OFF - Visited a local nursery to score some salvias, agave, and peppers for the garden. Humid as f#@% for a high desert morning. Got home and rocked out with Animals as Leaders while digging and planting. Finished just ahead of the afternoon monsoon rains.
BW: 151.2 lbs
waist: 34"
Morning HR/HRV(R): Elite HRV app not working
Tuesday steps: 11.2k
AM walk? Yep
Week 2, Day 3
Cardiac Output / Zone 2
Weighted incline treadmill
2.5 miles / 390 calories / 45:30 minutes
Average HR (Max): 124 (141)
Goal is HR btw 121-136 for 45 minutes. Speed is 3.3 mph. Vest is 16 lbs. Inched incline up from 6% to 7% as top level to get up into the HR zone. On the high end, fought to keep HR down in the zone for the last three or four minutes.
Not looking good to get my BW to 145 lbs by August 1. Will settle for getting under 150 lbs by August 3 and go from there. Mat return getting closer by the day …
Inspired by @throwawayfitness to document my plan for the month. Consider this my “August Check In”
No photo. But I’m looking pretty much the same as I did at the end of May/T-ransformation 2024. I don’t expect any significant difference in my appearance until I’m closer to 145 lbs.
One huge goal for August is to train jiu-jitsu eight times in August, having been off the mat since April with recurring knee and shoulder injuries. I’ll need to train differently, but that’s been a growing theme across my training (i.e., longevity > outperformance).
A second goal is to complete this current, six-week program and get my EMOM numbers for deadlift and squat back to where they were last October. I’m looking forward to running RPM Full Body again, but I’ll be traveling a lot in the first few months of fall. So it might be until mid-November until I can settle back into a nice, long 12-week routine like RPM Full Body.
A third goal (but not third in priority) is to keep my BW at or below 150 lbs. I’m taking seriously the idea that the push to 145 lbs might be a lot harder than I suspect. I may dedicate T-ransformation 2025 to reaching that final destination.
BW: 151.4 lbs
waist: 34"
Morning HR/HRV(R): 63 / 43 (3)
Saturday steps: 12.6k+
AM walk? No
Great night with old and new friends Saturday evening. Paying for it a bit today. Weight up. HRV and (R) way down. Taking the day off.
This was a nice way to get hyped for ADCC coming up in just a few weeks. Also great to listen to Meregali talking about jiu-jitsu. Guys like him constantly make casual technical references - both specific and general - that are insightful and helpful.
Tried to turn my morning walk into a Zone 2 workout by wearing my 16 lb weight vest. Average HR between 125-135 is the goal. Without the vest, I’ve only been able to average about 110-115.
Not quite as high as I would have liked. But definitely a difference. Will start wearing the vest on my morning walks. I may end up buying a heavier vest if the Average HR number drops below 120.
Week 3, Day 1
Tempo intervals - Rower
10 rounds - Av HR (Max): 126 (142)
Broad jump / Deadlift superset
5 rounds (60 sec rests)
2m broad jumps x 5
alternate with 165 lbs x 5
Triceps cable pressdowns (two sets to failure)
80 lbs x 4(!), 65 lbs x 9(!)
Did a top set and a backoff set since the top set didn’t reach six reps.
Bicep cable preacher curls (two sets to failure)
65 lbs x 7(!), 7(!)
I always feel it in my delts when I go heavy and chase failure. But I’m not interested in a higher volume approach. We’ll see how it goes.
Props to the Mako BJJ team for bringing back multiple wins by submission in the Last Warrior Standing superfights over the weekend - including Head Coach Mike MacGregor who won his match by kneebar.
Tempo intervals - Airdyne
10 rounds - Av HR (Max):
Seated leg curl (two sets to failure)
130 lbs x 13, 13
Zercher squats
5 rounds EMOM
135 lbs x 5
DB row / DB bench superset
5 rounds EOM
DB rows 65x x 5
(alternate with) DB bench press 55s x 5
Weights felt heavy today. Was a little worried about my shoulder in the set up to the presses. Set up was a little dicey, and pressing on the right side was at about 80%. No more of that until Saturday, so I’ve got time to heal up a bit.
BW: 151.4 lbs
waist: 34"
Morning HR/HRV(R): 59 / 48 (8)
Tuesday steps: 10.8k+
AM walk? No
Week 3, Day 3
Conditioning & Jiu-jitsu
Warm up - Stairmaster
5:30 minutes / 20 floors / 55 cal
Average HR (Max): 138 (160)
Zone 2 - Rower
10 minutes / 1790m / 92 calories
Average HR (Max): 121 (135)
Weighted incline treadmill
36:30 minutes / 2 miles / 301 calories
Average HR (Max): 126 (146)
Followed by:
30 minutes jiu-jitsu practice and drills (General class)
60 minutes jiu-jitsu practice, drills, limited Live Training (Advanced class)
This is my Wednesday schedule going forward. Great to be back on the mats. Didn’t push it too hard by doing Live Training in the General class, but allowed myself a little movement during the Live Training in the Advanced class since it was pretty limited to positional work and my first Live Training partner was my size (the second was not, but he is a guy I trained with a lot back in the spring, so I knew it would be fine).
I’m wearing knee braces with knee sleeves under them to help protect myself. A little thick, but once I get moving, they feel fine.
Mostly it was just nice to be “back in the water.” It’s always humbling to see the reaction from folks when I tell them that I’ve been training since 2005. And it’s wild that a couple of the folks I’m running into at my new gym know some of the folks from Seattle that I trained with more than a decade ago.
As much as jiu-jitsu/grappling is growing, it still is a small world, and I couldn’t be happier to be a little part of it.
Injuries notwithstanding, I made the mistake of trying to dip a toe into a new experience rather than just diving in.
I had a great conversation with a 70-year old jazz drummer a few days ago about the dangers of “growing smaller” as you get older. Could not have been more timely.
AM walk? Weighted
33:30 minutes
Av HR (Max): 133 (165)
This is the slightly longer “Back Nine” neighborhood walk I save for the weekend. First time wearing the vest on this walk. Definitely boosts the numbers.
Week 3, Day 5
Tempo intervals - Airdyne
10 rounds - Av HR (Max): 132 (149)
A little hot. HR seems to be +5 bpm across the board today.
Seated leg extension (two sets to failure)
130 lbs x 9, 9
Ready to add weight.
Barbell SLDL
5 rounds (60 sec rests)
145 lbs x 5
DB row / DB bench superset
5 rounds (60 second rests)
DB rows 65s x 5
(alternate with) DB bench press 55s x 5
For the next three weeks of this program. I’m going to start diversifying my row/bench days to include a machine row/machine bench day instead of DBs on both days.
AM walk? Weighted
31:58 minutes / Av HR (Max): 110 (137)
Week 4, Day 2
Tempo intervals - Airdyne
10 rounds / Av HR (Max): 127 (146)
Seated leg curls (two sets to failure)
150 lbs x 9 (!), 6
Zercher squats
5 sets / 60 second rests
135 lbs x 5
CS NG machine row
130 lbs x 6, 6
I’m going to try and old John Meadows trick and work up to a single top set of six instead of two sets at/near failure. I stalled out trying to get two sets of 9 at 150 lbs previously. I’d like to take that number out in time.
NG machine bench press (two sets to failure)
120 lbs x 9, 9
Very Mike Van Wyck with rocking to really get behind the pecs. Neutral grip because I’m tired of abusing my shoulders. Also using a “floor press” approach and not overstretching (#apeindex).
Have been lax on my diet of late, slipping in extra calories at night. Need to refocus to hit my sub 147.95 lb goal by month’s end.
At least I know my max heart heart is likely north of 180. First Live rounds since mid-April and I’m rusty as hell. Using too much strength to control from the top, and the guard game is a little staccato. Nothing another few months of training won’t cure.
Knee held up fine. Shoulder not so much. Will take some Ibuprofen, curcumin, etc. and see how things go. Zero interest in missing any more training sessions for a while, though. Also trained fasted for the first time in awhile. No discernable impact on performance. That said, I was only able to do three rounds rather than four, and was pretty sloppy on my third (doing more wrestling than jiu-jitsu, which is always a tell for me).
Goal is to train at least six times this month, which will be a little tricky with the school closed the final week of August for the move to the new location. But that’s my mark.
Heading up to Phoenix early tomorrow to visit family, so I’ll likely have to move my strength training around next week.
Looking forward to a weekend of incredible no-gi jiu-jitsu with both the Craig Jones Invitational and ADCC today and tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won’t be catching either event live. But I’m ready for the replays in the evenings! CJI will be free on YouTube. You’ll need a FloGrappling subscription for ADCC.
