I've been fasting since around 10pm last night (the 20th). It's currently 8:20 pm (When I wrote the draft... its the 11:40 am on the 22nd now for me, still fasting). I swam around 7 pm, kicks & grip work after that. I plan to fast until around 3pm on the 22nd (~41 hour fast). My mother is coming up (arriving around 3pm) for the weekend, so no training tomorrow. I'll still strength train on the 23rd. I probably won't swim this weekend, but my mom has expressed interest in walking some of the nearby park trails, so I plan to do that instead. I've felt pretty good all day (except for my neck, which is still pretty jacked up from clinching yesterday). The only issues I had were when I tried some jasmine green tea. A little while after each cup (I tried 2), I got really nauseous for a bit. I did some looking around online and found that green tea can be harsh on an empty stomach for some people, so apparently I won't be drinking green tea while fasting. I had black tea & black coffee in the morning without issue. I won't be taking BCAA anymore while fasting, except possibly right before the last exercise I do during the fast. The reason for this is I want to keep autophagy* going strong, and essential amino acids, especially BCAAs, look like they reduce autophagy (e.g,. Excess leucine intake enhances muscle anabolic signaling but not net protein anabolism in young men and women. - PubMed - NCBI). I did get some electrolyte supplements to use during longer fasts if I attempt intense exercise like Muay Thai; before I try that with longer fasts though I am going to do a couple 48-72 hour fasts and try to exercise during the last portion of it at my own pace and see how I feel. Self care 60 minute massage focused on neck and shoulders some low back. My neck is pretty stiff today, wanted to get some work done on it. Hip flexor stretch Swimming, 21 hours fasted Freestyle, breast stroke x 2, back stroke, breast stroke x 2 (Except first set, dropped 1 breast stroke after freestyle.) My lower back by my right SI joint had some discomfort a few times with some of the kicking motions, not frequent. I went in the hot tub for about 7 minutes afterwards. 12 kicks with each leg on the heavy bag. Grip work (prohands/CoC) Crush 10 xx-hvy Hook 10x x-hvy Finger play 10x each finger, medium tripod skipped (bothers thumb) trigger 10x xx-hvy thumb press 10x x-hvy, 2 buttons power pinch 10x heavy, 2 buttons crush 10x xx-heavy coc trainer 8x, 8x coc #0.5 4x, 4x (left couldn't quite close on any, right hand relatively easy but less so than usual) coc #1 5 sec hold, left had a small gap (to first joint), right easy finger extension 15x white, 12x green, 10x yellow (not too hard today, though still challenging) * "self eating", bodily process of breaking down unneeded things & damaged proteins
11/22 Fasting since late (~10 pm) on 11/20. I feel good--it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I broke my fast at 5:30 pm today after the walk below, so 43.5 hours. 12 kicks on the heavy bag with each leg. Walking Going up a steep hill for the first while, then coming back down & a bit of walking on pavement.
6/23 Strength Training Foam rolling/triggerpoint/chiro exercises Lying KB (16 kg) leg raises and ankle circles (8 each), 2 sets 2 sets of ankle glides Goblet squat 5x16kg 5x20kg Front squat with box 5x95 lb No box: 5x95kg 2x5x115 lb Yellow resistance band shoulder stability between sets 2 rounds of: 1/2 kneeling bottoms up reverse fly, 6x10kg (keeping elbow a bit higher than 90 degrees--this was really hard) Single leg hip thrusters x 8 Cable shoulder abduction 40lbs per arm
6/24 Walking Walked several hills in the park. There was a break towards the start cause my mom had to run back to the house to get something she forgot.
6/25 I plan to fast through tonight, the 26th, and end the fast on the morning of the 27th. Around 41.5 hours. The only exercise I plan though is the Muay Thai below, which I did a few hours after last eating. Muay Thai, beginners class I did my chiropractor exercises/stretches & then 12 kicks with each leg on a heavy bag (first yellow), then wrapped up & shadow boxed til a bit past 20 minutes, then I waited for class to start. Class started at about 30 minutes.The warm-up was a 4-minute round of jump-rope. I caught my feet a lot. I did high knees during the last 30 seconds, but caught my foot every few jumps. Then we shadow boxed with gloves on for a few minutes. We worked on kicks today, first doing a few kicking drills with a kick shield, then working on head kicks. The only thing we threw all class were kicks, and I kept up a decent pace. It felt hard but I was able to keep it up without gassing. I see I didn't go into the red much; I guess swimming & walking more frequently has already helped a bit. At the end of class we did some "warm down" ab exercises (the 2 yellow sections after the last spike to red). My abs were cramping but my breathing was ok. Self Care 20 minute massage on just neck & shoulders--neck feels almost normal again today, got some follow-up massage work done on it. My chiropractor indicates there are a variety of exercises I can do to strengthen those neck muscles, and showed me a few basic ones; I may start doing those 2-3 times a week. Additional hip trigger point, rolling, and exercise as my right side low back after I got home from class as it was bothering me during some of the kicking drills. Rotator Cuff Exercise External rotation at neutral, 3x12x20lb External rotation at 90 degree abduction, 3x12x30lb
6/26 Rest Day I am still fasting, still planning to break it around 9:30 tomorrow. Self Care Hip flexor stretch 6/27 12 kicks with each leg on the heavy bag. I broke my fast at 41.5 hours. Muay Thai, beginners class Chiropractor exercises/stretches, a bit of other stretching, some foam rolling (especially left leg), then I put on my wraps. I shadow boxed for about 5 minutes, then waited for class to start, which was a little after 25 minutes into the graph. The warm-up was one 3-minute round of jump-rope. I did high knees during the last 30 seconds. I caught my feet a good bit on both, but less than Monday. We worked on close fighting today, all elbows & knees with a partner & pads. We also added some clinch throws into elbows during the last 2 drills. We ended with a 5 minute round of clinch sparring (no elbows). My partner was really good at keeping his head up--I couldn't budge it at all even when I (rarely) got both hands behind it. He got me in full head control a few times, I did manage to get out of it (I think he was going fairly easy on me). I was gassing a bit so we did slow down after the first minute or so, but I still had a fairly hard time keeping my breath. I had a mild exertion headache after class, it went away during the drive home. Self Care Triggerpoint (softball, vibrating peanut) on my left hamstring/lateral hamstring this morning for ~5 minutes; my leg felt stiff and walking was a bit uncomfortable. My chiropractor says my hips are doing too much work on some motions and coming too far forward (may contribute to my low back issues), and I need to strengthen my glute medius. He gave me an exercise that I'll do several times a week. He said I should also use a foam roller on my IT band, which I did do before class today. Rotator cuff exercise External rotation at neutral, 3x12x20lb External rotation at 90 degree abduction, 3x12x30lb I tried to do the glute medius exercise but I couldn't quite remember how to do it... I did it anyway but I'm not sure it hit the right muscles. I'll have him show me again next time I'm there.
6/28 12 kicks with each leg on the heavy bag. Swimming Freestyle, breast stroke, back stroke, breast stroke. 10 minutes in the hot tub afterwards. Grip Workout (Prohands/CoC) Crush 10 xx-hvy Hook 10x x-hvy Finger play 10x each finger, medium tripod skipped (bothers thumb) trigger 10x xx-hvy thumb press 10x x-hvy, 2 buttons power pinch 10x heavy, 2 buttons crush 10x xx-heavy coc trainer 8x, 8x (closed all with left & right!) coc #0.5 4x, 4x (left had trouble with all reps) coc #1 5 sec hold, left had a gap, right easy finger extension 15x white, 14x green, 12x yellow (not so hard today)
6/29 12 kicks with each leg on the heavy bag. I ate my last food 3 hours prior to Muay Thai (banana, cheddar cheese), and plan to fast through the weekend to Monday morning. Muay Thai, beginners class I wrapped up and did the chiro exercises & a few other stretches, then class started. The warm-up was 5 minutes of jump-rope. I did high knees during the last 30 seconds. I caught me feet a good bit but also had to stop due to my calves fatiguing. We paired up with pads & gloves and did punching & elbow combinations for 3 drills, then switched pads. I held pads first. After that we went in groups of 3 with a kick shield, 2 of us alternating kicks into the kick shield, 10 kicks each, then switching positions (so each person goes 2 times, then gets the shield). This was the 4 red humps towards the end. We ended with 5 minutes of ab exercises. Self Care My back had a catching sensation in the lower right when standing up from bending over at home. I rolled & did trigger point on my calves, quads, glutes, hips, hamstrings, IT-band. Rotator cuff exercise External rotation at neutral, 3x12x20lb External rotation at 90 degree abduction, 3x12x30lb
6/30 I fasted until 6pm (so about 28 hours), then decided to break it with sushi followed by a bunch of unhealthy stuff. Guess today will be a cheat day. My trainer is out of town so I didn't have my usual strength training. Walking Walked several hills today in the park.
7/7 I did nothing for the past 6 days while on vacation, and ate really poorly. I've been transitioning towards healthier food for the past few days. Strength Training I went pretty easy today as I've been really inactive and I was feeling fairly low energy. Foam rolling/trigger point/chiropractor exercises. Lying kb leg raises (8 each leg, 8 ankle circles), 16kg, 2 sets Clams, blue band, 15x/leg, 2 sets Internal hip rotation exercise 12x/leg 2 rounds of Goblet squats 16kg, 8x Single arm cable row (180lb on pulley, 12x/arm) Lying hollow pullups (thick black resistance band) Muay Thai, on my own Two 3-minute rounds of jump-rope each followed by 10 push-ups. Lots of mini-breaks from catching my feet, a few breaks to breathe or recover from fatiguing calves. Shadow boxed for 5 minutes followed by a 30 second plank. Heavy bag for 3 minutes. Video for the shadow boxing & heavy bag are in my bag thread.
7/8 I wasn't feeling great 7/9 12 kicks on the heavy bag with each leg. I should add some teeps too--we worked them a lot in class today and I have a few things to work on technique-wise (especially bringing the leg back in after teeping instead of dropping it; I should work teep -> floating check). Muay Thai, beginners class I started the monitor a bit early, it took a few minutes to get on the mat after I started it. I wish I could start the remote save data function, then later indicate a time that I actually started exercising, and have it calculate everything from there. I can select a sub-section, but it only recalculates the avg BPM, everything else continues using the entire record. Chiropractor exercises, wrapping up, a bit of foam rolling, then class started around that big dip after 20 minutes. We started with 4 minutes of jump-rope. I did high knees during the last 30 seconds. I caught my feet a good bit but I'd say fewer times than is usual for me. With a partner & kick shield (one person goes for a round, then switch): - We did a warm-up drill: Various kicks at a slow pace (a kick every 3-5 seconds maybe). Pad holder called any of body/leg/inside leg on either side. - Alternating teeps. - Feinting with the teep (raising the knee) to set up a kick. (After establishing an opponent reaction, like hollowing out in response to your teeps.) With a partner, shin guards, and gloves, going 1 for 1: - Punching combo ending with a rear kick. - Added a jab feint in the middle of the combo to change up the rhythm. - Using rear kicks & consistent body motion (repeatedly loading & unloading on each side) to establish one reaction and then rear teeping instead (loading up on that side as you have been doing, and then unloading with the teep instead of the kick, off the same initial motion). We did a warm-down afterwards; I did 50 teeps with each leg into a wall pad (had a lot of trouble with the return portion of it, as noted at the top of this post), 40 sit-ups (the last 15 or so were more like pathetic crunches), and 25 push-ups (the last 8-9 were really shallow). While I didn't get a headache, I was still breathing a little fast, felt like my heart rate was still pretty high, and felt a bit off for a while after class. I felt ok after about 45 minutes. Too much time in the red zone I think. That last rear kick & teeping drill really got me. It was that long red stretch before 1:20--I remember breathing hard for most of that drill but managing to keep going. We were going light as it wasn't into pads, but kicking & teeping over & over exhausted me even going light. I think I did an ok job maintaining technique, though it was really hard towards the end. Then the warm-down really got me up there again for a while. Hopefully with some time spent doing more cardio I should be in the red zone for less time. Self Care Rotator cuff exercise External rotation at neutral, 3x12x20lb (I noticed I'm bending my wrist on the left; trying to keep my wrist straight throughout the motion is really, really hard for some reason. My range of motion keeping it straight instead of letting it bend out a bit is really low compared to the right arm, which can go out fairly far with the wrist straight.) External rotation at 90 degree abduction, 3x12x30lb
7/10 Rest 7/11 I fasted from around 1:30 pm (when I finished my last meal) on Monday the 9th to 9 am today, so about 43.5 hours. 12 kicks with each leg on the heavy bag. 5 teeps to floating blocks with each leg. I had more trouble with balance & properly retracting the kick with my rear leg. I didn't make class today due to some stomach issues. I'm not sure exactly what did it as I felt perfectly fine til right after lunch, which I ate over the course of about an hour finishing around 4 hours after breaking my fast. I had eaten 3 times: 9:00 - an omelette with cheese, mushrooms, tomato, and onion 10:30 - plain yogurt (maybe 3/4 cup) with fresh blueberries (maybe 15 ) 11:45 - 12:45, various veggies, 1/2 cup steamed farro, 1/2 cup steamed barley, olives, olive oil, red wine vinegar, cheese, salmon I am lactose intolerant but I don't get symptoms if I take lactaid with dairy, which I did for all 3. So I'm not sure if it was how I broke my fast, or maybe eating too much so soon after breaking my fast, or the high fiber content of my salad, or not having a sufficient amount of lactaid for the amount of dairy (which can do it, but I generally only have to take extra if I'm eating lots of ice cream...) I'll have to experiment. I think when I broke my previous ~44 hour fast I did it with yogurt & blueberries and then didn't eat again until lunch and I was ok. Medicine finally helped by the time I got home from work, so I went for a walk. Walking Hills I tried to stay between 120 and 150 bpm (mis-remembering the range Icefield gave this thread). I found that when going back down hill I was dropping a bit below 120 so I started going faster (somewhere between a fast walk and a jog) down hill around 30 minutes, which kept me between ~130 and 155 (that green zone; I knew polar divided the zones for different types of training, but didn't know this was the one to hit for growing aerobic capacity). These trails aren't paved but the steep sections do have some stair sections made of lines of biggish natural rocks (each roughly the size of 1-4 soccer balls together), though their surfaces are often at angles, usually 10-25 degrees I'd say, rarely 30-50 degrees). There are also dirt slopes. I started hitting that yellow zone due to going a bit too fast down hill as it was kind of fun on the rock stair sections. Self Care My right foot was bugging me a bit during the walk, not consistently, just every now and then. So I did some trigger point: Calves, hamstrings, quads, lateral/IT band area (eclipse roller, softball, vibrating peanut, foam roller). Rotator cuff exercise External rotation at neutral, 3x12x20lb (Left arm wasn't having that issue again today, maybe I was just fatigued--I had noticed it in the last set.) External rotation at 90 degree abduction, 3x12x30lb
7/12 12 kicks with each leg, 10 teeps to floating blocks with each leg. I'm still having more trouble with rear than front teeps, though my front ones need a bit of work, the rear ones are much worse balance-wise upon retraction. My right shin has a pretty gnarly bruise now; I probably shouldn't have kicked on it as I felt the bruise from the 1st kick. I'll skip the 12 kicks on that leg for a few days to let it heal up. Swimming Looks like I could up the intensity slightly and still be mostly in the green zone, with a bit less of that lower blue zone. I did laps of: freestyle, breast stroke, back stroke, breast stroke. My left calf started cramping a little during breast stroke and a lot during back stroke towards the end, so I stopped a few minutes early. 10 minutes in the hot tub afterwards, tried to massage out my left calf & also rubbed on the bruised right shin area for a bit. Grip Workout (prohands/CoC) Crush 10 xx-hvy Hook 10x x-hvy Finger play 10x each finger, medium tripod skipped (bothers thumb) trigger 10x xx-hvy thumb press 10x x-hvy, 2 buttons power pinch 10x heavy, 2 buttons crush 10x xx-heavy coc trainer 8x, 8x (closed all with left & right!) coc #0.5 4x, 4x (left closed or very very close all reps first set, somewhat close but none closed on the 2nd set) coc #1 5 sec hold, left had a gap, right easy finger extension 15x white, 14x green, 12x yellow Self Care 90 minute full body massage Glute medius exercise (like this, but with an ankle weight instead of a band: 2 x 12 x 5lb per leg My chiropractor says this will help stabilize my problematic SI joint.
7/13 12 kicks 10 teeps (kicks on left only, bruise on right is healing) I opted to skip class today due to being tired (5.5 hours sleep last night, 5-6 hours two nights ago), having some issues with my left hamstring, and letting my huge shin bruise heal on my right leg is probably good too but I would have gone if it was just that. Self Care Trigger point on my left hamstring near where it connects on the inside portion of the knee; last night & this morning it was feeling odd & stiff to walk on. The vibrating peanut got it feeling ok for a few minutes, then it stiffened up again. Did that twice in the morning. Then I saw my chiropractor and he did some fascial scraping on it. Rotator cuff exercise External rotation at neutral, 3x12x20lb External rotation at 90 degree abduction, 3x12x30lb Core exercise (chiro says this will also help with my hip/low back issue) 45 second plank 30 second side plank on each side I'll up the duration over time, plan to do this 3-4 times a week.
7/14 Left hamstring (in the distal area, my trainer says) is still stiff, it feels really tender now from the fascial scraping. I avoided hamstring exercises and took it a bit light. Strength Training Foam rolling/trigger point, Chiro exercises Clams 2x15 each leg, blue band Lying KB press (16kg) with leg raises (8) and ankle circles (10), 2 sets per leg 2 rounds: Green band overgead press/pull 12x Palov press 12x100 lb first round, 12x140 second. (Pulley cable) Mountain climbers with green resistance band and valslides, 30 sec Bent over fat grip barbell row 12x65 lb I also went out later to Boda Borg. It involved some climbing horizontally on rock walls/ropes with a thing ledge, doing monkey-bars without touching the ground but with only a few feet of clearance (did it by wedging & going sideways), climbing a vertical shaft with platforms spaced horizontally in a spiral, a few other things like that, as well as lots of easier stuff (just walking, with puzzles. My hamstring got stiffer over the course of the night but not by too much. It didn't get as bad as it felt last night.
7/15 Rest day as my left hamstring is still not fully better and I don't want to re-aggravate it. I also finished reading Joel Jamieson's Ultime Guide to MMA Conditioning and made a program for myself. I've posted it in Routine Critique. Self Care Rolling & trigger point on glutes/hips/calves which were feeling a bit sore from probably Boda Borg on the 14th, and maybe a bit from strength training too.
7/15 addendum Forgot to note that I fasted from ~10 pm the night of the 14th through ~7pm on the 15th. My last big meal though was finished around 7 pm on the 14th, with just a ~130 calorie yogurt at 10 pm. I broke the fast with an entire container of Queso (~900 cal) and tortilla chips (guessing a few hundred cal of them), followed by more cheese & salami, and then a few popsicles... so not the greatest way to do that, but my stomach was ok. It may just be the longer, ~36 hour+ fasts that I need to be more careful with when breaking them. 7/16 My left hamstring is still a bit off, I'm skipping class and doing cardiac output instead as a lower-stress on the legs kind of thing. I did shadow boxing for my cardiac output today. I tried to stay in the 130-140 bpm range. Self Care Trigger point with a lacrosse ball on my shoulders in the morning. My right shoulder was feeling a bit tweaked in the car this morning (picking up coffee from cup holder & bringing it to my mouth felt a bit off in one area). I spent a lot more time on the right one than on the left. Rotator cuff exercise External rotation at neutral, 3x12x20lb External rotation at 90 degree abduction, 3x12x30lb Core exercise 45 second plank 30 second side plank on each side
7/17 Rest day. Self care Trigger point and rolling lower body (hips & down, didn't roll my feet; I should start doing so when I roll the rest) Hip flexor stretch Some hamstring stretching; my left hamstring was tight/sore through most of the muscle, though the distal portion has continued to improve. Maybe I used more of the rest of my hamstring (the non-hurt part) to compensate yesterday in the 30 minutes of shadow boxing. My right hamstring was fine, which is why I suspect compensation for the hurt part caused that. 7/18 12 kicks, 10 teeps to floating blocks with each leg (no power on left, bruised shin still healing). Teep balance when going to the floating blocks is not good, needs a lot of work. I started fasting at 3pm today (3 hours before Muay Thai), and plan to fast until breakfast on the 20th (~42 hours). Muay Thai, beginners class I rolled my quads & glutes a bit, then did the chiropractor stretches/exercises, wrapped up, and shadow boxed for a few minutes. I see I went a bit too hard to stay in the lower part of the green zone, which was my goal. The warm-up was two 3-minute rounds of jump-rope. I opted not to go for high knees at the end of the round and to take it a bit slower, as my left hamstring is still not fully better and was already a bit sore/tight. It is probably better for the general endurance block I'm doing to try to get more time in the green zone than the yellow. We did attack-defense drills in full gear today. We went over a range of things with the attacker throwing kicks and punching combos. The defender was doing things like returning kicks, swaying, splitting off the sway sometimes, inside leg kicking during attacker combo, blocking, bridging guard, etc. I have a real problem keeping my chin down. Self care 90 minute massage (left hamstring still tight/sore). Did chiro exercises/stretches at Muay Thai. Core exercises for SI joint/hip issue 45 second plank 30 second side plank on each side 2x12x5lb (per leg) glute medius exercise Rotator cuff exercise for shoulder injury prevention External rotation at neutral, 3x12x20lb External rotation at 90 degree abduction, 3x12x30lb
