Ultra Red Workout- Sumeragi Sen's Basic Training

Ultra Red is a great manga... that ends way too early. It needs a sequel, so if anyone has connections in Japan-- make it happen!! The story follows Sumeragi Sen, who is a thirteen year-old kid trained in an ancient martial art called Haikaiken, which utilizes finger strikes to the joints of the opponent, dislocating them in an extremely painful fashion. That's gotta suck. 

Anyway, here's the workout!

Sumeragi Sen's Basic Training
(Remember to check out the notes)
1. 50 Fingertip Push-ups+
2. 50 Sit-ups
3. Practice Gymnastics- 15 Minutes
4. Practice Handwalking- 15 Minutes
5. 4 x 50 Meter Sprints

Notes:

• For the fingertip push-ups, use all five fingers until you can get to 50 without stopping, then drop the use of the pinky and do 10 more. That's 60. Then drop the ring finger and do 10 more. That's 70. Then drop the middle finger and do 10 more. That's 80. Now, bring the middle finger back in and do 10 more. That's 90. Lastly, do 10 with just the index finger on each hand. This will take a very, very long time to get to the point where you can do this. Do not drop a finger until you can complete all previous reps without stopping. That means if you can do 50 with five and then 9 with four, without stopping, go ahead and complete that 10th rep, but stop right there. At any point, though, you should stop if you feel real pain. You don't want to break your fingers.
• With the sit-ups, when you get to the point you can do 50 without stopping, you should use a declined bench, gradually increasing the angle each time you get back up to 50 reps. Eventually, you'll be doing hanging sit-ups, which for this instance, I'm going to make an exception to a rule about looping your legs over a bar or a tree limb. When you get to this point (please have a spotter and a mat under you), you may hook your legs over a tree limb (that's obviously big enough to hold you) or a bar (preferrably with a pad on it) and hold yourself there as long as possible. Although your abs may be tough enough to take this, your hamstrings and backs of your knees will not be ready. So, hang for a while and rest, hang for a while and rest... then do your sit-ups back on the declined bench. When you feel strong enough, you can attempt the hanging sit-ups like this. Otherwise, use gravity boots or something.
• By "Gymnastics," I don't necessarily mean to go and take a gymnastics class... although you are certainly welcome to do so. Mainly, what I mean is to practice various jumps, flips, and other gymnastic-like movements. You should have a mat to practice on, for safety's sake. If you know nothing about this stuff, I recommend seeking the guidance of a professional gymnastics instructor.
• With the handwalking, you'll just go as far as you can in 15 minutes. Eventually, you'll be very very good at walking on your hands and (eventually) you'll also have fairly decent finger strength because of the fingertip push-ups. At this point, you can start practicing fingertip handwalking and then decrease fingers (over a long, long time) until you are using only the index and middle fingers. This is something that will require dedication, patience, and a knowledge of your body. Know when to stop-- and know the difference between uncomfortable and painful in your training.
• With the sprints, put absolutely everything you have left into it.
• This workout starts simple, but can be as hard as you make it.

That's all for today. I'm sure you guys see some similarity between this and the Tough workout from a couple of days ago. That's not on purpose, that just happens to be how the training goes in the series.

Hope you enjoy it! Until next time, good luck and train hard!