DarthPenguins Training log of an unfit person!

[DarthPenguin]

Wednesday 27th July

Karate Session

Another quite quiet class tonight due to summer holidays etc (which is good for me to improve!). The black belts i usually spar with were not here tonight so less kumite but good to work on other things

Warm ups

A little more stretching than usual which was good. I want to get my flexibility back to closer to what it used to be (used to be able to comfortably kick a few inches above my head height but now struggle to get to my chin!). Have been rereading my copy of Stretching Scientifically and will try to put it into action

Kihon

More repetitions of each technique that usual which was good

Kata

Multiple reps of kata. Didn't get the same issues called out which was a positive (or they are so bad they are a lost cause!!)

Combinations

The sensei showed some new combinations of strikes with hand and feet and we drilled these for a while. I enjoyed these and could feel that my kicks are beginning to get slightly higher and smoother again

1 step kumite

practiced a little one step kumite for grading purposes and then some semi free sparring with unannounced attacks.

Overall a good class

[DarthPenguin]

Thursday 28th July

Weights Session

Felt a bit week going in today. Don't think my eating has been great today but have been busy with work. finished full workout though so can live with it! Am debating starting to track time taken too. I have the workout planned out in advance and a spreadsheet that calculates my estimated 1RM over time and works out required numbers for the '+' sets to keep progressing. Am thinking that adding a measure of density (tonnage / time) might be useful to track progress too. Need to think of a good way of integrating that with the differing length workouts on the 5+. 3+ and 1+ weeks

Bench Press

20kg x 10

40kg x 5

50kg x 3

57.5kg x 5

67.5kg x 5

77.5kg x 6

performance on final set wasn't great but managed the 5+ so can live with it

Seated Overhead Press (barbell) - low weights for volume

25kg x 10

25kg x 10

25kg x 10

These were lighter but trying to stick to approx 50% of training max for these.

Barbell Row - no belt

62.5kg x 10

62.5kg x 10

62.5kg x 10

Neutral Grip Bench lockout / KB Hammer Curl superset

Lockout

62.5kg x 10

62.5kg x 10

62.5kg x 10

KB hammer curl

24kg x 8

24kg x 8

24kg x 8

For all exercises after the bench press i used 50sec rest between sets. For the superset it was 50sec between each pairing

Total workout time : 38min 30sec

[bushido_man96]

You could increase the density of the training, but first you should consider what your goals actually are, and determine if that is the variable to change or not. Very early on in structured strength training, not many variables need to change except load.

Are you using a particular program?

[DarthPenguin]

Monday 1st August

Weights Session

Deadlift

70kg x 5

80kg x 5

95kg x 5

110kg x 5

122.5kg x 5

Squat

47.5kg x 10

47.5kg x 10

47.5kg x 10

Fat DB Lateral Raise (supersetted with the squats)

5kg x 12

5kg x 12

5kg x 12

KB Triceps Kickbacks (supersetted with the leg raises)

4kg x 10

4kg x 10

4kg x 10

Lying leg raises

12rep

12rep

12rep

Tried the triceps kickbacks as it is an exercise i don't usually do and had read an article listing the benefits of doing them with kb's. Felt ok so may keep doing

[DarthPenguin]

Wednesday 3rd August

Karate Class

Warm ups

Kihon

These were pretty standard, and the same as usual

Kata

Ran through grading kata again multiple times. Seems to be getting more automatic which is good

Kumite

Lots of rounds of sparring here. Went well. I was paired up with a shodan and a 1st kyu sitting shodan in a fortnight and we took turns with each other for multiple rounds. Good feedback from the session especially when sparring the 1st Kyu as the Instructor was getting frustrated at him not being able to land anything. Have been feeling that my timing for stand up sparring is gradually coming back and this felt like it is beginning to get there (slowly but slowly!)

[DarthPenguin]

Thursday 4th August

Weights Session

Seated Overhead Barbell Press

20kg x 8

25kg x 5

30kg x 3

35kg x 5

40kg x 5

45kg x 8

These felt ok, though i think it is my triceps giving out first not my shoulders on these. Will take a look at this over next few weeks and see if i need to add more triceps work

Bench press (lighter for higher reps)

47.5kg x 10

47.5kg x 10

47.5kg x 10

KB one arm row (supersetted with bench press)

24kg x 10

24kg x 10

24kg x 10

Wrist Roller

3.75kg x 4

3.75kg x 4

3.75kg x 4

I have an ironmind wrist roller (shaped like a large yo-yo) and going to start using it again at every session. Each rep is concentric only and let the weight roll down for the negative bit. Using bith forwards and backwards. Plan is to get to sets of 10 and then increase weight, drop reps and work back uo

[DarthPenguin]

Friday 5th August

BJJ Session

Warm ups

Techniques for the day :

Worked the scissor sweep, some variations for when opponent counters and the reverse scissor sweep (which i have always loved)

Few rounds positional sparring followed by a few rounds of rolling

[DarthPenguin]

Saturday 6th August

weights session

Squats

20kg x 8

40kg x 5

50kg x 3

60kg x 5

70kg x 5

80kg x 9

Trap bar deadlift

75kg x 10

75kg x 10

75kg x 10

Front squat

40kg x 10

40kg x 10

These didn't feel great. Haven't done front squats for ages so called them here rather than chance an injury. Reflected on it later and worked out what the form issues were. A large part due to my grip being too narrow and feet too wide. Will adjust next time

Fat Grip bent over read delt raise

5kg x 12

5kg x 12

5kg x 12

Wrist roller

3.75kg x 6

3.75kg x 4

3.75kg x 4

[bushido_man96]

Front squats can be extremely stressful on the knees, due to the vertical back angle and knees-forward position required to balance the weight in front of you. If you've got old, creaky knees, it may be best to avoid front squats and stick to back squatting. Low bar back squatting also puts much less stress on the knees than high bar back squatting.

[DarthPenguin]

Front squats can be extremely stressful on the knees, due to the vertical back angle and knees-forward position required to balance the weight in front of you. If you've got old, creaky knees, it may be best to avoid front squats and stick to back squatting. Low bar back squatting also puts much less stress on the knees than high bar back squatting.

Yeah, i used to do them a lot and liked them which is why i am reticent to just jettison them straight away. I think it was a setup issue (when i thought about it later)/

Plan is to retry and see how it is with a light weight again. If feels like it is ok and just need to regrease the groove then that's good - if it feels like my knees just don't want to do it then i'll drop it.

Thanks for the suggestion though