bushido_man96

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 Cool. Hopefully, that helps you with your work sets.

Congrats, Alex! And it's good to have you back!

This is awesome! These kids are lucky to have an instructor like you! Taking your own advice was a solid idea! I have no doubt that you will have a long and wonderful career as an instructor.

9/1/2022 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 245x1, 275x5, 275x5, 275x5. Lat Pull-downs: 167.5x10, 167.5x10, 167.5x10. Triceps Push-downs: 65x12, 65x12, 65x12. Stretch: hams, quads, glutes, and shoulders. Squat still hurts the adductor tendon. 9/2/2022 Strength Training RDL: 135x8, 155x5, 170x5, 180x8, 180x8, 180x8. Leg Extensions: 100x12, 100x12, 100x12. Triceps Push-downs: 70x12, 70x12, 70x12. Barbell Rows: 125x8, 125x8, 125x8. Tried leg extensions in place of hack squats to see if they were any easier on my knees; they weren't. I may just drop those exercises altogether.

When I do warm-up sets, I will usually start with two sets of 5 with the empty bar, then do a set of 5 at 50% of the work weight (or first work set), a set of 3 at 70%, then a single or double at 90%. I pretty much do these without rest in between, either; just enough time to load the next set and then do it, then after the last single or double, get right into the first work set. After that set, I'll rest probably 7-10 minutes, depending on the weight. That method has worked pretty well for me, and does a good job of getting the system ready for the work sets.

I can't speak to the form itself, but I think it looks pretty good. I would suggest trying to get more hip into some of the movements; you'll really see the power pop that way. I imagine at a faster, stronger pace, it looks even better.

8/30/2022 Strength Training Cleans: 115x2, 125x2, 130x2, 135x1, 140x1, 145x3, 145x3, 145x3, 150x3, 150x3. Deadlifts: 185x3, 225x3, 275x1, 300x5, 340x1. Dropped the jerk to save my shoulder and also push the weight a little more on the cleans. Much happier with today's work. Deadlift went well, and a buddy was working with 340, so I jumped in and pulled one, and probably could have pulled a few more. 8/31/2022 TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt class. Started out stretching in The Rack, then moved to just a little bag work. The CI bought a new toy for the dojang; a board holding station, and some plastic rebreakable boards that attach to it magnetically (the station will also hold wooden boards). We tied to one of the Wavemaster standing bags, and I proceeded to do a bunch of breaks. Back leg round kicks with both legs and two of the "boards," and also did a top of the foot round kick with one board. Did a left hand knifehand through one, and a right ridgehand through one (never did that one before). Also did side kicks with both legs and two or boards each. Also punched it once, and it broke much better than I thought; last time I had done punching on boards, it didn't go well. Even with all that funning around, I still went through Choong Jang hyung a few times.

I would cut that first set of 10 out of your bench session. Is that a warmup set? If so, 10 is probably a bit excessive. The warmup sets should be just that; a warmup. If they detract from the work sets, then they have become work sets themselves. How much time did you rest between work sets? How's your eating and recovery?

Wow, lots of stuff going on! The dagger making sounds way awesome, and would be a fun time! But getting to hang out with your family on vacation and making memories snorkeling with your son; that takes the cake. It's great that your instructors are trusting you with more and more instructor responsibilities in class. Keep at it, and take every opportunity you get; when one teaches, two learn. I think it's cool that you are starting Aikido. Although I don't agree with everything about Aikido, I do think it has a lot of good things to offer.

Thank you, Zaine. That means a lot. It's great to see your contributions again.

8/29/2022 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 245x1, 270x5, 270x5, 270x5. Lat Pull-downs: 165x10, 165x10, 165x10. Triceps Push-downs: 60x12, 60x12, 60x12. Lots of pain in the shoulder, so avoided pressing. I was going to try to do some curls, but those really hurt. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Stretched on The Rack prior to class. Warmed up with Do-Kangs 1-5. I really considered not doing jumping techniques for the last segment of Do-Kang 5, but I did them anyway, and of course, regretted it. After that, we spent the remainder of class going through three-steps several times. I'm going to have to miss class on Wednesday, which is a real bummer.

When I moved away for college, and then back home to find that my teacher had closed the dojo and stopped teaching, I struggled for a long time on whether I could call myself a Martial Artist. I learned from people outside the dojo. I took up Longfist and Southern Mantis so that I could round out my training, but looking back, a large part of it was to feel like I was still a Martial Artist. I don't regret my experiences, but the reason remains. I now know better. I was practicing (and still do) almost daily (I take Sundays to rest), and when I'm not practicing physically, I'm thinking about it constantly. Being a Martial Artist is a mind set that comes with training. To your point above, Bob, I love talking about Martial Arts. I've talked to a lot of people who got to some kyu-rank and then quit for whatever reason. Every time, they always feel regret, or a sense that they aren't a "real" Martial Artist and every time, I tell them that they are incorrect. Once or twice, these conversations have led to them going back to the dojo. It is absolutely enough to have been in it. To have loved it, even momentarily. To still think about it from time-to-time. For some, Martial Arts is temporary. For others, an endeavor that we know will never be truly finished. It's allowed to be different things for different people. Great post, Bob. It's great that you still have this fire, Zaine. I feel like I've lost some of it. And I don't want to. It just seems that with getting older, things have definitely become harder physically, and I've gotten mentally stale because we don't have a large adult student body in our school right now. It's been kind of tough to deal with, but I keep at it, trying to pull myself out of the slump. Wednesday this week, in our T-shirt class, we actually sparred, as we had quite a few students in the class, and even several adults. We've got a new adult student who is a local college student, moved in from another town. She's a 3rd dan in a WTF style, and she sparred with us that night, too. She did really well, and it was just nice to have some adult competition. At first, I was kind of reluctant to spar, because it had been several months since I had done so, but in the end, I felt better for doing it, and I don't think I embarrassed myself. Finally, I love to talk Martial Arts, too. Problem is, I really haven't done it in so long. I need to get engaged in it again, and I need to do it here for sure. Even if it's a style I know little about, or have only read about, I love hearing about things and talking about differences. I need to do that more, and hopefully, that will start to respark everything. Thanks for your post. It's really helped me to reflect.

To your point here, when I was doing Longfist, the CI didn't use a rank system. He just taught you the next thing when you were ready. Sometimes, he would teach you the next thing if he thought that it would help you understand and become proficient with something that you were currently struggling on. It was a really refreshing thing to be a part of. I love this approach, and it's what I love about having my kids Wrestle. No ranks. Results are seen on the mat.

8/26/2022 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 265x5, 265x5, 265x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 125x3, 130x5, 130x5, 130x5. Lat Pull-downs: 162.5x10, 162.x10, 162.5x10. Hack Squats: 125x8, 125x8, 125x8. First set of squats was just all over the place. I guess I couldn't decide what to focus on, and there was just all kinds of wreckage. Trying to set things up to avoid inflaming my adductor tendon is messing things up. The other two sets were ok. I had to get my toes back out a little more, and focused more on pushing but back in the bottom, and not bouncing or knee sliding, feeling the "bounce" off the hamstrings, and then driving up. Seemed to help. Press still hurts. I fear I have an injury that may require surgery, and I don't want to have surgery, and I don't want to rehab. Time will tell....

It's always great to get this kind if individualized attention and feedback. Best of luck on your upcoming test!

I second this! We look forward to hearing from you!

Two thumbs up, Bob! Very nice.

I may have to break them up into different sessions. The big misconception about "power work" is the idea that explosiveness can be increased to any great degree, but it really can't. But that's a whole other conversation. I want to do the deadlift last, because the Olympic lifts are very technique dependent, and doing a heavy set of deadlifts first is going to leave too much fatigue to really get anything productive out of the Olympic lifts. When doing the deadlift or the snatch or clean and jerk, there is no "selection" of which muscle fibers get involved. In a max effort deadlift, as many motor units as possible are recruited. Not slow twitch compared to fast twitch. A clean or snatch are submaximal compared to a limit set of deadlifts, but the longer range of motion still requires the body to recruit as much of its muscle motor units into contraction as possible in order to accelerate the load and rack the bar. At any rate, I'm mainly using the Olympic lifts to warm up for the deadlift, but I've got too many sets going on, and it's turned into a monster, really. What I need to do is figure out a day in which I can get some quality work on each of the Olympic lifts, and then have a more structured warm-up session planned for deadlift. 8/23/2022 TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt class. A bit of stretching in The Rack prior to class. I did go through my 4th dan form a few times, which I hadn't done in some time. Also did some bag work. For the last half-hour of class, we sparred, which I hadn't done in months, mainly due to work schedule. We had a pretty good group in the class, too, and sparred one minute rounds.

8/22/2022 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 260x5, 260x5, 260x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x3, 125x5, 125x5, 125x5. Lat Pull-downs: 160x10, 160x10, 160x10. I didn't turn my toes out quite as much on the squats, and that seemed to relieve the pain in my adductor tendon. It also seemed to hit the quads more, too. With that revelation, I didn't hit the hack squat today. TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Stretched before class on the stretching machine. Started class with Do-Kang 1 twice, then Do-Kang 3 times; once by count, then twice by a slower count, helping a younger student learn it. Next we reviewed green belt material, doing Do-San and Won-Hyo twice, then watched the other two students go though those two forms a few more times each, making sure they know them, and helping them with shoring up some shortcomings. Then went to green belt one-steps, and got through two run-throughs of the seven one-steps. Finished with a couple of run-throughs of the first 6 three-steps. 8/23/2022 Strength Training Snatch: 65x2, 85x2, 95x2, 100x2, 105x2, 110x2, 115x2, 115x1, 117.5x1. Clean & Jerk: 120x2, 125x2, 130x2, 135x2, 140x2, 145x2, 145x2. On the first set of 115, on rep two, I couldn't get cleaned all the way up, and had to press to lockout. That's no good, so I dropped the next set to a single. It was pretty tough at that point. Clean & Jerk ran up well, until I hit 145. Then, the rack started feeling crappy, and felt heavier overall. I spent so much time on snatch and C&J that I ran out of time and didn't get to deadlift. I'm going to have to spend some time looking at the numbers and figure something else out, especially if I plan to deadlift this same day. I think I may settle on a little lower weight and work sets across, then go to deadlifts. See if that helps with the time.

8/19/2022 Strength Training RDL: 135x8, 155x8, 165x8, 175x8, 175x8, 175x8. Barbell Rows: 120x8, 120x8, 120x8. Good stretch in the hamstrings with the RDLs again. Still having shoulder pain.

Honestly, the carryover is in the strength improvement. I'm not a naturally explosive person, and although I'll be able to drive these lifts up for a while, they aren't going to ever get to be really awesome numbers. 8/18/2022 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 255x5, 255x5, 255x5. Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x3, 120x5, 120x5, 120x5. Lat Pull-downs: 157.5x10, 157.5x10, 157.5x10. Hack Squats: 105x8, 105x8, 105x12. Going to try to run sets across on squats now for a while, see where we get. Lots of shoulder pain after pressing. I got all this done in just under an hour.

8/16/2022 Strength Training Snatch: 65x2, 75x2, 85x2, 95x2, 100x2, 105x2, 110x2. Clean & Jerk: 115x2, 125x2, 130x2, 135x2, 140x2. Deadlifts: 185x3, 225x3, 275x1, 295x5. This was a day of pulling. Used the lighter, technique-focuses Olympic lifts to warm up for the deadlift. It mainly only bothered my shoulder when I brought the weights down from overhead. I'm going to try to keep this up, driving the numbers on the Olympic lifts up on the back end. As the numbers start to level out, I'll probably do a few more sets across to acquire some heavier volume. 8/17/2022 TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt class. Did some jabs, straights, and jab/cross work on the heavy bag, and a little kicking. Did a little speed bag work, too. Sparred with a few of the kids in the class, only using punches and footwork/blocking to close distance. Did some round kick/reverse side kick and round kick/reverse hook kick combinations up and down the floor, and worked with the CI on his spin heel kicks. Light stretching on the machine to finish.

It's great that your are keeping a log, and tracking your various PRs. It's always good to have that information handy. As for using other programs and the "injury factor" you mentioned, it's likely not has high a probability as you think. The important thing is to keep your lifting separate from your sport. Lifting is for getting stronger, and practicing your sport is how you get better at your sport; not by making your lifting look like your sport training. But by the looks of your lifting routine, you've got a good handle on that.

This was a very useful product review. Thanks for taking the time to write it up, DarthPenguin!

Like Wastelander mentioned, Olympic TKD implemented this kind of technology. What it doesn't account for is if your arm is against your body, and a kick hits your arm with sufficient force to cause the technology to "score" it as a hit, it does, even though with the arm there, it didn't reach the target. As for your idea about sensors in the gloves to score head contact....at that point, your leaning more into full contact, where you could judge the ippon as to whether or not the opponent fell down or not, thus rendering the sensors in the gloves rather meaningless.