The thought of martial arts training can be intimidating, especially if you’ve only seen it in the movies or glanced into the window of a local MMA gym. There are limbs flying so fast you can barely keep track, different styles of martial arts going on, and you get the idea.
But in reality, you can get a taste of what it’s like without leaving your living room or backyard, and with minimal equipment—or no equipment at all. Longtime trainer and martial artist Peter Lee Thomas, who got Halle Berry ready to go full action star in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, knows a thing or two about that.
If you’re looking to shake up your home workout regimen without investing in pricey equipment and with minimal space, he has the workout for you.
Fight Camp-Style Training Routine
The quick routine in the video below can fit into pretty much any schedule, and it’ll definitely have you sweating by the end. Thomas uses a set of 2-pound dumbbells from rē•spin, but you can just as easily do the workout sans weights.
While you want to move at a good pace to get a solid workout in, check your form against Thomas’ to make sure you’re executing it properly.
Shadowboxing: 5-minute round
Static Lunge & Punch: 60 seconds left leg, 60 seconds right leg
Pulse Lunge: 60 seconds left leg, 60 seconds right leg.
Squat Jump Back Tuck: 10 squat jumps, 1 back tuck (or 5 burpees) for 10 sets
As you execute this, or any, workout, here are some motivation tips to keep in mind to get the most out of it.
1. Appreciate Your Ability to Train
First off, be happy you can even train at all. “Train always with the over-joyous attitude of a beginner,” Thomas says. “Simply be excited just to be able to do it”
2. Remember Why You’re Training
“When you are drilling techniques, there are times that it needs to be done all out, 100 percent,” Thomas says. “This way you’re prepared for the intensity of how it must be done under real pressure.”
3. Work on Mental Strength
Pushing through workouts and getting stronger, especially during stressful times, has a lot to do with how determined and disciplined you are from a mental standpoint.
“You can’t teach heart and mental fortitude, you have to train through it day after day, year after year. Particularly when you don’t want to,” Thomas says. “That’s what makes you resilient and tough. My teacher always told us, ‘Discipline the mind, make savage the body'”
4. Focus on Your Diet
But not that diet.
“Your diet isn’t only what you eat. It’s what you listen to, watch on tv, the stuff you read, and the people that you surround yourself with,” Thomas says. “Being conscious and mindful of what you do emotionally, spiritually and physically. That in my opinion is one of the keys to optimal longevity.”
