Welcome to the Hampton Fitness Newsletter for May 2019. We are so excited to share with you this month’s interview with Michael Lee at Vahalla MMA.
Hampton Fitness and Hero Strength are proud to sponsor the T3 Challenge Valhalla MMA 6 WEEK TRAINING/DIET CAMP.
Wishing all of the teams luck for optimum improvements in body composition measurements. Go get that muscle mass!
We donated some of our Hero Plyo Boxes, fit bands and medicine balls for this challenge and can’t wait to see the results of those who are participating.
Q: Can you tell us your gym location and your role at the location?
A: Valhalla is located in Downtown Santa Barbara, CA at 1113 State St.
Q: What is your background and how did you get your start?
A: I have been athletically competitive as a College Decathlete and professional fighter in Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts between 1988 to 2005. In 2007 I expanded my martial arts facility to start addressing the fitness goals of its members. In 2010 we changed from having simple classes to performance-style boot camps to help athletes with their performance.
Q:What sort of membership do you have at your club?
A: Most of our members sign up for martial art fitness classes based on Kickboxing or MMA. We have several boot camps that we offer and a conditioning circuit (HIIT based); anybody can join in at their convenience, which changes every other week.
Q: Is there a particular clientele that join or is it pretty diverse?
A: We have a diverse group of members from kids as young as 4 and several members over the age of 70. We also have professional and amateur athletes.
Q: Who are your training staff made up of?
A: Our staff have various backgrounds in basic fitness and conditioning, Crossfit and martial art background.
Q: What sort of qualities do you look for in gym equipment?
A: Most of the equipment we look for should be both aesthetically pleasing, functional and of high quality. The equipment should last a few years under reasonable use.
Q: How do you see your side of the industry growing and developing in the recent years?
A: With the rise in popularity of Mixed Martial Arts we find ourselves in a very unique situation to be able to cater to those seeking to enter into the sport and those who just want to learn it as a hobby.
Q: What is a typical workout like for you?
A: The workouts I’ve created were designed to reasonably push an individual through anaerobic conditioning while still hitting a reasonable cardio goal. Most of the routines last anywhere between 45 minutes to 1.5 hours ending with a 6 minute core workout. There’s usually an element of plyometrics, weight lifting and HIIT training within that time.
Q: If you have a motto (fitness or otherwise) what would it be?
A: You’re only a loser if you don’t learn from your losses.
Q: Can you tell us your 6 WEEK Challenge (Training/Diet) Camp? And how our Hero Strength equipment fits into that?
A: Our six week fitness camp is a team-based competition where 5 members work together to accumulate the most points possible. The main idea is to change your lean muscle mass and if you change it to the positive and weight and inches gain earn points for your team. Workouts earn points for your team. Logging your food intake earns points for your team. Our favorite Hero Strength equipment is the plyometric boxes. Unlike other facilities, certain areas of our facility members don’t wear sneakers, so using normal plyo boxes, which were generally hard on the feet, allow members to utilize them without injury. Whenever we look for equipment, we love turning to Hero Strength because we know we are going to get good quality equipment.
Thank you, Michael for taking the time to be interviewed! See the photos below of the Vahalla MMA gym located in Santa Barbara, California.
