My Eye!!!

This is not my eye but mine probably looked pretty much the same last week. More on that in a little bit.

The last 9 days of training have gone fairly well, the only bump in the road was getting some rust flakes in my eye during my boxing workout last Tuesday. It was very hot that day and initially I just thought that I got some sweat in my eye. As the day continued it started to hurt more and I thought maybe I'd gotten a scratch on my cornea (it's happened before and usually heals in a day). Wednesday it was worse and by the end of the day I knew I needed to get it looked at.

Thursday my wife was able to get me into an Ophthalmologist and he found the metal in my eye. To get the flakes out I had to face the fear of having a needle in my eye (and for 10 minutes). The rest of the day it hurt even more than before (after the numbing agent wore off). By Saturday it was 90% better.

O.K., now on to the work I did over the past 9 days:

Sunday 8/8/10
Rest – but lots of yardwork

Monday 8/9/10
EDT 10min. PR
OH Squat (65lb.): 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 2
Push-ups: 15, 10, 10,10, 8, 7

Slip Line 2x3min/45sec
Maize Bag 2x3mn/45sec

Tuesday 8/10/10
Boxing
3x3min/1min for each of following: Speed bag, Top and Bottom Bag, Heavy Bag
Felt stinging in my right eye during workout but just thought it was sweat in my eye.

Wednesday 8/11/10
EDT 10min PR
Deadlift (185lb): 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 7, 7, 5
Pull-ups: 5, 5, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Slip Line 2x3min/45sec
Maize Bag 2x3mn/45sec
Increase Deadlift to 205lbs next workout
Right eye much worse today – bad open or closed and very sensitive to light.

Thursday 8/12/10
Boxing
I planned to do 3x3min/1min for each of following: Speed bag, Top and Bottom Bag, Heavy Bag but had to take off due to eye (metal/rust flakes in right eye).

Friday 8/13/10
Eye is still very painful but getting better. Postponed workout until Sat.

Saturday 8/14/10
Eye is finally about 90% better. Planned on a 15 minute EDT workout of Cleans and Overhead Presses but due to a neck spasm did a 10 minute EDT workout of:
Pull-ups: 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 3
Push-ups: 14, 12, 10, 8, 8, 8, 5, 5, 10

Sunday 8/15/10
Rest

Monday 8/16/10
EDT 15min PR
Cleans (85lbs): 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 8, 8, 5
OH Presses (75lbs): 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 3, 5, 2, 4, 2
Increase cleans to 105lbs for next workout

Tuesday 8/17/10
3x3min/1min Top and Bottom Bag
3x3min/1min Heavy Bag

All in all going pretty well. I'll be doing measurements on this coming Sunday or Monday to see how I'm progressing toward my goals (I do know that I've lost about an inch on my waist (at belly button level).

Workout format

Yesterday I rested in anticipation of doing the Bootcamp this morning but since I never got a call from the trainer confirming the time I didn’t go.

I’m switching my workout format to a more organized one. For my resistance training I’m going to use the EDT format (Escalated Density Training) on Mon., Wed., Fri. along with boxing skill training on those days. Tues. and Thurs. will be my heavy boxing days (Sat. we’ll factor in later).

I’ve decided to use the EDT format because: 1.) I’ve never trained that way before, 2.) It looks like a good training format. My first 3 workouts with it will be 10 minute routines, then up to 15 minute routines for the next week. I’ll judge then whether to add a second PR Zone to each of those workouts.

For those of you unfamiliar with the EDT format I’ll give a super brief explanation:

Each workout consists, generally, of 2 PR Zones each is 15-20 minutes long and each consists of 2 exercises. The weight is generally your 10RM for that exercise. You begin by doing 5 reps of each of the 2 exercises followed by a short rest and repeat until time is up. The objective is to do as many repetitions of each exercise as possible in the time allotted (you need to keep a record so you know what to beat when you repeat the workout).

I did my first EDT workout this morning:

10min. PR Zone

• Cleans (75lb.): 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
• OH Press (65lb.): 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 5
  

Weights were a bit light so need to increase Clean to 95lb. OH Press to 75lb. for next Friday (when I repeat this workout but with 15 minutes).

Getting back in shape!!!

My training this year has been sporadic to say the least. I lost my last training partners in the fall and winter due to my injuries and their job changes. Now it’s time to get going again. I’m motivated and I’ve already started to get myself back into fighting shape.

Over the next 6 weeks I am working hard to:

• Cut the belly/body fat (back down to 15% from 20.8%)
• Get back into fighting shape:
• Cardio fit test from 32 down to 28
• Max Push-up from 29 to 40
• And the subjective measure of feeling comfortable with 4 full/heavy rounds on the heavy bag.

So far this week I’ve accomplished the following:

Monday 8/2/10

Superset 1 (5 sets)

Bench Press – flat, pause on chest, rep range 6-10, went up to 165lbs

Wide grip pull ups – min. 8 reps, last 3 sets with assistance

Superset 2 (3 sets)

DB Incline Press – 50lb dumbbells

Single arm bent Row – 60lb dumbbell

Tuesday 8/3/10

5 sets OH Squat working up to 125lb doubles

5 sets Snatch working up to 135lb singles

2 Supersets of 2 min rounds (no rest)

• Maize bag, Slip line, Speed bag (1 round each lead)

2 x 3min/1min heavy bag (1 round each lead mainly working jab and distance, last 30sec each round continuous punching)

Wednesday 8/4/10

High fatigue today, ended up making it a rest day

Thurday 8/5/10

Fitness Testing:

Nordic Track Treadmill Fit-Test: 32

Max sit-up in 60sec: 35

Max Push-up: 29

Deadlift working to 1RM: 5x135, 4x225, 5x245, 2x265, 1x275, 1x285

Boxing

3x3min/1min Top and Bottom Bag (last 30sec each round keeping very busy)

3x3min/1min Heavy Bag (last 30sec each round continuous punching)

(Roman Chair sit-ups between all rounds: 10, 10, 7, 5, 5, 5)

Siniwali Drills

I've had a few questions recently about some stickfighting drills. So, rather than re-invent the wheel by making a bunch of videos I thought I'd post some good basic ones that I've found that some others have made.
First, a good introductory series of videos.



I'll get some additional videos up on single stick (drills for the different ranges) as well as some knife and empty hand (hubud) drills.

Back to some standup work

Back after a long holiday weekend, time to work off the feast. We had another mid-day workout on Monday. More focus on some the groundwork basics. We had to leave out some of the drills that we did last week due to Tony’s new tattoo, he got it on his shoulder and upper arm which prevented us from any work that might involve friction or grabbing those areas.

Roll Call: Tony

Warm-up:
3 rounds – 10 pull-ups, 10 ring push-ups, hip stretch, 10 GHD sit-ups, 10 back (hip) extensions

Matt work (2min/1min each)

• Knee running (forward, back then side to side)
• Sit-out (from quarter position – alternating legs)
• From knees to butterfly guard and back to knees – alternating sides

Defense Circuit 2min/30sec (2 circuits – 1 circuit each lead)

• Maize ball
• Rope line

Circuit 3min/1min (2 circuits – 1 circuit each lead)

• Top and Bottom Bag
• Speed bag

Heavy Bag 3min/1min

• Left lead distance work (jabs, crosses and longer hooks)
• Right lead distance work (jabs, crosses and longer hooks)
• Inside work (hooks, uppercuts, crosses, etc)

Finisher (3 circuits)

• 75lb barbell clean 45sec
• 30 sec rest
• Punch out on Heavy bag 35 sec
• 20 sec rest

Again we had to work around some limitations, Tony's shoulder and my foot, but we still got a great workout and some good quality work done. It was a relief to me to be able to do some actual work on the bags again even though I still have to watch how hard I'm pushing off my right foot (jumprope and some footwork drills are still out). Standup work definitely felt a bit awkward after so much time off.
Keep moving and stay healthy.

Grappling

Intro
I haven’t posted here in awhile since the past 4 weeks have been a bit tough. About 6 weeks ago I developed severe Plantar Fasciitis in my right foot, pushing off from my right foot was very painful making footwork, punching the bag or mitts and even walking out of the question for a while.
After an injection in my heel about 4 weeks ago and now taking a course of prednisone it is finally calming down to where I’m not so limited in my training. But, I’m still trying to limit any push off with my right foot so it can heal and I can train the way I want to. It has been a challenge to keep training but I’ve kept up with the things I can do and focused on them.
Due to my foot problems I changed the usual focus of our workouts today to concentrate on some wrestling fundamentals. We pulled out the matt’s and below is what we did. Hope you like it.
Roll Call:
Tony and Mike
Warm-up:
3 rounds – 10 pull-ups, 3 ring dips, hip stretch, 10 GHD sit-ups, 10 back (hip) extensions
Matt work (2min/1min each)

• Knee running (forward, back then side to side)
• Sit-out (from quarter position – alternating legs)
• From knees to butterfly guard and back to knees – alternating sides
• Mount escape across matt (hip slide out) – 2 rounds

Basic Pummeling (2 minute rounds - over and under hook – rest round on speed bag)

• 2 Round Robin circuits

Defense Circuit 2min/30sec (2 circuits – 1 circuit each lead)

• Maize ball
• Rope line
• Shadow Boxing hands

Finisher (3 circuits of 45sec rounds no rest)

• 20lb squat clean (with medicine ball)
• Pushup crawl across gym
• Push out with rings (like ab wheel but with rings)
• Rope climb (from sitting, feet out, to standing)

Closing thoughts
Injuries can happen any time and frequently they happen when you are most motivated. When they happen it’s not a time to stop training but to change your training. Injuries can prevent you from training how you like to but we all need to strive to adapt when they happen. Frequently injuries allow us to focus on our weak areas, right now for me that means ground work. In the past I’ve had other injuries that have forced me to change my training.
One injury in particular was breaking my right hand in practice on the punching bag (I wish I could dress it up and say it was in the ring but it wasn’t). After getting the bone set and a cast put on I kept up training one handed – heavy bag, speed bag, mitt work, and even limited sparing. The same thing happened a number of years later except instead of a fracture I blew out a disc in my neck and couldn’t use my right arm for about 6 months. Again I did what I could, that time focusing on my left arm and kicking skills.
The lesson is to keep working, sure you can’t do the things the same when you are injured but if you think and work at it you can find things you can do a be more rounded when you have recovered from you injury.Keep moving and stay healthy – and if you have an injury find a way to move and to help yourself to get healthy.

Mixed training

Great training Saturday with Rick. We mixed it up a bit with boxing, kickboxing a bit of stick fighting work. Also had a visit from Brad, who we hope will come train within the next few weeks (he's got a good background in ground work - we'll finally be pulling out the matts).

Warmup: 3 min jumprope
Defense Circuit: 2min/30sec rounds

• Maize bag - 1 round each lead
• Slip line - 1 round each lead

Shadow Boxing: 3min/1min

• 1 round each lead

Mitt work: 3min/1min. We switched each round and cycled through to work each lead.

• combination: lead roundhouse low - cross-hook-cross - lead roundhouse
• offense defense: jab-cross - Feeder throws lead hook high - bob and weave under and return cross-hook-cross

Single Stick work: no formal rounds just worked the drills

• long range 1-4-2 angles
• mid range pattern
• bridge range between mid and close quarter
• work on breaking in and out of these 3 ranges

That was it, we did get a few stares from neighboors especially with the stick drills. Next Saturday we'll add some Greco Roman pummeling drills and some Silat leg sweep drills to the mix. During the week I'm going to start working some drills from Scott Sonnon's Grapplers Toolbox to prepare myself for adding ground work back in.