DarthPenguin

This sounds a really good idea. Also sounds similar to some of the seminar camps my bjj academy runs: they will usually get a big name person in to take some special classes over a weekend, Saturday and Sunday usually, with the topics announced in advance. Eg we have had Jon Thomas over before to run one on Collar/Sleeve guard over a weekend; Ffion Davies has done one the last couple of years too etc.. Having the 'big name' covering a set topic is really good as you can choose to attend (or otherwise) based on that topic and you get to really drill down into it

congratulations, well deserved

Tuesday 17 September Lifting Session Seated overhead press 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 50kg x 3 55kg x 5 55kg x 5 55kg x 5 55kg x 5 55kg x 5 55kg x 6 Was really pleased with this. A few mths ago i would have struggled to do 2 reps with this weight for one set then been wiped out. Managed 6 sets with it for minimum of 5 reps. could have done a few more i think but programme was planned in to leave 2-3 reps in the tank minimum Trapbar deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 95kg x 5 110kg x 5 125kg x 6 Called session there as the entire household (myself included!) had picked up a stomach bug and didn't want to push it too much. Wanted to get the main lifts done then out (while i could!!)

Saturday 14 September Lifting Session Bench Press 20kg x 5 45kg x 5 55kg x 3 65kg x 2 70kg x 1 70kg x 12 Squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 60kg x 3 72.5kg x 5 82.5kg x 3 92.5kg x 5 Cable chest flye (superset with rear delt x flye: weight is per hand) 10kg x 25 10kg x 25 10kg x 25 Rear delt X flye (weight is per hand) 10kg x 10 10kg x 10 10kg x 10

Sometimes a bit of variety can be good pick some metrics that you can use to evaluate how the training is going and then give it a little time and see how you are doing against them. For me main one i use is a calculated 1RM and as long as that is tracking upwards for the lifts i am bothered about then things are on track. I also use performance when training too but that one is harder to quantify objectively!

That makes sense - if you can get some people to look into actively training then it's definitely a win

Also how i picture myself :p Though in our house we are also big fans of Thanos and Beerus (from Dragonball!) so i might have to rotate them in too!

Chandler has signed to fight Oliveira so looks like he has moved on - doubt Conor fights again tbh unless it is a clear slam dunk win - he doesn't want to hurt his brand any more i think!

Yeah unfortunately for him, when he has now (last year or two) looked like a genuine good NFL QB. I can't see him staying in the league much longer tbh, if he is prone to getting them then he might need to / be made to stop for his health.

Yeah, though the best bit of business they did was keeping Chris Jones i thought. He was the difference maker in the tighter playoff games. But worthy does give them the sheer speed threat they lost when Hill left.

Sounds like a good session. Also personally i have always found side control submissions harder as you have to balance keeping control of the person with getting a sub locked up. Is a good test of control, how you are putting pressure / weight on etc. since you are freeing your arms up a little and can't succeed unless you do both bits well! Plus if Kendall is a good wrestler he will naturally have good top control so no wonder there is a tonne of pressure!

Am curious about this: how did you find it / how useful do you think it is? Not being confrontational, am just curious! I have always been very sceptical of self defence courses for women as i think they can be more harm than they are worth (people stopping for 2sec to think can i fight out of this and getting caught rather than just running) with the limited amount of training reps possible not being enough. Curious to hear your take though as you are very experienced, sensible and also in the police so will have a much more informed perspective on their validity!

Thursday 12 September Lifting Session Trap bar Deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 100kg x 3 115kg x 2 120kg x 1 130kg x 10 Seated overhead press 20kg x 5 30kg x 5 45kg x 5 50kg x 3 55kg x 6 Cable chest flye (weight is per hand - superset with bulgarian split squat) 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 20kg x 15 Bulgarian split squat (reps = Total of L+R) 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Cable lateral raise (reps = total of L+R; superset with triceps extensions) 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Triceps extensions 30kg x 17 30kg x 17 30kg x 17 Comments: Session went well. Capped the shoulder press as using omne lift at 531 a day and other one at the juggernaut numbers. It was the 531 and meant to be 1+ so targeted 6 since the other main lift was planned to be the heaviest for the day. Pleased with how lifting is going using the combined routine. Am noticing a large benefit from it as i have always been weaker at doing more reps in lower weight than i should be based on max strength. This week and last couple have unusual training availability due to professional exams at work so been to less sessions but since i lift in my home gym that is easier to squeeze in

Tuesday 10 September Lifting Session Squat 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 60kg x 5 70kg x 3 85kg x 2 90kg x 1 95kg x 10 Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 5 60kg x 3 67.5kg x 5 75kg x 3 85kg x 1 Cable Face pull (supersetted with bench press) 15kg x 10 15kg x 10 15kg x 10 15kg x 10 15kg x 10 Cabe chest flye (weight is per hand - superset with lying leg curls) 20kg x 14 20kg x 14 20kg x 14 Lying Leg Curl 25kg x 8 25kg x 8 25kg x 8 Triceps rope pushdown 30kg x 16 30kg x 16 Cable lateral raise (reps = total of L + R) 15kg x 28 15kg x 28

Yep i added one too - couldn't resist adding one that matched my username!

Glad to hear it is going well calories burned is an interesting one: are you tracking it to gain / lose weight? If so then often a scale is more useful tbh as calories burned etc. need judged in conjunction with intake of calories, expenditure from other activities / existing and your general metabolism. Tracking scale gain/loss over time at the same time every day might be more reliable, or a lot of people just use a mirror test / pictures. Plusses and minuses to most approaches tbh

Was an interesting first week - as a Bills fan not sure if i should be happy at the comeback or annoyed that it was needed tbh!

yeah for us my class works a lot of standing (we have a lot of judo black belts too though so it can be painful!) and has wrestling classes too. From those of us who aren't judo black belts, and have been training a while, a lot of us are enrolled in a variety of judo clubs too to work on it! It is good fun but i wish i had picked it up when a lot younger - starting judo in your mid 40s can be rough!

Thought i would check in and ask how the routine is going? Hopefully it is all going smoothly and you are seeing some benefits

Saturday 7 September BJJ Session Session was on closed guard techniques. Worked initially on back take from closed guard, arm drag your opponent, clamp tight (grabbing to far rear armpit), then climb up. Found the final securing back not that great mainly due to being a lot longer than the guy i was practising with so was tough to squeeze in. Then moved to flower sweep from there, assuming not taking back, once arm is trapped go for the sweep. Is a sweep i have always liked so it was good to practice it more. Went from there to drilling scissor sweep if couldn't get arm pinned against you and finished with scissor sweep into and armbar almost straight away. Armbar involved sliding your head side shoulder under the opponents arm as soon as you sweep them over and not coming up all the way, settling instead into armbar. Wasn't the smoothest so need to work on that quite a bit. Then some rounds of positional sparring and 'proper' sparring which both went fine

For me, personally, i would say it is the confidence of knowing you can take a hit etc. Silly as it sounds i can think of multiple times when people have been behaving in a manner they shouldn't and other people have been tolerating it out of worry etc. and i have been confident to speak up and deal with it. I remember my other half telling me once "but you can't say that to them they might hit you" and being nonplussed by my response of "i have been hit plenty of times by bigger people than that who likely know how to hit better" - thankfully there isn't a huge issue with weapons here otherwise would be different! I have also always thought that they are good for making you aware that appearances can be deceiving - plenty of exceptionally skilled and talented martial artists look like they couldn't hurt a fly - best one i can think of is just look at Mikey Musumeci : looks like a quiet, nerdy guy but is an amazing grappler / submission fighter.

Easter Eggs? That sounds intriguing! More seriously, well done Patrick, you have obviously put in a massive amount of time and effort to the update (not even including the work you put in previously making sure the site existed!) so thanks for all the work and it looks good :)

Best of luck tomorrow Patrick, am sure if will all go smoothly! If there is anything you need to help check it is going as expected that i can help with then please let me know.

Monday 2nd September Karate Session warm ups as per usual though a little more leg stretching which is good! lots more kids that adults tonight so the class got split into the 3 adults (one black belt and 2 1st kyu's - including myself) and the kids with another instructor. Lots of work on kata which was really good. Due to the smaller numbers we performed the katas individually which meant it was a lot easier for the instructor to drill down to little points. Got several useful comments and we worked quite a bit on drilling our individual comments. Did some kumite drills next: worked on punching a wall with glove on, with the goal being to just touch and no more, then tested our distance by removing the gloves. Was pleasantly surprised with how non beat up my knuckles were from doing it afterwards which is a good sign! Worked a few footwork drills after too. I am really awful at the stereotypical "bouncing" shotokan footwork, i use much more kickboxing style footwork i think which works better for me (not sure how best to articulate it but less bouncing!). The instructor was adamant that should be bouncing though which was a little sore on my ankles - i will try to adapt over time and see if i can have it as an option when needed going forwards. Really good session though

Tuesday 3 September Lifting Session Seated overhead barbell press 20kg x 5 35kg x 5 45kg x 3 50kg x 2 55kg x 1 55kg x 10 Trap bar deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 90kg x 3 105kg x 5 120kg x 3 135kg x 5 These felt good - think i could do more if needed which is good but will stick to the planned progression Bulgarian Split squat (superset with cable lateral raises. For both total reps = L + R) 16kg x 12 16kg x 12 16kg x 12 Cable lateral raise 15kg x 23 15kg x 23 had to call it there as needed to take my son to his athletics class