A great class. Having a fundamentals / low contact class going at the same time as the intermediate/advanced class has been a very nice move by our Professor. We spent the hour drilling and specific training - 20 minutes of the later, which was incredible. I had an excellent session training in the main class with a fellow black belt from the old days when the school was in a brewery turned coffee factory (Rainer to Tully’s, if you’re familiar).
Also managed to pull myself together for two sessions in the live training: one with a tough, wrestley white belt and another with one of our toughest young brown belts. That second roll was like rolling with a rattlesnake and I’m glad the kid didn’t go full pace for the full six minutes. That said, in the Before Times we used to Live Train a fair amount and I could hold my own. I’d love to get back to that level of capacity on the mat by year’s end.
Didn’t really get a great chance to focus on my key areas, but I did check a few boxes in terms of things like effectively breaking posture in closed guard directly into arm wrap and head control. I’m also doing a good job of using wedges (as Danaher calls them) in different situations like finishing off a smash pass.
Took a quick treadmill walk after training.
Incline treadmill walk
1.75 miles / 216 calories / 30:08 minutes
You seem to watch a lot of instructional videos and I just wanted to ask if you feel like doing so helps you on the mat/ gives you an edge which you wouldn’t have?
I’ve been away from grappling for far too long (I am looking to force myself to show up) and I have an abundance of time at work on some occasions so I’m wondering if there would be any benefit to watching those to increase the learning and skill accumulation.
I think it can, especially if you find an instructor who teaches in a way that you enjoy learning. I’ve found that very much the case with John Danaher, who is both a great teacher and “my kind” of teacher (deliberate, systematic, fundamentally-oriented).
Danaher makes a great point about picking up pieces from other great competitors’ games. So I’ll watch Roger Gracie talk about the mount or closed guard. But not so much about the back - even though I know he’s far better in that position than I’ll ever be. I’ll watch Demian Maia for his guard passing and his use of the half guard bottom game, and so on.
After 15 years I’m still learning very small details that I’ve been able to apply almost immediately to some aspect of my game or other. I think taking small bites is important so as not to get overwhelmed with new information. But for both discovering new directions as well as solving old problems, I’ve found instructionals to have made a massive difference for me.
I think of it as the books and resources that you aren’t assigned in class, but that you discover in the library when you’re really digging deep into a topic.
Total training time: 70 minutes. To keep it as close to an hour as possible, I’ll do the jumps and carries on different days (i.e., box jumps on Wednesday, carries on Friday, broad jumps on Monday, etc.). Also this session was with 90 seconds rest.
My plan is to do each session twice: once with 90 second rests then a second time with 60 seconds rest. Then adjust the sets and reps, adding a triple and subtracting a double, until I do two sessions of eight triples. Add weight and repeat the process.
Another good night of training. Worked on knee wedges against a newly opened close guard, smash passes vs. spider guard, and a pair of passes - speed and pressure - against reverse de la Riva guard. Add to that three specific training sessions after each (sweep/pass guard vs closed, sweep/pass guard vs, spider, and sweep/pass guard vs. reverse DLR), and you’ve got a great session for the second half of the week. Two sessions in Live Training: one a training roll with a new white belt and the other a tough roll against an old friend and fellow black belt.
Interesting thought after training against a tough smaller brown belt: when passing the guard, work toward the head/north-south rather than settling for my typical Roger Gracie/Demian Maia smash sprawl approach, where my shorter legs have a bit of an advantage.
A very much “Jack Shit” type of Strength Skill Circuit session with no jumps or squats. Did reduce rest to 60 seconds. May keep it there.
Weight-wise, I’m going lighter than the recommended 80-85% of 1RM max. Even using a training max, I’m at about 70% on the deadlift, 66% on the chins, and 77% on the OHP. Of the three, the only one that feels like I could not go any heavier right now is the OHP.
At the same time, I’ve been feeling a little beat up with the jiu-jitsu training of late. So, I’ll just bump them up accordingly - 10 lbs on the deadlift and chins, 2.5 lbs on the OHP - when the time comes rather than increase them right now.
Dealing with a very sore lower back over the past few days. I think it started about a month ago when we were hosting in-laws and we were sleeping on a futon in second bedroom (i.e., my office). But it has gotten worse as my jiu-jitsu training has intensified over the past week with more specific training and heavier training partners.
I’m going to need to be careful. I’m still coming back after a two and a half year layoff, and I know that I’m probably entering the highest probability injury zone now that I’m starting to get re-adjusted to training regularly. One big issue is warming up before BJJ; we’ve switched to a minimalist warmup of late that leaves out a few moves I think I could use. It also would be a good idea to stretch after training - something I’ve never been able to do consistently.
Local tournament this weekend. I’m not competing - they’re actually at-capacity which is fantastic news. But I do want to “make weight” for the event by being comfortably below 148 lbs by Friday morning. It’s less than four pounds from here - and much of that recently-added water weight. But it’s the discipline to set the minor goal and meet it that I’m training right now.
Cardio Incline treadmill walk
2.5 miles / 309 calories / 43:01 minutes
I never took a deload week after Easy Strength so now, with my back acting up, I’m going to take that deload week, after all. Will just do some treadmill work this week, focus on my diet - which has gotten out of control (again), and see if I can at least do some light movement tomorrow night on the mats. I probably went back at it harder than I should have after being away from the mats for more than two years - and not getting any younger in the meanwhile.
It’s hard to think and plan accurately when you’re distracted by an injury. Going to give myself the week to figure out what program is next. I wish I didn’t feel as if bodybuilding training was semi-pointless for me - given my issues (age, fat loss and conditioning a priority). I think I’d enjoy a little Dogg Crapp for a few months.
Cardio Incline treadmill walk
2.5 miles / 310 calories / 43:08 minutes
– BJJ Training – (DNP - back injury)
Cardio Incline treadmill walk
2.5 miles / 309 calories / 43:04 minutes
Feeling pretty salty at the moment - with the weight gain and a back injury that’s killed my jiu-jitsu training and not doing much for my weight training, either. I’m especially annoyed that the lifting I’ve been doing for all these months and more didn’t do a better job of protecting me from a non-joint issue like a sore lower back. It almost makes me feel as if I’ve been wasting my time in the weight room - which is not rational, but injuries can do that do you.
I want to think that the culprit was a combination of being off the mat for two and a half years, being back on the mat for two and a half months, and not pacing myself more in Live and Specific training. Maybe insufficient warming up.
It feels like it came out of nowhere and now it’s all I’ve been thinking about for the past few days.
Cardio only this week. Trying to do 10,000 steps a day. Topped that number today, did about half that number yesterday. Allegedly this sort of thing helps with fat loss. Prove it.
Cardio Incline treadmill walk
2.5 miles / 309 calories / 42:59 minutes
Back feels much better. But I slept awkwardly Thursday night and woke up Friday morning with a shoulder that feels as if it was whacked by a cricket bat. Hopefully, time, movement, and rest will bring enough healing to the area in time for me to start training next week - in the gym and on the mat.
Cardio Incline treadmill walk
2.5 miles / 309 calories / 43:01 minutes
Did some DB single-arm muscle snatches for about 10 minutes after waking up. And about five minutes on the stairmill before the treadmill workout.
Neck/trap/rear delt area is still killing me. Amazing what sleeping in the wrong position can do to you; I feel like I was in a car accident.
Took me about a week to recover from the back. I’m hoping this new affliction won’t last any longer than that did.
Slated to start a new program tomorrow. Still completely up in the air. The only thing I’m certain about is training strength twice a week now that I’m back on the mat. That actually makes my choice a lot easier, now that I think about it - and a return to 5/3/1 all the more likely.
I think I’ve finally decided on a program for the next two months. I’ll run the Wendler Classic/2x2x2x4 into mid-December, and then do some testing. Not sure how much opportunity I’ll have to train the final two weeks of the year - or what gym I’ll have access to. I may spend that time on some super cosmetic body building stuff (biceps, delts, upper pecs) ahead of a new strength-focused start in the new year.
I’ve made a few modifications. But this is what I’m going with. Walrus weekends and everything!
