Rants and a Workout

1st Rant: The Good

I'm not much for reality television, but one of the only show I actually watch premiered tonight: Season 8 of The Biggest Loser. Apart from all the drama involved in the show, the cool thing is we get to see a lot of different training methods and get to bear witness to the hell that is Jillian and Bob working together. The pain and the anguish on these people's faces as they train raises a strange combination of masochism and appreciation in me. On the one hand, I love to see people getting the crap kicked out of them in the gym, but on the other hand, it's nice for me to be able to witness the mental change that is occuring for these people.

2nd Rant: The Bad

Also, I'm tired of hearing about Kanye and Taylor Swift! Is it any wonder I spend so much time watching anime and working out?! Since that is out of the way, on to the stuff you guys really came here for. :D

The Workout: The Ugly (Cause it's a nasty one)

We're gonna jump ahead just a little bit for an Ippo workout, because most of the next couple episodes is Ippo vs. Miyata. We're going to take a look at Takamura's pre-fight training menu. I'm sure this isn't what he does the entire time, but it's how his training looks right before his fight, when he's cutting weight.

Takamura's Pre-Fight Blitz

1. Run 3 Miles

• 5 Sprints throughout the run. Keep it up during each sprint, sprint until you physically can't sprint any longer and then return to the run, but before that--
• Shadowbox hard for 15 seconds before you start back on your run. You can bob, weave, punch, and even kick (if you want to add it in there). Just make sure it's a hard pace.

2. Rounds

• 3 x 3 Minute Rounds of Heavy Bag work. (Sub. shadowboxing if you don't have a heavy bag.)
• 3 x 3 Minute Rounds of Speed Bag work. (Sub. practicing your one-two combo)
• 50 Hindu Squats
• 3x3 Minute Rounds of Shadowboxing
• 50 Hindu Squats
• 3x3 Minute Rounds of Jumping Rope (Sub. shadowboxing if you don't have a jump rope)

3. Run 1 Mile- Go as hard as you possibly can! Sprint the last 100 yards!

4. Cooldown-

• 3 Minutes of light shadowboxing (use it to loosen up)

This workout is murder. You've got 13 rounds total of three minutes each, 100 Hindu Squats, and 4 miles to run with sprints and shadowboxing included. This workout is all about your ability to endure, not just physically, but mentally. You probably won't be able to complete it on your first time through, if you don't have previous training, because it's just so demanding on your cardio. It goes without saying that you should go hard on everything, unless it says not to.

If you feel like you are going to die or your heart is going to jump out of your chest-- STOP! You should feel the exertion and this workout should be very hard, but if you are done with the run and have absolutely nothing left, just skip straight to the cooldown.

Hey, just be glad I didn't ask you to do this thing for a week straight.

One more thing before we go. There may be some of you out there reading this blog that are in very bad shape or are pretty overweight and may feel a little overwhelmed with the things I am posting. Listen, I don't care what you have to modify to be able to get the workout in, just get it in! If you have to walk instead of run, powerwalk instead of sprint, do girly push-ups, crunches instead of sit-ups, then you do it!! You do whatever it takes for you to get in shape. Don't make excuses about the workout being too difficult, because it's not set in stone. That's the whole reason this blog exists: to make sure that people (who may not even like exercise) are able to draw the inspiration to train from anime characters.

It's nerdy, but-- damn it, it sure is fun.

That's all for today. Until next time, good luck and train hard.