FRIDAY
BW: 145.6 lbs
waist: 32 1/4"
SC&J W1 D6
Strength
Deadlifts
broad jump x 5
135 lbs x 5
broad jump x 5
155 lbs x 3
broad jump x 5
185 lbs x 3
200 lbs x 3
225 lbs x 3
260 lbs x 3
Incline bench (Swiss bar/Dead stop)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
95 lbs x 5
115 lbs x 5
125 lbs x 5
superset with pullups (alternating grips) +45 lbs 5 x 5
SATURDAY
BW: 145.6 lbs
waist: 32 1/2"
Took the day off with family in town. Listening to a fantastic interview of Roger Gracie by Lex Fridman and thinking about the opportunity I have to truly accelerate my jiu-jitsu game - even at this late stage - by a focus on defense. I’ve got at least one consistent training partner over the last few weeks who could really help me in this regard. Need to make the commitment.
SUNDAY
BW: 149.0 lbs
waist: 33 1/4"
Conditioning
Zone 1 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.5 miles / 468 calories / 60 minutes
I never ate more Christmas cookies in my life than I did last night … Monthly weight target for December is 146.31 lbs, so I’ve got a little work to do. Week 2 lifting tomorrow: 3s week in the squat with FSL plus 5 x 10 for the incline press at 70% TM.
MONDAY
BW: 150.2 lbs
waist: 33"
[insert cookie monster gif]
SC&J Week 2
Strength
Squats
jumps x 5
bar x 10
jumps x 5
95 lbs x 8
jumps x 5
135 lbs x 5
170 lbs x 3
195 lbs x 3
205 lbs x 3
170 lbs x 10
Incline bench press (Swiss bar/dead stop)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
100 lbs 5 x 10
superset with BB rows 135 lbs 5 x 5
Total of six sets of ten band pull-aparts mixed in between sets of both exercises. Screwed up the weight on the squat top set. Should have been 215 lbs instead of 205 lbs. I remember thinking that was weird when I did it. Should have double checked.
Calories: 1667 = P156 F57 C84
TUESDAY
BW: 148.2 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
SC&J Week 2
Conditioning
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
++hours later++
Jiu-Jitsu
12+ minutes drilling
20+ minutes specific-start Live Training
6 minutes Live Training
Conditioning
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
A lot of work tonight on the mat. I think the off mat conditioning is really paying off. I’m pretty sure that I’m back to or better than the version of me that stopped training for two years in the spring of 2020: in both technique and conditioning. In fact, technically, I’m sure I’m better. And conditioning isn’t far behind, if at all.
Starting to think that the under/over pass might be my compromise between smashing and agility-based passing. Had some very good success with it tonight against a fellow black belt. Studying Danaher before class. Watching BJJ Scout’s study of Murilo Santana on the treadmill afterwards. I think it’s been the most effective passing attack that my professor has been using against me, of late, as well.
146.0 lbs after training. Ate an open face ham and salami sandwich with some mayo. Will wash it down with a protein shake momentarily. No scheduled training tomorrow, though there’s a chance I’ll do a WALRUS workout since I’ve got the day off from work.
1277 calories = P115 F22 C128
WEDNESDAY
BW: 146.0 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
OFF
Did a little light film study on Danaher and the open guard. Looking forward to trying out a particular gripping strategy he mentions tomorrow night during training. Starting to feel confident enough in my passing game post COVID return; I want to start shifting emphasis on improving my open guard.
1706 calories = P74 F84 C93
Gordons accomplishments at auguably the most impressive ever seen taking his age into consideration. Danaher however is arguably the most important person to enter the jiu jitsu scene in the last decade. without Danaher, Gordons rise to fame would most likely never have happended. His ability to break down not just techniques but the underlying reasons why to use and when to them is astonishing. I wonder what the jiu jitsu scene and meta as a whole would look like today if it wasnt for John putting it through his Aspergers filter.
Ive been putting in 20-30 hours the past 15 years. Been head instructor in 5 major schools and run two of my own now. During all that time meeting new people with varying experience levels, going to seminars, the yearly trips to marcelos gym in ny, watching instructions and just living jiu jitsu its rare I see something new and even less so get those wow moments. But then I bought Danahers guard dvd when it came out and was on discount - srsly 198 usd 
not a chance… within the first couple of hours my entire thought process of how to work guard was changed. Not so much bcs of the techniques within but bcs if his ability to disect and remodel the entire idea of how the position should be approached. I found myself taking notes for the first time in years. I had ideas and concepts coming out left, right and center and those ideas have completely changed my guard game to the better. Hes amazing
1,000% agree.
I think Gordon said that if Danaher stopped coaching, he’d stop competing. That’s incredible.
THURSDAY
BW: 147.0 lbs
waist: 33"
SC&J Week 2
Conditioning
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
++ hours later ++
Jiu-jitsu
20+ minutes of drills
10+ minutes of specific training
12 minutes of Live training (light)
Conditioning
Incline treadmill walk
2.51 miles / 388 calories / 43:12 minutes
1755 calories = P133 F56 C126
Man I love the over/under pass. I find it’s an easy way for me to get people to yield against my strength, with relatively little exertion on my part. And I really like the finishing into a tight waist position and then trying to ride both legs
Danaher has some incredible details on it in his instructional on guard passing. On the free side, BJJ Scout’s analysis of Murilo Santana’s stack + over/under passing game is one of my favorite film studies.
BJJ Scout: Murilo Santana Passing Study Part 1 - Stacks and Over Unders - YouTube
FRIDAY
BW: 145.6 lbs
waist: 32 1/4"
Strength
Deadlift
BW broad jumps x 5
135 lbs x 5
BW broad jumps x 5
160 lbs x 3
BW broad jumps x 5
185 lbs x 3
210 lbs x 3
245 lbs x 3
275 lbs x 3 (!)
Incline bench press (Swiss bar/dead stop)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
100 lbs x 3
115 lbs x 3
130 lbs x 3
superset with pullups +45 lbs (mixed grips) 5 x 5
Really feeling the difference between training jiu-jitsu and training strength today. My body felt like it was being asked to do something totally alien. Weird feeling. I had the free weight area virtually to myself today (Friday afternoon), but it was difficult to get into a groove. The difference between strength training 2x/week and 3x/week or more seems huge, at least in terms of flow. Didn’t seem to impact my lifts. Just the “feeling” of the lifts.
Not a great macro day. 1499 calories = P74 F 45 C109. Protein. Protein. Protein.
SATURDAY
BW: 146.2 lbs
waist: 32 1/4"
OFF
+++
SUNDAY
BW: 148.0 lbs
waist: 33"
SC&J Week 3
Zone 1 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
3.65 miles / 491 calories / 60 minutes
MONDAY
BW: 148.2 lbs
waist: 33"
Took day off to get a new car for Mrs. Burien Top Team.
+++
TUESDAY
BW: 146.8 lbs
waist: 32 3/4"
SC&J Week 3
Conditioning: Zone 2
Incline treadmill walk
2.53 miles / 390 calories / 42:13 minutes
… hours later…
Jiu-Jitsu
Drilling / specific training: 30+ minutes
Live training: 12 minutes (six minutes light; six minutes hard)
Conditioning: Zone 2
Incline treadmill walk
2.53 miles / 390 calories / 42:14 minutes
WEDNESDAY
BW: 145.0 lbs
waist: 32"
I think I’m still 5-6 lbs and 1" away from where I want to be. If I can hold steady into the New Year, that will be my project for the first half of 2023.
SC&J Week 3
Strength
Squats
BW box jumps x 5
bar x 10
BW box jumps x 5
95 lbs x 8
BW box jumps x 5
135 lbs x 5
160 lbs x 3
180 lbs x 5
205 lbs x 3
225 lbs (1+) x 3
180 lbs x 10
Lower back very sore from jiu-jitu training made me feel a little unsteady going into the hole. Happy for the triple at 225 lbs.
Incline bench press (Swiss bar/dead stop)
bar x 10
65 lbs x 8
85 lbs x 5
110 lbs 5 x 10
superset with BB rows 135 lbs 5 x 5
Not a great idea to do BB rows with my back feeling the way it does. With the incline bench, a chest-supported, back-sparing option was right there …
Also did a total of 6 sets of 10 band pull-aparts throughout the squats and bench. Will do deadlifts and the 5/3/1 incline press on Friday.
Looking forward to re-considering my workouts after several weeks of post-COVID jiu-jitsu training under my belt. The good news is that I’m in as good or better shape than I was 2 1/2 years ago. The “bad” news is that we are training harder than we did when I left - at least on Tuesday nights, which now has an old school, competition team training feel that I haven’t experienced in years (I’ve heard at least one other OG talk about how much the classes reminded him of how we used to train 10-15 years ago).
I’m not getting any younger, either - while my training partners are. So I want to go into 2023 with a return to the original case I started this log with five years ago: building a body that can keep up with the 20- and 30-somethings I train with.
And that might actually mean more “bodybuilding” training next year than I ever would have anticipated.
Listing my priorities for next year with a focus on what is relevant to me as a “jiu-jitsu athlete.” Interesting that the #1 priority is also the weakest of my “strength attributes” - both physically and psychologically.
My max/absolute strength is at a good level: using Strength Standards as a reference, my deadlift, squat, and bench are above the intermediate level in terms of age (55) and bodyweight (150 lbs). In terms of explosive strength, at least for my age, I think I’m in very good shape thanks to the fact that we do a lot of takedowns as a warmup in jiu-jitsu. A lot of double legs, single legs, ankle picks, guard pulls, etc.
I feel good about relative strength, as well. My shoulder issues are probably putting a cap on what I can do with weighted dips, but I was pulling pretty decent weight with weighted pullups during Easy Strength this fall. And, at the end of the day, pulling strength is far more important than pressing strength in grappling.
Like I said, strength endurance has long been the elephant in the room. Endurance in any physical capacity has never been my strong suit - even as a high school athlete (football, lacrosse, wrestling, track). If nothing else, the idea of focusing on this capacity for a full year is pretty intriguing. If it worked, it would allow me to train like I never have before and, crazy enough, turn me into the kind of athlete I’ve never been able to become.
One specific issue: I’ve never seriously trained my posterior chain and it’s increasingly clear that I’m going to need to build up strength endurance in my erectors, glutes, hamstrings, and - yes - even calves. Still working on how to factor in GHRs, leg curls, hip thrusts, RDLs, etc. into a program. I would also embrace the 2:1 pull:push ratio for upperbody work.
Of the workouts I’ve done in 2022, RPM Full Body is closest to what I see myself doing more of in 2023. In terms of the forum, kleinhound’s workouts are another example of what I think I’m after.
Oh man, strength endurance is such a great tool for BJJ, especially when paired with absolute strength.
I’m by no means sone sort of phenom, but I’ve managed to physically overwhelm many training partners who are far superior to me in terms of technique and experience just with constant unrelenting pressure.
It’s been an eye opener for me and also for them
This has been a major impact on the way I think about what I need to do off-the-mat.
THURSDAY
SC&J Week 3
BW: 145.8 lbs
waist: 32 1/4"
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.53 miles / 390 calories / 42:13 minutes
+++ hours later +++
Jiu-Jitsu
20+ minutes drilling
14 minutes Live Training (heavy)
Zone 2 Cardio
Incline treadmill walk
2.53 miles / 390 calories / 42:13 minutes
Two week break from jiu-jitsu coming as I head out of town for Christmas with the in-laws - always a fun time, to be honest. My 90+ year old father-in-law and I hit the gym at least once or twice every time my wife and I visit in December. His level of fitness is inspirational.
Good training tonight, though I felt myself fall into some old habits and some disorganized tactics during the Live Training sessions with a fellow black belt. I’ve got a few very specific “games” I’m trying to develop (essentially, Leandro Lo’s guard game and Murilo Santana/Demian Maia’s guard pass game) and a large part of getting this practice done is making sure that I force myself to find opportunities to play the game I want to develop.
That said, I like the way my conditioning is building. Not yet where I want it to be, but closing in on it. Admittedly, having a disorganized game can contribute to fatigue. So, hopefully, getting my practice discipline on track AND improving my conditioning will be the combination that turns 2023 into a really nice year.
Will move tomorrow’s deadlift/incline bench session to Monday, and probably just do WALRUS tomorrow, if anything, thanks to a late addition to my Friday work schedule.
