Becoming an Athlete

My two training buddies worked hard at today's fight training, but I did much less, since I had a run planned for this evening. They did many rounds of heavy bag and partner drills. I was the "designated partner" for offense/defense drills. While one worked with me, the other worked the heavy bag. They kept rotating, and I kept working drills. So it was a nice light sweat for me, but nothing to taxing. I went for a 5K run with my wife and another friend. I'd say he and I jogged about 2 miles of it, while my wife did the whole thing. The parts that he and I did run were done at a great pace!! My legs are already sore. I'm looking forward to taking Friday off and really pushing hard on Saturday!!!!

Since I skipped Tuesday's squat workout for a ride with my wife, I tried to crap that in along with my normally scheduled upper body workout. This of course, is after starting the day about 90 minutes earlier than normal and running 2 miles. I crapped out hard!!!! Suprisingly, I hit a new PR on squats, though!! Front squat: 155 x 10; 165 x 10; 185 x 10, 10 Back squat: 185 x 20 Pullup: BW x 5, 5 Incline bench press: 185 x 8 Incline dumbbell curls: 25s x 13, 10, 8 skipped reverse curls because left elbow hurt. I cut out all the fluff and just did the meat sets. Both front squats and back squats were new personal bests for that rep range. Incline bench was a personal best as well.

I can't let Supra-fitness be the only guy running in the AM!! I went for a 7:00 AM jog this morning. Both my dog and I were a little sluggish and would have rather been in bed, but we still put on 2 miles through the neighborhood. It rained on me for about the last 1/2 mile. All in all, a great start to my morning. I think I worked off 3 bites of my lasagna.

My wife and I had a blast riding about 8 miles through the thunderstorm. We got soaked by the rain, splashed by cars, and pushed around by the winds. It stopped raining about 5 miles into the ride, so we took a break under a park pavillion and stretched for a while, ejoying the sound of the light sprinkle and the creek that runs through the park. Afterwards, we went to Carino's and I ordered a massive plate of lasagna, spagetti, and chicken parm. I don't normally eat pasta, but MAN!!!! I had no problems falling asleep last night. Truly awesome!!!

This was one of our toughest fight training workouts. We incorporated anaerobic endurance drills, technique, and heavy-bag work output drills, all into one workout. The garage is covered in sweat!!! Heavybag - ground to shoulder to slam: 2rnds x 1min Heavybag - ground to shoulder to shoulder-squat: 1rnd x 2min Close-range heavybag: 2rnds x 2min We focued on knees, elbows, and hooks Mid-to-close range heavybag: 2 rnds x 3min We focused on lead kicks, straight punches, and all close range tools Full range heavybag: 2rnds x 3min Same as above, but added in rear round kicks, hook kicks, and push kicks, Minute drills - kicks: 2 x 1min Most I got in a single minute was 26 kicks Minute drill - punches: 1 x 1min No idea what i got, but this took every twitch of life from me. That was the end of the workout.

Well, this is the last week of Phase 2. After that, I have 1.5 weeks till I go on vacation. Instead of starting Phase 3, I'll just do Crossfit WODs as they appear on the website. I hope they are conditioning / stamina dominant workouts, as that will help me get more hiking done on vacation. I got a late start tonight, so my results aren't the best ever. Pullup: BW x 7, 8 One-arm T-bar row: 50 x 12 (each arm) Inverted row: BW x 11 Incline bench press: 175 x 8, 8 Dips: BW x 6 Skull crusher: 95 x 8, 8 Prone raise: 20s x 8 Lateral raise: 20s x 8 Incline DB curls: 25s x 13, 8, 6 EZ-bar rvs curls: 65 x 12, 12, 12 Ab wheel: 10 My biceps are finally catching up to my torso and triceps. I know I've been doing lighter weights, but the added reps are pushing me into a pain barrier that I never reached with heavy weights or compound-only movements like rows. As much as I'm a proponent of focusing on compount (i.e. multi-joint) exercises and training body movement vs...

Man! This was so much fun!!! Five people showed up, including my wife and I. The workout was supposed to be simple, but it turned out to be more adventurous than we planned. 1. 1.5 mile run. Everyone pushed hard. I was 2nd to last, but I waited up for the guy at the back of the pack so he didn't miss any turns. 2. Kayaking. The plan was to Kayak from The Rowing Dock (west of MoPac bridge) to Longhorn Dam (on Pleasent Valley Drive). As we got to Congress bridge, one of our group, chris, had his kayak sink. There was a hole in the hull and he took on a significant amount of water. The best runner in our group, Frank, offered to run back and give his kayak up to Chris. So Chris swam ashore and Frank paddled the kayak to the shore as well. Frank hopped out and ran the 2 miles back to the Rowing Dock and Chris took Frank's kayak. I had the awesome job of towing the water-logged kayak 2 miles back to the Rowing Dock. Talk about a back workout!!!!!! It was great though,...

I am so sore and and so tired from all the lifting. It's really taking a toll on me, but I am seeing rapid gains in size and strength. I have to say, though, I'm frustrated to see that size and strength gains come at a cost to my athleticism. Today's fight training felt harder than normal. General warm-up: 1. jump rope: 5rnds (2min/30 sec) Skills warm-up: 2A. heavy bag punch/kick/knees: 3rnds (2min/1min) 2B. stretching: 3rnds (2min/1min) Hard fight training: 3A. heavy bag - full effort: 3rds (3min/1min) 3B. shadow boxing: 3rnds (3min/1min) Burnout drills: (rotated every other round with partner) 4. Hooks only. 4 rnds each (3min/30 sec) - 8 rnds total I would call combos using a 1-4 system. The guy on the bag would punch those combos out till the round ended. Then we'd swap and he'd call combos for me. 1 = left hook - head 2 = right hook - head 3 = left hook - body 4 = right hook - body This was brutal! Each combo was thrown for maximal effect. Max power...

I started this workout late, but had surprising stamina and was able to finish strong. Pullups: 8, 8 1-arm T-bar row: 35 x 20, 20 Inverted row: BW x 14 Incline bench press: 165 x 10, 10 Dips: BW x 7 Skull crusher: 85 x 10, 10 Prone raise: 20s x 10 Lateral raise: 20s x 6; 15s x 10 Incline DB curls: 20s x 16, 16, 4 EZ-bar rvs curls: 55 x 14, 14, 14

I was looking back through my blog and realized it has been 2 years since I hurt my back doing squats. That injury set me back tremendously! But as I reviewed it, I saw that I am finally back to pre-injury lower body strength! That is significant to me for a few reasons. First, I hurt myself by going too heavy too soon, and it prevented me from doing pretty much anything which caused me to carry a load on my lower back. Secondly, I was 32 then, and now I'm almost 35. If you aren't in your 30s or older, you might not realize how much you body's ability to heal and grow reduces over this time frame. In the last 2+ years, I've learned to assess my response to any given training situation as it is happening, as well as after the phase. I am as strong as I've been at any point in my life, and my cardio / stamina / anaerobic endurance is coming along well. I am suprised at the level of consistency I've achieved simply through my practice of blogging my daily/sch...

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly my legs adapt to volume, load, and intensity of effort. I'm glad these leg-dominant phases are only 3 weeks. That seems to about as long as it takes before my legs fully adapts to any given training stimulus. One more week of Phase 2. Next phase will be MUCH higher volume on squats and MUCH higher load on deadlift ! Single leg calf raise: 25 x 20, 22 (per leg) Front squat: 155 x 10, 10, 10, 10 Back squat: 165 x 20* *Back squat: this is the most I've done for 20 reps in ages!! I got dizzy, light headed, started to lose my vision, then got nauseous. I did all 20 reps without a single pause in the cadence. My legs had a bit more life left in them, but this is as much as my lower back could handle. To be safe next week, I'll only increase the load to 175, instead of 185. 185 for 20 reps might tweak my lower back again. I can't afford any setbacks now; I have too much momentum.

I'm in week 2 of phase 2. First workout felt pretty good. I won't be upping the weight for bench press or curls on Wednesday, as I just BARELY didn't quite hit rep targets. It's nice to be working to the point of failure again! Pullup: BW x 6, 6 (up 3 reps total from Wednesday) One-arm T-bar row: 30 x 18 each side (up 3 reps per arm over Wednesday) Inverted row: BW x 14 (up 2 reps) Incline bench press: 165 x 10, 8 Dips: BW x 6 (same resp as Wednesday) Skull crusher: 80 x 10, 10 Prone raise: 20s x 9 Lateral raise: 20s x 5; 15s x 11 Incline dumbbell curls: 20s x 16, 15 EZ-bar reverse curl: 50 x 14, 14, 12

I didn't jog the whole thing. My wife is still getting over her cold/congestion, so we walked about 2 miles, and then I jogged the last 3/4 to 1 mile. It wasn't much, but it was good for a day off.

I went to Main Event in Austin on Saturday night because I didn't have anything to do. I climbed for an hour, but it was pathetic. My grip was already shot from the deadlift workout. It is now Monday and my hands are still sore.

What a nice Saturday. not too hot for a change and just enough breeze to cool down the garage. The was my first deadlift workout of Phase 2. All in all, not bad for a first-run effort. Single leg donkey calf raise: BW x 30 each leg Sumo deadlift: 185 x 5; 205 x 5; 225 x 5 Snatch grip deadlift: 135 x 5; 175 x 5; 205 x 5 Short, sweet, and on target.

We had three of us today: Smitty, Brock, and me. Smitty just had a surgical procedure, so I held mitts for him. We worked many rounds of just light drills to focus on getting the techniques down. Brock worked heavy bag during this time. Altogether it was 12 rounds of 2min/30sec. After that, we did some mitt drills involving slips and counters. That was about 6 rounds of 2min/30 sec. We finished off with 4 rounds of sparring for Brock and I. We took it light and focused on him staying calm and in control during defense. Countering is one thing. Standing there and covering or blocking and staying controlled and relaxed is a whole other skill. All in all, it was a great workout.

It's too damn hot in ATX to train outside. And training outside TWICE in one day is just plain masochistic. But I got 'r done. Number weren't impressive, but getting off the sofa and into the sweltering garage at 10:00 PM is something I can be proud of. On to the numbers: Pullup: BW x 4, 5 One-arm T-bar row: 30 x 15 (each arm. left MUCh stronger than right) Inverted row: BW x 12 Incline bench press: 155 x 12, 12 Dips: BW x 6 Skull crushers: 85 x 9; 75 x 12 Prone raise*: 20s x 10 Lateral raise*: 20s x 3; 15s x 12 Incline dumbbell curls: 15s x 19, 20, 13 EZ-bar reverse curls: 45 x 16, 16, 18 Ab wheel: 14 I was gassed before I started, but it felt good to trudge through it anyway. Time for a light protein shake, a shower, and sleep.

The plan for today is more close-range fight skills and drills. We're going to to start with a light warm-up including: jump ropes: 3 mins Lateral drop stance: 1 min Burpees: 1 min That single 5 minute effort just BARELY approximates the work output of a single MMA round After that, it's on to skills and drills: Shotting in: - single leg - double leg - clinch -body lock Defense against above This should take a while and burn a significant amount of energy. After that, we'll do the heavy bag with whatever time we can afford.

This was my intro squat workout. I could have lifted more. And I will next Tuesday Single leg calf raises: 15 x 15; 20 x 15; 25 x 15 (need to finda step to work full ROM) Front squat: 135 x 10; 145 x 10; 155 x 10, 10 Back squat: 155 x 20 Next week I'll start front squats with 135 x 10, then jump to 155 x 10 and then see what I can work up to. I hope 175. I'll add 10lbs to my set of 20

I made almost all of my workouts. Granted, I had to abbreviate some due to fatigue or schedule, but that is much better than skipping entirely. Here are some observations about the good, bad and unrelated. Recap on phase 1 design: -Three weight workouts per week, Mon-Wed-Fri. The movements were the same for each workout -Two fight training workouts on Tue-Thu. Fight training was a mix of skills&drills and conditioning -Weight workout set x rep scheme wk1: predominantly 2 x 12 wk2: predominantly 2 x 10 wk8: predominantly 2 x 8 Observations: The good. My conditioning improved dramatically in the three week period. Sticking with the same volume of work from workout to workout was a great way to acclimate. My rest periods naturally got shorter and my systemic fatigue at the end of each workout was much less at the end of the phase than the start. My strength improved through the two-fold load increases. Adding 5-10 pounds from workout to workout, and the weekly reduction in ...

My training partner has come a long way. He got his protective gear over the weekend, so we were able to spar for the 1st time. We did 3 easy rounds on the heavy bag to loosen up and went straight into sparring. My driveway makes for one hot boxing ring. We did 6 rounds of 3min/1min and were pretty tired by the end of it. Round 1 and 2 were just straight punches to get my partner acclimated to the idea of hitting me and getting hit. Round 3-6 were full boxing. We threw everything quickly but lightly; can't learn anything when you are getting your bell rung. I think sparring will be once every other week for a while. We still need to work on close-range tools and tactics: clinch, elbows, knees, takedown and takedown-defense.

Since I've been hammering the cardio-play, I don't have full reserves for lifting. I'm going to continue this odd week with fight training and some jogging, and return to my M-W-F lifting schedule on 12 JUL. I noticed that the ultra long hikes really tighten up my legs and back. I've been stretching just about every day, but don't feel as loose as I did before the 3 day weekend.

My wife and I did some extensive cardio work this 3-day weekend. I am still sore despite stretching for about an hour Monday night. Saturday: 15+ mile bike ride Sunday: 90 minutes tennis Monday: 14 mile hike in 3 hrs The hike is what broke my will. Heat index was at 100 degrees. The humidity was very high. The terrain was very hilly. I drank all 3 liters of water I brought but it wasn't enough. I felt like crap for the last 2 miles of the hike.

Thank God my wife and I both have Monday off. Turns out the kids will spend this weekend with their mom, so my wife and I are making the 6-7 hr drive to Quitaque, TX to spend 2 days in Caprock Canyon State Park. There are about 15 miles of trail within the park grounds, and another 64 miles that are connected to the park grounds. I know we'll defeinitely get in 15 miles on Saturday morning, but I'm not sure about Sunday, as we have to make the drive back to Austin (Pflugerville actually). Just for fun, we're taking a couple of predator calls to see if we can get a glimpse of coyotes or mountain lion. It's been 7 years since I had my first and only incounter with a mountain lion in the wild. I'm going to get my workout in later this afternoon. I expect to see shabby output as I didn't fall asleep till 3:00 AM this morning. Also, I'm worried if I push too hard, the 7hr drive tonight might be too difficult. We shall see.

I can't tell you how enthused I am too see us getting better. Chris B. has been coming since April and continues to get more fluidity and precision. His control is coming. My conditioning and flexibility are making progress as well, although I am currently prioritising strength and mass over sport specific conditioning. I am very fatigued due to the 5 workouts last week and 4 thus far this week. But I did it and i worked hard. We finished this week with an emphasis on close-range fighting, and will do so next week as well. Recap of this week: Tue: Close range - punch blocks; elbows; clinch Thu: Close range: kick blocks; knees; integrating elbows and knees Preview of next week: Tue: Close range - shoot/sweep defense; clinch; sweeps Thu: Close range - Integrating elbows/knees, sweeps and close range defense tools Today's workout: Warm-up drills: 4 x 2mins/30sec Simple slips to left and right. Offense fighter only throws straight punches. Defense fighter only uses he...

Cumulative fatigue is really setting in. My body was still drained from the conditioning workout on tuesday, especially the 30 reps of 63lb t-bell swings. I cut out most of the sets that were lower-back heavy. Clean: 135 x 5 (lower back fatigued) Incline bench press: 165 x 10, 10 Dips: BW x 4 Chin-ups: BW x 4, 3 Skipped bent row Prone raise: 15s x 15 Lateral raise: 15s x 12 Skipped shrug Incline dumbbell curls: 20s x 12, 12, 10 Squat: 205 x 12; 145 x 20 I know this is less work than planned, but the quality was great for the work I did. Tuesday's fight conditioning really taxed my pulling muscles (hams, lower back, traps, etc.). I may go light on the conditioning work and just focus on technique during today's fight training.