3 Lessons From a Movement Master

Don’t miss our great upcoming DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training educational programs HERE! Gain an edge in your and your clients’ real world fitness 

What is this thing called “functional fitness” anyways? How do you define something that seems to have such a broad appeal and meaning to different people. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried, but it always seems like people don’t REALLY get the difference between functional training and bodybuilding, or even functional fitness and circus tricks (because that happens too!) 

Then DVRT Master, Joe Chalakee, started sending me some interesting quotes from a Judo book of all things. Yes, a Judo book! Now, I’ve written with my fascination of the martial arts, even though I have never really been able to participate in them much. I wasn’t so interested in the fighting aspect as I was the beauty of movement, the effortless movement that so many of the practitioners of martial arts could achieve. 

I think whether you have ever practiced martial arts or not, you can appreciate these same qualities. So, how does this apply to functional training and DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training? When you hear these three ideas and how they will change how you should see fitness and training. 

If these ideas seem to abstract for you, then check out how DVRT Coach, Ian Vaughn, uses such concepts to build really dynamic Ultimate Sandbag Training workouts. 

Check out the whole workout at the bottom

Lesson #1

Functions of Muscles: It is not generally possible or desirable to arrange the muscles so that all of them that need to be used in a Cooperative fashion with each other can be geographically joined. While muscles usually work together in groups to effect the desire motion, while our nervous systems is pattern in terms of total movement rather than isolation or piecemel action, different muscles in the execution of any specific action, have different functions. Each may function primarily, while the same time,complement in a subsidiary role. (In Judo training,) we are especially interested in understanding the roles of various muscle groups in order to apply our method in increasing Judo performance and efficiency. Chapter 3, p36

Lesson #2

Coordination and Skill:No spectacle can produce such self-satisfaction or draw such spectator interest and enthusiasm as exhibitions of human skill. ( Judo is such a skill.) How we develop such pleasing movement and bodily processes of response to complex physical and mental problems involving  balance, movement, coordination, speed, and strength, are of the concern (to the Judo exponent.) Chapter 3, p38

The nervous system controls the grading of muscular action according to the “All or None” principle, which demonstrates that each muscle fiber and it’s related motor unit contracts with all it’s force  or not at all. Chapter 3, P38   

Spoken of in terms of reflex action, we use the highly complimentary word “skillful” to describe correct performances. Skillful movements waste little muscular exertion. Skillful movement is graceful, pleasing to the eye, and void lumbering, unsightly and wasteful motion.  ch 3. p 39  (this one reminds me why technique is so important no matter what one is learning)

Skills a final analysis depending on depending on Master Control. Skill connotes precision and accuracy of movement, choosing the proper movement in response to an end intended purpose, as well as economy and the force applied, which requires the utilization of the right muscles at the right time with the right amount of force. In order to accomplish his performance in totality strength is necessary.  ( This thing is the principles of Kodokan judo applied to synergistically to our body musculature. ) ch 3, p40

Coordination is the teamwork of muscles associated with strength speed, and skill. Grace and ease of the motions are the production of coordination. The economic use of muscles with accurate interplay again follows the principle of maximum efficiency the fundamentals. ch3, p 40

Lesson #3

Muscular Fatigue: When we preform a severe exercise such as (Judo, first thing that came to me was the Clean and Press test) our strength will eventually begin to fail and our technique will suffer.

Fatigue has been shown to lie in the muscles and is due to the failure of the muscle to contract when motor impulses reach it. Muscular fatigue makes little difference to performance, however, until muscles are too weak to make the necessary motion. If we continue to perform near the limits of our endurance, we will soon experience a sudden “breakdown” of performance.  Chapter 3, p 37

Want to build all these great functional fitness qualities? Then check out Coach Vaughn’s DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training workout…

DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training Shredded Workout:

– Reverse Lunge + Clean + Kneel + Press: 5 REPs L/R 

-Clean to Rotational Press: 20 REPs (10 Left / 10 Right) 

-Bear Crawls with Ultimate Sandbag Drag: 15-20 yards front to back 

-Around The World: 30 Seconds each side

-Bear Crawl Ultimate Sandbag Drag + Bear Hug Rollever + Leg Thread: 3 REPS Left & Right

-Cossack Steer Press Outs: 5 REPs each side / 2-3 SETs Clean + Squat into Rotational Lunge: Perform for 1 MIN

Perform 2-4 rounds with 30 seconds of rest between exercises