ExRx.net

8/12/08

Gym hisashiburi ("long time no see" in Japanese)

Warmup: Foot drills, mobility drills, basic stretch band work.

Half-Tabata workout - 4 rounds, 20s/10s, 1 minute break between workouts.

Pushups - 16-12-5-6
Squats - 17-17-17-17
V-Ups - 14-14-15-14
Chinups - 8-5-6-5

***

Ouch. I get weak fast. Going to have to fix that. First call is getting back into basic form with some metcons and bike rides, shaping my diet back up (low-carb, high protein), and then hitting the heavy weights hard when I get back to the US.

But the workout felt good.

***

Unrelated news - had a job interview. Went well, but the timing is bad. They need to see me in a classroom before they'll hire me, and I won't cancel my last-minute flight out of the country (and forfeit most of the money) without a contract in hand. Catch-22. So it's back to the US for me. Not the worst, I'm over the sadness of leaving my adopted home, and looking forward to MMA in English, arranging a drop-in at a few gyms, and seeing my friends and family (especially my 1-year old niece). Everything has opportunity costs.

8/13/08

- Swam in the ocean for about 45 minutes.

- bike riding in the evening.

8/14/08

Warmup: Foot Drills, Mobility drills, band work.

Handstand Holds: 2 x 30 seconds, 1 minute rest.
Pushup Holds, top 1/3: 2 x 30 seconds, 1 minute rest.
Wall Sits: 1 x 60 seconds, 1 minute rest, 2 x 30 seconds, 30 seconds rest.

5 mins rest

Back Squat: 5 x 20kg, 5 x 40kg, 5 x 5 x 60kg, 1 minute rests.

8 mins rest

Jump rope: 3 x 200 single skips.

***

Gym is closed tomorrow, so this was officially my last day at Pirokutetesu Niigata. Tomorrow night I'm going to get wrecked with my friends at a gym buddy's family-run Korean BBQ. Beer and grilled meat and kimchee and bib bim bop. You can't out-train a bad diet, but who cares? This is goodbye to my extended family, and you can't out-train regret either.

Left my jump rope, half-full container of L-Glutamine at the gym. Forgot to leave my stopwatch - it's heavy and cheap, I can replace it in the states and I'm right on the edge of my baggage limits already.

Back Squats were light for my previous records, but I felt some "knee cave" at the top of the first set of 60kg so I decided to just work form instead. Did okay, last set had a little knee cave on 2 reps but the other 3 felt fine.

8/15/08

Goodbye party from my gym. Lots of biking around during the hot day.

8/16/08

One hell of a long Saturday. It's still Saturday, but my cell phone clock says it's Sunday.

Just lots of sleeping. Low-carbed it except for my last ramen in Japan, which meant I tossed most of the terrible food on the plane. Brought my own almonds and dried fish snacks to eat.

8/17/08

5 AM:

Static Stretches: Calf, Pec, Lat, Warrior, Side Lying Hip, Groin, Quad.

Plank: 80 seconds, 10 seconds rest.
Side Plank (Left): 30 seconds, 10 seconds rest.
Side Plank (Right): 30 seconds.

Noodled around with my dumbells trying to measure out weights for rows and Zottman Curls for tomorrow.

***

Slept poorly, I'm off my schedule....13 hours off and it's hard to adjust.

8/18/08

Warmup: mobility drills, foot drills

Can't find my stopwatch so no rest periods timed, I just used my best guess.

1) Trap Bar Deadlift - 5 x 140#, 5 x 210#, 5 x 230#, 3 x 5 x 250#
2) Bench Press (Wide Grip) - 12 x 115#, 10 x 115#, 7 x 115# (failure on 8th rep attempt. couldn't lock it out)
3) Walking Lunges - 3 x 10 x (2*40#). 5 steps per leg, done on uneven ground.
*4) DB Shrugs - 3 x 20 x (2*40#)
*5) Rear Delt Fly - 3 x 12 x (2*12#)
6) Zottman Curls - 3 x 6 x (2*25#)
7) Dragon Flags - 3 x 10
8) Gripper - 3 x 25 x 40kg, 1 minute rest (used the clock).

Finished with a max-speed sprint, maybe 40-50 yards.

Stretches: Pec, Lat, Quad, Calf, IT band, Warrior, Side Lying Hip, Groin.

***

Woke up at 6 am and did the workout. Setup took some time, had to move furniture to get to the plates and bars.

Trap Bar Deadlift - been a long time. I though I could do more weight, but 250# was hard so I did three sets of it.

Bench Press - ugh, slightly wider grip thanks to a narrow-forked bench. More room meant I could get a better foot position but still, it wasn't easy to unrack the weight.

Walking Lunges - done outside on the uneven grass in the yard. 10 total steps per set is only 5 per leg but it wasn't easy to get those. I need heavier dumbbells already.

DB Shrugs - tried to shrug the trap bar but I got dizzy. Got dizzy on the DB shrugs, a little, but it didn't last. I will try to do these heavier, need heavier DBs.

Gripper - the only thing in kg, I brought that one home with me. I love it, it's strong but has a soft grip so I can really mash it.

I decided against a normal split on WS4SB3, because I really like the full-body approach of the two-day split. I will do this workout Monday and Wednesday, and I'm going to decide if I should do a different workout Fridays (maybe metcons and Tabatas and gymnastics work) or try this as an ABA/BAB split for a while. I want to get my trap bar DL to 300# at least.

8/19/08

Stretches: Pec, Warrior, Side Lying Hip, Quad, Calf, IT band.

Lots of walking today

***

Made an appointment to visit DeFranco's Training in Wyckoff NJ. Not close to my house, looks like a 30 minute drive and about 20 miles one way. Gas alone might be $8 a trip. But it's an investment in my fighting career. I was really intimidated about training in a place where pro ball players train, but after talking to the guy who'd work with me I'm feeling right at home already. Can't wait to go.

8/20/08

Warmup: Mobility Drills.

1) Long Jump - 5 x 3, no idea the distance, not very good.
2) Close Grip Bench Press - 5 x 45#, 5 x 95#, 5 x 115#, 2 x 5 x 125#.
3) RDL - 3 x 12 x 125#
4) DB Bench Press - 2 x 15 x (2*40#)
*5) One Arm DB Rows - 3 x 6 x 70#
*6) Seated DB "Power Cleans" - 3 x 12 x (2*10#)
7) Planks - 90 seconds, 30 seconds rest.
Side Plank (L) - 60 seconds, 30 second rest.
Side Plan (R) - 60 seconds.

Stretches: Pec, Quad, Calf, IT Band, Warrior, Side Lying Hip.

***

No time to post my comments yesterday, so here they are:

Long Jump - did these outside on the damp grass close to a steep drop-off to a reservoir. So I couldn't really go full power. I tried for "high and short with a good landing."

Close Grip Bench Press - could have easily beat 125#, but I think I hurt my right shoulder getting the bar off the forks. Felt weak last night. I really need a hand-off for close-grip bench presses, otherwise I need to basically "triceps extension" the bar up for the first rep. Need a spotter, that's what it is, but I'm lifting on my old stuff at my old home by myself. But the reps felt good and strong.

RDL - Went for 125# because I was too lazy to add weight. Felt good, form was fine and I went low, feeling those Xs behind my legs.

DB Bench Press - ouch, 2 x 15 was hard. Not sure I even got 2 x 15. Neutral grip.

DB Rows - Yesterday I wrote 6 x 40#, but I used my spin-lock rowing setup which I leave at 70#. Did these and the DB power cleans in a superset and it felt good.

Planks - Ouch, my planks have gotten weak. I need to get back to 2 mins/90 seconds/90 seconds soon. Grr.

8/21/08

Usual battery of stretches in the morning.

8/22/08

AM: Usual battery of stretches.

Planned to lift in the afternoon, but I came home from my road trip (see below) and my 13-month old niece was over visiting, so really not much time to take an hour and lift.

***

It's official, I signed up to train at DeFranco's Training this afternoon. Took a ride up and paid my money for twice-a-week partner trainer sessions for 12 weeks. I start Monday afternoon. I told them that basically I'm 36 and I'm running out of time to fight, so I need to get stronger faster than I can do it myself.

Anyway, the place is SMALL. Cramped. Everything has just enough room, by inches, to fit there. The recent tour video on the website doesn't give you the impression of its size. I had to step over a pair of prowlers to get inside the place, and on the way out I had to cross a squat rack. Lots of big boys there. I can't help but stronger when even the high school kids can clearly out-lift me. :D

Anyway, I'm signed up and I start Monday. I'll obviously keep up my journal, and hopefully I can log everything I do as I do it, it'll be a good learning experience for me.

8/23/08

At the gym.

Warmup: Mobility Drills, Warrior Lunge stretch.

Worked ground with a brand-new wrestler and with an experienced grappler for 1 1/2 hours or so. Nice to be back.

8/24/08

Stretches: Usual battery of stretches in the morning.

Lots of moving furniture. Went to sleep early, lots to do tomorrow - employment search + DeFranco's.

8/25/08

AM: Usual battery of stretches.

PM: First session at DeFranco's Training.

Showed up a little early, so we just got started. I lucked out and no one else was at my session so it was just me and my trainer, John. He put me through the paces to see what my conditioning and strength is like.

* denotes a superset.

Rope Skips x 200 skips
Forward Sled Dragging: 2 laps around the building x ~75#, walking pace, belt around the waist, upright posture.
Bench Press - 10 x 45#, 5 x 95#, 3 x 115#, 3 x 135#, 1 x 155#, 1 x 165#
DB Bench Press (Neutral Grip) - 20 x (2*40#), 12 x (2*40#), 8 x (2*40)
Dead-Hang Chinups - 7, 6, 3
*Seated Row - 10 x 110# (couldn't touch my stomach with the handles), 10 x 100#, 10 x 100#
* Face Pulls - 15 x 30#, 15 x 30#, 15 x 30#.
Sledgehammer on the tire - 3 x 1 minute rounds.

All bench presses, DB bench presses, and chinups done with a command to lower and a command to press/pullup.

Afterwards I sat on the loading dock drinking water, and then mixed up a Muscle Milk/ON protein shake and drank that, then drove home and had another protein shake, fish oil caps, an orange, and a small apple. Felt totally spent, but wished I had the gas money to drive up to the MMA gym and train more.

***

Bench Press - having a spotter unrack, and spot for me (without touching the bar until I locked it out) made a huge difference. That 1 x 165# was hard but not as hard as it felt when I'd do them on my own.
Oh yeah, looking at my records, 165# for one rep is a PR. I'm projected to lift a bit more, but I never did 165# before.

DB Press - I liked these, and I felt really good on them. Did them as explosively as I could, which wasn't very fast.

Chinups - Eh, I was annoyed I couldn't do 8 on the first rep. Endurance goes the fastest. Felt slightly nauseous after the first set but I kept hammering them out. Missed a rep on the 2nd and 3rd set, just hanging there, unable to get my chin over but sooooo close.

Seated Rows - first time doing these, the first weight was too heavy and I didn't know how to rock back slightly on the initial pull to get my back into it. After the weight was lowered slightly and it was explained again I did much better.

Face Pulls - I love face pulls. Never did them before (except as a warmup with stretch bands) and I loved them. Felt awesome, and I could have done more.

Sledgehammer - my first two sets weren't good. Muscled them, no momentum, couldn't get the feet shifting down. After the second set I almost hit my asthma attack threshold so I needed extra rest, and I got dizzy and needed to sit down. But I got back up for the last set and did it on pure willpower. And momentum. No strength to hammer the tire hard, I had to do it with good body momentum and catching it on the rebound in order to accomplish it. Hearing that "last 20 seconds!" was like a dream and I gutted it out.

***

My biggest problems today were taking enough rest (John kept having to tell me to relax and wait), a little form issue from enthusiasm, and wiping the grin off my face. Oh, and dizziness and nausea during the sledgehammer drills. I had a great time. Having a spotter, having the right gear in the right places, and having your form checked and your weights chosen by an experienced trainer - it all makes the money I paid seem like a total bargain. I'll spend a lot on gas getting there but I'm already satisfied I made the right decision.

You can see from the workout it's really a lot like WS4SB as written, so it felt familiar and I didn't feel lost at all. But if I got this workout written out for me I'd never have done as well as I did doing it there, with supervision. I expect next time or the time after I'll have someone else there with me, so I won't get one-on-one training, but that's fine.

Next session, Wednesday afternoon! Booh-yah! I can't wait. I'd drive back right now if they told me to.

8/26/08

AM: Stretches

PM: Trained ground at my MMA gym. Did arm bars and working my triangle choke, plus worked with a young girl doing the same. Rolled with a few different opponents, and then got tossed around by the instructor for a few. My arms hurt from so many arm locks, but I think tomorrow will be lower body.