Morik's training log

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

  1. axelb

    axelb Master of Office Chair Fu

    Which knuckle is it that's having the pain? I had pain/bruising on my 5th metacarpal (little finger) on both sides that went on for some time, turned out it was a fracture. Lots of avoiding impact for weeks was the only thing that sorted it :(
     
  2. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Its right on the pointer finger's knuckle. If I close my fist & point my knuckles at the ceiling, I can lay my other hand's finger on top of the knuckle & push down to get the bruised/pain feeling. If I roll the finger on top around so its at a 45 degree angle (on the corner of top/side) and push down, that also is painful.
    Before striking hard yesterday, the bruised feeling had been getting better and it even had gone away for a few weeks. (I was pushing on it daily to check.)

    Maybe I'll book an ortho appointment and get it x-rayed or whatever they do now a-days.
     
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  3. axelb

    axelb Master of Office Chair Fu

    Hope it gets sorted! My experience here is you may or may not get an X ray depending on who you speak with. It's worth finding out, but it sounds like a minor fracture, similar to what I had, but I continued going and my little fingers are a bit wonky now.
     
  4. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Sunday Jan 21

    I suspect my knuckle isn't fractured, or if it is it's very minor. I looked up some symptoms and found that moving my finger around in the socket/pushing on it, moving it around in various ways, etc, do not hurt at all. I can grab the bone and move it every which way, twist, etc, no pain or discomfort at all. I'm going to try no impact or low impact only on it for a couple weeks; if it isn't significantly improved over that time I'll get it checked.

    Grip work (prohands/CoC):
    Crush 10 xx-hvy
    Hook 10x heavy
    Finger play 10x each finger, 10x (total) various finger combos, medium
    tripod 10x hvy
    trigger 10x xx-hvy
    thumb press 10x heavy (2 buttons)
    power pinch 10x medium (2 buttons)
    crush 10x xx-heavy
    coc trainer 6x, 4x, 2x, left really struggled, right is easy
    coc #0.5 5 second hold as far closed as I could, left couldn't close, right closed
    finger extension 8x, 10x, 12x green band
     
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  5. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Monday Jan 22

    Muay Thai, beginners class, 1 hour

    I almost didn't get to class today--my excuse making mechanism again. There wasn't even have a specific excuse that was forming, just a vague sort of 'you should skip it and go read or play video games because... reasons'. I flip flopped a few times and decided to go maybe 2 minutes before I had to leave.
    And again, just like every time this happens, I feel good after class, and I'm glad I went. And I know (or can guess) that I will feel good and be glad I went afterwards, yet the excuses still come knocking. It's something I struggle with, and in the past has been the reason I stop exercising (many excuses kick in after being out due to sickness/travel/whatever, and then I just never go back). This log helps, as does having a trainer (harder to just not show up).

    Anyway, the warm-up today was 4 minutes of jump-rope, then 4 minutes of shadow boxing. I did alright on jump-rope, though I had to take a few breaks especially towards the end.

    We paired off and worked attack/counterattack drills, going 3 for 3 for each drill.
    For the first part of class we worked on parrying jabs and countering with one jab, two jabs, then two jabs and a cross. We talked about distancing and why to counter on which side (e.g., jab for longer range counter, cross if opponent has committed to a bit closer distance), and how to set up the cross with the two jabs.
    The counters were into our partner's glove, which they held up as they jabbed.
    We ended with parrying a jab & a cross, then responding with cross, hook.

    Then we worked on parrying teeps, setting up fake teeps, and using those fake teeps to bait your opponent.
    We started with just leaning back and bringing our lead knee up in response to our partner's jab. The Kru talked about not bringing your leg up directly (out straight) because you'll crash your toes into your opponent's elbow, which sucks a lot, so to go to the knee up position for teep & fake teep, and then you put your leg out straight from there as you teep (if you aren't faking).
    We moved on to just parrying a teep. Teep (parry), Fake teep. We kept building for there.
    Some other examples: teep (parry), fake teep (partner parries at least partially) then immediately teep again. Or rear teep, fake rear teep -> cross and then leg kick when they bring their hands up to block the cross. There were a lot of these, I don't remember them all.

    I didn't have any issues keeping up a good pace with my partner today. I think my conditioning is mostly back to where it was before that couple week break. (Still not anywhere near where I'd like it, but better than its been in many many years.)
     
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  6. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Tuesday Jan 23

    Yoga (Ashtanga based Vinyasa power yoga), 1 hour

    I decided to go to Yoga today instead of swimming. I made it through more of the class than usual (my conditioning being a bit better now), but did go into child's pose for a lot of the handstand prep they did (I maybe did 20% of it), and for some of the down dogs (to cool down a bit). I sweat pretty profusely during this class (and just in general). It's kind of annoying--I rinse off in cool or cold water afterwards, and then generally keep sweating for another hour (at work, into my regular clothes). Some of the smaller & fitter attendees seem to be able to do the whole class without getting sweaty, but I doubt I'll ever get to a point where I don't sweat during class. Maybe I can get to a point where I'm not soaking my clothes after class, once I've rinsed off & changed back.
     
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  7. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Thursday Jan 25

    I broke my regular fast this morning 3.5 hours early as I was feeling off--I think I needed more calories. I had unsweetened no fat yogurt with blueberries and raspberries and then waited til my normal time to eat again.

    Today I swam for 30 minutes. Still mostly breast stroke, but more freestyle & backstroke than before (maybe 20% combined, instead of 10-15%).
    My right shoulder was bugging me a little bit towards the end, as is my low back (minorly, but seems my back is starting to flare up a bit again on the right side).
     
    Last edited: Jan 26, 2018
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  8. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Wednesday Jan 31

    I've been really undisciplined the last week and didn't exercise at all, on top of not being consistent for the few weeks before that... So I plan to get to class Friday, to weight training Saturday, and to 3 classes next week. I'll decide on swimming/yoga depending on how I feel.

    Muay Thai, beginners class, 1 hour

    The warm-up was one 3-minute round of jump-rope. I started having trouble after the first 1:30 with my calves fatiguing, and towards the end I had minor trouble with my breath.

    We grabbed gloves & shin guards and did offense/defense drills in broken rhythm.
    The first drill was: Jab (parry), rear kick (check)
    We built off that, adding options for the striker (teeps, cross + switch kick, punch + teep combo, offensive & defensive bridging, etc). The defender got more options in later drills as well (catching vs deflecting kicks, cross block if you misread their kick).
    I'm not sure how many drills we did.

    I didn't have trouble with my breathing during the drills. I asked my partner to go light on the jab parries due to my knuckle. It still got a bit sore, but not nearly as bad as if I were hitting pads. I think I may have been using more force than I meant to, especially after the first drill or two.
     
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  9. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Saturday Feb 3

    I didn't make it to class yesterday--I was out of commission all day with a migraine.

    Weight Training, 1 hour

    clams, blue band, 15x/leg, 2 sets

    2 rounds of:
    - single arm lateral pulldown (80lb on pulley cable)
    - z-press with 10kg kettlebell, back rotation (coming down on one forearm in front of me, looking off to one side) 3x/side
    - bird-dogs with burgundy band, 8x/side
    - step-ups, 12x/leg, with a fat-grip dumbbell, not sure what the weight was (not very much).
    - hip thrusters 8x/leg

    Then pec stretching on the TRX for a bit.
     
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  10. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Monday Feb 5

    Muay Thai, beginners class, 1 hour

    The warm-up was 4 minutes of jump-rope. I wasn't limited by breathing or muscle fatigue this time, but I needed to fiddle with the rope a lot--it was an adjustable and was way too short, and the loose bits were tied up in knots. So it was probably more like 3 minutes of jump-rope. Also I got the rope caught an awful lot on my feet. More so than usual for me these days.

    We grabbed gloves & shin-guards and shadow boxed for 4 minutes after that.

    Then we paired up and drilled setting up the head kick. We talked about avoiding getting pulled out of your guard & opening yourself up to head kicks.

    Parts in parenthesis are what the defensive partner does. One partner attacked repeatedly until Kru called a swap (no idea what the times were):
    - rear body kick (check), into the head kick (pull back, counter with rear head kick)
    - switch body kick (cross check), into switch head kick (pull back, counter with switch head kick)
    - jab; jab, switch kick (step for it during 2nd jab)
    - jab; jab, cross; cross, rear kick (while throwing the cross, which hangs out longer than you normally would)

    Then we drilled 2 for 2:
    - either of the kick combos
    - either of the punch combos
    - any of the 4 combos

    I had to slow down during the switch kick drill--I got a bit winded. I stayed about on the edge of my cardio range, especially during the last 3 drills.

    We finished with alternating front & rear teeps into a wall pad for a while, then switch knees for a shorter time, then alternating teeps again for a while. I gassed during the switch knees.
     
  11. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Wednesday Feb 7

    Muay Thai, 1 hour, beginners class

    The warm-up was two 3-minute rounds of jump-rope. I did ok in the first round, but had to break for breath & muscle fatigue a bit in the 2nd round.

    We paired off with gloves & pads.

    Drills:
    1. Hook, cross, switch knee. Or cross, hook, rear knee. Padholder's choice on each rep.
    2. Jab, cross, hook, slide to avoid padholder jab, cross, switch knee
    3. uppercut, cross, hook, sway to avoid padholder cross
    4. uppercut, cross, hook, sway to avoid padholder cross, cross, rear kick
    5. uppercut, cross, hook; jab, optional bridge to control one of padholder's arms, rear elbow, optional trap/control of the other arm (with the rear elbowing arm), lead elbow

    I held up pretty well cardio-wise, though I wasn't throwing with much power at all. All the strikes with my left hand are just no-power touches right now due to the knuckle injury. It still feels bruised when I wrap up & clench my fist (the compression gives me that bruised feeling), a bit worse with gloves on (which also add compression to that area when clenching my fist). I had gotten it to the point where it wasn't feeling bruised when making a fist with wraps/gloves on, but that was a few weeks ago and I went too hard on pads and re-injured it. It is starting to heal again though, I think.
     
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  12. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Friday Feb 9

    I tried to go to class today but the gym was unexpectedly closed, so I went home & trained there. Details in my bag work progression thread.
     
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  13. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Saturday Feb 10

    Weight training, 1 hour

    Clams, blue band, 15x per leg, 2 sets

    2 rounds:
    Single arm lat pulldown tall kneeling 160lb (pulley thing, so ~80?), 12x per arm (would have done lateral lat pulldown, but my left shoulder is a bit irritated when doing those)
    Zpress 10kg kettlebell with 3 back rotations per side
    Bird dog burgundy cook band 8x per leg
    Trx split squats 12 per side, then 8 per side in 2nd round
    Single leg hip thrusters 8x per leg

    Trx pec stretch


    I should get back to my grip workouts... I'll try to do that today.
    I'm planning to try a 24 hour fast from late tonight til late tomorrow (maybe around 10 pm).
     
  14. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Monday Feb 12

    Muay Thai, beginners class, 1 hour

    The warm-up was 4 minutes of jump-rope followed by 4 minutes of shadow boxing. I had to take a few breaks during jump-rope but I've been improving I think.

    We paired off with gloves & shin guards.
    We worked on parrying punches & countering.

    First set of drills was parrying 3 jabs: parry, parry + jab to counter, parry + jab cross to counter, repeat
    We built on that adding a rear body kick, so: parry + counter with rear kick, parry + counter with jab & rear kick, parry + counter with jab cross rear kick

    Then we parried jab + cross: parry, parry + cross to counter, parry + cross hook to counter. Same thing with adding a kick, but lead leg this time,
    Then we added a lead leg kick (to inside leg, body, or head).

    We then just worked on parrying varying strikes from our partner, and on each rep optionally countering with punches or kicks of our choice.

    No cardio issues at all outside of the jump-rope.
     
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  15. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Wednesday Feb 14

    I made an appointment at an orthopedics doctor to get my knuckle looked at on Friday. I should still make it to class on Friday.

    Muay Thai, beginners class, 1 hour

    The warm-up was 3 minutes of jump-rope. I am still catching the rope in my feet, but I didn't need any breaks for breathing/muscle fatigue.

    We paired off & worked offensive drills with some defense thrown in.
    One combo line ended at: jump in to jab, jump back to avoid counter, hit them with a cross (step in a bit) as they expose themselves with the counter (going over their arm), then rear kick. (Built up to that over several drills.)

    The other combo line ended at: jab cross, slip a jab, rear uppercut off the slip, hook, cross, lead body hook, lead hook to the head.

    I was in a group of 3 and rested when the other 2 were working. We didn't use pads, just our gloves so that we could rotate attacker every 5 reps. So we weren't using much power, especially on the kicks. I didn't have any trouble with my breathing.
     
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  16. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Couple things on my mind.

    I really want to get back to grip training but keep forgetting when I get home as I never established the habit. My left thumb has been really irritated lately--I think the grip training was helping it. I am going to start again tonight when I get home.

    On a separate note, I was looking around for BJJ places with sufficient no-gi classes that I'd be able to take enough no-gi classes at some point for my BJJ training.
    I found a couple really good looking gyms. I'm conflicted now. One gym has a 3rd degree BJJ black belt as the head grappling instructor, has qualified striking instructors & also teaches MMA. All the class times & the location work for me. I'd be able to build up to training 5x per week, with up to 3 hours of striking, 2.5 hours of no-gi BJJ (and up to another 3 hours of fundamentals, with gi though), and up to 3 hours of MMA. They do sparring in all of their classes (BJJ rolling, striking only sparring for the striking classes, and MMA sparring in the MMA classes). (They have another 3.5 hours of BJJ for black belts on their schedule that I'd be able to attend eventually with a black belt. At least, I assume its BJJ, its just listed as black belts training.)
    My impression is that BJJ is their base/main skill set, but they do have very qualified people for striking too (good professional fight records, lots of experience). They don't do any BJJ with gi training outside of their fundamentals classes.
    I would have to do fundamentals classes until I get my blue belt, which is required for both MMA & no-gi classes, but I think it would be good for me to do those classes anyway.

    Another place I found I'd be able to train 2 hours of no-gi BJJ a week, and they also do a couple 45 minute Muay Thai classes during the week. (And could take fundamentals BJJ classes til I think I've got that down well.) The times & location are a bit worse for me though.

    I'm conflicted. I like my current Muay Thai gym, but their MMA offering is at a time that will never work for me. I can think of several options:
    - Keep doing Muay Thai at my current gym for another year or two before branching out.
    - Keep doing some Muay Thai at my current gym, add some MMA/BJJ/additional striking from the other gym.
    - Switch over fully to that other gym, and get a nice mix of training.

    I'm not sure whether to keep developing my base in Muay Thai, or to go over to a much broader mix of training. With my current gym once I can go to the advanced classes I can train 2+ hours of Muay Thai most days of the week. On the other hand even if I'm training less hours of striking in the gym, I could supplement with home practice on my bag. I am pretty sure I find all of the different training modes they offer fun: I've done no-gi BJJ and its fun, striking is certainly fun for me, and I can't imagine I wouldn't like the MMA classes.

    I don't want to change anything up yet--I'll stay doing what I'm doing for at least another few months, until my knuckle is better at least (I'm getting it checked out tomorrow).
    That first gym I mentioned offers a free week, so I want to go check out all their classes at some point, though I won't be able to check out no-gi or MMA (they require you to have a blue belt in BJJ first), but I could do the BJJ fundamentals class & the striking classes.

    So I'm not sure what I'll do. That first gym I mentioned seems pretty ideal. I'll revisit this in a few months when my knuckle is better (at least, I hope it is better in a few months).
     
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  17. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Looking at that first gym I mentioned in the prior post some more. The black belt training is actually just their with-Gi BJJ class. Its for blue belts & up who want to earn a black belt in BJJ.
    I assume the no-gi classes don't rank.
    So they have a bunch of BJJ offerings--counting only the ones at times I'd be able to make, they offer 8.5 hours of BJJ training a week. Supplemented with 3 hours of striking a week & 3 hours of MMA. So it is a BJJ focused gym.
    Not that I'm going to go train 8.5 hours of BJJ every week. At least, I don't think that is something I'd end up doing.

    The more I think about it the more I think I want to end up there, though of course I'll check out the free week of classes first and see how the instructors & students & environment are.
    I may keep doing Muay Thai on the side.
    The schedules between the two gyms actually sync up nicely--the 3 best days for Muay Thai at my current gym (offering 2-3 hours of class vs 1 hour on the other 2 days) are days they train striking and with-Gi BJJ at this gym.
    The 2 days I don't go to Muay Thai I could train MMA & no-gi BJJ at this other gym.
    I doubt I'd be able to keep up such a schedule, at least without a lot of work to get there, but I could mix & match as I like while building up to it.

    Not sure when I'll start into this. I'm at least going to wait until my knuckle is fully better.
     
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  18. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    Thursday Feb 15

    Grip training (finally):

    Prohands
    Crush 10 xx-hvy
    Hook 10x heavy
    Finger play 10x each finger, 10x (total) various finger combos, medium
    tripod 10x hvy
    trigger 10x xx-hvy
    thumb press 10x heavy (2 buttons)
    power pinch 10x medium (2 buttons)
    crush 10x xx-heavy

    CoC
    coc trainer 6x, 4x, 2x, left struggled a bit, right is very easy
    coc #0.5 5 second hold as far closed as I could, left couldn't close (but almost), right closed and was easy
    finger extension 10x white, 10x green
     
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  19. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    Careful not to burn out mentally and physically if you do make the switch. The grass isn't always greener and sometimes less is more!

    Hope you enjoy the MMA if you do transition over though!
     
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  20. Morik

    Morik Well-Known Member Supporter MAP 2017 Gold Award

    I got my knuckle checked out by an orthopedics doctor today. She thinks I've damaged the extensor hood of my left index finger, but she doesn't think its torn. She told me to avoid doing anything that hurts, as that is going to delay healing... I told her the compression when I have wraps & gloves on hurts, and she suggested padding first or wearing a splint. (The splint would take me out of training...)
    She said to go easy on it for at least another month and then if its not getting better still check back with her.
    I'm going to try not clenching my hand very much when striking, as it bothers the knuckle a lot more when I clench my fist (in the compression of wraps/glove). I'm striking super lightly anyway with that hand, so it shouldn't cause issues to not fully clench the fist.
    Really I'm trying to just touch, though partners still smack my hand with their pads or gloves after I ask them not to... they just smack it much softer than normal. I do try to ask them to literally just hold the pad completely still & I'll just touch it so they don't need to come meet my hand, and it hurts when they do, but... I think its just been drilled into them to meet the incoming strike.
    Anyway, I'm going to keep training and not splint it. I may try to use some of my migraine headache strips as padding for the knuckles though, if I can still fit in gloves with it on. (I use menthol strips that go across the forehead to provide a cooling feeling which helps a bit with migraines--the menthod part is a gel-like pad.)

    I also have a bone contusion on my shin from being dumb (rammed my shin into the metal push-bar of a door with my foot pointing down so no muscle was protecting the bone). I have a ridge there which she said is consistent with a contusion. Nothing I need to do for it other than not impact it too hard. I think I can still check kicks if I have my foot flexed & shin guards on, but if it hurts at all I'll modify to cross check with the other leg or something.

    Both my shoulders are a bit messed up still... I'm a bit worried they will be problematic in BJJ. I'm going to try to talk to my trainer or other knowledgeable individuals about what sorts of exercises I can do to strengthen them so they stop getting injured all the time.
    (I think the left shoulder is just a mild muscle strain, the right one is a more severe strain or possibly I have a pulled muscle, though its been getting better.)

    My left achilles tendon has been oddly sore for perhaps 4 days. I've been trying to stretch the calf well, but otherwise haven't been doing much for it. It doesn't hurt most of the time, but occasionally when I take a step it will hurt.

    I am starting to keep track of my injuries now in a spreadsheet. I think it will be good to see how often I'm injuring myself, how long it takes to heal, have a better sense of how long I need to rest various things, etc. Also I have the impression I injure my shoulders a lot, but I haven't really been keeping track.


    I think my plan for testing whether I can ramp up my activity level is going to be something like:
    - For the next month (while knuckle heals) go to class no more than 3 times a week. Having at least a day between classes to let the knuckle settle back down (it gets mildly sore from the compression & light impacts) is good.
    - Try to get to 3 classes a week. If I miss one for whatever reason, shadow box & bagwork (I can just kick til knuckle is better, plenty to work on with my kicks).
    - If I want to do more, I'll swim or do shadow boxing & bag work on some other weekdays. Or Yoga.

    - After the month is up on the knuckle, assuming it is better, I'll start doing 4 classes a week (still all Muay Thai). I'll keep at that until I feel comfortable with it (maybe another month), and increase to 4-5 classes a week. Once I get comfortable with that I can swap over to doing some fundamentals BJJ at the other gym.
    If I can't handle the load, at least I haven't signed up for another gym & paying dues in 2 places where I'm barely using one of them.

    I can even add more on top of that if I want... e.g., could swim after Muay Thai on some days. So long as I build towards it slowly, I think I'll be able to tell if I start to burn out and can pull back a little.
    I'm going to have to stop the 16 hour fasts on most days if I do increase training like that. The 8 hour eating window won't work for me if I do 2 hours of Muay Thai (once I'm admitted to the advanced class) or if I swim after Muay Thai. I could probably drop to 14 hour fasts though. And I can still do a 24 hour fast on Sunday (rest day).
     
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