Review of Combat Conditioning

When I first baught this book, I couldn't believe how cheap it felt. This is mostly a complaint about the presentation.

The three exercises presented: The Hindu Squat (a squat up on the toes), a Hindu Pushup (kind of like a "dive bomber" pushup) and a wrestler's bridge exercise. All three exercises are very common in the wrestling/brazilian jiu jitsu world. Combat Conditioning was one of the first books on conditioning for martial artists and grapplers that talked about performing high repetition functional exercises. Hindu Squats were the gold standard for martial artists until kettlebell swings came on the scene.

The Hindu Squat has criticised been criticized because it re-enforces poor squatting form, which is arguably the basis for all athletic movement. If you are new to functional strength training, it could hurt your ability to learn to deadlift, squat with weight, clean and jerk, push press, or snatch. There is no progression from Hindu Squats to other functional compound movements.

That being said, I know many wrestlers who do the Hindu Squat, they are just very aware that it's a very different squat from a normal squat. If you choose to do it, just make sure that when you are doing your normal squats your are extra vigilant about your squatting form and don't let the hindu's create bad habits (like letting your knee slip forward or not sitting your butt back) when you do normal squats.

Hindu Pushups are a VERY difficult variation on pushups. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion Steve Maxwell feels that someone shouldn't be allowed to get on a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu mat unless they can knock off 40 Hindu Pushups in a row. One of the hardest workouts I've ever done in my life was at the Russian Kettlebell Challenge Combat Applications Specialist Seminar, we did a group workout involving 10 minutes of pullup ladder's followed by 10 minutes of Hindu Pushup ladders.

Combat Conditioning and most other martial arts training programs share a common bond of high rep strength training with functional movements for generating an uncommon level of conditioning. Where they differ is that Matt Furey (auther of Combat Conditioning) is oddly against training with weights. CrossFit's philosophy is that if gymnasts (bodyweight strength training) and olympic weightlifters (barbell strength training) are the strongest and most powerful athletes out there, why not borrow from both? The kettlebell community believes that there is a place for everything, bodyweight, kettlebells, barbells, just use the right tool for the job at hand. So that would be my advice – if you do Combat Conditioning, mix it up with equally functional compound movements with weights.

By Joshua Hillis
National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer
Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor
Russian Kettlebell Challenge Combat Applications Specialist
CrossFit Level II Trainer
and
currently studying National Academy of Sports Medicine Sports Fitness Specialist
www.joshsgaragedenver.com

© Josh Hillis 2005