Twenty second training is training your body to explode in short bursts, it’s a great strategy for competition and for effective Self Defense. Give it your all for twenty seconds, regather yourself in a rest period of ten seconds and then do it again…and again…and again..and I’m sure you get the picture.

Anyone can do this because it is totally relative to your current level of fitness. The more you train, the more your work capacity will increase.

It’s much harder than you may first realise as you really have to give it your all. Think of yourself sprinting flat out for twenty seconds. That’s a good 150 to 200 yards and if you are giving it your all, that feels like a long way. It’s hard and it’s supposed to be but you will get great results from this simple training strategy. Sprinting is just one example, you can apply the twenty second training strategy to any exercise(s) .

You will find yourself fading off at the end oif each 20 second cycle, keep pushing, this is where you can really make a difference. You will appreciate the ten second rest each time so really make the most of it to recuperate.

You can apply this twenty second training strategy to many areas - Sparring, Grappling, Focus Pads, punch bags and of course to your basic exercises too.

If you are new to exercise, then you will want to break yourself in gradually, just get your body used to exercising for the 20. Build up your work capacity over time. If necessary work for just 10 seconds to start with, have your 10 second rest and repeat.

I apply this sort of training often with very basic exercises like push-ups, chin-ups, burpees, mountain climbers, dive bombers, sit-ups, crunches and so on.

Ryan lees recently released Bodybot Program shows you exactly how to do this with many simple and effective exercises. He shows and explains exactly how you can get great results from just a 4 minute workout using twenty second training.

I take this same strategy and apply it to working out in rounds, just like the rounds of competition. When competing, the rounds involve many different aspects of fitness such as strength, speed, power and endurance. I use many different exercises to help simulate these different requirements. Typically I would use the twenty second training concept over a 20 minute period - that’s 4 rounds of 4 minutes with a minute rest in-between. I always warm up for about 5 minutes before the workout and stretch for about 5 minutes afterwards. All in all, I get a fantastic workout in just 30 minutes. Above all -

Train Hard - Train Smart - Fightwize!

If time is ever a factor for you, Train Smart and you can get a great workout in a relatively short amount of time by using multi body part workouts. These involve simple exercises with no fancy equipment required.

It makes a great deal of sense that short training sessions, involving exercises such as a combined Lunge, Curl and Press where you are combining many body parts rolled into a single exercise.

This mixed with other exercises such as Burpees, Jump Rope and push ups gives you a session involving Cardio, Strength and Stamina. The way you would design your session would be along the lines of :

5 Minute warm-up.

Lunge, Curl and Press x 20
Burpees x 20
Jump Rope (50 Double Unders)
Push Ups x 20
Rest for 30 seconds

Repeat the Set 4 times.

This type of interval training simulates some of the stresses on the body during competition, conditioning you for your chosen arena.

You can select any number of exercises to suit the requirements of your competition. For example 3 minute rounds in Boxing or 5 minute rounds for MMA. There are simply so many exercises that you can choose from that you can keep a good variety in your short training sessions to help prevent boredom setting in.

With a 5 minute warm-up and intervals like these mentioned above, you will get a great workout in about 25 minutes. You still need to work on technical skills, sparring and other aspects of Jiu-Jitsu for competition, however, through the closed season and on occasion when you are pushed for time, there is no excuse not to have a great workout through short training sessions.

Train Smart, Fightwize!