SBGi Combative Concitioning DVD Set Review

Site Admin Joined: Apr 11, 2005 Posts: 1080

from: mma.tv
from: bjjprim8

Okay guys, I was asked to do a review of this set by one of the producers and I have to say I'm glad I did! Before I get into that I'll let everyone know a little background about me for this type of DVD.

I'm a certified personal trainer, a certified coach under USA Hockey, I have taught Muay Thai for over ten years and have taught BJJ at one of the premiere schools in NYC. I have been exposed to all different types of training in the last almost 20 years.

I'm not going to break down the set exercise by exercise, because if I did there would be no need to buy it and wouldn't be fair to the producers. I will however tell you what is on it and what is good and what isn't and I believe when it's all done you should have a good idea if this set is for you or not.

When reviewing this set I took into comparison all the sets that I have currently seen on the market and these are those sets or who did them, Steve Maxwells sets, Scott Sonnen, Team Quest, Martin Rooney, The whole title Library, Ken Yatsuda, Mike Mahler, Juan Carlos Santana (bands, swissball, dumbells) into combat gi and no gi, Jens Pulver I know I'm forgetting some but that is the gist off the top of my head.

Now with that out of the way onto the review.

The DVD set comes with two DVDs and one CD-rom. The two DVDs cover the four phases of working out, each DVD covers two phases of the workout.

DVD ONE;

The DVD starts with an introduction of the coaches and explains their philosophy, this is done by SBGi guys and is presented in an SBG style manner. I like SBGs methodology and the way they do things in BJJ and MMA, if you also like that you will feel right at home with this set. They explain their theory on how to build up a fighter to work out and reach his true potential, but it is done in a smart and systematic manner. The disc moves on to show you how to use a foam roll to help release the knots you may not known you have in your muscles. You then move on to the warm up section that prepares for the workouts you are about to get started. The first phase is "balance and stability" you will use swiss balls, body weight, and dumbells to perform many different exercises and doing some on one leg since this is about balance and stability! The exercises are shown individually with each one showing you proper form, pace, and common mistakes made in the exercise. After each exercise is shown isolated they are then put together into a circuit as one workout. In this section you are shown three levels of how to perform these exercises (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) This happens at all phases of training on the DVDs.

Phase two moves on to Strength and Compounding this dvd is a mixture of swissball, bands, bodyweight, and dumbell exercises. This phase is a mixture of traditional lifts combined with balance and stabilization which gives your core a workout along with the areas targeted. Again like the last phase this one is first shown with each exercise being isolated and then combined as one circuit.

cont....

DVD Two; This DVD is the start of Phase 3 Power and Endurance, this dvd is about combining exercise, using explosive movements, and building your lactic acid threshold all while using functional exercises for out sport. This phase turns it up a notch compared to the other two phases to prepare you for the fourth and final phase.

Phase 4 has three circuits on it plus a warmup that should be performed as a lead in and counted towards your time in that circuit. These circuits are a combination of all the phases performed at a high level making it the final and most difficult phase to perform.

There is also another section on the DVD which is bonus material the first is called getting creative which shows some workouts that can be done using hills outside, and some flights of stairs. The DVD ends with Tom Oberhue training outside, if you live in a major city I would not recommend stopping in the middle of streets to perform exercises this could get you killed, but in Oregon it seems to work great. You get to see Oberhue being an animal in and outdoor workout which looked taxing to say the least sprinting up a monster hill and then performing exercises inbetween his sprints with no rest.

There is also an interview with a Physical Therapist which I liked and was a nice addition to hear his thoughts on training and staying injury free in this sport. A longer self Myofascial release section that was shorter on the first dvd. There were a couple of other smaller bonus features.

The CD-rom has over 90 exercises video clips on it, modules that have some more workouts for you to use or combine into your workout, printable forms to print out your workouts on, also a schedule on which how to train using the dvds.

I have to say I liked this DVD especially for who this set is targeted for, which is the beginner to intermediate athlete/coach looking to do more functional training for combat sports. I like the fact that this could be done with limited access to equipment. You aren't going to need treadmills, versaclimbers, and versapulleys, giant tires and sledgehammers, sleds, hurdles etc. All you are going to need is a swissball, some dumbells and bands and you are pretty much set. What you get in terms of bang for your buck in terms of band training, swissball and bodyweight training for combat sports is great. It would take a couple of sets from other companies to put together the workouts presented here and that would be very expensive. I love that once you get the hang of the exercises that you can create any workout that you want with the information provided and then print it up to take with your anywhere. I love that they take you from the warm-up, to the workouts, all the way to the cool down no area is left uncovered. The coaches stress form and are very diligent in showing the common mistakes made when performing each exercise. I asked and was told who this set targeted and I have to say it did so perfectly, this set isn't just for the combat athlete either (even though that is who the target demographic is in this case) it is a great workout for just about any type of athlete. The production of the DVDs was top notch, great audio and video quality and no crappy camera angles at all. The coaches were all very articulate and looked veryy comfortable in front of the camera. The athletes performing the exercises also did a great job.

Now for my gripes, they aren't big but still I will say them. When they show each exercise in isolation they show the proper form and then the mistakes that are common in performing the exercise. Well, after they show it they then tell you again in bullet point afterwards which seemed rather annoying after awhile but not the end of the world. I didn't like the add in of the kettlebell exercises, there were only two but they were said to be also performed with dumbells. The whole DVD has been using dumbells and I felt they should have stuck with that and showed them performed with dumbells, also the snatch was performed rather poorly compared to many other sources out there. Other than that I don't have any real major gripes just a couple of personal preferences but that would be the case with any coach.

I will repeat this one last time, this dvd set is not for the advanced to elite athlete if you fall into that area you should have your own coach and already be doing these very things and then some.

This DVD is for the beginner to intermediate combat athlete, it is perfect for someone looking to change from a traditional bodybuilders work out to a functional workout for combat sports. If you fit that description than this set is made just for you and you should be picking it up. I was surprised to see just how good this set is and loved the minimal amounts of equipment needed. I loved the fact that this was geared towards the everyday man and not getting absurd with equipment most people would never have access to in a million years. I grabbed my bands hooked them up to a door in my house and was able to do all the band work no problem that's how easy this workout can be done yet it is still challenging especially for the beginner and intermediate athlete.

I look forward to future sets by this company because they did a great job their first time out of the gate. bjjprim8