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North's Log

6K views 32 replies 4 participants last post by  North 
#1 ·
So! I've always really just felt and relied on the notion that skill can overcome strength/athleticism. While I still cling to this to a point, my want to break into the fighting scene grows, and I feel that my current physical state is not at all acceptable. It also couldn't hurt to look a lil' more studly for the women-folk, am I right?

I -think- I'm still at that early point as discussed in SteSteez' guide in the Training & Nutrition section, where I can build muscle while dropping weight. I hope this to be true, sincerely.

Monday, March 29th, 2010
Ridiculously miniscule amount of bagwork. Also, d'ucked up my right hand in the process - which is pretty disheartening. Hopped on the elliptical for some cardio, I didn't keep my time, but the little on board computer claims I burned off 800 calories - I'm not sure I trust that little sum of a fish computer though. Stretched. Went all weaksauce on the diet this day.

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Did Shoulder Press - 3 sets of 10 reps @ 65lbs, 1 set of 5 reps @ 85 lbs, 1 set of 4 reps @ 85 lbs. I didn't have a spotter, and was getting wobbly by that point. Did Good Mornings (right?) - 3 sets of 10 reps @ 65lbs, 2 sets of 10 reps @ 85lbs, 1 set of 10 reps @ 105lbs. Sit ups - 3 sets of 25 reps, unweighted. No bagwork. D'ucked up my hand worse trying to do a break like a dope. No cardio. Diet included small bowl of rice in early morning, another small bowl at mid morning, heaping pile of chicken for lunch, heaping pile of roast beef for dinner, lots of water, two helpings of whey protein with milk (2%, I think). No alcohol. A lil' soda. Note: In desperate need of greens.

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010
Bench Press - 1 set of 10 reps @ 65lbs, 3 sets of 10 reps @ 85lbs, 1 set of 5 @ 105lbs, 1 set of 5 reps @ 125lbs. No spotter again, and overdid it on reps. I think I need to jack up the weight quicker, so's to not tucker out as quick. No sit ups. Right hand is still healing thanks to idiocy, so no bagwork. Jogged 1.5 mile for some vestige of cardio. Diet included: Lots of water, small bowl of rice at mid morning, heaping pile of chicken for lunch, some kind of steak-like business with peas and potato for dinner, two beers, lil' soda, two helpings of whey protein with milk (still 2%, I think). Note: Should've probably had a salad. Smoked two cigars.

I haven't done forms in forever. Seeing as how I've got to be up semi balls-early tomorrow, maybe I'll try to be up to go through a few with sunrise. And I'll give some bicep/tricep stuff a shot after that. We'll see where else the day takes me.

Anyway, guidance is appreciated. I'm fairly new to the lifting scene. Fairly new to the nutrition scene for that matter. I think I know what I'm doing on most counts though, but then again, thinking that you know what you're doing, and knowing what you're doing are two different entities entirely, eh?
 
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#2 ·
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Deadlifts - 3 sets of 5 reps @ 140lbs. I tried to do Clean and Presses afterwards, but after only a few, I realized I was just utterly spent. Tried my hand at squats, full squats first, front squats second, could not do either. Maybe bad form, maybe just too tired to manage it, maybe both. I'm kind of just chalking this week up to a learning experience as far as strength training goes. I'm still doing more reading on it, still trying to sort out a routine, and so on. So hopefully I'll have that sorted for next week. About half an hour of bag work was done, which is always fun - but still not as much as I would've liked to have done. Seriously, those deadlifts just broke me today.

Diet was weird for today. Had some cereal, the usual two helpings of whey protein in milk, and had a burger and some potato wedges (homecooked, so not too, too bad?) at a friend's. I really didn't eat that much at all today, and I'm not sure what to make of that. Had a few beers, very little soda. Smoked two cigars and my pipe for a bit as well. I love smoking in good weather, and with it just starting to get nice out, I can't help but sit out and puff away all day. Hopefully as summer plays out more, I'll slow way the Hell down.

So, lifting today was exciting, as was the bagwork. Diet and forms and cardio and conditioning, all a really lame wash.
 
#3 ·
My last post in my own training log was almost five months ago. That's terribly discouraging, and disappointing. Here's to a fresh start though.

I've made amazing breakthroughs in lifting/strength training in these past few months (mainly the last two). I've gone from a 'when I can' or 'when I feel like it' lifting schedule, with no rhyme or reason, to a very organized and focused lifting schedule. I do legs on Monday, chest and triceps on Wednesday, and back and biceps on Friday. My Wednesday is all "press" lifts, while my Friday is all "pulls". Only my Monday (legs) is really a major muscle group focus. Beyond scheduling, the weights I'm moving are weights I didn't think I could be moving this soon into starting serious strength training. I found my max deadlift to be 300lbs, which only topped out there because that's all of the weight I own. Not to mention, my max bench is up 25lbs. I'm doing rep/weight combos of other lifts that I didn't think I could do, such as lateral rows and overhead extensions of 60lbs with three sets of 10. If you can't tell, I'm really pleased and very excited about my gains in strength so far, and my future gains. In addition to my three days of lifting, I'm looking to add a hard, core workout on Saturdays, and I'm thinking of doing strongman style workouts on Tuesday and/or Thursday (directed towards benefitting less the striking, more the takedowns). I'll be trying to implement those additions this week, so we'll see.

So, today was Monday, legs. I did squats, reverse lunges, leg extensions, leg curls, and calf raises.

I've read that leg extensions and leg curls are bad because the way they distribute weight is bad for you. I believe this. However! I've always had shakey knees and weak legs, so I'm using these two lifts to help kind of rehabilitate my legs to a regular standard.

I've also read that bodyweight calf raises are bad. I do bodyweight calf raises to warm up up before bagwork or such some time, but on Mondays, for lifting, I do weighted calf raises. 90lbs, 3 sets of 20 reps.

-----------------------------------

I really haven't been doing the cardio that I need to be doing, only once or twice a week (being generous there). So what I'm looking to do in the future is 1.5miles a day, and 3miles on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I didn't run today. Tomorrow should be a new day though. I'm also considering adding jump roping on Saturdays, and possibly eventually doing it every (or every other) day.

-----------------------------------

I've started doing bag work (almost) every day, and have only missed doing so a couple times so far. I used my neighbor's heavy bag for a while, which inspired me to properly set up mine. So I've got a 100lb banana bag hanging in my backyard to play with. I'm also buying my neighbor's rig, which has a 50lb (80lb, maybe. I don't know, I'm use to way heavier bags than whatever he has). His rig also has a speed bag, which is what I'm really interested in adding to my training tools. So hopefully by the end of this week or next, I can be reporting on my terrible rhythm with a speed bag.

Like I said, I do bag work every day now, including today. I threw some general, basic combinations as I usually do. Some of the things I really focused on hammering out was a lead left hook, both to body and to head, and sometimes throwing them consecutively. I have seriously have more power with my lead left jab than my lead left hook, it's sad. But! Something to work on, right?!

Other than that I worked on short uppercuts to the body as might be seen in the clinch (general clinch; boxing, etc, not Thai). I feel like I'm solid at this range. I'm good at covering up and rolling, which I work on by, well, covering up and rolling while right up on the bag. And I feel like I can really happily and freely punish the body in this way. I can deliver some meaty body uppercuts from that position to their (ideally) exposed midsection, while minimizing a lot of the damage I take. Maybe even getting them to bust up their hand a bit on my crown or an elbow in the process. I feel ok there, but it's definitely not where I really want to be - not with these lanky ass arms of mine.

I also worked on angles and movement. Jabs while stepping forward, jabs while stepping back. Crosses or hooks while stepping to one side or the other. Worked on a nice little diddy I like, where I purposely (and purposefully!) wing my jab to their outside, and step in with a tight uppercut to the lower body. Of course there was the ever present effort to make head movement second nature.

I didn't work on knees or elbows. This is because the Sanshou tournament I'll be entering in March does not allow elbows, and has wishy washy rules on knees.

I didn't practice any kicks. It rained today, yesterday, and the day before, so I opted to wear shoes instead of going barefoot as usual - since my bag is outside. I didn't want to be driving the fabric of my shoe or my shoe laces into my foot repeatedly. So for today, I went without practicing my kicks. I should've (or could've, anyway) practiced them in a shadow boxy manner in the house, but, I just didn't. What can I say.

---------------------------

Padwork! I hit the pads at a friend's place the other day. Felt good man. When I asked him about how my head movement looked while I was hittin' the mitts, he gave me a small compliment, saying it was solid, basically. And he's not much the type to just say something to be nice.

I also felt like my right hook on the mitts was really, really pleasant. Something about the feel of it or something just felt so, so right to me. Loved it!

Right now I'm getting pad work only maybe twice a week. However! I'm looking at getting a pair of focus mitts of my own. My lifting buddy (my oldest brother, actually) is trying to get fit, and he wants to see me succeed, so he's agreed to work the mitts with me for a while after we lift. So once I get a pair of mitts, that'll give me three more pad sessions a week.

I could also feasibly get in another two mitt sessions a week with my other brother, if I so wished, but there's some personal issues there keeping me from doing so, so we'll see.

Um. Yup! That's all for now, I think.

-North
 
#4 ·
Not a bad start

I have several questions for ya North.

What are your stats? Size weight...etc


How long have you been working on your regimen?
 
#5 ·
6'2"/6'3", depending who I'm standing next to.

Weight is 210 lbs about. I'm trying to break down to a daily weight of Light Heavy so I can cut to Middle. Or just live at Middle, would be optimal. Obviously, I don't have the muscle mass at the moment to stay Heavyweight, so I'm trying to get my weight to match my strength.

Reach is 74"/75", abouts.

As far as how long I've been working on my strength training/cardio routines, it's just been a work in progress since I ever started boxing in my backyard with a bud. I just got serious and started lifting intelligently for probably two months now, and it's been in these past two months when I've seen any real, strong gains, and it's very very exciting.

Thanks for the interest and reply, by the way.

-North
 
#6 ·
Been a lil' bit.

I'm up in weight. Probably 215-220, haven't weighed myself today or in the past day or two. The more and more I think about it, the more and more ok I think I'd be with fighting at heavyweight. I'm still going to try to get Light Heavy/Middleweight, but if I fight at Heavy, I fight at Heavy. I just need to keep working my cardio drills and such to burn off some excess weight, and keep tryin' to stack on muscle. If I fight at Heavy, I'd like to be a lean 220 or so. At this point, I'm kind of just prescribing to the words of my sifu, which were basically "Forget your weight and train. The weight problem will take care of itself."

I've been kind of ill lately. I'm not sure if I'm actually ill, or it's my allergies. Either way, whatever's got me down, has me ridiculously dehydrated at basically all times. I'm busting my ass trying to take in as much water and tea as I can, but it's not really cutting it. Hopefully once the weather finishes changing, this will be less of an issue. But for now, I've been having a nightmare of a time mustering the energy to train, and when I do, I'm having trouble mustering the energy to commit to the act. THEREFORE. My lifting schedule was off at the end of last week/beginning of this week.

Sunday I did my back/bicep (pull) workout, which was supposed to be on Friday. I was being especially lazy about the bicep stuff. Here's how it looked:

Seated Dumbbell Curls: 3 sets @ 10 reps @ 20lbs
Barbell Curls: 3 sets @ 8 reps @ 65lbs
Preacher Curls: 3 sets @ 10 reps @ 60lbs
Shrugs:
10 reps @ 135lbs
8 reps @ 155lbs
6 reps @ 175lbs
4 reps @ 195lbs
2 reps @ 215lbs
1 rep @ 235lbs
Deadlifts(part 1) :
10 reps @ 185lbs
8 reps @ 205lbs
6 reps @ 225lbs
4 reps @ 245lbs
2 reps @ 265lbs
1 rep @ 285lbs
Deadlifts(part 2) :
3 reps @ 300lbs
3 reps @ 300lbs
1 rep @ 300lbs

I miscalculated; My first set of deadlifts was suppposed to hit 300lbs for its 1 rep, but I screwed that up, and realized it too late. But I really wanted to hit that big money weight, so I decided to do a 3x3. Obviously, was just way too beat down by the end of it to finish it.

Also, earlier on back day I hit the bag for about 25 minutes. It was a fairly weak session with not too much real improvement - not any worth noting anyway.

Only gear I used on back day was lifting gloves. Looking at switching to and buying chalk and straps next week maybe.

-----------------------------------

Monday was supposed to be legs. I did nothing on Monday, however. So, I did legs today instead.

Squat:
10 reps @ 135lbs
8 reps @ 185lbs
6 reps @ 205lbs
4 reps @ 225lbs
2 reps @ 245lbs

(I didn't get proper form on my second squat @ 245, so I didn't even waste my time or energy [or endanger myself] trying a single rep @ 265lbs.)

Standing Calf Raise: 3 sets @ 20 reps @ bw+90lbs
(two 45lb plates in hand)

Leg Curls:
10 reps @ 70lbs
8 reps @ 90lbs
3 reps @ 95lbs +3 attempts that came close but failed to achieve lockout

Leg Extension:
10 reps @ 70lbs
8 reps @ 100lbs
6 reps @ 130lbs

Dumbbell Reverse Lunges:
3 sets @10 reps (per leg) @ 20lbs(x2)
(I wrapped the handles of the dumbbells with towels to work my grip a little more.)

For my muscle isolation exercises I'm trying to stick to 10/8/6, but I just screwed up on Sunday when I did biceps. My heavy compound lifts I'm trying to do a short pyramid by two's with a single rep to top it off (10/8/6/4/2/1).

Also today I jumped rope. I did five, two minute rounds with 30 second breaks between. This is the first time since probably grade school that I've very seriously tried to jump rope, so it was a little awkward here and there. I also think my rope's too short, but ah well. This was really hard on my cardio, in a good way, so there was probably a total of about a minute (over the course of those ten minutes) of me just trying to catch my breath.

As well as the jump roping, I also did seven, three minute rounds on the heavy bag, with 30 second breaks. I was aiming for ten rounds, but I got into my eighth round and just crapped out. I didn't count the minute or whatever I got into my eighth.

This morning, I got to work with a buddy of mine. Mainly he practiced throws on me, and I got to do about 20 minutes or so of padwork. Nothing special, but a nice little sweat.

I know I've mentioned dropping leg extensions/curls out of my leg routine, but I saw BJ Penn doing them. So for now, I'm going to leave them in while I investigate some more.

I haven't been running.

Diet's been ok so far this week. Lots of water. Haven't been taking whey in a long while, but just been stacking on the meats hardcore. Looking to get some whey next week, at which point I'll be doing strength training probably five days a week.

I think there's some more I'd like to mention, but that's more than enough for one post.
 
#7 ·
Today, for strength training, was chest and triceps (press). I really can't say anything precise, as I was lifting with both of my brothers and the whole thing was pretty chaotic. I can say that I did higher numbers on my flat bench press, which is very positive. I failed a little bit on my skullcrushers, but I've just always been terrible at skullcrushers. It's not even bad triceps I don't think, I can do double the weight on overhead exstensions than I can on skullcrushers, it's just something about skullcrushers, I fail at.

I jump roped (jumped rope?) again today. I feel like this is wicked cardio, and I'll continue to do this everyday. Someday, I'll actually bring myself to go for a run. Same thing as yesterday; five, two minute rounds with 30 second breaks between.

I worked the bag as well today (as I will try to do everyday until the day I die or quit the lifestyle). For today, I tried to focus on a different combination or attack pattern for each round. Some things I focused on each round:

1. Lead left jab with right to body, alternating between right crosses and right hooks. Also alternating the style of hook between a very deep hooking, horizontal fist hook. And a vertical fist, more shovel hook-like hook. I spent another round doing the same thing, except with the right going to the head. Same alternatives with the right as above.

2. Spinning side kick. I focused on my right (my back) leg, but I also threw a few from my left leg. I think the left, lead leg spinning side kick is weaker than with the right, of course, but it's good to have variety, so I'll keep training it. I was surprised with how hard my spinning side kicks were landing with the right leg. I wasn't getting full extension in the least bit, and it still felt nice an' gooey.

3. Low side kicks to the legs. I worked on doing stationary, lead leg side kicks. I also did turning side kicks with my right leg. And to a lesser extent, I did some shuffle in side kicks. I enjoy these quite a bit. I'm a little bit in danger of getting clipped by punches when using them, but I can keep my guard up while doing them almost entirely. The downward angle lets me generate a lot of speed and power with them, and put a ton of my weight on it. I've got to think that if I tag someone with a couple of these early on, they'll be fairly more nervous about trying to throw fists with me, since my fists won't be the only threat at that range.

4. Side kicks; I did turning side kicks to the body only, as I wasn't quite able to achieve head kicks with them while keeping the kind of balance I want/need. Threw stationary as well as shuffle-in side kicks to both body and head. I keep stepping back and to my right after throwing a very solid side kick - which inspired me to work out a combo that would in essence be, throwing the side kick, but immediately after my step back, throw a low spinning back kick. The mere threat of that low spinning back kick catching my opponent could keep him off me for that split second or two where I might be at a disadvantage/on the retreat.

5. Side kicks; Stationary and shuffle-in. I threw these only to the head. I was trying to throw them at as close of range as I possibly could without jamming. What I was trying to do was angle them up and in so that they could possibly go straight down the pipe, so to speak, slipping right through the guard and landing perfectly under the chin. (Side kick uppercut, anyone?) Enjoyable to throw, and nice to have the variety even if they are only so so right now. They definitely need work, because throwing them at that range definitely leaves me susceptable to punches.

6. Inside crescent kicks, with right leg only. I use to train these with both legs, from lead leg and back. Lately though I've just been trying to perfect myself from an orthodox stance. So today, I threw a couple left lead leg inside crescents, but mainly stuck to right back leg inside crescents. These felt ok. Fast, but weak power. Maybe enough power to daze someone, but def' not a knockout, and probably not much more than a dazing blow. But, a good point earner and good for mixing into hand combos in the future.

7. Roundhouse kicks; One round was all low roundhouse kicks to the legs. My rear leg feels pretty solid and decently quick. My lead leg has a little less bite, but it's quicker and cuts more of an odd angle, making it harder to pick up on, I think. Another round was spent on roundhouses; except this second round I threw them only to the body. I feel like my left lead roundhouse needs serious work. It cuts that weird angle and has some speed, but really, not enough power to be worth throwing to the body, basically a head or leg only kick right now. My right rear leg roundhouse to the body felt good though. Was leaving nice shin shaped dents in the bag and getting the old boy rocking what good.

8. Then I spent a round or two just freestyling with my hands. Nothing especially notable about this, I was just trying to finish strong and keep sweating. Really kind of pushed my endurance though.

I can't remember if I explained it, but in March is a Sanda tournament I hope and plan to fight in. I know it's the biggest sanda tournament in my state, and I think it's in the top 5 in the US for major sanda tourneys. So, this shit is kind of serious business. Slowly but surely, I'll be increasing the intensity, length, and difficulty of my workouts. I plan to do that on and for all fronts; technique, cardio, strength, and everything in between.
 
#8 ·
I don't think I did anything yesterday. It was a really unproductive day. My calfs were just really killing me (still pretty much are) from adding the jump rope to the daily routine and from going up in weight on all my leg lifts. So bleh. Just didn't feel it yesterday.

Today I spent about 40 minutes working technique, with about a 10 minute warm up. I didn't spend all of that time on the bag, though some of it was. I mainly just worked on footwork, head movement, guard, and the like. I also spent some of that time throwing kicks and just working my kinks out, which felt really good. Was landing side kicks (lead leg stationary and turning) and lead leg roundhouses at about 6', and rear leg roundhouses at probably 5'4" (jaw or so on a 6' person, I reckon). Really pleased to see that kind of height on my kicks, and that kind of flexibility. Worked on transitions into takedowns - using a jab to step in and duck under, to throw a couple rapid fire hooks to the body, followed by a feint elevation change of coming back up but instead then dropping low and snatching the legs up. Practiced this on my tire, working my way in with the punches then getting low to snatch it up, then rolling it over my shoulder in a half suplex.

I also lifted today. It was back and biceps (pull). Did deadlifts, seated dumbell curls, shrugs, one arm dumbbell rows, barbell curl, preacher curl. Weights and reps went up on everything about, with the exception of a couple. One arm dumbbell row's weight stayed the same, seeing as I can't fit any more weight on the bar, but it went up easier so I think I could feasibly stack on more in the future. Deadlifted weight I've done before, but did it in better form I'd say. Weight went up on all curls. Reps went up on shrugs. Seated dumbbell curls used towels on the handles to hit the grip harder again. Should've used the towels on the dumbbells for the rows too, but just didn't. My hands were getting chewed up by the handle and I didn't want to look/feel like a bitch and wrap on the towel.

For lifting today and Wednesday I didn't use gloves, only chalk. No belt, no straps, no gloves, no nothin', nothin' special. Just chalk and muscle.

Spent about ten minutes working on grip and to some degree, explosiveness. Did this after my shadow boxing but a few hours before lifting. Tossed bricks in the air and caught 'em. Pretty simple, but pretty effective. Now, at the end of the day, my hands are gnawed up and tired, but I feel like I could choke slam a moose.

I think, at some point, I very minorly pulled something on my left upper side. Possibly the high end of the lat, or something in the shoulder area connecting arm to body, or possibly just part of the tricep. All I know is that something isn't right over there, and it's not very pleasant. I don't think it'll take long to heal at all. I'm babysitting my nephew tomorrow, but I think if I get the chance, I might do some light shadowboxing or maybe even try the bag.

Has anyone seen "Any Given Sunday", or just heard or read Al Pacino's speech in it? Amazing.
Link:
http://6doi.net/movies/inspirational-speech-any-given-sunday.html

I'm not a football fan, so the video means little to me. But Pacino delivers the speech so well, and the words impact me so. I can't help but be moved, as a fighter and as a person, by it.

-North
 
#9 ·
Saturday I did back again. Deadlifts, One arm dumbell rows, bent over rows, and trap pulls. Weights were good, reps were decent. I tried using just chalk again, but two pull days in a row? I just couldn't, my hands were getting too shredded, so I had to toss on gloves. Did weight/rep combinations that I wasn't use to, so it was new and interesting, and good for the muscle confusion.

Sunday was the Sabbath.

Monday (9/13), in terms of strength training, it was legs day. Squats, reverse lunges, leg curls, leg extensions, standing calf raises. We also added decline sit ups on the basis that both my lifting partner and I were being lazy and not doing our ab routines on our own, like we said we would. Weight and rep combinations were new and interesting today as well. Switched to 3 sets @ 10 reps, with fairly solid weights that to be honest, I wasn't sure I could handle at those reps at this point. Weight went up 30lbs on the reverse lunges. The calf raises stayed the same as usual. I think the only way for me to jack on extra weight while doing the standing calf raises is if I start using the barbell.

Also on Monday I did a short little, intense, almost circuit like routine. I spent 8 minutes jumping rope, 8 minutes shadowboxing with resistance bands, and then probably about 15 minutes on the heavy bag. It's not much, I know. I feel really lame about how little time I spent on the bag, but I'm kind of happy to have spent that time jumping rope and shadowboxing (w/ resistance) straight and so intensely. Shoulders actually felt mildly fatigued at the end of the whole lot of it, which is, new. To be totally honest, it's been quite some time since my shoulders were actually really fatigued from cardio type martial arts stuff.

I've decided that for March, I'm fighting Heavyweight. I decided that I don't want to leave it in fate's hands and end up getting stuck at Heavyweight and unprepared (weight and strength wise). And although it's lame, I know I don't have the work ethic when it comes to cardio, not enough to be able to drop the weight while still tacking on this muscle. Even if I started a weight loss/muscle gain cycle, I just don't think I could pull through it.

And, you know, I'm not going to lie. Everybody wants to be a heavyweight. That's where the big boys play. There's just respect that comes with being a heavyweight, be it respect in the gym, in the dojo, in the bar, or in the ring. Cause even if a smaller guy is somewhat more technically inclined than you, you've still got the weight and strength to best him. Martial arts aren't about muscling through your opponents, but any sensei or sifu who says that weight and strength is irrelevant is a damned foolish liar.

Point being, is that I'm 6'3" about with a big, thick frame. I'm big enough to be at least a medium to small heavyweight. I just need to do the hard bulking and jack up my strength to heavyweight standards. I've got five months to do it.

Dietarily I've been doing good, keeping it kind of lean. Henceforth, I'm going to be even better. I'm going to really start to eat as healthily as I can, with lots of lean meats and tons of veggies and such.

I'm looking at taking one protein shake after my strength training sessions. Looking at 2% milk, water, two scoops of whey protein, and one scoop creatine. I'm not sure yet of exact measurements, it'll take some playing with. I'm also not sure what flavors to get, that would go well together. I'd like to add live banana to the shake, so maybe some kind of fruity medley or something. As I go I may consider doing a shake before as well, or perhaps at night before bed or something. But as it stands now, it's just the one shake after the weights, and the rest of my protein will need to come from food.

I've also started taking a joint maintenance supplement. It, is freaking foul. Shit you not, "Ingredients: Soy, Shrimp, Chocolate Flavoring". Blaaaaah, nasty. I'm also taking my trusty Flintstones Chewable vitamin daily.

I talked earlier (a couple posts up, I think) about taking my strength training to the next level, and doing five sessions a week. I still want to add on more strength training sessions using things like sandbags, tires, atlas stones, logs, bricks, etc etc whatever, real strongman type shit, since all I do right now is free weights (<3 btw). But I come back to the concern of overtraining. But then, I've heard and read from bodybuilders that lifting five days a week is almost mandatory. And don't high profile professional fighters strength train like fiends? Doing more research on this dilema as we speak, but input is very appreciated.

I'll try to get in a run tomorrow morning or evening. Needs more stamina. Should also be doing the usual bagwork, and also getting in padwork and possibly sparring. I'd like to also get in the jump roping and the resistance band stuff again, but we'll see.

-North
 
#10 ·
Tuesday; Did a head movement drill with a friend. Head movement drill was just him throwing jab after jab after jab, and just me bobbing and slipping them. As I/we continue to do this drill, I'll have him start throwing combinations, and eventually kicks. For Tuesday though, for the first time really doing this drill, I asked for only jabs. I did well, I think. I avoided most, and the ones I did take I mainly on took on the forehead. Of course, when I have more concerns than just evasion (such as, you know, hitting back) I'll probably take more shots. At which point it's just a case of damage management I think - deciding which shots to avoid out of necessity and which to trade blow for blow for. Like I said, I felt good doing it on Tuesday. There was a couple times where it wasn't even close, where I was long gone by the time his fist got there. Once he even paused and kind of chuckled and said, "Oh, that was a good one." Other than that drill I just practiced my kicks, pretty much.

On Tuesday I also went and bought my supplements. I wanted to get Creatine and Whey Protein both by Six Star. I ended up getting Whey Protein by GNC Pro Performance, and a mass builder called 'Up Your Mass', rather fitting a name.

Started my supplements yesterday. The mass builder is somewhat fatty, so I took it in the morning as a meal replacement for first breakfast. Took the Whey Protein directly after lifting. And about an hour after the protein shake I had a small bowl of tuna, meeting my protein reqs for the day. Really wasn't sore at all today. Still trying to decide the best way to take the supplements, but I'm reading some conflicting opinions and reviews, so eh. I'll just have to see how things progress with it.

Lifted last night. Chest and triceps, push. Flat bench, incline dumbbell bench, dumbbell bench flys, military press, overhead extensions, skull crushers. Did somewhat high weight (for me) on my flat bench, but failed to get through the last rep on each set. Incline dumbbell bench was awesome, I should've jacked up the weight a lot higher but was nervous since I hadn't done them before - did 40lbs per dumbbell, sets of 10/8/6. I should've went up in weight on the military press, so I'll def' jack up the weight next time. Overhead extensions, I literally can't go any higher on the weight until I get a couple more 10 pounders off my bro. Did 3 sets of 10 reps at 40lbs/50lbs/60lbs. Did skullcrushers, 3 sets, reps were 10/8/8, weights were 20lbs/30lbs/40lbs - should've gone up on weights. My lifting partners did decline bench, but I just didn't feel comfortable doing it because of our setup. I really felt a difference in strength/energy last night - not sure if it was just a good day for lifting or if it really was the mass builder helping me out. Time will tell.

Today's diet was considerably worse, but I really didn't have the food in the house to make today good. Had some hot dogs (blah), chicken wings, and a couple pb&j sammiches. Had a smallish amount of ice cream. Also drank soda today instead of tea, but it is what it is. All in all, probably got about 50-75% of my protein intake for the day, not all of which was lean protein at that, and got way too many unhealthy sugars and fats. It'll be better tomorrow and for at least the next few week or so, as I was able to stock my fridge with some chicken breast not too long ago. Got two boxes of rice and a big ol' bucket of spinach. I drank an ok amount of water today, but I'll be sure to keep myself better hydrated tomorrow. All the protein shakes in the world will be worthless unless I keep myself healthy and hydrated.

Didn't do jack squat today either. Tried to hit the bag a little bit, spent maybe 20 minutes at it. But my bag's outside, and it rained most the morning and through late last night, so I was sliding around in the mud. If I was still really concerned with self defense and "be prepared for all conditions" like I used to be, I would've loved the difficulty. But I was just getting frustrated today, seeing as I couldn't practice my big ol', sport headkick KO shots without almost having my feet go out from under me. Practiced some multi-punch combinations and some single uppercuts to the body, felt good man, even without being really able to root.

Looking at going up to lifting six days a week, hitting each major group twice a week, leaving my Sundays for rest. I'll start this routine with next week, and I'll see how I feel at the end of that week. If I'm really sore all over and dead tired, then I'll do a every other week split. One week I'll have my regular three lift days, the next week I'll do six lift days, the next week I'll go back to three, etc etc. I'll see how it all goes. I need to jack on as much muscle as I can before March, so I'm willing to try any (legal) routine to do that.

I think my six day weeks will look like this:
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Back/Biceps (Pull)
Wednesday: Chest/Triceps (Push)
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Back/Biceps (Pull)
Saturday: Chest/Triceps (Push)
Sunday: Rest

That should give about 72 hours of rest between each muscle group's workout. Now that I think about it, that's a pretty solid amount of rest time. Especially with the supplements I'm on. A six day a week lifting schedule is seeming more and more plausible. Seems like all the big dudes lift at least five or six to seven days a week, anyway.

Lifting six days a week, and taking supplements each of those days, is going to be rough. At that rate, my supp's will only last about two weeks, rather than a month or so. Birthday's in Octubre, so that will help my tiny budget fund the continuation of supplementation, so to speak. Other than that, I'll just have to try to pick up more work where I can, I s'pose.

Considering picking back up with my two classes a week of traditional gung fu. It was a good workout muscularly and in terms of cardio. Had good information and let me get fresh perspectives and ideas. I'm constantly seeing and realizing the differences in skill between myself (as someone who has taken formal classes) and someone who is entirely (or almost entirely) self taught, especially with seeing all of the dewdz on youtube being all, "BACKYARD MMA", and then the comments section is them talking about their professional MMA record garnered through their friend's backyard MMA circuit filled with high schoolers with no training at all. It just makes me glad I've learned all I learned in class, and it makes me want to go back and try to learn even more.

You know you guys are allowed to comment and criticize, yeah? I'm curious if anybody has any advice or tips on combinations or techniques I listed in previous posts, or advice about lifting/strength training, or, well, anything at all.

-North
 
#11 ·
Some thoughts...

1) Use skim milk for your protein shake. You won't even taste a difference. I use vanilla w/ a banana if I have one,

2) Never drink soda or tea. Cut out unnecessary calories. Adapt to diet soda if needed.

3) Never eat hot dogs. They are crammed full of fat.

4) I kinda skimmed, so I may have missed this but are you running at all? Run, run, run. I know running sucks, but once you are used to it, it's not so bad. I think you are wanting to bulk up a bit, but I think it is smarter to lean yourself out and then bulk up. Eat a lot of chicken, tuna, and vegetables, and RUN your butt off... It helped me to set a goal for miles per week and increase them each week. Don't let yourself puss out of it either, it won't hurt to run when you're sore (sometimes even helps it out a bit).

I'm not saying to abandon your lifting, but I'd just lift heavy once or twice a week. Run 5-6 times a week, push yourself harder each day. Work on your core a lot. I think you'll find that you'll be leaner... maybe you won't have added some huge bulk to your frame but you will be a lot stronger (with some good endurance as well). Then once you are satisified at cutting your walking around weight, you can bulk up to the heavyweight class. You will be in great shape and I think you'll find it easier to add muscle to your frame.
 
#12 ·
Some thoughts...

1) Use skim milk for your protein shake. You won't even taste a difference. I use vanilla w/ a banana if I have one,

2) Never drink soda or tea. Cut out unnecessary calories. Adapt to diet soda if needed.

3) Never eat hot dogs. They are crammed full of fat.

4) I kinda skimmed, so I may have missed this but are you running at all? Run, run, run. I know running sucks, but once you are used to it, it's not so bad. I think you are wanting to bulk up a bit, but I think it is smarter to lean yourself out and then bulk up. Eat a lot of chicken, tuna, and vegetables, and RUN your butt off... It helped me to set a goal for miles per week and increase them each week. Don't let yourself puss out of it either, it won't hurt to run when you're sore (sometimes even helps it out a bit).

I'm not saying to abandon your lifting, but I'd just lift heavy once or twice a week. Run 5-6 times a week, push yourself harder each day. Work on your core a lot. I think you'll find that you'll be leaner... maybe you won't have added some huge bulk to your frame but you will be a lot stronger (with some good endurance as well). Then once you are satisified at cutting your walking around weight, you can bulk up to the heavyweight class. You will be in great shape and I think you'll find it easier to add muscle to your frame.
Couple things that I kind of disagreed with. Hope maybe you could help me, or I could help you whichever it ends up being!

Tea (unsweetened, made from teabags) has no more calories in it than a glass of water. The tea gets it flavoring and color from a nautral oil in the tea leaves.

See, I've read, and been told multiple times from various sources that while there are fats in hot dogs, they're unsaturated fats that burn much quicker than say, the fats in a cheeseburger from BK, or anything else really that's not cooked at home. The point being that he said he had few options to eat, and if eating a hot dog is an option, its well worth the 100-150 or so useable calories.

Dude's competing in March. He's got five months to get to outmuscles-outmaneauvers legimate heavyweights' strength. Lifting as much as physically possible (depending on recovery times) is an absolute must. Being lean doesn't make you better, just makes you weigh less(IMO).
 
#14 ·
First off, thanks for the interest and advice. It's seriously appreciated. It's cool to be able to document and reflect on my progress here, but discussing or seeing interest in what I'm doing just gets my blood flowin' more.

I drink diet green tea when I drink tea. Other than that, it's pretty much just water with the exception of the (not so) occasional lapse into soda drinking. Yeah, I def' need to stop drinkin' even as much soda as I do now, but I've had an easier time kickin' other substances than I've had tryin' to lay off the soda. Dunno why, maybe just a fat kid at heart.

I would like to be lean, and so I've actually been watching what I eat almost even closer than I did when I was trying to lose weight. You're right that I haven't been running, and I always mean to. Maybe with people yelling at me in my training log, I'll have some extra motivation.

So, I'm going to do my six day lifting routine like I mentioned, and pick up on the running and watch what I eat. If I get lean, it'll happen, and that's cool. But I don't really mind having a bit of extra flub on me for March. That's because it's a Sanda tournament, which allows takedowns/throws. Having that little bit of extra weight might make me a bit slower or less mobile, but it's a little extra weight that the other guy has to work with. And in an offensive context, it's a little more weight behind my hits (albeit, weight from chub instead of muscle) and it's more weight ol' boy will have to stop from barrelling into him when I shoot on a homie or sweep.

I definitely see what you're saying about being lean at a lower weight class, but I think even just naturally, I'm meant to be a heavyweight. I've just got the frame and (not to toot my own horn) the natural muscle structure of a big dude. And yeah, to be honest, it is partly a psychological thing like I said in another post. I just want to be a full fledged heavyweight. I'll keep what you've said in mind though - if I don't see enough significant process in the next couple months, I'll stop bulking and start working on dropping weight, before it's too late.

-North
 
#15 ·
Double posting since it's my log, and I didn't want to get my response intermingled with an update.

Did a grip workout earlier in the day. Just an amalgamation of homemade stuff that I find works my grip in a way I like. Tossing and catching bricks. Doing reverse curl into military press (don't know what the full motion is called) with light-ish logs. Slammed my tire, as well as did some over-the-head tosses with it going back and forth between overhand and underhand grips. Held a log on end, in one hand at a time. Hard to describe the stuff, I just know it works.

Hit the bag, I'd guess half hour. Nothing special. Practiced hooks, some combinations, low side kicks to the leg.

Lifted. Back and biceps, pull. Did deadlifts, one arm dumbbell rows, seated incline dumbbell curls, preacher curls, barbell curls, and shoulder shrugs. Kind of comedically proud moment when I realized that the weights I warmed up with for deadlifts were weights that I was previously doing as lift weights. Everything was in three sets. Deadlifts I did 300lbs, reps were 4/4/1. Probably could have muscled out at least to 3 reps on the last set, but I had a whole routine left to do and didn't want to risk a back injury either way. Three months ago 300lbs was my 1 rep max that I barely got up, so I can't complain. Shrugs were 205lbs, reps were 6/6/6. The rows were 60lbs (max I can jack on the dumbbell atm), reps were 10,10/ 10,10/10,10 - and I wrapped the handle with two hand towels to hit the grip and forearm harder. Curls aren't worth mentioning, I only do them for muscular balance and for the ridiculously situational necessity of bicep strength. Only tools I used with the free weights was straps and chalk.

Took my mass builder this morning. Took my protein after free weights. Stayed well hydrated. Had little soda. Ate chicken and tuna.

That about covers it, I think.

-North
 
#16 ·
I think you could always "lean" yourself down in the future. I'd still recommend trying it. Just because you have a large frame doesn't mean you can't drop a weight class. Ever see fights where guys are the same weight, but one is obviously bigger? Hey, that could be you. It could really give you an advantage.

Keep up the good work outs. And stop drinking soda. One way I stopped drinking soda (I call it pop but I'm in hillbilly-ville) and junk food is to stop looking at snacks or meals as a pleasure. All you are doing is refueling. Your body is a well oiled fighting machine and it doesn't need or want soda.

I'm just giving you a hard way to go cause it's a struggle I went through in the past. My max weight was 205 at one point (only 5'7"). I had been about 170 or so most of my life, but went through a hard time in life and it actually snuck up on me. I'm at 155 right now. It's only been about a year or so too.

Anyways, enough of my ranting. Hopefully my posts are helping motivate you some.
 
#17 ·
Saturday I didn't do much except lifted. Did military press, bench press, and skullcrushers. I think that was all. Weights/reps were up, as I recall. Ate well enough until evening. At which point some friends and I hung out at a local festival, then we went back to someone's house and I got fairly smashed. But not without stopping for a couple burgers on the way. Ladyfriend kind of tore my heart out a bit and spat on it, so I got pretty smashed and smoked maybe half a pack of smokes. Lifting went well though. I maxed out on bench at 165lbs, but made two attempts at 175lbs that were very nearly up.

Sunday is my day of rest anyway, but I also ate fairly poorly, trying to relieve my hangover. Stretched before bed.

Monday. I ran, 1.5 miles. I jogged most, sprinted a little, walked some. Lifted, did legs; squats, standing calf raises (bw+90lbs), reverse lunges, leg extensions, leg curls. Hit the heavy bag a very little bit I think, nothing worthwhile. Did 5 sets of 20 situps. Felt good man.

Tuesday. Lifted, did back/biceps, pull; deadlifts, bent over rows, shoulder shrugs, preacher curl, seated incline dumbbell curl, barbell curl. I think weight may have gone up on some of the bicep stuff, reps went up on deadlifts (300lbs, 4/4/3 as opposed to last week's 3/3/1 iirc). Did bent over rows at 135lbs, reps were 4/4/4, should've just did trap pull since my form was all slop on the rows. Worked out with a friend, doing the same head movement drill as last time, worked on kick avoidance/mitigation, practiced my kicks, did some freestyle takedown practice, and I got to practice sprawls. I think I'm better as a total package - when he also has to worry about my fists and my feet, I think I might be able to get in more takedowns. We'll see. Felt really good knocking out those deadlifts earlier though.

Wednesday. Lifted, chest/tricep, press. Did flat bench, incline barbell bench, dumbbell shoulder press, skullcrushers, and backwards tricep extensions (???). I'm not sure what to call them, but you're bent over and holding a dumbbell, and just extend your arm straight along the side of your body. I also did dumbbell lat raises, since I didn't feel like I hit my lats yesterday the way I wanted to. Everything felt good. Flat bench, I did 135lbs for 10/8, then did 145lbs for 6, which is not only a rep increase, it's a weight increase. The extensions were new so I did a little bit of low weight, but they were good for really burning my triceps out on. Had never done shoulder press with dumbbells either, so my weights were a little low but now that I'm more familiar, it should be better next time.

Have been taking the mass builder every morning that I lift. I haven't been taking the whey protein because honestly, it's just so gross, man. I know I should really take it, but maaan, it's honestly hard for me to stomach that shit.

I weighed myself Monday, expecting to see at least a few pounds of gain. Ended up weighing about five pounds less than I did when I started my "bulking" cycle, and as of today I'm another half a pound down. I try to lose weight, and I maintain or gain. I try to gain, and I lose. This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

All in all, I feel a lot stronger, and faster. And I feel like my technique is getting played out more smoothly because of that.

I've picked up on a few things I need to work on though. My left hand is a little low, or at least lower than I'd like it to be. My right hand drops to my hip occasionally when I go for a right hook, just because I like to power that bad boy up. I also need to drive through on my takedowns, and commit way more than I am now. I've known I need to drive more on my takedowns, but the thought escaped me on Tuesday; I'll remember it for next time. Also when sweeping/throwing, underhooks are your friend - but there's something about sticking my biceps in another dude's armpits that I seem to take subconcsious issue with.

That's all for now, I guess.

-North
 
#18 ·
Been about a week, I'll try to pick up where I left off though.

Thursday. Not much. I don't think I lifted. Shadowboxed a bit.

Friday. Strength training; was pull day, back/biceps but it turned into a kind of whole upper body thing with focus on back. Did a gorilla style workout. Overhead tire tosses, tire slams, trap pulls with light logs, shrugs with logs, shrugs with cement chunks attached to steel pipe, sewer caps and waist rotations (for lats) with hunk of cement. Really good day for grip and lower back, everything else felt kind of eh, very maintence-esque. Traps were burning pretty good on the shrugs w/ cement attached to steel pipe. I really love doing this kind of stuff because of how intense it can be done. There's no stopping to switch weights out, play with the bench, move the bar, whatever. It's just, boom, a bunch of tire slams, ok drop the tire, grab this rock and do sewer caps, ok grab this log and do shrugs. Also on Friday I shadowboxed for maybe 40min.

Saturday. Didn't lift. Didn't do anything I don't think. Felt really sick.

Sunday. Day of rest. Got ridiculously drunk.

Monday. Lifted, did legs. All the same stuff as usual, squats, standing calf raises, reverse lunges, leg extensions, leg curls. Reps went up, weight varied. Tried to use better/differing form to get a better response, so weight dropped for some of the lifts. Dropped my squat down to only about 100lbs, but went ass to the grass, and man, was I hurtin' the next day. Legs were cuuuuut uuuuup after that noise. Forearms were actually kind of sore too, from having to hold the 35lb plates on reverse lunges.

Hit the bag maybe half hour, shadow boxed another half hour.

Dietarily, Monday was garbage. It was fine up until the afternoonish, when I started hanging out with a friend. Ended up getting McDonald's on the fly and getting drunk at his place.

Tuesday. Did some boxercise video thing. Was ok but, eh, whatever. Might do it as part of a cardio thing, just because it's something I can do at home that has someone "there" trying to motivate me. After that my day took a turn for the personal worse, and I didn't do anything else.

Wednesday. Lifted, chest/triceps, press. Really, really good lift day. Like, really good. Flat bench, dumbbell incline bench, barbell military press, bodyweight dips, dumbbell bench flys. Reps went up on military press. Weight went up on flat bench (going up to 5 reps @ 155lbs for my last set) and on incline dumbbell bench (40lbs/dumbbell on the first set, up to 50lbs on the second and third sets). Stretched out today, and shadowboxed maybe half hour.

I've been having trouble hitting the bag because of an injury with my left leg, that's keeping me from kicking with that leg. I can still kick with the right, and still punch, but pivoting/putting weight on that injured left leg is nerve wracking. Been using tiger balm on it and trying to let it heal up. Think it's doing better.

My cardio's been feeling really down since I've been tacking on all this muscle, so I really do need to start doing something much more. Think tomorrow I'll try to put some time in on the bag and do footwork/sprint drills, and maybe try to fit in a run. Who knows though, I won't know what tomorrow brings until it's brought.

I'm not sure if I'll be competing in March or not, due to several issues. Need to do some serious soul searching.

Been a really, tiring week.

-North
 
#19 ·
Been a kinda tiring day.

Started with a run. Just under a mile I think, at a pretty good clip the entire time.

Spent about 40 minutes shadowboxing/hitting the bag. Was alternating back and forth between the two to work on different aspects of the combinations. Some of the things I worked on: Something I learned on the first day of kung fu forever ago that I didn't really grasp fully then - stepping out at an angle as a dodge, then tossing a front snap to the ribs as a counter. Really clean, really crisp, just need to put it together so it's quicker. Worked a lot on liver shots today. Working on a simple slip to the outside of a jab or cross (stance pending) and tossing my left as an uppercut or shovel hook right in there. Worked on using a cross or jab/cross as a setup for it. Worked on, left jab/right cross/left hook into upperbody grab (shoulder, head, whatever I can get an arm around)/ then a left curving knee to the liver. Worked also on tossing a cross to the head to draw their cross (or jab if southpaw) then a lead left leg roundhouse to their exposed body. Worked a few hands-only combos that were kind of lengthy; jab(to head) /cross(to head)/left hook (to body)/ right hook (to body)/right hook (to head)/left hook(to head)/finished with a right uppercut hopefully right between their arms, hopefully. Others were a little more straight forward. Also worked on jab(to head)/cross(to head [and then leaving it up to block vision])/rear leg right roundhouse to the legs. Threw a few head height lead leg left roundhouses, a few lead leg side kicks, and a couple rear leg turning side kicks. I also worked on a nice lil' diddy of feinting the lead leg side kick and switching into rear leg spinning back kick. <3 that one.

Lifted. Did legs. Squats, ass to grass, at 135lbs. Standing calf raises at BW+90, think I'm going to start loading the barbell and shouldering it as if squatting, cause that 90 ain't cuttin' it. Reverse lunges at 70lbs. Leg extensions at 85lbs and leg curls at 70lbs. Sets/reps was 3 sets of 10 reps on everything. Next week I think I'll go back to jacking on the weight for squats and going up on depth (from where I've gone the last two leg lift days), then keep alternating squat style each week, since the squat is the "king of mass builders" afterall. I think reverse lunges are going to see me using the barbell as well. What I do for the calf raises and reverse lunges is hold a plate in each hand (45lb plates for calf raises, 35lb plates for lunges), but that way, my grip is getting a harder workout doing those workouts than my legs really are. While I like working my grip an' all, I'd like to see more response in my legs from those lifts.

Went over a buddy's place. Got a good stretch and warmup in there. Then we went back and forth hitting the pads. I didn't work my hands too much on them, mainly threw kicks on the thai pads for tonight. Then we rolled since he's big into submission wraslin'. I got him with something, a guillotine once I think. He got me with some kind of arm lock thingy, I didn't ask what it was. And then finally I tapped out of exhaustion. Rolled for what seemed like forever (and in real time, it did actually have to be quite a while), and I just couldn't handle it anymore. He had been on top most of the last go, and my cardio's just not good enough for that. Plus I had been trying submission after submission, but we were both so slippery from sweat, my legs were just rolling off him every time I almost got a triangle, and his head would just slip out every time I almost got the guillotine. Oh well. Was a really good workout.

Diet was very good today. Breakfast was cheerios and milk, not bad. Lunch was about two chicken breast with some potato and rice. Second lunch was protein shake (2% milk+3scoops "Up Your Mass". Dinner was a fairly large tuna sammich with lettuce, tomato, and a little cheese, on wheat.

All in all, a pretty good day. Basically doubled today the amount of time I usually workout (two hours up to about four hours, maybe a bit longer). And my chest is still sore from last night. Joy!

Tomorrow's lift is pull. Think I'll drop a couple of the bicep specific things, and switch in straight bar cleans, and reverse curls on the ezcurl bar. Yupyup.

Have a good day.

-North
 
#20 ·
Seriously holmes! How do you confuse a guillotine with a triangle choke? You sub me with one of the most primo JJ techniques out there and you confuse it with a glorified neck hug! Serioso!:thumb02:

And it was an Americana I got you with. I checked the Wiki!:confused02:
 
#23 ·
Wicked, wicked tired.

The past few days I haven't lifted or done much else in terms of working out because I've been doing a lot of work around the house.

Diet during that time wasn't great, but wasn't terrible.

Although, yesterday I worked out with a friend. Did pads, about 20-30 minutes for the each of us, and then we sparred, 3, 3 minute rounds. Was a really good session. No real injuries to speak of, save for reawakening an old hand injury right at the start of sparring. But it is what it is, no helping that. Practiced my body shots on the pads a lot, and got in a few during sparring. Really worked the body I think, combining body punching with kicks to the body, and alternating attack methods well. Things to work on: Use angles when attacking more (I used them a lot, and well, when retreating or defending), keep the hands up in better fashion, don't cross my feet/legs. I only did it a few times, and not when it really mattered, but still, bad habit is bad habit. Commit more. That's about it.

Diet today included my mass builder in the morning, whey after my lifting session, and I don't even remember really what I ate. Bunch of beef and potatos at dinner, I know.

Lifted. Chest/Triceps. Good lord. I'm so tore up now. Flat bench, dumbbell incline bench, military press, dips, overhead extensions, dumbbell bench flys. Did 3 sets of 10 reps on everything except bench flys and dips. Some of my reps dropped on last sets, but in those cases the weights were up. For example, hit 115lbs on the military press. Hit 80lbs on the overhead extension. Dips; my first set I knocked out 12 instead of 10, second set I went way deep, past normal standards for dip depth. Incline dumbbell bench weight is up, I think - having done iirc 45lbs/dumbbell.

-North
 
#24 · (Edited)
Was my birthday Sunday, so I've been in a pretty much perpetual state of anti-sobriety. If there was a time in the past two weeks or so that I wasn't drunk, it was probably because I was hungover.

Anyway. I hardly lifted in that period, I think only twice. The first session was pretty horrific. I did maybe one set of deadlifts (albeit, 200lbs, no wraps, double overhand), one set of reverse curls, and then hit power cleans, which was comedically dumb looking. I unracked it at 135lbs after changing the weight around, and didn't get it more than a couple inches off the rack before I thought, "I don't think I can up this." Reracked, switched weights again, went for 115lbs. I layed her down by the fire, chalked up, hoisted the bird off the floor and got halfway through the flip then bellied her, thinking "I'll just turn this into a continental lift", started changing grip and remembered I wasn't doing clean and press, just power cleans. So I dumped her. Racked and switched weights, dropping down to an easy 85lbs. This being my first time doing power cleans, I'm not too embarassed in hindsight, really. Knocked out a set of 10 and a set of 6 then gave her up. I lifted one other time during this past two week period, doing only power cleans; went up to 105lbs and knocked out about two sets of 10, then called it out of laziness/hangover.

I did a little bit of shadowboxing yesterday, and once last week. Nothing to be proud of.

Corrected my diet these past couple days (though I still have some obligatory drinking to do this month) and today I got the spurt of energy I was looking for.

Did a very short couple of sets of pushups/pushup variations. This was this morning when I didn't think I was going to lift today. Did only about 8 reps per variation, only one set per variation. Started with regular pushups, knuckle (or waistline) pushups, clapping, diamonds, inclines, declines. Finished with broncos and then modified spiderman pushups.

Shadowboxed for about 30-40mins (didn't keep track tbh). A fairly slow paced shadowboxing session, more about playing with attacking at angles versus an imaginary opponent, moving in counterangles to their (offensive or defensive) angles, and counterstriking their (offensive or defensive) counters.

Did about a 20 minute bag session today. Because of the current setup/conditions, I'm not able to really play with angles, or work too much footwork, but it's still something I can hit that gives resistance.

Finally, we come to the real strength training session of the day. Holy. ****. Friday, so it's pull day. Decided to do a focus on grip/forearm, strength and size. Also decided to do a three exercise circuit with fairly compound pulling lifts that would threaten my grip hard and get me a sweat, then after the circuit I would do a few other exercises to make sure I really drained my batteries and got the focus on certain lifts that I wanted to. Breaks down as follows:

Circuit: 2 minutes/exercise, 30 second breaks between exercises, three total rounds (ended up stopping after two, however).
Exercises are as follows (in order):
Reverse Curls @ 35lbs
Deadlifts @ 100lbs
Alternating Dumbbell Half-Curls, Hammer Grip @ 25lbs/dumbbell

Everything that follows is at 3 sets of 10 reps:
Trap pulls @ 35lbs
Shrugs @ 100lbs
Dumbbell Wrist Curls @ 25lbs/dumbbell
Grip trainer (commercial grip trainer, probably only 100lbs of resistance I would estimate)

So, my forearms are killin', my biceps is swelled as hell, my traps look huge, lower back's hit and even my triceps and lats are feelin' it. Really tore up, and I'm lovin' it.

Feels good getting back into it.

-North

Edit: Walked up stairs, and realized my quads hurt too, from so many rapid-fire deadlifts. Went to the store after posting to pick up an 18pack, and walking home, that shit was killer on my forearm. Love this kind of methodology. Must continue this sort of routine, I think.
 
#25 ·
I spent the better part of October binge drinking and eating like shit. Therefore, I've put on about 20lbs. It's all just fat though, so by getting my diet back on track and getting back into more serious workouts, that should melt off pretty quick.

I did a max deadlift last Tuesday. Got 325lbs, raw. Not the weight I was looking for. I also made attempts at 350lbs and 335lbs. I got those two attempts off the floor, but didn't nearly get lockout at all.

This being said, I decided that what I was missing out of my strength training was goals. I figured that that's why I'm sometimes so wishy washy about lifting - because I have no goals or deadlines for myself. Instead it's just, "oh, I'm lifting to get stronger. Eh. I'll lift tomorrow instead of today." And then tomorrow never comes. So I've set the goal for December 8th, to hit a 375lbs deadlift, raw. That's adding 50lbs to my DL in one month, as well as dropping these 20lbs off my frame. Big goals, but doable, I think.

Friday: Legs. I did squats at only 100lbs, but took it deeper than I ever have before, which felt really good. I then did standing calf raises at bw+90lbs (45lbs/per hand). I did I think 3 sets of 8. The first set however, I did them one leg at a time to try to work on balance/stabilization. I also did farmer's walk, from one end of my driveway to the other and back as one "set" or "rep", and did that eight times. Farmer's walks were at 90lbs, 45lb plate in each hand. Finally I did walking lunges, 3 sets of 8 reps/leg, at 45lbs. The walking lunges really tore my ass up for the next couple days, a big change from my usual reverse lunges. Farmer's walks were amazing, and really hit my grip super hard. Holdling the 45lb plates for calf raises after the farmer's walks hit my grip even harder. Felt the burn in my forearm.

Monday: Pull. Deadlifts @ 275lbs (raw), 4 sets of 3 reps.
Shrugs @ 165lbs, 3 sets of 8 reps.
Reverse Curls @ 55lbs, 3 sets of 6 reps.
Wrist Curls @ 15lbs, 3 sets of 6 reps (per hand).
Weighted Bridge Presses, 85lbs, 3 sets of 6 reps.
One handed, hammer grip deadlifts @ 80lbs, 3 sets of 6 reps (per hand).
I was going for pure strength on the regular deadlifts, and going for strength/mass on the other lifts. I'll be honest, I'm a little vain; I want to get big. The one handed hammer grip deadies were awesome, and I'm so glad I added them. I did them while going up the stairs, so each pull only had to go high enough to get the weight stack to the next step. I feel like this really, really hit my lower back hard. I think next week I'll switch it up and go two steps at a time, to better help with my regular deady form. Weighted bridge presses were pretty amazing too. I could really feel it working in my hips and lower back. I just have to remember next week to throw a focus mitt down before I lay the bar on my hips (owwies!). I'll hopefully add five or ten pounds to my regular deadlifts next week. I'll also up the weight on the one handed hammergrip deadies, lower the reps, and add a set - to focus it more on pure strength instead of strength and mass.

I meant to also practice my overhead snatch (I think it's called), but I was just too beat. I may add either power cleans or good mornings next week, and drop something out, probably reverse curls.

Wednesday: Press. Only did three exercises, but man were they intense. I'll explain my bench press routine:
6 reps @ 95lbs (warmup)
4 reps @ 135lbs (warmup)
3 reps @ 155lbs (semi-warmup)
1 rep @ 165lbs
1 rep @ 175lbs
1 rep @ 185lbs
Failed attempt at 195lbs
6 reps @ 155lbs
8 reps @ 135lbs

I also did dumbbell shoulder press, 3 sets, reps were 10/10/8. Weight was 35lbs per dumbbell for a total weight of 70lbs. Then I did two sets of bodyweight dips, reps were 10/8. And I was just way too spent to go for a third set. Had I not gone so heavy on the bench, I'm sure I could've done way more on the dumbbell shoulder presses, but that's fine. That bench routine puts my new bench max at 185lbs, 20lbs higher than previous. Not to mention that had I dropped out the rep at 165 or 175, and dropped one rep off the 155, I probably could have gotten 195 up. So I'm pretty excited about last night's lifting session, and am really looking forward to next week's.

-----------------------------------------------------------

I spent some time working on chaining kicks, as well as using them at different angles/ranges. Working on some hand combos as well as footwork with punches.
Combinations and concepts are as follows:
1. High inside crescent kick into side kick to leg or body.
2. Feinting lead leg high roundhouse into lead leg high heel hook kick.
3. Turning side kick into shuffle in side kick.
4. Lead jab, ducking cross/overhand while stepping out, lead hand hook/uppercut/shovelhook to body while angling.
5. Feinting lead side kick into spinning back kick.
6. Feinting lead side kick into spinning heel hook kick.
7. Feinting lead side kick into spinning back fist.
8. Getting back into the habit of using back knuckle strikes and standing hammerfists.
9. Axe kick. Speed and power. I aim to start neglecting power for accuracy and more speed, however.
10. Lead jab into lead leg high roundhouse.
11. Retreating in angles while using front kicks for range. Something I'm ok at, but needs to be better.
12. Need to work on power with lead leg roundhouses. They're "fine" for head kicks, strong enough to daze or possibly lay out if I get lucky. But they're about worthless to throw at the body.
13. Need to work on the speed of my rear leg roundhouses. Strong enough to lay someone out, bust up a leg, or mash up the body, but slow enough to be at least poorly blocked on most counts.
14. Lead jab, right cross, turning side kick to body (head?)
15. Feinting lead leg high roundhouse into lead leg high side kick.
16. Bent leg inside crescents versus stiff(er) leg inside crescents; Working with the different ranges of each.

I think I need to go back to kung fu basics and work on my lohan and shoalin longfist stances, as well as my snake drop stance. My beginning dragon form is worth revisiting as well, I think.

Yeahhh. Think that's it for now.

-North
 
#26 ·
Been over a month I guess since my last update, but I can't say there's too terribly much to discuss. I'll say that I've been focusing a lot lately on strength building. Although the ultimate intent is power, and a lot of what I'm doing right now is translating into power, it's a lot of strength building. If that distinction makes any sense. This is because I frankly feel very weak compared to not only other light heavyweights, but to how strong the ideal version of myself should be. Not to mention, I've also been taking an ever increasing interest in powerlifting and Strongman. That being said, here's a link to my strength training blog: http://shnappley.xanga.com/weblog/ That way I don't have to muddy up my training log here with all of that weight lifting business. No offense taken if nobody reads the strength training blog. It's as much as for me as this log here is for me.

In terms of cardio, I've done little. Maybe some light jogging here and there, but nothing intense. It's cold outside, and the ground's covered in snow and ice. No excuses, really, but that's enough to hold me back from doing any major cardio right now. In any case, I've entirely stopped smoking for a while now, I would guess I stopped smoking about a month before my last post. So I'm probably two months smoke free. And I've been lifting this entire time. So I feel like my lungs are stronger than ever, and I'd say my muscular endurance is pretty solid. Not mind blowing or real fighter status or anything, but solid. It'll be better before I ever step foot in a ring or cage anyway, and I feel like I've got enough oomph in my swing that any street thing wouldn't be "going the distance", if you get me.

Diet-wise, I'm as wishy washy as ever. I eat well for a while, then I come on hard times and eat whatever I can get. I'm off the drink for a while, then I come back to the sweet embrace of the creature and dump 2500 useless calories into my body every Saturday night. Even so, I feel slimmer. More sturdy. I would say that the strength training has been helping me to burn. Not nearly as much as real cardio or good dieting would, but it is what it is, and I'll take it for what it is. I'll work more on my weight as time goes on, but January is a bulking month so I won't see any real weight loss until February, at the absolute earlier.

Seeing as this is a martial arts-oriented forum, I s'pose I should talk about what I've been doing in those terms, huh? Like I mentioned, I've been focusing on strength training mainly. Truth be told I haven't done nearly as much for my martial skills as I should've been. At best what I've been doing could be called maintenance, if anything. I stretch a little bit here and there, throw some punches and some kicks. I'll do 15-25 minutes shadowboxing just whenever, every other day if I'm feeling froggy. Sometimes I'll do a little shadowboxing just when I'm bored or anxious, or between sets when I'm lifting.

I'll hone in on the martial arts stuff a little more, just so it doesn't seem like I'm being too terribly lazy or unattentive to my training. I've been throwing the same combination a lot, I notice. Jab, Cross, Jab, Hook. I shouldn't focus too much on any one combination, right? I mean, I need variety, and I don't want to be predictable. Yet at the same time, "I fear more the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times, than the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once", you know? Ehh. It's whatever. It's always important to be working on that muscle memory and improving, and that is a solid combination that includes probably the/my most used punches. So I'll settle for now. I'll definitely be working on a bigger variety of hand combinations in the months upcoming. Beyond that, I threw some head kicks the other day. S'alright. Lost some flexibility, but I still feel strong on the rear leg and decently fast on the lead.

Only other thing worth mentioning is that I think the fam is hooking me up for Christmas. Think I'll be getting the (albeit cheap) cam I was wanting, as well as a better mount for my heavy bag, and God willing a double end bag. So maybe in January y'all can have some videos of North doing bagwork to scoff at, eh?

-North
 
#27 ·
My strength training blog: http://shnappley.xanga.com/weblog/. Only remotely important, no real new or exciting updates to speak of, just a few notes.

Worked the focus mitts the other day with a buddy. Trying to ease back into training, and it felt really good, you know? Been a while since I hit the pads or really did some (even remotely) serious martial arts training. Worked on a double jab while moving, which wasn't bad. Wasn't badass or anything, but I wasn't missing the mitts or dying from bad cardio. I then started working a simple jab-cross combination for a bit, as I recall. Not bad, but simple and whatever, started getting a lil winded as we moved around. So the third and final combination I worked on was a jab followed by a rear body hook. We stayed stationary while I worked this combo, and I was still sweating my ass off and losing breath. Just getting both punches in with the elevation change, and that I was kind of repeating the combo rapid fire - yeah I was kind of just being weaksauce and getting tired. Hook felt decent though.

Did a long stretching session yesterday. Spent about 40 minutes just trying to work all the kinks out, especially because my back was feeling a little weird, which is a scary sign. Really tried to hit everything, all the major areas that needed stretch. Then I even went and tried to get the weird spots, hip flexor, front delt/pec area, ankles, wrists, bicep/tricep, rotator cuff. Felt good.

Put in some time today. Took about 15 minutes to stretch and warmup. I was feeling pretty stiff at first, but it worked out. Towards the end of the warmup I jostled something in my back and it hurt like hell, I don't know what's up with that. But I kept warming up and stretching my shit out and it went right away. I then set into a 30 minute session of shadowboxing with a mirror. Started with some simple lead and rear leg roundhouses. Worked on axe kicks; keeping the setup tight and the attack in a nice line. Was getting decent height on those. So then I got into hand combinations, working a double jab, a jab-lead hook, jab-cross, jab-rear hook, jab-lead forearm strike. Threw a few spinning side kicks and a couple spinning hook kicks, which were all pretty bad but were good for getting the blood and sweat flowing. I then worked on a jab-low kick-rear elbow combination that was interesting enough. To finish up I worked on elevation changes for body shots, specifically working on a lunging right cross and a right shovelhook to the ribs. Cooled off with about 15 minutes of stretching. Good stuff though.

Takes thirty days to make something a habit, so I've read. So that means 28 more days and I'll be back into habitual martial arts training. I didn't realize how much I missed training until a day or two ago; my strength training is habitual, but I'm taking a few days break from it, and I'm absolutely climbing the walls from not being able to hit the free weights. I miss that feeling in relation to martial arts, and look forward to getting it back.

I've been eating decently. My weight's sticking at about 220lbs. While I've definitely still got fat on my frame, belly and all that, I feel more solid than ever. More built, more strong, more healthy, everything. A friend even said that I'm starting to get a "V" (I thought he was insulting me at first). That being said, my weight almost definitely isn't going to be changing in January, except for a possible spike. January's a bulking month, a bulking month in which I'm actually expecting some respectable strength gains I might add. Depending upon how my new strength training routine goes in January, I may repeat it (modified, mind you) in February, or transition to a combative sports oriented strength and conditioning routine, as planned. I've been checking out some routines from a trainer named Zach EvenEsh, which are directed towards strength and conditioning for wrestling. So I might be ganking some stuff from some of his workouts and adding some more Strongman implements. We'll see. ((Sorry! Sorry! I know I got into talking about my strength training in my MA training log! Sorry!))

-N
 
#28 ·
http://shnappley.xanga.com/
^Link to my strength training blog. I'll do an overveiw so you don't have to read that though. Short version is that I hit a 200lb good morning that I'm proud of (a PR of about 100lbs). Although my upper body strength isn't even remotely respectable, I got a 195lb bench, about a 10lb PR. Hit a 245lb zercher squat, a squat PR of about 35lbs. And hit a 145lb overhead (front) press. Strength's going up, slowly but surely.

Worked out with a buddy (admittedly, a while ago now). Took turns blasting one another with some kicks, working on blocking and countering, as well as kicking skill (and all the attributes that go hand in hand with those things).

Moved on to working hands on pads. I've got to work on my hand speed and footwork. Power is respectable, I think, but I could increase it exponentially with better foot work. I've got very little pivot on my crosses/rear hooks, so yeah. And in terms of hand speed, it's not bad, but it's not good. A better trained fighter would trump my hand speed, hard. I really try to be good with my hands, and part of that is having fast ones. Lastly, I need to work on throwing combinations to the head. I love working the body, and so I work a lot of hand combos that are directed towards working the body. I guess I have the opposite problem of some other fighters, in that I actually need to work on my headhunting skills.

Tooled around on the ground for a while. Not much to say about it. Just that I did it. Sweated my arse off, probably tapped a couple times, almost got him to tap a couple times, and I defended a couple subs. I'm not very good on the ground, but getting better, maybe.

We practed some takedowns. Mainly though just he shot, and I stuffed them. He got me down a couple times. I have to wonder how it would have gone had we been including strikes as part of it. But, that's not really the point I suppose. I need to get better at stuffing takedowns, and that, is the point.

Things I've been working on on my own since then:

Been working on shoulder flexibility/mobility so I can toss smoother elbows. In that line of thought, I've also been working elbows a bit on the bag as well as while shadowboxing.

I've worked briefly on footwork in relation to movement. Moving linearly, as well as in and out. Did some "light feet" footwork drills; mainly just running up and down stairs and trying to shift more quickly on my feet (while moving in or out or side to side).

Been working my cross a lot on the bag. Trying to focus on getting that pivot for added power. It's there, you know? I can feel the extra power and I suspect speed. But I just need to work it into muscle memory. Integrated the pivot into my 'lunging' cross to the body, and it turned out so smoothly and with so much extra power, I about got hard. I also worked a bit on using the pivot for added speed using elevation changes (offensively or defensively).

I haven't been doing the kind of cardio I should be. It's either some high intensity weight work or bag work/shadow boxing. Too cold and crappy out to go for a run (for me, right now, with my cardio). Going to be trying to at least be getting on the eliptical to burn off some flub, if nothing else.

There's a lot of things that I want to work on. Different exercises to try, kung fu techniques to revisit, new combinations to unlock. But when it all comes down to it, I need to put a lot more time into drilling the basics. It's fine to integrate these "exotic" ideas alongside the tried and true basics, but I need to be putting more into the basics if I'm going to be going about it like that.

-N
 
#29 ·
Synopsis of recent strength training: Hit a 225lb max rep back squat - a PR of about 15lbs - which makes me happy since I can now say that I can squat my own bodyweight. Did some raw deadlifts with progressive resistance, 300lbs at the bottom, 400lbs at the top. And finally, did a max power clean of 155lbs (without belt), 175lbs (with belt); I maybe could've sneaked out 160-165lbs raw, but I didn't want to spend anymore time on power cleans and I just wanted to hit that 175.

Been feeling really inflexibile in the groin lately, which is a bummer. I've been trying to stretch it out as best I can but even so, it had been giving me troubles such as restricting height on my kicks/bleeding power off my head kicks, and really screwing up my squat depth while strength training. I think I stretched it out really well last night, but it still needs a ton more stretching to really loosen up like it use to be.

Worked on accuracy/speed of side kicks the other day. Felt fairly accurate and I don't think they were slow. But I was sacrificing too much cleanliness of form, I think. My hands were all over during the kick, and to maximize speed/power out of my hips, I was turning over so much it was almost becoming a back kick with me facing away. Not cool. Need to work on that.

Synopsis of padwork sessions as well as bagwork: I'm pretty pleased with my roundhouse kicks' power, speed is, bleh. Been connecting some heavy hooks that I think are solid in terms of power, but again, I'm not happy about their speed. My jab seems quick-ish (not anything like the jab of a speed demon of a lightweight, but not bad for my size), but is absolutely lacking in terms of "effect" unless I purposely slow it down and ramp up power. The only redeeming thing about handwork lately has been a combination: jab followed by a stepping in rear uppercut to the body - that uppercut just seems to blast hard everytime. Finally, the clinch game isn't really my game, but it's not smart to ignore it. So I worked some knees in the clinch with Squirrel, trying to toss an elbow hook on the way out. I know the knees were probably decent in both speed and power (and accuracy, since I hit the thai pads instead of him), but amusingly enough I'm more proud of the elbow I was throwing on the escape. If only because I know that, just given the way I fight, I'll probably be tossing that elbow more often than knees.

Rolled with Squirrel the other day. Subbed him with a RNC and an Americana (which he had to show me how to do, in the moment [can you tell I'm a horrible submission artist?]). He subbed me with a something or other, and then the fourth round we rolled he outlasted me. I felt good in that I think I felt a strength advantage in my favor, but it was obvious (by the fact that I had to tap to exhaustion) that my endurance isn't up to par and his is well above it.

Really kind of on the fence lately about if I should continue documenting my training. I'm not sure anyone's actually interested/benefitting from this, and I don't know that I really feel the need to document it for myself anymore. Among the things to think about, I s'pose.

Diet's been getting progressively cleaner. I'm eating my fruits and veggies, drinking my milk, meeting my protein needs - but I'm still picking up some junk food here and there that's absolutely empty calories. Hopefully if I update again at the end of next week, I'll be able to say that my diet has gotten much cleaner, and I'll be able to talk about some of the things I've been doing for cardio.

-N
 
#30 ·
Really kind of on the fence lately about if I should continue documenting my training. I'm not sure anyone's actually interested/benefitting from this, and I don't know that I really feel the need to document it for myself anymore. Among the things to think about, I s'pose.

-N
Progression.
 
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