How to Train Before Breakfast: The Great Gama
I always like it when I meet a young athlete and they tell me they do a few press-ups and sit-ups in the morning before breakfast or at night. It shows me that in the words of Muhammad Ali “they have the will, I just train the skill“.
One famous wrestler, the Great Gama, took this to a very high level.
He got up at 0300 every day and did 4,000 deep knee bends (Hindu squats to Excelsior regulars) of which 700 of them were jumping squats.
In the afternoon he did 2,000 one arm and two arm press-ups, followed by a 4-mile run, then 3 or 4 hours of wrestling.
It is funny how young males want to do “cleans“ at the first opportunity, rather than develop a great foundation of conditioning first.
Somehow just working hard is often forgotten.
We don’t expect our athletes to be as fit as the Great Gama but we do expect them to be able to squat well. The squat matrix is a good place to start:
How to train like the Great Gama
My new schedule is less punishing than this, but it has helped cure my insomnia (thanks to Sleepyhead clinic).
- 0515 Wake up. Drink black coffee, eat a banana, read/study.
- 0600-0610 Rise and shine mobility work.
- 0610-0700 Training session, usually weightlifting, otherwise structural integrity work + gymnastics.
- 0700-0710 Ablutions
- 0710 onwards: get family up, breakfast and school walk.
This requires a sensible bedtime, and no indulging the night before, which is another good habit to get into.
One young female athlete who is on a Netball “pathway” said to me “But if I train before breakfast, I will have to shower“! Those athletes who do get into a morning routine seem to want “it” more than those who are ferried around by their parents to every last organised practice.
Try doing 10 minutes of exercise before breakfast every day this week, you will be on your way to being the next Great Gama!
He is truly great and i bet he was a hugely great champion, with super great strengt and condition i mean look at his thighs and barrel torso and it Aint fat! But! I refuse to believe these numbers of squats etc Are not hugely eccaterated!
Anonymous: please leave your name. Refuse to believe all you want. Jack Lalanne did 100, push ups, 100 pull ups in 1 hour 19 minutes. Feats of strength were common then. You are a victim of WYSIATI (what you see is all there is).
Hello. I was born and grew up in England. My parents are Pakistani. Gama, or Ghulam Mohammed Gujjr, lived in Pakistan for the later part of his life. Even today, relatively unknown wrestlers in Pakistan and India do at least 2000 such push ups or ‘dands’ and 3000 squats, or ‘beithaks’ everyday. That’s a minimum. These exercises have alao been incorporated into many budokans in Japan. I worked in Japan last year and saw them. I have also witnessed these feats in Pakistan, only the trainers were angry with the trainee wrestlers because the trainers said that they themselves worked much harder when they were young. This is wha5 I have seen with my own eyes. Believe or don’t. Just thought I’d add my 2 cents worth.
Totally enjoyed and had loads of fun on day 1 of our Level1 S&C course. #learningeveryday
Glad to hear it.