DarthPenguin

Thanks I'm fine power cleaning, used to do it a lot, plus fine with power snatch too. Issue is there isn't really anywhere outside i can clean a barbell and press it. There is a small amount of space beside the side garage door where i can clean and press a kb or dumbell (did it again the other day) but nowhere really where i could do the same with a barbell - i would be in a driveway on a busy street where i would look a bit idiotic plus with the amount of rain we get her in scotland it would be unsafe! I probably should add some cleans back into my routine though! Good thought!

Congrats to Zach, you must be (rightly) very proud. It will be especially meaningful when you are there to see him get his Shodan

Sunday 18th September Lifting Session Deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 3 97.5kg x 5 112.5kg x 5 127.5kg x 6 72.5kg x 10 72.5kg x 10 72.5kg x 10 Squat 50kg x 10 50kg x 10 50kg x 10 Standing one hand kb shoulder press 16kg x 10 (per hand) 16kg x 10 16kg x 10 Kata Ran through my new kata Heian Yondan 5 times. Have the basic sequences down now i think, just need to work on the details and getting the techniques and rhythm correct (ie the skilled bits!)

Saturday 17th September Karate Grading Grading sat and passed so have now gotten back to 6th Kyu. Pleased at result - thats me successfully sat and passed 4 gradings in the last 11 mths. Now onto training hard for the next level, have a kata to learn!

Wednesday 14th September Karate Session Warm ups Class was then run as a mock grading, so just performing our grading required Kihon a few times with no demonstration of techniques etc beforehand. Did several rounds of kate, with about half of them being out on the floor yourself. Identified one slightly sloppy bit i was doing where i was not retracting my hand enough at my hip, once my body was turned. Simple fix as i thought i was putting it in the right place and it was a conscious movement - glad to have it pointed out pre grading though. Then went onto multiple rounds of the grading kumite which is stated ippon kumite. Straightforward enough though i had another good thing pointed out, that i am not "Kiaiing" enough when i am the attacker. For some reason i had it in my head that i wasn't meant to, but again better pointed out now! Grading on Saturday so won't do any more training this week as don't want to take a chance of an injury popping up, will just do the hip mobility stuff i have been working on.

Good point on the Sumo's, was thinking of them as an extra rather than main lift but that might be overdoing it. For the overhead press the reason is quite simple - i am lifting in the garage and the ceiling is only about an inch above my head where the joists run across it so i physically can't overhead press inside! I sometimes take kettlebells or dumbells outside so i can stand and press them. Ideally would prefer to do a standing barbell press but since it's impossible where i am (plan to get a bigger garage built eventually which will alleviate the problem) the next best solution i could come up with was to do a seated overhead press with zero back support - so i put a flat bench in my squat rack and just sit on that when pressing. isn't ideal but means i can't lean back on anything.

I must admit i have felt a little sorry for her family. She was their mother/grandmother/great-grandmother and Charles and her children have had to follow her coffin around the country as part of a variety of ceremonial duties and to allow people to pay their respects. Can't help thinking that it won't be easy to do that. Granted it comes with the role (so to speak) but still doesn't make it easy.

If you really can't attend in person classes then i would opt for reputable videos. You mentioned the issue with people exhaling indoors etc. Would any kind of outdoor training sessions alleviate this? Might be possible to get someone to agree to the occasional session outdoors to help check your technique / that you are progressing appropriately. If you know someone skilled enough (that you trust to give a useful opinion) then maybe you could also video yourself performing the techniques that you have performed and they can give some critique on the performance of them? Not a substitute for live training of course, and i don't think you could 'rank up', but it would hopefully help you regain some technical skill and then when able/comfortable to train with people in person again you can then work on the timing that comes from sparring

Tuesday 13th September Lifting Session Lifted a lot earlier today as i had some professional exams this week and decided to lift when done, so lifted at lunchtime rather than early evening as i usually do. I prefer the later time i think, but wanted to make sure i could get session in Bench press 20kg x 5 40kg x 3 50kg x 2 57.5kg x 5 67.5kg x 5 77.5kg x 6 45kg x 10 45kg x 10 45kg x 10 Felt ok, final set felt tough, but i always find the 5's week tougher so will see how the next session goes. Seated Overhead press 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 Bent over Barbell row 65kg x 10 65kg x 10 65kg x 10 Reverse E-Z bar curl 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 20kg x 10 Decided to do these as i am trying to add in some more exercises to work on my wrist/forearm strength. I've always been quite weak at these so that seemed a good reason to do them! Have also identified i think the positions i need to work on to improve my hip flexibility to improve kicking height. I've been trying to sit in the 90/90 position for a bit, which when i could kick a non pathetic height used to be easy, and it appears to be my left hip, with the tightest part being when it is the 'back' hip. I've been working on these every night for the last week and it is beginning to loosen a bit. Will keep working on these i think and see where i can get to. May also add in some sumo deadlifts to strengthen hips more

Saturday 10th September Lifting Session Squats 20kg x 8 40kg x 3 50kg x 2 60kg x 1 70kg x 5 80kg x 3 90kg x 6 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 This went smoothly. All reps were to hamstrings touching calves depth. Reduced warm up reps for this too and it did seem to help. Looking at old logs (when i lifted more) i used to do warm ups at 20kg, jump to 60kg and then usually jump up a lot more again. When heaviest set gets back up over 100kg again i will likely drop the 40kg warm up set and start with 50kg, then work up to this increasing. Deadlifts 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 had to cut session short here as got a phone call to go deal with a family emergency that arose. All sorted now though. Got main lifts done so it's all good!

Snatch grip deadlift is an excellent exercise. If you are using it as more of an assistance exercise then i also like snatch grip RDL a lot, if you haven't tried it you should give it a shot too! Since i am quite tall the wider grip for the snatch grip means i have to get lower or bend over more than i would like to do the deadlift from floor but the rdl eliminates that issue.

I think having a 5 series confirmation from the get go really helps with world building. I've quite enjoyed it so far. Is quite sedate but reminds me of the books quite a bit. One positive to the appendices being quite sparse is it gives them a lot of leeway to flesh out the story. Couple of things i don't like so far but that is the same in everything!

Yeah the first couple of episodes were ok, quite slow but felt like they were building. They really have spent a lot of money on it though - is very obvious!

Wednesday 7th September Karate Session Warm ups Kihon Practiced our usual Kihon. With grading in a fortnight this was focused on quite a bit. I've been working every night on trying to strengthen my hip abductors (the ones that lift legs out to the side) as i think that they are the issue with my side kicks being lower than i would like - that plus tight hip flexors. Was pleased that side kicks seemed a little higher and easier than a few weeks ago. We also added in sequence of mae geri-yoko geri - mawashi geri - ushiro geri a few times which was good to practice. Footwork for the standing foot is slightly different from the other styles i practiced other than karate so it is good ot work on getting the karate footwork Kata Performed a couple of rounds of Heian Sandan and got feedback. Then broke off with one other person who is grading to practice with the other 3rd dan at the club observing kata and did multiple more rounds. Got a couple of good pointers, which were minor but make a difference. Kumite Performed a couple of rounds of the grading required kumite. No free sparring this class unfortunately as not required for the grading but thats fine Overall good class. Grading in a week which hopefully will go fine. If not it just gives me an independent view of stuff to improve!

Tuesday 6th September Lifting session Seated overhead press 20kg x 8 25kg x 3 30kg x 2 35kg x 1 40kg x 5 45kg x 3 50kg x 4 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg s 10 50kg set felt toughest on first rep. once that was done the others were quite smooth. Overhead press has always been my weakest exercise due to long arms etc. Happy that it is progressing Bent over row 65kg x 10 65kg x 10 65kg x 10 Wrist pronation / supination 5kg x 10 5kg x 10 5kg x 10 Did these holding the end of an olympic dumbell bar. Felt tough but also showed that my right wrist/forearm is stronger so definitely worth doing. Possibly a legacy of prior injuries on left side. Want to strengthen grip/forearms so will definitely keep in Wrist roller 3.75kg x 10 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 8

Yeah that makes sense. I think i have been slightly overdoing the volume on the warm ups. Took a look back at my decade old gym logs (when i was less feeble!) and i used to do very similar to what you say above. Deadlifts are the lift that i probably do closest to that currently and it seems to be the smoothest progression over time. Have started implementing slightly reduced warm ups already

Saturday 3rd September Lifting session Deadlift 70kg x 5 80kg x 3 90kg x 2 100kg x 1 110kg x 5 122.5kg x 3 137,5kg x 3 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 Cut the volume on final warm up sets a little in case that would help after bench issue earlier in week. reps felt smooth. heavy set felt heavy but fine, happy with how it went Squats 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 Wrist roller 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 8

All fair points. The first set is just with the empty bar to loosen up, so could cut it to 8 i think. Issues i think were i did too many reps of the final warm up set and i also did much too slow a negative on the set that was missed. Was thinking about it later and realised i did it massively slowly. Recovery wise i was a little achy when doing the weights session from bjj the day before but felt normal after the weights session and have felt normal the rest of the week too, so might just have been an off day. Will wait and see if similar issue pops up once more then i will make some adjustments if needed. Cheers for the input

Congrats!

Another option would be a pocket inside the gi jacket, under the side that folds over on top. No-one should be getting their fingers caught in that either. Obviously would depend what you were looking to put in there but i could see it working fine for notes/reminders etc

Wednesday 31st August Karate session warm ups kihon We worked a little more from freestyle stance, practicing punches with a little shift in etc. body conditioning drills we took turns having people stand one in front and one to either side with them doing a light mae geri to the stomach (in front) and either left or right leg mawashi geri to stomach. Kept moderately light (though the instructor was asking people to hit me harder as i am reasonably big lol). Lesson from it is i need to do more ab work! Kata Several rounds of kata. For Heian Sandan i was focusing too much on the stomps and bringing my hip through properly without making it into a crescent kick motion, as a result i wasn't snapping the elbows in enough. Think i fixed it once pointed out. Also ran though Heian Nidan, which reminded me how much i prefer Heian Sandan! Kumite Just worked several rounds of the grading one step kumite with one of the blackbelts. Technique is fine, was just told i should do more 'staring out your opponent' as the grading examiner likes the martial spirit shown. Simple fix to make so started implementing it after first round

Tuesday 30th August Lifting Session Bench Press 20kg x 10 40kg x 5 50kg x 3 60kg x 3 67.5kg x 5 77.5kg x 3 85kg x 0 failed on this for the first time in a long time Failed the 1+ lift but i was feeling quite fatigued coming into the session after bjj the day before. Am going to put it down to not doing upper body work after a grappling session for a quite a while. Will repeat this weight cycle for bench and see if hit the weight at end next time. Other sessions had felt good and weights went up smoothly. If doesn't go properly will reset back a few weeks. Not going to drop the bjj session so will adapt the lifting to it. Seated overhead press 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 25kg x 10 This felt more fatiguing that usual for a light weight due to the shoulder fatigue i had going in. Got it done though as i think it will be worth it Bent over barbell row 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 60kg x 10 these were fine. Focused a lot on form here. will increase the weight next session but still planning gradual increases Wrist roller 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 6 These went fine, Final couple of reps were tough as expected.

Monday 29th August BJJ Session Went to the Monday lunchtime Gi session. Will try to make this a regular class going forwards. Techniques We were working on chaining some guard passes today. Start with a knee cut pass, then when opponent stuffs it with knee shield and pushing 'slicing' knee back, shift to a shin slice pass, then when opponent stuffs that, shift back to knee slice pass. Then worked on the opponent catching you in 'quarter guard' when slipping through and a neat way to bring yourself to full mount from there. Focus of classes for next few weeks is going to be chaining techniques. Thursday class is going to be submissions which i am looking forward to as i find chaining submissions is probably my weakest chaining part. Drilling Worked positional sparring for the earlier techniques. Bottom partner starting in half guard with knee slice knee partly through. top partner working for pass, bottom to sweep or keep guard. no going to closed guard etc. worked several rounds of this Rolling Couple of rounds of rolling to finish off

Saturday 27th August Lifting session Squat 20kg x 10 40kg x 5 50kg x 3 65kg x 3 75kg x 3 85kg x 8 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 47.5kg x 10 Deadlift 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 70kg x 10 Wrist Roller 3.75kg x 8 3.75kg x 6 3.75kg x 6 Was pushed for time today so made sure to get the main lifts in and also wanted to make sure i used wrist roller. Will add one more exercise in next time. Will likely be something lighter as squats and (light) deadlifts is still a taxing session

It's always great to get this kind if individualized attention and feedback. Best of luck on your upcoming test! Thanks! I take the view that my instructor wouldn't let me sit it if i wasn't able to do it, so as long as i perform to usual standard it should be fine. If not, then whats the worst that happens - i have to resit it again in a few months. If so it just means i need to improve more which is fine!