Training Log: Entry 338

Squats
5X5 of 250

Notes: Form is much better now.  No more bowing.

Bench: 3 triples of 275

Note: Haven't benched in weeks, so form was a little off.  Shouler was clicking, so stuck with triples.

Pull-ups: 5X5

Note: Haven't done these in a while either.  Will build up eventually.  Rest more between sets.

Did some rehab work on my rear delts.

CoC #1 gripwork.

2 sets of five reps of 15 second holds.
2 sets of five reps of 10 second holds.
1 set of 4 reps and one rep of 30 second holds.

Note: Right is nice and strong, left was releasing a little at the end, but mainly technique.

Training Log: Entry 337

Boxing and BJJ.

Boxing
PT to start. Getting easier.

Partnered up. One guy on offense for one round, one guy on defense.

Note: Coach had difficulty managing more than one group. My group ended up doing 2 rounds of one guy on offense, 1 round of one guy on defense. Still, defense was holding together all right, offense a little sloppy when its all I'm throwing. Working on my angles and combos.

Sparred for the rest of class. Something insane like 10 minute rounds. Defense is coming along much smoother with offense. Need more head movement, but that's coming around. Blocking was on fire, barely anything could get through. Need to work on drawing my hand back and straight as fast as possible. Was getting popped when I fired. Learned how to punch and draw head back to prevent the counter attack. Need to capitalize on openings. Would spend too much time blocking not enough time counter attacking. Doing a better job of not squaring up all the time and moving at an angle rather than straight back.


BJJ

I'm sucking here. Cardio is there, but muscles are gone and too goddamn slippery to grip anything. Oh well, if nothing else its mat time.

Didn't really drill anything today rather than situational grappling. First did some 20% rolling to warm up. Of course 20% means "OMFG try with everything you can to avoid getting tapped at ALL COSTS!", hate that ego stuff. Then did some free rolling at 100%. Guard passing and escapes from bottom/side need work. Coach congratualted me on my rolling, but I think he just has low expectations of me. Still, good to get my ass kicked to get some mat time. Drilled all sorts of stuff, from bottom, back, side, under mount, etc etc. Kimura is the only thing working for me, and the ocassional armbar.

PT wasn't tough.

Training Log: Entry 336

Lifting.

Deadlifts of 330
5,5,3,3,3

Notes: Form was feeling great today. Back a little stiff, but nothing major.

Overhead presses of 160
5,3,1,2,1

Note: Down of course after the pop out. Wrist bugging me a little. Maybe more rest next time.

Skipped the CG bench and just did some rehab work on the shoulder.

CoC gripper 1 deload
5 sets of 3.

Training Log: Entry 335

Holidays are over. Took a break, rested my shoulder, ate big, and only did a deload of grip work (5 sets of 3 on the number 1).

Boxing and BJJ today.

PT as usual, then paired off and did one guy attack one guy defend. My guy was one of those bench curler dudes, and he had back problems (suprise), so he couldn't do too many rounds without a break. I ended up only attacking, not defending. Sucked. Letting my hands drift from my face too much when attacking. Worked on attacking in angles and finding my range. Doing much better than before. Was able to catch his timing and rythum at one point and threw an uppercut right as he ducked into it. Beauitful.

Some new guys joined today. No longer the class punching bag. Worked my slipping and blocking as he threw nothing but jabs. Worked on getting in, throwing a hook or a straight to the body, getting out. He was much taller than me.

Sparred with the big dude my height and twice as huge. Worked on turning my body more to the side, despite my wanting to square off. Was able to slip his jab and block his right MUCH better than last time. Only took one good shot to the head and one to the body. Improving. Didn't really land much on him, just a few blows to the head.


BJJ

Warm-up. Shrimping and crap.

Paired up and did a drill, one guy in guard, one guy tries to pass. My partner was clueless, and I didn't realize it till the drill was over, so not much accomplished there.

Worked on way too much crap at once. My only gripe with BrikHaus is that we tend to fly through dills rather than drilling the move 100 times or so to really enforce it. Different styles I suppose though. Went over the kimura from NS, knees on either side of head, kimura from side control, guillitine, guillitine prevention of lifting the shoulder, sweep from that position, and some basic guard passing. From there, free rolling.

Cardio was there, but strength was gone. All slippery, couldn't get a damn grip on anything. Spent most of my time trying to survive rather than get a sub. Got tapped to some shoulder locks (still paranoid about shoulder so I tap early) and managed my favorite triangle to armbar sub. Need to work on getting out of side control. Was taught a cool technique by one of the guys about underhooking one arm, then brining your knee and elbow together to prevent the guy from passing, then sweeping him. Don't really remember the details, but I'll try to look it up.

PT afterwards. Was on an endorphine high at that point, so no sweat.

Shoulder bugging me a little. Prolly still take it easy on the upperbody work tomorrow. Deadlifts and maybe some rear delt work.

Training Log: Entry 334

 

Lifting today

Things didn't go as the usually do because of the shoulder. Typically I do Squat/Bench/Pull-up. Today it was Rear delt machine and squat, and maybe i'll throw in some one handed push-ups later for rehab.

Warm up on the rear delt fly machine, then 5X5 of 30lbs.

Note: Resistance on the machine was either too much or too little, but this is just to rehab. Later I'll switch to bent over rows or rear delt flyes with DBs to get more work.

Squat of 225
5X5

Note: Working on my form. Was squatting 315 for reps a few weeks ago, but my knees were bowing in. Deciding to cycle the weight down and focus on good powerlifting form.

Captains of Crush gripper 1 work.

Both hands: 2 sets of five reps of 12 second holds, 2 sets of 5 reps with 10 second holds, 1 set of 5 reps with a 30 second hold on the final rep.

Note: Left hand was slipping a little, but otherwise strong. Deload next week.

Training Log: Entry 333

Boxing today

Did some PT to start, and then 40 minutes of sparring w/6 minute rounds.

Notes: Popped my shoulder tonight, so my sparrign was a little messed up.  Too afraid to use the right for 2 rounds, and still a little hesitant to do more with it.

I need to work on not moving straight back when I get hit.  I also need to work on stayign strong when I get hit.  It seems whenever I got hit, my feet would fly away from me.  My coach thought I was runnign away, but I was just going where my feet carried me.  Need to move into the blow or angle away from it, but not directly behind me.

Right side of my face hurts more than my left.  Keep the right up.

Did a decent job of circling and throwing jabs for a little, but when I was paniced, same old crap of just moving straight and leading with my head.  Gotta focus.

Was able to work some body shots on a guy much taller than me.  He was a southpaw, kept stepping on my foot.  Kinda annoying. 

Did a decent job of covering up, and slipped a few punches, but gotta work on doing both together.

Footwork is a mess.  Plain and simple.  Anyone can evade me.  Need to work on this, or wait for the counter shot.

Gotta keep that guard tight.  Too eager to just let it drop when chasing after a guy.

Stamina held up better than last time.

I realized that I'm the smallest guy in my boxing class.  Made me feel better for getting beaten up.

Weights tomorrow.  Prolly restrict myself from upperbody pushing just to recover a little.

Training Log: Entry 332

Lifting.

Joined up at the 24 hour fitness for a month.  Place sucks, but its got a squat rack, so its better than my garage with the bench and free weights.

Following the 5X5 methodolgy.

Dealifts of 330
5,4,3,2,2

Notes: Grip was slipping a little towards the end.  Wish I had some chalk.

Overhead presses of 160
5,3,3,2,3

Notes: Always cautious on this lift due to my shoulder issues.  Still, making steady gains on it.

Close grip bench of 205
5,5,5,4,3

Notes: Switched from weighted dips to this because the 24 hour doesn't have a dip belt nor heavy enough DBs.  The motion is a little off, but I'll adjust.

Grip training with Captains of Crush #2
3 sets of 5 reps with right hand
1 set of 3 reps with left hand

Assisted reps to 5 for 5 sets each.

Notes: Hands a little slippery from dinner, but oh well.  Think I might deload next week.

No neck work today.  Neck is already plenty sore from grappling.
 Won't hit the MA place.  Gonna go there Tues, Thurs, Sat to box and jits, then lift MWF, then rest Sun.

Training Log: Entry 331

Tried out the new MMA club, BrikHaus Poway.  Did boxing and BJJ.

Holy crap what an awesome club.  Leaps and bounds over my old place.  No fitness bunnies, no fatasses trying to get in shape, no 13 year old girls, no posers, no bullcrap, no excuses.  Just a ton of athletic people that wanna fight.  I have reached Valhalla.

Boxing class:
Did some PT, lower body work mainly (wow, novel concept, power coming from the legs).

Did some drilling, one partner on offense, one partner on defense.

Note: My partner was the only jackoff in the club.  Came in late, didn't have wraps, didn't warm up, forgot his gloves, had an attitude, etc etc.  Needless to say, I ended up shadow boxing for one round and then defending for another.  All this time training my no strike sparring really paid off.  I barely got hit.  However, I need to keep my head up when I bob and weave.  Got demolished by a couple of uppercuts.  Of course, my partner being a jackoff was going way too hard and claiming it was only 30%, so I got pretty messed up, but oh well.  Pain is a good teacher.  My slips were going well, and my blocks were doing decent.  Need to work on blocking hooks, too used to straight shots.

We then sparred for I have no idea how many rounds.  Once again, supposed to be light, was way too heavy.  My defense held together better than usual, but still need to work on integrating defense and offense.  Was able to block and defend some shots, slip and bob and weave, but because my partner was trying to take my head off, fear kept me from really committing to anything.  Still, this was the first time in my life I landed shots on someone significantly taller than me.  Counter punching FTW. 

Gassed horribly.

Traded partners.  New guy much more skilled, much more professional, almost my exact height.  We were going much lighter, working on exchanging, and my game got smoother as a result.  He had that mixed guard of one hand up, one hand down, and it mucked me up at first.  Good footwork kept me chasing after him and getting tagged, until I learned to calm down, bait a little, and counter punch.  I caught him with a few jabs to the face, and one great left hook when he went in for one of the same.  I actually managed to block and strike, totally new concept.  Still, i need to keep my chin tucked and breathe out of my nose.  My jaw took a viscious pounding.  Towards the end, I was finally shaking off my ring rust and fnding my rythym.  I finally stopped throwing isolated shots and started throwing combos.  My partner got tired, and I would treat his head like a double end bag, 5 straight fast jabs. 

My striking needs some serious work, but it's leaps and bounds over where it was last time I did this.  Specific drills have really helped.  Now I need to work on keeping the jaw tucked, breathing through my nose, throwing combos, and moving.

BJJ

My memory is pretty shot from being so gassed when this happened.  We did some PT to warm up, then some rolling.

Rolled with a guy prolly my weight.  Pulled guard right away and he couldn't break out, then realized I had absolutely no strength left and just spent my time defending subs.  Kept trying for the kimura, but no dice, dude had flexible shoulders.  I eventually tapped to a straight armbar from sidemount, but did a decent job of defending.  After that, I pulled my typical cattle catcher to get side control and basically stalled until the drill was over.  No strength left.

We drilled way too many things at once, but the main gist was guard passes.  The knee in the butt, then sliding the knee over their hips, then the falling down footlock and then the fall back kneebar.  Not enough time to comit to memory, but maybe I'll do them one day.

Did takedowns.  Somehow, 3 years of rusty wrestling cameback out of nowhere.  My sprawl was there, I was getting position, etc etc.  Still couldn't tap out crap, but couldn't be takendown.  Managed to pull an armbar from guard on one dude, no idea how. 

Not really sure what to work on with grappling.  Was so dead.  At least takedowns are still there.

 

This club rocks.  I am home.

 

Training Log: Entry 330

Worked the heavy bag tonight.  My form has gotten so much better on this damn thing after a break from it.  No more standing like a statue and throwing bombs, actually moving around and throwing combos.  Need to warm up better though.  Did one round of shadow at full blast, 5 rounds of bag work, then one half round of shadow to cool down.  My knee was starting to bug me when I would bob and weave.  Get those joints warm.  Maybe jump rope.

Training Log: Entry 329

Did just grip work today.  Taking a rest from other stuff.

CoC gripper 1
3 sets of five reps of 10 second holds, one set of five reps of 7 second holds, 1 set of 5 reps of 10 second holds.

Note: Keeps getting easier.  Left hand is hurting a little less.

Training Log: Entry 328

Squats of 315
4,1,2,2,1

Notes: Moved the weight up a little too high too fast.  Focused more on form this time.  Think I'm gonna do it more powerlifting style than high bar olympic, as it's helping to keep my knees from bowing in.

Bench of 285
5,5,4,3,2

Notes: Nice and smooth.  Focused on keeping my shoulder blades pinching and the results payed off.

Pull-ups w/35lbs
5,5,5,2,2

Note: Focused more on form.  Getting a good pull in those lats.

CoC grip work #2
Right hand
5,5,5,3,2

Left hand
Assistance versions of the one above

Notes: Ugh, my left hand is killing me.  Maybe I need to lower the resistance, or warm-up better.  I don't want uneven hand strenght, but I don't think my left is gonna catch up to my right very fast.

Think I'm gonna call an end to this cycle and start over again.  Maybe not, but it depends on what I have access to over winter break.  Hopefully I'll be able to get some training in at the local MMA joint.

Training Log: Entry 327

Coming off a deload with freaky strength.

Deadlifts of 330
5,3,2,2,2

Notes: 330 felt like nothing for 5 reps.  Grip was slipping.  Should invest in some chalk.  Bar felt slippery.  Hands should be plenty strong due to CoC.

Overhead presses of 155
5,5,5,4,3

Notes: Might have been able to eek out a 5th rep on the 4th set, but am still cautious of my shoulder.

Dips of 115
5,5,5,4,3

Note: Holy cow.  Tris are blasted.  No kicking this time.

CoC #1
10 Second Holds for 5 reps for first set on both hands
7 second holds for 5 reps for the second set on both hands
3 sets of 5 second holds for 4 reps and a 10 second hold for the 5th rep.

Note: Can squeeze this damn thing like its nothing.  Maybe should get the 1.5.

Training Log: Entry 326

Worked my boxing defense with the fiancee.  Much smoother than last week.  Shook off a lot of my ring rust and was moving pretty smooth.  Did 2 rounds of no-strike sparring.  Had headgear for the first volley and then got rid of it.  Couldn't see a damn thing.  I think I need a better brand than the cheapo everlast one I wear.

Notes:
+Doing a better job of bending at the knees rather than the waist when bobbing and weaving.  Apparently also doing a good job of keeping my elbows tucked.
+Did an alright job of "skeet shooting" with my elbows against straight shots
+Slipped a few punches.  Not many, but it's a bit hard due to the overhand shots.

-Only a few pats in there, and I was extending too far.
-My parries where way too far away from my body.  One ended up clipping my partner.
-Still turtling.  Doing a better job of not doing it so frequently, but it's hard not to do with no offense to fire back with.

I was on fire in the second round.  Could hardly be hit, and was skeet shooting a lot of shots.  Can't wait to spar sometime and see if any of this holds together.

Training Log: Entry 325

Deload day.

Squats: 3X5 of 300

Notes: Fixed my right knee from flaring, but my left knee is still a renegade.  Pulled a little on the inside, but not too much damage.  Just need to fix this.

Bench: 3X5 of 275
Note: This was nice and easy. 

Pull-ups: 3X5 w/35lbs

Note: Form was kinda crappy on this.  Need to master it, then move up in lighter weights.

CoC Gripper work
2,T,1,2,T

Note: Negatives weren't getting much work.  Think I'm just gonna stick with the basics.

Some pics from a beginning weight training program I created.

 

Training Log: Entry 324

Deload workout.

Deload on deadlift of 320
3 sets of 3, one single

Note: Dying on these.  Deload was just in time.

Deload on overhead of 155
5,5,5

Note: Went up pretty smooth.

Deload of weighted dips w/115
5,5,4.5

Note: Lost my balance on the last set and momentum carried a little of the weight.

Non-deload of gripper.  CoC 1.  5 second holds per rep with a 10 second hold on the last rep of every set.

Note: Getting easier and easier each and every time.

Training Log: Entry 323

Squats of 300
5,5,5,4,3

Note: Need to warm up better.  Was dying.  Noticed my knees bowing in, so worked on that.  At the end, my weight was shifting forward and my shoudler and forearm locked up.  Need to polish my form.

Bench of 275
5,5,5,3,3

Note: Smooth.

Pull-ups with 35lbs
5,5,5?,3,3

Note: Forgot what I did on my third set.  4 or 3.  Still, going up.

CoC 2
Managed 5 reps with right hand and 2 with left.  Making progress.  Did negatives for the rest.

Training Log: Entry 322

Got my ass kicked by my fiancee tonight.  Did some "no strike sparring", where I could only defend while she could throw serious bombs at me.  It's been too long since I've been hit hard, I was acting like a rookie.  First few hits triggered that "anger" instinct, but once I got over that I started thinking a little more.  Starting working my slipping, bobbing and weaving in there.  It's so tricky because of all the overhands she throws.  Really hard to work much of a defense.  Threw in a few blocks but she'd just draw my turtle and then go for the body.  Tried working the footwork, but she'd just keep on following.  Very powerless, but helped get back in the swing of things.  Did 3 rounds, and towards the 3rd I finally shook off most of my ring rust.  Used the parry in combination with the circular step to start evading better, however it ended up turning into a left hook (oops).  Dropped into a flicker stance and did a better job of slipping.  Need to do this more.

The top of my head hurts way more than my face, so at least I'm taking shots where they're supposed to go.

Training Log: Entry 321

Deadlifts 5x5 of 320

Note: I did it, but it was plenty ugly.  Getting too eager to move up.  Gonna stick with the weight for one last workout and make it smooth.

Overhead presses of 155
5,4,3,4,5

Note: Didn't plan it out that way.  Maybe more rest time.  A lot of it is psychological.

Dips w/110lbs
5,5,5,3,2

Note: Maybe a little more rest time.  Amazing the leaps and gains I'm making on this. 

CoC Gripper 1
3X5

Note: Deloading this week.