[quote]Robert A wrote:
Huge congratulations. You earned that win a hundred times in training.
Next one comes when?
Regards,
Robert A[/quote]
Thank you Robert.
Time for greater challenges now though.
I will box again November 22nd
Frustrating Week.
Had some health issues during the weekend.
My girlfriend and mother reprimanded me on Saturday night and forced me to go to the doctor.
There was no real reason other than I looked like crap and I was out of sorts.
I had been eating as much as possible to ward off what I thought was an oncoming flu/virus.
I went to the doctor and he took my blood pressure, an ECG and a few other tests.
I was pretty much fine - apart from high blood pressure.
I showed a Resting heart rate of 60… Which is about 10 above normal for me.
The doctor suggested over-training and I told him I was just finished an off-week.
Well I promised that I wouldn’t train for two days.
I could ignore the doctor, but I can’t ignore my girlfriend; I agreed to 2 days off training.
I did train yesterday.
I did a conditioning session at 6.00am and a boxing session at 7.00pm.
Neither were an issue at all.
I got short tempered with the same heavyweight who consistently fouls me -
I dropped him with a body shot and he was down for about 5 minutes.
I felt bad bout it, but I’m not being nice in sparring anymore.
Now I really feel like crap. I feel bloated, heavy and just generally shit.
I’m going to have to do some sort of a detox from normal food - I just can’t eat bread, pasta- anything I don’t eat when I’m training.
Its a horrible feeling and it will take more than a couple of days to clean my body up.
I have a torturous training session planned for tonight, so I hope that will scour my system.
[quote]donnydarkoirl wrote:
Frustrating Week.
Had some health issues during the weekend.
My girlfriend and mother reprimanded me on Saturday night and forced me to go to the doctor.
There was no real reason other than I looked like crap and I was out of sorts.
I had been eating as much as possible to ward off what I thought was an oncoming flu/virus.
I went to the doctor and he took my blood pressure, an ECG and a few other tests.
I was pretty much fine - apart from high blood pressure.
I showed a Resting heart rate of 60… Which is about 10 above normal for me.
The doctor suggested over-training and I told him I was just finished an off-week.
Well I promised that I wouldn’t train for two days.
I could ignore the doctor, but I can’t ignore my girlfriend; I agreed to 2 days off training.
I did train yesterday.
I did a conditioning session at 6.00am and a boxing session at 7.00pm.
Neither were an issue at all.
I got short tempered with the same heavyweight who consistently fouls me -
I dropped him with a body shot and he was down for about 5 minutes.
I felt bad bout it, but I’m not being nice in sparring anymore.
Now I really feel like crap. I feel bloated, heavy and just generally shit.
I’m going to have to do some sort of a detox from normal food - I just can’t eat bread, pasta- anything I don’t eat when I’m training.
Its a horrible feeling and it will take more than a couple of days to clean my body up.
I have a torturous training session planned for tonight, so I hope that will scour my system.
[/quote]
Damn sorry to read this.
I take it your diet is very light on grains/grasses when training and you have been eating “normal” for a little bit?
Any allergy symptoms? Runny nose, sneezing, irritable bowel, loose stool, ect.?
What is your fiber intake like?
In any event, get well.
Regards,
Robert A
[quote]Robert A wrote:
Damn sorry to read this.
I take it your diet is very light on grains/grasses when training and you have been eating “normal” for a little bit?
Any allergy symptoms? Runny nose, sneezing, irritable bowel, loose stool, ect.?
What is your fiber intake like?
In any event, get well.
Regards,
Robert A[/quote]
Thats precisely it - I dont take in much grain at all while training.
I do like spinach and some leafs, but grains are out for me.
Its a terrible time of year to truely judge- it would seem everyone I work, train or socialise with currently has a cold flu or virus; they really are rampant this year!
I’ve had several symptoms, but my immune system has kept me in the green.
My fiber is pretty reasonable, I try and take in one protein source and one fibre composed food portion every meal.
I’ve really nailed the diet today, so that can only help.
Opened the morning with a good, demanding session also. will log that in a bit!
21.10.14 AM
I’ve been a bit hesitant to post the past few days.
I’ve trained and been active, but I’ve had incomplete days, days I’ve rested and days I’ve been restricted by feeling poor.
This morning was the first day I’ve scheduled to hit full training again.
When i woke I had 2x pieces of fruit and started sipping glutamine.
At 6.00am I was on the gym floor and ready for circuit conditioning.
There were 13 stations to the circuit and we performed 4 rotations;
This morning I didn’t find hard - I never struggled to complete anything, so I pushed harder and got a good sweat up.
Right now I feel very strong - this camp will be primarily technical with some specific areas I want to target.
Will be boxing later on, might lift as I feel very good
My girlfriend boxes this weekend, so I’m really excited to see that.
03.12.14
I haven’t posted in a while. This is largely because of my job.
Work has been incredibly busy and demanding the past few weeks.
I do enjoy my work, but do not enjoy working with the company with whom I am employed.
The hours are too long, the pay too little. Unfortunately, this is combined with a profound negative atmosphere in the office.
Laying awake at night does not prepare the body for another day’s work and training.
But laying awake is what I have been doing. And thinking is how I have occupied my time.
These meandering nocturnal thoughts have seen my analytically dissecting my life.
I legitimately am happy. I have a wonderful family, a beautiful daughter and I’m in love with a girl that is my most trusted friend and my favorite athlete. I’m surrounded by genuine, good hearted people and I continue to enjoy myself as I climb the ranks in the sport I love.
And yet, I hate finishing my morning training and leaving to go to work.
Those of you reading my log may recall that I cited some health issues after my last fight. My blood pressure erupted and my health for the first time seemed to betray me. The doctors found no physical reasons and I understand why.
I truly believe what I was experiencing were the health implications of real despair. I fucking hate my work.
So for 2015, I’m going to change everything and chase a career that will fit with the rest of my life more comfortably.
Just need to figure out exactly how I intend to do that
“So for 2015, I’m going to change everything and chase a career that will fit with the rest of my life more comfortably”
I wish you success in your career change and victory in the ring.
[quote]idaho wrote:
I wish you success in your career change and victory in the ring. [/quote]
Thank you sir!
I have a definite line of inquiry that I’m going to follow 
I’ve had a tricky period training wise - work and life generally has been crazy…
I’ve been able to get in roughly (2x) kettlebell conditioning sessions, (1x) Bodyweight conditioning session and (3x) boxing sessions.
This is not a situation that I’m cool with and it really impacts my mood.
Extra time with my girlfriend and my daughter has been cool though!
Had a date Friday night - great food, the best company and great fun.
Training becomes a priority again this week. 8 weeks to competition.
13.12.14 AM BOXING
This session was almost a technical conversation with a good friend, who is a good coach.
PJ’s philosophy is “defense is merely a pause in attack.”
We worked through a number of set piece combinations on the mitts. PJ concentrated on my initial attack and evasive defense, I tried to pay attention to detail when it came to rotation, physical defense and the flight path of punches.
We worked through 7 set pieces.
We started stationery:
(Threw the initial combination ; evaded the counter ; countered ; evaded the response ; moved away.)
We progressed to apply pressure:
(Moving forward I threw the initial combination ; evaded the counter ; countered moving forward ; evaded the counter.)
We worked to repetitions rather than time. 10 repetitions stationery and then 10 diagonal sections of the ring in movement.
I felt that starting from a stationery position allowed me to understand and rehearse the motions of the attack and progressing to the attack with footwork was much less of a jump as a result.
RPE: 4
14.12.14 PM STRENGTH
It was great to get back in the gym yesterday evening. It was a pretty modest return, but I enjoyed it.
I kept it really simple and will be increasing in small increments for asd long as strength gains continue.
Military Press; (Spinal Tap Programming)
33 reps total
Supinated Chin-ups
25 Reps
Pendlay Row
30 Reps
Barbell Curl
32 reps
The goal here was clear and simple. Keep the pull : push ratio at least 1.5 : 1 to try and prevent any kyphosis.
Sunday evening is a great time for me to lift as I have the least concern with time / prior commitments.
I may consider cycling Deadlift here instead. The ST programme seems like a nice idea at the moment. Calories are up and boxing not as intense as I would like, so I will compensate by lifting.
I was quite reserved with my training maxes and have decided to increase at reduced increments, so hopefully I should make some good gains for a few weeks.
RPE: 6
I finished the weekend chilling out at my girlfriends house. Relaxing finish to the weekend.
15.12.14 AM STRENGTH
I hit the gym for lunch today.
Deadlifts are not a lift I have ever applied volume to, so I avoided the AM start.
Additionally I used a conservative TM as I didn’t want to be going back to work FRIED.
Power Snatches
3 x 3’s.
Deadlifts
33 reps total (through ST Option 2)
Pullups
3,3,3,3,3.
DB Rows
10,10,10.
Skull Crushers
10/10, 10/10, 10/10.
Pretty good hour session. I dropped the weight for the rows and concentrated of the pull through the elbows.
Pullups surprised me. I hadn’t done any in quite some time, but they were the strictest reps I’ve ever performed.
The skull crushers were pointless really…
The volume of deadlifts was demanding- kept an eye on my form throughout.
RPE; 6… maybe a 7, I was sweating by the time I hit the rows
P.S. The bad music is back… this pleases me
15.12.14 PM Boxing
6.00pm Session yesterday evening.
Warmup;
Joints and Muscles
Dynamic Warmup
5 Mins Skipping
4 x 3’s Bagwork
4 x 3’s Shadowboxing
4 x 3’s Bagwork
6 Miles Run
Skipping Cooldown
Whatever the reason, I attacked this session. I was pouring sweat after the first session on the bags.
I can only vaguely remember shadowboxing and my final 4 bags were non stop attack.
In the absence of a tough spar, the run (and it was a run, not a jog) was good, up and down hills.
Frenetic pace for the entire session, I became aware of some of my limitations technically, so I have material to work on.
RPE: 9
16.12.14 AM CONDITIONING
Our conditioning coach’s wife had a baby this morning, so I did some conditioning at lunch.
I’d done a lot of kettlebells throughout November and came up with the following;
Warmup.
Mobility
Swings
KB Snatches (single 20kg bell, straight through, no rest.)
L R
10 10
8 8
6 6
4 4
2 2
KB Press (Doubles, 2 x 20kg bells)
8, 6, 4, 2.
KB Cleans (Doubles. 2 x 20kg bells)
10, 8, 6, 4, 2.
KB Switch Lunge (Single 20kg Bell)
8, 6, 4, 2.
KB Squats (Double 2 x 20kg bells)
10, 8, 6, 4, 2.
Pushups
10, 8, 6, 4, 2.
KB Swings (Doubles. 2 x 20kg bells)
10, 8, 6, 4, 2.
GHR
5, 5, 5, 5, 5. (strict strict form)
NOTES:
***Pushups have always been an issue for me. I’m able to bust out huge reps, but not with good form.
When trying to use textbook form, I find myself in discomfort and find 20 reps painful.
Today I changed my hand placement and had a nice “eureka” moment.
Looking forward to pushing these now, adding weight and reps.
Roughly 10 seconds rest between sets, went for speed.
RPE; 7
Huge meal afterwards…
Chicken (stirfried in coconut oil.) red onion, green peas, chick peas, kidney beans, tomatoes.
16.12.14 PM BOXING
Only did half a session - I led the first half and when I stepped back, the coaches wanted to do a circuit.
I didn’t think all the impact in the circuit would do me any good, so I sat it out.
Joints - top to toe ; working the joints through all ranges of motion
Dynamic - Starjumps, Bushwhackers, Clap under knees, Heels up, Punchouts and hip twists.
Mobility - Hand overhead squats, Fire hydrants, Hump & Hollow
Movement Drills
-Forward / Back
-Lateral
-Fwd/Bck ; Laterals
4-4-2
Movement Drills
-Neutral Circle
-Defensive Circle
-Offensive Circle
Linear Shadowboxing
-Offense & Defense
RPE:4
17.12.14
AM STRENGTH
I went to the gym for lunch. I like this routine and it makes me think more carefully about what and when I eat.
Pretty basic session again,
Benchpress
39 reps - Spinal Tap Option 1 program.*
Supinated Chins 30 reps
Pendlay Rows
8,8,8,8. **
Barbell Curls
10,10,10,10.
Notes;
*I was concerned that I was using all triceps on this exercise, as my pectorals are definitely a weak area.
I’ve tried to address that by sorting out my posture and technique.
This morning i woke with the nicest pain in my pecs, so mission accomplished.
**Pendlay Rows.
My plan is to perform 3 sets of ten early in the week, then later in the week add weight and drop reps to 8.
The weight was fine, I’m just concerned that I’m using the muscles optimally. Back is nice and neutral, I’m pulling
through the elbows, I’ll just have to consult grip width and to where I am pulling (hip crease, abdomen, sternum…)
Overall good session and for once I had fun with the bench.
RPE: 6
PM BOXING
An old coach had a quote he used; “sometimes life gets in the way.”
Today, life got in the way. I was insulted by my boss and I didn’t react at all.
This might have been the right thing to do, but it killed me to do it and ruined my day.
Afterwards I was very frustrated.
In the gym I did 4 rounds on the bag and 4 rounds drilling with a guy at the gym.
It was enough to get rid of my bad mood, but motivation to applied training was still ruined.
After training I helped one of the girls at the club sort out her weight cut.
Coaching and training is something i like doing.
I’ve had some great training over Christmas and New Years.
Its been varied; weights, boxing, bodyweight, running, kettlebells… a cool mix.
Last Saturday was my first formal day and looked like;
9.00am CONDITIONING
45 Minutes Bodyweight Exercises (in 3 Minute Rounds)
15 Minutes Kettlebell Complex (living hell with double 24’s)
7.00pm BOXING
10 x 3 Minute Rounds Padwork
Nothing frenetic about this.
Set patterns and movements. Repetition, repetition, repetition.
I trained with my girlfriend a lot.
I think we probably shocked the coaches a lot coming back in such good shape, but competitively I think this will be a big year for us both.
05.01.15 am STRENGTH
I was awake at 6.00 am and took some glutamine.
Once I’d scrambled to get my work clothes and training gear I hit the road.
Bound into Box Jumps 3 x 3 no.
One Arm Rot. Throw 3 x 5 no.
Military Press
43 Reps Total
Supinated Chin-Ups 5 x 5 reps.
DB Rows 4 x 10 reps.
EZ Curls 3 x 10 Reps.
RPE: 6
Good Session. My body is fuelled and recovered so it felt like light work.
My chin-ups were strong which was great and I threw some band pull-aparts in between the lighter sets of MP.
I had been sore Sunday, so this was a good session to get under my belt. Boxing later will be challenging and I can’t wait.
05.01.15 pm BOXING
The work day went ok and I left the office at 5.45. I drove to the gym and was ready for 6.00pm.
The gym was alight - boxers everywhere preparing for competition, learning new skills or simply with new years resolutions.
It was a nice atmosphere. Our gym is a rough, tough gym, but they’re good guys really.
Warmup - brief; joints
4 X 3’S - Bagwork - Open, heavy heavy bag.
2 x 3’s - Shadowboxing - Loose, elusive.
3 x 3’s - Sparring - National Welterweight Champ. No power, activity & tech.
2 x 2’s - Sparring - Heavyweight. Technically dominant.
4 x 3’s - Bagwork - Structured & Planned.
Thrown out of the gym for looking for more sparring
RPE: 8, very intense work.
06.01.15 am CONDITIONING
Decent sleep. Probably asleep by 10.00pm.
Had a meal, glutamine and ZMA before bed. Woke briefly at 2.30am, but got back to sleep.
Was up and out of bed just after 5.00am.
On the gym floor at 6.00am and God it was cold.
Warmup; Joints & Major Muscle Groups.
Circuit - 12 no. Stations - 4x Rotations
(i) KB Squats
(ii) Elevated Decline Sit-up
(iii) Battling Ropes
(iv) Ab Rollouts
(v) Hanging Leg Raises
(vi) Russian Twist
(vii) KB Press
(viii)TRX Tricep Ext.
(ix) Olympic Ring Inverted Rows
(x) TRX Bicep Curl
(xi) TRX Jump Squat
(xii) KB Swings
Cooldown
RPE; 7/8
This felt odd today. Athletically I felt great, everything I handled with ease (apart from the leg raises tbh.)
But I had a strange sensation in my stomach, like my body wasn’t liking me pushing myself.
Regardless, I finished the session with ease. Looking forward to boxing now at 7 where I’ll have a little coaching input 
06.01.14 pm BOXING
So I rushed to get out the door at 5.30pm.
I will not be married to this job for much longer.
I had some protein and carbs at home before training.
I led the session to start:
Warmup;
*Joints&Muscle Groups; Worked through, top to toe.
*Dynamic; 3 Minute blast working through the muscle groups and getting the heart going.
*Mobility; Five exercises for reps, going through the more awkward ranges of motion.
*Warmup Drills
- Movement; Forward,Reverse and Laterals.
- Movement; Circling.
- Defense; Slipping, Sidesteps and Same time counters.
***I finished participating here. Nobody to work with.
Offense & Defense Drills.
Movement Drills with partner
(did this with my girlfriend which meant a frenetic pace and a black eye for my troubles haha)
Abdominal Routine (lending heavily on Manny Pacquiao’s routine.
Cooldown
RPE; 3
A session completely lacking in intensity - though admittedly given the morning session, that could have been exactly what I needed.
07.01.15 am STRENGTH
This morning my CNS was shot. I had terrible aches in my abs and I felt lethargic at best.
I gave myself the morning off and said i would lift at lunch time.
At 1.00pm I got into the gym and decided to have a go with some deadlifts.
For triples I pulled;
3s @ 60, 80, 100, 110, 120, 130 kg,
For doubles/singles I pulled;
1s @ 140, 150, 160, 170, 180 kg.
My technique was getting a little gravelly at that so I called it a day.
It was really unstructured by my own standards, but I thought with my CNS being so shook up, form should designate what I do (or in this case don’t do.)
After this I went and bought a dinner at this Polish restaurant I like.
Chicken coated in egg, mashed potato and coleslaw…
I know how to treat myself.
pm BOXING
Honestly… I didn’t want to train tonight. I was tired and unmotivated. Regardless, I pushed through and got rounds in.
Warmup
4 x 3s Bagwork; Intense rounds on the heavy Bag
4 x 3s Sparring; with an amateur preparing for the Europeans.
***I did well here. I know I tired him out and could have had him at any second. But truthfully I knew all was not right. I was TIRED.
3 x 2s Sparring; with the older heavyweight.
***he was going for power. I was happy to dance and move.
RPE: 8
What a poor session on paper… Very difficult in the gym.
Went home, washed up and chilled out with my girlfriend.
Need to get better food sources.~
