During high school I worked out at a local gym that provided, both, a good selection of training equipment and a rich cast of characters. One of the lifters that frequented this gym was a bouncer at the local strip club. As we got to know one another, our conversations ranged from the emotional unbalance that plagued most strippers to unorthodox training techniques. One example of the latter came from a jail stint in his past. From this experience, he spoke of a dude named ‘Red’ who had a massive chest and the biggest ‘back arms’ that one had ever seen, both of which he developed by doing 500 push-ups every morning before ‘chow.’

Muscle & Fitness exercise foldouts and GNC’s newest supplements had no hand in constructing this workout plan. Rather, these back arms (not triceps) were built without the aid of the newest advances in kinesiology, nutrition, and isolated cable movements. While this does not make sense from a scientific perspective, it occurs in gyms, cells, and outdoor workout facilities every day. That is, on a regular basis, focused strength and combat athletes are producing results without following the advice of the latest academic studies.

How can this happen? It happens because real strength and conditioning gains are made by the broad-backed strength soldier in the trenches, not the pencil-necked doctor in the lab.

This dismissal of science for intentional intensity is best exhibited by that man we can call the ‘Back Arms Guy.’ You know him by sight. He cares not for theory, but focuses on fury. He works out harder and longer than he should. In his workouts, he takes hard work over hard data any day, and twice on Sunday.

As Rudyard Kipling warned (“lest we forget”) about the dangers of imperial hubris in his famous poem, ‘Recessional,’ the same caveat can be issued for the arrogant belief in scientific progress. If the Back Arms Guy teaches us anything, it is that a lab coat doesn’t provide the lone beacon of light for those wanting real gains.

Thus, when you chalk up, gear up, and get up for you next work out, do not be afraid to put science aside and place your faith in your own intestinal fortitude that cannot be shackled by the latest systematic spreadsheet study. With this, you will join the lost battalion of vaudevillian strongmen, gypsy bareknuckle boxers, British doormen, Hawaiian watermen, and old-time shootwrestlers whose training methods are short on theory, but high on results.

Lest we forget the Back Arms Guy who bucked the accepted theories and made the impossible possible…

About the author:

Adam benShea is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Ricardo “Frajinha” Miller (Paragon Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). Adam has won the World, Pan American, and California State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and holds an MA from Indiana University. Check out his website for more workout ideas: Adam's Website. Adam is the Joshstrength.com Grappling/MMA Advisor.

T NATION Check out this excellent article, “Deadlifting for MMA”, written by Josh Bryant and Adam benShea

Deadlifting for MMA - HERE.

While Lululemon wearing Pilates instructors and late night infomercials all tout the importance of a strong core, it should not be forgotten that powerful abs play a crucial role in all MMA fighting movements.

The circle of exercises to strengthen legs, shoulders, and arms grows ever wider. However, as your upper and lower bodies build in strength, the importance of the core muscles becomes increasingly essential. To paraphrase the legendary waterman and big wave surfer, Dave Kalama, “you need a strong core to connect the power in your legs with the power in your upper body.”

More fundamentally, abdominal strength enables you to take a stiff body blow and adds rotational power to strikes, takedowns, and submissions. Moreover, nearly every movement in grappling, trapping, clinching, and striking either begins in the core or incorporates the core in the delivery of the attack.

As seen in “Judo” Gene LeBell’s workout, training the abs can be as simple and brutal as hundreds of traditional sit-ups. In a similar fashion, MMA pioneer and shootfighting champion, Erik Paulson, has said that he will not leave the gym until he pops out 500 crunches.

Training martial arts, such as boxing and Brazilian JiuJitsu, will provide an ample ab workout. But, specific ab exercises will enhance your martial performance.

Ab workouts can be done first thing in the morning, as part of a conditioning program, or as a warm-up or warm-down to training. The workouts could range from banging out hundreds of crunches (in the tradition of LeBell and Paulson) or you could try a plank workout (a favorite exercise of MMA trainer Greg Jackson)

A Simple Starter 8 Minute Plank Workout:

• Regular Plank 2 min
• Side Plank 2 min
• Side Plank (opposite side) 2 min
• Push Up Plank 2 min

As you progress, you can add time or change how you perform the plank. For example, you can elevate your feet on a balance or bosu ball.

Outside of the cage and off the mat, training abs at the tail end of summer has an obvious aesthetic value as well. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see a six pack of abs peeking out at them like Sen. Larry Craig at an airport lavatory?

About the author:

Adam benShea is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Ricardo “Frajinha” Miller (Paragon Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). Adam has won the World, Pan American, and California State Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and holds an MA from Indiana University. Check out his website for more workout ideas: Adam's Website. Adam is the Joshstrength.com Grappling/MMA Advisor.