BB floor press: 4 sets of 8 x 85kg. (hanged from the bar b/w sets).
Supersetted 3 sets of dB hammer curls (8 x 17.5kg), T-bar rows (10 x 35kg).
Shoulder shocker: 3 rounds.
Bike ride home, the long way home, including the steep climb.
notes:
Struggled with the floor press. Last few reps of the last 2 sets were real grinders. Maybe I need to take an ego check and lower the weight a bit. I feel a lot better when I keep things “explosive”. The climb up the hill on my bike was also a struggle, but I put that down to a lack of sleep.
3 x hil sprints up a even smaller but steeper hill.
Supersetted 4 sets of: 6 x pull-ups, 12 push-ups.
notes:
Feeling a little tired lately. Might be time for a mini-deload. I feel the bike hill sprints have lost some of its “effectiveness” and Im considering maybe swapping it for some running hill sprints, or maybe some skipping.
Weighted dips: 2 sets of (8 x 30kg), 2 sets of (8 x 25kg). (4 pull-ups b/w sets).
Supersetted 3 sets: dB rows (10 x 30kg), dB overhead press (8 x 17.5kg).
Supersetted 3 sets: BB curls (12 x 30kg), rear delts (12 x 6.5kg).
Bike ride home the long way, including the epic climb at the end.
notes: Weighted dips were a struggle, especially the last 2 sets. But in general was a decent session. Post workout meal was dinner which was a trip to the local food market. Arancini balls for entree, a beef quesadilla and chicken satay sticks for my main! The food market is open all weekend this weekend so Im afraid my nutrition may not be on point this weekend!
Normal warm-up at the gym followed by some handstands against the wall.
BB reverse lunges: warmed up to (5 x 40kg) x 2, (5 x 45kg). (pull-ups b/w sets).
Ham curls: (8 x 30kg) x1, (10 x 30kg) x 2.
BJJ Sunday evening session: we did some crazy monkey self defence stuff, practiced our escapes from been under mount, and then did some no-GI rolling with the gloves on and including some light punching that completely changes the game.
Notes:
I had to cut the gym session short as I spent the morning watching the UFC main event with a pal at the local bar. Im really taking a liking to the UFC and Im keen to learn some striking. Don’t think I will ever be good enough or ever want to actually step inside the cage, but I am thinking that my direction of training may start to deviate to MMA.
The leg session at the gym was short and sweet. As I have said previously, my lower body sessions are going to be very minimal and hopefully I will slowly ramp up the intensity. Lower back feels great.
Usually Wednesday is my hill sprinting/conditioning day usually done on my bike. I have been doing that for the past 8 weeks and I feel that in the last 2 sessions I have kind of hit a wall and wasn’t getting much out of it, so I have decided to change things and do running sprints. I haven’t done much running for the past 12 months due to back issues so I obviously have to ease into it.
I used to do lots of running and I think its a basic skill that most people should be able to do. Im not looking to run a marathon etc, but my goal here is to be able to run 5km at a reasonable pace and “specialize” at the 400m and 60m sprint.
TRAINING
Sprints
Warmed up on the foam roller and did some mobility work.
5 laps of jogging at a moderate pace of the oval (probably about 1.5km in total)
Did some mobility running such as kick-backs, high knees, side stepping and backwards running etc.
Did 3 sets of "high bounding/skipping (2 jumps a leg).
Did 5 sets of sprints, about 50m, at about 60%.
I wanted to finish off with my usual pull-up/push-up superset, but the pull-up bar at my park had been vandalized.
notes:
Everything was done slowly and carefully. My sprints were hardly even sprints. Its going to take awhile to work up to full speed again. Saying that, I don’t think one session a week is going to stimulate the adaptation needed for my goals, so Im thinking of maybe adding a second running day in the week, or maybe even some hill sprints? Or maybe I will just repeat this every 5 days? Thoughts anyone?
Weighted dips: 5 x 5 with 35kg. (3 pull-ups b/w sets)
Superset 3 sets: dB rows (10 x 35kg), overhead press (10 x 17.5kg)
Superset 3 sets: BB curls (10 x 35kg), rear delts (10 x 6kg).
Hill “sprints”: 3 repeats at about 60% intensity. Had planned a 4th run but some local gangstas appeared at the top of my hill, so I decided to skip the last sprint.
notes:
Good session. Happy with the dips, they were easier than I was expecting. First time I did hill sprints for over 18 months. Felt extremely slow, but Im ok with that.
I agree with @danteism. Ideal frequency is probably different for everyone, and also depends on other areas of your training, goals, recovery etc. I fit my sprints in whenever I have time/the weather is cooperating, which usually works out to 2-4 times a week. Nominally, I alternate hill sprints and flat sprints, but sometimes one gets neglected in favour of the other. I don’t find it makes much difference. It’s much more important that you simply get the work done, without exceeding your ability to recover.
Then again, I’m not training for anything specific at the moment. If I were, I would probably be paying more attention to the details. YMMV.
@Destrength: Lol. They were just a bunch of kids on their way to a party, all drinking out of longneck beer bottles. And there was 4 of them. The area I was in is known as a “rough” area, and I didnt want to take the chance. And my BJJ is not even close to been that good yet.
@TheWolfMan: I agree with @danteism as well. I think 2 times a week will be the sweet spot for my current goals.
Front squats: worked up to 4 working sets of 6 x 40kg.
Superset: 3 sets of BSS (8 x 15kg), hamstring curls (12 x 30kg).
I then went to BJJ class, which on a sunday is more of a self defense class. (see rant below)
notes:
Happy with todays gym work. Im never going to put up impressive numbers with any type of squatting, but I think its important I still train the movement, as long as I keep it pain free and explosive. Today my back and knees felt good.
BJJ was a little disappointing. I don’t think I am getting much out of the self defense side of things anymore. We practice a lot of conflict play roll situations, including on how we should stand, what we should say and what we need to do if someone starts throwing punches at you. I think this type of training is useful to do, but maybe once every 4-6 weeks, not every week. I think this time would be better of spent actually practicing technique.
Once I get back from my vacation I am going to consider the option of spending 1-2 sessions a week at a boxing gym to get my striking skills up to a decent standard.
@Irishman92: Unfortunately my options are limited. I live in a smallish town where there are only a few option available. Muay Thai is another option but that is done on a Tuesday and Thursday when I am at BJJ. The boxing gym I am looking at has a great reputation so Im pretty keen on that idea.
@Destrength: We are not allowed to carry guns in Australia. In regards to my plans, I have been inspired somewhat by @Furo and have gone for the minimalistic route. Since I have stopped playing football I have dropped the carbs significantly, and have focussed on getting as much “bang for my buck” at the gym. Im not too sure if I have found the magic formula yet. I want to continue learning martial arts. No point looking like a bad ass if you don’t have the “skills to kill” to go with it.
In a weeks time I will be going for a 4 week vacation, and after that I will re-asses my goals and training program, but I am feeling its time to change things up.
Sounds good, buddy. Where are you going on vacation? I am heading to Myrtle Beach with family for a week to celebrate my graduation.
Doesn’t martial arts sparring do stuff to your brain, or is that only striking ones, or do you have to really over do it? Boxing seems like a fun thing to do, but I am a tad bit protective of my brain.
