DarthPenguin

Personally i am hoping for the Astros to win for two reasons (one of which i will admit is a little odd). 1) I would like to see Verlander win another world series. He is a clear hall of fame pitcher and i think he has been a little underappreciated throughout his career (doesn't have enough CY Youngs i think etc) 2) I am slightly odd in that i prefer the clear best team to win rather than an underdog or someone "getting lucky / getting hot at the right time". I was hoping for a Dodgers vs Astros WS for that reason. I think most people could see over the entire season that the Astros were the best team out of them and the Phillies. Is kinda like the Giants teams that won 3 world series and were never really the best team in any year - they just got hot really I'd also like to see Verlander win a game regardless of the final income - for him to be 0-6 in WS games is slightly crazy!

My (hockey) St Louis Blues went 24 straight years of making the playoffs without even getting to the Stanley Cup Finals. It took them 51 years from their inception before they won their first Stanley Cup. I feel your pain. thats true though i will see your 24 years and raise you the Marv Levy Bills reaching 4 superbowls and not winning one! For that period of time there were three certainties in life : Death, Taxes and the Bills losing in the Superbowl!

How did i not see this thread!!! I am the rarity of a Scottish baseball fan. Personally i follow the Mariners (have done since the Big unit era). I follow the Bills and the Mariners and have been used to years of them being less than good - makes a change for them to both be decent now!

Thats an impressive total! What is more impressive is that they are pertinent and not just building a total as sometimes happens on some forums!

Out of curiosity have you ever tried front squatting? I used to find that quite a good option sometimes and it was really good for core strength. My wrist flexibility isn't that great anymore (legacy of some injuries) so i use lifting straps to make little 'handles' that allow for correct elbow positioning etc. Just thought it might be another option if you don't like the safety squat bar

Awesome, hopefully that's you found your solution!

Saturday 15th October Weights session I decided to try an ad-hoc lighter weights session to see how i was recovered. I thought i might as well do a lighter arms session as that would be a good test and then can get back to the 'proper' sessions next week if all is good Olympic Barbell curls 20kg x 10 25kg x 10 30kg x 8 Straight bar pushdowns 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 KB hammer curls 16kg x 10 16kg x 10 16kg x 10 Single arm KB triceps extension 8kg x 12 8kg x 12 8kg x 12 wrist curls with E-Z Bar superset with below 10kg x 20 10kg x 20 10kg x 20 reverse E-Z bar wrist curls (second part of superset) 10kg x 20 10kg x 20 10kg x 20 reverse ones felt a lot harder as expected but got all reps in Hand gripper S x 10 S x 10 S x 10 I looked out my old 'captains of crush' grippers and thought it would be a good idea to start using these again. Started with the S for 3 sets of 10 Overall session felt fine

Wednesday 12th October Karate Session Was beginning to feel a little better so i thought it made sense to try a karate session and see if things were genuinely improving Warm ups Kihon Usual grade kihon Kumite drills We were doing some kumite drills which involves a leaning tsuki punch to the same side as the arm throwing it and then darting through into the same space following the punch. Not an oi-tsuki . Can't remember the exact phrase. Was an interesting exercise, but if i am being honest i can't see when i would ever actually use it! Kata Several rounds of Heian Yondan and the CI picked up some more bits for me to work on, which were good. Thankfully they were straightforward enough - more a case of "just do this rather than that" so seem straightforward to apply Then we did multiple rouns of kata, starting with Kihon kata and progressing up the katas one by one until you reached your grading kata and then keep performing that one until everyone had reached their grading kata. Was as useful exercise Session felt slightly more tiring than usual but nothing concerning so that is good!

Haven't published many updated in last fortnight as have been ill, managed a couple of sessions in last few days which i will log. Just an annoying virus i think - got sent for blood tests etc which were all clear (thankfully!) Was off work for fortnight too annoyingly so need to catch up now!

Hello and welcome!

Thanks for the suggestions! I plan to take it gradually, no need to push to fast and run the risk of injury - at the end of the day this isn't the day job so it makes sense to err on the side of caution. Isn't holding me back training wise either, it is just a preference.

Hopefully it's not this reason but it could well be! I'm hoping that the fact my 'straight ahead' flexibility for front kicks etc is still not too bad means it isn't that but if it is, then it is what it is!

Congrats

I took a look at the rowing numbers and it likely depends on if you are pushing the weight or erring on the side of caution and trying to get some lighter volume in. What i mean by that is that your deadlift numbers are currently a little higher than mine but in a similar ballpark i think overall and for rows i am doing 65kg (approx 143lbs) for sets of 10 with the focus being on lighter volume - if i try to max out i can hit a double at about 100kg. Reason for mentioning this is i have never felt my lats or upper back are a limiting factor in my deadlift at all and it is the only thing i can see as a major difference potentially. Looking again it might well be a mid back thing - your lat pulldown numbers seem a lot higher than the rows and they don't use as much upper/mid back. Just throwing out some ideas so apologies if it is overly interfering!!!

Cheers, thanks for the suggestions! I was trying the frequent one already - any time i go to the bathroom i've been doing a stretch with my leg up on the hall bannister staight and side on like a side kick. Seems to be helping a little already. Am aware this is a slightly daft question but i used to never have any problem with kicking flexibility so i was never sure exactly what helped! Thanks!!

Wednesday 28th September Karate Session Warm ups Kihon Practiced new grading kihon required for grade and also some of the techniques / combinations required for the one after Kumite Just practiced Ippon Kumite, practicing the new additions i will require for next grade. Again we also practiced what will be required for the grade after. Seemed straightforward, focused on this for the majority of the class Kata Ran through Heian Yondan a couple of times. Instructor seemed impressed that i had taught myself the full kata already and said it is already in a reasonable shape but obviously some improvements needed - so i was happy! Away on a work trip for Thurs and Fri then away with the kids and my other half for the weekend so won't be able to do any more training this week

I'll give that a try and see how it works. Thanks! Think i might also invest in a foam roller. I think my IT band is extremely tight at the moment and rolling it may help some.

is the issue definitely with your lats? Was thinking about it and your rhomboids and mid back muscles do a lot to retract your scapula etc when rowing so they might be contributing? How is your rowing strength in relation to your deadlift? That might give an indication of where the issue lies. For myself, while the lats feel it to keep it in tight i try to concentrate on 'pinching' the mid back when i am tightening up the back muscles. I think i also read somewhere before that raising the hips up too early can lead to the bar floating out a little sometimes. Maybe the leg drive is contributing to it a little? If it's on the heavy sets it would make sense that you are driving more with the legs. Just a few ideas, apologies if they are silly ones!!

Tuesday 27th September Lifting session Seated overhead press 20kg x 5 25kg x 3 30kg x 2 35kg x 5 42.5kg x 5 47.5kg x 6 bench press 45kg x 10 45kg x 10 45kg x 10 Fat grip dumbell Row (using my fat gripz originals) 25kg x 8 25kg x 5 25kg x 5 These felt tough, which is good and an indicator that i need to work on my crushing grip strength etc. Still feeling these the next day when typing! Single arm standing kb press 16kg x 11 16kg x 11 16kg x 11 Did these instead of more sets of lighter weight barbell presses to add some more shoulder pressing volume but try to do it standing where possible. Will try to add 1 rep to each set where possible each week with a minimum of 1 rep total increase. When i get to 3 x 20 reps i will go up in weight Barbell E-Z Bar reverse curl 20kg x 12 20kg x 12 20kg x 12 kata practice ran through Heian Yondan 5 times. Gradually getting more familiar with the sequencing etc. Now just need to get better at the techniques themselves!

Man, that sucks! Glad you're feeling better!Thanks!

Cheers for the suggestions - i think i will try implementing the side lunges and see how they work out. Hip flexibility seems fine in a forward direction (my front kick is still plenty high with snap etc) which makes the side kicks etc look worse, since people seem to assume that if can do one high then should be equally flexible for all! For side lunges do you typically take a lateral step and keep knee and foot facing forwards and then squat down to the side that is out or do you turn foot out slightly? Am asking as i tried them in the past with foot forward and it did not feel good in the knees, but when i look online that appears to be the common form. Am interested in what worked for you if you were working for the same thing (and don't worry all caveats apply!!) I already squat weekly anyway but will see if i can fit some more dynamic stretches in. Thanks!

Hi all, I thought i would see if anyone had any recommendations for some good exercises / routines to do to improve hip flexibility for kicking specifically. I've been working at my yoko geri and mawashi geri and neither are as high as i would like (or indeed could manage in the past). Yoko geri is very much chudan and mawashi is a little higher but still not properly Judan. I've been working at doing 90/90 exercises every day as well as some lying hip stretches but i was wondering if there were any good ideas out there. I had a read through my copy of the Thomas Kurz book too but was hoping that someone on here has either had the issue themselves or had to help a student with it. 90/90 is a lot tougher than it used to be with it being a lot harder to remain upright with my right leg in front and left behind, than it is otherwise. Generally my left hip seems a little tighter than my right one It isn't a structure of my hip issue (i know some people have these) as when i was younger and originally following striking arts i could easily kick above my head with both a side kick and roundhouse kick. I grappled for several years and only returned to striking last year and have noticed it then. Grateful for any suggestions - even if they are just "work at your stretching more!" Exercises i have been doing daily for the last few weeks : - 90/90 for 30 sec each side x 2 - clamshells 3 x 12 for each side - side lying leg lifts 3 x 12 for each side - Lying on back, cross leg over other leg with knee up and push down towards other side whilst keeping back flat (can't remember name for there) - propping leg up on stair or kitchen worktop and stretching down towards it. Bending standing knee to increase relative height of stretch

For the floating away from the shins i have always heard that that can be either not contracting the lats enough or not hinging back quite enough. For me the queues that always seem to work is to pull back rather than up, in a way that you think feels like you might topple backwards with the weight being a counterbalance (i am probably wording this badly) and to focus on pushing the ground away rather than pulling the bar up. I find i am a lot tighter and explode better into it when i push the ground away. Probably queues you know already i know!

Update on lack of entries for last week - got a bug and was in bed ill all week so didn't get anything done. Tried to do a little stretching but that was the limit. Will be back to normal this week though!

Ha Ha yeah, and cheers for the suggestion - am always happy to get some! Is times like this when i get jealous of the additional space you North Americans typically have for things like that!!