Welcome!
This site is dedicated to highlighting new, superior and innovative approaches to Health, Fitness, Strength & Endurance Training, Restorative Medicine, Fat Loss, Martial Arts Conditioning, Self-Defence and Flexibility Development.
All recent publications by Idai Makaya on these topics (books, interviews, newspaper & magazine articles) can be accessed through this site. If you seek superior health and fitness methods or approaches - which are new and distinctly different, yet proven and effective - you are in the right place.
Featured Magazine Articles & Interviews
Dean Karnazes Talks Midsection Training with Idai Makaya
Idai Makaya has interviewed American Ultramarathon and Endurance Sport legend
Dean Karnazes 
- the main topic being midsection conditioning (and time-management to fit in all your conditioning training).
Time Magazine listed Dean Karnazes 27th in its list of
The 100 Most Influential People in the World.
He is probably America's most famous and celebrated endurance athlete - and is regarded by many as one of the most inspiring athletes in the world today. Dean is an international best-selling author and he's also a regular columnist for America's biggest selling men's magazine - Men's Health.
Although he doesn't look it when you see his impressive midsection and his general physical development, Dean Karnazes could be regarded as an "average guy" (in terms of his genetic abilities). Yet he has gone on to achieve some of the most extraordinary triumphs and achievements in Ultramarathon Running and Endurance Sport.
It quickly becomes apparent when you learn more about his achievements that this success originates from deep within him - it's from his mind and from his spirit. This is probably why Dean is regarded as being such a big inspiration, by so many people.
Dean took up Ultramarathon running at 30 years old. His greatest accomplishments to date happened in his mid-40s. At the time of this interview - at close to 50 years old - Dean Karnazes stood poised to attempt possibly the greatest undertaking in endurance sporting history...
It's all in the interview so read it all here.
Dorian Yates Talks High Intensity Training with Idai Makaya
In the October 2010 issue of Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine Idai Makaya interviewed Dorian Yates - one 
of the most successful bodybuilders in history. The interview covered High Intensity Training (HIT) and its possible applications in martial arts training.
Dorian Yates, one of the biggest and most muscular bodybuilding champions ever, has won bodybuilding's highest honour (The Mr Olympia Championship) six times in a row.
In this article Idai looks closely at Dorian Yates' views on how martial artists can use the nutritional and technical processes derived from bodybuilding to improve their overall performance.
He also examines Dorian Yates' own journey into mixed martial arts training (after he retired from professional bodybuilding), he analyses his views on the links between training intensity and physical development, gets insights into his experiences with injuries and reveals some of Dorian's beliefs about performance nutrition for martial arts & general athletic performance.
Dorian Yates keeps things simple - and so should you. Read the full article here.
Review: The ElliptiGO 8S Low-Impact Mobile Elliptical Trainer
In the February 2011 Issue of Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine Idai Makaya reviews the revolutionary ElliptiGO 8S low-impact cardio bike and discusses it's potential applications in combat conditioning and general fitness training.
The ElliptiGO was originally patented by the inventor of the now popular indoor gym elliptical crosstrainer and it can be used outdoors much like a conventional bike - while still giving a better workout than a gym elliptical crosstrainer.
The ElliptiGO also offers a much tougher cardio workout than a conventional bicycle and - unlike a conventional bicycle - it doesn't tighten your lower back and hamstring muscles (which makes it ideal for martial arts cardio conditioning because it doesn't interfere with your flexibility development).
In the article Idai also speaks to one of Britain's first athletes to train on the ElliptiGO and gets his perspectives on how it offers pretty much the same kind of workout as running (it was designed to replicate the running motion and to work on the same muscles - but without the impact on your joints normally associated with running). Could the ElliptiGO represent the future of advanced cardiovascular fitness and endurance conditioning?
Read the full article here.
Clarence Bass Interview - Protecting Your Joints
In the March 2009 issue of Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine Idai Makaya interviewed one of the world's leading Bodybuilding, Fitness and Conditioning Gurus - Clarence Bass.
The main focus of the discussion was around the long-term sustainability of exercises and the protection of athletes' joints throughout life. Clarence has some great insights into training sustainability and physiological safety (he is over 70 now and has been training for almost all his life). Clarence also has lots of useful advice around injury, ageing and periodization - much of which he touched on in this interview.
Now in his 70's, Clarence Bass is probably one of the fittest people of his age in the world and has one of the best 'natural' physiques for anyone his age. Actually, medical tests have shown Clarence is probably among the fittest people in the world - for any age-group!
Enough said, read the full interview here.
Flex Wheeler Interview - Martial Arts & Bodybuilding
In the June 2009 issue of Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine Idai Makaya interviewed IFBB Bodybuilding legend Flex Wheeler.
Tatooed Flex Wheeler at the Arnold Classic Martial Arts Festival in 2005
Flex is a bodybuilder and also a long-time martial artist and they explored Flex's experiences of combining the two disciplines. Idai also gives some direction on everyday things martial artists can do if they want to combine the two disciplines effectively - including the pros and cons of this training combination.
Read the full article here.
For more video footage of Flex Wheeler in action please click here.
Jules Williams Interview - Insights into Mental Training
In 2010 Idai Makaya interviewed TV Presenter, Intuitive Counsellor, Martial Artist and Author
Jules Williams 
about harnessing the power of the mind in order to bring out the best in your body. The article centred around Idai's personal 'project' to double his strength in 9 months by simply approaching the mental side of his training in a different way - through the use of visualisation techniques.
The great thing about Jules Williams' approach to working with the mind is that it's not solely about the simple visualisation of objectives in the way now popular in sports psychology. Jules went to great lengths when he met Idai to explain why basic visualisation techniques are likely to let you down when you are chasing goals that are difficult to attain - or when you are at or near the limits of your perceived ability.
He explains a technique called 'Block Clearance Therapy' - a simple concept which allows us to finally believe our own visualisations, which then allows us to break the barriers we may have been stuck at previously. What many people don't realise when they attempt mental training is the fact that you need to believe in your visualisations - and this process is often affected by numerous factors rooted in other areas of your life, or even in your distant past.
Jules Williams has spent much of his life looking into matters of the mind - with a view to affecting the body and spirit - and there's solid and factual information to be learned from Idai's findings during this interview.
Read the full article here.
Idai Makaya Interviewed by Women's Fitness Magazine
In August 2009
Idai Makaya was interviewed by
Women's Fitness Magazine. The discussion focused on personal safety for women while out running or jogging.
Being the best fighter around is not the most important aspect of defending yourself - there are much more effective methods out there which we can all use without any physical training at all.
The advice given by Idai in this interview is pertinent to both women and men - so if you do get out and about on the streets (all on your own) it's probably well worth having a read of this article.
Click here to view the full unedited article
Fight Conditioning with MMA's Lee Hasdell
Idai Makaya interviewed British Mixed Martial Arts Legend Lee Hasdell for Martial Arts Illustrated Magazine's January and February 2010 issues.
As well as training with Lee, in the first article Idai explored Lee's insightful views into physical and psychological conditioning, his ideas on the future direction of fitness training practices and a little of the
controversial past of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (and the part Lee Hasdell played in
legitimising MMA).
Lee Hasdell (White Trunks) prepares to do battle on Cage Rage
The second article looked more closely at Lee's favourite conditioning techniques and drills for excellence in mixed martial arts competition.
Click here to see even more video footage of Lee Hasdell in action!
More Articles & Interviews