I 100% would: it’s just not something I can prioritize schedulewise at the moment. In the most ideal world, I’d have a school that would hold classes from 0430-0530 so I could get it done while the family is asleep, but until that’s the case, it’s gonna have to be on the backburner, MAYBE be a once a month thing.
Well stated indeed. Definitely seeing that, and it’s making me think I could appreciate coming back at some point.
Your invitation to Valhalla is all too tempting, haha. If Maine had a more renown BBQ scene you may just have me! I’ve finally laid down some roots for the first time in 15 years though, and we’re gonna make due. I DID have some sort of master plan to get my kiddo into MMA at some point, but I think Tang Soo Do is the compromise we’ve arrived at.
@burien_top_team Hell yeah brother! Evan went out in the most “Evan Tanner” way possible too. And further proof that all my MMA knowledge is 2005 era, haha.
Just something I’ve been meaning to log but keep forgetting to: I’ve reduced my intake of chicken, focusing more on red meat, and I honestly think it’s been a very positive change. In general, my physique seems sharper, I feel less bloated and less inflamed. With chickens being monogastric compared to ruminants and the terrible state of how chickens are raised here in the US, there may be something there.
My school and affiliates all have open mats with no mat fee. You might check to see if that’s the case anywhere local to you. Makes it easy to drop in on a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon.
I get this. It’s bad when you’ve spent 5 consecutive Christmas in a different homes across country. Finally part of something and have a good group of friends here.
Got a few places like that. One is medieval combat, haha, but they include a lot of grappling. Just gotta work the schedule.
We ARE entertaining a fantasy of Texas living. Whole lotta King of the Hill growing up, Mrs is a lifelong Cowboys fan, and she recently had brisket at the Dallas airport that changed her life, so it’s not TOO far off the radar.
Your journey has been nuts dude! Really good to hear you can settle down.
I second @dchris suggestion of finding an open mat once a month or so. I think you could get a lot of benefit even without structured, regular lessons over the long term. Much of the home mat training with my coach when it was just us two would go like this…
Show up, skip warmups together, begin with a few hard rolls. Coach walks right through a window I leave open because one is always there. Then he would explain how to keep the window shut and point out the open windows I need to look for myself.
I think you could get a lot out of a similar open mat approach. It’s also possible you might find something going on at home mats 5 minutes away like I did for a few years. Many of those were just what worked for coach and I. If others answered the bat signal for open training, great. Now it’s a class.
IMO you would become a lot more dangerous on the ground if you learn a few escapes and guard passing basics. You could add a tool of back control escapes in an afternoon, side control escapes on another, etc.
@twojarslave It’s absolutely sounding enticing. I haven’t ruled it out. There is legit a BJJ school across the street from my Tang Soo Do dojang, to the point I can tell it makes my instructor uneasy to have direct competition right there, haha, but the opportunity is definitely present. If nothing else, these comps have really been fun and breathed some new life into me.
Wavetops: push ups and squats, multiple walks totaling up to about 5-ish miles, dinner at Texas Roadhouse with a full slab of ribs (no sauce) and a plate of hardboiled eggs, and mini-carb up eating 4 pumpkin oatmeal cookies with some raw cinnamon honey. I need to ditch the honey: this is the 3rd time I’ve had it and developed a real nasty cough immediately after. I’m thinking I may have not mixed in the cinnamon enough, but either way, I need to rely on the signs my body is sending.
I picked up the Tactical Barbell Mass Building book. Reading through it now, but it may be just the pivot I’ve been looking for.
Would love to hear more of your thoughts on it as you dig in further. I’m venturing into trail running lately and got the Green Protocol book, and it looks great and keeps things basic and digestible. Mass Building could be a nice addition to the arsenal this winter
@Stormblessed Can do dude! I just made it through the Mass Gaining training templates and feel like it’s a pretty solid approach. I wanna see how he includes the conditioning work as well.
AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)
PHYREXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 5, Week 2, Workout 1
10 rounds as fast as possible of
10x136 axle zercher deadlift from floor
5x135 dead axle incline bench
Done in 25 minutes
Low handle trap bar pull
10x425
ASSISTANCE:
3x10 standing ab wheel
100 lateral raises w/5lb
BREAKFAST
Short walk w/dog
Notes:
This close to competition, I’m pretty much back to the start of the Dreadnought: light weight, high reps, kick up the conditioning a touch and get primed. My hips are feeling much better and I’m feeling pretty strong. I think I did Zenos about as smart as I could have: used it like an intensification block right before the comp so I could rest and supercompensate into the competition itself. This workout felt restorative but was still challenging enough at the end. Didn’t beat me up.
Really pleased with what turned up for those trap bar pulls. It’s not beating my previous best of 12 reps, but it was a very strong 10 reps, and my hip feels awesome still. Considering I pulled 425 from the floor with a barbell a few days before, that’s a great sign.
Speaking of “a few days before”, this is out of order compared to what I’ve been doing, but with the holiday I did a LOT of walking, so I’m willing to call that my walking workout. I’m still thinking of doing events and walking on Wed and Thurs and getting back on track for Friday, and then using next week just to get technique dialed in before day of comp. Once that is done, I may keep on the lean train until I get into Oct and then start working on putting on some mass again. With Oct being my birthmonth, followed by Thanksgiving and then Christmas, where we’re going on a cruise, it’ll be a GOOD time to put on some mass.
Little late start on the training itself, so the assistance work was paired down, but as per the theme of pre-comp, it’s not a bug but a feature to do a little less training.
I don’t know what you do for work… but, if you ever get serious let me know. I’m sure I could help.
Texas likes to build neighborhoods with ridiculous level of HOA benefits. I don’t live in this community, but just an example of possibilities. Ya, that’s a giant lagoon style pool with a dock and sand beach…
Man, that’s too awesome of you. This is definitely a “late retirement” sorta dream, but it’s there for sure.
Slept in this morning and skipped training. Today was going to be a walk kinda day anyway, so I took the dogs for a long walk post breakfast, and will get in a few more from there, along with Tang Soo Do tonight. I’m hitting hard training burnout: this has been WAY too long “prepping” for a competition. I’m excited to take on something different soon. On the plus side: all this time skipping training is helping my hip/glute recover.
I’m glad to see someone else experiences this too. Part of me wants to prep but the other part knows I’ll get bored and stop caring before the comp comes
In this specific case, the issue is, I started prepping for a Jul competition in early Jun, and then it got canceled and I signed up for a comp with similar events in Sep and just kept on going. I usually like 6-8 weeks for comp prep: months and months is just too much.
That is a long time especially for the same events
6 weeks is just about where I start to “get over it”. I might just try to touch a lot of stuff often and then do a 6 week block to get good at the events (I realize I reinvent the wheel with that lol)
Excellent dude! A week and about 40 posts later but I’m back haha. I did catch up in time to see the grappling comp and follow up discussion. The Maine BBQ scene is… lacking. We have some decent spots for Northeast BBQ, but that’s what it is at the end of the day.
Basically an extra two months of comp prep, I’d have fully fallen off the wagon for it myself. Props for staying locked in that long.
Yeah man all the usual life things, but all things good. Work progressing, volunteering, focusing on spending more time outdoors, I’m getting my competitive itch out at pistol matches these days, and our first kiddo on the way so planning on a big time re-org come spring next year.
@freshyfresh You have a solid approach there in that second paragraph. It’s the way it should be: cycle through a LOT of different events in the off season, and dial it in getting closer.
@mr.v3lv3t Holy cow, congrats on kiddo on the way! Becoming a father was a pivotal event in my own “becoming”: as soon as I knew I had a kid on the way, I wanted to be SO much more than what I was. I miss shooting too: just picked up my hunting rifle and I need to get it sighted in.
AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)
EVENTS TRAINING
Took my 100lb keg, carried it .15 miles (3 lengths of .05, turning as needed) in a staggered grip carry, backwards dragged empty prowler to the keg, ran back to start, threw the 30lb throw bag to the keg, load keg on prowler, backwards drag it to the start, run back to bag, throw bag to start
Repeat above, but .5 miles total, in a bear hug
Final effort was a .1 mile carry in a stagger grip, call it from there, total time 44 minutes
BREAKFAST
Short walk w/dogs, with an all out sprint in the middle (puppy slipped her harness and ran all the way home, so I had to chase her, scoop her up, then run back to the 14 year old pug that meandered a few feet away from where I left her on the walk)
Notes:
Wasn’t super excited to get this done, but I was ready enough. Kept the keg light again: gonna show up when the time is right on comp day. Hit distance PRs in all 3 occasions, which also meant I had less time for prowler and throws at the end. The throws were really solid today: that counter-rotation is really working out well for me. It’s been a good training block for discovering some tricks on being explosive.
The hip/glute continues to mend while also not feeling 100%. I missed my reverse hypers this week: maybe I can make them up some time. Schedule is just tight.
Bit of excitement with that morning walk. I was happy that I still had some running in me, especially given I was wearing my Barefoot moccasins, which is far from ideal for that sort of effort.
Saw 79.4kg on the scale this morning. I’ll have no issues making weight on 14 Sep. I really need to actually start getting things moving in the opposite direction. Being completely transparent: I just plain like being this lean and eating the way that I’m eating, and it’s easier than being bigger and stronger. But I DO like being big and strong too. I’m complex. I have layers.
On that note, I’ve come up with 2 COAs from here. One is to run the Mass Protocol, because it’s a shiny new thing. If, by the time I need to start training that way, I don’t have the protocol squared away, I’ll do Building the Monolith again. It answers the mail of what I’m looking for: gaining weight, a chance to build my chins back up, lots of overhead emphasis, squatting heavy some days and high reps others, and lots of dips. Also 3 days a week. No matter what I pick, weekly ROM progression pulls will stay in.
It’s funny, I started gaining a lot of momentum with my new way of eating (high protein/fat) over last 8 months. Now that I’m a few days into reverse dieting, I forgot how much I love meat-fat over rice. Last night I made a 1lb of ground beef with a cup of rice and poured the drippings on it.
Assuming you mean 3 lengths of .05. This sounds like a good challenge for me. I’ve been doing 100-150 yard sets. I essentially need to 2.5x how far I carry my 100lb slam ball.
Oh puppies, they are cute pains in the arse. Speaking of, I have only seen one puppy picture. May I be so bold as to request more puppy pictures?
Ill just be over here living vicariously through you, as far as having a dog goes.
@dchris Good catch on the typo, haha. That’d be QUITE a thing. Definitely a solid challenge. And man, rice hits me like a bomb for some reason: I’ll pass out after I eat it. It’s crazy how these things impact us.
@tlgains Given that the first thing I do upon waking up is go train: no. I’m typically not happy, haha. But afterwards, when I go wake up the dog to go outside, it’s pretty delightful.
AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)
PHYREXIAN DREADNOUGHT Phase 5, Week 2, Workout 2
Axle push press from rack
5x1x191 (missed the third set)
Breathing Squats
35x225
ASSISTANCE
3x10 standing ab wheel
100x270 reverse hyper
50 band pull aparts
50 overhead tricep extensions
Hang from bar for 1:30, pull up every 30 seconds
BREAKFAST
Short walk w/dogs
Notes:
I think this is the final official Phyrexian Dreadnought workout. I’ll take next week light on training, move my body through space, and heal up for the competition. I hit comp weight on the presses this morning, which is awesome. I’m fasted, first thing in the morning here. So long as I can get the continental in place, which the grip shirt should help with, I’ll be in a good way on comp day to at least get in a rep with the top weight.
Squats felt better than last week. I honestly wanted to get in a few more reps at the end there, and questioned racking at 35, but I have an idea that maybe in the 2 weeks between the comp ending and Oct starting I can really push this lift and see what I can do with it. I also am starting to think that maybe I should actually warm up for real. The first squat is always painful, but by rep 7 I start to finally find my groove. Perhaps I can get those “first squats” knocked out in a warm up.
This was a lower volume day in general today. Not really a whole lot more to do now.
