RED2

The modern exercise and sporting world teems with problems, many associated with a sedentary culture and still others with poor information available in much of the mainstream. The latter issue is further complicated due to the commercial aspects of the business that has lead to endless stereotyping. Whereas the history of physical culture respected diversity of activities, the present day typecasts individual into firm marketing niches. In the end, the public suffers because they do not understand the full spectrum of a healthy, active lifestyle and prone to becoming less active, ultimately, in a circuitous fashion, leading to a sedentary culture that we have today.

For the dedicated, regardless of your goals, it is important to embrace the entire spectrum of "physical culture". This notation will be a surprise to some because while we have extraordinary information available, how many take their diet as serious as training and show concern with the quality of food the same way as their training protocols? Truthfully, few do yet to be truly successful in attaining your goals you must incorporate all measures as there is no “one thing” as the “one thing is the whole thing”.

Athletic development has many different vantages to start from but one clear-cut point is to abandon stereotyping that is extremely prevalent. While that is a very difficult challenge, it is an absolute fact that many athletes find their development dwarfed because planning ignored issues likely due to this issue. Two most glaring areas of concern is range of motion, where males often ignored with important component as well as fitness levels, each structurally key in an individuals development.

This problem is equally the exact opposite of how elite athletes deal with their training, even if they do not reveal the full extent to the public. Speaking to a good friend of mine, who must remain nameless but is a household name in the “extreme sport” community, he mentioned how his fan base would be shocked how his training measures include things typically considered less “hard core”, such as yoga, an adult gymnastic class and dance. While the public will never see that in the endless publicity machine, the broad brush of athletic efforts helps make him one of the worlds finest in his discipline.

Eventually this gets to the point that exercise, regardless of your goal, keeps coming back to understanding human movement and applying yourself correctly. This applies to whether you are an athlete training for sport, a bodybuilder for size and symmetry or likely the finest example of understanding human movement, a dancer.

In my opinion, dance is the ultimate of athletic tests, as it combines not only the artistic aspect of the performer but a stunning combination of myriad of attributes including power and grace. Dance’s long history in the sweet science of Boxing is well known and it is cornerstone of many sports but few seem to understand its direct relationship to the iron game. Pushing aside the artistic component, one viewing of dancer in their craft is turning point for any athlete, coach or trainer has they begin to understand what is possible and for that matter, hopefully break down the barriers of stereotyping athletic pursuits. While watching my friend Lisa Lewolt dance it is evident her extraordinary passion and dedication for the art but equally and this comes from a lifetime of dealing with elite level sport that few can imagine, she is a cut above with explosive power and strength that few can rival. There is a lot to be learnt from dance but it starts from recognizing a need for broader athletic develop.

How this relates to the modern iron game is a key for its future because with so remarkable training conditions available and cutting-edge nutrition, lifters need to break away from stereotypical training and incorporate approaches outside the typical efforts in marketing. Elements such as RED² and DMC™ that promotes higher work threshold, improved movement generation as well as denser musculature and need to be incorporated as well as range of motion, that along with proper diet and supplementation will enhance recovery. Should the modern iron game do this, then lifters years from now will be talking of this era as the great revival.

Prepared by John Davies

Photo: John Davies performing RED2 side lunge in "Pink, les séances de Paris"

John Davies is personally available on Facebook or Twitter, as well as  Renegade Training™'s Facebook page.

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should it be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk.

Among my many athletic exploits has been a series of potential career ending injuries that, in many ways, can be considered a blessing in disguise. Learning through survival and return, I first hand have understood the notion that “adversity is something you overcome”. While the stories of my injuries, much-less the journey of how they occurred is a book in itself, one of the great legacies is the need to develop unique methods to navigate around severe problems and rehabilitation approaches.

Of particular interest, the development of RED² occurred during the early phase of producing DMC™ to serve as a conduit to “re-educate” proper movement patterns. DMC™ is a
unique dance based paradigm that can serve the most fundamental user in their earliest stage to the most advanced. From the earliest static holds, the movements quicken to a rapid action more reminiscent of folk or urban dance. Though that is the briefest of summaries for a nine-stage program that will take three quadrennials of dedication training, the earliest stages represent a massive hurdle as the individual must be “re-wired” to moving properly, with a mixture of fluidity, power and grace.

This realisation, along with generalized rehabilitation concerns created RED², again a broad based program that for the
first three-plus levels works with DMC™ before merging into the system when overall tempo and syncopation increases. What athletes, many who consider themselves upwards of “elite level”, realise quickly with RED² is that their projection of movement has been less than optimal and after re-tooling overall explosive speed and power dramatically rises.

The factors why RED² has such dramatic impact is far and wide, though I feel it deals primarily with poor overall foot strength, gait, a lack of hip and hamstring flexibility, weakness in the
core and posterior chain of muscles, inadequate muscular endurance and work threshold as well as basic issue of carrying too much bodyweight. While each of these issues should be dealt in separate, RED2 serves as a perfect addition to every training regime or goal, can be performed anywhere, requires no specialized equipment.

From an obvious observation the earliest stages of the overall program sees DMC™ as a floor-based system, whereas RED2 is upright. In the first stage of RED2 presented below, extreme care
must be taken that movements are performed correctly to finite level. Failure to do so and further stages, that include very progressive
actions such as “flares” will not be possible and the individual will need to address weak spots from the start. In every aspect, the individual must remain focused during training but equally fluid and relaxed to condition them to the eventual extremely rapid beat, reflective of the musicology of the regime.

The latter aspect is likely one of the most challenging and best served with a forthcoming book but the entire DMC™ and system is developed within musical notation. The early cadence of RED2 is without question a march, with particular action on a "true" lunge where you step out and not slide. At all times the individual should be able to maintain body position under duress and virtually be able to stop and hold the move for extended periods.

In this brief look at the first stage of RED² the plan contains five basic lunges:

• Forward
• Forward with twist
• (repeat above backwards)
• “Toy Soldier”
• Side

Each commences with high knee lift, as in Rx1, without shifting of the overall body, plant legged locked and movement projected in the big toe driving into the ground.

After a period of accommodating to the workout, perform each movement such that the entire RED² section is three to five, six-minute segments.

prepared by John Davies
photos credit: John Davies in the DVD "Pink, les séances de Paris" from Renegade Style Productions scheduled for release in late 2011.

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s, Google+, Renegade Training™ on Google+ as well as or Twitter.

John’s present supplement stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Yok3d, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle (workout log 1, 2, 3, 4).

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk.