CrossFit Update

The CrossFit regime is going well and most of my workout updates are over on their website. I tore my hands doing 100kg Deadlifts today and came a poulty 3rd at the dads sprint race at school... shit, I would of smoked them over a longer distance! Must become more explosive....

Next year I will win.

Anyway.. today I did 'Diane'.. 21,15,9 sets of 100kg Deadlift and Hand Stand Push Ups. Two days ago I did 180 push ups, 90 chin ups, 90 burpees and 270 squats in 20 mins... Keep it going.

Crossfit Fumblings

I've got a problem (no kidding). My workout routines are rather random. I do enjoy kettlebells, bodyweights, olympic lifts, runs, HIIT stuff. In short I can't stick to one modality of training, I enjoy exploring different ways of training more than sticking to one routine for weeks or months at a time.

What to do, well, this weeks fad is to look at http://www.Crossfit.com in more detail. At first I was very sceptical about the place. Each day they publish a WOD or Workout Of the Day in a three on, one off pattern. That's not a bad thing but some of the numbers just seemed silly. Often numbers like 100 Pull ups would appear or a set of 20 plus HSPUs. No doubt that seeing the large amount of videos they have of people, and often girls, nailing these things has pushed me to have a go at it. I am trying desperately to be a modern thinking man but still something at the back of my head goes.. 'that's a chick, she can't deadlift all that in double quick time'... but she can. Anyway, if a chick can do it, so can I!... just not anywhere near as fast.

Morale of the story is, chicks can rock far harder than me, the numbers in the WODs are fine, just freaking do it ass boy!!

I'm not exactly running along side the WOD right now, but I did 15,12,9,6,3 sets of 185lb Deadlifts, HSPUs and Jumps yesterday. I didn't time it as I was just seeing how it was like to get through it. Today I ran my 5k route in 21:30. I'm not exactly sure that it's 5k, it might be a little short (I'll GPS it later) but its still a bitch of a run since its horridly up hill on the way back.

Private Session Notes

Shit, I don't think my body can take much more BJJ this week... I'm bolloxed...

I just finished a grueling session plus a private with Victor Estima on the open guard. Here's what I did as a reminder to myself.

Step One - Create Space to obtain Outside Hook Guard

In open guard with both wrists controlled and feet on the hips. Create space by pushing the hips back. Opponent often stands up, come into the Outside Hook Guard. Control the ankle.

Scenario A - Left Outside Hook/Right Arm wrist control

Sweep A - To the back

Controlling his right wrist with my right arm. Simultaneously pull back on his arm and push away his knee with the extended leg. Release the left arm holding the ankle and grab the belt. Keeping the grip on the wrist you can go to the back.

Sweep B - To Mount

Pass the right wrist between his legs and grip with the left arm. Grab some collar with the right arm. Push the knee with the extended leg, pull down with the collar and obtain mount.

Scenario B - Left Outside Hook/ Left Arm wrist control

Sweep A - To Mount (Opponent going forwards)

You are controlling the left arm instead. Posture up to get your back off the floor. Push on the knee with the extended leg and pull the left arm down, looking over the right shoulder, and use the grip on the ankle to help tip the opponent over.

Sweep B - To Mount (Opponent going backwards)

Trickier now. Place the right foot onto the right hip. Release the left leg outside hook and place it inbetween the opponents legs. Snake your hips onto the left side. Push the hip back, the arm forward and sweep the left leg with the back of the left heel. Since you still have control of the right leg the opponent cannot step back and falls backwards. Keep the grips as these with help you be pulled onto the opponent in the mount.

I hope this makes sense to myself as I read it back at a later date.

Seminar things to remember

You know how it goes, you've just been to a BJJ seminar for 3 hours and you've forgotten all of it by the time you hit the mats. So, I'm just jotting down a few things which should help me remember all the cool stuff I got from John Will. It was a good seminar with John making a great deal of sense. Here we go then.. things to remember!

From mount, go for the left Americana and transistion to side. Obtain the over-under control (non-choking hand on top of the choking hand) and transition to back.
To escape from the back with a choke. Look towards the bicep of the choking arm and move backwards away from it. Control the knee to stop the mount.

Butterfly guard.. with the over-under. The over hook is more around the wrist and elbow.

Butterfly guard.. single right wrist control. Yank the arm to the right side, control the back with the left arm. Underhook the right arm under the left armpit and butterfly sweep to your left.

Butterfly guard.. both arms on legs. Posture up, overhook elbow and yank it hard.

Closed guard to Butterfly guard. Open guard and hook your legs in his, extend to create space, release one hook and insert Butterfly.. repeat.

Defend Knee on Belly... With his right knee on you, control his left knee with right arm!! (Remember this!) Snake out...

That's enough to be remembering I think unless something else comes to me.

Handstand Push Ups

It's been a good week. BJJ training on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Strength training on Tuesday consisting of Bench, Chin Ups, Pull Ups, Dips followed by a 4 mile run. I want to improve my Handstand Push Up performance (video above for an example of Handstand Pull Ups) so I did 5 sets of negative isometric holds. Starting upside down I lowered myself a bit and held for 5 seconds, then went a little lower. I followed this with 5x5 sets of normal Handstand Push Ups. I finished with a 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 set of Chin Ups. If I had more time I would of done some sets of medicine ball push ups, ab wheel roll outs and a run but time ran out.

I would love to work towards a Planche and an Elbow Lever.

Nutrition wise my diet recently has consisted mainly of eggs and wheat bread for breakfast, fruit and nuts for lunch and then eat with the family in the evening. I received a copy of 'Lifefood Recipe Book' today so I'm looking forward to mixing in some ideas from that into my diet. I can't currently live 100% on Lifefood but having some in my diet is a good thing. Not sure how I'm going to incorporate it into my diet through the long Cricket season. That's a challenge.

Herpes sux... but this Triangle doesn't!

Ok ok, calling Chicken Pox 'Herpes' isn't all that pleasent. I mean, saying that u have caught Herpes off your child just doesn't sound right. Anyway, looks like I have got it, or at least the start of it. Major league bummer at 33 years of age I can tell u. Although I haven't gone spotty yet I'm sure I won't be able to train BJJ for some time. Time for reflection then, and what better thing to reflect on than BJJ technique? Todays thoughts go towards Baret Yoshida, now there is a man who likes a Triangle choke. It is very common for someone to pass your guard by putting pressure on one of your knees and this is a great way to counter that pass. I'm also quite interested in it's Gi application. My coach, Braulio Estima, said the other day whilst demostrating Spider and De La Hiva Guards that an opponent needs that arm free to pass properly. I'm going to concentrate a lot on controlling the leading arm in future.

Hate flying!!

So here I am in Dublin for the second time since Saturday. God, I hate flying! Some people may think that flying to work is cool... but it's nothing but a pain in the ass. Check out the pic of the Blackberry prototype I found on the truck!

Back to the grind

It's been a little while since I finished the Minimum routine by Pavel and I had been waiting for an ideal time to get the ROP started. Sickness came and went and I started wondering if I was going to be able to do a routine that required three seperated workouts in one week. Apart from my stupid job, I train BJJ quite erratically too and in my mind my BJJ training comes first with my KB workouts as a means to support. I have been training BJJ hard too and three sessions of that a week leaves me little time to recover from all the aches, pains and strains.

I have been enjoying Art of Strength's Providence DVD (see link on the right) a great deal and I also enjoy setting myself workouts so I came up with this one for today:

2 Minutes Swings (20kg)
30 Seconds Both
30 Seconds Right
30 Seconds Left
30 Seconds Both
-----
1 Minute Active Rest
-----
Clean and Press (20kg)
Alternate 5,4,3,2,1 Sets
-----
1 Minute Active Rest
-----
Pull Ups (BW)
5,4,3,2,1 Sets (Small rest between sets)
Followed by
3 Double Jerks (2x24kg)
Followed by
1 Minute Active Rest
Repeat 3 Times
-----
1 Minute Active Rest
-----
Windmills (20kg)
5R, 5L
Followed by
1 Minute Sumo Squat (24kg)
Repeat once with no rest
-----
Finish with TGUs or Swings or Snatches.

Not a bad little workout...

The Return of No Gi Power!!

For the first time in many months, probably four, I went to No Gi class at Gracie Barra Brum. Wow, I really enjoyed myself! I'm not sure if its a case of me getting better or there being a large amount of white belt level guys there but I cruised. I slapped on several Triangles, RNCs and a Papa John Calf Crank. I even went for a Gogoplata at one point and almost sunk it. That particular submission is still one I have yet to finish someone with.. It's time will come.

Anyway, the most important part of the night was my showdown with Justin. Justin, for all of you whom haven't rolled with him (erm, all of you I reckon), is one of those guys who is very very strong and relies on his strength heavily when rolling. I think he is just the sort of grappler that will remain a white belt forever as he doesn't play a technical game and just uses his raw power. Saying that he still is very difficult to deal with as if you do not possess a sound technique his power will win. He is also an extremely stubborn tapper, you really have to get it on for him to tap. I rolled with him twice last night, the first time was a backwards and forwards struggle but I got the upper hand on points. Second time around he played his game again, he powered past my guard and went for head and arm control. I faked bridging one way and then quickly reversed my energy the other getting the sweep and ending in side control. He was still able to power me over but this time I had enough space to put him in a Reverse Triangle. Like I said, he's a stubborn sod and it took me a while to get him to tap but he did.

And there it was, my first submission win against Justin. For me that is such a landmark as my technique finally was good enough. Even when he was in good position I was happy that I wasn't in danger and that I could escape. It's like something out of a B Movie were the hero works hard and beats his first foe only to find out that he has just seen the tip of the iceberg in what he can achieve.

As a side note for the evening I never felt tired. I'm sore today but cardio wise I was fit to go all night. Must be doing something right!

10K and things

Last night was the first London 10K Ground Clash. All in all a very good event with Braulio Estima, Jeff Monson and Lovarto Jr. The only problem was that Braulio didn't win after losing to Monson in the final. As for my ETK training, I've finished the first 4 weeks minimum programme so I've got to set my sights on the Right of Passage programme. I'm notoriously bad for following routines for long so I've been throwing in Art of Strength Providence sessions which have been killer! I'm staying away from my 24kgs a bit at the moment until I'm really ready to tackle Military Pressing them.

Blessed by Buddha

This is my Lucky Gi
It is Buddha Blessed.
Do not bleach the luck out.
Always air it dry and you are guaranteed protection from bad referees and the Jiu Jitsu Police.
Wear it with pride.

Even with all the cardio work I have been doing over the last two weeks whilst I have been away nothing can keep me in shape for a hard BJJ session. I had a 20 stone Rugby player to deal with, squashing my noggin like a rotten tomato. Even the mighty power of my Lucky Gi didn't save me! Anyway, I am continuing with my ETK minimum routine. I moved onto week 3 and started my swing session with my 20kg KB but it was soon apparent that I wouldn't be able to finish it so I changed to a 16kg half way though. Even then finishing the set wasn't simple! Anyway, I've done a serious BJJ session today and I'll do the 5 minute TGU set tonight when I have recovered some. Man, this is hard!

Bye Bye In and Out Burger and Chuck Norris

Finally my trip to LA has finished. What on paper was only a short five day trip has seemed to of lasted a lifetime. Looking back I must admit that I've had a blast. I have made new friends and experienced the likes of the Thai Elvis, In and Out Burgers, Hollywood, Mexican breakfasts, getting lost in the Hills, explored Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset, bought new clothes and even managed to get a couple of decent exercise sessions in. I'm happy that I nailed what was a very tricky show to do on EVS and did some things using Timeline mode that I hadn't done before. My two exercise sessions in what was a very spartan 'gym' at the hotel were good. In both sessions I resorted to Ross Enamait's No Excuses workout, it takes ten minutes to acheive and is intense.


I'm hoping that doing the Oscars will become an annual thing. I'm feeling quite comfortable with that particular area of LA and I'd love to get back to the Japanese Sushi joint I found on my last day there. Anyway, now I'm back and I'm fighting the jet lag it's time for me to get back into being a fitness and BJJ freak. I'm going to pick up the ETK Minimum routine at the start of week three and try to lose some of the fat I must of gained eating all that stuff in the States. Bring it on!

Arrived on a Jet Plane.. and it's raining.

Welcome to LA! Bill Hicks used to say that LA was 'Hot and Sunny everyday'.. LIAR! It was pissing it down when I got here. Oddly enough I met some of the Catering crew off the Cricket on the plane who were going to Texas for a few months. We had arranged to meet up in the Kings Head pub in Santa Monica but it was just too much of an effort for little old jet lagged me, I went to see the Thai Elvis instead!

I'm feeling fat already, I'm full of sugar and fat and it's only been half a day. Breakfast beckons and then does the gym..

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well here I am at Heathrow Airport ready to fly to Los Angeles in an effort to cover The Oscars for SKY. I've gotta be honest I'm predicting a total farce of a production! Still I'm in good nick after a reasnoble nights sleep no doubt aided by my lack of internet access boring me to death. The picture is of me post breakfast in one of those swanky looking lounges that provides rather naff food.

For the last couple of weeks I've been taking a ZMA like substance by Reflex Nutrition. Over the last year or so I've taken a large array of supplements of different kinds in an experiment of what works. I'm now of the opinion that overall most of them do so little that I doubt I would notice any difference. As I have mentioned earlier I have been aware of my Testosterone levels for a while, I never realised that there was a problem until reading Mike Mahler's advice about the importance of T and using the simple 'Morning Woody' test to monitor my T levels. So currently all I am taking is Reflex's ZMA-a-like and the occasional Reflex Growth Matrix shake. My mood has been very good and positive since starting ZMA, plus my sleep has been good. I was struggling to sleep well before and I now rarely stir. As for 'Morning Woodies'... it's all good. ;-)

4kg of hurt

Well, I have to say that I have been cruising through the ETK Minimum course so far using my 16kg Powerseeker KB. That was until today. I have a new member of my collection, it's a Kettlebells.co.uk 20kg, it's very shiny since it has been epoxy finished and is deceptively heavy for it's size. Anyway, I thought I'd raise the bar in my ETK routine and give my new toy a spin (or a swing). Phew, it was a lot harder, just at extra 4kg but I felt it. More importantly though, I had to concentrate on my technique more and keep my core locked in. Somewhere I read from Mike Mahler that by lifting heavier KBs you are forced to apply better technique, you don't have much choice. Todays routine was the 12 minute session with 30 reps of swings between one minute of active rest. I'm not looking forward to the 40 rep routine looming after I return from LA next week. That's gonna be tough. Gonna have to nail it though so I can get to the 50 rep week. This pain is good though.

Hotel Room BJJ©

Just thought I'd share a few moments of what happens whilst abroad competing. Never one known to be shy, here's a picture of Luke (blue belt) being hassled by Braulio Estima (European & Pan Am champion) in an inpromptu Hotel Room BJJ© fight overseen by Gracie Barra Director John 'Papa' Gormon. Points are scored in Hotel Room BJJ© just like regular IBJJ competition with the exception of six extra points being awarded for using any item of the room's tea & coffee set for a submission.

I'm a fair guy though so I should include this pic of Luke scoring two points against Braulio. Knowing Luke like I do I'd not be surprised if he has got this picture framed next to his bed. Back to the action in the fight, not to be out done by Luke, Braulio sets up a classic Hotel Room BJJ© finish. How did the fight end though?




Showing all of his Hotel Room BJJ© cunning, Braulio catches Luke between two single beds and finishes him with style. Notice how Braulio uses Luke's own coat to keep his super secret submission under wraps. Congrats to Braulio going on from defeating Luke by smashing Xande Ribero in the Absolute Finals!! War Braulio!

Phew! almost half way through the Snooker at Newport. The Kettlebell workouts are going well, I kinda got bored with the 20 swings/1 minute active rest routine early so I upped it to 5 minutes Get Ups, 30 swings/1 minute active rest over 12 minutes and 3x3 ladders of single Clean, Squat, Press and Pull. I'm confident that by performing the Clean/Squat/Press/Pull combination is covering enough muscle groups. I felt it sensible to add the Squat into it especially after the workout stressed how important adding a Pull was. It was a good work out and I'm a little tired now.. bring on the Snooker!!!!!

Half Guard Ideas

As I am not going to be training BJJ this week I'm just reminding myself of my top Half Guard game flow.

Obtained lapel control ->
Head under armpit then sit back with the knee through to break/bait myself out

Opponent obtained underhook ->
Shift to other side, control own ankle. Work pass.
Or go low and grip behind the bum. Kick leg to break it out and pass.

Note to self: Dare to use the knee through, flip sides.

Warm ups

Well, although I hate Pavel Tsatsouline's cringe worthy advertising plus his more than dubious self claims, I am embarking on his Enter the Kettlebell course. Why? quite simply because www.artofstrength.com have released a workbook to complement the Enter the Kettlebell course that organises and structures it in such a way that I would like to follow.

The course itself mainly contains swings, snatches, get ups, cleans and presses. I appreciate the concentration of the basic Kettlebell exercises as much as I dig doing basic lifts like Bench Press, Squats and Deadlifts. It looks like a good regime to become stronger and better conditioned.

What are my goals? At the age of 33 my body is starting to sag and I don't think I have the time and dedication to acheive a great body through bodybuilding. My goals are to become more conditioned in an althetic way that will directly benefit my BJJ and through such endeavour also inherit a decent but not great body. I need to stay under 82.3kg but become the strongest, most flexible and most conditioned competitor in my BJJ weight and age limit.

Achieve :

Functional Strength
Flexibility
Conditioning

I enjoy Kettlebells and that makes me train more. I'm going to get week one and two out of the way before I go to America and then crack on with week three on my return. Let's do it!

An Introduction

I've messed around with Blogs before but I have never quite managed to stick to one for any period of time. Here we go again though, this time it's gonna be different. I've just got my blue belt in BJJ from Braulio Estima and won a bronze medal at the European Championships in the white belt middleweight category.

I'm planning to blog my progression through my BJJ and various fitness programs. Soon I'll be embarking on the 'Enter the Kettlebell' program that will last approx. 3 months. I'm just waiting for my 20kg Kettlebell to arrive. It'll supplement my 12kg and 2x24kg Newitts 'Bells and my 2x16kg Powerseekers 'Bells. Nutrition wise I'm starting a two month course of ZMA and in two weeks time I'll restart a two month cycle of Bulgarian Tribulus by Relfex. I'm 33 years old now and I'm starting to notice the drop in my testosterone levels, so I'm going to do something about it.

Weight wise I'm about 12st 7lb or 79.3kg. The middleweight limit in IBBJ rules is 82.3kg or about 181lbs, so I'm going to have to stay within that limit. Given that I'm going to cycling Creatine I don't mind going over on cycle.

Let's begin!