Martial arts are arguably one of the best ways to get fit. They are often overlooked as they and tend to have an image problem, often being thought of as aggressive or dangerous.

Often martial arts lessons are better than going to the gym. There are several reasons why. In a martial arts class you are instructed to exercise which really does help to increase the intensity at which you exercise. The combination of an instructor telling you what to do and the peer pressure from other students results in a healthy increase in exercise intensity. If you have ever worked with a personal trainer then you will be familiar with this experience. You simply train harder when being told to do so by someone else.

But martial arts classes benefit you in many more ways than just encouraging you to train harder. For a good all round fitness there are several factors at play: strength, endurance, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, balance, speed and timing. Martial arts will teach and develop all of these.

The actual exercises performed as part of the fitness and conditioning elements of the class are designed to improve physical fitness and strength. Many of the exercises performed are the “old school” body-weight exercises popular in physical education classes and military fitness centres - squats, push ups, burpees, mountain climbers. Simple exercises which strengthen the whole body.

One important aspect of martial arts training is the Tabata effect. Dr. Tabata is a Japanese scientist who researched the most effective ways to exercise in increase fitness. His results found that high intensity interval training was the most effective method and since then this form of training has been called Tabata Training.

Martial arts classes will often put you through an intensive interval style workout. A one hour class will have period of very high intensity interspersed with lower intensity. Many of the fitness drills are organised in a circuit training style which means sprint intervals combined with bodyweight exercises to increase muscular endurance and strength.

If you learn a style with a lot of sparring then you will train to your maximum intensity while sparring. It is hard not to, especially for beginners, as the adrenaline rush when you start fighting pushes you to work to your limits. You cannot get the same effect from sitting on an exercise bike or going for a run.

Martial arts can help keep you motivated in other ways. Whereas with going to the gym your only goal is to get fitter or stronger, with martial arts you develop additional goals, such as to spar against a higher grade student, and win, or to learn complex techniques and attain higher gradings.

Martial arts classes provide both a very competitive environment and a friendly one. Martial arts clubs tend to have much more social interaction, both during the class and outside of the class, than other class based fitness activities.

There are many different styles of martial art to chose from. If you ultimate goal is fitness with a bit of fun then the recommended styles to look for are kickboxing, taekwondo, full contact karate and kung-fu styles. MMA is also becoming very popular, a few years ago there were not many dedicated schools or even classes, now you can find MMA clubs and teachers around the UK.,

Sparring is one of the best ways to increase fitness, very few things will make you move quicker than a seasoned heavy weight bearing down on you! Everyone should give sparring a go at least once, it really is more fun and less dangerous than it looks.

If you have never tried martial arts for fitness then you really should give it a go. Find a few local clubs and go to them all. There is no such thing as a best style to learn, what makes a good club is usually the quality of the teaching and the class atmosphere.

By Justin Wheeler: Fitness fan, martial arts practitioner evengelist for BJJ Gi specialists and Martial arts supplier  Black Eagle .

“Before coming to work at Liberty Global in April 2007, I had a job that wasn’t fulfilling.  I felt I needed a change both personally and professionally.  Liberty definitely provided the vocational ‘breath of fresh air’ for which I was looking; now it was time to start working on my personal transformation.

“When I began working at Liberty Global I was approximately 25-30 pounds overweight, yet ready to take advantage of the company’s outstanding, well-stocked cafeteria!  Not only are employees offered breakfast, lunch, and all the wonderful snacks imaginable in between, the café is stocked with sodas and chips and cookies of various kinds.  Of course I had to indulge in all these delicious goodies!  For breakfast I would choose from eggs and bacon, pancakes, or cinnamon rolls; for lunch I enjoyed whatever meal was featured on the menu.  Around 2:30 p.m., or “snack time,” I usually helped myself to a cookie or two or a bag of chips…and then I would have a full dinner when I went home.  Each workday was loaded with calories.  I don’t know how many pounds I gained in the first eight months; I didn’t really want to count!

“I would try to work out once in a while, but still ate like I always did and therefore maintained my extra weight.  I thought I was doing an adequate job of taking care of my health until Liberty provided us with another benefit – the Kickfit Corporate fitness program – in January 2008.  I began taking classes immediately! 

“The classes were fun, hard work, and tiring – they were great exercise!  They were offered three days a week and I would try to attend all of them.  During the first month of Kickfit classes I ate the same types and amounts of food so I wasn’t really losing any weight.  I went to my Kickfit instructor and asked for suggestions for healthy breakfast and lunch foods.  Following the recommendations I received I changed my breakfast menu to egg whites with spinach or oatmeal with honey.  Lunch and dinner became chicken and salad, and my afternoon snack was either an apple or banana with peanut butter.  However after working out three to five times a week and eating healthier, I was still not seeing the results I wanted or for which I had hoped.  I got tired.  I was ready to give up.  But Kickfit founder and instructor Ray Khan talked me in to pushing myself further and giving my new lifestyle changes a little more time.

“Eight months into it the weight started falling off!  My wardrobe couldn’t keep up with my amazing weight loss!  It was like I was losing a pant and/or dress size weekly – I went from a size 10/12 to a 2/4!  I enjoyed seeing the clothes become too big!  A full year after starting the classes and healthy eating I had lost the 25-30 pounds of extra weight.  I have also gained muscle mass, toned up quite a bit, and have been able to maintain my new weight for the most part.  My goal is to lose another five-seven pounds.  This time I know what I need to do to lose it and keep it off.  I just need to push myself to do it! 

“Currently I go to Kickfit classes three days a week and work out 2-3 days on my own.  Some days I try to get in an early jog and a workout in the afternoon.  I have yogurt and berries for breakfast, mixed fruit for a morning snack, chicken and salad for lunch, an apple for an afternoon snack, and salad and chicken for dinner.  I still ‘reward’ myself once a week or so with something I really want, and then I regret it later.  But I think about what extra exercises I’ll have to do to burn off those extra calories, and I happily do them!  My goal now is to keep the rewards at bay!

“I thank God for this amazing ‘wake up call’ to want to look and feel better about myself, and to create a healthier lifestyle so I am better prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually to do His work.  I thank Liberty for offering the Kickfit classes, a wonderful health benefit that allows us employees to have more energy and focus on our jobs.  Of course, I am grateful for the variety of exercises in the classes that keep me interested and consequently going frequently, and for the motivation and support of Ray and the other instructors during the times I wanted to give up.  Without Kickfit’s incredible staff, exercises, and the invaluable eating tips I would have given up months ago – and still would be eating Sloppy Joes and Cheeto^®’s on a regular basis!”

Dyno Jumping

By Skyler Weekes, Guiness Book World Record Holder

For over seven years, I’ve been devoted to this great sport of climbing, and more specifically, dynoing. Dynoing is like the high jump for climbers. You start on one hold, hurl yourself up the wall in one move, and try to grab another distant hold as far away as possible. The feeling of flying through the air without anything attached only to grab onto another hold farther away is an indescribable feeling. You have to be in peak shape, have razor sharp focus, and believe in yourself completely.

In the summer of 2005, I realized how dangerous this sport could actually get. In a national competition, I fell upside down with no rope attached and landed head first into the pads. I suffered a fractured spine and almost total destruction of my left orbit (eye socket). One year later, after six surgeries and an unimaginable amount of money, I laid in my apartment wondering if I’d ever climb again. I felt like somebody had taken away what was most important to me and I would never feel that rush again. That’s when I decided that I would do whatever it took to get back into dynoing and prove to myself and everybody else that you can come back to a sport and be on top.

For many years, I wondered if I had what it took to be number one in the world, to push the limits of the sport further than anyone else, and finally last year I got that chance. In July 2007, I landed an 8.5 ft. leap up a climbing wall just outside of Sheffield, England, in front of a roaring crowd. I’m going back this year to defend the title and hopefully break my own record.

My training schedule is very climbing oriented. Dyno moves require a great deal of muscle memory, so practicing the movements is very important. I usually workout 4-5 days a week, alternating days of pure climbing with days of pure weights/aerobics. For the climbing days, I start out with a short hike (usually to the climbing area), mostly uphill to get warmed up. This is always followed by a 10 minute stretching routine aimed at my back, core, and forearms.

Once I start climbing, I try to warm up on climbs at about my 50% range. Meaning, I only have to give 50% of what I can do to climb. After I feel sufficiently warmed up, I go to my dyno projects. I have repeated most of Colorado’s difficult dynos, so these are projects or untried dynos that I’m exploring for the first time. There are two or three that when done will be some of the hardest in the entire world. This is really me pushing the limits of the sport to a new height!

This extremely dynamic move requires a pushing and pulling motion at the same time. For each try, I have to concentrate on firing all of my muscles at once, making sure that I explode my leg muscles up while throwing down my arms and trying to keep sucked in to the wall as much as possible. I can usually only try dynos 10-15 times a day before my energy, strength, and finger skin are gone.

For my days working out in the gym, I usually start with a light jog (15 minutes) followed by 5 minutes of “heavy” jump rope. This gets all of my muscles warmed up and is followed by a light stretch.

First, I focus on my lower body explosive training. All exercises are done to a maximum of six repetitions. If I can do any more, then I stop and add weight. Next, I move into front power squats and jump back power pull-ups. Last of all, I do power dead lifts.

Next, I focus on my upper body explosive training. I start with power pull-ups with added resistance (30-40lbs). The next exercise is very important to me. These are medicine ball slams. When dynoing in competition, I’m jumping up and to the left. So with this exercise, I start with my feet together and medicine ball high and to the left. In one move, I slam the ball down and to the right as hard as I can to mimic the dyno motion.

My core/abdominal training is crucial and I spend a great deal of time on these exercises. Dead hanging from a pull-up bar, I pull my legs (straight with knees locked) all around as high as I can go (equal with my hands), going left to right and back down in between. All of my other abdominal exercises are forms of medicine ball tosses. Lying down with legs straight and ball above my head, I come up and hurl the ball as hard as I can at the wall. Next, I move my legs to a 45-degree angle and repeat on both sides.

My final exercise is jumping as far as possible in one move up a 45-degree ramp. The ramp is maybe 25ft long, so I try to do this in 4-5 moves. After I start feeling tired, I attach cables to myself for added resistance and do this until total failure.

Twice a week I meet with my Kickfit Trainers, founder Ray Khan and his assistant trainers. The sessions were a mix of Muay Thai kickboxing, core strength training and plyometrics to improve my explosive power and co ordinate my upper body with my lower. This was done with a series of core strength training exercises such as the Push up row and squat thrust  done in conjunction with an exercise Ray concocted called the mountain climber deadlift followed by  round kicks to the heavy bag or trainer to keep my heart rate up and stretch me out dynamically through each set. Ingenious, as this was exactly what I needed to increase my Dyno Jump .The improvement in reflexes and timing was evident as over the next 6 months I was pushed to what I thought was past my limits ,I noticed the increase in my practice jumps and the ability to jump higher and consistently for longer periods without getting tired was increasing. Eventually I got through the grueling workout without feeling as if I was going to pass out, Ray grinned and said “now you are ready, hard work combined with a passion and purpose will overcome everything.”

For my sport, especially because there are no ropes used for safety during competitions, mental preparation is the most important factor for me. To be able to commit 100% for one move, knowing that if you fall you can be seriously hurt, takes a great deal of faith in yourself. Almost every day, I go through the moves in my head. Walking up to the wall, climbing up the starting holds, swinging back and forth to gain momentum, then hurling myself through the air and latching the end hold.

I’ve just returned from Sheffield, England for a week, and the 2010- Guinness Book of World Records competition. The field of competitors was very strong this year and I had to give it everything I had! The days before hand I always did some kind of light exercise, usually a nice medium length hike through the forests followed by some stretching.

Once I arrived at the competition there were hundreds of people gathered around the wall to watch. Once all the other competitors had fallen it was just up to me to break my old record. I climbed on, threw myself as far as possible, reached out with my left hand, and stuck it! The new record is 9.7 feet! The crowd roared and cameras went crazy. It was a very good day.

Many thanks to Kickfit Athletics and Dr Rafer Leach at Guardian Urgent Health who believed and supported my effort and passion for the sport.

My next goal is to travel to the southern tip of Thailand, where huge limestone towers explode out of the ocean. I want to do something nobody has every tried, climb up 3 stories and jump for a world record distance up the wall of rock without harness or safety ropes - falling into the ocean below. I’m currently looking for sponsors for the trip; please contact me at skyweekes@gmail.com if interested.

A living testament to the Kick-Fit methodology is Bruce Lee Protege Dan Inosanto

The bench press on a stability ball works the trapezius, pectoralis major, triceps, shoulders,erector spinalis group, glutes, quads, and hamstrings

The Law of thermodynamics can be defined as ;

When the body executes a technique it engages specific muscles for form and structure, in balance in all planes. Time and point of impact trigger all the opposing muscle groups to stabilize those working initially.

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The muscles that stabilize the trunk when doing a round kick are the rectus abdominals  and ipsolateral obliques .

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