ExRx.net

5/18/08

AM workout:

Half-Tabata of Pushups, feet elevated on a chair, 20s/10s, "sold out."*
16-10-5-4 reps.

1 minute rest

Squat w/3kg Med Ball locked out forward x 30

1 minute rest

Single Leg Arched Back Good Mornings (w/plastic bar) - 3 x 10 per leg, 1 minute rest (difficult to keep balance, only counted good reps done under control)
1 minute rest
Step-Down (from a chair) - 3 x 10 per leg, 1 minute rest

Tire Drags w/ 20kg tire.

Not sure of the distance, just up and down a street nearby using road markings as start and end lines.

First drag was 1:26 seconds backwards, 30 second break letting a car go by, and then about 1:30 forwards (45 degree lean). At the very end of the forwards drag, some of the neighborhood kids jumped on the sled to ride it. The bungee I was using snapped in half.

Took about 5 minutes to fix the bungee rig enough to try again, and did another backwards drag and forwards drag, time unknown (about 1:20 on the backwards, forward unknown).

Towel Partial Pullups (nose touching the i-beam overhead, not chest-to-beam) - 8, 6, 4, 2.

1 minute rest

Plank: 100 seconds, rest 1 min.
Side Plank (Left): 60 seconds, rest 1 min.
Side Plank (Right): 60 seconds


Meant to do a little more but I got a call from a kendo friend saying to come to class before it ended and pick up my official promotion certificate, so I downed a post-workout shake and blew over on my bike to get my shodan (1st dan) rank cert.

+++

I'm going to get some better rope and some chain today to re-do my sled. Loved the drags, really killed my hamstrings, but I need better support to deal with "helpful" small children. Oh well, they meant well, and I was more concerned the snapping bungee might have hurt one of them than I was about my sled's integrity.

(Editing later - took a walk after dinner, paced out my drag course at 96 steps, each step roughly 95cm, so it's about 91.2 meters or almost 100 yards.)

5/19/08

Deload week.

Warmup: Foot drills, mobility drill (including some "super clams"), goblet squats @ 10kg.

1) Back Squat - 5 x 20kg, 5 x 40kg, 2 x 10 x 60kg. 2 minutes rest.
2) L-Chinup - 3 x 5, 1 minute rest.
3) Bulgarian Split Squat - 5 x 0kg, 3 x 5 x (2*7kg), 90 seconds.
*4) BB Shrug - 3 x 5 x 102.5kg
*5) Rear Delt Fly - 3 x 6 x (2*7kg), 90 seconds rest between supersets.
6) Gripper - 3 x 10 x 45kg, 60 seconds rest.
7) Weighted Decline Situps - 4 x 5 x 7.5kg (plate), 2 minutes rest first set, 1 minute after.

Waited 30 seconds and did my usual barbell complex, but with 2 x 10kg dumbbells instead.

**

Finished up my drink, had my 5g of BCAAs, and talked to a new prospective student. Amazingly, since I had my disasterous fight, three acquaintances have wanted to join the gym. One did, one is considering it, and the third came tonight. When I used to fight and not get hurt, people thought it was too dangerous. Hope this guy joins, he's much bigger than me and trains like a powerlifter.

Took it extra easy after lifting because I pushed the squats too hard. So I sat and chatted instead of my original plan of doing some jumprope and bag work. Tomorrow I'll do another light workout, probably including my tire drag and some kickboxing if possible.

+++

Deloaded like an idiot. I planned for 50-60% volume, but realized after I finished set one of my squats and started into the second that I'd only calculated 50-60% of volume by reps, not by work - so I was actually doing as much total kg of work squatting as I did on my regular weeks. Argh. I should have just done 1 x 10 but it was too late...didn't want to stop early.

So I scrapped my original deload plan then and there and decided to just do 50% of the usual goal reps I do at 100% of the weight I did the last week. Hopefully that will work.

Back Squats: Weight was way too high for 2 x 10. That's 20 reps x 60kg = 1200kg of total weight moved, I'm usually doing around 1300-1400. I should have just dropped to 3 rep sets like last week but with my previous week's 5RM progression, or do 3-4 sets of 3 with my 5RM. I'll know for my bench presses on Thursday.

BB Shrugs - still a little dizziness, I suspect from the split squats. Bad combo.

Weighted Decline Situps - Lowered slowly and then exploded upwards, I'll do that from now on.

5/20/08

Biked 6 miles round trip to work.

* denotes superset

*Step-Down (from a chair) - 3 x 10 per leg
*Single Leg Arched Back Good Mornings (w/plastic bar) - 3 x 10 per leg
1 minute rest

Tire Drags w/ 20kg tire - 2 x 90 meter backwards drags, 2 x 90 meter forwards drags. Several short drags with unknown weight - kids playing "pull me on the tire Peter-sensei."

Towel Partial Pullups (nose touching the i-beam overhead, not chest-to-beam) - 3 x 5, 30 seconds rest.

Rode 12 miles round trip to an appointment.

5/21/08

Woke up, did my hip, glute, and quadriceps stretches.

Rode 6 miles round-trip to work.

Really need to rest this week, so I actually took the train somewhere I usually bike. I have to be serious about my recovery. Read all of "From the Ground Up" by Dan John today, that helped me focus on why rest is important.

Did my stretches again just before bed.

5/22/08

AM:
Woke up and did my hip, glutes, and quad stretches. Added pec stretches. Forgot to do my IT band stretch.


PM:

Warmup: Mobility drills, foot drills.
Deload week, aimed for 50% volume at normal weight, ME work was 60% volume (3 rep sets) up to just under 5RM. Total volume in terms of kg was about 50% of previous weeks.

1 minute rest between sets, 2 minutes between exercises unless otherwise noted.
* denotes superset.

1) Broad Jump - 4 x 3, best set was 3rd set, max 235 cm.
2) Bench Press - 5 x 20kg, 3 x 30kg, 3 x 40kg, 3 x 50kg, 3 x 60kg, 3 minutes rest, 3 x 65kg.
3) DB Swings (2h) - 10 x 10kg, 3 x 5 x 27.5kg, 90 seconds rest.
4) DB Bench Press - 2 x 10 x (2*20kg), 3 minutes rest.
*5) One-Arm DB Rows - 3 x 6 x 30kg.
*6) Band Pull-Apart - 3 x 6, 90 seconds rest between supersets.
7) Ab/Back Circuit - V-Ups, Leg Raises, Bicycles, Back Extensions - 3 circuits of 10 reps per exercise, 90 seconds rest.

Finished up, drank the rest of my protein/glutamine/creatine mix, took 5g of BCAA and went home. Didn't stretch, I forgot. Will stretch again before I sleep.

Went home, had my shake, went for a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood just to relax and enjoy the beautiful mosquito-free Spring evening.

***

I think this was a better deload than Monday. I set the volume low enough that it was easily achievable, but kept the weights high so I either matched or came close to matching my previous work weights. I felt like I did some work, but nothing really taxed me. Time will tell if I need to deload more or deload differently, but this was an improvement over my previous attempt this week.

Broad Jump - even without trying too hard, just working on technique, I matched my best jump. Nice!

Bench Press - first warmup set I felt a nasty twinge in my right anterior deltoid, but afterwards it felt fine. I think I must have set my arms wrong and let my elbows come out a little on the warmup set.

DB Swings - 27.5kg is still heavy at 5 reps, and I got a sweat going, but it was barely "work" after 3 x 10 last week.

DB Bench Press - Felt good - felt like some work, but not too much. Knocked off 2 x 10 and I was raring to go.

Supersets - with less rows done, the band pull-aparts felt trivially easy. I really think their benefit, with the weak band I have, is based on how heavy I row. If I row just short of failure, those pull-aparts are really hard and I can feel my rear delt working. Today they felt like a mild warmdown since I was at half my volume of work.

Ab/Back Circuit - same thing, not too much work.

All in all a good deload, I think. No time for a test day this week, I'll be away on the weekend. I'll try to get a little light activity in to finish my deload. Next week, deadlifts and standing presses and either squat jumps or jump squats!

5/23/08

Woke up and stretched - hips, quads, IT band, pecs.

Off to Hokkaido today for the weekend, I'll post when I come back. Planning on a light MMA session tomorrow, I'm bummed I can't do more because I'll be a pro-heavy major dojo as a guest of a local amateur champ, but my injury is still too severe.

Monday I'll be back and lifting.

5/24/08

Woke up and did my static stretches.

Warmup: Dynamic stretches.

Went to Paraestra Sapporo in Hokkaido to train MMA.
Did some technique work and then 3 x 5 minute sparring rounds of no-gi ground sparring, 90% power. Had to spar only the two English speakers in the gym because I was worried I'd be unable to precisely explain my limitations in Japanese. Felt great, lost some stamina but not much. Even nailed a skilled fighter with a guillotine, much to his chagrin. Biggest problem is that if someone locks legs around my hips my left hip bone digs into the flesh from in the inside. Very painful.

That's a big step forward, my first contact work since my fight.

5/25/08

No training, but did some warmups and kicks and punches on the mits to help my coach warmup.

Went to Shooto Gig North 2 to see two of my friends fight. One lost by a buster KO, one won by a flying knee to the chin thrown on the break.

Stretched at night.

5/26/08

Woke up in Hokkaido, traveled back to Niigata by train, plane, and bus. I think I caught a cold, too.

Went to the gym.

Warmups: Mobility drills, foot drills, and then my usual barbell complex for 3 x 20kg.

1) Snatch Grip Deadlift - 5 x 40kg, 5 x 50kg, 5 x 60kg, 3 mins rest, 5 x 65kg, 3 mins rest, 5 x 70kg, 5 min rest, 5 x 75kg.
2) Barbell Pushup - 20 / 12 / 9, 90 seconds
3) Reverse Short-Stroke Lunge - 2 x 6 x (2*20kg), 10 x (2*20kg), 90 seconds rest.
*4) DB Raises - 3 x 10 x (2*15kg)
*5) Seated DB "Power Cleans" - 3 x 8 x (2*7kg), 90 seconds rest.
6) Gripper Holds - goal 60 seconds x 3 per hand.
Left: 39s, 30s, 31s
Right: 39s, 30s, 31s. 90 seconds rest.
7) Weighted Decline Situps - 4 x 10 x 5kg, plate held behind my head.

Followed with:
3 x 3 minutes rounds jumping rope, both narrow grip (wrist movement) and wide grip (shoulders rotate).
1-10 ladders of:
- jab (orthodox)
- jab (southpaw)
- one-two (orthodox)
- left hook
- right hook
- one-two (southpaw)
- left shin kick
- right shin kick
5 full power single kicks left and right.

Then I stretched and called it quits for the night.

***

Snatch Grip DL - I actually meant to do these all 10kg higher, but I didn't realize I'd loaded 2 x 15kg instead of 2 x 20kg on the bar until I unloaded after the workout. Oh well. My grip was the problem here, I could barely hold onto the 75kg reps. Still disappointed, but I felt good with these. Didn't want to do too many sets, high volume on a new DL seemed like a bad idea.

Barbell Pushups - harder than I thought they would be, I really ran out of steam on these quickly. I tried to do them with my exact bench grip and technique.

Lunges - I really went for the max reps on the third set, but it wasn't my best idea. I did 10 one leg, and then I was so shaky on the 10 for the other leg I barely finished. Hard stuff.

Gripper - My hands were tired after the DLs!

Situps - holding the weight behind my head instead of on my chest vastly multiplied the difficulty. Good, because holding big plates is a problem.

I left the gym tonight really satisfied that I had put in a good workout, and I was really happy kickboxing, even if it was only solo work. I'm feeling like a fighter again.

5/27/08

AM: Woke up and did my hip/glute/pec/quad stretches.

PM: Went for a 45-minute bike ride, not pushing my pace, just to enjoy the nice weather.

Came home and did:

2 x 90m tire pulls.
Backwards 1:13.40, forwards untimed. 1 minute rest.
Backwards 1:14.69, forwards untimed.

1-7 ladder of towel pullups, CRC. Wanted 1-10 but my grip gave out.

1 x 90m slow tire pull.
Backwards untimed, forwards untimed.
Tire sprint x 30m forwards.

*Single-leg Arched Back Good Mornings - 2 x 10 per leg
*Step-Downs - 2 x 10 per leg. 1 minute rest.

* superset

***

Managed all step downs top to bottom with no "drop" at the bottom. Need a higher chair to step off of for more practice.

5/28/08

Rest day.

Woke up and did my stretches. Rode to and from work plus shopping, call it 7 miles total.

More stretches before bed.

+++

Upper back is very sore, probably from snatch grip DLs followed by towel pullups and tire pulls.

5/29/08

Woke up and did my static stretches.

Early PM: Went to the hospital today. I'm cleared for "normal sports practice" but not contact. I don't think my doctor quite gets that my "normal sports practice" directly involved me taking punches and accidental hits to the head. So another month of limited-contact training. The surgical incision is almost gone on my face, it's less than half its initial size and dramatically cleaner. I might escape with no scar.

Later PM: Workout.

Warmup: Foot drills, mobility drills.

1 minute rest between sets, 2 minutes between exercises unless otherwise noted. * denotes a superset.

1) Squat Jumps - 5 x 3, 1 minute rest. Height unknown.
2) BB Shoulder Press - 10 x 10kg, 5 x 20kg, 5 x 30kg, 5 x 35kg, 5 x 40kg, 5 x 45kg, 3 minute rest, 4 x 47.5kg, 3 minute rest, 4 x 47.5kg.
3) BB Romanian Deadlift - 12 x 40kg, 2 x 8 x 60kg, 90 seconds rest.
4) DB Shoulder Press - 15 x (2*15kg), 3 minute rest, 11 x (2*15kg).
*5) Wide Grip Pullups - 7, 5, 5.
*6) Rear Delt Fly - 3 x 12 x (2 * 7kg), 90 seconds rest between supersets.
7) Ab/Hip Circuit - V-Ups, Triangle Hip Thrusts, Bicycles, Leg Scissors. 2 x 20 reps per exercise, 90 seconds rest.

5 minutes rest.

BB Complex (the usual DeFranco one) 3 x 20kg, 1 minute rest.

Wrote down "3 x 20kg" in my notes before I started, good thing or I'd never have done the 3rd set.

+++

Squat Jumps - It's harder to gage how I'm doing because I can't measure well. I'm palm-slapping a ceiling support beam with both hands, hoping I can get the palm-slap higher and higher but I'm not sure I can usefully or accurately measure it. Wish I had an adjustable jumping box, haven't seen one for sale.

Shoulder Press - 2 x 4 x 47.5kg is a little disappointing, my PR is 3 x 50kg and 5 x 45kg, so that's right in line with them. The DB presses I did later were set too high, too. I wanted 15+ reps per set and only sheer will got me to 15 the first set. I set the weight slightly too high, I'd have been better off with 12.5kg per DB. Not sure if I'll drop the weight next week, change the rep scheme (to 3 x 10), or keep it the same. I overshot, for sure.

BB RDLs - 40kg was too light, I could have done a lot more. 60kg was a little heavy, it was hard to keep my form up...I'm out of practice doing heavy barbell RDLs. Truth is, I've never really done them heavy, only light with BBs or heavier with two DBs. I could have maybe done 9-10 reps but I didn't want to push it.

Wide Grip Pullups - first 7 were dead hang, next two sets were with a mild kip. I needed an "upper back" exercise for this slot and this seemed like a good choice, but I'm weak enough with these that I won't get anywhere near the reps I usually want.

Rear Delt Fly - I need heavier DBs, maybe I'll try rigging up the spin-locks to 8kg or so next time, 10kg is probably too heavy for good form.

All in all a pretty good workout. I'm really hoping switching to shoulder presses for a 4-week cycle will help both my shoulder press go up and help my bench press, in conjunction with the barbell pushups.

5/30/08

AM
Woke up and stretched hips, IT band, calves, pecs.

Afternoon
Trained at the gym.

Warmup: Foot drills, mobility drills.

"Bincho Training" - that's what the menu says. 30s/15s intervals of:
Dash in place
Full squat and jump ("Full jump")
Jump 360 and do a one-two, do the same reversed.
Tuck Jumps
Sprawl-and-Jump (kind of a burpee with no pushup and a controlled fall)
Dash in place

Jumping rope 2 x 3 minute rounds
Shadowboxing 3 x 3 minute rounds, between rounds did 3 walking lunges per leg.
Bag work 2 x 3 minute round, one round orthodox, one round southpaw.
1 minute of walking lunges (got 30 total)
1 minute rest
1 minute "wani walk" (alligator crawls, got 30 total)
1 minute rest
3 x 10 reps pushups, 30 seconds rest between sets.

Stretched and went home. Forgot how killer all those jumps are, I had the post-asthma attack coughs as I went home.

PM: Bike riding to and from appointments. Total 15 miles.

Did a lot of cardio today. So I did some rough calculations on the caloric cost, and packed away an extra 800 calories to cover it.

5/31/08

AM
IT band stretches, quad and pec stretches, hip stretches, medicine ball soft tissue work (hips, glutes).

Off to the doctor to check on some erythema on my right arm (rash from a skin infection or allergy). Told not to rub it with anything, so I couldn't grapple today.

Afternoon
Warmup: A few mobility drills, the gym was packed so there was no room to really warmup.

1 minute rest between exercises:

Chinups - 4 x 6, 30 seconds rest
Pushups (Explosive speed) - 4 x 8, 30 seconds rest
Hamstring Leg Raises with Bench - 4 x 12 per leg, 30 seconds rest
Squat - 4 x 20, 30 seconds rest.
Circuit - 1 x 6 chinups, 1 x 8 pushups, 1 x 12 per leg HLRs, 1 x 20 squats.

3 minute rest

Overhead Squats - 3 x 5 x 20kg, 1 minute rest.

1 minute rest

Planks:
Side Plank (left) - 60 seconds, 1 minute rest.
Side Plank (right) - 60 seconds, 1 minute rest.
Plank - 105 seconds.

Finished up with some bag work (kicking and kneeing and tiep kicking the moron bag), walking lunges, and stretching. Came home and emailed the RKC instructor I just found in Tokyo, to see if he has seminars and what his training fees are. I need coaching on my get-up, so why not?

6/1/08

AM: Did my stretches at a Shooto free fight (one-match MMA) event.

Diet: Today was odd. I wasn't feeling well in the morning, and I just couldn't eat. Not good if I'm bulking. So I decided to make the best of it an do an Intermittant Fast. I didn't eat until 1:30 pm, after my stomach settled down, making it about a 17-hour fast. Then I packed away 3500 calories in healthy food over the next 9 1/2 hours, including a pre-bed shake of raw eggs and protein powder and ground flax seeds.

Editing later - I also upped my intake from 3000 calories on most days, 3500 on workout days, to 3500 on most days and 4000 on workout days. My weight has been steady-high, I'm hoping to put on some more weight. I never feel like I'm lifting enough to justify really eating more, but I guess I'm pushing the ME pretty hard and do enough calorie-consuming work to justify the extra.

I'm keeping to low carb (max 60 grams on non-dietary fiber carbs) most days, my big lifting days are high-carb (lots of protein and lots and lots of fruit). That way the day I lift I pack in lots of carbs for energy and for recovery after the workout, the day after I lift heavy I pack in the fat and protein for muscle-building. Hopefully this will work, I'd like to walk around above my weight class and drop down to it, not fight at my walk around weight. I give up too much muscle to guys in my weight class.