The Martial Artists' Training Log

[bushido_man96]

I think i used to use a very similar hammer strength pressing machine in the gym. Generally most people counted the weight as the total weight on the machine as most people were pressing both limbs. One thing i did notice on it though was I always found i could lift a LOT more on it (likely due to the reduced demand on stabiliser muscles). At the time i would struggle and hit 2-3 reps with 75kg in a bench press but could easily rep out 8-10 with 110kg on the hammer machine. Might be worth factoring that in when planning loads etc

Yeah, I expected this going into it. If I could bench press without pain, I would, but anything I can sub to train the chest a bit, I'm willing to compromise on. I'm starting out really low so that I can keep a bead on how my shoulders feel going forward with the movement.

3/3/2023

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 265x1, 295x5, 295x5, 295x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 100x3, 130x1, 150x5, 150x5, 150x5.

Lat Pull-downs: 142.5x10, 142.5x10, 142.5x10.

Iso-lateral Bench Press: 30x10, 30x10, 30x10 (15).

A decent session here, and then, over the weekend, I got sick. Some cold bug, and I was coughing so hard that it made my back and stomach muscles really sore. So, I've missed a week of training, and am likely to miss some more. The cough isn't nearly as bad as it was, but I still notice some fatigue.

As per usual, life deloads me.

[bushido_man96]

3/20/2023

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 265x5, 265x5, 265x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 135x5, 135x5, 135x5.

After battling sickness for 17 days, once more unto the breach. I deloaded 10%, and it went ok. My legs will be sore from squatting for a few days, but by and large, the session went ok. Legs got a little shaky, and the movement patters were a bit rusty, but I'll be right as rain in a week or so.

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Black Belt Class. Chon Ji, Do-Kang 1 & 2. I was pretty much taking it easy the rest of class, and we were working on some self-defense aspects with the CI's 11 year old daughter.

[bushido_man96]

3/22/2023

Strength Training

Rowing Machine: 2 min warmup.

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 140x5, 140x5, 140x5.

Deadlifts: 185x5, 225x3, 315x1, 345x5.

Light squat today to get the system warmed up. Press went good, and deadlift was a religious experience today. After finishing them, I could tell my body still isn't completely recovered from being sick. 10% deload, just like everything else, and I'm always kind of blasted after the set of 5, but today was just worse. I could feel my lungs trying to catch up.

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-Shirt Class. I did some basic work on the standing heavy bag, just working combinations over and over again. I got a little bit of speed bag work going, but then our 11 year old 1st dan wanted me to hold a rebreakable board for her to attempt a jumping, spinning, inside ax kick. I drilled her on the kick, working on the turning and spinning mechanics and driving the leg down and through the board. After some drilling, she did some breaks, with two different levels of boards.

[bushido_man96]

3/24/2023

Strength Training

Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup.

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 270x5, 270x5, 270x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 142.5x5, 142.5x5, 142.5x5.

Pretty wiped out after the main lifts, so skipped the accessory stuff again. Hoping to get back on those next week.

3/27/2023

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 275x5, 275x5, 275x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 143.5x5, 143.5x5, 143.5x5.

Lat Pull-downs: 130x10, 130x10, 130x10.

Iso-lateral Bench Press: 30x10, 30x10, 30x10 (15).

Had some balance shifting issues on the squat today. I felt my weight shift forward on a few reps. Still ironing out form issues, but the weight is moving ok. Press seemed better today, too, and I got the accessory stuff worked back in. I wasn't feeling nearly as winded.

[bushido_man96]

3/29/2023

Strength Training

Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup.

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 144.5x5, 144.5x5, 144.5x5.

Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x3, 255x5, 255x5.

Iso-Lateral Bench Press: 35x10, 35x10, 35x10 (17.5).

Light squat, press, then snatch deads again, on a 10% deload. Sets felt good on reps 1-4; #5 is always a grinder. On the iso-bench, I found I've got to have that seat all the way up; too low and the angle of my arm affects my shoulder.

TKD Class: T-Shirt Class: 6:30 - 7:15. Did some heavy bag kicking, and made myself move around it with some footwork. Also some speed bag work. I did not feel great today. Body just felt like it didn't want to move, but I made it move a little anyway.

[bushido_man96]

3/31/2023

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 195x5, 245x1, 280x5, 280x5, 280x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x3, 115x1, 145.5x5, 145.5x5, 145.5x5.

Lat Pull-downs: 135x10, 135x10, 135x10.

Iso-lateral Bench Press: 40x10, 40x10, 40x10 (20).

Squats were wonky until the last set. I got them locked in then, and the technique felt pretty good. First two press sets were rough; rep 5 on each almost didn't lock out. Last set felt great though. I think I was a bit more explosive with the hips, and stayed a little tighter, and probably grooved them better, too. It seems like a wider grip might be the answer on the Iso-Bench machine; wide grip seemed to not bother the shoulder as much. I tried to do the incline bench press with just the bar at a few different grip widths, but it hurt the shoulder too much, so that's a no-go.

[bushido_man96]

4/3/2023

Strength Training

Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup.

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 195x3, 245x1, 285x1.

Press: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x3

So, today fell apart in a hurry. This is mainly due to the fact that I played baseball on the Sunday prior; my 13 year old's travelling team did a scrimmage against the parents. I didn't have any muscle soreness, but the next day, my knees hurt very much bad. To top that off, my head was bothering me, too. So my plan going in was going to do some heavy singles on squat, and try to press regularly. I got one of the singles done, then moved to press, and my right knee really went to pot...doing a squat unloaded made the knee feel compromised, so I had to scratch squats altogether. Then my kid called to get picked up from school, so the workout was a wash.

[bushido_man96]

4/6/2023

TKD Testing: 6:00 - 6:30 pm. We had a really small testing today, so it didn't take long to get through it. We had a total of three people test, and it went smoothly. A few things for the lower ranks to work on, but overall, things are going the right way.

4/7/2023

Strength Training

Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup.

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 130x1, 146.5x5, 146.5x5, 146.5x5.

Deadlifts: 185x5, 225x3, 315x1, 350x5.

Ok, an interesting week, to say the least. Wednesday's workout, when I should have done my heavy pulls, didn't happen because I had to wait at home for a package to show up from Fed-Ex that had to be signed for. It's important for my wife's work, and if no one was here, then it'd have been sent back to a town 100 miles away. So, I was basically held hostage by Fed-Ex waiting for a package that we got notifications that it was out for delivery....but it didn't show up. Showed up the next day.

So, Friday rolled around, and I didn't want to skip my pulls for the week. So I basically did my midweek light squat/pull workout, and it went pretty well. My knee was feeling much better, and the light squat went well. Pressing didn't aggravate the knee at all, and I added weight and everything went up well. Added weight to the last deadlift, and that pull went well, too.

I've also purchased a Captains of Crush grip trainer a week or so ago, and I've been keeping it in the car when I drive, just busting out high rep sets on it as I have time. I bought the lowest one, and after a few weeks, I'm going to buy the next level up and train with it. I'm anxious to see what it does for my grip strength and forearms.

[DarthPenguin]

4/6/2023

TKD Testing: 6:00 - 6:30 pm. We had a really small testing today, so it didn't take long to get through it. We had a total of three people test, and it went smoothly. A few things for the lower ranks to work on, but overall, things are going the right way.

4/7/2023

Strength Training

Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup.

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x5, 225x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 130x1, 146.5x5, 146.5x5, 146.5x5.

Deadlifts: 185x5, 225x3, 315x1, 350x5.

Ok, an interesting week, to say the least. Wednesday's workout, when I should have done my heavy pulls, didn't happen because I had to wait at home for a package to show up from Fed-Ex that had to be signed for. It's important for my wife's work, and if no one was here, then it'd have been sent back to a town 100 miles away. So, I was basically held hostage by Fed-Ex waiting for a package that we got notifications that it was out for delivery....but it didn't show up. Showed up the next day.

So, Friday rolled around, and I didn't want to skip my pulls for the week. So I basically did my midweek light squat/pull workout, and it went pretty well. My knee was feeling much better, and the light squat went well. Pressing didn't aggravate the knee at all, and I added weight and everything went up well. Added weight to the last deadlift, and that pull went well, too.

I've also purchased a Captains of Crush grip trainer a week or so ago, and I've been keeping it in the car when I drive, just busting out high rep sets on it as I have time. I bought the lowest one, and after a few weeks, I'm going to buy the next level up and train with it. I'm anxious to see what it does for my grip strength and forearms.

Captains of Crush grippers are excellent so i'm sure you will get a benefit! Interested to see how high frequency on it works for you. They recommend using them similar to any weighted exercise so a few days per week (which is what i usually do) but am curious if a lot more will have benefits.

They can be quite humbling though - i have several at home and when i went to try the ones i used to use most often i could barely budge it at all - grip has gotten a lot weaker obviously over the last few years without my realising it!

[bushido_man96]

I will let you know how that works out for me, DP.

4/10/2023

Strength Training

Rowing Machine: 2 minute warmup.

Squats: 45x5x2, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1, 245x5, 245x5, 245x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 115x3, 130x1, 147.5x5, 147.5x5, 147.5x5.

Lat Pull-downs: 135x10, 135x10, 135x10.

Dropped the squats a little more after my knees were in so much pain. I only noticed anything on the last set, but I may have been in a hurry and letting the knees slide in the bottom. Press sets got better as they went on.

TKD Class: Black Belt Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. I have been feeling old, cold, and tight prior to my classes, so I decided that pre-class, I was going to make myself move and warm, even if I was hurting. I just did some basic calisthenics; arm circles, hip twisting, arm swings, bouncing in sparring stance, etc. Really helped out, as obvious as that sounds. I did an easy walk-through of Choong Jang and Yoo Sin hyungs, too. This was a class full of Do-Kangs. #1 once, #2 twice, #3 twice, #4 twice, and 5 & 6 once each. My knees really hurt after Do-Kang 5; lots of jumping in that one, and it did a number. While doing the Do-Kangs, I worked on the stepping concept I read about in the book on Sanchin, in pulling with the front leg when stepping with the back leg. I really noticed a difference, and I plan to try to keep applying that in classes.