Randy Couture's Circuit

[FireFighter1046]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3224902600571518938&q=couture%2Btraining

What do you all think of Randy Coutures Circuit training routine, it was made for TheStrap product which seems like a joke? But that routine seems pretty hardcore to do for 4 or 5 sets?

What do you all think?
Please be constructive with your critizisims though, Like if you answer, IT SUCKS, please explain why you think that.
Thanks!
FF

[skirmish]

If that looks hardcore you should look into CrossFit.

[Zell959]

From what I've seen of Randy Coutures training, my honest opinion is it clearly worked for Randy Couture and likely a lot of the guys in team quest, but I think it only worked because they are such awesome athletes.

I read an article by Randy in Bodyguard magazine where he went into his philosophy on weight lifting. I'll admit it's been a while since I read it so I might goof up some of this. Basically he was advocating doing high reps of low weight instead of training to increase your single rep max. He rationalized it by saying that one needs to be able to throw many punches in a fight(or something to that effect) and not just one strong one.

I found problems with this as in my opinion it would be more productive to simply train the ability to throw many punches by throwing a lot of punches either in a bag drill or on focus mits, because this is more sport specific anyway.

I'm not saying there aren't merrits to that style of lifting as Im' currently on a progam that utilized similar protocal, but Randy's article made it seem that this is the only kind of weight training he ever does.

[HOV]

Looks like a good warmup for a hard lift.

Shadow boxing with 15-20 lb. dumbells seems to be more challenging, and sport specific.

But if it works for him, so be it.

[FireFighter1046]

HOV wrote:
Looks like a good warmup for a hard lift.

Shadow boxing with 15-20 lb. dumbells seems to be more challenging, and sport specific.

But if it works for him, so be it.

15-20lbs dumbells? Shadow Boxing? I gotta see this, can you vid yourself doing this and host it on youtube please!
FF

[hueyOT]

oh ya i saw that video awhile ago. it's funny as hell. funnier even is that about a week after i saw that video there was a guy in my gym doing virtually the exact same shit.

needless to say, i'm sure he was inspired by that video.

i'm sure we've all seen people in the gym training ronnie coleman style, too with all the 'light weight baby'! statements etc...

randy definitely sucks with the weights, but he's a damn good fighter.

[hueyOT]

FireFighter1046 wrote:
HOV wrote:
Looks like a good warmup for a hard lift.

Shadow boxing with 15-20 lb. dumbells seems to be more challenging, and sport specific.

But if it works for him, so be it.

15-20lbs dumbells? Shadow Boxing? I gotta see this, can you vid yourself doing this and host it on youtube please!
FF

i would also wanna see that!

[HOV]

FireFighter1046 wrote:
HOV wrote:
Looks like a good warmup for a hard lift.

Shadow boxing with 15-20 lb. dumbells seems to be more challenging, and sport specific.

But if it works for him, so be it.

15-20lbs dumbells? Shadow Boxing? I gotta see this, can you vid yourself doing this and host it on youtube please!
FF

::shrug::

I used to do them at 15 pounds - super workout for shoulders, arms, abs, and lower back. Great cardio for fight preparation. I figure a pro could move the poundage up by 5 or so if he had all day to train.

I don't understand what is outside your frame of reference - the activity, or the poundage?

I have no video capability, but basically you grab the dumbell and start off with stuff like jabs, crosses, uppercuts, and then start working combinations with footwork.

[stretching]

Zell959 wrote:
From what I've seen of Randy Coutures training, my honest opinion is it clearly worked for Randy Couture and likely a lot of the guys in team quest, but I think it only worked because they are such awesome athletes.

To be 100% honest, most top athletes and champions (of just about any sport)train nothing like what the experts will have us believe.

Oddly enough all of these guys are champions.

Food for thought.

[scottyz]

I agree with Zell. I also train MMA (not that I do much more than dabble) and strongly feel that weighttraining should be used to develop overall strength and explosive power. The ability to punch and kick repeatedly with force is best developed by punching and kicking repeatedly with force.

[hueyOT]

scottyz wrote:
I agree with Zell. I also train MMA (not that I do much more than dabble) and strongly feel that weighttraining should be used to develop overall strength and explosive power. [b]The ability to punch and kick repeatedly with force is best developed by punching and kicking repeatedly with force.

[/b]

thank you for this amazing insight!

[Magarhe]

It is a good routine but take note of everything he says in it - it is for his sport, specifically. Even the rest period of 60 seconds is to duplicate the rest you get between rounds.

So don't do it if your aims are bodybuilding or powerlifting. Although it is a good routine, I am not knocking it at all. Also probably excellent for far burning.

Search on T-Nation for "the bear"

[hueyOT]

Magarhe wrote:
It is a good routine but take note of everything he says in it - it is for his sport, specifically. Even the rest period of 60 seconds is to duplicate the rest you get between rounds.

So don't do it if your aims are bodybuilding or powerlifting. Although it is a good routine, I am not knocking it at all. Also probably excellent for far burning.

Search on T-Nation for "the bear"

it's a shitty routine no matter what sport you're in. unless your sport is 'being good at shitty routines'.

[BigHog]

I suppose it would work for him. He does have a lot of emphasis on lower body but his form could use some work, especially at such a light weight. I wouldn't do it, but to each his own I guess.

[Stl_Ram]

Interesting video. I was wondering how Randy trained with weights. I wonder if he has always trained in this manner or if he used to incorporate some heavy weight, low rep training as well?

It seems to me that he has lost A LOT of muscle mass over the course of his trilogy with Chuck Liddell. It seemed that in his first fight with Liddell (which he won) he looked a lot bigger and more muscular, and in the final fight, he looked very gaunt and small. I think that he should have incorporated some heavy lifting as well.

[Miserere]

Those were the strangest goodmornings I've ever seen. On a different note, for the purposes of most on this forum, this is probably not the best workout. However, if I had 5 days a week to train, I would probably do a routine like this on one of those days; it would break the monotony and provide a different stimulus to the old muscles.

[Djwlfpack]

There's a differnce of 2 years between the first Couture-Liddell fight and the last one. In the first fight, Randy was bigger because he was moving down from heavyweight to light-heavyweight. Since that first fight he changed up his diet and training in order to stay closer to 205 so he wouldn't have to cut as much weight before a fight.

[stretching]

Stl Ram wrote:
Interesting video. I was wondering how Randy trained with weights. I wonder if he has always trained in this manner or if he used to incorporate some heavy weight, low rep training as well?

It seems to me that he has lost A LOT of muscle mass over the course of his trilogy with Chuck Liddell. It seemed that in his first fight with Liddell (which he won) he looked a lot bigger and more muscular, and in the final fight, he looked very gaunt and small. I think that he should have incorporated some heavy lifting as well.

Hard to say.

He's weighed the same and was equally as lean in all three fights (give or take one pound), so unless he drastically increased bone density or water retention I'm not sure how he could have lost any muscle mass.

Perhaps you were thinking back when he was a heavy weight?

Oh and BTW, if you guys are shocked by his training plan then you would be floored by his nutritional plan. Randy avoids eating protein and follows the alkaline diet.

[FireFighter1046]

Stl Ram wrote:
Interesting video. I was wondering how Randy trained with weights. I wonder if he has always trained in this manner or if he used to incorporate some heavy weight, low rep training as well?

It seems to me that he has lost A LOT of muscle mass over the course of his trilogy with Chuck Liddell. It seemed that in his first fight with Liddell (which he won) he looked a lot bigger and more muscular, and in the final fight, he looked very gaunt and small. I think that he should have incorporated some heavy lifting as well.

Randy couture started in UFC as a heavyweight fighting at 220+lbs and then went down to 205lbs to fight in the Light heavyweight because he was having strength troubles with the younger bigger boys. remeber he is 42, and although he weighed about the same during all 3 chuck fights during his last fight he had started training for new passion, adventure racing which I think tightened his muscles some and took some away from his shoulders. As Far as I know he still strength trains but not on a regular basis. I hope to be competiting in some speed and endurance challenges myself (firefit) so I was thinking about incorperating this type of circuit training into my routine as well. Someone also posted on another site which I will look into.
FF

[FireFighter1046]

Miserere wrote:
Those were the strangest goodmornings I've ever seen. On a different note, for the purposes of most on this forum, this is probably not the best workout. However, if I had 5 days a week to train, I would probably do a routine like this on one of those days; it would break the monotony and provide a different stimulus to the old muscles.

Ya your on the money, thats what I was thinking too!