Alternating sets of:
25 sixty lb KB swings and 5x135 seated OHP with fat grips - 5 sets
Alternating sets of:
20 plate raises and 30 second bar holds - 4 sets
Then alternated cable curls and tricep ext for 4 sets
busy day of cleaning garage and house to sell
Trunk or treat at night with kids and some friends. Then went to dinner with them and had a beer. First sip of alcohol in months
Breakfast had 4 eggs with cheese and protein shake, lunch was 1/2 lb of pork belly. Late lunch was remaining lb. Dinner was pizza. Eh, mostly good day of eating
Body feels good
Planning 100lb ball slams in morning. Been a long time since I’ve done them
Hit an open mat today. I’ve got a few things I’m working on:
open guard sweeps
Tripod passing from HQ
arm bar and triangle from back control
I was able to hit all today. From open guard, I’ve been getting beat when they body lock, then kick legs back and walk around my guard. I started getting a kimura grip on opposite side they are moving. It led to easy hip bump sweeps. I need to transition this to chois next.
Tripod passing was on point. I was a terrible passer 2 months ago but have pushed hard on this one pass and own it.
Had a roll with only white belt and got both subs from back. Felt great, controlled him well and used feet to climb up, deal with arms and finish.
The best was a round with a black belt. He almost got the pass, but I reguarded got the kimura grip, hip bump sweep, tripod pass, isolated an arm from mount and got a straight arm shoulder lock sub.
body feels great. Was stacked and no pain. Was very comfortable. Need to keep up kb swings and prehab work
A bit of a full body day. I didn’t have any desire to Z Squat, so I didn’t. Ha and my belt squat is disassembled from the weekend cleaning.
Med Ball Squats
5x10x150lb ball
Leg Ext
5 sets
Goblets
3x15x52.5lbs
Before bed workout
Flat bench camber bar, NG with fat grips (that’s a mouthful)
10x145
10x165
5x185
5x195
2x3x215
15x145
honestly, fairly happy with flat bench. Each rep was touched to my chest, so an extra 2-3” of rom. I also haven’t flat benched in years(?), due to shoulder pain. Had the idea to give it a go, with NG and it was painless. Not sure if it’s related to time off or strengthening shoulder. Regardless, going to train for a month or so with flat bench, then test with oly bar in December.
My baby was up from 145-430. Had a rough day at work yesterday so couldn’t sleep, when she finally went to sleep. Just decided to get up and go to a morning BJJ class. It was no-gi at a newer school with white belts. First actual class I have been to since maybe June. Worked shrimps (maybe first time in 14 years I’ve done these), framing from seated guard and then mount escapes. Did a few situational rolls, then jumped into live rolls.
Nothing too crazy with rolls. First round was with a bigger guy, who moves well, but not technically great yet. I let him pass my guard and worked side control escapes, using a single butterfly into leg entanglements. I let him have side control again, then worked turtling and wrestling up to a single leg. I’ve been turtling a lot more, but not a confident position. In past, I would roll out of it the moment I felt like I had room. With a white belt, felt it out a bit and went for something new. Eventually, opponent tapped to being exhausted after I got back control, power half nelson and broke him down.
Second roll, big, lean muscular guy who is the best of the white belts. He kept trying to power through my guard. It’s funny, trying to work Chois/Kimuras from open guard has turned me into an arm hunter. I had maybe 3 arm bar submissions up until a month ago. Now, I find myself isolating an arm well from open guard. Instead of doing an omnaplata sweep, I’ll invert and kick leg over for an inverted/bellydown arm bar. I hit that in first 40 seconds… Then just let him mess around with trying to pass my guard for remainder of time. It was amusing. I’d butterfly sweep him/baloon sweep/trip sweep and not pursue top pressure.
Saturday
Solid back workout. Don’t recall it all, but lots of rowing.
Sunday
Off
Monday
Flat bench W/camber bar and fat grips
10x145
10x165
5x185
5x195
3x215
1x235 PR - wish I had a spotter. Could have gotten another. Bar speed was fast, but felt very heavy in eccentric. Didn’t feel confident without a spot
Cable OH Press
4x12
Tricep Pull Downs
100
Tuesday
Baby was awake from 245-5. Got up at 530 and just went to train at main school. Six 6 minute rounds of death.
Have a bit of a conundrum. Really debating slowly cutting down and making 222lb weight class for a Jan competition. I’ll post some pictures and get thoughts. Trying to decide how much fat I could reasonably lose.
Would this be a one-off or would you look to stick around at the “LHW” limit for a little while? Do you prefer the competition/your game at 225 lbs compared to 245+ lbs?
I definitely prefer to be the biggest (height) and size wise.
A few months ago, i figured I would gain size and embrace UHW life. However, spending more time reading up on IBJJF, I think competing at SHH (<222) and doing open is a better route if I can make it. Better chance at earning more points for masters. Next year, I move to Masters 2, so it’s a good opportunity to be youngest in age bracket and biggest.
On physique side, I think being a super lean but built 228 year round, with a minor cut to 222 for comps isn’t a bad option.
I’ve grown (lol) to have the same preference in these kind of situations.
I think this exactly is what those Japanese Judokas were talking about with Kuzushi.
Staying out of SHW means you don’t need to figure out how to grapple with a 400lb dude. I’m not sure if they exist in your IBJJF circles, but he existed in the only comp I ever entered. Still the most challenging struggle I’ve ever participated in if you don’t count the time I just got the shit beaten out of me over 20 years ago.
It seems like getting down a class will definitely give you a Kuzushi edge.
Sounds like a great move across the board, assuming the necessary adjustments diet-wise aren’t too onerous.
Reading about your live training sessions also makes me think that you’d gain from the move: more dynamic opponents in competition and more opportunity for “attribute-free” (to steal a Shawn Williams line) technical development against larger, slower training partners when you get them.
Exactly. There’s a 6’8” former lineman I’ve rolled with numerous times. He’s a white belt for good reason, but… if you end up in closed guard or god forbid he passes your guard, it’s game over. He does a punch choke from topside of closed guard. I can now get out of it, but 330lbs is tough.
Honestly, my biggest hesitation is stand up with bigger guys. My knees and back are fragile. Gravity and 500lbs colliding is not a recipe for a dad with full time career.
I really like a dynamic roll. Lots of movement, guard play vs. smashing. Feels more strategic and athletic to me. When I successfully sweep someone it’s better than a sub to me.
Thursday
Woke up at 430 with a lot on mind. Decided to go for a walk for about 3.5miles in under an hour, while wearing 40lb vest. Then knocked out 5 sets of leg extensions. I’ll fully hit legs tonight, just good to clear head and enjoy cool air.
I did not contest any of the takedowns with that guy very much once we got gripped up. He wrestled in college and was just so massive that the forces in play were a bit much for weekend bragging rights in a local men’s competition.
The only time I won the takedown was when we were both smoked on our third match and he basically snapped his own neck down and I flattened him with a headlock and sprawl.
I made good escapes which were awesome to pull off and had him in mount for most of two rounds, but could not make my chokes work. I spent one round getting positionally asphyxiated in side control with absolutely nothing in my rolodex for an escape. That was a tough match because it was so uncomfortable. Every breath was a bit less air I could get into my lungs.
That’s just not fair. College wrestler and 400lbs. Did he have a neck? I’ve rolled with guys like this. They know they can’t be choked and their arms are so strong you won’t get a joint lock
He dabbled in powerlifting a bit, too. Luckily he was nearing the age of 40, just like I was.
I had to choose between holding mount and fully committing to the collar choke while trying to figure out the angles of his neck, which was just massive. I probably could have pulled off an armbar but I did not want to leave mount to attempt it. I couldn’t get the paper cutter choke to work from side control. Brute-forcing an Americana from mount was not happening on that guy, either.
I couldn’t get the angles right and I couldn’t figure it out before the round ended. Stuff that worked on big guys before just didn’t with him. I was ecstatic to have held mount and escaped his side control.
He was never close to submitting me except through eventual asphyxiation that would have forced me to tap at some point, but wasn’t a problem to ride out for a round.
I’m not sure I would have held mount without the friction of the gi. Imagine trying to ride a greased boulder.
It was good medicine for me, having rolled with plenty of people facing a similar size disadvantage that favored me.
Lol my ribs were fine. There was a point on my sternum that my opponent’s coach (who is my coach’s coach, the guy I recommended to you) put pressure on me just fucking around when he and I were discussing the varying nature of pressure after the matches were done.
I think that conversation started with “that’s about the nastiest pressure I’ve ever felt”, which he may have taken personally and wished to correct my perception on.
The great thing about Jay is that he knows who has “consented” and will 100 percent bring you to whatever your limit may be if you’re game. We all know how to make it stop, after all.
I never had too much problem with sore torso parts, but I was also quite big and strong and always able to take 405 for a ride in the squat rack the entire time I was into BJJ. It was also quite common for me to only train with my coach, who was in the 180-190 lb ballpark when we trained. He had nasty pressure but not big guy nasty.
Come to think of it, there were only a small handful of guys my size who out-classed me technically that I had access to. Most of the guys my size or bigger were new and unable to bring nasty pressure.
A 230 lb purple-brown belt in his early 20’s and Army vet was my most consistent “big” guy who really brought the pressure on me every time.
There were only a few 260 plus guys with any game in Maine, but a few of them are monsters.
