Jeez dude, sounds like you've been having a great time on the whole . And that 142.5kg squat is pretty epic dude, considering you haven't tried 1RM in a long time.
Nahh man, I like the new format - one needs to mix up their punches now and then. Your sparring descriptions are fun to read, lol. I like Charlie. He's my type of fellow; give him a big Hi5 next time ya see him, righty?
Taking this week off from coaching because I'm doing fight choreography for some film students from a local university. It's unpaid but the experience is invaluable. Also just having some "me" time. I'm taking my workouts back to a time when they were heavily based on Bill Wallace's kickboxing routine. It will seem high volume and 'old school' but my cardio was beastly when I trained that way. It's good now but I liked having that seemingly endless ability to stay fresh when sparring 20-30 rounds. The volume will be similar to that of a triathlete, so my heavy lifting will take a back seat (at least for a while). Lifting is fun and all but I want to focus on my kicking. I really love kicking, man. I get a thrill just from seeing a beautifully executed kick. I don't have specific goals since I'm no longer competing so I figured I might as well get fitter doing lots and lots of what I love. I'm not ditching lifting altogether. Summer is coming and I want to focus more on my physique rather than strength or power. You know what that means: BICEP CURLZ!!!1! Monday 10th March Morning (2 hours 40 minutes) • Prehab: Foam roller (5 minutes) • Mobility: Joint rotations (5 minutes) • Warm-up: Jump rope (5 minutes) • Dynamic stretches: 180° front leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Dynamic stretches: 180° side leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Basic technique: 180° side kick (10 x 10 - right leg only) • Treadmill run: 2 miles at 7.5 mph on 2% incline (16 minutes) • Shadow boxing: 3-punch combinations (4 x 3 minutes) • Heavy bag: 3-punch combinations (4 x 3 minutes) • Shadow kicking: 2- to 5-kick combinations (12 x 3 minutes - right leg only) • Relaxed stretches: 230° front oversplits (2 x 1 minute - both sides) • Relaxed stretches: 190° side oversplits (2 x 1 minute) Starting with a 2 miler was a good call. Will build this up to 6 runs a week consisting of 2, 4 and 6 milers. Lungs were burning by the 12th round of shadow kicking but I was still light on my feet and my leg felt fresh, kicking high with plenty of snap and no noticeable loss of speed. Evening (1 hour 30 minutes) Boxing class. Worked with Coach Andy (one of the assistant instructors) on the pads right from the start. Andy was cool with me being southpaw as he doesn't get to work with them often. Rather than change my style, he gave me advice on how a boxer would try to pick holes in my karate-dominant game. I discovered my head drifts out to the side when recovering from throwing my lunging jab or hook (lead hand) to the body. This makes me vulnerable to rear-hand hook punches when facing an orthodox fighter (which Gav kept clipping me with the last two times we sparred). We also worked on the fundamental mechanics of uppercuts. "You might not use them," Andy said, "but you at least need to be able to do them right." We must have done about 15 rounds on the pads because an hour had passed by the time he told me to go work what I'd learnt on the heavy bag. I broke each technique down into steps, drilling each one for reps instead of time. Moved away from the heavy bag after 20 minutes and finished with some light upper body stretches. Completely pooped and fell straight to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow when I got home.
Tuesday 11th March Morning (2 hours 50 minutes) • Prehab: Foam roller (5 minutes) • Mobility: Joint rotations (5 minutes) • Warm-up: Jump rope (5 minutes) • Dynamic stretches: 180° front leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Dynamic stretches: 180° side leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Basic technique: 180° side kick (10 x 10 - right leg only) • Treadmill run: 3 miles at 7 mph on 2% incline (25 minutes) • Shadow boxing: 3-punch combinations (4 x 3 minutes) • Heavy bag: 3-punch combinations (4 x 3 minutes) • Shadow kicking: 2- to 5-kick combinations (12 x 3 minutes - right leg only) • Relaxed stretches: 230° front oversplits (2 x 1 minute - both sides) • Relaxed stretches: 190° side oversplits (2 x 1 minute) Only change from the previous day was upping the run distance by a mile and reducing the speed by 0.5 mph. I'm running to pre-fatigue myself before the sparring-based rounds - not set land speed records. Therefore I won't be running fast. I'm eating and sleeping really well so I didn't feel like I had any less energy than yesterday. Afternoon (1 hour 30 minutes) • Chest dip: 4 x 8 (10 kg vest) • Barbell close-grip bench press: 4 x 10 (20 kg) • Barbell triceps extension: 4 x 10 (15 kg) • Cable single-arm pulldown: 4 x 10 (10 kg) • Dumbbell kickback: 4 x 10 (10 kg) • Chin-up: 4 x 8 (10 kg vest) • Barbell biceps curl: 4 x 8 (15 kg) • Dumbbell curl: 4 x 8 (10 kg) • Dumbbell hammer curl: 4 x 8 (10 kg) • Barbell reverse curl: 4 x 8 (15 kg) • Relaxed stretches: Upper body (10 minutes) Arm day! Like it matters because every weights session is going to be arm day. Starting off with low weights because I haven't done much isolation work in a while. Felt a great pump by the end. Wrapped a thick towel around the chin bar / barbell / dumbbells to challenge my grip. Got to get those fat forearms! Evening (1 hour) Muay Thai class. Passed a MT gym on my way to boxing and fancied something with kicks so I jumped into a public session. I always carry a set of shin guards and kick-boots in every gym bag I own (never know when you're going to spar or who with!) so I didn't have to pay a fiver to hire a set. Class started with a typical boot camp style warm-up: push-ups, star jumps, more push-ups, tuck jumps, even more push-ups, ad nauseum. I probably did about five push-ups in total, much to the disgust of the instructor Hey man, I was there to hit pads and people, not wreck myself. Probably rolled my eyes a bit too much when we were told to do relaxed stretches as part of the warm-up. Okay, I was also probably a bit of a troll when I couldn't be bothered touching my toes in a hamstring stretch but then opened my legs to over 180° and put my chest to the floor in a roadkill split :evil: We formed a couple of lines (about half a dozen people per line) facing guys holding focus mitts to practice basic boxing combinations (the person at the front of the line does their combination, goes to the back and the next person steps up). Felt the advice from Andy and Ken (my boxing coaches) really coming into play. My uppercuts are already much improved Pad holders switched out mitts for kicking shields and we worked on Thai style roundhouse kicks. My pad holder pulled a bit of a face when I asked him not to hold it for left leg kicks. Don't think he got the joke when I said my left leg would go flying across the gym if I kicked with it :bang: He chastised me for continually kicking with the foot instead of the shin, even though kicking with my foot kept knocking him back several steps. We finished pad work by drilling knees (standing and jumping - lots of fun!) before suiting up for sparring. The instructor told everyone it was light contact only. I got partnered with the guy who was holding our pads and he said I'd get my front leg chopped to bits in my side stance. I smiled and invited him to try. His leg kicks were good and might have hurt me had my foot not been stuck to his head for most of the round. I'm not sure if I even put my foot on the floor between kicks We were both smiling as we touched gloves and he whispered something along the lines of "Cheeky *******." :dunno: Guess the gym didn't have much in the way of head kickers (other than the head instructor) because everyone was going for my outer thigh. I just kept countering with hook kicks and axe kicks to the head. Threw the odd jab now and then. We took off our sparring gear and finished with some light jogging around the mats with joint rotations. Had a brief (friendly) chat with the instructor about Muay Thai vs karate and left having made some new friends. All in all a good session. I think everyone, competitor or not, needs to get out of their comfort zone and expose themselves to different styles.
Wednesday 12th March Morning (2 hours 40 minutes) • Prehab: Foam roller (5 minutes) • Mobility: Joint rotations (5 minutes) • Warm-up: Jump rope (5 minutes) • Dynamic stretches: 180° front leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Dynamic stretches: 180° side leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Basic technique: 180° hook kick (10 x 10 - right leg only) • Treadmill run: 4.5 miles at 6 mph on 2% incline (45 minutes) • Shadow kicking: 2- to 5-kick combos (12 x 3 minutes - right leg only) • Relaxed stretches: 230° front oversplits (2 x 1 minute - both sides) • Relaxed stretches: 190° side oversplits (2 x 1 minute) Run distance upped to 4.5 miles and speed reduced to 6 mph (10 min/mile). Feeling noticeably more tired this morning so will keep this reduced pace from now on. Again, my goal here isn't to beat my running PB. I'm adding runs so I can keep kicking well even when tired, and because I like running. Punches were removed because mornings are now exclusively all about the leg work. Gym was a bit busier this morning so had to share the matted area. Kept getting my kicks interrupted by different folk asking about my kicks. Evening (1 hour 30 minutes) Boxing class. Woke up from a four hour mid-afternoon nap only an hour before so was still feeling quite fuzzy when I got to the gym. Didn't want to be there if I'm honest. Really should have downed some coffee on the way over. Worked out on my own for half an hour (mostly shadow boxing, checking my form in the mirrors) then got called into the ring for sparring. It was light contact but my opponent was a middleweight fighter (160 lb / 72.5 kg) called Tom. He was huge, stood a full foot above me and clearly hadn't started his weight cut yet. I tried jabbing and moving but about 30 seconds into the first round he smothered me against the ropes and started unloading punches. Kept my guard high and tight but plenty got through. Hurt like hell. Ken ordered us to break and I sighed heavily as he came forward again. I thought for a second about just walking out of the ring; I didn't want to be there. I had come to train and have fun. This wasn't fun. I was getting my ass beat. Almost felt like I'd been set up as cannon fodder for Tom. Didn't get too much time to think about it because he was on me before I knew it and I was back defending myself against the ropes. He pulled my head down and caught me on the side of the head with a strong right hook. Inside I was furious because it was a bitch move. But Ken called a stop to the round and I was happy for it to be over. I took my mouthpiece out and told Ken I was done for the night. He said we still had two rounds left. I looked over at Tom, who was fresh as a daisy. I agreed to continue if Ken told his boy to ease off with the rough housing. He said, "This is boxing." I shrugged my shoulders and said I'd come to box, not to get smashed up by a guy several weight classes heavier than me (still not convinced Tom was a middleweight). I think he rolled his eyes a little, probably thought I was being a bit of a diva, but he told Tom to ease off with the power. Did he ease off? Did he 'eck. If anything he was hitting a bit harder. Once again I found myself taking a beating against the ropes. I guess the next part was bound to happen given how tired I was and the pressure of sparring. I had shoved Tom back to get out of his clinch. I found myself trying to bob and weave out of the way of his punches. He had closed the gap again and I found myself leaning over a bit too far. Instinctively my right foot came up and placed itself firmly against the side of his head guard in a hook kick. It wasn't an especially hard hit, but it dinged Tom enough to force him to take a step or two to the side and shake his head a couple of times. I was wearing trainers and I didn't know if my heel had caught his head guard or his face. I hadn't been thinking straight and it was a trained response. I apologised profusely to Tom. Ken launched into a tirade about how this wasn't "<EXPLETIVE> kickboxing" and told me to go work on the "<EXPLETIVE> heavy bag". Tom was fine but I still felt really bad. But secretly I was just glad to be out of there. I should never have agreed to spar in the first place. Hell, it would have been a better idea to stay at home and watch re-runs of Stargate: SG-1. Anyhoo I stuck around until the end and just kept working single punches in isolation on the heavy bag. I apologised to both Ken and Tom on my way out and they seemed okay about it.
For anyone who is interested in what shadow kicking entails, Bill explains it himself: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuF4kd0E9VE"]Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace Shadow Kicking - YouTube[/ame]
Wednesday 12th March Morning (2 hours 15 minutes) • Prehab: Foam roller (5 minutes) • Mobility: Joint rotations (5 minutes) • Warm-up: Jump rope (5 minutes) • Dynamic stretches: 180° front leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Dynamic stretches: 180° side leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Basic technique: 180° roundhouse kick (10 x 10 - right leg only) • Treadmill run: 2 miles at 6 mph on 2% incline (20 minutes) • Shadow kicking: 2- to 5-kick combinations (12 x 3 minutes - right leg only) • Relaxed stretches: 230° front oversplits (2 x 1 minute - both sides) • Relaxed stretches: 190° side oversplits (2 x 1 minute) Analysed my diet and realised my fatigue was because I haven't been eating nearly enough to sustain my training volume. Yesterday I ate roughly 3000 calories based on consuming 8g/kg of bodyweight for carbs, 3g/kg of bodyweight for protein and 0.5g/kg of bodyweight for fat. This meant I was eating around 500g carbs, 180g protein and 30g fat. So it was lots of steamed vegetables, brown rice, whole grain (Shredded Wheat!), baked potatoes, whole milk and grilled chicken. Woke up today with mounds of energy! Felt great during my kicking workout I still had gas left in the tank at the end. Afternoon (45 minutes) Shooting for the students' film shot over by quite a bit due to crowd control issues (namely a drunk hobo flashing his **** in the background) so only had time to get in a bodyweight circuit at home before heading out to catch up with a friend. Did pyramids of push-ups, crunches, pull-ups, air squats and leg raises; 1-10-1 reps, alternating exercises (1 push-up, 1 crunch, 1 pull-up, 1 air squat, and 1 leg raise; 2 push-ups, 2 crunches, 2 pull-ups... and so on, up to 10 reps per exercise and then all the way back down to 1). Evening (1 hour) Taekwondo class. Gave boxing a miss after last night's episode and decided to step into a taekwondo do-jang for the first time in a couple years. (I've been inside some recently as a guest instructor or seminar coach, not as a student.) It was a WTF or Olympic-style club and I had a brief chat with the coach (4th dan female) about my taekwondo background (2nd dan WTF, 1st dan ITF). The class was quite large (adults only) with an even mix of beginners and mid-tier coloured belts. Lots of black belts surprisingly. They're grading on Saturday so it was a bit of a slow pace with everyone going over linework, step-sparring and forms. I spent most of the time getting back to grips with Koryo (1st dan form). We did some sparring at the end for about 10-15 minutes. I borrowed one of the club's chest protectors and used my own head guard and kick-boots (the option was there to kick barefoot if we wanted to, but I've kicked too many elbows to know better!) Rounds were short (1.5 minutes each) and the first few matches were with beginners (controlled body kicks only). Partnered up with a 3rd dan roughly the same height and weight as me. (I learned after the class he's a former Spanish national team member over here studying). He was light on his feet and very "spinny" but if there's one thing I picked up from Bill Wallace, it's how to deconstruct styles and find openings. Analysing Olympic-style TKD is even easier for me because it's the style I started out with all those years ago. I waited for him to be about 3/4 of the way around to facing me before launching a front leg push side kick, hitting him square in the chest as he finished his spin. The first one was a bit flakey because I've not sparred a true TKDer in a while, but I had sussed out his rhythm almost immediately and countered his spins with the same technique another 4 or 5 times. Every time it was spin, side kick, BAM!. But he had figured me out too. Right before our match finished, he tricked me into throwing a side kick with a sneaky feint spin. He saw me start to move, hit the brakes, span in the other direction and hit me on the back of the head with a spin hook kick. Very nice move indeed. I liked sparring him, it was lots of fun. The next guy was much taller and I had seen during the class leading up to sparring that he was a very good kicker. My strategy was what you might call "suicidal"! I blocked his probing roundhouse kicks with my forearms (note to self: bring forearm guards next time) and closed the distance until we were at clinching range. Olympic-style TKD has its own humourous take on clinching which kind of resembles two armless dudes chest bumping each other. I gave my sparring partner a sneaky little push ( ) and kicked him up the side of the head with a hook kick. He paused, grinned and high-fived me. The rest of the match was too cagey to call. My final round of sparring was with another guy of similar height and weight to me which pretty much turned into a friendly exchange where we took turns doing spinning back kicks on each other (called "one for one sparring" or more commonly "I go, you go"). Class finished with some light jogging and stretches. Thanked the instructor and training partners for a fun, friendly class. I was told I can wear my 2nd dan black belt in class if I want to make a more substantial return to training, but I'll have to see what my coaching commitments are like.
I like it!! :happy: Your body's gonna do whatever it takes to survive, with or without your cooperation. I'll wager your opponent had a new-found appreciation for your ability to reach out and greet him if things came to it. This Ken sounds a complete prat. There's a difference between tough boxing coaches and this sort of sod'ole.
That was supposed to say Thursday 14th March. D'oh! I'd like to think he means well but honestly I don't know how to take him. Man knows his shiz and the gym is pretty much what you'd expect from a hardcore boxing place. LOTS of testosterone. Part of me is thinking, "Do I really need or want that?" :dunno:
Friday 14th March Morning (2 hours 25 minutes) • Prehab: Foam roller (5 minutes) • Mobility: Joint rotations (5 minutes) • Warm-up: Jump rope (5 minutes) • Dynamic stretches: 180° front leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Dynamic stretches: 180° side leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Technique drilling: 180° hook kick (10 x 10 - right leg only) • Treadmill run: 3 miles at 6 mph on 2% incline (30 minutes) • Shadow kicking: 2- to 5-kick combos (12 x 3 minutes - right leg only) • Relaxed stretches: 230° front oversplits (2 x 1 minute - both sides) • Relaxed stretches: 190° side oversplits (2 x 1 minute) Still wasn't feeling much of a drop in energy by my 5th day of doing this workout. Slight ITB/TFL DOMS and hip joint stiffness in my right leg but I can account for that because I haven't done marathon kicking sessions like this for a while. Besides, the DOMS and stiffness disappeared after my jump rope warm-up and dynamic stretches, and kicking height/speed wasn't affected. Evening (1 hour) Skipped boxing again. Really not up for it tonight. Gave some of my team mates a call and we went down to our gym for a "kick about." Light contact karate-rules sparring (punches and kicks to the body and head, nothing below the belt) with added hip throws (O-goshi in judo) which had to be followed up with a downwards punch to the head or body to score. Rounds were just 2 minutes each. Again, it was meant to be light and fun. First match was against Shaun (light- welterweight world champion and a couple inches taller than me; also a judo 2nd dan) who came at me with a probing side kick. I slid back to evade the hit, pushed off with my rear foot, chambered my lead right leg and dropped an axe kick on his face. He didn't hesitate and slammed me on my back with a BIG hip throw a second later. He kiai'd as he punched me in the chest. The round was pretty much back and forth: me landing head shots with axe, roundhouse and hook kicks on the counter, Shaun clinching up and throwing. Head kicks (without a spin or jump) scored 3 points. Hip throws (with a follow-up punch) scored 4 points. Shaun won. I waited a few more rounds before it was my turn again. This time I partnered up with Adz (flyweight world champion and a great kicker). He was like a blur out of the gate coming at me with pushing axe kicks and spinning hook kicks. I moved back while counter-punching with my jab. I returned with my own kicking combinations, mixing it up with 2, 3 and 4 kicks at a time. It was like a fast-paced fencing match with legs. The other guys had to tell us to cool it a few times. Adz and me are best mates but we're very similar in style so it can get very intense. The match was declared a draw. I got partnered up with Shaun again in my next match, managing to get thrown only twice and catching him square on the nose with a pretty sweet jump spinning hook kick. I won that one! Final match was with Lee (middleweight British champion) who has a smothering style that I absolutely hate. He slipped inside my attempt to roundhouse kick him in the head and punished me with a flurry of punches. It was light contact but the sheer difference in weight meant that his hits packed quite a wallop. I thought it best to keep at a distance so I just kept throwing in side kick and spinning back kick counters every time he came in. The last 30 seconds I thought "screw it" and went at him with pushing side, axe and hook kicks. I don't think my foot touched the floor for a full half-minute and I clocked him in the head a fair few times. The other guys declared me the winner. We took off our sparring kit and joked as we stretched off. Some of the guys were going out on the town. I was invited but decided to head home. I guess I'm getting old!
Ya, but something of it sounds like he's just wanting a tomato can for his "boy" and there you were. You'n tell when they are tryin to toughen you up and when they are just using you. Our coach a tough one as well, but had he seen you do that hook-kick out of preservation-instinct, he'd had the biggest smile on his face and would have recognised you in front of the class for it. Then he woulda sent you back in to spar with a heavyweight, lol.
Given that you've been to 4 classes and skipped 3 (provided that the information you've supplied is complete) I'd guess that your heart isn't really in the boxing.
Damn your profile pic. Forces me to have the voice of a country bumpkin speaking the words out loud im my head whenever I read your posts. I'm having a weird time with boxing at the mo. I know it's a full-contact sport but why the hell does everyone seem to insist on sparring full-contact practically every time? Hell, I'm on the national full-contact karate team and we spar light-contact 80% of the time and are one of the top teams across multiple disciplines (knockdown, ISKA etc). It's hard enough trying to box without feeling disgusted with myself, as if punching is like waking up the morning after a binge drinking session in a Tijuana brothel.
LMAO, I just vomited in my mouth...must stop snackin an hour before I read MAP posts... Yer too much! If tha'd pull t' rubbish art o' thy ears, theur could 'ear t' voice i' thy noggin betta.
Saturday 15th March Morning (2 hours 25 minutes) • Prehab: Foam roller (5 minutes) • Mobility: Joint rotations (5 minutes) • Warm-up: Jump rope (5 minutes) • Dynamic stretches: 180° front leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Dynamic stretches: 180° side leg swings (1 x 12 - right leg only) • Technique drilling: 180° side kick (10 x 10 - right leg only) • Treadmill run: 3 miles at 6 mph on 2% incline (30 minutes) • Shadow kicking: 2- to 5-kick combos (12 x 3 minutes - right leg only) • Relaxed stretches: 230° front oversplits (2 x 1 minute - both sides) • Relaxed stretches: 190° side oversplits (2 x 1 minute) Impressed with how much energy I had all the way through this morning's session, especially considering it's the 6th straight day of doing it. Haven't really found my stamina has dropped too much since the week's start (if Monday was 10/10, today was somewhere between 6.5 and 7). Kept the run at 3 miles and think I will do from now on. It's there to pre-fatigue me before the shadow kicking rounds so it doesn't need to be longer or faster. I might add several rounds of kicking the BOB doll or Focusmaster (kick paddle holder mounted to the wall) though, as my stamina gets better. Glad to say the only real drop in energy has been overall fatigue (eating more took care of a slight dip in the middle of the week), the speed and snap of my kicks feels unaffected. Training this much is also making it real easy to get a great night's sleep! Afternoon/Evening Sooo... I kinda discovered the pleasures of replaying Mass Effect while eating carrot cake
I've been meaning to ask, when you do you stretchy stuff, shadow kicking and so forth, why is it always "right leg only"? Haha! By day, an utter kicking machine, by night, retelling the story of Romeo and Juliet with a PG13 rated smurf while feasting on the finer things in life. You sir, you're alright
My left hip was replaced in 2009 (old army injury). I can only kick with my right leg. It's all about blue alien sideboob!
I do remember that, but I assumed that you'd regained full(ish) mobility of it, hence all the 180 degree splittiness. Wow. That just makes it more epic.
