T Nation

Gymnastics Exercises

Combat
#1

So now that i have moved up to the -81kg weightclass (i was in the -73), i have had some problems getting used to my new body. I’m not as agile as i was in the -73, but way more strong.

So the solution that i have figured out is to do some kind of gymnastic exercises in order to learn to control my new body better.

The problem is that i don’t know were to start, do you guys have a program or something for this stuff?

I was thinking on starting with handstands and muscle-ups. But again, i’m lost in this stuff.

I belive (as flavio canto once said) that the judoka is a combat gymnast. So doing gymnastic stuff before my classes might be a very good idea.

Thanks in advance and excuse my ugly english.

#2

Get a friend and do more randori.

#3

What do you mean by feeling slower? Your not executing as quickly or is there a specific area of your body that feels slower? Are you going against heavier opponents in training than before?

It may be perceptive, but how did you gain the extra weight? Did you include speed work into your training?

#4

If you want to be aware of your body, handstands and muscle-ups may help. Still, you won’t be heaving yourself up an opponent while hanging a lot, nor standing upside down much.

Forward, backward and side rolls will help much more. Spins, twists, various jumps (tuck, split, spread) performed while bouncing, walking on a beam/narrow line on the ground, walking on all fours forward/backward/sideways…

Calistenics will help you train yourself, these simple movements above will challenge your balance because you won’t know anymore where your body is.

Hope this helps,
Thor

#5

I don’t know if I understand the question but don’t see how handstands which is inherently a static exercise is going to do much for your speed. Calisthenics (Plyometrics) would probably be the way to go. Ladder sprints, boxing style rope drills, and heavybag tossing would be what I would consider. Maybe even combine the 3 exercise into 1 intense training session.

Ladder sprint, back and forth under the rope, then do 25 heavy bag flips. Time yourself and work on getting that time down.

I could see muscle-ups only really helping if you’re doing them from ground and doing a kipping pull-up into a muscle-up then all the way back to ground and repeat as fast as you can.

#6

Xen has been doing some ring training, maybe he can help out here.

I did some ring work years back and it did more for my wrists and hands then other stuff.
but it is a good alternative to some barbell work

I would say think more track and field then weight room
but if you want some things that I like to do and help me from feeling sluggish- and feeling ‘fast’ or athletic

I like these you need to cycle all of this as they are not kind on joints

Ill go in order of what I think works the most…

I get the most out of these!!!

standing broad jumps do them in 5 x 5 4x6 etc or the long distance on a track.
you want to do them continuous no walking in between, just keep jumping

Kneeling squat jumps

start with just the bar, we used to do light cleans and snatches from this position too- works awesome
kicks your ass.

split leg jumps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6vfGl-KUVY

squat jumps are great I like to do them with one arm db snatches

you can do some of this on a separate day, but I like to do them on a squat or deadlift day…

something like this three different ways

back squat
standing broad jumps
natural glute ham raise
bulgarian split squat

snatch grip dead
split squat jumps
reverse db lunges
weighted glute bridges

front squat
kneeling squat jumps
some kind of step up
just some thoughts
pistols

just some thoughts for weight room stuff, lots of other sprinting, jumping rope, ladder drills
lateral suicides etc

#7

If you’re looking for a resource to learn gymnastic strength exercises and proper progressions I would recommend Christopher Sommer’s book “Building the Gymnastic Body.” You can get it from his web site:

http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/store/homepage/building-the-gymnastic-body.html

Christopher also has a few articles here on T-Nation.

#8

Thanks guys! very informative. And by getting slower i meant that it’s geting harder to roll over my opponent to get in the “inverted armbar” position for example.

My legs are bigger, so i belive that the extra weight and size are bothering me.

I’ll be trying the kmcnyc exercistes after my weight training session.