More on That Big, Bad Bench Press
Dear Friend,
Today I'm going to take a breather and let some
subscribers do most of the talking. Have some great
questions. My comments will follow each.:
Dear Matt,
Your Combat Conditioning has helped immensly. I'm 47
years old and have been training for some months. Bottom
line - I feel better at 47 than I did at 30, maybe even 25. Thanks.
I am beginning uphill sprints next week. I have no pre-existing
condition with my knees. ankles, etc. I have the perfect hill picked
out behind Lexington Resevoir in Los Gatos. My question is how far
do I sprint? Until I can't, approximately 100 yards, what?
Thanks,
Mike in San Jose
PS. Ran into one of your former students recently, needless to
say he was in tremendous shape.
M.F.: Mike, first of all, make sure you're ready for sprints. I would
begin by simply running or walking the hill. Pick a stretch that is
70-100 meters long, if you can. You can also walk or run a longer
stretch of hill. When this gets easier you can work on sprints.
Once you're ready for sprints, do a couple at 40-50 meters and see
how they feel. Say hello to my 'former' student for me.
Matt,
In your e-mail a couple of days ago you mentioned that you don't eat
fish. Is there any major health reasons or do you just not enjoy it? Because my
father was a fisherman and my whole family was raised on fish for most
of the developing years of our lives and we all turned pretty good. Just
wondering.
Miles P.
Washington
M.F.: Miles, my 'excuse' is the mercury content. My reason is I don't like
it. My justification is being forced to eat fish on Friday as a lad. And
the fish we were fed was those horrible 'fish sticks.' Don't worry. If you like
fish, no argumento from me. I'm not like one of those animal rights freaks
who is going to burn your boat because you're so cruel to fish. To each his
own.
Matt,
In the early 1990's I used to work out with former Mr. Olympia (1966-68)
Sergio Oliva at his gym in Chicago. He'd had surgery on both shoulders.
He was still huge, but had lost so much functional strength from all the
bench pressing. His knees required surgery as well. Watching the lifters
do so many exercises that engaged the shoulders made me realize that the
shoulders HAD TO break down at a certain point by being stressed from so
many angles with free weights. I thought about all this and realized I could
get all the benefits I needed from two exercises--parallel bar dips and pushups.
It occurred to me that the Seals and Green Berets had all the functional strength
they needed, and they DIDN'T LIFT WEIGHTS! At 56, I've incorporated the Royal
Court into my workout routine, which is a variation of Seal PT. Hill Sprints are next.
You're on the right track, Matt.
William
M.F.: William, very interesting story and not at all surprising. Glad to have you on
board.
Dear Matt,
I've never been one to suck up to anybody, but my father has always
taught me to give credit where credit is due and I just wanted you to
know my story.
I'm a 21-year old Irish lad, and 3 years ago I was told that the doctors
had found a tumor in my brain. The staff of the Royal Hospital in Belfast
were absolutly amazing and they are true heroes in every sense of the word,
and spent an exhausting amount of time trying to help.
However despite every-thing it looked like I didnt have a lot of time
left. I decided to stop the treatment and spend what little time I had left
with my family. Anyways I spent my time rambling through the woods of county
Tyrone, northern Ireland with my father and practicing snippets of Kempo
karate that my brother Manus teaches in the Republic of Ireland.
To cut a long story short, I discovered your book on the internet and
placed an order through a friend. If anyone wants evidence that it works,
then here it is; I'M STILL HERE! And I am in the best shape of my life.
The cancer is regressing and by God it will continue to do so. I'm even training to
enter into the world of mixed martial arts. I'm not saying this will work for
everyone, but I will use nothing else till my dying day; many years from
now. I'm also gonna send some pictures and info of my progress.
I just wanted to say thank you Matt, from one Irish man to another.
Fearghal
P.s. My brother is working on a way to implement your Royal Court
training techniques into his training programme for the Irish Police force, the
Garda. Cead Maith Gurramiathghit. (A hundred thousand thanks.) You're welcome
at my house any time.
M.F.: Fearghal, thanks so much for the kind words. You are what I call
'inspiration in action.' May God Bless you and continue to bring you
many years of incredible health. Give my regards to your brother. He's
going to kick butt. Appreciate the invite very much.
Well, that's it for now.
Kick butt - take names!
P.S. For more information on my best-selling book and videos
on Combat Conditioning,
go here.
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