I completely agree about discipline. Going from a lower level of exercise to 3-5 sessions/week seems like a big jump. How much are you training at the moment?
Well, until a few months ago I was training roughly 2x per week Muay Thai (1 or 2 hours per session), and doing conditioning/strength work as well. As I said though I'll start slow--the 3-5/week (plus minimal strength work, and some conditioning) is my eventual goal. Doing lower end of that if I need more recovery, and higher end of it if I feel like I can handle it that week.
12/10 I went ahead and contacted my old BJJ gym, I'll be going back starting tomorrow. I want to get in some fundamentals classes (I only have a few months total BJJ experience), but the 3 they offer throughout the week conflict with Muay Thai or with my strength training. I'll try to get some fundamentals classes in for a few weeks til I'm back in Muay Thai, and then get more in as I'm able. Walked 30 min @ 2mph, 111 avg BPM. I figured I'd do a recovery workout today to wake up my body a bit for tomorrow since I have mostly been just sitting for the past week. I started with 2 sets of 50 jumps, trying to start testing my ankle a bit more. I felt a little discomfort on a few, and a little discomfort when putting weight on it at certain angles during the rest of the workout, but less intense than it has been lately. I'll ice it a bit later. Heavy bag tempo intervals (15). 11s work @ 70-80% effort, 60 seconds rest, usually walking during the rest. I worked some intervals on the uppercut bag (head punches), and some on the banana bag (head & body punches, body & leg kicks, knees).
12/11 I think I overdid it on the ankle a little bit yesterday. I forgot to ice it too. It was ok last night, but feels a bit inflamed and sore today (not too bad, but definitely a noticeable difference compared to the past week). It probably doesn't help that I only got about 5 hours of sleep (woke up early, couldn't fall back asleep). BJJ -- fundamentals class, 1 hour No HR -- I figured the strap probably wouldn't stay on. If I get a rashguard maybe I can put the HR strap under that. I did squats/push-ups/leg lifts/crunches while the class did running/side stepping/etc. Then we did forward rolls and a couple other things. I had to stop to breathe and the instructor told me to just rest for the rest of the warmup (I was pouring sweat by this point, and pretty out of breath.) We did a little bit of stand-up grip stuff @ low intensity. Then we worked on several single-leg takedowns from guard. The instructor pointed out that this technique is really hard to force, but if you notice the right opening & time it well, it is high percentage. We went over several paths, one involving standing up with the leg & taking them down with a trip behind the other leg, and another involving if they try to disengage as you start it, you go back into some guard I forget the name of (hand behind their heel, one foot on the front of their thigh, the other foot wrapped around the back of the other thigh), and then quickly shift to take them down with pressure on the leg you had a hand behind the heel of (assuming they have their weight on their heels while trying to pull back from you). I did have to rest a bit sometimes, and I started to get a bit of a headache at one point, but it went away. No exertion headache afterwards so far, but I wouldn't be surprised if I get one later. My big toe had some minor discomfort that tells me it isn't quite right still. I am going to start taping it to the toe next to it from now on to avoid any problems (which tend to happen as it moves outward away from the toe next to it). The last path of that single-leg takedown did tweak my ankle a bit on one of the reps (when I was being taken down) as my foot went into that extended pointing position. Was moderate discomfort, went away quickly, no extra soreness yet. I will ice it. Overall though the ankle is feeling better than it did a month ago. Hopefully time, not hammering it too much, and icing will get it better with time. If it stops improving I'll go see the Dr. again. I think I'm going to have to shift my schedule around and hit more of these fundamental classes. I'll see what I can manage schedule-wise.
12/12: I did get an exertion headache. I had trouble sleeping as well, got about 5.5 hours sleep that night. 12/13: Head was better, but I felt pretty wrecked. Walking up a flight of stairs had me breathing a bit heavy (which is unusual for me). I opted to take another rest day. I got a 90 minute massage today, lots of stuff going on in the calf of the leg with the injured ankle. 12/14: Strength training. Hip extension stretch (both legs, twice), Single leg hamstring curls, bent over single-arm kettle bell row, single leg hip thrusters, high plank with resistance band around ankles & doing step-outs or whatever you call them (going from legs together, to one leg out to the side). I had some issues with my hamstring after the first set of curls--I was getting a pretty strong pulling sensation right above the knee (on the back side). My trainer rolled my hamstrings with a stick roller, there was a lot of discomfort right above the knee where I was feeling that pulling. Afterwards we resumed the hamstring curls (with a bit lower weight) and the leg felt fine. My plan for the next week: Sunday 12/15: Recovery style workout (15-20 tempo intervals on heavy bag). Mon 12/16: BJJ fundamentals Tue 12/17: Rest Wed 12/18: Either Muay Thai (1 hour only), or cardiac output for conditioning, depending on the ankle and generally how I feel. Thurs 12/19: Rest 0r recovery workout Fri 12/20: Either No-Gi BJJ fundamentals, cardiac output conditioning, or rest, depending on how I feel. Sat 12/21: Strength training, and depending on whether I went to Muay Thai/BJJ on Weds/Fri, maybe also some conditioning work.
12/15 Recovery workout Warmup: 60 jumps, then 2 sets of: 5 squats, 5 push-ups, 5 leg lifts, 5 crunches. Also did some dynamic hamstring stretching (leg swings). Then I put on wraps & did tempo intervals on my heavy bags. 70-80% effort for 12 second work period, then active rest 60s (walking). I did 20 intervals.
12/16 My ankle was pretty irritated yesterday. I think maybe I'm getting tendonitis or something similar in a spot that is compensating for the injury. Its more on the side of the ankle than behind, and flares up every time I do jumping/Muay Thai stuff, even limiting the time & intensity as I did yesterday. Tensing the calf muscle creates a tugging/sore (injury-sore, not DOMS) sensation in the affected area. Icing helped a bit. It is better this morning than it was last night though. I think I will not try to go to Muay Thai this week. I'll continue to do recovery workouts on the heavy bag, but perhaps eliminate the jumping for a couple more weeks. I got a lot of sleep (8.25 hours restful, and another hour restless), but felt pretty tired when I got up. Walked 30 min @ 2 mph, 109 avg BPM. My ankle was ok during the walk, but that spot on the side that flared up yesterday is a bit flared up again. Depending how I feel later (tired-wise & in terms of the ankle) I may go swim instead of going to BJJ fundamentals. If I do that, I'll plan to go on Weds instead. (The above written after walking.) -------------------------- I did end up going to BJJ fundamentals class for an hour. Traffic was a bit crazy. Depending on the route I take, it is anywhere from 6.5-9 miles. It took me about an hour to get there today, and then I had to find street parking, so I missed the whole warm-up except the light grip sparring at the end. I'm kind of glad I missed the warm-up though, as I started getting an exertion headache after class (took some advil when I got home, hopefully it won't come to fruition). Anyway, so I started with the light grip stuff (free form going for grips/control & breaking grips/control while standing, going easy). It seems the current topic we are exploring (both last Weds when I went and today) are sweeps/reversals from the De La Riva guard while our opponent is standing. Last week we went over single leg takedown options. Today we practiced a backward sweep if your opponent pushes forward--you elevate their hips and flip them over you, and backwards roll into mount. An easier alternative, if you couldn't do that, was to dump them sideways and end up in side control. (The instructor said this isn't a good option against an experienced opponent, but against someone who isn't experienced it can work quite well.) We also practiced a path where they see you trying to do that, and drop their hips low and drop their rear knee down to the mat. In that case we did something similar to one of the single-leg takedown options last week, getting a hand behind the heel of their near leg, extending your legs out to stretch them out, and then quickly bringing your hip up as your inside leg traps their leg, and driving forward into what turns into their half-guard. My ankle was ok, minor twinge drilling that first one. My partner couldn't lift me over him, so he was dumping me to the side. He worked both sides (you dump towards the side you have the De La Riva hook in), and one of the sides I ended up coming down on the heel of the injured ankle and it twinged a bit. After that he just dumped me to the other side where I'm coming down on my good foot. Tensing my calf now doesn't trigger any of that pulling sensation I was getting yesterday, so that is good. So at least it recovers fairly quickly. I'll give it a few days to rest before I do anything that stresses it again.
12/18 Walked 35 min, 111 avg BPM 12/20 BJJ no-gi fundamentals, 1 hour. We worked on escaping from a heel hook (something about a 4-11 position, but I didn't follow that part, some leg lock that turned into a heel hook). We were shown several different techniques, and the instructor also talked about attacks from that position (counter heel hook) for more advanced students. After class was open mat, and I stayed and did some light no-gi rolling for about 15 minutes.
12/21 Strength training--this was mostly a recovery session. My right shoulder is having some minor issues (tightness, tugging) which seem like it is starting down the road to the rotator cuff issues I had last time I was doing BJJ. The issue is my movement patterns aren't great, and I over-use the rotator cuff muscles. I did some val-slide leg curls, step ups, external shoulder rotation with cable, bent over single arm kettlebell rows, and various triggerpoint/mobility stuff for the shoulder. I almost didn't go to BJJ yesterday just due to laziness. I think writing down my plan helped me actually go, especially since I had already missed a planned workout from that past Weds due to not feeling well. So, plan for this coming week: - 12/22: Either BJJ or a cardio workout - 12/23: Either BJJ fundamentals, or just messing around on a heavy bag (may have someone coming over to mess around on the heavy bags), depending on timing and how tired I am from that. If he doesn't end up coming over I'll try to get to BJJ if I didn't go on the 22nd. - 12/24, 12/25: Rest - 12/26: Cardio or recovery style workout - 12/27: BJJ no-gi fundamentals
12/22 I almost didn't get up in time, but did go to BJJ today. Class started about 75 minutes after I woke up, so I didn't eat anything. I had some black coffee on the way to class. For the warm-up I mostly just hit a heavy bag. Palm strikes, chops (regular & reverse), slaps, elbows, knees, kicks. I did a few squats, push-ups, and crunches. I also practiced backwards rolls for a bit, and a few forward rolls. The drill today was a double under pass from closed guard. Break their closed guard, various steps to end up with their legs up on your shoulders, aiming to get your shoulders between their knee & their hip on each leg, with their hips up in your lap/off the ground. Then walking around and turning you head to let the leg slide by. Various grips during this to keep them from getting out, and keeping the space between you tight so they can't pummel out with their legs. The other variation involved forcing them into a backwards roll instead of slipping around into side control. You end up in back side control for that one, and it can be useful when they are trying to backwards roll out on their own. (Certain grips required to keep them from getting to a better defensive position from that.) I did 2 of the live rolls after drills, 5 minutes each, though I only did 4 minutes on one of them. I tried to go very light to conserve energy as I was already pretty tired from the drills. I haven't eaten yet, I'll probably wait a few more hours.
I’d recommend eating within an hour of training, because your muscles can only recover with healthy food (plus sleep). It’s well established that you need both protein and carbs soon after hard exercise. Diet and sleep are critical to recovery, but you probably know this already. You mentioned swimming. If you’ve got ankle issues, or wish to skip weight training while your hamstring recovers, then swimming could be ideal cardio. Front crawl improves ankle mobility, and swimming’s great for core conditioning. Could swimming be an option for your recovery workout?
Eh. I'm already pretty strong, I'm not focused on gaining strength. Muscles will still refuel using alternative metabolic pathways. If I was going to train again later that day, it would be much more important to recover quickly by eating. From what I've read on the subject (various articles, some studies, etc), the importance of eating post-exercise is a bit overblown. For a pro athlete who is training again within 8 hours, or competing in a bunch of stuff over a short time period (e.g., 10 bouts over 2-3 days, for instance), it is fairly important. For someone who wants to maximize hypertrophy after resistance training, it is also important. For me, when I'm not training again til at least the next day, maybe longer, I'm not really worried about it. My two main goals right now (which somewhat clash with each other) are to lose weight (specifically weight from fat) and to increase my conditioning so that I can train more often & fully participate in the classes (vs sitting out to catch my breath). I have plenty of fat for my body to process into energy. I haven't noticed any issues doing things like 60-90 minutes of cardio during a longer fast (e.g., after fasting 24+ hours, and continuing to fast another 24+ hours after exercise).
I find non-martial-arts exercise rather dull. Swimming is ok, I haven't been in a while though (over a month now I think). Ideally I like to use cardio & recovery workouts to also work on skills (e.g., heavy bag work). But yes, when that isn't possible, or sometimes when I just feel like it, I do swim or use a cardio machine.
I started coming down with a cold on Tuesday which became full-blown by Friday. Hopefully it won't last much longer. I saw the podiatrist again for another issue (smashed toe nail on the other foot). While there I also discussed the ankle injury, and he said the pain & discomfort I'm experiencing in the side is some tendon that is commonly injured with impact activities by those with flat feet (which I have). He said to take it easy and wear the brace while doing anything that irritates it over the next 3 weeks and if it keeps happening after that, come back and see him.
I hope your cold gets better soon. Winter weather ! Are you mainly doing groundwork? In which case, do flat feet matter on the mat? (Just curious, that's all.) Did he discuss orthotics for your shoes then?
Yea I can still do BJJ no problem, so long as I avoid running/jumping in the warm-up, wear the brace, and don't land on that foot when being thrown/rolled. Flat feet don't really matter on the mat, AFAIK. The most likely thing for me is that the tendon is already overworked due to picking up slack from the injured part of the ankle. When I jump or do a lot of posting on that leg, it gets sore/irritated. It used to get the same way from walking on the treadmill, though that isn't bothering it anymore. The doc said it is at risk of developing tendinitis if I keep pushing it. So I'm not going to do any jumping for a while, and try to take it easy on that foot when doing any sort of heavy bag workouts at home.
1/3 Finally feeling well enough to resume training, though I still have a little congestion & a bit of a cough. BJJ no-gi fundamentals. Warmed up on a heavy bag while the rest ran, then did some of the other drills. I couldn't do all of them with my ankle nor with my current conditioning. We worked on armbars from closed guard today.
1/4 I didn't sleep well the past few nights and was pretty exhausted. Strength training, but I spent most of my time on mobility/triggerpoint/rolling/etc. I did do some hamstring curls & band pull aparts. 1/6 Still getting bad sleep, didn't muster the energy to train. 1/7 Walked 30 min @ 2mph, avg HR 116 BPM. 1/8 I was on my way to BJJ but got a migraine that progressed steadily over ~30 minutes of driving. I ended up going home and not exercising... I'll post again later with some exercise I do today. I will at least do some walking, and may do a BJJ fundamentals class or some sort of conditioning at home. I plan to go to the no-gi fundamentals tomorrow as well.
