Looking forward to it too.
My gut tells me Ryan wins it and subs him. Hard to put into words why, besides: “I feel like Ryan is now the best grappler in the world”
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Pretty much. I really enjoy watching his laconic, deliberately paced, submission-oriented game.
Have been thinking about a change to Easy Strength next, but then came across this from one of my favorite online trainers, Jeff Nippard.
I will definitely be in cut mode until October 1st when I’ll take another Evolt 360 Body Scan assessment and see where I’m at. So maybe I stick with Beyond 8/6/4 after all?
Then again, is really a cut if you’re only trying to lose 5% of your BW? About 7 lbs? Or is it just a matter of cleaning up my diet, especially late night eating, which is my biggest issue by far?
I like everything about 8/6/4 except for the deadlifts. Regular Beyond 5/3/1 never calls for doing more than three-rep sets. And I know that Dave Tate is a big advocate of keeping rep counts down, especially with deadlifts, because of how fast good form can be compromised. I used 4x4 on the deadlift minor days and used a 4s PRO approach on deadlift major days.
May try Easy Strength on Monday to see how it feels and times out.
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Yep, especially at our lower range BW’s I’d say yes.
1 Like
MONDAY
weight: 152.2 lbs
waist: 33 3/4"
Best Monday morning weight all year (i.e., “best” means lowest).
EASY STRENGTH
I’m thinking about trying Dan John’s Easy Strength for Fat Loss for the balance of August and through September. I’ll be away from the gym until next Sunday, so I thought I’d use today to test it out, get a sense of what weights I’ll use and how long the training session takes.
Warmup
Incline treadmill walk
0.58 miles / 72 calories / 10:02 minutes
[superset]
Goblet squat 50 lbs x 2 x 5
BW box jumps x 2 x 5
Deadlift
95 lbs x 5
135 lbs x 3
[superset]
155 lbs x 3 x 3
HLRs BW x 3 x 3
Did the HLRs as knees to chest, then toes to bar = 1 rep
OHP
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
[superset]
85 lbs x 3 x 3
pullups +35 lbs x 3 x 3
Loaded carry
Overhead DBs 25 lbs x 2 x 50 steps
Burn Off
Incline treadmill walk
1.5 miles / 201 calories / 25:05 minutes
Total training time about 90 minutes. I’ll probably drop the warmup on the treadmill to save a little time and start with the goblet squats and box jumps (which are closer to the recommended warmup). I’ll also probably remove one of the warmup sets. Easy Strength is a 5x/week minimalist program where you do the same three lifts for up to eight weeks, so I think a little less warmup will be required. Maybe one set to grease the groove and then go. Will alternate between loaded carries and row sprints as my post-lifting, pre-burn off exercise.
Will start with 175 lbs on the deadlift. +35 lbs on the pullups. 85 lbs on the OHP.
2 Likes
SUNDAY
BW: 147.8 lbs
waist: 33 1/4"
Easy Strength W1 D1
Stepmill
662 steps / 94 calories / 10:04 minutes
Goblet squat 50 lbs DB + Box jump superset x 2 x 5
Deadlift
135 lbs x 3
155 lbs x 3
175 lbs x 3 x 3
superset with HLRs/HKRs 3 x 6
OHP
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
85 lbs x 2 x 5
superset with pullups +35 lbs 2 x 5
Loaded carry
DBs Overhead +25 lbs x 2 x 50 steps
Incline treadmill walk
2.0 miles / 288 calories / 32:01 minutes
Running Easy Strength for Fat Loss, 5x/week starting on Sundays. Sunday will be the only day I do the final 30+ minutes of cardio immediately after weight training. To save time, a constant preoccupation with me, I’ll do the cardio/walking separately Monday through Thursday, probably just a walk to the beach and back after work. Today’s session clocked in at 70 minutes without the final cardio.
2 Likes
MONDAY
BW: 146.8 lbs
waist: 33 1/3"
Easy Strength W1 D2
Goblet squat 50 lbs DB + Broad jump superset x 2 x 5
Deadlift
135 lbs x 3
155 lbs x 3
175 lbs x 3 x 3
superset with HLRs/HKRs 3 x 6
OHP
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
85 lbs x 2 x 5
superset with pullups +35 lbs 2 x 5
Loaded carry
DBs Farmer’s +50 lbs x 2 x 50 steps
2 Likes
TUESDAY
BW: 148.6 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Easy Strength W1 D3
Goblet squat 50 lbs DB + Box jump superset x 2 x 5
Deadlift
135 lbs x 3
155 lbs x 3
175 lbs x 5
190 lbs x 3
200 lbs x 2
superset with HKRs/HLRs 3 x 6
OHP
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
85 lbs x 5
95 lbs x 3
100 lbs x 2
superset with pullups +35 lbs x 5 | +40 lbs x 3 | +45 lbs x 2
Loaded carry
Zercher walk 95 lbs x 2 x 50 steps
55 minute training session. Perfect length.
Back on the mat tonight for the first time in more than two years!
3 Likes
Have fun. I hope you didn’t lose all you bjj gains!
1 Like
Thanks! It was really nice to be back. Fortunately, my cardio wasn’t as bad as I’d feared it would be - though I’ve still got plenty of work to do!
1 Like
WEDNESDAY
BW: 147.2 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Easy Strength W1 D4
Goblet squat 55 lbs DB + Broad jumps superset 2 x 5
Deadlift
135 lbs x 3
155 lbs x 3
180 lbs 3 x 3
superset with HLRs/HKRs 3 x 6
OHP
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
90 lbs 2 x 5
superset with pullups +40 lbs 2 x 5
Loaded carry
Pinch grip walk 25 lb bumper plates 2 x 50 steps
2 Likes
THURSDAY
BW: 148.8 lbs
waist: 33 1/4"
Easy Strength W1 D5
Goblet squat 55 lbs DB + Box jumps 2 x 5
Deadlift
135 lbs x 3
155 lbs x 3
180 lbs x 3 x 3
superset with HLRs/HKRs 3 x 6
OHP
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
90 lbs 2 x 5
superset with pullups +40 lbs 2 x 5
Loaded carry
Cross walk (overhead DB + farmer’s DB) +25 lbs/+50 lbs 2 x 50 steps
2 Likes
How’s the body holding up after getting back to rolling ?
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Not too much of a drop off after 2 1/2 years on the sidelines, thankfully. We’ve been doing a lot of side control escape positional drilling and sparring, though, and my neck is killing me!
Nice work on that extended session last week - how long do your sessions usually last?
2 Likes
Three things a Jiu Jitsu practitioner can count on: Death, Taxes and a sore neck.
You doing No gi or Gi?
1 Like
99.9% gi.
My game is pretty no gi, friendly. But I haven’t trained without the gi in years.
FRIDAY
BW: 147.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/4"
OFF
SATURDAY
BW: 148.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
BJJ Training
Warmed up with elbow escapes and level changes just like Tuesday. Two laps each down the mat lengthwise. Worked on controlling the head from side control and dealing with the lower arm in the event of a frame defense. Also the guard pull straight armbar from a defense to a transition from side to mount. Plenty of side control specific/positional training.
For sparring, I’m good for one hard roll and one flow roll at this point. Matched up with the same young blue belt from Tuesday night’s training for the hard roll. Very aggressive, challenging to control. My goal in training is to be laser-focused on a diagnostic approach - never making the same mistake, or missing the same opportunity, twice. So on Saturday, rather than defend from closed guard and attack with some of my BS old man classics (i.e., handcuff pass, Sao Paulo pass) as I did on Tuesday - I was able to pass to half guard from standing, from half guard to mount, and eventually to back. Much better.
A few specific things to fix that I’ll write about in my jiu-jitsu blog - details on the near-side underhook pass which is my go to vs the half guard these days. I was also slow to move into my finishing sequence from mount. But all in all a pretty good first week back.
2 Likes
SUNDAY
BW: 149.4 lbs
waist: 33 1/2"
Easy Strength W2 D1
Warmup
Goblet squats 55 lbs 2 x 5 superset with broad jumps BW 2 x 5
Deadlift
135 lbs x 3
155 lbs x 3
180 lbs 3 x 3 superset with HLRs BW 3 x 6
OHP
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
90 lbs 2 x 5 superset with pullups +40 lbs 2 x 5
Loaded carry
Overhead DBs +25 lbs
2 x 60 steps
Took a 30-minute walk to the beach and back for my NEPA.
2 Likes
That’s a long time off the mats! The longest I’ve been away was during covid lockdown in 2020. If I recall correctly that was like 5 months and I was not in a happy place in that period! Even with a homegym being able to keep moving etc coming back was rough, so I can’t say it’s not a tiny bit impressive if it’s only your neck that’s killing you.
They are quite long as I’m purposely taking long rest periods between sets using that time for foam rolling, stretching, mobility work, and not building to much mechanical stress. But I’d say between 3 & 3½ hours.
1 Like
MONDAY
BW: 150.4 lbs
waist 33 3/4"
Easy Strength W2 D2
Warmup
Goblet squats 55 lbs 2 x 5 superset with box jumps BW 2 x 5
Deadlift
135 lbs x 3
155 lbs x 3
180 lbs x 1
195 lbs x 1
205 lbs x 1
215 lbs x 1
225 lbs x 1
235 lbs x 1
superset with HLRs/HKRs 3 x 6
OHP
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
90 lbs x 1
95 lbs x 1
100 lbs x 1
105 lbs x 1
110 lbs x 1
115 lbs x 1 (!)
superset with pullups
+40 lbs x 2
+45 lbs x 2
+50 lbs x 1
Loaded carries (Farmer’s)
50 lbs DBs 2 x 60 steps
2 Likes