I despise I’m at the preventative maintenance phase of life.
Fully understand and agree, but much better to do regular oil changes than to blow up your engine, haha. I had the knee rehab I have to do daily, but I love that I can drive to and from work without wanting to saw my knee off.
Just had my engine replaced on my brand new truck.
My new truck is still in service. Owned it 38 weeks, 32 of which I could drive it due to buying before I moved and it’s been in shop 11.
/Jokes aside. I’m with you. It’s the realization that age has caught up to me. I used to work mobility/flexibility because I enjoyed it.. now it’s a necessity. In 21 short days, I can finally join the 35+ lifter category. Something I’ve stared at for 18 years, yet never ventured in.
Wednesday
Morning Weight: 228 - Good with this. Had a light eating day, then had a carby dinner.
Dips: 3x12 and Curls: 3x12
Tricep Ext.: 3x12 and Hammer Curls: 3x12
Plan is to go to BJJ this afternoon
Had my ENT appointment yesterday. Very much have deviated septum, broken cartilage on walls of nasal passage and broken cartilage at openings and tip of my nose. I told him all these things and he confirmed it. Was kinda wild to have a probe inserted, while watching on the TV as he pushed into my brain. He recommended a functional rhinoplasty.. which is basically a nose job, but for medical purposes. It would take cartilage and strengthen outside, fix my nasal openings, correct deviated septum and fix breathing issues. It would also make my nose smaller and likely more like how God created it. I’ve broken it no less than a dozen times. Not sure if I’m sold on the idea that I will go in looking like ‘me’ and walk out looking like _____. Google images show drastic difference and popping images into chat make wildly different too. I’m a bit torn, because I’ve always had the belief I deserve what I do to myself. This fixes what I’ve done.
BJJ class was small, but solid. Its bottom side control escapes. Worked a series of hip bridge to create space, get the underhook or if they drive back into you sweep.
Had two rounds.. First one was 24 yo BB former wrestler. I’ll call him K form now on. I started standing for first time. He was a bit shocked. We fought for position for a bit, but he was holding onto tricep grips, where I had collar and tricep. Immediately dropped for the collar drag. He fell and let out a big “fucccck that was smooth’ as he fell. From there, I swept him 3-4 times and we used the whole mat. I almost got a loop choke, then later nearly got a collar choke, then had a knee bar, but didn’t realize how good it was until later. He finally passed my guard and got me in an Americana that I didn’t fight. He got position and I tapped. Simply because I was so light headed, I couldn’t think. It was a hard round going full bore.
Second round, big blue belt who’s my age. I’ll call him D. First time him and I have rolled. We drill together, but usually go separate ways when sparring. We did it nogi. Initially spent time feeling each other out. He couldn’t pass my guard.. I knew my nogi chokes suck and he’s too strong for joint locks, so focused on leg attacks. I got to my double outside ashi, with him standing. This has been a trouble spot for me that always results in back take or guard pass. Not because it’s a bad position, but because I get stuck and don’t know what to do. My 2 weeks off left me time to think about it. I inverted up, knocking him down and pulled an easy kneebar. We reset and played guard again, he ended up passing into Kesa Gatame, but I framed against his near shoulder and threw my leg over his back and locked my heel on his hip, thus taking his back. We fought for a bit, but it’s a battle of strength with some people and I wanted his arm. I ended up taking it, but using it to get mount as time expired.
Very good, very hard rounds
Got my truck back today. Two weeks ago they charged the battery, this time they replaced it.. just addressing symptoms. I know this isn’t the end.
BJJ class was very small, kind of a lame group. Me and two white belts. One is a 16yo 6’, 160lbs. The other is 50s, fat and out of shape.
We drilled different variants of side control escapes. A few good alternatives for me to start using
I got two rounds in. First one was the 16 yo kid. I was working move of day against him. Essentially, fought to get underhook from bottom side control, then work into a side clamp position. I did it 3 times, then subbed him. From there, I just sat in bottom side make subtle movements to maintain a better position. I can tell this kid got pissed I subbed him. I don’t always do it when I roll with him. Sometimes I let it go to work my next sequence in the chain. He got pissed when I did, then upped his intensity. It’s cute.
Next round was a black belt. Second time I’ve rolled with him. He wouldn’t let me play guard, made me pass. He got me in a few subs. At this point it was just me the main coach and another black belt. So they watched and were coaching me along. It was actually helpful, because I’ve gotten a bit lazy in my game. Where I have focused so much on guard retention, maintaining guard, etc. they pushed me through transitions to be more aggressive and start passing more. Essentially, don’t concede the sweep, hip switch or take their post and take dominant position. It’s a really good reminder and push for me to take game to next level. It’s honestly the thing that is missing for me to go from a hard round to the round you want to avoid.
Hips are still tight, not horrible.. but felt like a weekend off from heavier loads would do them well.
I cleaned out the cold plunge and got it set up again. It’s been kinda sad not having it ready to go. It got dirty and with cold weather, I couldn’t dump the 100 gallons down my driveway and hill, as it would freeze nearly immediately
Sunday
Rich Piana arm day
DB Skull Crusher: 3x60x15lb and DB Curls: 3x100x15lbs
Fun little arm workout. Crazy good pump. I saw this on instagram while scrolling and figured it would be worth the shot
Cold Plunge wasn’t cold enough so didn’t get it in
Overall was a weird day. I had planned a hike, but wife slept in until 10a and my 2yo didn’t get a nap until 230 (normally 10a). So, just played dad most of the day, until I cold squeeze the arm workout in
Monday
Finally got in the cold plunge. Felt terrible and great at same time. It’s been a few months since I’ve gone in. I always feel better when I do.
I have one meeting today.. and it’s at same time as BJJ. I couldn’t move it, so guess no class today.
Pretty good pump after the cable presses. I tried to use that as a warm up for seated BB OHP, but couldn’t lift 135 of rack. So, it was clearly effective.
Was a bit of an impromptu workout. I had the energy so got it in.
Tuesday
Cold Plunge and leg raises
Had 3 hour drive to look at office buildings and meet network with some firms. Then 3 hour drive back home. I decided to take day off. It would have been back day, and after sitting in car for that long it just wasn’t worth it. Especially since I plan on going to BJJ today (Wed) and tomorrow (Thursday).
Despite the long day on road, my only meal of the day was a 16oz Ribeye. They plated it on a giant pile of mashed potatoes and some root veggies. I hate potatoes so passed on those, but ate the carrots. Kept its super low calorie which will carry into today.
EDIT:
Forgot to mention, I did 3x5x60lb KB single arm snatches. Was good to do this movement again. I forgot about it, since last summer.
Pretty good class, working guard retention after conceding side control. Working into a lasso > inversion to triangle.
Our warmups were snap downs to Guillotine. I really enjoyed this, because I never do front headlocks (Darce, Anaconda, Guillotine).
I got a few rounds in, first was the 16yo white belt. He went all out, I just played a bit of guard and worked defense once he passed. Lots of focus on preemptively getting under hook or flaring and inverting to create distance.
Then rolled with a Tainan Dalpra black belt who is visiting. I had some positive guard passing attempts, I worked to a leg drag, but he ended up retaining. He got me twice, once with omoplata and second with paper cutter. The bigger thing is he was on constant attack and I had good movement preventing subs. If it was a sub only point scoring, he’d probably have 20+ points for attempts.
Then rolled with D, big blue belt who I knee barred last week. I played a loose guard game, giving up side control. Then fought to use all the techniques we had been drilling to escape. I did twice, but then got stuck in the loop of arm bar attacks. He did finally get me. I was able to work a bit of Single X, but he stripped hooks while I was attempting to set up a new sweep.
Fun class structure, by the Renzo BB. He basically showed us knee shield options, then we spent 45 minutes working it. Since this is mostly my game, it was good for me to drill with 50-75% resistance.
Only got one round, as most people didn’t want to spar. They wanted more of a workshop working through details. My round was against a 21yo MMA fighter. We just did a 7 minute standup round. We basically used more Judo rules. Fight for a takedown, then 10ish seconds of scrambling/flow roll.
Friday
Slept in, because kids didn’t have school. My 2yo was up for two hours again. Got up at 630, then cold plunged and at first meeting by 730.
My hips haven’t been tight since cold plunging this week. I will 100% need to stay up on this.
Took day off from lifting. Spent the day on list of house things
Sunday
Built my kid a fire in a little flame genie, while I built a rolling work bench for a table saw to sit in. While they were happy burning things, I was building it and doing Rows
Belt Squat Rows
10+ sets of 10x180lbs
Sunday Night Weight: 229
Monday
Morning Weight: 229 - not sure how that’s possible
Cold Plunge: 35F
High Incline Bench
10x135
10x155
10x175
5x185
2x2x205
Low Incline KB Bench
3x20x60lb
Dips
3x10
No Jitz today. Kids don’t have school today and taking my oldest to office, then dropping off at a farm to work for the afternoon
Hoping to get in tomorrow/wednesday/thursday. Schedule permitting, which I’m holding tight to.. I want three days this week, hips are feeling good. Cold Plunging again has really been helpful with inflammation, which pushes on sciatica. Then have to travel 3 hours each way on Friday for meetings.
Worked judo today. Warmup was hopping on one leg, working take downs against opponent.
Then transitioned into a hip throw. Then foot sweep, if someone surfs the hip throw
Then moved into side control escapes. Working nearside undercooks.
Then moved to how to defend against opponent who moves to N/S, when you begin to defend side control well. This was honestly the best part of the day.
Had two rounds. First was against 4stripe white belt. We’ll call him N. I subbed him twice easily. I go back and forth between subbing him and trying to work escapes against him. Today he needed the reminder I can beat him any time I want. I got him with a loop choke from quarter guard. He was doing a pretty good job of capturing my foot when I tried to pass his butterfly. I wrapped his lapel around his neck while he was focusing on my leg, then finished with other arm looping around. Second time I got him was similar. I passed the guard and he was doing a good job with frames, so I went knee on belly. Then forearm across his neck, gripping lapel. It’s a fairly non threatening position as he focused on framing against my hips. I then used my other hand to pull his nearside lapel and dropped my elbow to finish bread cutter. As time was expiring, I had his back and was about to get him with lapel.
Second round was against 17yo white belt. I let him pass today, then spent whole round defending from side control, N/S, mount and back control. He’s getting too cocky tho, so next time I see him, I’ll need to destroy him again.
Just posting this, so I can be publicly shamed. I was a little wimp the last two days and did not cold plunge. It was sub 20 degrees and I was cold. Not really sure how 5-8F warmer would make the actual plunging part easier, but that’s what my weak mind told me. The worst part is my legs and hips are tight again, AND since we worked Judo throws yesterday, my body is stiff as hell.
Will be going to class later today, and 100% plunging tonight and tomorrow.
Edit: No Jits today. Had some rough meetings and too much work to get done. Fairly upset about it, since it was my last chance to get in this week. Next week, I’m taking W-F off from work, so should be able to get in M/W/TR/F.
T-F - Off. Had a lot going on and couldn’t get excited about working out after 9pm.
Several Thought:
I’m going to spend next 30ish days doing a bit of a reset. I’m not doing the 10k KB Swing challenge per se, but a slightly modified version. I’m going to do 7x50 swings with 60lb bell on non BJJ Training days. I can knock these out pretty quick and the lesser volume will allow me to do one movement in addition. Planning on alternating between
Dips
Leg Ext
OH Med Ball Presses
Belt Squat Rows
Hoping this approach resets me a bit. I need a break from the type of training I’ve been doing. Also gives me 30 days to really hit weight loss hard.
Saturday
First day of 350 swings. Knocked out while working in my home office between 10p-12a
Sunday
7x50x60lb swings with 5 dips after each set. After done with swings, I did 10 OH presses with 100lb ball (wanted to get a feel for it, since it’s been months since I’ve done it)
Upcoming week:
Monday - BJJ, Tuesday - BJJ
My birthday is on Wednesday. I’ll likely have a cocktail or 3 at dinner. If I’m right, I’ll be going to a really nice steakhouse. I’ll get KB swings done in the morning
Thursday - Hiking a 10 mile loop by myself, around a state park. Pretty stoked to do this solo.
Friday - BJJ
My body really does not want to drop below 227. Still pushing hard.
I’ve been cold plunging every day. Back and hips feel great. Which is huge, because my hamstrings were fried from KB Swings and that usually means tight hips.
I worked all weekend on a proposal. Essentially, 8p-12a Friday night, 8p-130a Saturday and Sunday, and again until 12a last night. Just finished proposal, now can cruise through the day. I have tomorrow-Friday off.
Edit:
Few personal updates:
There was a major exodus at a large firm. I ended up picking up their leader to run my newest office. Huge huge win. One of the best resumes in the region.
My truck has a new CEL issue. New record, 3 weeks without CEL coming on. Headed back to dealer today.
Pursuing a lot of new work, since I have this new person. He ran an 18 person org, so I can essentially double under him and he needs very little oversight.
Starting two new service lines in next month. Really trying to grow this year, as I have structure in place after last 9 months.
Every Tuesday/Thursday for next four weeks, we’ll be working Judo. The Renzo BB is also a Judo BB. It’s incredibly helpful. I’ve only ever learned standup as ‘moves’. It’s nice to learn concepts.
We did the foot sweep waltz, one leg hopping for take downs and then setups for throws. I had a 275lb white belt as partner. Made me very nervous as he’s clumsy af, and I tore my MCL against someone similar.
People didn’t want to roll after. I got one 7 minute round in with my drilling partner. Last time I let him get dominant positions and it went to his head. Today, I held little back to get sweeps. Ended up subbing him 3 times in 7 minutes, with a 1.5 minute break for a black belt to demonstrate something on me, mid round.
Had really good control with knee on belly and floated across him, shuffling from side to side.
With today being my birthday, I had leftover ribeye for breakfast and then a ribeye for lunch… Dinner is a surprise, but I’m expecting a steakhouse where I’ll get a 30 day aged ribeye
It’s my absolute favorite, especially with a runny egg over it. It’s hard to find tritip where I’m at now, but agreed. Such a great cut.
Thanks man!
Here’s the final meal of the day. A hybrid American Angus and wagyu ribeye. Without question, the most expensive steak I’ve had ($135). Well worth the experience. Now back to cutting down for next 5 weeks.
Hiked 5 miles up the state park that my house views. It’s a very iconic state park. Id share pictures, but would be pretty easy to figure out identity. Incredibly steep climb. I did it backwards, so that I ascended where it was designed to descend. Essentially, my ascend was very steep, with lots of switchbacks. My descent was very short and stairs. haha
I took the day off, so was able to get 45 minutes in the sauna, then lay in our red-light for an hour while I took a nap. Which was much needed. Had a kid not sleep well on Wed night, which caused me to not sleep once from 1230, until alarm went off.
Took my two older kids to bjj last night, and I was able to train after their class. was loads of fun. I hadn’t trained with this group since August or September. The nice part was my game has progressed faster than two individuals who used to give me trouble. I subbed one of them twice in 5 minutes. The other, I swept him into saddle, collected both his legs then fought for 2.5 minutes to try and finish him via heel hook.
That class was brutal tho. It was dealer’s choice, 4 minutes of live training from specific positions. Started with Single X, then did AshiX, then Rubber guard, then knee tap takedown. Translates to 24 minutes straight of live sparring, with resets when someone won the position. Then I got five rounds in. Highlights were, my Single X sweeps and foot sweeps are top notch. I didn’t lose that position once. Also was pretty good at defending it. From AshiX, my first move was switching to reverse AshiX and entering saddle. I did it twice in a row, before he figured it out on the third time and I switched to backside 50/50.
Damn good day overall
Friday
Cold plunged this morning. 24F outside, 34F in the water. Felt great. My body is incredibly sore today, so much needed.
Back at work today, kind of. taking it easy and will leave early for BJJ class and be done for the week.
Morning weight was 224.0lbs today! That’s a 3lb drop. Obviously, the hike, sauna and bjj class impacted my weight. That said, my diet has been really on point lately and I started doing KB swings as my movement. That’s 14lbs down since start of year. Really want to hit 218 on any day, which means I need to realistically be at 214/5 at my lowest.
