The Martial Artists' Training Log

[DWx]

23/04/21

Taught kids class for an hour followed by hour sparring drills with the teens. Great energy in the room.

25/04/21

Taught online squad training for hour and half. I ran the 2nd and 3rd dans through their patterns for half hour then took everyone for fitness, burpee beep test for everyone, before they finished up with sparring drills with one of the other coaches

Then later that afternoon Zoom training with our Grandmaster. Two hours on senior grade patterns.

27/04/21

My back always tightens up nowadays after a long patterns session, so didn't want to aggravate it further so skipped lifting. Did 45 mins on the elliptical at the gym instead.

28/04/21

Taught kids class, basic grabs and defences. Then the teens did patterns for an hour. Joined in for that, great being able to do then properly again as always gets my heart rate up.

[bushido_man96]

Danielle, do you wear a belt when you press? If not, it might be something to consider. It can help give your core something to push against, helping it be tighter. I've found over time that the heavier the press gets, the more layback I end up having.

I'm not, do you think it's worth investing in one? I'd not yet as I figured my weights were too low to need extra support.

Sorry to hear things are getting tough Brian. But those are some impressive numbers! Do you have a goal in mind you're trying to reach?

I belt up for my work sets now on press, and I find it helpful. The heavier it gets, the more layback tends to become a thing. If you plan on being serious about your lifting, then a belt is a good investment. You'll want if for squats and deadlifts eventually, anyway, and it can offer some good extra support when you Valsalva for bench and press. I recommend a three inch belt, and make sure not to get one that is velcro or has that extra width in the back. Those are pretty useless.

How many kilos are you adding for each press workout? I got to where I was only going up 2.5 lbs per session, and have now dropped it to 1.5 lb jumps. The press has a long kinetic chain, and uses lots of smaller muscles, so you won't be able to make the same kinds of jumps that you can with squats and deadlifts.

Thanks for the encouragement. As far as a goal goes, I'm just focusing on getting stronger. If that means it's time to change the programming to keep moving forward, then I'm ok with that.

4/28/2021

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 250x5, 250x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 147.5x4, 147.5x3, 147.5x2, 147.5x2, 147.5x2, 147.5x2.

Barbell Rows: 95x5, 115x5, 142.5x8, 142.5x8, 142.5x8, 142.5x8.

Light day squats. Press sets were better, and I didn't have any sets of 1. First set of 4 felt good, and thought I might get another set of 4, but didn't.

[bushido_man96]

Ugh, missed my Friday workout due to work conflicts. I hate that. So, back on Monday, and used it as a day to try to get back on track with my programming.

5/3/2021

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 295x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 140x5, 140x4, 140x4, 140x2.

Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 275x5, 275x5.

Moving to H/L/M programming on the squats. So the plan for the next few weeks on Heavy day (Monday) is to add sets with the work weight of 295. I'm going to add a set next week Monday. Light day will be a few light sets at about 15% backoff. Friday will be more like 5% of Monday's weight. I'll play with the figures as I go along here. Doing the heavy set really wacked my Meniere's, leaving a bit dizzy for a few minutes after finishing the set.

I backed the press off to try to get back to sets of 5. The goal now is to get 15 total reps, getting as many reps as I can per set (up to 5). On Wednesday, I'll do 140 again, and try to get more sets of 5.

I'm kind of moving deadlifts into the same programming I am for the squats, but doing it more like M/L/H. I'll keep the heavy set of 5 on Fridays for now, with a light day of rowing in the middle. Monday is dropping the weight back and adding a set for a bit more volume. This will also break up the intensity days of the lower body lifts, so that I'm not totally destroying myself with the heavy day of both lifts on the same day.

Edited May 6, 2021 by bushido_man96

[bushido_man96]

5/5/2021

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x1, 235x5, 235x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 140x4, 140x4, 140x4, 140x4.

Barbell Rows: 95x5, 115x5, 145x8, 145x8, 145x8, 145x8.

Light day squats. Form felt good. Press, I don't know what to think about today. When the first set wouldn't go up for 5, I was pretty hacked. I had hoped I'd get at least 2 sets of 5. However, I was able to do every set for 4, which completed workout in fewer sets than Monday, at the same weight, and I even got a total of 16 instead of 15 reps. So, what do I do on Friday? Same weight, and shoot for sets of 5 again? Or add weight, and try to stay around 4s?

MA Training

Got about 15 minutes of stick work in, working on some basic stuff and some single stick drills with my youngest.

TKD Class: 6:30 - 7:30 pm. T-shirt Class. I did a lot of front kicks on the bag. Front leg, back leg, front leg stepping forward, side-stepping, push kicks, etc. Also did some helping with a young student new to the class, so that was fun. Skipped out on the sparring. Now my knees are yelling at me.

[Zaine]

Today was great. I was in the zone, got some good reps, sweat a lot. I really enjoy doing the stationary because I can watch anime and then suddenly it's done! Tomorrow and Friday are designated rest days, but if I still feel this good tomorrow I might go on a little jog.

That's great Zaine. As I get older I take the view that I should just train if I'm feeling good, rest day or not. Also it's ok to take a rest day if I'm not feeling so good.

That was a hard lesson to learn. I used to feel so bad about not going when I was feeling bad. Now? I still feel a little twinge of guilt but I'd rather take a rest day and not push myself to an injury.

[bushido_man96]

5/7/2021

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 265x5, 265x5, 265x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 140x5, 140x5, 140x4, 140x1.

Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 275x1, 300x5.

Ah, press, you have become my nemesis! I thought I'd get to three sets of 5, but alas, that last set.

5/10/2021

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 295x5, 295x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 140x4, 140x4, 140x4, 140x4.

Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 280x5, 280x5.

Squat sets were heavy; I wasn't sure I'd get them completed, and I know on one set I left one of them up high. Not sure what the deal is; perhaps need to keep the intensity up a bit for a while longer. Press is killing me. Sets of 4 again. I think I may use sets of 4 as my standard for now, and keep working up.

[bushido_man96]

5/13/2021

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x5, 245x5.

Press: 45x5x2, 85x5, 105x1, 125x1, 142.5x4, 142.5x4, 142.5x4, 142.5x4.

Assisted Chin-ups: 105x8, 105x8, 105x8, 105x8.

Sets of 4 seem to be working on the press, so I'm planning on sticking with 4s for as long as I can. I switched to assisted chin-ups on the light back day, to get some more work on my lats to help with deadlifts, and to get some more arm work in. After a few weeks of using the assisted chin-up machine, I'm going to try for a bodyweight rep.

5/14/2021

Strength Training

I missed training on Wednesday due to a road trip to see my otologist, so I train back-to-back days for the light and medium days.

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 270x5, 270x5, 270x5.

Push Press: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x2, 135x1, 155x5, 155x5, 155x5.

Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 275x1, 305x5.

I upped the weights on squats for both the light and medium days, hoping to help with the heavy set coming next Monday. I decided to push press on medium day for a few reasons. First, I didn't think I'd be able to get anything out of a second day in a row of heavy pressing, and second, I thought the push press I could overload and help work the triceps a little extra. It worked.

[DWx]

Long post as I've missed logging a few of these!

03/05/21

Squat

10x20kg, 5x40kg, 5x60kg, 5x80kg, 5 sets of 5x85kg

Row

5x 40kg, 5x50kg

Bench was busy for my whole session so swapped it out for presses on the resistance machines.

Also did 2x 10 Pallof Presses each side on the cable machine

05/05/21

Another pool session. Whilst I can swim, my friend is a swim teacher so agreed to work with me to improve my efficiency. Met up and did 45 mins of drills to improve my body position.

06/05/21

Went to the gym but wasn't feeling it. Did 30 mins / 500 kcal on the cross trainer and then went home.

08/05/21

Squat

10x20kg, 5x40kg, 5x60kg, 5x80kg, 4 sets of 5x90kg, 5x100kg

Wanted to test myself and see if I could the 100kg squat. Grinded out the 4th and 5th but felt good.

OHP

5x20kg, 5x20kg, 5 sets of 5x30kg

Still not overly confident on my form for OHP so didn't increase the weight. I do feel like I'm getting better at bracing my core and not so much of a layback this time.

Deadlift

5x 60kg, 5x80kg, 5x90kg

Was feeling good and had a bit of time left so had a go at a few close grip benches

Close grip bench

10x 20kg, 5x30kg, 5x40kg

+20 mins on the treadmill

10/05/21

Swam 1km working on form

11/05/21

Squat

10x20kg, 5x40kg, 5x60kg, 5x80kg, 5 sets of 5x95kg

Dropped the weight back down slightly to work on better depth

Bench

5x20kg, 5x30kg, 5 sets of 5x45kg

With bench my left arm (the one I had the Tommy John surgery on) is noticeably weaker. I may have to start doing some unilateral work to balance it out.

Row

5x 40kg, 5x50kg

16/05/21

Squat

10x20kg, 5x40kg, 5x60kg, 5x80kg, 5 sets of 5x95kg

Still working on form. Getting some tightness in my right hip flexor when I sink below parallel.

OHP

10x20kg, 5 sets of 5x32.5kg

Deadlift

5x 60kg, 5x80kg, 5x90kg

+20mins on the cross trainer to finish

In amongst all this still teaching 4 hours a week which will rise to 6 now everything opening back up. From today I can have adults back in class which is great.

[bushido_man96]

It's great that you get adults back, Danielle! Finally!

5/17/2021

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 295x5, 295x5, 295x3.

Press: 45x5, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 145x4, 145x4, 145x4, 145x4.

Assisted Chins: 105x7, 105x9, 105x9.

Deadlifts: 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 285x5, 285x5.

Still struggling with getting the heavy squat day where I want it to be. 295 just feels like it's crushing me when I step out of the rack. Rep 5 on set two was a bad one; may have shifted forward, and felt like it was stalling. I wanted 5 on set three, but didn't feel I could do it. I may consider going heavier on Friday and seeing what that does for me.

[bushido_man96]

5/19/2021

Strength Training

Squats: 45x5, 135x5, 205x3, 225x1, 245x5, 245x5, 245x5.

Press: 45x5, 85x5, 105x2, 125x1, 147.5x4, 147.5x3, 147.5x3, 147.5x2, 147.5x3.

Assisted Chins: 105x10, 105x9, 105.9, 105x8.

Light squat day. The reps felt good and smooth. Press is getting heavy again, and fell to sets of three after the first. I think I only got 2 reps on set four because I miss-grooved the last rep; I think I pushed it forward instead of up, and it just wouldn't go. Happy with the rep count going up on the assisted chins.