This Week at Horsepower Strength Minneapolis: Building Muscle and Aerobic Capacity to Handle the Rig
Over the past month and a half, my focus at Horsepower Strength and Conditioning in Minneapolis, MN has been on adding as much muscle as possible while simultaneously building my aerobic conditioning as I prepare to go train at Sitmonchai. Through the Warrior Program at Horsepower, we've worked toward this goal by splitting the workouts between heavy weight lifting, explosive weight lifing, and ending with intense aerobic and anaerobic conditioning circuits.
My main concern with the Thailand training is the duration of the training sessions and how well my body will hold up. The Thais train twice a day for approximately 3 hours each session. For two weeks, I'll be waking up before sunrise, running 5-10K as a warm-up, then hitting mitts with a trainer for rounds, working strikes on the heavy bag, and working technique with trianing partners. I'll then repeat this process in the afternoon before finishing the day with lots of clinch work. I expect this to be a grueling, but eye-opening experience.
A main component of the conditioning program that I believe will help with my transition to the training in Thailand is the longer running work we do at Horsepower. To finish my workout on Friday, I ran 12 200 yard sprints for time. Each sprint needed to be completed in under 30 seconds. I've also added longer runs to my training regimen so I can better deal with the heavy legs that I'm sure to feel after the warm-up runs.
