The Bird Cage 4. Onslaught

Training Training Logs
741

Friday, 21st August 2015.

TRAINING

PM

Repetition Upper

  • Agile 8 etc.
  • Weighted pull-ups: 5 x5 with 12.5 kg.
  • Supersetted 4 sets of: BB rows (10 x 60 kg), with 17 x BW push-ups.
  • Supersetted 4 sets of: standing dB curls (8 x 17.5 kg), with rear delt raises (12 x 7 kg).
  • Practiced some handstands, downward dogs and cossack squats.

notes: Decent session. Happy with the pull-ups. The rows were heavy and I think I will stick with this weight until it feels a bit better. Played around with some cossack squats which I have not done before and I think that they would be a great addition for mobility reasons.

In other news, since I have left soccer team they have not won a game and are sitting at the bottom of the ladder. Tomorrow they play the second bottom team away. If they lose it will be highly likely that they will be relegated for next season. Makes me feel better about my decision of leaving the team.

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742

Sunday. 23rd August 2015.

TRAINING

PM

Upper Max Effort

  • Agile 8 etc, including 3 sets of assisted 20 x cossack squats.
  • Warmed up at the park with my ball for 30 minutes. Practiced some moves, and then did a quick 4 x 40m sprints and 4 “explosive” throws.
  • Floor press: (5 x 95 kg) x 2, (4 x 95 kg) x 1, (5 x 90 kg). (6 rep pull-ups in b/w sets).
  • BW dips: 9, 10, 9 and 8.
  • Supersetted 3 sets of: incline hammer curls (9 x 17.5 kg), with shoulder shocker (using a 10 kg plate and 6 kg dBs).
  • 5 rounds of: 30 x swiss ball sit-ups, followed by 20 m farmer walk holding a total of 90 kg’s.

notes: Missed the final rep on the 3rd set of my floor press. I knew I should have not attempted that final rep. Besides that, everything was feeling strong. Nutrition was much better this weekend. i still ate a little more than usual, but it wasn’t over the top like it has been recently.

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743

Monday, 25th August 2015.

TRAINING

PM

Conditioning

  • Agile 8 etc, including cossack squats.
  • 4 sets if 10 BW push-ups.
  • I did my usual run: 14’40 to get there, and 14’50 to get back.
  • Cooled down with some mobility drills.

notes: I felt strong with my run, but Im disappointed with the time. I really want to be getting close to under 14’00. I suppose without football training now, i am doing a little less cardio and I am more fresh at the gym, and hence my upper body strength is better, meaning I am packing a little more size. I might have to weigh myself and consider another conditioning session to keep my weight in check.

Im happy with the increase in upper body strength, but I want to maintain my agility and ground speed. Maybe I am chasing the impossible?

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744

What’s the word bird?! Good to see you still going strong on here!

745

[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
What’s the word bird?! Good to see you still going strong on here! [/quote]
Hey Mousey!!

Long time no see! How are you? Still training/playing?

Nothing much happening here, although as you probably noticed I have quit playing football, so my training has been in limbo.

Past few days my left knee has been a little sore so I have resting up. Back in the gym tonight for some upper body work. Should have a new training template and goals up soon. I have been inspired by the recent world champs athletics and I am looking to incoorperate a bit more sprinting into my training.

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746

[quote]theBird wrote:
Im happy with the increase in upper body strength, but I want to maintain my agility and ground speed. Maybe I am chasing the impossible?
[/quote]

I don’t see why that should be impossible, provided you’re smart about how you program it - by that I really just mean making sure your recovery is on point and that you don’t put so much into your upper body weights that you have no energy left to run around with a soccer ball, or vice versa. Given that you’ve been playing soccer (sprinting, cutting, jumping) almost since you could walk, I think it’s pretty unlikely that your body is going to forget how to do all that stuff just because you dial it back somewhat for a few weeks.

Also, I saw your thread in the combat forum. How’s the BJJ going?

747

[quote]TheWolfMan wrote:
I don’t see why that should be impossible, provided you’re smart about how you program it - by that I really just mean making sure your recovery is on point and that you don’t put so much into your upper body weights that you have no energy left to run around with a soccer ball, or vice versa. Given that you’ve been playing soccer (sprinting, cutting, jumping) almost since you could walk, I think it’s pretty unlikely that your body is going to forget how to do all that stuff just because you dial it back somewhat for a few weeks.

Also, I saw your thread in the combat forum. How’s the BJJ going?[/quote]
Hi WolfBird!

Thanks for the feedback. I hope your doing well. How is your training going?

I suppose that I am no longer part of a team anymore I am struggling with specific goal setting and I am lacking some motivation to train. At least while I was playing football, I alway had in the back of my mind that I had to be fit and ready come the weekend for game day. But I suppose your right about smart programming, its just now that the programming is all up to me without the influence of football, and hence I need to come up with some more specific goals and a plan.

The BJJ is going well. I haven’t posted about it in here, as I am just “trying it out” to see if I like it or not. I think I will continue with it and I will start posting about my session in the “cage”.

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748

Friday, 28th August 2015.

TRAINING

PM

Upper Rep

  • Agile 8 etc.
  • Weighted pull-ups: 5 x 5, with 15 kg. (last rep was a grinder).
  • Supersetted 4 sets: BB rows (10 x 60 kg, with BW push-ups x 20.
  • Supersetted 4 sets of: dB curls (9 x 17.5 kg), with rear felt raises (12 x 7 kg).
  • Practiced some handstands and downward dogs.

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749

[quote]theBird wrote:

Past few days my left knee has been a little sore so I have resting up. Back in the gym tonight for some upper body work. Should have a new training template and goals up soon. I have been inspired by the recent world champs athletics and I am looking to incoorperate a bit more sprinting into my training.

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Do you know what’s an awesome prehab activity for your knees? Balancing. Ideally, you’d do some slackline work, but even standing on one foot while writing the alphabet in the air with one one once a day can make a big difference because it develops stability.

Thanks to your post in furo’s log I just did some cossack squats :smiley: it’s weird, doing active mobility stuff wakes me up faster than caffeine.

750

You got a reply in the combat section.

751

[quote]Highpercentage wrote:
You got a reply in the combat section.[/quote]
Cheers mate. I have replied.

[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Do you know what’s an awesome prehab activity for your knees? Balancing. Ideally, you’d do some slackline work, but even standing on one foot while writing the alphabet in the air with one one once a day can make a big difference because it develops stability.

Thanks to your post in furo’s log I just did some cossack squats :smiley: it’s weird, doing active mobility stuff wakes me up faster than caffeine.[/quote]

Thanks for the tip nightBird. I actually tried this last night and it felt really good.

Cossack squats are good, although I am wondering if its that what irritated my knee in the first place.

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752

Sunday, 30th August 2015.

TRAINING

PM

BJJ

  • Todays session was more about self defense as thats what my dojo does on a Sunday. I learnt how to do the 4 different punches, the “what colour is blue” trick, learnt how to do a leg lock, and then we spent that last 30 minutes rolling BJJ no-GI. This was fist time I rolled without a GI, so I was really shit at it.

Max Effort Upper

  • Walked straight over to the gym after BJJ.
  • Bench press: 5 x 5 with 90 kg. (6 rep pull-ups in b/w sets)
  • overhead dB press: 4 sets of 10 x 15 kg.
  • supersetted 4 sets of: lateral raises (10 x 7 kg), and dB incline hammer curls (8 x 17.5 kg)
  • finished off with 5 rounds of: 30 x swiss ball sit-ups and 20 meter farmer walk with 90 kg’s.

notes: Good session. Felt a little worn out after BJJ, but still hit the numbers I was aiming for.

Monday, 31st August 2015.

TRAINING

  • Conditioning*
  • Agile 8 etc.
  • Supersetted 4 sets of " 10 x push-ups, and “nightBirdz” alphabet knee warm-up.
  • Did my usual run: 14’30 to get half way, and 15’20 to get back.
  • Cooled down with some hip circles and backwards running.

notes: Felt good on the run, although I hope to get a little faster than this. Left knee held up well, some slight irritation (2/10), but I dont think I had made it worse.

And in other news am going to spend a few weeks logging my nutrition. Read a really good article yesterday (google: Barbell to Medicine Eating Like a Beast), and this has motivated to take my nutrition to the next level. Stay tuned for up-dates.

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753

[quote]theBird wrote:
Cossack squats are good, although I am wondering if its that what irritated my knee in the first place.
tweet[/quote]

Depends on how you do them. If you stand so wide that there are lateral shear forces on your knees, it can be bad. I’d love to do side splits but training for them really bothers my knees so I don’t.

754

[quote]nighthawkz wrote:

[quote]theBird wrote:
Cossack squats are good, although I am wondering if its that what irritated my knee in the first place.
tweet[/quote]

Depends on how you do them. If you stand so wide that there are lateral shear forces on your knees, it can be bad. I’d love to do side splits but training for them really bothers my knees so I don’t.
[/quote]
Ooops.

Sounds like I was doing it wrong. I purposely stood wide to prevent my knees tracking over my toes, which I thought would be bad for the knees? How are you meant to do them?

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755

Tuesday, 1st September 2015.

TRAINING

PM

BJJ

  • Sensei was sick, so our resident brown belt took the session. I learnt how to flip people out of the turtle position into a choke submission. We practiced some arm drags to bear hug to takedowns. And then we finished off with some grappling.

NUTRITION

Over the next few weeks Im going to track my nutrition a little closer. Starting by simply tarcking what I normally eat and then I will start to modify things in the attempt to improve things.

Todays macros: 155/310/115 (2900).

notes: Fat intake is high, but I suppose with my intake of eggs, nuts for snacks and then nuts in my chicken and cashew for dinner, the fat reading was always going to be on the higher side of things. Ideally I think I would be better with higher protein (aim for about 180?), maybe another 50-100 grams of carbs, and Im going to try keep fat at about 80.

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756

[quote]theBird wrote:

[quote]nighthawkz wrote:

[quote]theBird wrote:
Cossack squats are good, although I am wondering if its that what irritated my knee in the first place.
tweet[/quote]

Depends on how you do them. If you stand so wide that there are lateral shear forces on your knees, it can be bad. I’d love to do side splits but training for them really bothers my knees so I don’t.
[/quote]
Ooops.

Sounds like I was doing it wrong. I purposely stood wide to prevent my knees tracking over my toes, which I thought would be bad for the knees? How are you meant to do them?

tweet[/quote]

Your knees tracking over your toes is perfectly fine in a cossack squat. In the bottom position, your hamstrings and calves should touch and you should feel a mild stretch in your calves, groin muscles and the hamstring of the extended leg. The one thing that can fuck you up is your knees caving in; some people recommend pushing your bent knee out with your elbow for this reason.

757

Wednesday, 2nd September 2015.

TRAINING

PM

Max Effort Lower

  • Agile 8 etc.
  • Front squats: 4 sets of 5 x 60 kg.
  • BSS: 3 sets of 10 x 15 kg
  • Ham curls: 3 sets of 10 x 40 kg.
  • handstands and some stretching.

notes: Kept things very light. Left knee still feels a little dicky. In hindsight I probably should of had today off but I was craving some lower body work. I don’t think I made my knee worse, but I probably didn’t do it any favours either. I iced it as soon as I got home.

NUTRITION

Macros for today: 165/315/95 (2,750).

notes: Happy with todays nutrition. I will be away in the city for the next 4 days, which always make keeping nutrition in check.

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758

[quote]theBird wrote:

[quote]TheWolfMan wrote:
I don’t see why that should be impossible, provided you’re smart about how you program it - by that I really just mean making sure your recovery is on point and that you don’t put so much into your upper body weights that you have no energy left to run around with a soccer ball, or vice versa. Given that you’ve been playing soccer (sprinting, cutting, jumping) almost since you could walk, I think it’s pretty unlikely that your body is going to forget how to do all that stuff just because you dial it back somewhat for a few weeks.

Also, I saw your thread in the combat forum. How’s the BJJ going?[/quote]
Hi WolfBird!

Thanks for the feedback. I hope your doing well. How is your training going?

I suppose that I am no longer part of a team anymore I am struggling with specific goal setting and I am lacking some motivation to train. At least while I was playing football, I alway had in the back of my mind that I had to be fit and ready come the weekend for game day. But I suppose your right about smart programming, its just now that the programming is all up to me without the influence of football, and hence I need to come up with some more specific goals and a plan.

The BJJ is going well. I haven’t posted about it in here, as I am just “trying it out” to see if I like it or not. I think I will continue with it and I will start posting about my session in the “cage”.

tweet[/quote]

My training’s plugging along, much as it always does. Football’s over for the year, so I’m just easing back into things after taking it easy for a couple of weeks.

For your situation, I would say it’s expected to feel a bit directionless for a while. I also don’t think you need to be in a huge hurry to fill the void left by football. If BJJ is your new thing then that’s great, but if you change your mind about it don’t be afraid to just enjoy cruising for a bit while you figure out what to do next.

The other thing I wanted to say is that I highly recommend sticking with the cossack squats. As soccer players we develop very tight adductors if we’re not careful, and this movement is highly effective at countering that. In the end, they were what really helped me get my movement quality back after I injured my foot (due to various factors I lost quite a bit of hip mobility during the rehab process). If it helps, hold a light dumbbell in front of you so you don’t fall back. Nighthawkz pretty much nailed everything else you need to know.

The other thing that’s helpful (if you don’t already do it) is sitting in a deep squat and prying your knees apart. That’s hugely underrated.

Take care Birdy.

759

[quote]TheWolfMan wrote:
My training’s plugging along, much as it always does. Football’s over for the year, so I’m just easing back into things after taking it easy for a couple of weeks.

For your situation, I would say it’s expected to feel a bit directionless for a while. I also don’t think you need to be in a huge hurry to fill the void left by football. If BJJ is your new thing then that’s great, but if you change your mind about it don’t be afraid to just enjoy cruising for a bit while you figure out what to do next.

The other thing I wanted to say is that I highly recommend sticking with the cossack squats. As soccer players we develop very tight adductors if we’re not careful, and this movement is highly effective at countering that. In the end, they were what really helped me get my movement quality back after I injured my foot (due to various factors I lost quite a bit of hip mobility during the rehab process). If it helps, hold a light dumbbell in front of you so you don’t fall back. Nighthawkz pretty much nailed everything else you need to know.

The other thing that’s helpful (if you don’t already do it) is sitting in a deep squat and prying your knees apart. That’s hugely underrated.

Take care Birdy.
[/quote]
Good to hear, WolfBird.

I usually like to take a 10 day vacation after the season and relax in some sun, drink beer, eat food and let those niggly injuries heal!

I really enjoying BJJ. Very different to what Im used to, and I am enjoying the cerebral side of things. If I have a bad day at work, I can really escape into BJJ afterwards, in body and mind. I am also tempted in taking some boxing lessons although I think I will be pushed for time.

I hear you on the cossack squats. Once my left knee feels 99% I will start doing them again. When doing them I really did feel the adductors stretch!

What are your plans for the offseason?

In BirdNews, I am having a rest day today. No BJJ as I have travelled down to the city for a few days off. Going to watch the soccer’s play Bangladesh in world cup qualifier tonight, and then go to a bar to watch Croatia’s qualifier. Hopefully will be back at the gym tomorrow.

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760

Friday, 4th September 2015.

TRAINING

PM

Rep Upper

  • Agile 8 etc.
  • dB bench press: 4 sets of 10 x 30 kg.
  • BW pull-ups: 4 sets of 7. (last 2 reps were grinders).
  • seated rows: 4 sets of 10 x 50 kg.
  • standing dB curls: (8 x 20 kg) x 2, (10 x 17.5 kg) x 2.
  • finished off with some face pulls and walking one legged deadlifts.

notes: Decent session in a foreign gym. Im hoping to get some cardio done tomorrow in the form of juggling my ball and sprints. Hopefully my knee will hold up. Feeling good at the moment.

NUTRITION

Macros: 210 / 270 / 145 (3,200)

notes: Wowzers! Fat intake through the roof!! 4 eggs for breakfast, some salmon for lunch and some sausages for dinner, and hence fat intake is high. Im away at my folks place which makes getting my nutrition right a little tricky. I think I need to be realistic and aim for fat intake of under 90-100.

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