Tara Weaver Fitness

Today's workout comes from MMA s&c coach, Mike Perry of Chelmsford, Mass! Back in 2016, I took Mike's Strongfirst Barbell Course and PR'd my deadlift at 180 lbs for 3 reps. Mike and Dan are rockstars and I'm lucking to have met and taken workshops with them both. Mike recently interveiwed Dan John on his podcast, Principles of Performance Link.

Warm Up

• Foam Roll Full Body Basics
• practice head tuck, thread through position for tumbling

Tumbling

• 4 somersauts
• 4 Lateral Roll to Half Kneel L and R
• 4 Ukemi rolls L and R
• 10 bear crawls F and B
• 4 Cartwheels L and R

Get Ups

• 10 TGU's R and L
  1. 10 kg x 1 ea
  2. 12 kg x 2 ea
  3. 14 kg x 1 ea
  4. squeeze in Double KB Clean and Front Squat warm up set
  5. 16 kg x 1 ea

• dumped seeds on porch railings for bluejays, realizing I was defeating the point of my warm up but non-the-less enjoying the cool morning air :)

Mike Perry's Armor-building workout with sandbags!

Skill Of Strength Armor Building 101

43 lb Sandbag

Perform 5 cleans Perform 5 squats Carry the sandbag 5 yds

Perform 4 cleans Perform 4 squats Carry the sandbag 5 yds

Perform 3 cleans Perform 3 squats Carry the sandbag 5 yds

Perform 2 cleans Perform 2 squats Carry the sandbag 5 yds

Perform 1 clean Perform 1 squat

Repeat this x3 (Rested :90 bewtween rounds)

  Beginners rest :90 to 2 min
  Intermediate rest :60 to :90
  Advanced rest :30

This workout is 100% inspired by Dan John's Armor Building program

• sip 6-8 oz black coffee while reading the news
• start laundry
• warm up
  • deep breathing while stretching back, neck, groin
  • practice head tuck, thread through position for tumbling

• 3 somersauts
• 2 lateral shoulder rolls L and R
• 2 Ukemi rolls L and R
• 10 bear crawls F and B
• 3 Cartwheels L and R

• 10 TGU's R and L
  1. 10 kg x 1 ea
  2. 12 kg x 2 ea
  3. 14 kg x 1 ea
  4. squeeze in Double KB Clean and Front Squat warm up set
  5. 16 kg x 1 ea

• Bathroom break
• dumped seeds on porch railings for bluejays, realizing I was defeating the point of my warm up but non-the-less enjoying the cool morning air :)

1. 5 x 14 kgs (2nd warm up set), rest
2. 5 x 16 kgs, rest
3. 5 x 16 kgs, rest
4. 5 x 16 kgs, rest
5. 5 x 16 kgs, rest
6. 5 x 16 kgs, done!

• Notes
  • When I attempted this 2 days ago I was only able to do 4 x 5 at 16 kgs. I also 5 pullups between ea set and rested a lot. I also used the rest time to work on my computer (while standing slouched over my desk). I'm not sure what did it, but I tweaked my mid-upper back. I tried stretching, breathing it out but it persisted for 24+ hours. So this time I took out the pullups and walking around rather than doing computer work (which sounds pretty damn obvious in hindsight).

This is the first few movements of a form I teach to my beginner students. It comes from Wudang Mountain in Hubei, China. I learned it from my teacher, Henry Lee, who learned it from Shifu Zhou Zuan Yun. You can watch Henry on Youtube performing for World Tai Chi Day.

You’ve probably noticed that when you wake up your face is a little puffy. Or maybe your ring won’t budge on your finger. While severe inflammation could be an indication of more serious issues, a little inflammation during sleep is normal. It does, however, mean that our joints are more vulnerable to strain and injury in the morning. Especially if those joints are misused or overused throughout the day. A stiff back, for example, that is under constant strain due to prolonged sitting or bad posture during the day, is more likely to become inflamed overnight. This is part of the reason why someone might “throw their back out” over something as innocent as putting on their pants in the morning.

Regardless of how we use our joints during the day, we move less at night and fluids pool around some of our joints until we move again. In addition, cortisol, a naturally occurring anti-inflammatory hormone, decreases at night. This is why it’s so important to gradually take the body through varied and widening ranges of motion upon waking. Movement pushes fluids throughout the body, relieving particularly swollen joints and nourishing others.

I’ve designed my Morning Mobility class to get your joints moving through progressive ranges of motion and to engage your supportive muscular system. We always start out with the second most important muscle after the heart: the diaphragm. After some diaphragmatic breathing and some floor based stretches we end with standing mobility work to get you ready to go about your day. None of this is rocket science - but I craft each class carefully based on what I have learned over more than a decade of studying and teaching mobility. 

The best way to take my class is to sign up here and log on Monday mornings at 6:30 am. But if that time doesn’t work for you, sign up anyway I’ll send you a recording of the class.

All proceeds for the month of August go to Hemophilia Alliance of Maine.

To our health!

-Tara