3/22/15
BJJ Open mat.
have a muscle spasm in rhomboids for which I took several days off, went back to judo last night (3/26) training was a bit intense and this thing seems to be back…
3/29/15
Back feeling a bit better.
Did a kettlebell front squat workout:
5 supersets of:
8 double KB front squats with 53lb bells.
5 Gym ring chin-ups
3 mile run outside at 9:40 pace.
Followed a 45min vinyasa yoga video on youtube.
3/30/15
on call, did some arm training super setting dumbbell curls with overhead db extensions, 3 sets.
3/31/15
on call, did 5 sets of 8reps/per arm single arm overhead press with a 53lb kettlebell.
4/1/15
Had the day off from work 
Half marathon prep:
3 mile Run @ 8:17 pace
Went to a 1hr vinyasa yoga class.
Dropped in to a BJJ class, rolled with some blue belts and the black belt instructor.
Felt good overall, will try for a slow distance run (judo class if I’m feeling really good…) today (4/2) then ill take a couple days off to recover over the holiday weekend…
4/2/15
Half marathon training:
8 miles@ 9:40/mile
4/6/15
Jiu Jitsu class.
4/8/15
Jiu jitsu class, felt really tired and was gonno stay home…performance was subpar. Some days the hammer, some days the nail…
4/9/15
arm workout:
70lb EZ bar curls 10 down to 1 rep reverse pyramidalternating sets with friend’s sets.
70lb EZ bar skullcrushers 10 50 5 reps reverse pyramid. last set (5reps) superset with 10 close grip bench presses.
3 Supersets:
alternating twist curls with 2 40lb dumbells, 16 reps.
Bench dips (bodyweight) 15 reps.
4/11/15
Shoulder Presses:
1x5reps dumbell lateral raise with 20 lb dumbells
1x power clean > 5x120lb barbell OHP
1x power clean > 5x120lb barbell OHP
1x power clean > 4x130lb barbell OHP
1x power clean > 3x130lb barbell OHP
1x power clean > 3x130lb barbell OHP
1x5reps dumbell lateral raise with 20lb dumbells
1x5 side presses/arm with 53lb kettlebell.
Hopefully make it to open mat jiu jitsu training tomorrow and get back to running the next few days…
4/12/15
BJJ open mat, a lot of half guard passing and ankle locking…
Ended training with 3 sets of 15 snatches/ arm with a 44lb kettlebell.
Been busy at work so training has been a tad limited.
4/15/15
Pull Day: 4 supersets:
5 Pullups+5 Barbell bentover rows w/130lbs.
- several sets of 1 arm reverse flys with an elastic cable.
Jiu Jitsu class. Felt really good, maybe has to do with cleaner diet…
4/17/15
Jiu jitsu class, some good rolling. Been working the fireman’s carry ankle locks.
4/18/15
open mat: drilled some judo throws focus on osoto->sesae and kata garuma.
Half marathon training: 10 mile run at 10.15/mile. legs are feeling pretty heavy now.
4/19/15
Despite feeling kind of worn down, dragged my ass to jiu jitsu open mat today actually had some great training with a tough brazilian black belt whom I haven’t yet rolled with and with a tough brown belt friend visiting from Israel. Training actually felt great.
Workout at the end of training:
3x10shoulder presses /arm with 44lb kettlebell
2 supersets:
5 pullups + 15 pushups.
4/20/15
Jiu Jitsu class, some good rolling. Rolled with a very talented brown belt. and some white belts.
4/21/15
On call; brief circuit workout: 3 circuits of:
5 Pullups + 10 seesaw shoulder presses with 50 lb DB + 10 Pushups on dumbell handles + 10 alternating rows w/ 50lb dumbells.
30-60sec rest between circuits.
4/25/15
Half marathon training: 11 miles at 9:59 pace
4/26/15
On call, did 5 sets of 5 pullups.
2/28/15
No-gi jiu jitsu class. worked on the wrong-side ankle lock.
Judo class. a lot of GPP drills, some uchi komi, some randori.
Followed with 3x5 ring pullups and some attempts at monkey bar drills on the hanging rings.
5/1/15
Jiu Jitsu training, lots of feet to floor rolling been tweaking an outside ankle lock variation mostly from mid-guardpass or top cross-body.
5/3/15
Jiu Jitsu Open Mat, rolled for about 1.5hrs with several purple and blue belts mostly gi, 1 no-gi roll. A lot of success with the ankle lock I’ve been working on.
Finished off with a quick single circuit workout using 44lb kettlebell: 5 no hand getups/side 5 hard swings/side, 5 high pulls/side, 5 snatches/side, 5 long cycle clean&Jerk/side, 5 pull-ups.
Usual strength and conditioning will be on the back burner for the next two weeks as I prep for a jiu jitsu tournament and half marathon.
5/4/15
Early AM run 2.65miles at 10 min pace
Evening: Gi jiu jitsu.
5/5/15
Early AM run 2.65miles at 10min pace
Evening: Judo, fairly intense training session, lots of uchi komi, nage komi, and randori, paired with some talented black belts.
5/6/15
5min Early AM kettlebell and bodyweight circuit workout followed by 15mins yoga.
5/7/15
No gi jiu jitsu, rolled mostly with beginners; took it easy.
5/8/15
Light jiu jitsu training, rolled with some white belts.
5/9/15
Jiu jitsu competition. Not my day. Came in fairly weak after cutting 12lbs in under 2 weeks. Coupled that with some strategic errors and did not do well. Time to go back to the drawing board. Next time will not cut weight and will need to come in with a rock solid game plan and sharp conditioning.
Have the half marathon in a week, after that will be back to strength and conditioning and gaining back what I lost by cutting that weight.
5/11 Jiu jitsu training
5/12 4.5mile run @ 9:50 pace
5/14 No gi Jiu Jitsu
5/15 Jiu jitsu, did brief workout at work: 3 supersets of 20 alternating dumbbell chest press w/ 50lb dumbbells and 5 chin-ups
5/16/15
Brooklyn half marathon, felt kind of pessimistic going in and planned for a difficult run with 10:00-10:30 pace. Ended up running at 9:11/mile and felt great.
5/18/15
Jiu Jitsu, felt pretty sharp tonight.
Hey Doc,
Im theBird, and I have been stalking your log for awhile now.
Im looking at changing my training up a bit and I am looking to incorporate kettlebells and I am thinking of taking up BJJ.
I usually play soccer, but I am getting sick and tired of the politics that comes along with a team sport in a small town. I was wondering what kind of enjoyment you get out of BJJ and if you have any advice to offer to a beginner? Im 6’2, will this be a problem? Maybe Im better off going to judo class instead?
I was first attracted to BJJ as I am interested in doing something I can compete in and it looks like its physically hard work. I have attended my local dojo to watch a session and the class seems to be made up of some pretty cool people.
tweet
[quote]theBird wrote:
Hey Doc,
Im theBird, and I have been stalking your log for awhile now.
Im looking at changing my training up a bit and I am looking to incorporate kettlebells and I am thinking of taking up BJJ.
I usually play soccer, but I am getting sick and tired of the politics that comes along with a team sport in a small town. I was wondering what kind of enjoyment you get out of BJJ and if you have any advice to offer to a beginner? Im 6’2, will this be a problem? Maybe Im better off going to judo class instead?
I was first attracted to BJJ as I am interested in doing something I can compete in and it looks like its physically hard work. I have attended my local dojo to watch a session and the class seems to be made up of some pretty cool people.
tweet
[/quote]
Hey, Thanks for Following!
I would strongly recommend attending a class, if you can, jiu jitsu or judo. Both are great sports with a lot of intricacies to keep anyone busy for a lifetime. Being tall is arguably more advantageous for both BJJ and Judo. It will make your open guard very strong in bjj and will make techniques like foot sweeps, uchi mata and harai much easier for you in judo. So it is up to you whether BJJ or judo is more appealing. I train both. You are probably best off trying a class in both judo and BJJ and see which one is more fun. Judo is more athletic and exciting, continuous intense action. BJJ can be a bit more like sport kettlebell training where you explode then relax and explode then relax. It is also more intellectual kind of like a chess match.
You can also watch some sport bjj and judo matches on you and see which will appeal more to you. However, I would warn that observing the sport of BJJ especially to the untrained eye, can look pretty lame but the experience of training is totally different, a lot more fun.
–MG