The Armour Archive

Ok.. Been out of fighting for almost a year (wife had a baby).

I want to get back in but I am seriously out of shape. I know most of my "recovery" will be practice, practice, practice. However that is still 3-4 months away. The group I fight with is about a 3 hour drive so I still don't want to be away from the wife and kid that long. However I do have access to a full gym and was wondering if anyone has any exercises for 1 getting my stamina back up, and 2 anything that will help with the muscle training that will be somewhat similar to using the sword.

Thanks in advance.

Is it a gym where you could find an OLD heavy bag and swing a stick at it?

Maeryk

Hindu Squats and Push ups.
The squats are simple, just stand, feet shoulder width apart and squat all the way down (past the usual vertical thigh rule) with your hands at your hips. On the way up ( don't stop, just keep moving) put your hands straight out from your shoulders, fingers pointing out. Bring them back in on the way down. Do as many as you can, and do it every other day. (Warning you will be very sore the first time you do it, but it'll get better )
Now the pushups you might not want to do in view of the public, cuz it looks like something you'd see a stripper doing, but it is the best exercise I've ever done. To do them, lay down on your belly like you're going to do a pushup. Spread your legs as far out as you can, like you're trying to do the splits. Then push yourself straight up, then straight back. (Hands should be shoulder width apart, palms flat). Don't bend your knees, they should be straight. Once you're as far back as you can go. (arms should be straight) Drop your chest till it's almost touching the floor, then slide forward with and arched back till you're back to the first position. Pretty much you're moving your upper body in a circle. Down, forward, up, back, repeat. These exercies work so well because not only do they build up the big muscles like you would in normal bench pressing/pushups, but because of the full range of motion you're getting, it also strengthens all the little muscles connecting the big ones. Do this one as many times as you can a day, but pace yourself when you start out, they're pretty hard to do.
As far as using the gym goes, I would do these exercies at home, and use your time at the gym to get in aerobic exercies( running, biking, swimming etc..)
There's my long winded two cents
~Folcric

Hindu Squats and Push ups.
The squats are simple, just stand, feet shoulder width apart and squat all the way down (past the usual vertical thigh rule) with your hands at your hips. On the way up ( don't stop, just keep moving) put your hands straight out from your shoulders, fingers pointing out. Bring them back in on the way down. Do as many as you can, and do it every other day. (Warning you will be very sore the first time you do it, but it'll get better )
Now the pushups you might not want to do in view of the public, cuz it looks like something you'd see a stripper doing, but it is the best exercise I've ever done. To do them, lay down on your belly like you're going to do a pushup. Spread your legs as far out as you can, like you're trying to do the splits. Then push yourself straight up, then straight back. (Hands should be shoulder width apart, palms flat). Don't bend your knees, they should be straight. Once you're as far back as you can go. (arms should be straight) Drop your chest till it's almost touching the floor, then slide forward with and arched back till you're back to the first position. Pretty much you're moving your upper body in a circle. Down, forward, up, back, repeat. These exercies work so well because not only do they build up the big muscles like you would in normal bench pressing/pushups, but because of the full range of motion you're getting, it also strengthens all the little muscles connecting the big ones. Do this one as many times as you can a day, but pace yourself when you start out, they're pretty hard to do.
As far as using the gym goes, I would do these exercies at home, and use your time at the gym to get in aerobic exercies( running, biking, swimming etc..)
There's my long winded two cents
~Folcric

Diet and exercise.

Getting in shape was,by far, the most important thing I have done to improve my fighting. After working on getting in shape, I got back into fighting after a year long hiatus. I was amazed at how slow everybody was, and how light and fast my sword was. My reflexes were instantaneous, and I could fight longer than anyone else, including the two 16 year olds. Which was good, because I kept winning!

Buy the book, Body for Life by Bill Phillips. It has all the info you need to get yourself in mega shape in 3 months. To get an idea of what results people like you can get, check out bodyforlife.com

it boils down to this: your body is a machine. It was made to run on specific amounts of food at specific times. It will build and maintain as much muscle as you need and not an ounce more.

If you show your body that you need more muscle by working that muscle to failure, your body will build muscle. That's where exercise comes in. But only if it has the building blocks to do it when it needs it-and that's where diet, and timing of your eating, comes in.

If you have muscle, you will burn fat easier.

When you get down to it, we get out of shape because we work against our body's chemistry. Over eating builds fat. Not exercising, and not feeding your body every 3-5 hours loses muscle. So, the American lifestyle is uniquely geared to obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, etc.

To get away from this, it's going to take a lifestyle change. A portion of your day has got to be geared toward getting in and staying in shape. But it doesn't have to be a painful change.

I get up t 5:30. I have a glass of water and I go work out. Three days a week, I do 20 minutes of cardio (you can do more if you're trying to lose fat). Three days a week, I lift weights at my home gym (a set of dumbells and a second-hand weight bench are plenty-total investment-less than $100). By 6:30 I'm done and ready for a shower. On my way to work, I have a nutrition shake or a protein bar at 7:30am, and take my vitamins and glucosamine. I wait to eat because my body is burning fat after the workout.

At work, I have a stash of more protein bars and nutrition shakes. Around 10: 30 I drink a shake. At 10:31 I'm back at work. Lunch consists of a chicken sandwich and a diet coke-even though I'm not hungry because I just ate at 10:30. At 3:00 I have a protein bar. Dinner consists of a home cooked meal from the Eating for Life cookbook. At 9:00 I have dessert, again from the Eating for Life cookbook, along with vitamins and glucosamine.

I've been slacking off for the last 4 months and gained 15 pounds. I started my program back up this week and have lost 3 pounds so far.

good luck!

Oh,
Believe me..
I know diet and exercise are the answer.
I'm more or less looking for recommendation on specific exercises that might help with SCA fighting.

Hmmm..
I'll have to try the funky pushups and see how those go.
Might have better luck cross-posting this to Off-Topic as well.

I'm not the best fighter you'll ever see but..........

Get some hand weights and do curls (forearms)for throwing shots. (I hear that from all the good fighters I know) Also hand weights for presses (shoulders) so you get use to holding a shield and blocking shots again. Or while watching TV or something, get your sword & shield, get in your stance ........and hold it. (see how long you can do it, then build on it)

Running. most guy's I see trying to get back into it don't have the stamina right away.

Targetting: hang a small ball from the ceiling (your wife will love this) and simply get into your stance and target the ball with your sword. Don't WACK IT !!! It's not hard hitting pell work but something you can do in-doors at night.

Other then that ......get a Pell.

I've done these exercises and granted they won't turn you into a fighting war god, but when I'm a bit rusty, they do help.

If you smoke, quit. I hit my first SCA practice in a long time yesterday, and the first couple times I had to take a break, I was literally EATING the air as I tore my helmet off. Did alright wind-wise after that, but smoking REALLY cuts down your stamina. I can't wait to quit, I'm gonna be so healthy & rich

~Wil

Fortunately quit smokeing about 5 months ago.