Superfit: Royce Gracie's Ultimate Martial Arts Fitness and Nutrition Guide (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu series) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Don't take 3 stars the wrong way. 3 stars is good but not great. People reviewing here tend to give 5 stars to anything they personally like.

This book is Royce's personal training programs.
Its split into sections:
Stretching, abs, cardio, weights, plyometric, power, programs, diet

The stretching routine is Gracie's personal routine and is a 1 person full body routine, paying special attention to the hips, quads, and hamstrings (this is good, most guys tend to be tight in the hips, and what martial artist doesn't want to work toward the full splits!). It also has a section showing some good 2 person stretches.

The abs routine is the ONLY jiu-jitsu/grappling specific area of the book. Many of the ab exercises are done from various guard position (feet wrapped around someones waist, or feet under the inside of the thighs). These include twisting motions and full situps while hanging off someone standing up.
Good stuff.

The cardio section is short and doesn't feature many alternate ways to do your cardio workouts.

The weights routines are nothing special or unique, just a large list of the standard body building/strength training exercises you see 99% of people doing at every gym (not that this is bad, just don't expect secret sports specific exercises)

The plyometric and power (ie explosiveness) is an interesting read, but much of it is done with a trainer holding the attached bungee cords, providing resistance. A solo option is given - wear a weight vest - but I like most people don't have a trainer with cords, or a weight vest....
Other exercises like box jumps are good, if you have really high platforms to jump onto...
Still, this is Royce's PERSONAL exercise program so you are seeing what the champ himself does.

Included are exercise plans for beginner, intermediate and advanced as well as information about the Gracie family diet and information on what Royce himself does.

Its a good exercise book and is interesting to see how Royce trains. I was suprised it had so little sports specific (grappling) exercises because it is possible to combine the two.
You can see some of this in Choke (the documentary on older brother Rickson) and in Scott Sonnon's Grapplers Toolbox, Body Flow, and Prasara DVDs.

Personally the main thing I'll take from this is the 1 man stretching routine which is quite good and I'll have to disagree with another reviewer who said the routine is good but not worth the price of the book alone. I think it is!

Hope this helps you.

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Product Description:
Royce Gracie has teamed up with James Strom, fitness coach for Keyshawn Johnson, Serena Williams, and the University of Southern California Trojans, to create a customized program for martial artists. This unique program of strength training, cardiovascular routines, flexibility exercises, and nutrition includes step-by-step, full-color workout plans for beginner, intermediate, and black-belt practitioners. Provided are guidelines for working out solo or with a partner, information on complete nutritional programs for different body types and martial art styles, and injury-prevention tips. This book is appropriate for beginning martial artists wanting to sharpen their bodies and minds, black-belt instructors looking for new ways to improve and motivate their students, or anyone interested in building a body of extreme effectiveness.

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