Becoming an Athlete

I was tired, but bored, so I decided to work the heavy bag again. The basic rule I always follow is a slow warm-up, then work on crisp clean form. Once my form is spot on, I gradually pick up the pace. After a few rounds of fast paced work with crisp form, I work on power. Normally I end with a conditioning drill, but i was too tired today. 8 rounds (3 min work, 1 min rest) Rnd1: Straight punches while circling the bag Rnd2: Lead kicks and round kicks while circling the bag Rnds 3, 4, 5: All forms of punches with emphasis on head movement (ducking, slipping, rolling) Rnd6: Power kicking drills (lead, rear, side kicks, back kicks,). Reset at each kick and focus on speed and power Rnd7: Power punching drills (mostly hooks) Rnd8: punch-kick combos

11:30 AM: 5K intervals - Warm-up: ~1/2 mile walk, 30 yard walking lunes, 10 rotational pushups, 10 pushups with trunk twist - A lot of jog-sprint-walk intervals the whole distance around Lake Pflugerville 2:00 PM: Indoor rock climbing for over an hour I'm whupped!

This is a must read for anyone who is interested in old-time training for wrestlers and fighters. http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Burns/lessons/lesson01.htm

Another strength workout, this time focused on deadlift and overhead press. 1) Deadlift: 205x5; 225x5; 245x5 2) Dumbbell step-ups: 20s x 10,10 (per leg) 3) Single leg calf raise: 20 x 15,11 (per leg. left still weaker) 4) Overhead press: 125x5,5; 135x5 5A) Chin-up: 2, 3, 4, 3 5B) Upright row*: 55 x 12, 12, 12, 12 *Upright rows: I haven't done these in years as I heard they were bad for your shoulders. but now my upper back is lagging, and these work faster for me than shurgs. Combining these with deadlifts and chin-ups makes for an on-target "pulling" workout!! I'll bump the weight up next workout to 65lbs. I was just feeling it out at this workout.

I finally hung the heavy bag back up!!! YEAH! To my suprise, my over-all conditioning is better. My technique has suffered a bit, in the areas of balance and flexibility. But speed, power, and endurance are GREAT!!!!! Warm-up: Bill "Superfoot" Wallace warm up*: 10 minutes Heavy bag (2 min work, 30 sec rest) Rnd 1: Slow build-up of [jab-cross-jab], [double jab], [double jab-cross] Rnd 2: Mostly [jab-cross-hook] and [jab-cross-hook-shovel hook] Rnd 3: Left lead kicks Rnd 4: Right round kick Rnds 5, 6: Lead and Round kicks (still loosening up) Rnd 7: Knees Rnd 8, 9: punch kick combos Rnd 10: Double lead kicks Rnd 11: Double round kicks** Rnd 12: Burn-down*** * Bill Wallace has an incredible, if somewhat dated book called Dynamic stretching and kicking. The kicking techniques aren't appropriate for MMA, but the warm-up is spot on. Buy this book! ** Double lead kicks are a bit easier than round kicks. The Thai round kick generates so muh momentum that a miss requires ...

Holy cow! This is harder than I expected. It is about 12 hours since I trained and I am SORE!! 1) Barbell calves raise: 245x25, 25 2) Squat: 205x5; 225x5; 235x5 3) Bulgarian squat: bodyweight x 10, 10 per leg 4) Bench press: 155x5; 175x5; 185x5 5A) Barbell curls: 65x12; 12, 10, 10 5B) Dips: 8, 6, 7, 6

Last week was bad. My fiance was out of town, and with it being the last week of summer break, my kids were staying up till 11:00 most nights. I only worked out on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Now I'm ready to finish this rest period (i.e. lazy spell) through Sunday, and start on Monday as if it were week 1 of the current phase. On the menu for this coming week: Mon PM: Strength workout A1 Tue AM: easy jog Tue PM: Kickboxing skills & drills Wed PM: Conditioning workout Thu AM: easy jog Thu PM: Strength workout A1 Fri PM: Conditioning workout (1 mile timed run!!)