David Thorneycroft
My name is David Thorneycroft and I am writing this article for the Voodoo Gym website. I started training at Voodoo Gym in August / September 2010, so just over a year ago. It has been the single biggest achievement I have ever accomplished in my life. Before staring at Voodoo Gym I weighed 20 stone 13 pounds at the age of 20 years old! I was a lazy couch potato, to put it in the nicest way possible, and was always that kid that was last to be picked at sports, would always have a note from the parents or any excuse to get out of any physical exercise. One day, enough was enough, and I...
read moreRange of Movement / Flexibility
I have previously written two articles on flexibility training, Range of Movement – Part 1 and Part 2. They explain in great detail all you need to know about Range of Movement (ROM) training, including explanations of specific techniques and how to carry them out which are not covered here. Repeating them is completely redundant so what I have done is taken an extract from these articles to give you a useful overview and starting point. But I seriously recommend you read and understand the previous two blogs. Technique V Purpose Here I have listed the stretching techniques I would...
read moreSleep
The human body is an amazing biological machine, the more stress it is subjected to the faster it grows and develops to withstand future stress. This is what we are doing when we train, putting our bodies and minds under increasingly high levels of stress. We need sleep to rest and recover, and is the peak time for growth and development. Therefore, to gain the maximum benefit from your training you need to be getting the right amount of high quality sleep. It is generally accepted that most people require approximately 8 hours of sleep per night, but people vary quite a bit. Also, as we get...
read moreDiet
Your diet is enormously important even if you don’t train at all. The food and liquids you consume is your fuel for life and any activity you undertake. And the more pressure you put yourself under the better quality fuel your body will require. The quality of your fuel directly effects your recovery and development from training. Diet is an absolutely massive and sometimes controversial subject which I am not even going to attempt to address in any detail. I am going to give you a ‘quick hit’ list of do’s and don’ts for the martial arts athlete. However, it is...
read moreSupplements – Michelle Bishop
The subject of dietary supplements is a mind field – it is often not clear as to what you should take or how and when, and there is the question of whether we need supplements at all. Supplements are just that – they are used to supplement a diet. They are not intended to be used to replace foods or to be used as you would medication prescribed from a doctor i.e. I will take this medication/supplement and the problem will be fixed. Supplements are ways for us to access larger amounts of vitamins and minerals that we may not be able to get in our daily lives. Food quality these days is...
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