Morik's training log

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by Morik, Oct 6, 2016.

  1. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Weight training

    2/5

    Weight training today (1 hour).

    In no particular order (not chronological certainly):
    Deadlifts (one ~55lb kettle bell in each hand)
    hamstring curls (55 lb, single leg)
    lateral band walk
    banded hip extension/flexion (lying on back, feet & knees up in air (shins parallel to ground), extend one leg all the way out keeping other leg in original position.)
    Banded rear leg kick from all 4s.
    Weighted step-ups (20 lb dumbell with fat grip)
    single leg bridge (other leg pointing straight up with a cook band around it, backs of my hands on ground in the band; keep hands on ground, bridge keeping the up leg straight.)

    Did ~3-4 sets of each thing.
     
  2. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    So I've been weight training each Sunday, but haven't otherwise been back to class for various reasons.

    Some of them are good reasons, some are rationalizations. I've fallen out of my routine and it is really hard to get back into it... I can always come up with excuses.

    So I'm planning to go to BJJ tomorrow & Thurs, then Muay Thai on Saturday. I'm writing it down here to help me stick to that.
     
  3. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    BJJ

    2/22

    BJJ today. It was pretty hard since I haven't been in a while.

    Started with some jogging, then we did a variety of passing drills (passing guard, various passes from standing when they try to pull guard (pass before they get it locked in), base shifts from standing & kneeling, etc.

    I left before rolling as I was really cooked after the hour; my head was hurting pretty good and I was not able to recover my breath much at all towards the end.

    Anyway, hopefully I'll have enough in the tank tomorrow to roll as well.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2017
  4. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    BJJ

    2/23

    My exertion headache that started at BJJ last night turned into a migraine late last night. It was still there (but not nearly as bad) this morning. I was feeling pretty bad until early afternoon, but various medications (migraine specific + Excedrin migraine) did the trick and I was feeling decent by mid afternoon.

    So I thought I wasn't going to make it to BJJ today, but happily I did.

    I could tell it was gonna be a rough class a few minutes into the warm-up.
    The Tues/Thurs instructor warms us up with flow rolling (vs the Mon/Weds instructor who likes jogging & drilling for warmup).
    I was flow rolling with another white belt and right off the bat he was going too hard for flow rolling, but I didn't slow it down and just went with it. I was sweating, panting, and unable to continue after just a few minutes.

    Then we did "standup flow rolling" essentially--grips, positioning, not going hard, going for takedowns when you can (and defending them), not using much force, jockeying for position lightly, etc.
    I am pretty bad at take-downs... my defense is much better than my offense (at least against another white belt).
    I feel like I always end up on the losing end when I try for a take down as I'm not used to how they have grips on my sleeves/lapels/etc. I end up getting myself more off balance than my opponent and have to abort or end up being reversed.

    Anyway, that gassed me pretty good too even though we were going light.

    Then we worked on a position from the bottom where your opponent is on your lower body trying to straighten you out with their head on your hip. We worked on getting their head to the other side (scooping with wrist rather than pushing with hand) and getting into <some term I can't recall> guillotine. It involves sitting up and essentially having your arms pressed against the inside of your thighs, but with your bicep against the opponent's neck and your other hand getting an overhook for the guillotine hand to grip.

    That is prepping for a guillotine, with many possibilities from there, including:
    - Guillotine (fall to your side, NOT BACK, try not to let them roll over as it will alleviate the pressure. This is a really hard one to pull off though. I couldn't get it during drills, neither could my partner. By the end we at least started to get a little pressure on the neck during this, but not enough to choke. It is a very uncomfortable position for the opponent though--neck is being cranked a bit, jaw is being cranked to the side, etc)
    - Fall to side & do some stuff I don't really recall and sweep them to top (butterfly sweep I think he called it, but he may have been referencing somethin gelse)
    - If you have space to crunch forward, you can get an easier to pull off guillotine by deepening the choking arm as you crunch forward while switching from an overhook to no hook (going in front of their shoulder, so your arm is just between your body & theirs) and getting a tighter grip and better leverage. I was able to pull this one off in drills every time, its much easier than the first one, but isn't always available depending on how the opponent is positioned.

    Had 3 or 4 rounds of rolling (don't recall which) and managed to participate in all rounds.
    Though to be fair, in one of the rounds my partner just showed me a couple basic submissions from side control. (As soon as we started I managed to grab side control (well, he let me get it with no resistance), but then I couldn't do anything from there and he was preventing all my attempts to get to mount.)

    Anyway, while class felt pretty hard and I was dying in terms of cardio for much of it, I don't feel awful like I did last night. No headache, feel good overall.

    EDIT: Forgot to mention: I pulled off my first armbar during live rolling this class!
    I was rolling with another white belt, starting from our knees. I noticed he overbalanced himself whenever he started applying leverage to me, so I used that to really easily get him into side control (I was pleased by this--two really smooth takedowns there, worked with barely any muscle in it), then immediately transitioned to mount (after doing this a second time after we reset, I told him how to prevent that with his leg). Anyway, I was in mount and alternating between going for lapel/collar grips to try for a choke and trying to get him arm into a kimura or americana position. After some time jockeying around for his arms/grips, I somehow felt like an armbar would work better than continuing to go for the americana or kimura, flipped my leg around, grabbed his arm, and got it nicely straightened out and locked in--he tapped before I started applying hip pressure.
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2017
  5. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    2/25

    Didn't make it to Muay Thai today. Part of the reason is that my shoulder was bugging me (some problem with the medial or posterior deltoid). Another part of the reason is that I was up for ~1.5 hours in the middle of the night with some stomach issues.
    But the main reason was that I was lazy and talked myself out of going; I was feeling ok enough to go by the time I would have to leave for class, and just didn't go.

    I told myself I'd go Monday instead.

    I also found out today that you are supposed to use your lat muscles when moving your arms around. I hadn't known that. This is likely the reason my shoulder has been bugging me.
    I've never packed my shoulder/activated my lats when punching, for instance. My weight trainer said that I need to do so and that it will also add more power--I will give that a shot on my heavy bag soon*.
    I also hadn't known you are supposed to use your abs when moving around until a couple years ago... which is part of the reason I have some lingering back issues.
    I never learned how to move properly because I'm very strong (is my & my weight trainer's best guess) and I am able to do normal everyday activities without using those large muscle groups like one is supposed to do (abs, lats, glutes), so I never learned to use them properly when moving about.

    Luckily it seems a trainable skill--after a few months of consciously thinking about activating my abs when standing up/picking something up from the ground/etc I now do it automatically without having to think about it. Hopefully I can train my lats this way as well.


    * Just tried it with open hand strikes as I didn't wanna take time to wrap up, and those felt much better; previously I'd have to be really careful of the angle I hit at, and even at the good angles it would hurt my arm some; if I keep my lats on it doesn't hurt at all (tried wider angles, they were fine too). Crazy that I never knew that.
    Throwing punches never really hurt my arms though as far as I can recall...

    2/26

    Weight training today.

    Still working on hamstrings--I don't use them enough, my quads & back overcompensate and cause issues, so I need to strengthen my hamstrings.
    We also worked on my lats to help my shoulder stability.

    Started off with foam rolling as usual, then:
    Warmup:
    - Lateral band walk (just 1 set)
    - Hip extension/flexion with band (just 1 set)
    - Quadruped kick backs (table top position, cook band behind one foot, anchor the band with your hands and kick the foot back, hold for ~1 sec, come back to tabletop. Try to keep hips I shoulders & trunk static while doing so) (just 1 set)
    - Cook band single leg bridges (one leg straight up in air with cook band on it, arms are to your side palms up with the ends of the band loops in each hand, backs of the hands planted to ground, shoulders also pushing into the ground, then bridge) (just 1 set)

    Main workout (~4 sets of each thing)
    - Single leg deadlifts (~70lb, which is light for me, but I need to work on stability before I can start adding weight).
    - Single arm cable rows (~60lb I believe, hard to say; the plate says 180lb but it is hooked up to a bunch of pulleys, it definitely isn't 180 lb no way I could row that one armed, and it certainly wasn't as heavy as 90lb either, which I also am pretty sure I couldn't row with one arm.)
    - Was going to do weighted step-ups but it was hurting my knee on the step-down motion so we didn't do more of those.
    - Pallof presses with the cable (~40 lb)
    - Backwards sled drag (~250lb) (keeping shoulders packed/lats on the whole time, arms long)
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2017
  6. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Muay Thai

    2/27

    So I haven't been to Muay Thai in a while. The last time was Dec. 5th, and before that Nov. 9th. (Was going regularly up til Nov 9th.)
    A combination of travel, surgery, injuries, and

    I almost didn't go to class today; I nearly didn't pack my gear as I wasn't feeling kinda tired and meh this morning (and since I hadn't been in so long, whats one more missed class, right? Lazy brain...)
    But I packed it anyway just in case I felt better later.
    I felt somewhat better later, and was kind of on the fence, so I figured I should go.

    The warmup was pretty rough for me... 5 3-minute rounds of jump rope. The minute break between the rounds is no rest--we shadow boxed between rounds.

    After that we jogged for maybe 10-15 minutes, alternating with sprints, bear crawl, side-traveling ape, and dexterity work (I made that term up, don't know the real term. Jumping low hurdles, footwork in & out of squares in a rope ladder lying on the ground, etc).

    The coach told me I should feel free to not do the other stuff and just keep doing laps as needed. I did do some of them anyway and it gassed me enough that I couldn't jog more. I spent maybe half the time walking (relatively fast walk) & trying to catch my breath.

    After that we threw on gloves & mouthguards (so we get practice breathing with a mouthguard in) and did bagwork for ~10 3 minute rounds.
    Throw combo, then post or <something similar I don't recall the name of>, putting your posting arm against the bag.

    In the 1 minute break between rounds we did 20 body weight exercises, then rested. (20 sit-ups, 20 pushups, 20 squats, etc)

    Each round one person boxed with the instructor instead of being on a bag.

    After that we threw on our shin guards and sparred with each other for ~5 rounds.

    I was reminded once again how bad I am :D. I let my guard drop and caught a kick on the back of my jaw under the ear (I think his ankle hit it, certainly wasn't his shin). It wasn't a particularly hard kick, thankfully. (I didn't have to stop or anything, and it is just bruised, but it could have been worse and I need to not drop my guard.)

    Also I have a tendency to throw my hands out at incoming strikes (both punches & kicks). And I seem to have lost any instinct around checking kicks, I'll have to rebuild that. (My instinct seems to be to turn and take the kick on my side/back for some reason...)
    Even when I did remember to block, I wasn't doing it correctly half the time (letting my gloves float instead of anchoring them on my head, so then they pop back into my eye/face/etc when I block).

    After sparring I was feeling pretty cooked so I packed up & left while the rest of the class spent the last 30 minutes doing conditioning. (So I did 1.5 hours of Muay Thai today.)

    I did sit out a round or two during the class, one during sparring. Not sure when the other was (don't recall). I came close to vomiting a few times during class but managed not to (if I hadn't taken a round off I am pretty sure I would have).

    Somehow though I don't have any headache--I was expecting an exertion headache. My muscles are pretty cooked and my body feels fatigued, but no headache. I'm pretty happy about that.
     
  7. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    BJJ (No Gi)

    Forgot to mention yesterday:
    Following up on that lat thing from 2/26... I tried activating my lats when punching the heavy bags during class and didn't really notice a difference. Must have already been doing it subconsciously.
    Still amazed at how much more comfortable open hand strikes are when I consciously activate my lats though.


    2/28

    No Gi BJJ today.

    Almost didn't go, was on the fence whether my body needed a rest day.
    I think it was ok in hindsight.

    We started with some flow rolling, then moved on to takedown drills (any takedown you want, alternate with partner, can drill one over and over or drill different ones, up to us).
    I am pretty bad at takedowns--my partner showed me two and I did drill those, but I'm not very good at them. (This is despite wrestling in high school, but that was ~20 years ago.)
    I have a lot of trouble with the set-up & shooting in.

    Then we worked more of that arm-in guillotine stuff.
    Last week we started with partner low on you, you on your back. They have your hips/legs, their body is on one side of you and their head on the other.
    You scoop with your forearm to get their head on same side, shrimp a bit if needed, and sit up to attain the arm-in guillotine position.
    Last week we worked on completing a guillotine choke from there & on a couple sweeps from there.

    Today we worked on the anaconda choke from there, which involves getting an anaconda setup (arm across their neck, hand on other arm's bicep if you can, forearm if they are too big/your arms are too short, your other arm has an overhook on them), then butterfly sweeping them (2 ways to do it, you can do it with either leg from the same side) onto their back, then a couple ways to adjust them (you want them more on their side than their back, and their head centered on your torso), then you walk your body around which pushes their head into the choke.

    We also worked anaconda choke as an option to attack the turtle position.
    It involves getting the nice triangle on their head with your arms (anaconda setup), then using that leverage to roll them into the position you can choke from (looks identical to the arm-in guillotine to anaconda choke position after the butterfly sweep once you have rolled them).

    The anaconda chokes came on really easy for me--I got it every time. My partner was a lot smaller than me though, which helps a lot. My partner couldn't really get the choke to land (its harder vs a bigger guy).

    After that we rolled for 4 or so rounds. I put to use Deadpool's advice from this thread and started from butterfly each time. I had a lot more success on defense than when I start from my knees. I also was more patient in waiting for people to attack into me--otherwise I end up spending too much time attacking. Got around 50% of the time on defense I think.

    I almost pulled off an anaconda choke during one of the rolls. I kept walking my body around, but he kept walking his body around to keep the same distance; instructor said in that situation you can trap their leg with yours.
    I did manage to trap his leg but somewhat lost my grip when I did so and let it go since I thought it was going to slip out and he wasn't going to tap.
    He said that he was just about to tap and I shouldn't have let go. I don't know that I could have kept it on--I was in an awkward position with my leg trapping his.

    Overall my cardio was better than it was last week, but still not good enough to do the whole class without resting more than other people do. I didn't have to sit out a round of rolling, but I did need to take a ~1 min break during my last roll.

    We finished up with a few minutes of flow rolling.

    Overall my muscles feel pretty cooked. No headache though, which is great. (My head did hurt a bit during class towards the end of rolling whenever I made a big effort & spiked my blood pressure, but it settled down pretty quick.)
    My breathing, heart rate, and body heat got back towards normal faster after class than it did last week.
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2017
  8. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    March 2

    I don't normally post to here on rest days, but I wanted to note how I'm feeling to look back on later and compare.

    My exercise/training plan for each week is 2x BJJ, 2x Muay Thai, 1x weight training, optional 1x yoga. However, I don't think my body can quite handle that yet.

    Recent exercise: Feb 22 (BJJ), 23 (BJJ), 26 (weight training), 27 (Muay Thai), 28 (BJJ)

    I was originally planning on going to BJJ today, but:

    - I slept horribly 2 nights ago (last time I went to BJJ). I only managed around 5 hours, took 1.5 hours to fall asleep and woke up ~1.5 hours earlier than I usually do and was unable to fall back aslseep. I think I overdid my training with a leg-heavy day on Sunday, Muay Thai for the first time in months on Monday, and then BJJ Tuesday.

    - My left shoulder was tweaked a bit (again that medial or posterior deltoid). I've been rolling it out against a wall with a softball--all the soft tissues near the shoulder, upper arm, and back/scapula. That has helped and today (2 days after the last BJJ) it feels normal again.

    - My right shoulder has what feels like a mild muscle strain somewhere, not sure which muscle, different than the left shoulder though. I have been rolling it with a softball just like the left side, and that helps for a while (no pain/pulling on movement), but then after a few minutes the pain/pulling on movement is back. (It is relatively mild, but worse than the left shoulder was.)

    - My quads & hamstrings were pretty cooked yesterday. They feel mostly better today. I've been rolling them with a foam roller, stick roller, and softball (for hamstrings). My left knee is pulling a but in one of the tendons, probably needs more stretching and recovery for that hamstring.

    Anyway, I slept better last night though still not as well as I'd prefer. My energy levels don't seem fully back up to normal. My muscles mostly feel recovered aside from my right shoulder and left knee, but I think they could use a bit more rest.

    I want to go today, but reading about overtraining and having these sleep issues & noticing my energy levels are still a bit low, I'll go ahead and skip BJJ today. Depending on how I feel I may go tomorrow instead (if I don't think it will keep me from Muay Thai the following day).

    Going forward, I'll give myself 1 additional optional day off per week if I need more rest. (Skipping one of the Muay Thai or BJJ classes.)
    (As in, I will try not to feel bad about skipping one, and if I'm on the fence about skipping one I'll try to lean towards more rest.)
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2017
  9. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Saturday March 4: I must have still been exhausted from earlier in the week--slept 2.5 hours later than usual. Skipped class as I was feeling very low energy.

    Sunday March 5: Weight training. We spent a lot of time rolling out my shoulders (my right one is still feeling a bit injured) and working on shoulder stability. We avoided rowing exercises as that was causing discomfort and my trainer didn't want to aggravate the shoulder.

    We also did leg work today.

    I'm planning to go to Muay Thai tomorrow as I think it was ok on the shoulder last week. I will probably skip BJJ on Tues to give the shoulder extra time to heal and go on Thurs if it is feeling good.
     
  10. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Saturday March 11

    I was sick last week and haven't been to class.
    I have been working my heavy bag at home though--unfortunately I seem to have exacerbated my shoulder and now it feels moderately bad when I move it in certain ways.
    My weight trainer is out of town so I won't see him tomorrow.

    I've been mainly working Muay Thai kicks after hurting my shoulder. I'm working on maximizing the power of the strike as I hit (by properly coordinating my hip & leg muscles). I decided to work on this because the instructor corrected me last class about not using my hips enough.

    I'm finding the "play spar" kick to be really helpful. That is where you swing your hips around but just place your shin on your opponent, then use that as leverage to kick off and swing your hip & leg back into place.
    I seem to get maximal power when I hit that same kick-off motion right before my leg strikes the bag.
    The 150lb of the bag really helps--I feel like the bags at the Muay Thai place are too light for me and I can't kick them full power and keep from way overthrowing my balance as they don't have enough resistance for me to swing back off of.

    I had the best outcome with lower & torso kicks--I still haven't quite got down being able to rotate my hip properly with my leg high enough for a high kick. If I bend my torso over to the side some instead of staying upright that helps, but causes balance issues for me.
    As I write this I am just now remembering that I wasn't throwing my arm out with my kicks to add counterweight/balance. That is one thing I consistently forget to do in class as well, even when just corrected on it. As soon as I stop actively concentrating on my arm I forget to do it.

    Anyway, I've been able to add some more power based on how the strike feels & how the bag reacts, though my shins are pretty bruised up now after multiple days of this. Thankfully the bag is soft enough (shredded cloth stuffed) that it doesn't bother me much to keep kicking it full power. I really like this bag.
     
  11. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Monday March 13

    Should have gone to class today... talked myself out of it (not fully back in my routine, cardio not there, only got 5.5 hours sleep due to circumstances out of my control waking me up 2 hours earlier than normal today).

    Still working on Muay Thai kicks with my heavy bag.
    Threw in some arm movement today and it definitely helps with balance. Not sure whether its affecting my power or not.

    I may be over-doing it on the kicks... I started bleeding today from a couple cuts I've acquired just from kicking or maybe my skin dragging slightly on impact. (No blood on prior days, but I've been doing this daily for maybe 5 days now.)

    My bruises are probably at the point where I should lay off for a day anyway; skin in those bruised areas along the shin bone feels raised/swollen and I don't want to make these minor cuts bigger.

    Though 1+ feet of snow coming in, so I won't be leaving my house tomorrow.
    Just found my tiger balm so maybe if I just lay off tonight I'll be good for a couple sessions tomorrow. (I'll double check whether its ok to put on broken skin...)
    EDIT: ... it says not to put on broken skin, I'll just leave the cuts alone and do the rest of the area.

    EDIT 2: I guess I could also throw my shinguards on... though one reason I am doin this is to toughen up my shins.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2017
  12. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Sunday March 26

    I haven't been training much due to the shoulder injuries and a cold I caught. The shoulders are mostly better now, though still a bit stiff on one side.

    Still been kicking my heavy bag daily aside from the worst couple days of the cold.
    My wife has convinced me I should take a break from kicking it for a few days as my shins are in a state of constant inflamation. She also isn't thrilled that I keep ripping my skin up a bit and bleeding... I think that mostly happens if I drag my skin on the bag a bit when I hit; I need to work on not doing that.

    Anyway, I went to weight training today. Hadn't been since the 5th (trainer out of town on the 12th, I was sick with the cold on the 19th).

    I was surprised that it didn't kick me in the cardio too hard. Usually if I haven't been training in class regularly when I go to the gym large muscle-group exercises (e.g., squats) typically hit me pretty hard. Maybe the bag kicking has helped a bit.

    Exercises:
    3 rounds of:
    - Lateral band walk
    - Hip extension/flexion with band around toes lying on back
    - bird-dog kicks with band (hip/shoulder stability, from tabletop)
    - shoulder stability with band, like a tricep pushdown sort of, but with a band, and I held it in the fully down position for 20 sec, keeping knuckles pointed at the floor which really activated my soulders

    Then 3 or 4 (I forget) rounds of:
    - Shoulder stability with cable row: let shoulder loosen in socket & pull forward (not fully released though), then activate lat & pull shoulder back, then row, then after the row is done let the shoulder loosen again.
    - Shoulder stability with kettlebell press: lie on side, pick up bell, roll onto back, same leg (as the arm holding bell) is bent with foot planted on floor, other leg straight out. Press the bell up and keep it there, packing the shoulder & keeping the arm long. Lift the straight leg straight up, then lower. After 6-8 of those, keep leg in air and do 5-10 ankle circles each direction. Then lower the bell.
    - single leg hamstring curls
    - Reverse flys (with only 2.5 lb weights, lying face down on a bench). High reps
    - goblet box squats
     
  13. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Saturday April 1

    Did a 45 minute workout at home with my heavy bag & body weight exercises.
    Started with jump-rope for a few minutes (didn't have one handy so just went through the motions; it warmed me up pretty well), then dynamic movements (arm circles, leg swings to open up hips, hip circles, etc).

    Drilled kicks on my heavy bag. First push kicks (15), then muay thai shin kicks (12), shin kicks again (10), push kicks (10), thai kicks (10).
    Planked after first 2 sets for ~30 sec
    10 situps after 4th set.

    Then worked striking combos: jab cross kick, jab cross hook knee, jab cross hook hook kick, etc. Did hard bursts (full force) for ~30-45 seconds getting in several sets of combos, then break to catch breath, do a body weight exercise (10 pushups or 10 situps or 20-30s high plank).

    I had to take a good number of breaks to catch my breath--my cardio has been slipping a lot. But I was pretty drenched in sweat at the end and felt like I hit my cardio pretty decently.

    Sunday April 2
    Weight training. Worked on hamstrings + hip & shoulder stability: half-kneeling cable rows, inverted fly, hamstring curls, goblet squats (onto box, until I am stable enough to do without), various resistance band exercises.
     
  14. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    NoGi BJJ

    Tuesday April 18

    BJJ for the first time since I injured my shoulders.
    (I've continued going to the gym 1/week & occasionally working my heavy bag, but haven't been posting here.)

    This is the no-gi class, 1.5 hours.

    Flow rolling ~15 minutes to warm up, I was with someone newer than I am (I am guessing). We went a little too hard and I was panting pretty quick--my cardio isn't so great.
    We slowed it down for the rest of the time.

    We worked out of mount today, crossfacing & straightening out, getting the elbow hooked so you can bring it up near their head, and various things from there.

    One of those things was an Ezekiel choke, which I hadn't seen before. I looked up the gi version and it is similar but uses the gi sleeve to choke with.
    The no-gi version you place your fist directly against their artery, and instead of gripping your sleeve with the cross-facing arm, you grip your forearm. You push your fist into their neck and sort of constrict your body, trying to touch the opposite shoulder to your first (conceptually; you can't actually as their body is in the way).

    I then did one 5-minute round of rolling after the first hour of class. Was pretty beat and sat out the other rounds.
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2017
  15. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    BJJ

    Thursday April 20

    BJJ today, 1 hour (I left before rolling as I was wiped).

    Warmed up with flow rolling, then drilled takedowns with a partner for a few minutes.

    Then we worked out of top closed guard: how to position yourself & gain control before trying to break the guard (though ideally don't let them close it in the first place), and then the various steps and details about positioning.
    Lots of little things that add up--angle of your elbow joint during a certain part, for instance, can deny them the ability to pull you back down by chopping your elbow.

    I haven't worked out of top closed guard much and definitely learned a lot. I had no idea how to properly break closed guard--the arm posting on their pelvic bone/hip is super helpful (and I didn't know to do that before today).

    We spent the class drilling various aspects of that with varying levels of resistance.

    I kept feeling nauseous & headachey at each break. I'd feel mostly better by the time we started back up again, but it got worse & worse as the class went on. So I left after an hour instead of rolling.
     
  16. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Weight Training

    Saturday April 22

    Weight training today, 1 hr.

    Wasn't feeling great today, woke up after 4 hours sleep (way early) with food poisoning I believe. Luckily this was 6 hours before I was due to meet my trainer. I wasn't able to sleep more (stomach pain when lying down), but it settled down after 3 hours or so and I was relatively ok at the gym.

    3-4 sets of each:
    - hip extension/flexion (resistance band)
    - shoulder stability (kind of like a triceps pulldown, but your knuckles continue down holding two ends of a Cook band (looped over a pullup bar or similar), down to your hips, knuckles pointing at the ground, while standing on one leg, hold 20-30 seconds.
    - lateral walk (resistance band)
    - rear kick from table top position (on hands & knees), keeping hips stable
    - standing cable row in a split-stance (rear leg on ball of foot, both feet pointing forward) for shoulder stability work
    - kettlebell press from prone position, keep the bell in the air for shoulder stability work while doing leg raises & ankle circles with the opposite leg
    - step-ups with resistance band to provide inward rotational force (so I end up in valgus/applying outward rotational force with that knee, on the foot that I'm stepping up with). Not too much, just a little valgus. (My knees were hurting the last time we tried weighted step-ups, so we went down to bodyweight + the band to help with stability.)
    - reverse fly with 2.5lb weights (high reps)
    - hamstring curls on swiss ball

    Pushed myself a little less than usual today due to not feeling well, but overall a good workout and I feel pretty good afterwards.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2017
  17. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Muay Thai

    Monday April 24

    I decided to try a new Muay Thai place.
    There are 3 different class levels, and I took the first one (new students), 1 hour.

    Warmup for 3 minutes:
    • 5 squats
    • 5 pushups
    • 5 situps/v-sits/crunches
    Repeat until time is up.

    Went over stance, jab, cross, hook, uppercut, knee, roundhouse elbow, rising elbow.

    Then we threw on our gloves & did combos into our partners gloves (treated as pads), alternating after a few sets of 8 reps, each rep is a combo.

    It was a good class. I didn't know the elbow strikes as well as I thought from JJJ--was told to use my shoulder more to pop the elbow at the target. Was never shown elbow strikes at the old gym.

    My punches were all fine, my stance had my rear foot too far forward; I was corrected to more like a 45 degree angle (I probably had a 20 degree angle).

    I ended up pretty sweaty--was a good workout. I plan to go another class there this week.
     
  18. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    BJJ (NoGi)

    Tuesday April 25

    BJJ tonight, 1.25 hours (left a little early).

    We worked on figure four foot locks. The instructor mentioned they are seen a lot in competition because many lower limb submissions are banned from competition--if they weren't he mentioned he'd be looking for reaps and some other stuff I didn't catch in various positions.

    Anyway, we worked out of x-guard, which I hadn't seen before.
    The drill we worked was knocking our opponent down then getting a figure four lock on their foot.
    Despite being decent at knowing where to put my hands for wrist locks, the position was sufficiently different that I ended up pretty confused, as did my partner.
    We eventually figured it out but I probably couldn't replicate it now.
    There was a bunch of other stuff off of the defender rolling and you following, but my partner & I stuck to the basic drill as we had enough trouble with that.

    We rolled afterwards. I did two 5 minute ones in a row, then headed out. I would have stayed for another but my right deltoid felt odd/mildly injured (or maybe strained?).
    I didn't want to push it, especially as this is only my 2nd week back exercising regularly, and I have Muay Thai again tomorrow (which I was told would be mostly going over kicks, so that is good I won't work the arm too much).
     
    Last edited: Apr 26, 2017
  19. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Muay Thai

    Wednesday April 26

    I felt a lot better today when I woke up than I expected. I had done some foam & stick & softball rolling last night but was feeling very very sore still when I went to bed (it started ~1.5 hours after BJJ).

    Anyway, woke up with only a little soreness.


    Muay Thai, 1 hour.

    This is the class for new students. I warmed up with 3 minutes jump rope (my foot is basically all better), though I had to take good number of breaks and was getting pretty gassed.

    We went over stance & striking basics again as there were a few first time students in the class today. We drilled those individually for a while, then with gloves and a partner (hitting their gloves). Jab, cross, hook, uppercut, roundhouse elbow, rising elbow, knee. Spent ~2/3 of class on this.

    After that we went over the roundhouse kick and drilled that with a big thai pad and a partner for the remainder of class. I got pretty gassed towards the end and my last few kicks pretty bad.

    My arms feel pretty fatigued now, a few hours after class, though overall I'm energized. I'm leaning towards not going to BJJ tomorrow and resting--that way I'm only adding 1 additional workout this week over what I did last week. I'll see how I feel though.
     
  20. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Weight Training

    Saturday April 29

    Exercises:
    3 rounds of:
    - Hip extension/flexion (harder black band)
    - Lateral band walk (same black band)
    - shoulder stability with band, like a tricep pushdown sort of, but with a band, and I held it in the fully down position for 20 sec, keeping knuckles pointed at the floor which really activated my soulders
    - Shoulder stability with kettlebell press

    Then 3 rounds of:
    - Shoulder stability with cable row: let shoulder loosen in socket & pull forward (not fully released though), then activate lat & pull shoulder back, then row, then after the row is done let the shoulder loosen again.
    - Step-ups (unweighted) with cook band pulling my leg inward
    - swiss ball hamstring curls
    - reverse flies
     

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