The Toughen Up Doctrine
In this post, I will share the doctrine of Toughen Up—a compass that ensures every action and endeavor you undertake is not just efficient, but effective in the process of achieving optimal health, performance and safety.
Toughen Up Self-Defense Blog
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Health & Combative Performance
Heavy Bag Injuries And How To Avoid Them
Question Hi Randy, I found your articles on heavy bag training to be extremely helpful. I have been boxing ( for fitness and self-defense) for about 8 months. During that time I managed to get the classic boxer’s sprain. I had an X-ray, and nothing was broken. When it didn’t...
How Often Do You Train Naked?
Naked Training Defined Before you take me for a pervert or a weirdo (I’ve been called worse)… allow me set the context for the provocative title of this post. By “training naked” I’m not talking about working out with your clothes off (although what you do in the privacy of...
Focus Pad Training For Kids
How young is too young for combative training? That’s a common question I get from concerned parents looking for a solution to their child’s declining fitness because of their sedentary lifestyle or their hyper-activity because they’re not “burning off” their pent up energy. Or as in the case of a...
A Cure For Focus Pad-Related Shoulder Pain
I recently came across a combative training entry on a forum at Dr.Squat.com by someone who was experiencing nagging shoulder pain from holding the focus pads for a hard-hitting training partner. He is a boxing coach and indicates that regardless of how hard he tries to resist the impact (which...
The Benefits Of Focus Pad Training
One of the most powerful methods I’ve found to teach proper punching and striking skills in the fastest, most efficient way is focus mitt training. WHAT ARE FOCUS MITTS? Focus mitts (also called focus pads, coaching pads, punch mitts and target pads) are flat, hand-held pads that are about 12...
6 Focus Pad Training Tips To Protect Your Hands
I got an email recently from Gina who is experiencing pain and cramping in her hands after her first training session with focus mitts. I thought I’d share our discussion… Gina writes: “Hello, I just wanted to ask a quick question. I have had my first pad work session and...
Focus Pads: My Best Kept Training Secret
If you asked me to teach you as much as I could about proper hitting fundamentals, real quick in as few training sessions possible… If you asked me to let you in on my favorite piece of combative training equipment… If you asked me what training method would give you...