The Christmas Holidays are here, and while many of you may be taking a hard-earned break from training, I'm sure some of you want to stay active and maintain your skills and conditioning over the holidays. Bellow are some training ideas which you can use to stay sharp during the break, and everything can be done at home, so no excuses!

General Fitness/Combat Conditioning:

Choose five of your favourite bodyweight exercises (or use weights if they are available). The protocol is, you perform each exercise as intensely as you can for one minute, then move onto the next one until you've completed a five minute round. Rest for one minute, then complete another round. Complete three to five rounds (15 to 25 minutes working time) for a short but intense workout. An example circuit is as follows:

- Push ups [1min]
- Burpees [1 min]
- Bodyweight Squat [1 min]
- Prone hold/ bridge [1 min]
- Squat jumps [1 min]

Grappler's Workout:

Use your time away from the gym to fine-tune important skills that you may neglect during a normal training week. Use a similar protocol as the circuit above, but substitute grappling-specific movements, and perform each for 2 minutes at a time. Some useful movements/exercises for grapplers include hip escapes, shoulder escapes, sit-outs, Judo push ups and bridges.

If you have a Swiss ball/stability ball handy, use it to practice your knee-ride. Not only will it improve your balance and coordination as the ball moves, but will also engage your core for a great workout. A punching bag placed on the ground can be used to mimic an opponent, allowing you to practice transitions from side control, knee ride, mount etc. Flow between all positions, using good technique to keep your mind and body sharp over the break.

Striker's Workout:

Like the Grappling workout above, use the break as a time to drill fundamental skills, and iron out any wrinkles you may have. Start with some shadow boxing, but instead of endless combinations, limit yourself at first to a jab and a cross. Focus on perfect technique, keeping the punches straight, whipping them out and back. For even more technical focus, place a tennis ball between your chin and collar-bone of your lead shoulder. Now do your shadow boxing rounds without letting the ball fall out, which will make sure you're keeping your chin down!

For more specific striking conditioning, perform a set combination for one entire round. During the 1 minute round break, perform a bodyweight exercise. Choose a different combination for the next round, and follow this circuit for four to six rounds. This will push your cardio, and by devoting an entire round to a single combination, your rate of improvement of that technique will be much faster. Just never sacrifice good technique as go get tired! An example is as follows.

- Round 1: Jab, cross, hook [3 min]
- Sit ups [1 min]
- Round 2: Jab, Jab, Cross [3 min]
- Push ups [1 min]
- Jab, Cross, Uppercut, Cross [3 min]
- Bodyweight squats [1min]

So as you can see, there's no excuses to lose skill and conditioning over the break. Remember to take enough rest to heal up any niggling injuries so you come back fresh and strong for 2011!!!