Joker's Training Journal

High-Intensity Training is the "modern era’s version of one-set-to-failure strength training, producing even greater muscle mass and power in less time" ("High-Intensity Training" (John Philbin), "High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way" (Mike Mentzer, John R. Little)). I've used it with excellent results to build usable strength for combat sports, however with my current schedule getting time for hitting the gym is becoming more and more difficult. Many combat sports athletic trainers are now advocating body weight exercises for greater results (e.g. "The Naked Warrior" (Pavel Tsatsouline), "Combat Conditioning: Functional Exercises For Fitness And Combat Sports" (Matt Furey), "Dynamic Strength" (Harry Wong)). I'm proposing to combine these two modalities into a quick home workout capable of being done in 30-45 minutes. The only pieces of equipment I propose to use is a pull-up bar and a stop watch/timer.
Combat sports are described as anaerobic with intervals of intense cardiopulmonary activity broken up by rest periods (e.g. rounds or tournament). Thus according to Philbin we want the time under tension to be 48 to 72 seconds and increasing the intensity by 3-5% at 12 reps or time when under tension exceeds 72 seconds. A 75 to 90 second recovery time is used between each exercise. A total of 2-3 full body workouts per week is the goal.

1. Sit-ups -- Knees bent 45° and pressed together
   
2. Sit-ups -- Knees bent 45° and apart
   
3. Sit-ups -- Knees bent 90° (shins parallel with the floor) and pressed together
   
4. Sit-ups -- Knees bent 90° (shins parallel with the floor) and apart
   
5. Sit-ups -- Legs straight up (perpendicular with the floor) and pressed together
   
6. Sit-ups -- Legs straight up (perpendicular with the floor) and apart
   
7. Sit-ups -- One leg straight and elevated, one knee bent 45° and elevated (switch every three)
   
8. Sit-ups -- Legs straight and elevated, knees pressed together and apart (switch every three)
   
9. Sit-ups -- V-sit
   
10. Neck Bridge ("Combat Conditioning: Functional Exercises For Fitness And Combat Sports" (Matt Furey))
    
11. Neck Bridge
    
12. Neck Bridge
    
13. Pull-Ups
    
14. Pull-Ups
    
15. Pull-Ups
    
16. Push-Ups
    
17. Push-Ups
    
18. Push-Ups
    
19. Dive Bomber Push-Ups ("Combat Conditioning: Functional Exercises For Fitness And Combat Sports" (Matt Furey))
    
20. Dive Bomber Push-Ups
    
21. Dive Bomber Push-Ups
    
22. Squats
    
23. Squats
    
24. Squats
    
25. Calf Raises
    

But you will ask, how do you increase intensity by 3-5% once you can do 12 reps in approximately 60 seconds? The answer is to switch bilateral exercises to unilateral exercises, e.g. changing push-ups to staggered push-ups to one-handed push-ups or changing squats to "pistols" ("The Naked Warrior" (Pavel Tsatsouline)). As I progress with this experiment I'll detail some ideas for increasing intensity.