Mate try home schooling them and you realise why one of your teachers had a brake down!!
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I feel attacked.
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@simo74 Beleive me: along with being a part time Tae Kwon Do instructor, Iām now also a full time part time teacher, haha. Thankfully, Iāve learned that front loading the day with physical activity seems to result in better attention spans for the remainder of the day.
@oldbeancam Thereās a reason I like turn-based RPGs, haha. Never was one for twitch games.
Yesterday, I brought out the Captains of Crush 2.5. I could close it for 3 reps with the right hand and 1 rep with the left, so I forced 2 more closes to keep things āevenā. Did a set of 2 and a set of 1, then brought out the 2 and could manage 8 reps on that, so worked it down to 1. My left hand doesnāt seem to like the grippers as much as it used to: tends to swell and ache a bit, but not enough to be worrisome.
Was able to get in my stretching AND jump up the flight of stairs on my left leg. Had to take each step 1 at a time due to the hamstring, but still progress. I told my wife she has to talk me off the ledge on squat day because Iām most likely going to feel fine and try to push it.
Iāve been writing ā30 minute TKD lessonā out of habit, but honestly theyāve been 45+ minutes these past 3 sessions. Weāre learning enough to really flesh out the curriculum. On that noteā¦
TODAY
45 minute TKD lesson (new material: walking across the floor with punches, 180 degree turns with front and back stance)
Really felt like we turned a corner in todayās lesson: whole lotta things were clicking. The thumbs are getting better. Emphasized that thereās no benefit to speed on Chon Ji. Really working on making it look strong.
Some Muay Thai snuck in today, because I couldnāt stand to entertain the idea of low blocks for low kicks any more. Showed some very basic leg checking technique. Said weād discuss it more at orange belt, as thatās when Iām going to teach round kicks.
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This makes me happy. When they get older, take a lesson from hapkido: check kicks with your knee sometimes. Saves your shins from getting too banged up, and causes a world of hurt for your opponent.
Appreciate that for sure dude. Definitely great whenever you can pull it off. Makes the other dude look like Gumby, haha. But man, I donāt even know if I have the motor skills to be that precise, let alone my student. I blame their geneticsā¦
Hey, while Iām bugging you: you ever mix in muay thai/boxing punches into hapkido instruction? Iām trying to figure out how to reconcile chambered punches vs. keeping your hands up.
Always. The only hand strikes I ever taught were from Muay Thai/boxing and cimande. I just couldnāt justify keeping your hands low.
The ONLY reason I can see to use chambered punches is that once you figure out the chain from foot to fist, you can hit really hard with them. I find thereās a little bit less power leakage because the leg/hip starts powering the strike sooner. Theyāre also good in some circumstances because theyāll be below your opponentās immediate eye line. But is that worth leaving yourself exposed? Not necessarily.
(Cimande is a Silat style that emphasizes the āhammer, club, spikeā mentality; that is, you strike with your fist, forearm and elbow, changing tools depending on range)
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Yeah, I had heard the justification for chambered punches being that, when you have to defend yourself, it will be a surprise, so you wonāt have your hands up and should get good at punching from your hands at your waist. But it also goes along with the whole āone shot-one killā mentality, where youāre going to solve the conflict in one punch and therefore donāt need to bring the hands back up. Itās a cool fantasy, but it kills me to reinforce it, haha. Iām teaching it out of tradition at this point, but one day Iāll have to have the whole āone style for forms, one style for combatā sorta dialogue.
Cool to hear from the Silat side. Iām only passingly familiar with it. The history of unarmed combat through various countries is just fascinating.
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Traditional hapkido is terrible for this. Because it comes from traditional Japanese jujitsu, everything is geared towards breaking your opponent or dropping them on their head, so theyāre assuming youāre ending your opponent on the first go. Thatās great for the battlefield, but terrible anywhere else. Who is actually going to have the guts to do that? Luckily my hapkido coach taught us to always follow up every lock, takedown and throw with at least 1-2 more strikes.
I agree. I always thought if I were ever to write some type of lengthy paper for a doctorate or something, this would be my topic.
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@kdjohn be a fascinating read for sure. And yeah, that one-shot kill thing gave me a terrible habit of āposingā at the end of my combos in boxing. I still catch myself doing it, haha.
AM
TKD lesson 45 minutes (no new material)
-Feels like I fix 1 thing in the form for 2 new problems to pop up. We had a breakthrough on front snap kicks though, so that was cool.
AM WORKOUT
Buffalo bar squats
5xBar
5x140
3x230
1x320
1x360
1x410
2x410
22x1x410
Notes: 30 seconds between sets of heavy squats. No typo: 22 sets of 1 rep of 410. I used an old powerlifting trick of wrapping my hamstring with some knee wraps to cast it
After that, I tested it out on the topset of 410. It didnāt feel good, so I thought about doing some reverse band squats. Then I thought that was stupid and that the squats didnāt really hurt that bad, so I tried 2 reps. I noticed the second rep hurt more than the first, so decided to just do singles. This was like some bizzaro world dynamic effort day, because rest periods were short but I was moving the squats VERY slowly. It was reversing the eccentric that caused pain, so Iād slowly get to the bottom of the squat and then grind out of the top, trying to find the sweet sport where pain was minimized.
This is either going to go 1 of 2 ways. I either set back my recovery, or I gave my hamstring enough stimulus to promote healing. I suppose a third option exists where it did neither, which, if true, Iām just going to make this my way forward until the hamstring is better. This was still a tough workout.
Bodyfat continues to drop well. My metric of not thinking āChrist Iām fatā while looking at myself in the mirror brushing my teeth before bed continues to hold firm. Can see my abs again.
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Youāre an animal. Thatās all I can say after reading that entry.
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Would switching to front squats for a short while be an option for you? Thatās what I did when I had a similar issue a few months ago, worked well for me.
@Koestrizer Thanks man! I am definitely a something at least, haha.
@dicksharpe Absolutely an option: just one I donāt want to employ. Front squats and SSB squats donāt tend to have the same effect on me as buffalo bar squats. When the Buffalo bar squat goes up, so does everything else, but not so with the other squats. If this method doesnāt work I will most likely try chain suspended first, and if that doesnāt work maybe the SSB.
Forgot to mention that I had zero issues setting the bar on my back. Part of it is stretching, and part of it is leverages getting back to normal.
I was able to get in my stretching and single leg work today. Did it yesterday too, and was able to hop up the stairs 4 times on my left leg.
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Getting ready for bed last night and the Mrs. goes āOh my God did you tear your hamstring?ā
Looked worse last night, but I actually think thatās from wrapping. Part of me also wonders if I DID tear it the first time but the blood didnāt show up until I wrapped it and then pumped out a bunch of squats.
However, it feels great today and I can jump one legged just fine. Little tender to the touch is all. Think I can rule this a success so far.
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I do feel itās worth observing that, yet again, while getting/being lean, I accumulate injuries. The trend is very obvious. One day I will most likely have to make a decision on which is the priority.
But today is not that day
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This might sound dumb but Iām just curious. I feel like somewhat frequently (like maybe every few months or something) I read you saying something about getting leaner but you also never really seem to find yourself getting weaker.
Is your strategy (maybe you donāt even think of it like that) just get strong, gain a little weight to get stronger, lose weight and maintain newfound strength, then repeat? Or is it more you just go with whatever you decide to tell your body to do?
The latter sounds more like you, haha. Just wondering.
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@kdjohn Always appreciated, haha.
@jshaving I appreciate the sentiment. I actually am experiencing some performance decline as my weight drops on certain big movements (primarily anything pressing, to include the squat, bench and press), but my deadlift leverages improve with weight loss, so it can even out a bit. As an example, Iāve hit 226 for 8 reps toward the end of my weight gain, but only managed 6 on my most recent attempt at it. The ātrickā is to accumulate enough strength while gaining weight that, once I revert back to a more sustainable bodyweight, I still end up stronger even with the strength drop than I was when I started. And on that end, it means that, when calories are up, training has to REALLY take off to make the most of it. Many trainees ābulkā by simply eating more food and training the exact same way they were training before, which is what the rest of the world understands as āgetting fatā. To successfully bulk, you have to earn those calories. Itās why I push Deep Water so much, as it places a crazy recovery demand on the body such that excess calories are put to good use. If youāre just doing 3x5 ala Starting Strength, forget it, haha.
Telling the body what to do IS a part of it though. Iām very big on the power of the mind and the power of positive thinking. If you go into weight loss saying āOk, Iām definitely going to lose strengthā, it will happen. If you decide it wonāt happen, you can keep a lot of strength.
One other ātrickā I like is to change movements during periods of weight loss. It takes away the psychological issues of seeing your numbers drop. So say you were doing barbell squats all throughout the weight gain period. When you start losing weight, switch to box squats, SSB squats, front squats, or even go from high bar to low bar. You suddenly create a new baseline, and will even see a little number growth happen as you adapt to the movement, but meanwhile, while your calories are down, you wonāt be absolutely hammering your body trying to beat your best work on the old implement. Iām doing something kinda like that with my press workout, where I changed all the rep ranges around so that I have a new paradigm to operate under.
Hopefully some of that helps!
Still streched yesterday and was able to hop up the stairs 4 times again without issues. Did more gripper work, starting with the #2 for 12 reps, then worked backwards by 2s (so 1x10, 1x8, 1x6, 1x4, 1x2), then went for the #1 and hit 1x35 for both hands. Wanted to get in some pump work to contrast the ultra heavy stuff with the 2.5.
Woke up this morning and forgot I had a āhurtā hamstring until I was halfway down the stairs. Seems to be healing nicely. Have to get in a 5k with the kiddo at some point today, which will be a good test for it.
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@T3hPwnisher ās secret is probably that he is so freaking badass that loosing what the rest of us would normally consider ā a lot of strengthā doesnāt register due to the law of large numbers 
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This is something Iām definitely going to employ.
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@anna_5588 Keeping perspective helps in that regard. I noticed my most recent press workout was a drop, but then I ALSO remembered that for years it was a number I was working UP to, so if itās a number that I can slide down to, itās a good place to be in.
@kdjohn Definitely make use of it. Itās one of the reasons all my pressing is done with an axle: I switched to it after my ACL surgery so that I wouldnāt worry about my pressing work being lower when I trained.
Log is getting slacky due to schedule. I ran my 5k with my kid yesterday (they knocked it out in 45 minutes with very little walking. Super proud of them. I told them the story of how, when I was in 6th grade, I had to run a quarter mile lap as part of the 6th grade olympics and I came in dead last, and the only thing I could be proud of was that I ran it without stopping, so my kid is already crushing me in the athletic department). After that, I did 3 rounds on the BAS. I really love how many more uppercuts I can work into my combos now with that thing.
Stretching was minimal, as I had to get to work soon after. Going to try to bench today.
Iām going to try a slight change in programming and alternate my close grip and swiss bar benching sets and see if that has some payoff. If I still see regression from there, I may end up doing something that I had started RIGHT before I blew out my ACL and then forgot to come back to: DoggCrapp programming for my bench. I set my highest ever bench in competition while following DoggCrapp, so it seems like the answer is there.
However, being absolutely and totally transparent, my chest has never looked better than when I started using Deep Waterās bench programming, and as my goals are to be strong and to look like an action figure, these are things to take under consideration.
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