech or a Vitamix.  A lower powered blender may not be able to rip up the fresh dates or smoothly blend up the almonds.  If you’re using a lower powered machine, you may want to swap out the dates for a little bit of raw honey or pinch of stevia to add a little extra sweetness.  Fresh figs are also nice and will blend up better than the dates.

Mike’s first day of Mittcons. Working the jab. He was a champ in the heat. A ton of sweat and hard work. We’ve got to clean some things up, for sure. Looking forward to his progress. He’s got the heart of a lion and will have the eye of the tiger soon enough.

Denise at her second session, first time on the clubbells. Cleaned up a few things and by the end of the session she was smoking the protocol. Great job!

Jay’s first day practicing with the bokken. The goal here was trying to integrate breathe, movement and structure. And while the end result of today’s practice wasn’t everything we were looking for, it was a far improvement from the start of the session. Simple movements such as this sword play proved to be one hell of a work out – which is a constant reminder that everything is relative to our point of destination, and that everything is progressive from that point onward.

Mexican National Lacrosse team member Alfonso Escalante practicing his CST.