Tap This

Training
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Last Sat. Yeah it took me a week to get to it, I’m going to have to just make some days a brief paragraph despite my Dickens aspirations. We did more from the feet, it’s like someone’s been reading my mind. We did single legs, they had a specific name, but I don’t know what the nuanced words mean. What makes something a snatch single?

Anyway, we didn’t shoot in for this one, instead we cleared a lapel grip and then when he tried to regrip, we swept around to grab a leg. I don’t really know how to describe the motion, esp since I didn’t really get it. I have to practice that grace a bit more. After we had the leg to take him down, we did the ‘throw your hands between your legs’ motion and that motion finally clicked. I kept trying to step out and pivot him down over the leg he was standing on. Nope, you actually throw his leg straight back. Why this didn’t click earlier, who knows.

Then I rolled a bit. I had to ask Noah not to go knee on belly, my ribs can’t take it, those little floaters pop way too easy and he’s a heavy guy. I understand it’s something I have to learn to deal with, but it’s gotten to the point that when rolling with him I’m so wary of not getting my ribs smashed that all I do is try to prevent it from happening rather than actually do anything. Overall, I got smashed, but there was a five second period where I actually felt in charge and it left me feeling good about the whole session. I was in his half guard trying to pass, and I actually managed to flatten him out! A tiny victory, but it felt awesome. I put my arm on his face and just walked my fingers along the mat until he was flat. I think he D’Arced me from the bottom of side control two seconds later, but whatever.

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Monday I moved some heavy stuff about. Mostly it was my ass but a few bits-o-metal too.

Warmed up. I’ve been doing some of Eric Cressey’s Magnificent Mobility drills to warm up, but I’m going to have to change it up, and maybe care a little more.

Nomenclature: Weight x Sets x Reps

A1) DB BP 35x5x5
A2) Kroc Rows 35x1x5 40x1x5 45x1x5

The gym was crowded so I adapted the pulling motion. As long as it’s a pulling motion it doesn’t really matter what it is. Does it? I didn’t know what weigh to use, hence the increases.

Then the pull-up progression it got a bit wonky and needs some tweaking.

Inc Chins BWx10, 7,5
DB Pullovers 25x3x10
LP 94.5x pyramid down from 7 reps

For dips I just used the tricep push down machine. That’ll be my baby starting point.

Press down Machine 85x5x5

Front Squats 65x5x5
I need to work on my stance for this. I have to concentrate on keeping my feet closer together!

123

Monday’s class was what to do when he stands up in your closed guard. The first thing to keep in mind is grips. When you can tell he’s getting ready to stand up, you pick your open guard grips. The whole key to open guard is tension, you pull with your grips and push with your legs. The grips we took in this instance were a collar grip and at the seam by the elbow.

After they stood, based on the way they try to pass we either took an arm bar or a triangle. In order to get to either finish, we had to walk our hips up their body. Boy that sounds odd. I really have to work on that motion though, it’s the trick to this but also to getting to high guard, and to getting the hip bump sweep and the submission off of that. It’s easy to do on short people since there’s less room to travel, but with taller guys it’s harder. I guess the best way to drill it would be to find tall a tall guy to try to climb to high guard on.

Tuesday just turned into two NEPA walks. I try to plan lifting days to coincide with non BJJ days, but it never works. So, I’m just going to base everything on energy levels.

124

Wends in class we did some Self Defense. Not every academy teaches self defense, and I can understand why some guys don’t think they need to learn any self defense. Really, who’s going to randomly grab the wrist of a 6’ 250lb guy and try to pull him around?

Even if you’re not going to use the moves exactly as they are, there are still some fundamental ideas behind the moves that will help with BJJ in general. Also it’s nice to know how to deescalate situations. While a strange guy isn’t going to pull a big guy around by his wrist, a little kid or a girl probably will, it’s nice to know how to get them off of you without force, even if it’s just play.

I rolled a bit after class. I actually managed to get the triangle from open guard we learned on Monday. It took more effort than I wanted it to since I didn’t initially have my hips high. It worked since he didn’t know how to defend properly, not because I did it perfectly. There wasn’t one of those yipee moments.

125

cool.

Hi, I’m posting! :smiley:

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My mom was here for the end of the week, so just lifting for me.

Thursday

Warm Up

I played with OH squats, I can’t get very low. I’m going to look up some ankle mobility stuff. I think that’s the problem. There’s also an open that Dallas uses that starts much like an ATG squat, and I can’t make it work at all. I think that’s also due to ankle mobility.

A1) MP 25x5x5
A2) LP Supinated Close Grip 94.5x5x5

B1) BW Split Squats 5x5
B2) SL SL DL 60x5x5

My mom wanted to head out then, so we spent a few minutes in the steam room then called it a night

127

Since Thurs was cut short I finished on Friday.

I love Friday nights at the gym. It’s never crowded and for the most part the people there are either hiding or serious. I got the little side workout room to myself, so I played a bit as a warm up. I did some mobility work, attempted some OH squats, rolled on the ball a bit.

So, I know working up the balls to hit on a girl is hard, and a bit nerve wracking, but it’s hard not to laugh when a guy fumbles hard. I was unloading the smith machine, and some guy comes over to help. I make it pretty obvious that I don’t want him there, ie no eye contact, put earphones in. But he proceeds, I get a compliment on my hair (I think this no poo thing is going to work great!) and then he starts to help unload the bar. I said I could handle it, but he insisted, and tried to suavely remove a 45 with one hand while sipping from a shaker bottle with the other. One the 45 was off the bar he actually felt the weight and managed to spill the shake over himself, the bar, the bench and the ground. He was trying to look so cool and it ended so not. I didn’t want to actually stand there and laugh, so I shrugged, said it happens and left him to his mess.

After he cleaned up the mess, I finished my WO.

A1) BW Rows 3x10
A2) Push Ups 3x10

One Armed BD Snatches 35x5x5 ea side

Then steam room with the mom. I have to take my suit next time and hot tub it up. There’s no one in there Friday.

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[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
cool.

Hi, I’m posting! :D[/quote]

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Friday nights at my gym are just the opposite: A hoppin’ pickup scene, which is super fun for me to watch seeing as how I’ve been married for longer than a lot of the gym-goers have even been alive.

Funny story!

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Friday nite is empty in my gym too. Although watching Snap’s pickup scene would be highly entertaining.

Great story.

131

[quote]pch2 wrote:
Overall, I got smashed, but there was a five second period where I actually felt in charge and it left me feeling good about the whole session. I was in his half guard trying to pass, and I actually managed to flatten him out! A tiny victory, but it felt awesome. I put my arm on his face and just walked my fingers along the mat until he was flat. [/quote]

Nice!! Tiny victories now will lead to bigger victories later!

I’m not gonna lie, I don’t understand half the stuff you post about your bjj, but it sounds cool anyways. :stuck_out_tongue:

Edit:

Friday nights are normally slow(er) at my gym too, which makes them very nice for training.

That guy sounds verrrrry smooth, lol.

Btw, what were you using the smith machine for?

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[quote]RBlue wrote:
Btw, what were you using the smith machine for?[/quote]

The bar for my rows. I put my feet on a bench and row myself up to the bar.

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[quote]pch2 wrote:

[quote]RBlue wrote:
Btw, what were you using the smith machine for?[/quote]

The bar for my rows. I put my feet on a bench and row myself up to the bar. [/quote]

Ah, inverted rows, I see! For a sec, I thought you might have squatted with it, or done something else equally terrible. Inverted rows are the bomb (and hard)!

134

[quote]kpsnap wrote:
Friday nights at my gym are just the opposite: A hoppin’ pickup scene, which is super fun for me to watch seeing as how I’ve been married for longer than a lot of the gym-goers have even been alive.

Funny story![/quote]

Now that I think about it, maybe mine is but I just don’t fit the demographic. Friday night it’s all Brad Pitt fight club guys and obese women, so i assumed not, but I do live in a neighborhood with a large lgbt community. The gym is known gay guy hunting ground isn’t it?

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[quote]RBlue wrote:

[quote]pch2 wrote:

[quote]RBlue wrote:
Btw, what were you using the smith machine for?[/quote]

The bar for my rows. I put my feet on a bench and row myself up to the bar. [/quote]

Ah, inverted rows, I see! For a sec, I thought you might have squatted with it, or done something else equally terrible. Inverted rows are the bomb (and hard)![/quote]

Yeah, I do know better than that. I like the rows a lot, BJJ is a lot of pulling motions. You pull people close to you and hold them there, so it’s actually the upper body plane I’m strongest in. I row twice as much as I can bench. Man, I’ve gotta do more pushups.

Whenever I see little boys and women squating with the smith machine I want to say something. Do you guys ever intervene?

136

Umm, I actually have intervened in people’s training when they’re doing something that can cause injury, like horrific DL pulls. “Curtsy” squats won’t hurt you, so I don’t say anything about those. But sometimes I snicker when guys load up plate after plate to squat about 2 inches. Regarding the smith machine, I never use it and actually believe it’s a poor training tool since it forces the body into one (unnatural) plane and removes all the stabilization work.

Your gym sounds . . . interesting. Where in Ohio are you?

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Okay, all caught up on your log. Here’s the obligatory ‘cute’.
(and now the completely unsolicited advice)
Have you tried narrow hand placement on the push ups? It would provide a stress somewhat different from dips on your triceps, while increasing the number of “push muscles” you work. It could help balance out your “rowing muscles”.

I’ve finished listening to “Born to Run.” I continue to be a running agnostic, but would still recommend the book/CD highly to anybody who participates in a sport, not for fame or prize money, etc, but because it’s something they love doing, like your BJJ. (or my lifting weights that the average 18 or 19 year old would be ashamed of)

My final point from the book, for if you’re ever feeling discouraged, or like the bottom man on the totem pole, is that during one of the ultra-marathons, the later somebody finished, the louder everyone else was cheering for them, because its ‘easy’ to keep going when you’re winning, but it shows real fortitude to persevere when there’s no expectation of receiving ‘accolades.’

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I’m reading your log cuz I saw you talking about your shiny hair in thread killers - and now I’m hooked!

I don’t know squat about BJJ, but girls that literally kick ass, well, kick ass. Carry on.

139

[quote]kpsnap wrote:
Umm, I actually have intervened in people’s training when they’re doing something that can cause injury, like horrific DL pulls. “Curtsy” squats won’t hurt you, so I don’t say anything about those. But sometimes I snicker when guys load up plate after plate to squat about 2 inches. Regarding the smith machine, I never use it and actually believe it’s a poor training tool since it forces the body into one (unnatural) plane and removes all the stabilization work.

Your gym sounds . . . interesting. Where in Ohio are you?[/quote]

I live in Cleveland, I’ve just got an interesting neighborhood.

140

Hey, a fellow thread killer! How are you? Nice to see you around these parts.

[quote]Mad_Duck wrote:
Okay, all caught up on your log. Here’s the obligatory ‘cute’.
(and now the completely unsolicited advice)
Have you tried narrow hand placement on the push ups? It would provide a stress somewhat different from dips on your triceps, while increasing the number of “push muscles” you work. It could help balance out your “rowing muscles”.[/quote]

My push up game is still terrible, I’m doing them on an incline with the Smith machine. I keep my hands pretty much shoulder width and try to keep my arms close to the body while pushing.

[quote]I’ve finished listening to “Born to Run.” I continue to be a running agnostic, but would still recommend the book/CD highly to anybody who participates in a sport, not for fame or prize money, etc, but because it’s something they love doing, like your BJJ. (or my lifting weights that the average 18 or 19 year old would be ashamed of)

My final point from the book, for if you’re ever feeling discouraged, or like the bottom man on the totem pole, is that during one of the ultra-marathons, the later somebody finished, the louder everyone else was cheering for them, because its ‘easy’ to keep going when you’re winning, but it shows real fortitude to persevere when there’s no expectation of receiving ‘accolades.’[/quote]

I’m a huge book on tape/ podcast fan. I’ll check it out from the library.

I just listened to an episode of the podcast Radiolab (http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2010/04/05/limits/) if you haven’t checked it out you should. The episode was about limits, the limits of the human mind and the human body. The body part was especially relevant. It discussed how during a lot of physical activities, the body can go farther but the mind doesn’t want it to. If you can overcome the reluctance of the mind though you can do a lot of incredible things. The podcast is really interesting, even if you don’t subscribe to it, I’d listen to this one. They go through the science, and also over some really interesting anecdotes.