HarryF's Log: Posturing Up

Cool, thank you, I will give that a try next time

 

Tuesday 16.7.13

AM: core workout (2x10 dead bug, 2x10 swiss ball ham curls and leg raise, 2x10 swiss ball plank/stir the pot, 4x30s pallof press with resistance band)

Daytime: removed the backrest from my office chair and adjusted the base a bit so I have to hold myself more upright when sitting - mixed results so far (I feel like I’m moving around a bit more when seated, I think this is better than just being in an entirely static seated position). I also moved my keyboard and mouse a bit closer and just have to be disciplined not to let them slip away (“…you can almost hear time slipping away-e-ay, we close our eyes, we never lose a game, imagination never lets us take the blame…” ahem) from me (*pulls keyboard back after typing that sentence).

PM: (3km round trip cycle to and from) Structural Integration session 2 on feet and ankles - not as noticeable difference as last time, feel a bit more ‘grounded’ as I walk (less like I’m uncontrollably bouncing off my heels just before I pick up the rear foot in order to take the next step), I have increased ROM in my ankles/calves meaning that I can squat a little deeper before lumbar flexion occurs.

3.2 km cycle to and from Kali: single stick laban laro 1-14, drill separately first (from high-low-high, with lead leg footwork variations on the ‘low’ shot).

A bit like this:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQQtW3kweQI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQQtW3kweQI[/ame]

Then blend in to (kind of 5 count) sumbrada with #1 variations (witik, carve, pass (pasunkit and aldabis), kambiada) and #4 variations (crossada gunting, redondo, quick strip, live hand stop, live hand stop+hit). The purpose of all of these variations is to give ideas for possible ‘answers’ for: different feed ranges (head/body/arms/hands); different hand positions (your hands); whether it’s an emergency reaction (an ODM - an ”oh dear” moment) or you saw it coming and are timing the counter; what target you want to counter attack; and, where you want to move after the engagement (e.g. exit stage left).

Keep moving and keep good posture.



Wednesday 17.7.13

AM: joint rotations, 2x25 push up variations (stable shoulders, full ROM), 4x60s plank (front, back and both sides), ham/hip stretches.

Breakfast: 3 med/large eggs (my mate has chickens so they’re not properly graded - I must remember to write a formal complaint…) in an omelette with grated cheddar, tomatoes and rocket based salad, cup of tea, pint of water, 2x granary toast with butter. Felt nicely full until about 11, whereas I normally have to start eating at work at about 10…

Lunch: 2x tuna mayo on white crusty rolls (made, not bought), 3 celery sticks, 1/3 large cucumber, 4 raw carrots, 8 cherry tomatoes, 1 cooked beetroot, ½ green capsicum, 1 nest of medium egg noodles, 1 peach, 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 satsuma, 3 cups of tea (MINIMAL milk), 2 bourbon biscuits (oh biscuits, my Kryptonite).

Water consumed during the day, recorded as every time I fill the c250ml glass (this is fairly typical as our office is WARM): 0853, 0930, 0933, 1003, 1041, 1109, 1128, 1155, 1255, 1311, 1340, 1417, 1440, 1503, 1511, 1543, 1605, 1640, 1715, 1725. So that’s 5 litres over 9 hours, not too shabby.

PM: 3.2 km cycle to and from Kali, continue the single stick Laban Laro / Sumbrada, mixing in punyo sumbrada (close range) with variations (of course! As soon as your brain is juuuust on the verge of assimilating the latest variation, the next one is introduced!).

Refresh teh knife v knife abecedario from Sunday – knife in the ‘dominant return’ hand, opposite hands (both with knife in right hand), mirror hands (one with knife in right, the other with knife in left hand), switch the ‘side’ of the drill so the knife in the non-dominant hand. Switch grips, do the same thing. Double knife, either hand with either grip.

Empty hand crossover:
palm up heaven grip slash = palm up scoop/hammer fist;
palm down heaven grip stab = punch/push/eyejab;
palm down heaven grip slash = backhand hammer fist;
reverse grip slash = hook or ELBOW;
reverse grip stab = hammerfist

Concentrate on how the ‘blade aware’ structure of scoops and passes translates to better posture disruption in empty hand – the same as parrying on the forearm rather than the hand, and scooping/pinning slightly above the elbow rather than slightly below. What you can get away with (sometimes) in empty hand, you can’t afford to get away with in knife, so use one to aid the other! Kali magic at its best.

For a bit of a laugh we had a go at working out the ‘solo form’ that would contain the core of the movements we were applying, when we made it, it turns out to be the same motions (which might look a bit like waving your hands in circles while stepping to the side – a bit like Tai Chi! I always knew Tai Chi was awesome) as some of the empty hand entries and combos, and several of the double stick drills, and several of the single stick/checking hand drills, and several of the stick/sword and knife drills. Boom, BROAD crossover of motions between weapon combinations (with some minor tweaks of course!)

Anyway, excellent session, I feel my understanding (mental and physical) deepening every time I train at the moment; this is quite a rare thing for me, and I need to make sure I make the most of it!


Thursday 18.7.13

AM: very slooooow yoga session, lots of lying on the ground and Breathing (it’s different to breathing don’tcha know?)

PM: 1.2 km jog to the gym
10 Good Mornings bar only (20kg?)
Deadlift, double overhand grip as I don’t like the twist that over/under creates on the shoulders:
5x60kg, 5x70, 5x80, 5x90 (still good form), 3x100 (new PB at 1.25 my own bodyweight, but my grip was going on my 4th rep, so I didn’t complete more than 3).

Bent Over Row, barbell, torso as far forward as possible without lumbar flexion, pull to stomach:
5x40 (bar+20), 5x50 (grip struggling – sweaty, need to get some chalk), 5x45

Thrusters, front squats with a push press (hands shoulder width apart), start with the bar on the floor
5x40 (bar+20), 5x50 (I was struggling with my wrists on the last few, just before the press, but legs felt strong), 5x45

Front Squat (from the squat rack, push press grip, thighs just past horizontal, keep everything ‘tight’ makes the wrists feel better):
5x40 (bar+20), 5x50, 5x55 - I felt like my legs could take more, but my wrists/shoulders/delts are not quite there yet – so I finished with 5x60 back squat which felt pretty stable and easy after the front squats!

Note to self: do more front squats

Pull ups: 3x3 reps (unassisted, grip failing)

Funky Shizzle:

2x10 KB swings to high pull (momentary pause at the high pull, palms down elbows out) with 14kg DBs.

Pallof press with cable: 30kg, 2x30 seconds on both sides, feet in a split squat type position to stabilise the hips and concentrate the work to the rotational muscles of the core.

Band pull aparts – 20x straight arms, palms together, 20x elbows by your side, palms together, 20x overhead (very similar motion to doing a pull up, but the band adds ‘inward’ resistance)

Jog home.

Shower and change (I’m not a complete hobo)

Yoga session: 60 minutes Ashtanga (‘power’ yoga) in a sweltering church hall. Flexibility and breath control pretty good, we did a lot of movements around the plank and leg raises (laying on your back), and quite a few back bends (bridge, flying cobra, boat and so on) which all felt fairly comfortable. Near the end we did some deep side squats, normally I am limited with these as I can’t get my heels to the ground without rounding my back to balance, however, this time I managed to side squat deep, heel to the floor, back straight (!!!) and maintain balance.

This is the first significant effect of the Structural Integration session 2 that I have noticed, apart from other, more subtle things like my hips and knees feeling a bit less ‘worn’ when I stand for a long time. Minor increments are still steps in the right direction.

Walk home, little bit more stretching (to specifically act on the same muscle groups as the gym session did), lots of water, banana, toast, biscuits, tea, type log, bed, no sleep, still buzzing from kali yesterday and tripple digit deadlift (it's a lot for a beginner and ectomorph like me!)

 

Been a while since I posted on here, so this one's a bit hefty...

20-21.7.13 Weekend
Not much as went to visit the in-laws, bit of stretching, bit of empty hand carenze/kali tourettes, bit of chilling, barbeque (eat all the meats).

Monday 22.7.13

AM: regular joint rotation and yoga ‘wake up’, followed by core stuff with the Swiss Ball (plank on the ball, ham curl and leg raises, forearm roll outs, knee tuck under thingy)

PM: run to the gym (a bit faster than in recent weeks as it’s finally starting to cool down)

Circuit A (3 rounds)
A1: 10 Thrusters (front squat + push press) 40kg (bar+20)
A2: 10 clap push ups (minimal contact with the floor after the first push, I usually break these in to 1x4 + 2x3 to keep the ‘bounce’ going)
A3: 10 jumping squats with 10kg plate (feet parallel, heels down, full ROM, no pauses)

Circuit B (3 rounds)
B1: 10 DB push up rows w/ 4kg circular DBs (row on both sides on each rep, full ROM push up, keep shoulders square and neutral, feet fairly wide)
B2: 10 40kg push press (hands at shoulder width, spring with legs as if jumping but not taking off)
B3: 10 KB swing to high pull, with 2x 14kg DBs (push with the hips on the ‘up’ part of the swing, keep elbows at shoulder height on the high pull)

Dead Lift/Floor Press pyramid (no rest between change over):
Bar+50kg for DL, bar+30kg for FP, 10/2, 8/4, 6/6, 4/8, 2/10

Circuit C (4 rounds)
C1: 10 hanging leg raises (knees to chest, no swinging)
C2: 10 Romanian (straight leg) Dead Lift from the rack, pins just below knee height - bar+60kg – really concentrate on pushing the hips forward explosively (for one’s sprawl/suplay/counter to pull down from double plumb clinch etc)
C3: As many pull ups (wide grip, palms away, full ROM, squeeze at the top) as possible (about 4 in my case)

Circuit D (2 rounds on each side, so 4 in total)
D1: 10 single leg bent over row, bar+20kg, bend as far forward as possible without lumbar flexion, pull to belly
D2:10 cable wood choppers “30kg” on the cable (turn using the legs, not twisting the torso - similar motion to (unsurprisingly) chopping wood with an axe but at a diagonal angle…)
D3: 10 jumping lunges (left leg, then right leg is one rep)

Jog halfway home, walk the remainder, stretch, lay on the floor for 45 minutes recovering.

Tuesday 23.7.13

Been a bit less active in the mornings this week, possibly because I’ve been working longer hours… Ho hum.

PM: Cycle to the park for kali
Kali empty hand, kadena de mano entries to jab-cross (orthodox feed, entry occurs on the cross); experiment with different footwork and ranges/follow up targets; add the next feeding angle (j-c-hook) to work on timing and the ability of the entry to work to pick up the next line.
Switch hands/leads to ‘go’ on the left (now rear) hand.
Switch back to orthodox feed, with the option of going on either jab (left) or cross (right), but always aware of the next line of attack.
Add a couple of foot sweeps and leg press takedowns for cool factor
It was a nice mix of 'technical' and 'attribute' (timing, positioning etc) today.

Wednesday 24.7.13

PM: Cycle to Kali - empty hand again tonight
Hubad, blending everything together, both double hand (hitting) and single hand (grabbing):

Double handed (striking) hubad: elbow (siko)/knee (this is for my next grading, 6 variations), 5-for-5 (straight punch, 10 variations), angular (including switching sides - I have to know/make up 15 variations for my next grading).

Single hand (dumog/grappling/limb immobilisation and counters): wrist (3 variations), elbow (8 variations), single collar tie (10 variations), double collar tie (6 variations), leg press/sweep (4 variations, this is for my next grading).

Add in the kadena-de-mano entries and follow ups during the hubad flow (either side - good job we practiced on both sides yesterday!) This is an awesome drill/game, as your partner does not know when you will ‘go’, so their reaction is more natural, especially if either of you can ‘go’ at any time… Improvisation abounds.

Rear hand series 1-9. These are a set of pro-active entries, flowing follow ups and takedowns done initially to jab-cross (as the ‘action’ happens on the rear hand/cross), then (with some gloves on) to jab-cross-hook (or j-c-jab, or j-c-kick (either side)) - this is in order to practice timing your entry to either a) be faster than the next attacking line (on the half beat), b) intercept the next line (on the beat, but angular and with correct distancing/positioning), or c) disrupt the balance/base sufficiently to neutralise the incoming ordnance. Good times

Thursday 25.7.13

Structural Integration/Rolfing session 3 of 10 - sides.
I feel lighter, taller and more energetic after this session, almost like the earth and everything on it has shrunken slightly… A weird, but pretty good feeling.
The sideways ROM in my spine is more even - there were some ‘sticking points’ in my thoracics when bending to the right along the Coronal plane which are now gone.
Also, after session 3, I feel that my head is more centrally positioned over my torso, which, in turn is more central over my hips, this makes my arms hang by my sides a bit more, and my shoulders naturally want to stay back and broad without having to consciously hold them in that position. Feels good.
Weirdest thing is that as I walked in to the session I told the practitioner that I had some muscle soreness (DOMS), particularly in my chest (near the top of my pectoralis major – the clavicular head, I believe), and ham strings. They said ‘ok, no problem’. Anyway, part of the session involved being prodded in the arm pit, and another part involved some work to the side of my quadriceps (IT band maybe? It was quite uncomfortable, but not unbearable). At no point did any work occur directly on my hamstrings or chest, but afterwards all the feelings of strain in those areas were gone. Nice.

Yoga class - themed around ‘cooling’ breath and poses, no crazy balancing this time, but some nice chest-opening stretches, and a fair amount against the wall - piked and full handstands walking your hands in closer; back on the floor and legs up the wall to chill etc.

Pretty much all the DOMS from Monday has gone, and my breathing feels loads easier, even though it didn’t feel strained before (this is both subtle and hard to explain) :hat:

Friday 26.7.13

Nice rest day: lovely 60 (ish) minute walk in the park with the Better Half, went out for Thai dinner (mmmmm), not oversized portions, but bloody tasty.

Saturday 27.7.13

Felt great, so why not ruin that with a strength session?

Get up earlyish and feed cats (mandatory), solid breakfast of leftover roast veg and egg tart (mmm), cereal, cheese on toast, tea, water, chill for about 40 minutes and think about Kali (internal Kali Tourettes).

Warm up: run 1.2km to the gym (about 9 minutes today)

Music: Cynic, Traced in Air (ethereal, flowing, heavy, beautiful )

Core workout
2x10 ham curl and leg raises on the swiss ball
2x10 dead bug wall press
2x10 forearm plank stir the pot on the swiss ball

Pull ups (wide grip, palms away, hang for a bit at the bottom, pull so chin is above bar and good squeeze at the top) 3, 2, 1. I really struggle with these on most days, maybe I need to isolate them from other exercises that use similar muscle groups? Dunno.

I was the only one in the weights room, so I set things up as a circuit to save a bit of time.

Circuit 1
10x bar (20kg) good mornings
Dead Lift (high hip position, no lumbar flexion, and no hyper extension – neutral neck position too)
5x 60kg (bar+40)
5x 80kg (put the straps on for this one as my grip died last time)
5x 100kg (straps, all good reps – woo improvement!)
10x 95kg (straps, felt easy compared with 5x100… psychological maybe?)

10x bar thrusters (front squat with push press) with calf extension (almost a jump)
Push Press (pick up the bar from the floor, complete reps, put back down)
5x 40kg (bar+20)
5x 50kg
4x 60kg (last rep was only half, so doesn’t count)
5x 55kg (full reps – finish on a high note)

Circuit 2
Front squats (bar on clavicles/delts, cross hands over bar to steady, keep humorous horizontal, feet hip width apart and parallel, squat to femurs just below horizontal, keep knees no further forward than toes)
5x 40kg (bar+20)
5x 50kg
5x 60kg
Felt I was limited by technique unfamiliarity/back/stability here rather than leg strength, so I think I’ll stick with this range of weight for a bit until I get used to the movement. Like it though

Bent Over Row (pick up bar with Romanian dead lift, keep as bent over as possible without lumbar flexion (or unnatural extension))
5x 40kg (bar+20)
5x 50kg
5x 60kg (with a squeeze and pause at the top)

Bench Press (full ROM, grip just outside shoulder width, keep control of lower body and neutral spine)
5x 50kg (bar+30)
4x 60kg (last rep was about 2/3 ROM so doesn’t count)
5x 55kg (felt better)

Finisher
Pallof press with cable: 30s hold on each side at “25kg” with staggered stance (like a boxer), 30s hold at “20kg” with close stance (more like a ski jumper – this was harder).
Band pulls
About 10 minutes stretching
Walk home as I cool down
Eat a tin of tuna then 2 scoops of Haagen Dazs.
Buy a foam roller for the ensuing, inevitable DOMS pain :cry:

Sunday 28.7.13

Morning yoga for 90 minutes – start of slow and easy, build up to ‘flowing’ through the poses and breathing, move on to some of the challenging balance stuff (tree pose, tree to forward bend to downward dog, tree side plank, warrior III, half moon and revolved half moon etc)

PM: Kali – work on my notes, mainly copying out the empty hand rear hand series (1-9) and the Chieftain grappling set (1-22) a couple of times as an aide memoire, also adding a couple of tips/pointers to old notes (foot positioning, distancing etc) gleaned when teaching others and analysing what I do already in more depth (“ahh, so this is when I step forward” kind of thing).

All in all, a pretty successful week, despite not doing lots of stuff in the mornings, in fact, it probably allowed me a bit more rest...

 

Monday 29.7.13

Feeling pretty good today, some DOMS from Saturday, but not incapacitating levels (must mean that I didn't work hard enough :cry.

Weight: 12st 8lb (176lbs, 80kg), probably within my daily weight fluctuation, so no noticeable gain or loss

Posture: improving - feel taller and lighter than a month ago, although I still notice that I tend to slump in to old (bad) habits at work when sitting for longer than about 20 minutes, and getting up to walk around a bit that often starts to impact upon productivity... Need to work out a better balance there.

AM: 2x10 ham curl and leg raises on the swiss ball
2x10 dead bug wall press
2x10 forearm plank stir the pot on the swiss ball
2x 30s (on each side) pallof press with band
Band pulls

PM: Kali, knife vs knife,
Core techniques: reverse grip mid range strips and takedowns (“movie kali” ) variations 1-8.
Method: practice first with a set feed of angle 5 low thrust (open to close gunting) followed by high backhand thrust, then put it into the Palusut drill (with 4 ‘start’ variations (feed angles) and 4 ‘end’ variations (pass, stop, grab, scoop)) to make the timing a little less predictable.
The core techniques tonight are all very range and position specific - e.g. it’s very hard to ‘force’ number 3 when you’re in a position where number 6 feels most natural.

Finish with some hubad, similar to last week, flowing between ranges and switching between striking and limb control, plenty of movement and pushes/pulls.

Smooth with a capital ‘Smoo’ :woo:

 

So it's been a while since I updated my log, be prepared for the sizeable (if not a little constipatory) back-log...

Tuesday 30.7.13

AM: 20 min yoga (sun salutation and warrior)
6 minutes total of plank variations (at least 30s in each position) - front, sides, back, front arm and leg raise etc

PM: gym sesh (about 70 minutes in total)
Music: Amesoeurs: Amesoeurs (nothing like a bit of French post-punk/post-black metal)
Run to gym
10 mins shadow boxing

3x Circuit 1
10x clap push ups (short ROM), 10x bodyweight jumping squats (as high as possible, least time in contact with the ground), 10x 30kg thrusters (front squat to push press)

3x Circuit 2
10x Push up row (full ROM), 10x 30kg push press, 10x kettlebell swing to high pull with 14kg BDs

Dead Lift / Bench Press
Bar (20kg)+50kg / bar+45kg
2 / 10
4 / 8
6 / 6
8 / 4
10 / 2

4x Circuit 3
10x single leg bent over row, balance on one leg, pull to belly, bar+20kg
10x cable wood choppers, “20kg” on the cable

4x Circuit 4
10x Romanian dead lift 40kg, 10x floor press / straight arm sit up 8kg KBs

Band pulls – 10x straight arms horizontal, 10x elbows to your side, forearms horizontal,10x straight arms, pull on one side only (5 on each side), 10x archer pulls on each side, 10x straight arm diagonals (one hand high, the other low, 5 on each side).

Stretch, walk home, cream crackered.

Cycle to Kali – knife vs empty hand, dikit 1-12. This is a drill which contains a collection of knife disarms which are all strips (i.e. you disarm their knife in to your grip, rather than ‘ejections’ where you disarm the knife but it goes on the floor).
Similar to hubad, this is a flow drill that builds up the number of variations until it does not matter which hand the knife is in, or which grip it is in. The aim of the drill is to improve not only the mechanics of each individual strip, but to build your flow between each strip if the first one fails for whatever reason (the knife is in the other grip, or there is a fake, or you misread the line of attack), and to provide at least one answer to each possible relative arm position (both of your arms on the inside, one arm in one arm out, both arms out, only one arm available (either) etc).

Wednesday 31.7.13

AM: slept in.

PM: Kali, continue dikit 1-17

Thursday 1.8.13

Structural Integration session 4 of 10 – adductors
Starting to free up extra movements in my hips – now when ‘opening’ the hips for a round kick I can open them further without feeling ‘blocked’ at a certain point, also it is now becoming much more even (being right handed I am used to orthodox stance, with right round kick being the rear leg round kick, I always struggled with southpaw lead, left rear round kick. After this session, left rear kicking motion feels a lot smoother. It’ll take a while to get used to the extra ROM though. Also, I feel a bit ‘unbalanced’ as the ones on the other side (Abductors?) are yet to be done, so I’m good moving outwards, but not so good inwards…)

I also noticed that when going past the ‘femurs horizontal’ position in a squat, my knees are no longer drawn inwards, and my legs remain parallel with significantly less effort, leaving more ooomph to put in to the actual squat…

The practitioner warned me that if I felt like leaving my Better Half, quitting my job, or extra angry (unusual levels of rage), then wait a week, as most people react in a ‘weird’ way to Session 4. I thought ‘nah, not me, solid as a rock’.

Drive home to parents’; last 15 miles or so always envoke that nostalgia (happy, mainly), coupled with the feeling of time inexorably slipping through our fingers like sand, ungraspable, unmeasurable in small quanta yet the weight of the universe when it becomes measurable. Still, good to see the folks.

 

Friday 2.8.13
30th Birthday, commemoration of the passing of my youth
Turkish baths, dinner out, nice.

Saturday 3.8.13
Felt pretty emotionally drained (don’t normally get like this on birthdays).
1 hour walk with the Olds, BBQ and few beers after.

Sunday 4.8.13
Drive home, chill, feel knackered.

Monday 5.8.13
PM: gym (felt pretty shattered, but needed to do something, so this was in, low weight, bang them out as quick as possible and get the smeg out of Dodge)

10 min run to gym

Circuit 1
3x 10 bw clap push ups
3x 10 bw squat jumps
3x 10 25kg thrusters

Circuit 2
3x 10 push up row (5kg dbs)
3x 10 25kg push press
3x 10 KB swings to high pull (10kg DBs)

Circuit 3
4x 10 25kg one legged bent over row
4x 20 cable pull ‘clinch pulls’ (like MT plumb clinch to pull and knee, only with weighted cable and no knee) at “30kg”
4x 4 pull ups

Band pulls
Jog halfway home, walk the rest, stretch, drink milk

Tuesday 6.8.13
Felt crap, did nowt, thinking about quitting my job and moving to the other side of the world. I’m not normally this ‘emotional’. Ordered Chinese takeaway, intended to save some for lunch, ate it all.

Wednesday 7.8.13

Self patience low, but had to do something.

Kali Double Stick
Running sets 1 and 2 (San Rafael Basic and Advanced for you Inosanto/Lacosta/Balicki kali nerds like me), these are hitting patterns that include a 360 spin, the aim of which is to keep the ‘beat’ of your hits and be able to maintain balance, and (allegedly) have a look around the battlefield to check who’s next. TBH, I’m concentrating so much on not falling over that I struggle to acknowledge what is behind me, let alone who. I think it is a useful exercise in changing direction without losing a beat, and, they look quite cool.

Next we spent a while working on flipping stick grips (regular, reverse and back again) while continuing to hit heaven 6 sinawalli - another way to make a familiar pattern suddenly incredibly difficult (it was like being a beginner all over again). I have a feeling that this leads up to methods of hitting with a shield (from stick and shield/sword and shield); we played around with how it felt from different static foot positions (left lead, right lead), and how it felt when moving freely (one lead, the other follow).

Footwork was next on the list - Box Step and Hourglass (in both directions). These are the first footwork sets in our syllabus that contain continuous motion (female and male triangle, step and slide, push step, pendulum, foot-to-foot and humpak pa’awas (step and turn) can be used within continuous motion, but can also be used just to change position). The idea with these is, to start with, that there is a maximum of one upper body movement (hit) per lower body movement (step), and that your weight distribution remains even (ish) over both feet so you can easily move in any direction from any position. Obviously you need to think at least ½ a step ahead to redirect your momentum, but drilling this kind of footwork really helps with that ability.
There being 6 steps in both Box Step and Hourglass means that it is (relatively) simple to pair these with any of the 6 count double stick patterns, so why not keep the upper body simple with heaven 6 sinawalli?
Anyway, we spent a long time drilling each direction (right foot starts, left foot starts), same side and opposite side upper body (i.e. right foot and right side start, right foot and left side start etc), and using one rep of Box step to switch ‘directions’ within Hourglass. We also started with relatively small footwork (and consequently smaller upper body repositioning), then graduated to larger motions, ending up covering some significant distance whilst maintaining good balance and posture.

Finish with some counter-for-counter double stick (block, pass, gunting, hubad (yes, double stick hubad), kambiada etc).

 

Thursday 8.8.13

Structural Integration session 5 of 10
Explained to my practitioner about my foul mood last week, he said it’s nothing to worry about, he had the same thing in his Session 4 and has seen it plenty of times in other people. Anyway, session 5 addresses some of the imbalances left from number 4 and includes work on the Psoas.
Someone reaching through your abdominal wall and past your intestine to work on a muscle that connect to the front of your vertebrae and discs is possibly one of the strangest sensations I’ve ever experienced (it’s up there with the strongest “pain killers and flu medicine” I have ever tried).
Overall I feel loads better than I did for the whole of last week - physically and mentally. Didn't know I was such an emotional cry baby!

Friday 9.8.13

woke up before my alarm,
joint rotation, mobility drills (sit throughs, thoracic bridges, shallow sun salutations)
core workout: dead bugs, ham curl leg raises, swiss ball stir the pot, 2x60s paloff press

run to gym
4x4 pull ups
3x10 40kg thrusters
3x10 hanging leg raises (bent knees)

3x8 front squat 40kg (still working on form)
10 BW jumping lunges (on each side)
10 40kg barbell split squat (on each side)

3x 20 40kg lunges (10 on each side in each set)
3x 20 suicide planks (plank position, on hands, drop down to forearms, push up to hands, reverse the direction etc)

10x 40kg barbell complex:
RDL from floor
High pull to front squat position (not quite a clean)
Front squat to push press
Strict shoulder press, calf raise at top

Run home, stretch, milk to make me as strong and tough as the Milkybar Kid.

 

Monday 12.8.13

Try out new workout prepared by the guy who runs the gym:

Circuit 1
6x DL,
10x Strict DB shoulder press
10x DB see-saw press (5 on each side)
10x Curl to Arnold Press
10x DB front box squat to push press
10x Landmine press (throw/catch)

Circuit 2
6x “Bear” Complex (clean (I think), push press, back squat, push press, down to the floor) - the clean is a strange movement for me, I end up doing more of a high pull than ‘popping’ the bar forward from thigh height with my hips. I’ll get it soon enough.
10x DB plank row (no twisting in the trunk - shoulders remain horizontal)

Circuit 3
5x Barbell overhead squat
5x Barbell front squat
10x Barbell split squat (5 on each side)
10x barbell front squat to push press (thrusters)

Hard work all round.

Tuesday 13.8.13

AM: Captains of Crush #1 gripper (140lbs) arrived today – thanks internet!
Tried it out – managed to close it fully with the right (dominant) hand twice in a row, then 3 more reps not quite fully closed, managed one full close with the left, followed by 4 more reps as far as possible but not properly closed. Damn, that is difficult!
I think I might need a slightly lighter one to warm up with, maybe around 100lbs or so. Crushing my old ‘heavy’ gripper (no thanks, Greek marketplace) felt so easy it was like I was about to break the spring.
The skin on my left pinky is definitely feeling it, as the handles are pretty brutal on my lovely office-soft hands. I’m sure I’ll man up and stop complaining one day.

Did the ‘hand death star explosion’ stretch to cool down – cheers SokKlab.

PM: Kali double stick (grip seemed ok considering) - counter for counter with block, pass, roof, pluma, gunting and hubad.
Switch to single stick (left hand) to work the non-dominant side (sumbrada, counter for counter, abecedarios, lameco 3 for 3 and laban laro). Only received a few cracked knuckles (a hard lesson in proper hand positioning to deal with ‘drift’ shots).
Back to double stick, counter for counter is better, with more success on ‘left dominant’ type responses.
Finish with double stick 5 count sumbrada variations including right and left template switches (which basically reverses the order of strikes in the drill, with each strike being thrown by either or both hands, and responded to in any manner - basically a partially structured version of free counter-for-counter).

Wednesday 14.8.13

Brutal day of work: left the house at 06:45, drove for 2.5 hours, 1.5 hour meeting, drove for 1 hour, 9.5 hours standing up but no real moving around (public exhibition), drove 2 hours home, get back at 23:15hrs, bed and sleep. Crap posture all day, very little movement, long periods of sitting and long periods of standing, crap food (service station rubbish – best I could do was stodgy sandwich, orange juice, tasteless sushi, crisps and very low quality coffee), and got shouted at by several angry members of the public. It was a good chance to practice maintaining an empty hand reactionary gap, lining people up for the (imaginary) Geoff Thompson ‘lights out’ shot, and searching for inner peace/breath control (breath in, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc).

Glad to be home at the end of it, rant over.

 

Thursday 15.8.13

AM: 25 min gentle jog, about 2.5 miles, nice and easy, no ridiculous hills or sprinting. I swapped shoes recently from some ‘specialist’ supported arch jobbies to some really basic low profile shoes (about 20 quid, thin sole, light weight – Gola Hornet Nylons, I think) and have slightly modified my running (jogging really) style to pretty much eliminate heel strike, it’s a similar feeling to hill sprint mechanics, although you’re on the flat… Hard to describe, but I’ve been building it up for a while and it feels good - no shin or knee pain, good upright posture, it’s harder work on the outside bit of the calf muscle, but I’ve kind of got used to that now.

PM: Mobility drills, yoga and longer period static stretching

Friday 16.8.13

Tried the CoC1 gripper again, warmed up with my old ‘heavy’ gripper (probably about 40-50lbs resistance), then did the following on each hand:

5 reps spring up (close as far as possible, still getting 2 on the right and 1 on the left, but it feels like I’m squeezing everything – ****, calves, quads, hammies, core, chest, shoulders, arms, and, a little bit, forearms and hands)
5 reps spring down (can get the handles to about 8mm apart - rubbish)
4 reps spring up with 5 second hold on each
4 reps spring down with 5 second hold on each
1 rep ‘set’ it with both hands and hold completely closed for 5 seconds

5 full reps double hand close overhead
5 full reps double hand close at belly height
5 full reps double hand close at chest height (maintain good posture throughout)

4x 5 resistance band pulls (straight arms, chest height) it’s not a particularly heavy band (although it’s called a ‘heavy’ band), so I wrap it a few times around my hands then let it come out between first and second fingers, so the pull apart is done with palms facing each other.
2x 5 hold one hand in front, pull the other back (single sided)
4x 5 archer pulls (doubling up the band for this one, pulling to the shoulder on the ‘pull’ side)


Sunday 18.8.13

Run to gym
Foam roller and mobility movement warm up
Before each ‘work’ circuit I did 2 sets through with bar only (for barbell stuff) and BW (for DB stuff).

3x Circuit 1
6x DL (OH grip, no straps) – 80kg (bar+60), 100, last round 3x 110 (new 3rm PR!)
10x Strict DB shoulder press (10kg DBs for all exercises and sets, no break between exercises)
10x DB see-saw press (5 on each side)
10x Curl to Arnold Press
10x DB front box squat to push press
20x Landmine press (throw/catch, 10 on each side) 10kg plate, 20kg, then 25

3x Circuit 2
6x “Bear” Complex (clean (I think), push press, back squat, push press, down to the floor) – getting better at ‘popping’ and getting under the bar with the clean, but it still feels like I'm about to jink my back on the catch. 40kg (bar+20) for each round.
10x DB plank row (no twisting in the trunk - shoulders remain horizontal) 20kg DBs for each round.

3x Circuit 3
5x Barbell overhead squat – bar only, core stability is the weakest link in the chain here!
5x Barbell front squat – 50kg
10x Barbell split squat (5 on each side) – 50kg
10x barbell front squat to push press (thrusters) – 40kg

 

Monday 19.8.13
20 minute run (to the shop and back, get some mince for dinner and milk for after)
Decent stretch, but still felt it in my ham strings and mid-back following my DL 3RM PR yesterday. Maybe the third rep was pushing it a bit.

Cook a massive amount of spaghetti bolognaise for dinner, intend to save a load for lunch tomorrow, but eat most of it. Pint of milk to finish off.

Tuesday 20.8.13

AM: mobility and gentle core stuff (plank on swiss ball, dead bugs, ham curl leg raises on swiss ball, pallof press with bands, plank variations on floor), static (30s+) stretching hamstrings, hip flexors, glutes, flank (based on yoga Warrior 2)

PM: Structural Integration session 6 of 10

This was primarily around ham strings and hip rotators, also included osteo work on my neck and thoracic vertebrae - lots of clicking!

After the session my hips felt a lot freer without being too loose, but my ham strings are still sore (not tight) from Sunday, so it’s a weird feeling of extra mobility in most directions, and less (without soreness) in one direction!

Also, even though there was no work around the ribs or diaphragm, I feel that breathing deeply is much easier - almost like the intestines have more freedom to move down in to the hips which makes the diaphragm expand more freely. Good stuff all round.

Wednesday 21.8.13

PM: 60 minute brisk walk through the park with the Better Half followed by about 50 mins yoga (following along an old Ashtanga DVD I found behind a cupboard - it’s awesome but difficult, makes me sweat, but then again, just thinking about exercise does that sometimes)

 

Thursday 22.8.13

AM: mobility and stretching

PM: tried out a new martial arts class near me, it was… Interesting! Wing Tsun through and through, the guy teaching said he’d been doing it for about 8 years and he had great structure, but moved in a really interesting way – coiling his spine and rotating/displacing his torso ‘around’ the incoming energy and in order to ‘wind up’ for his punches/pushes. Also, when having a sensitivity/trapping play (not quite hubud, not quite chi sau), he gave almost completely neutral feedback to anything I input and was very fluid, so in order to counter his excellent fluidity, I found I had most success when upping the power side of the equation… Very interesting guy, I think I’ll be training with him again!

Friday 23.8.13

Run to gym
Foam roller and mobility movement warm up
Before each ‘work’ circuit I did 2 sets through with bar only (for barbell stuff) and BW (for DB stuff).

3x Circuit 1
6x DL (OH grip, no straps) – 70kg (bar+50), 80, 80
10x Strict DB shoulder press (10kg DBs for all exercises and sets, no break between exercises)
10x DB see-saw press (5 on each side)
10x Bicep curl to Arnold Press
10x DB front box squat to push press
20x Landmine press (throw/catch, 10 on each side) 10kg plate, 15kg, then 15

3x Circuit 2
6x “Bear” Complex (clean, push press, back squat, push press, down to the floor) – didn’t really feel brilliant today, so kept it low to avoid jinking my back. 30kg (bar+10) for each round.
10x DB plank row (no twisting in the trunk - shoulders remain horizontal) 10kg DBs for each round.

3x Circuit 3
5x Barbell overhead squat – bar only, core stability is the weakest link in the chain here!
5x Barbell front squat – 40kg
10x Barbell split squat (5 on each side) – 40kg
10x barbell front squat to push press (thrusters) – 30kg

Band pulling 70 rep superset, 10 reps of each type, palms in for all even movements:

Horizontal - arms straight in front, palms together, pull outwards so the band touches your chest
Vertical upwards – hands start together at hip height, pull outwards and up to shoulder height, palms down
45 degrees downwards – hands reach up and in front, pull down to chest, double up the band for this one
45 degrees upwards – hands out and down a bit, pull to chest, back to single band
Vertical downwards – hands overhead, pull to behind the neck, triple up band

Archer pulls on each side, triple band

Run home

Grippers - warm up sets with the Heavy Grips 100lb (each ‘type’ performed one set spring up, one spring down, left hand, then right hand):
10 half closes
10 full closes
5 closes with a 5 second static hold
work sets on the Captains of Crush #1:
5 full range (4 closes on right, 2 on left) spring up
5 spring down (2 closes right, 1 left)
2 x 5 with 5s hold on last 2 reps (close as far as possible, nowhere near full close)
2x5 overhead closes (static hold on each in 2nd set)
same at belly height,
same in front at chest height

Static elbow push against the wall thing (hands up like you’re being robbed) to balance a bit – 40s, 35s, 20s

Death star hand stretch, shoulder stretch, general post workout stretch

As the Better Half is away, I shared my post workout can of tuna with the cats – guess who’s the favourite parent now!

Five egg omelette with cheese, salami and tomato. Mmm.

 

Saturday 24.8.13

Breakfast: fried egg (2), bacon (4), tomato and mayonnaise sandwich, pint of tea, pint of water, banana. Nice

Post on MAP about kali while it digests

Walk to the gym.

Felt great, did lots:

Front Squat
10x Bar, 5x 30kg, 5x 40, 5x 50, 5x 55, 5x 60

Back Squat
5x 40, 5x 50, 5x 60, 5x 65, 5x 70 (fifth rep a bit wobbly, so did one more good rep, 6 in total)

Suspended pull up (reverse bench press - is that inverted row?)
3x 8 wide, palms down grip
3x 8 narrow, palms up grip

As a 5 round circuit:
Proper pull ups (wide grip, palms away)
3 full + 7 negatives (jump up, hold yourself there and lower down gradually), 2 + 5 neg, 1 + 5, 1 + 4, 1 + 4

Strict shoulder press
5x bar
3x 40 + 2 push press (cheating)
5x 30, 5x 30, 5x 30

Bent over row, bar touches floor between each rep
10 Romanian deadlift with bar
5x 40, 5x 50, 5x 50, 5x 50, 5x 50
End circuit

Cable wood chop (downward diagonal)
10x 15kg pin
5x 30 + 10s hold
5x 35 + 30s
5x 40 + 10s
5x 45 + 10s
5s 50 + 10s

Seated cable pull down (reach up high, pull down to chest level/upper arms vertical)
5x 65, 5x 70, 5x 75, 5x 80, 5x 80 (cable machine doesn’t go any heavier)

Lunges
10x (5 on each side): bodyweight, 20kg (2x10k KBs), 36kg (2x 18k KBs), 36kg

2x 10 bodyweight jumping lunges
1x 10 jumping lunges holding a 10kg plate

There's a new heavy bag at the gym, so I thought I'd help break it in - 15 mins in total, all short combos (3-7ish hits) with footwork moving in and out of range. Start with hands (bare knuckle for shizzle - no wraps or gloves for me, blending forehand punches, slaps, forearms, elbows and (close range) bicep hits with backhand eye wipes, hammer fists, forearm slams, elbows), add shoulder charges and headbutts, add knees for giggles, add low kicks (round, straight and oblique stomping) on the way in and out.

I got a bit carried away on the bag and must have looked like a mad man as when I finished the room I was in was clear, but the other room was rammed... Oh well!

Band pulls
Stretch
Walk home

Tin of salmon and glass of milk, cats’ best friend again .

Cooked cheese, herb, onion and garlic stuffed, bacon wrapped chicken with spinach for late lunch/early dinner. Bloody tasty…

Succumbed to Ben and Jerry’s, Hobnobs and wine this evening. Life’s a balance though, right?

Well done if you read all of that, have a smiley:

 

Thanks Simon, nice to know I'm not just rambling on to no one

Man I am sore today!

I think it's probably a sign that I might have over done things in the last few days...

This morning I will mainly be foam rollering and :cry: in to my corn flakes, before attempting some very very gentle mobility stuff while the bacon and eggs cooks itself.

After that I'll probably need a bit of a lie down, hard work for an old man . Classic Sunday. Kind of

 

I'm impressed you can do two days in a row of similarish lifts/exercises. Sometimes at home I get all motivated to go to the gym but on a rest day I have to stop myself.

Something I read yesterday has tempted me to try a Bench Press - Bent Over Row superset when I next get the chance

 

Thanks, I think it was the combined result of energy levels and enthusiasm outweighing sensibility, rather than any kind of disciplined following of a plan...

Today and tomorrow are definitely rest days, with only stretching and maybe a walk or two on the cards!

Also, I think it helped that Friday was slightly higher volume/lower weight on the vertical push motions, less rest and then technical things like clean and overhead squat (both still fairly new movements to me). Saturday was a bit heavier and lower reps per set - less sweat, more squeeze and gurn.

Probably should have separated the gripper work to a different day though! Oh well, live and learn!

edit: I quite like combining movements that are antagonistic, so bent over row/bench press sounds great!

 

Monday 26.8.13

Mobility drills and yoga in the morning.

6 mile walk with the Better Half, took about 2.5 hours, up and down some hills, great views, bit of a sweat on the uphills, very nice way to spend the afternoon

Cut the lawn and the hedge, tidy up.

30 mins kali carenza, single (non-live) sword, left hand only (my non dominant hand), minimal footwork as I was inside

It was actually more like a set of stroking drills than 'proper' carenza (which I think should have lots of footwork and be more free flowing/continuous), I took 2-4 strike (cut) combos and worked on body mechanics, and then speed without sacrificing mechanics, structure or posture.

Got a good upper body workout including decent forearm pump (on the way to looking a bit like Popeye), and with no joint pain in sight. Pretty happy with that as the sword I used is a fairly heavy, alu trainer; must be getting better :whistle:

Stretching and foam rollering whilst watching Return of the King on the box.

That counts as a rest day, right?

 

Tuesday 27.8.13
AM: woke up with bad stiffness in my back this morning, had to do about 45 minutes of slooooow mobility drills/joint rotations/gentle yoga flow. Hmm…

PM: Structural Integration (Rolfing) session 7 of 10 – all around my head, neck, and in my mouth and nose. Yep, felt as strange as it sounds, but I have since noticed several unexpected and excellent effects – breathing through my nose is easier, I felt instant (and, so far, sustained) release from eye strain I did not know I had, and the work on the fascia around my occipital bone has helped release my ham strings even further, so flexibility wise I’m at the point where in a standing forward bend I can put my palms flat on the floor (with spinal flexion), and can Romanian Dead Lift from the floor (with neutral spine). Didn't used to be able to do that, good progress (yes I realise it's probably a combination of the SI, static stretching and yoga, either way, it feels pretty good).
The next thing I noticed is that I’ve got a bit taller again, had to readjust my car seat, most mirrors are too low, and most of the people I thought are about the same height as me are actually a bit shorter than me. Nice.

Wednesday 28.8.13
AM: woke up before my alarm, felt pretty amazing compared to the last few days, quick 5 min mobility warm up, core workout:
4x 10 wall press dead bug
4x 10 swiss ball ham curl with 5 second leg raises
4x 10 swiss ball plank stir the pot
4x 30 second resistance band pallof press
4x 45 second planks (front, sides, back)

Scrambled eggs (4) on toast (2), cereal (3 weetabix, hand full of chocolatey squares), pint of tea, pint of water, banana. Off to work to sit down for 8 hours. Seated posture much better, helped by me making sure to get up and wander around every 40-60 minutes… Slowly slowly.

Attacked first lunch at 11:30 (cheese, ham, cucumber, tomatoes, celery, beetroot, walnuts)
Trousered down second lunch at 15:30 (cheese, tin of tuna, mayo – POWER SALAD! If anything, it was lacking tomatoes)

PM: Fancied a very quick session at the gym so…
Cycled 6 minutes to the gym
Mobility warm up (thoracic bridge flow (thanks Frodo and T Nation!), side lunges (feet parallel, then straight leg foot toes up), hindu push ups, hindu squats, band shoulder dislocations)

Workout done in circuits, yes I know it might not be optimal increase in maximal strength type training, but it includes push, pull (vertical and horizontal), squat and twist (no lunge yet, maybe I'll add that next time), and includes core stability shannigans and makes me sweat a fair amount. Also, with the weights I used today I can do everything fairly fast - very few reps are 'ground' out, and most movements feel like I could throw the weights away if I let go... Although if I increased the resistance it would take me longer to complete (more rest), and I didn't have time for that today.

3x Circuit 1 (maximum of 10 seconds rest between exercises, 60 seconds rest between sets, maintained this pace during each circuit, only longer rests were where I changed over equipment)
10 Thrusters (front squat to push press), 30kg on the ‘light’ bar
10 clap push ups
10 squat jumps (swing arms for maximum height)

3x Circuit 2
10 push up rows, 12kg KBs
10 push press, 30kg on the light bar
10 KB swing to high pull, 12kg KBs

Dead lift / Bench press pyramid (superset), 70kg DL (double overhand grip, no straps) / 45kg BP (maybe could have done 50, but no spotter today)
Reps: 2/10, 4/8, 6/6, 8/4, 10/2, only rest is getting up from the bench and walking over to where the bar is on the floor

4x Circuit 3
10 Romanian Dead Lift, 60kg, touch the floor between each rep, maintain neutral spine
10 KB get-ups, 2x 6kg KBs

4x Circuit 4 (2x on each ‘side’)
10 Single Leg Bent Over Row, 40kg
10 downward diagonal cable chops, ‘35kg’, 20 second pause on final rep

Band pulls (70 rep superset)

Cycle home, stretch, all done in 54 minutes including 12 min cycling.

Go food shopping, impressive single rep Farmer’s Carry on the way from the car to the front door (must have had at least 200kg in each hand, good job I’ve been working my dead lift and grip endurance), single rep right arm curl to reach keys to front door.:woo:

Dinner – roast courgette and tomatoes, medium noodles, 1.5 pints semi skimmed milk, an orange and an apple. More tea. All in all a pretty good day.:love:

 

Thursday 29.8.13

AM: felt great again this morning, minimal DOMS from yesterday (so far), mobility/yoga warm up, band shoulder dislocations followed by the broomstick version, thoracic flow to full bridge (from both sides), bodyweight exercises (only about 10 mins):
2x 25 hindu push ups
4x 25 hindu squats
2x 10 front lunges (2 sides = 1 rep)
2x 10 side lunges, feet forwards (same)
2x 10 cossack lunges, straight leg toes point up (same)
2x 10 back extensions

PM:

Grip of death!

So my CoC #1 still pulls the skin off my pinky fingers in different places on each hand, maybe I position the gripper differently, or engage the pinky at a different time/angle… Hmm

All reps done with both hands, switching hands between sets.

Warm up with Heavy Grips 100lbs:
10 half close spring up (easy, ha!)
10 half close spring down
8 full close spring up (still do-able)
8 full close spring down

Work CoC #1 (140lbs)
3x 5 spring up (in first set, managed 5 full closes on the RH, 3 on left; in the second it was 2 and 1; none in third, despite gurning, growling and grunting like the vocalist in a Death Metal band)
2x 5 spring down (no full closes :cry

Back off with 100lbs:
2x 8 spring up
1x 8 spring down

Exploding death start wrist/hand stretch

I’m feeling these most in my forearms (duh), chest and lats. The last few reps with the CoC #1 I started really tightening my core (I think Elliot Hulse describes this ‘nicely’ (crudely, sorry:Angel as “try to bring your belly button and [bum] hole together”) which, I think, helped; I’ll try this from the start next time!

Later that night, in a fit of undeserved energy:
Gym of death!

Run to the gym (timed it – 9 minutes, 1.2km)

Back Squats

I’m trying a slight adjustment to my foot position (little bit wider, toes out a teensy tiny bit) in order to get lower without rounding my lumbar. Seems to be working OK so far.

Warm up
2x 10 bar only (20kg)
8x 30kg
5x 40kg
4x 50kg
3x 60kg

Work
3x the following:
5x 70kg (bar+50), 15 seconds rest, then 6x bodyweight jumps from a deep squat position (rate of generation of force work), then rest for 60-90 seconds

The last few reps of each set on the bar were ground out a little, so I'll probably stay at 70 until it feels comfortable.

Bent Over Rows

I have switched to the Pendlay version of this, and it seems pretty cool. When using smaller plates on the bar, I used larger plates as blocks so I could return the bar to the floor between each rep.

Warm up
2x 10 Romanian dead lift, bar only
10x rows, bar only (from hang)
7x 30kg (from floor+plates)
5x 40kg

Work
3x5, 50kg

All reps felt reasonably good (comfortable, good form, and done with reasonable speed), I was tempted to add a tiny bit more load to the bar for the last set, but resisted, saving that joy for next time

Heavy bag of death!

Slap, forearm slam, headbutt, knee and elbow the bag for about 15 minutes.

I worked out a cool combo/finisher from sinawali 4 count; on the right side it goes: right foot forward triangle, right forehand slap, left backhand slap (i.e. outside or inside gunting), right backhand slap, left forehand palm down forearm slam, grab the bag with both hands (adhere with the left, slap and grab with the right), headbutt, left knee, left horizontal elbow, right horizontal elbow, right forearm ‘spear’ and step out again.
Sounds like a lot, but it’s got some good flow to it, and you can mix up fluidity and power in the same sequence, so naturally I love it. Also, slap, grab, headbutt, knee, elbow seems to bring out my inner savage, I haven’t seen him for a while, apparently he’s quite vigorous and a little bit angry…

Walk home breathing deeply to re-ground myself, stretch

Later still…

Yoga class, of death (well, not really)

Thursday night yoga class is back on! So, 1 hour yoga; my seated (non-gravity assisted) forward bends are improving, as are seated side bends that incorporate a ham string stretch. General bendiness improving. Also, I managed to do a full plough pose (do a shoulder stand, then put your toes on the floor above your head without bending your knees or snapping your neck) without wall assistance! Turns out it’s quite a comfortable position once you get there…

Walk home, no need to stretch as I just did that for an hour.

Maybe tomorrow will be a rest day...

 

Friday 30.8.13
Today was like a rest day, but with some hill sprints in the evening :bang: - 5 minute jog to hill, 3x30s warm up runs up the hill (25%, 50% then 75%), work at 5x30s flat out (or as close as possible), 2x30s cool down (50% then 25%), walk home, sweat, stretch, sweat some more.

Saturday 31.8.13
Jog 8 minutes to gym

Front Squats in the rack, clean grip.
1x10 bar only
1x8 @40kg
1x6 @50kg
3x5 @55kg
I asked one of the gym coaches to check my form on the last set, they said it was pretty solid, but that I could do with a bit more ‘pop’ on the way back up. I think this means that I might have been grinding out the last few… Stay at this weight for next time, see if I can get it a bit quicker.

Deadlift
Trying out those helpful tips from SoKKlab, Farmer Burns breathing, grip hard, squeeze guts and ****… The results are in:
1x10 RDL bar only
1x8 DL @40kg (practicing breathing and squeezing whilst maintaining neutral back etc)
1x5 @50
1x4 @60
1x3 @70
1x2 @80 (making sure that my **** doesn’t raise first, so far so good)
1x2 @90
1x2 @100
1x3 @110 (equal 3RM PR)
Fail a single @115 (**** came up first, panic, breathe out too early, put the bar down after only making it about 1 inch above the floor, clang! :cry
2x3 @100 (make myself feel a bit better)

Lunges – take that, legs!
DB Weighted / alternate jumping superset
4 sets, each set = 10 alternating DB lunges (5 on each side), 15s rest then 20 jumping lunges (10 on each side), 45s rest.

Reverse Cable Wood Chop (upward diagonal)
4x10 @ ‘15kg’ concentrate on core stability and upwards drive
4x10 @ ‘25kg’

1 Armed DB Rows
4x5 @24kg on each side

Plank
20 suicide planks (start on hands, down to forearms and back up again)
60s front
45s each side
60s back

Jog home, stretch, eat

Feel pretty good, quite tall, energised, head up, progression made