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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
KEN SHAMROCK

To the right today, as a training inspiration, a man who steps into the cage for his 42nd career mixed martial arts match tomorrow: Ken Shamrock.

At age 45, Shamrock may not receive the same level of professional respect that he once did on his way to earning a spot as one of the first-ever members of the UFC Hall of Fame. Nonetheless, the man has a competitive drive matched by few, a belief in himself matched by none, and a training regimen that leaves him able to outperform and ass-kick 99.5% of the world’s population that is half his age.

Criticized a bit in recent years for confusing mixed martial arts with bodybuilding to some degree, Shamrock’s philosophy of maximizing muscle mass served him well early in his career, not only in terms of intimidation and marketing, but by providing him with a sustained strength and wrestling advantage over other submission artists (22 of his 26 wins have come by way of submission).

On his way to the UFC Hall of Fame, Shamrock earned victories over such notable opponents as Dan Severn (also in the Hall of Fame), the legendary Bas Rutten (twice), Kimo Leopoldo (twice) and Maurice Smith. He also fought to a draw with Royce Gracie and Oleg Taktarov.

At age 45, he is still training hard and trying to work his way back onto the comeback trail. Morgan Freeman says in Million Dollar Baby that every great fighter has one great match left in him. More so than most of his over-the-hill-but-still-active contemporaries, I believe this will ultimately hold true for Shamrock.

ADDENDUM:
Shortly after his fight with Ross Clifton in early 2009, Ken Shamrock was found to test positive for three different anabolic steroids. This positive test forced him to withdraw from his upcoming bout with Bobby Lashley. While we will operate under a policy at CT of innocent until proven guilty — given that I was putting forth Ken Shamrock as someone you could emulate in your training, it should warrant special mention that I don’t condone or recommend the use of anabolic steroids, particularly in any form of athletic competition where they are outlawed. That would go double for combat sports. We’ll see where the chips fall with the Shamrock scenario, but should his guilt ultimately be confirmed, I would recommend taking what positives you can from a storied career while being very cognizant of the negatives.

Okay, so every great fighter has one great fight left in him… Well, it didn’t hold true for me today. It was a repeat of yesterday. I stepped on the treadmill for what I expected to be a modest 9 mph 5K run…Nope. I was done 25 steps in again. My legs might as well have been pain-infused-brittle-mummified-granite. I wasn’t going anywhere at that or any other speed without tearing my quads apart like a roast beef.

Time to improvise again. Back to the stationary bike.

TODAY’S PERFORMANCE

10 Miles on Stationary Bike: 26:46

iPod songs during training (custom):
1. Miami Sound Machine – Conga (Instrumental ‘85)
2. Miami Sound Machine – Conga (Dance Mix)
3. Michael Sembello – Maniac (Instrumental)
4. Michael Sembello – Maniac (Flip & Fill Mix)
5. Madonna – Human Nature
6. Madonna – Spotlight (Extended Version Manu)

Elliptical Trainer (Max Resistance / Max Incline): 20 Minutes / 493 Calories Burned

iPod songs during training (custom):
1. Fat Joe – What’s Luv
2. Madonna – Holiday (Immaculate Concoction’s Escape Mix)
3. Madonna – Holiday (Thunderpuss Music Sounds Better on Holiday Remix)
4. Madonna – Papa Don’t Preach (Art of Mix Remix)

TRAINING NOTE

Well, I said I was going to use yesterday’s time on the 10 mile bike as something to build and improve upon. As I said before, I much prefer training over a fixed distance than for a fixed time because the option is always available to me to work harder and end the pain quicker. That, of course, comes with the dual benefit of training myself to a higher level of performance by doing so.

My legs may not yet be ready to resume their running regimen…but I will be damned if I’m not going to continue to advance in my training. I am going to get my heart and lungs in such bloody good shape that by the time my legs are ready to run, the rest of the body is going to be so advanced that an 18:46 repeat on the 5K is going to be boring.

Again, I really don’t know what “resistance level 15 out of 25″ means on this stationary bike or what it means for the speed of my 10 miles. The resistance feels pretty strong so I’m guessing I would probably be faster on a regular bicycle on a relatively flat course but…who knows.

For the first 5 miles or so, my heart rate was around 145. For the second 5 miles, it went to about 155 to maintain the same pace. The heart rate monitor is on the handgrips, so I have no choice but to stare at the heart rate for the duration of the ride. Normally I don’t take much of an interest in the heart rate, if it’s even available on the equipment. But it makes it a little more interesting to have another measure involved. Information is power, right?