Stairs and pain

The Dash and sprint workout that I follow when I need to turn on the heat and get my heart rate up in the stratosphere is something I learned a few years ago.

I first experienced this special brand of HURT courtesy of Gosuke Kikkuchi the former Shin Nihon kickboxing champion. Thats a picture of him below....

The workout he taught me is done at NakaMeguro Park at the steps and hills in the back. I come back to this training occasionally when I am turning up the heat and recently thats exactly what Im doing so I felt I had no choice....back to the steps....back to Kikkuchis lessons in pain and sweat.

The steps Im talking about total only 96. 3 flights lead to the "first tier" you can see below.
That is 41 steps.
The next group of steps leading up to the main park area totals 55.
There is also a winding path that does switch backs 3 times total leading in a round about way up to the main park area...see that below...



The workout is as follows.

WARM UP
-skipping high leg and hands up to the 1st tier via the path, walk down stairs X2
-lateral runing and cross cross foot work to the 1st tier via the path, walk down stairs X2

STAIRS
sprint up to the 1st tier hitting every step then run back down THEN bound up in doubles to the top covering all 96 steps. Then run back down. Thats 1 repetition. X10

• This takes about 17:00 (for me anyway, Im a heavy weight, Kikkuchi and Ishihara did it MUCH faster. Like trying to do sprints with Carl Lewis.)
• The point is toal fatigue and a MAX HEART RATE. I Check mine after rep 5 and 10. I get it up around 186 when I push it.

PUSH UPS
I do about 5 sets. I start flat and push for a max. burn out.
The second set I elevate my feet on one step and burn out.
3rd set I use the second step, and so on for 5 sets.

(Take this oppurtunity to water up at the -thank god- public water fountain.)

SUICIDE HILL SPRINTS
This next piece of hurt magic is done on the street just behind the steps. I dont have any idea what the grade of the hill is but as you near the top it gets steeper.
-Suicides with 4 stop points totally about 100 meters at the furthest point. X3
-Flat out long sprint to the top of the hill. X2

(At this point ones legs are fried. Burnt. Crispy.)

STAIRS LUNGES With single leg depth drops
-We take the stairs in 3s. Slow lunges with a focus on the lead leg and a stretch in the back leg. Do this alternating legs up to the first tier. X2
-Instead of walking down the path Kikkuchi must have thought that doing bounding depth drops onto alternating legs would be fun....and he was right. So much fun. I cant really explain this other than to say you look like a speed skater when you leap onto the supporting leg and pause for a second before bounding onto the opposite leg.. X2

(Might want to water up again.)

DOULBE LEG HOPS
-This is Kukkuchis finale here. It sounds straight forward enough....just use both legs and hop up the meandering path to the top and the park. No problem right? Wrong.

At the end of this workout in the summer here in Tokyo, its fair to say you have had your ass spanked. I feel like that every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday when I do this in the morning. In the evening I am in the gym and I jog afterwards.

Define fun.
Kikkuchi thinks its funny:



I have done the "1000 steps" at Laguna beach California, the workout that was on the NEXT GENERATION FIGHT TEAM website several times years ago when I was back in california and although that was no joke, particularly with the time limit they proposed, I have to say this is a much more hell on wheels type of thing all together.

In addition, since I cycle the 36 minutes from my place to the park I added shadow boxing there instead of at the gym, which is near by...so I cool down with 20 minutes of shadow boxing before I cycle home.
All I can say is that

1. This workout blows.
2. It hurts.
3. After 4 or 5 weeks you don't get winded even doing tough pad work.
4. You can feel this translate into gains on the bike almost overnight.
5. Bring a sports drink and something to eat for right after the workout, especially if you think your gonna train again later that evening.
   
6. stretch out decent AFTER the workout and if you don't cycle to the point of impact then jog a little to get a sweat started before jumping into the fire.
7. expect to be sore after your first go around, but if your an athlete, one time should be enough tobreak you in and after that its all gravy and ....pain.
8. PUSH IT HARD. don't JOG this workout or your missing the point. 100%. Max it out. HEART RATE. If your a big guy, do it with smaller lighter fighters or fit runners etc. Eating shame pills always motivates me because losing makes me feel ill.

LASTLY- The only easy day was YESTERDAY. Cowboy up.