TOUGH CRITICS GIVE THEIR REVIEWS-

Posted by Doug Dupont
Strength, Conditioning, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Coach
December 19, 2006
On the Xyience Strength & Conditioning Forum - mma.tv
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At long last, here is my review of the new Combative Conditioning set. First i'll go over a bit of what is covered in the set. Then i'll discuss some criticisms, followed by strengths. I'll finish with who i think this set is best for. It should be obvious, but i'll note it anyway, that my opinion of various sections and concepts will be sprinkled throughout. You may have a different opinion, so keep that in mind. I may add some things in later on after my initial review because i forgot my notes at home.
Overview:

The Combative Conditioning set comes with three discs, two of which are dvd's and one which is a cd for the computer.

The first disk begins with an introduction to the coaches, and an outline of the dvd's. It also describes some of the coaching philosophy that the program is based on. After the introduction, the coaches continue into a warmup, and then into the first two "Phases" of the program.

The first phase is "Balance and Stability." The program is set up as a progression, so the coaches advise not skipping phases. This phase stresses exercises that require balance, such as one legged variations of exercises, and exercises with a stability ball (a common theme throughout).

The second phase is "Strength and Compounding." In this phase there are compound exercises, blending elements of traditional strength exercises with more balance oriented exercises of the first phase.

The second DVD begins with phases 3 and 4.

In Phase 3 is power endurance. This phase emphasizes strings of exercises that challenge common body parts making it quite challenging.

Phase 4 is "Fight-Specific Training." This phase offers three different circuits based on the creators' philosophy. This portion will be more demanding of a wider variety of energy systems than the other phases.

The second dvd ends with a few bonuses like how to use what's available to you to add variety and fun to your workout, and includes Oberhue's (i think it was him) brutal run up a very long hill. I can only imagine what the many drivers that go by are thinking. (I also would advise NOT stopping in intersections to perform exercises like Tom does in the dvd, considering the road was reasonably busy!) There are some other extras as well.

Finally is the data cd, which contains some further extras (some are the same as the extras at the end of the second dvd). The data library offers many additional exercises not seen in the workouts (and elsewhere you are provided with the templates so that you can add these new exercises in yourself). The highlight of the Data CD for me is the printable workouts and templates. These items tell you exactly how to use the program as presented, how to progress over time, and how to modify the workouts based on your own abilities.

Criticisms:
Here is a list of things that, as a coach, i didn't really care for, or thought could be improved. Each paragraph below represents a different point i would like to express. I will preface this by saying that the majority of these criticisms are essentially nit picks, and not particularly crippling to the overall design. I appreciate that the coaches simply presented their philosophy and didn't attempt to argue for it, which would have been a severe mistake.

There is a needlessly strict/inefficient structure to presenting exercises. For example, there are three "coaching points" and "bail points" for each exercise, while some need more or less, and so it seems somewhat frivolous. The bail/coaching points are too rigid in presentation, but this fact is merely a detail of my opinion. I find it far more important that they actually present these points to begin with; in a sound and otherwise reasonable manner. They address tempo too, which is often ignored on dvd's, but the tempo throughout is highly unregulated, and i'd like to see it cleaned up in future projects from these guys.

There is a confusing grouping of exercises as well. Some exercises could easily be grouped differently than they are, and although i understand WHY they were grouped as they were (they still make effective workouts), i think this could have been presented differently, but again, this criticism has no effect on the quality of the workout.

Personally, i think there is an over emphasis of unstable surface training. However, this moves into the exercise science realm, and is debatable, so i'll digress on this issue.

It says in numerous places that the data library contains 95 exercises, but i only count 92. Keep in mind that, even if i am right, 92 is still a hell of a lot of extra exercises!

I think that an experienced coach or athlete might not see a lot of new things in this set, but i think most people will see at LEAST a few new things.

There seems to be a decent amount of equipment needed, although a clever athlete could do the workouts with a relatively small investment in equipment or at a standard gym. For example, they have a cool band setup that i like a lot, but that i haven't seen anywhere else. The one flaw in the variety seems to be a lack in describing how an athlete could get by with no balls or bands (the most needed equipment), which i'd like to see from them.

There is a physical therapist in the introduction who gives an unfortunately edited speech. He is cut off posing a point that isnt self evident. However, in the bonus features his entire discussion is included which explains his position in greater detail. I would have liked to see a bit more on the actual dvd, but i doubt many other people would notice. And i think adding him in is a nice touch.

On section ("Design Elements") on the data cd didn't work for me, but i only tried in one computer. This may not be a normal problem.

(note from CC: This problem has been fixed)

I think the periodization model presented on the data cd could be longer, but it is more than sufficient as is. Essentially, i wonder what the coaches advise once the program is complete.

(note from CC: In the periodization form it states that once you have progressed through all four phases the idea is to start over again at phase one - at a higher difficulty level. Thus it is a never ending system that won't burn someone out by trying to maintain phase 4 level indefinitely.)

Strengths:
The following are a few strengths that i found with this set. They are presented as a point to a paragraph like in the last post.

This set is run by three intelligent and charismatic coaches. It's easy to tell that they are experienced and that they care quite a bit about the quality of their work.

The program is powerfully modifiable. It takes a lot of work to make a program on dvd easy for even beginners to modify, and they've done a good job of it.

The program is challenging for a very wide variety of athletes, from day one of training and up.

Although this set is marketed toward combat athletes, people without a sport would find benefit in it as well.

The design from beginning to end is a complete one. You are instructed from the warmup to the cooldown, to recovery on off days, and a short periodization plan. Most of what beginning and intermediate athletes need and may be missing is presented.

There is a strong emphasis on form and progression. The coaches seem genuinly concered about your safety and wellbeing.

There are variations of (i think) every single exercise in the workouts that are shown to either increase or decrease the difficulty to allow for different levels of athletes.

The structure is easy to follow and clear. It moves a little fast at the beginning of the first dvd, but they emphasize that this portion is directed towards coaches, and too fast is waaaay better than too slow.

Finally, the production is good. Everything is tight from audio to visual to chapter selection and so on.

Who it's best for:
In this section i will describe different groups and if this dvd is good for them. I'll then conclude the review.

Novice Athletes: This set is ideal for novice athletes (which comprises probably 95% of the target market). It provides excellent GPP and good beginning knowledge for safety that beginners need, and the sort of variety that they crave, all while being very simple to follow. It will give these athletes the base they need to improve to the next level.

Intermediate Athletes: The workouts on dvd 2 will be challenging, and the variety will give you some new tools to play with.

Advanced Athletes: The final couple of workouts may provide a challenge, but are not likely to push you into the top tier. This is not the fault of the coaches, as i think it's impossible to make such a product on dvd and have it be applicable to multiple athletes. However, advanced athletes should seek their own coaches.

Coaches: New coaches will probably find good concepts on how to structure a program that they can build off of for the future, and enough variety to keep clients busy for a while. More advanced coaches, or those who deal with advanced athletes aren't likely to learn much new and their needs are beyond the scope of this dvd (or any other for that matter) anyway. An elite coach should have a focus on sport science, which this dvd rightly lacks.

If you have any questions about my review, or about anything i may have left out, just post it here and i'll answer.

Doug Dupont Strength, Conditioning, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Coach

(Posted originally on the Xyience Strength & Conditioning Forum - mma.tv)