It’s SOOO exciting! We are starting another Block of training this week, and it’s our two-month focus on Agility! I love every block of training, and in this season I especially enjoy tuning up my multidirectional movement capacity.
Let’s start out by defining agility. At TLA, we know that agility is the combination of mobility, stability, reactivity and fluidity. We’ll break each of those subcomponents down.
- Mobility is the ability to move through range of motion. It requires flexibility and motor control.
- Stability is the innate ability to fixate or stabilize the body when necessary. This is often manifested by having a stable midsection as the extremities are moving, but it is really the ability to turn on stiffness in a pulsatile manner wherever it’s needed (proximal or distal) in order for the body to control movement and not get whipped around by external forces or implements.
- Reactivity is the condition in which you can respond to your environment, opponent, or other external stimuli and adjust your motor output appropriately.
- Fluidity is that characteristic of suppleness in which your movement flows effortlessly and smoothly between positions and actions. It is artistic and graceful.
The importance here is to develop movement variability and competency. You want to have a toolbox of options so that you can move athletically and in an animalistic fashion. Stiff, straight-line critters who can’t get up and down or move well perform poorly and usually get hurt. They are not Hard to Kill. That’s why we tune Agility in December and January.
Before we can begin to move dynamically we need to have balance and stability. So we’ll start out this week building a good foundation of those traits. You’ll also notice that this month the workouts are brief. That’s done on purpose using my SEASONALITY model of training. Evolutionarily, the time of darkness (short daylight hours in winter) was a time of energy conservation. Humans are hard-wired to hole up, rest, and not overwork themselves. We still train, but we do it intelligently. Keep your workouts short, and your sleep long my friends.
Short workouts, ones that last about 30-40 minutes at most, are what I call micro workouts, and they definitely should leave you feeling more refreshed and invigorated than overly fatigued. One pro tip for this time of year is Don’t Seek Exhaustion. It’s more important to be consistent and light right now. Micro workouts are like “toothbrush training.” They are so short and easy you don’t struggle with motivation and decision-making fatigue. They become a habit you just do and don’t think about and that’s a secret for your success. You’ll find yourself looking forward to your micro workouts, just getting them done, and reaping the rewards.
Week of 2021-11-29 (week 1 of month 1: Agility Block)
| WOW | PREP | PRIMARY | ACCESSORY | TIPS |
| A Gymkata X2-3 | Unilateral 15 each side Bench bridge | Unilateral 3 circuits 15 reps left 15 reps right Moderate resistance OHP – squat sit Pulldown- ½ kneel MB bench lower (1 down, 2 up) RDL – unstable base | Unilateral 15 each side Lateral pull/push | Own every position. |
| B Mobilosis X2-3 | 10’ brisk walk Oxygenate! | Uni Combo Lift 5 x 90 seconds Alternate sides Deadlift+ Hang Clean+ Push Press+ Lateral Lunge+ (lower, switch sides, and repeat) | Free choice cardio 10’ easy effort Any mode | Dominate movement. |
Key Workout Information: Gymkata is not some bullcrap term I made up. It’s actually an amazing 80’s movie featuring champion gymnast the late Kurt Thomas as a superhero who blends karate and gymnastics to be the ultimate weapon…”all he has is himself — and that’s ALL he needs!” These exercises will help you to move closer to that level of ass-kicking ability. Up next is Mobilosis, and that actually is a bullcrap term I made up, but it means “having the condition of mobility.” The exercise sequence is unique and you’ll find it to be a full body gasser, so be sure to keep resistance light to moderate. Do the gym portion of these workouts barefoot…no excuses.
As always, you are amazing. Thanks for being a part of this excellence train. JZ out!
Please accept my apologies that this week’s vid is not quite up to our usual production standards. Long story but not worth it. Thanks for bearing!