ExRx.net

7/17/08

AM:
Stretches: Hip (Warrior), Pec, IT band.

PM:
Warmup: Foot Drills, Mobility Drills (including X-band walks, band pull-throughs, face pulls)

Deload Week, 60% volume, no jumping.

Weight before workout was 84 kg.

1) No Jumps
2) Weighted Chinups - 5 x 0kg, 3 x 5kg, 2 minutes rest, 3 x 10kg, 3 minutes rest, 3 x 15kg, 2 minutes rest, 3 x 20kg, 1 minute rest, 8 x 0kg.
3) Barbell RDLs - 3 x 8 x 60kg, 90 seconds rest.
4) DB Floor Press - 2 x 15 x (2*20kg), 90 seconds rest.
*5) Body Rows (Feet on Bench) - 3 x 6
*6) Rear Delt Fly - 3 x 8 x (2*10kg), 90 seconds rest bwteen supersets.
7) Ab/Back Circuit - Reverse Crunches, V-Ups, Bicycles, Back Extensions, 2 x 15, 90 seconds rest.

3 minutes rest

Max reps 30kg snatches in 1 minute: 10 reps.

Finished with stretching, same as AM + quads.

***

Deload felt fine.

Found that my coach got a second band, must have liked the one he cut up to make a rehab rig for his knee last year. Used it for x-band walks and pull throughs and face-pulls. Nice!

Chinups - odd rests were due to interruptions by people coming to the gym.

Everything else was on target and felt great.

And my stupid nasty ringworm rash is finally getting under control. Gee, the benefits of extremely strong meds...about time. Won't fully clear until after I leave my gym for the last time. Aargh, 6 months with no full-contact grappling. At least I'm finally healing.

7/18/08

Rest day

7/19/08

Warmup: Foot Drills, Mobility Drills.

Some tests:

Long Jump - 3 x 5, 1 minute rest. Best jump 235cm, I just had no spring today.

Bench Press - 5 x 10kg, 5 x 20kg, 3 x 50kg, 1 x 60kg, 1 x 70kg, 1 x 80kg, X x 85kg (unracked it, had to roll it off myself and DL it back into position to unload the bar).

Ab Roller - 2 x 5 on knees, 1 minute rest.

Kick practice on the bags. Unknown time and reps. Maybe 15 minutes or so.

Stretches - Warrior (front foot elevated), Quad, Pec, Calf, IT band.

7/20/08

Rest day

7/21/08

AM:

Warmup: Mobility Drills, plastic bar snatches.

*Single-Leg Arched Back Good Morning (with plastic bar) - 3 x 10 per leg
*Step Down (from chair) - 3 x 10 per leg, 1 minute rest between supersets.

Tabata Pushups - 16-11-5-4

Squats with 3kg Med Ball held forward - 1 x 25
Squats - 1 x 100

Plank 60 seconds, 15 seconds rest
Side Plank (L) 30 seconds, 15 seconds rest.
Side Plank (R) 30 seconds

PM:

Assorted tire dragging, mostly forward, including sprints.

7/23/08

Rest day.

Last day at school.

7/24/08

Warmup: Foot Drills, Mobility Drills

Handstand Holds (3/4 of the way into a handstand pushup) - total roughly 60s in two sets.
Thrusters - 10 x 3 x 45kg, 1 minute rest.
Chinups - 10 x 5 x BW (84kg), 1 minute rest.
RDL - 10 x 3 x 80kg, 1 minute rest.

Finished with stretches: Warrior Lunge (front foot elevated), pec, glute, quad, hip, groin.

***

Last day at work. So my pre-workout nutrition was a strawberry/pudding/cream cup and some coffee. Nice, though. I won't miss the complications of my host city, but they were gracious enough about my departure.

Last day at BJJ class, although my ringworm is still there so I can't spar without passing it on to my friends. So I passed on practice. Almost cried saying goodbye to the guys I won't see again; actually just couldn't speak. The instructor said "this isn't goodbye, it'll just be a long break before we train again."

Just gets harder. Focusing on the positive, it is sure going to be nice to have my trap bar again when I get home, and to train grappling in my native language. Hard to take sparring advice when my brain is doing no-gi BJJ and I need to translate and react.

7/25/08

Warmup: Mobility Drills, Foot Drills.

3 x 3 minute rounds jumping rope.

3 x 3 minute rounds shadowboxing, 6 reps of walking lunges or squats between rounds.

4 x 3 minute rounds of kicks on the moron bag, 2 x 3 minute rounds of punches bare-knuckled on the light bag.

1 x 3 minute round shadowboxing.

Stretching and cleanup.

***

Sat and talked to my coach for a while about his recent fight, my plans for fighting in the US. He's amused that in the US 83kg is usually "middleweight" and not "light heavyweight." Nevermind that I'll have trouble handling all of my opponents instead of having trouble finding anyone to fight. I get the "little guys" in the US. Heh.

7/26/08

Warmup: Foot Drills, Mobility Drills

Plank: 120 seconds, 1 minute rest
Side Plank (L): 60 seconds, 1 minute rest
Side Plank (R): 60 seconds

3 minute rest

Barbell Complex - 3 x 30kg, 90 seconds rest

3 minute rest

Alternating DB Suitcase Deadlifts - 50 reps

Stretches, finishing mobility drills

7/27/08

Last kendo class - 8 am - 10:30 am. Hot as hell.

***

Kendo today was hard work, and I got to spar the first sensei I ever sparred with as my last sparring session. He went full-power, full-speed. Got cracked on the head hard enough to get stunned, and hit with a thrust to the throat hard enough to shove me back into the wall. But I got him a couple times as well, and ran him backwards with a body check then halted my motion just enough to score on him as he moved to clear himself.

In the process, though, I bruised my right heel and torn open the pad of my left foot, so I had to end it there and stop the blood flow. I felt more explosive, and this sensei is always hard on me for my lack of "flight." All the long jumps paid off, he said I moved in very quickly from outside striking range. "I'm just much faster than you, so please practice harder."
I still remember my first session with him. CRACK! "I'm faster than you." CRACK! "Why?" CRACK! "Why?" CRACK! over and over until I said "Because I'm an old man." "Really, how old are you?" "33." "Oh, you are old..." Great guy, always went just hard enough that I needed to work at maximum effort to survive and have a chance. You knew if you scored on him, it wasn't because he let you.

Hard to leave, not sure I'll be able to find a good kendo club in the US. Drying out my gear thoroughly so I can bag it, box it, and send it home by ship.

7/28/08


Warmup: Foot drills, mobility drills.

Circuit:
1) L-Chinups - 10 x 3 x 85kg bw, 30 seconds rest
2) Speed Bench Press - 10 x 3 x 45kg, 30 seconds rest
3) DB Deadlift - 10 x 3 x (2*35kg), 1 minute rest

Rested 30 seconds between 1 and 2, 1 minute after 3. So each exercise got 1 1/2 minutes of rest between sets instead of the usual 1 minute I give it doing 10 x 3 like this, but I finished faster.

Rested 3 minutes then

Pistols to a bench, 1 x 3 per leg

Scap Pushups 1 x 50

Stretches: Groin, Hip, Pec stretch. Forgot to do my IT band stretch for some reason.

***

My back, somewhere around my right lower trap, lat, or middle of the spinal errector, hurts. Tight and uncomfortable. Funny how that happens sometimes, usually when I'm NOT lifting heavy.

The deadlifts felt good. I just loaded up what was easy to load onto the DBs, didn't think about a good number. 70kg is a big light for 3 reps for me, even with dumbells, but they felt good. I also had get down really low for them, which made form rough so it's a good thing I kept the weight pretty low.

7/29/08

Warmup: Foot drills, mobility drills.

About 5 minutes jumping rope.

2 hours of kickboxing class. Been a long time since I could do it, and it's the last day I'll be able to kickbox in Japan for a while. My stamina has gone down a bit, but my power has gone up a bit.

7/30/08

Last training day at the gym. Still have what's left of my ringworm so it's not safe (for others) if I spar.

So I did some weight training and shouted out advice.

Warmup: Foot drills, mobility drills (including 2 x 10kg DB reverse lunges off a step).

*Single-Leg Arched Back Good Mornings - 3 x 10 x 10kg
*Step Downs (from bench) - 3 x 10
90 seconds rest between supersets.

Dragon Flags - 4 x 10, 60 seconds rest

"Half Cindy" - 10 rounds of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats. 10:43.57. Terrible, it should take under 9:44 to do it.

Stretches: Pec, IT band, quad, hips (front foot elevated warrior stretch).

***

Noticed one of the guys who started the same time as me is now doing reverse crunches and kipping chinups to his chest. I blame me. Before class I gave him my ice pack (too much stuff to get home with reduced luggage limits...) to use on his injured foot. He asked if he could borrow my stretch bands so I gave them to him. He's got a bad shoulder (twice dislocated) and he's using them for rotator cuff work and band-pull aparts (front and behind the neck).

Had a great time, and thanked everyone for helping me become a fighter. Oh, and told them they're not friends, they are family. I'll see most of them again in a couple weeks just before I leave Japan. But I'm not training with them anymore.

This is probably my final post for a while, my internet is cut off tomorrow, I've got to leave the apartment. I may sign in on the road if I sleep at an internet cafe.

7/31/08 - 8/3/08

Travelled by local and rapid local trains from Niigata to Tokyo, then to Nikko, then explored Nikko on foot (ouch, my legs). Next, train to Osaka. Next day, train to Kobe and exploring Kobe by foot and cable car.

Tomorrow, Nara and maybe Iga-Ueno.

Not much "working out" and it's been damn hard to get enough calories, nevermind worry about stuff like "nutrition" or "protein." Poor sleep and not much of it. I'm looking untrained. But I've been on my feet and moving. But this is a race to see as much of Japan as cheaply and quickly as I can before I leave, I can recover from it AFTER I have the good experiences.

8/4/08 - 8/11/08

Not much except traveling around Japan. A few days I did some stretches, but mostly I either lacked the time or the space.

Came back to the gym and weighed myself. Down to 82 kg from around 85 when I left, and I've got a nice spare tire developing. Ugh. So I lost muscle on my "no time to eat" two week diet. I know I'll be back into fighting trim shortly but it's sad to see myself turn back into flab monster.