EZA-Book review and questions

Technick

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Just finished reading Joel Jamieson's (EZA) book "Ultimate MMA Conditioning" and would just like to give my two cents for those thinking of buying the book. First a little background: I'm 31 years old, train in BJJ (over 4 years), work full time, have a wife and 4 kids. I have no ambitions of fighting MMA, but do compete in BJJ tournaments so I bought the book to try and improve my crappy conditioning.

I recieved the book in the mail only 3 days after ordering and could not put it down. I finished the book in a couple of days and was blown away. I am always looking for ways to improve strength (how I found this forum) but have never really been focused on "conditioning". This book does an incredible job of defining "conditioning" and explaining how and why energy is produced by the body. This lays the foundation for understanding the methods used to elicit the desired response from various energy systems. All of this physiology is important to grasp and is presented in an easy to understand format. I cannot give this book a higher recommendation, the concepts are applicable to the 30-something recreational grappler or to the high level of a professional mixed martial artist.

This is the most relevant book that I have ever found on strength and conditioning for mixed martial arts or otherwise.

It does make you think, and has taken me some thought on application of the methods. This is rewarding, knowing the "why" and not just the "how". If you are looking for a book to feed you cookie cutter programs, this book is not for you and you will be disappointed in the amount of thought that will go into programming for yourself. If you care about truly improving your conditioning and want to have almost unlimited programming options this book is a must have. I will begin my endurance block on Monday and will be happy to report my experience with anyone who is interested.

So my question, when using the tempo method what loads (resistance) should be used or have you have success with? I imagine that 4 seconds of tension with each rep would make you have to decrease the load significantly.

Thanks for reading and for your responses in advance,
-Nick
 
Wow,
I don't post much here but been around for almost 2 years, usually in grappling forum. Also some stuff about Starting Strength (which is great as well). Again take it for what its worth and I clearly stated that I have not applied any of the methods yet, just excited to read some science and thought process behind the programming. Call it what you want, I'll let you know when the royalty checks start rolling in.
 
yeah I'm obviously recruiting people to post reviews on a book I wrote a year and a half ago on conditioning when the product I'm working on is a DVD on explosive power. And he's also obviously an affiliate despite he fact that he posted no links to anything whatsoever. I had him join almost 2 years ago just so he could make this post now. You've got it all figured out. I don't know the poster other than as someone who ordered a book from me and have never asked him, or anyone else for that matter, to write a product review.

In any event, the answer is to start with somewhere around 50% of 1RM or so as it will likely be in that range. If you're able to complete all the sets then up the weight, if you're not then lower the weight. You should come close to failure or go to failure in all of the sets for the tempo method. You will be very surprised at how heavy a very light weight can feel when you use the method correctly.
 
If I was half as effective at internet marketing as I am at strength and conditioning, I'd have been retired five years ago and be living down in Brazil, eating churrasco, wakesurfing all day, and paying someone to write these posts for me. Maybe that's where Matt Furey is?
 
I think Eza (Joel) established himself as creditable though numerous posts and the thread he started on conditioning when he first joined the Sherdog forums.

As a fighter that has fought at an international level and a person about to complete a bachelor in Human Movement majoring in Exercise Science I can say with confidence that Joel is legitimate.
 
The interwebs is serious business. EZA, unless you feel its important for your reputation to keep on defending yourself, I see no reason to do so every time you post some new info. The mods and other posters that would use your info know who you are.
 
wow joel I may have to check your book out just for kicks.
 
Thanks for the reply, have a couple more quick questions.

1) Is grappling/BJJ sparing a "lactate" exercise? Should rolling sessions be avoided during the general endurance block? Don't want to stop rolling, but don't want to be counter productive either.

2) I work at a large medical facility and have free access to pulmonary function/exercise lab. I did a pre-block test bike and the computer showed my AT was reached at a heart rate of 130, but the respiratory therapist reset my AT to be at 118 because he stated that my C02 and 02 "flipped" just before the 130 mark. Should I believe the 118 or 130? 118 seems really low, I have a 30 page report and don't know how to properly apply it! I want to use the threshold method in block "B".

Thanks again
 
Thanks for the reply, have a couple more quick questions.

1) Is grappling/BJJ sparing a "lactate" exercise? Should rolling sessions be avoided during the general endurance block? Don't want to stop rolling, but don't want to be counter productive either.

2) I work at a large medical facility and have free access to pulmonary function/exercise lab. I did a pre-block test bike and the computer showed my AT was reached at a heart rate of 130, but the respiratory therapist reset my AT to be at 118 because he stated that my C02 and 02 "flipped" just before the 130 mark. Should I believe the 118 or 130? 118 seems really low, I have a 30 page report and don't know how to properly apply it! I want to use the threshold method in block "B".

Thanks again

The point where your C02 consumption> O2 consumption (118) is your ventilatory threshold, and possibly your lactate threshold (when your body starts to produce lactate to compensate for this CO2/O2 discrepancy) if you believe that an LT even exists.

I'm assuming that by AT, you are reffering to your point of OBLA (Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation) which is when your blood-lactate levels increase systematically to 4mM. Which implies the maximum exercise intensity that a person can sustain for a prolonged duration. Obviously this occurs after you reach your VT/LT.

So from the info that you gave me, I'm pretty sure the machine is right, and the respiratory therapist is wrong.

Thus: 118=VT/LT, 130=AT.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

As for the grappling question, it depends entirely on the intensity that you are grappling at.
 
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I would be very surprised if your actual AT was only 130, this would be extremely low if it's accurate. I would suggest wearing a heart rate monitor while you train and looking at actual heart rates to verify if this is the case or not. My guess is that you'll find yourself sustaining much higher heart rates than 130, which would make the test number incorrect.
 
Yea,
I went ahead and did the modified Cooper's test and recovery HR test and started my general endurance block today. During my cardiac output session today I kept an average HR of 125-130 for 45 minutes and carried on a conversation easily with my 11 year old son the entire time, this was an easy pace. During the Cooper's my max HR was 185, avg HR was 164, and after one minute of recovery time my HR was at 129-130. I did only run 0.64 mile. Running has never been my strong suit! So down the road (Week 5 and on) when using the threshold method what HR number do you think I should use? I am a bit of a nut about doing things correctly, and would hate to waste time (and possible progress) by screwing up the application of these methods. Thanks again for your replies.
 
Don't bitch about EZA always defending himself because he also answers almost everyones' questions here. Get that from other trainers.
 
Yea,
I went ahead and did the modified Cooper's test and recovery HR test and started my general endurance block today. During my cardiac output session today I kept an average HR of 125-130 for 45 minutes and carried on a conversation easily with my 11 year old son the entire time, this was an easy pace. During the Cooper's my max HR was 185, avg HR was 164, and after one minute of recovery time my HR was at 129-130. I did only run 0.64 mile. Running has never been my strong suit! So down the road (Week 5 and on) when using the threshold method what HR number do you think I should use? I am a bit of a nut about doing things correctly, and would hate to waste time (and possible progress) by screwing up the application of these methods. Thanks again for your replies.

How long did the 0.64 miles take? Say full out, at worst, 2 minutes?
I think for the Coopers test to work, you need to do longer then that.
I know for running it's a good old slog, something like 10 minutes warm up, 20 minutes running on lap 1, 20 minutes running on lap 2 and you take the average HR on that.
I know Joel has a modified one in his book, but even that is 9 minutes (3*3x minute rounds, 1 minute rest between each round and taking the average HR per round).

Happy as always to be corrected.
 
Ian,

In the book the modified Coopers test is on page 101 and is stated to be a "test of general endurance", just to run as far as you can in 6 minutes. I tried to run at a steady pace during the test (no sprinting) that could be kept up for the duration of the run and then recorded the necessary data. You are right about the 3 round sparring session for finding AT; I think he says to spar at fight speed for 3 full rounds with 1 minute rest in between and take the average HR during the entire time. May need to do this test as well, but I'm starting to feel like my AT will be around 150's as this is typically where respirations increase and it becomes difficult to carry on a conversation. I think the Coopers, resting HR, and HRR are additional assessments to gauge progress.
 
based on what you're saying I'd keep the HR in the 150s range during threshold. If you're getting .64 miles in 6 minutes you are definitely focusing on the right area by working to improve aerobic fitness.
 
Thanks Joel, that's what I was thinking. The downside to bjj is that after years of training your actual skill level and understanding of the positions/submissions improves and you become much more efficient. Kind of a double edged sword because the technique allows you to be lazy (or more than at the beginner stage). I just finished about 10 weeks of starting strength so I decided to alternate between general endurance and general strength for a while, starting with the endurance block. Thanks to everone for the replies and I'll keep you posted on my results.
 
Ian,

In the book the modified Coopers test is on page 101 and is stated to be a "test of general endurance", just to run as far as you can in 6 minutes. I tried to run at a steady pace during the test (no sprinting) that could be kept up for the duration of the run and then recorded the necessary data. You are right about the 3 round sparring session for finding AT; I think he says to spar at fight speed for 3 full rounds with 1 minute rest in between and take the average HR during the entire time. May need to do this test as well, but I'm starting to feel like my AT will be around 150's as this is typically where respirations increase and it becomes difficult to carry on a conversation. I think the Coopers, resting HR, and HRR are additional assessments to gauge progress.

Ah.

Sorry, I did read 0.64km, not miles, so it's around 950m give or take, so it would have taken you longer then 2 minutes :icon_conf.
 
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