Technique will set you free.

Last Thursday's training was all about working on my clean technique. The weights I can clean (somewhere in the neighborhood of 100kg or less) are based solely on horsepower. I can snap my hips hard enough, and pull fast enough and the weight flys up to about mid chest (even from the hang). This means that I'm leaving a lot of weight in the proverbial tank. With good technique one should only have to pull to just above the navel, and drop down under and squat the weight up. I spent the better part of thursday's training doing just that. I worked up to 80kg starting from the hang, and pulling about 1/2 the distance, and then dropping down under the bar. It was good work. I stopped when my elbow hit my thigh and I missed a lift. Then I power cleaned the weight and did 5 front squats.
I finished with fat grip bench sets of 10 at 135, face pulls, and some ab work.

Friday:
dips 20 (or amap)
chins 10 (or amap)
sandbag: shoulder, 5 reverse lunges each leg, set down.. x5
prowler+90: high handles down, low handles back.
rest while the others go (3 people).
then
dips 10 (or amap)
chins 5 (or amap)
sandbag: shoulder, 5 reverse lunges each leg, set down.. x5
prowler+90: high handles down, low handles back.
rest
x2

Saturday:
BJJ. Worked on some basic upa/armbar stuff. Then open mat. I got a couple of good rolls in.. I am feeling great.. more on that later.

Sunday: off.

Monday: BJJ. Worked on a throw from the underhook. Worked on getting mount from side control. I had a great roll with the professor. I haven't rolled with him.. in several months. It is great rolling with him because if I leave any space he takes it. His base is so good that unless a sweep is right on, it doesn't work. I love testing my game against people who are good (or in this case great).
I felt great, we talked after and he said the biggest problem right now is that in certain positions I'm over analyzing; deciding instead of just doing. I can totally see it. I need to be more aggressive in certain situations and not spend too much time thinking about which or what I'm going to do, it's like Saulo Ribeiro says:
"If you think, you are late. If you are late, you use strength. If you use strength, you tire. If you tire, you die."
I was thinking, and I was late.. I wasn't forcing things and tiring (though I was tired, my specific fitness is crap right now) I was thinking about doing one or the other and ending up doing neither. I need to spend more time in those situations, and when I get there, focus on being more aggressive.
I rolled some more after, but this was the important stuff.

I'm off to the gym.
Mahalo.

On plow shares and grizzly bears.

Good day gentile reader. I have been gone for a good fortnight. I haven't been up to much; just the single most momentous life changing experience possible (death gets a pass as it is a "life ending" experience.. and thus does not qualify). The short version is we went into the hospital for induction on Monday the 10th. The grizzly was extracted via c-section on Wednesday the 12th, and we returned home on Friday the 14th. In that time I left the hospital twice: both times were to walk down the street to get coffee. The next weekend was spent just trying to get our feet under us and recovering from not sleeping the entire week previous.. needless to say I did not train at all that week. The wife is doing great, and the grizzly is in the 75th percentile for length and 25th for weight.. I am not sure how our genetics shuffled together to produce a long skinny baby. I am beyond myself happy. I am at a loss as to how any man who has a kid could be a misogynist. Men are pretty much useless. We are drones, guard dogs and plow horses.. I'll have to think on that more before I say more.
Training the last week and a half:
Monday:
front squat worked up to 185+25lb chains x2
ab work

Tuesday:
high pull 135 x10
kb swing at 62 x5/5
chins amap
kb swing at 62 x5/5
ohp 145 x5
kb swing at 62 x5/5
x3
full rest

30 sec airdyne sprint
bent row 10 at 135
rest 2 minutes
x4

Wednesday: 1 mile of 100m build-ups (strait-aways) walk the curves.
I need to do this more.

Thursday: very sore from sprinting: day off.

Friday:
sandbag floor to ceiling x10
kb swing 5/5 at 62
30 sec airdyne
rest while partner does the same.
x5

Saturday:
jiu-jitsu couple good rolls, great to be back on the mats.
walked some hills with the wife.

Sunday: off.

Monday:
more jiu-jitsu 1 good roll and lots of talking and showing some wrestling.
then went to the boathouse:
deadlifts worked up to 415 for 2. The grizzly did not like the noise, so I cut the set a little short.
Ohp: 4x5 at 135

Tuesday:
airdyne 20 sec sprint 40 sec slow spin x 10
bent rows: worked up to 195 x 4.
some direct arm work, just for kicks.

today:
jiu-jitsu got in two long rolls. Very educational both of them. I feel really good on the mats these days, my anaerobic fitness is a little lacking, but my vision is good some spit and polish, and a little more effort to keep my base and I'll be moving.

Funny thing rocking a crying baby is great for your glute meds. if done correctly.

Mahalo

Shapoopi..

yeah.. I've had this stuck in my head all morning..



Goddamnit.

Mahalo.

Your loads.. drop them.

I had intended to hold off on deloading till the kid came, but the kid is holding off (so far) and my body is starting to complain.. so I'm deloading.
Last Friday:
90 seconds each:
sandbag pickup-carry 10 ft-putdown
prowler at 2 plates and a 25 per side
kb swings at 62
airdyne

equal rest
x3

Saturday:
Open mat, more guard work.. getting better.. feeling better. I need to accept that coming to a neutral/attacking position from guard is still a win. Submitting is best, sweeping is good, but coming to neutral and wrestling my way to top position is just as good as a sweep. In my head I kept thinking of it as "bailing out" and it felt like a loss.. still working my way through all of that.
Someone told me "You're a big guy, but you're also really squirrely." I'm pretty sure it was a compliment.
No afternoon workout.

Monday:
Short day at class. Went through technique, and my phone rang.. I thought it was my phone.. I checked the last call and it was the wife.. must be time.. turned out to be a false alarm but I didn't find out till I got home.

Tuesday: really the only hard workout for the week. Worked my way up to 1 clean 3 front squats at 205. Clean was ugly. The weight is still staying out in front of me. Squats felt good, I need to bring up my abs as they're starting to be a weak point.
bench: 135 x 20 x10 nice an light.
chins: 1 walk over to the other chin station do 1 walk back... x 5 minutes.
curls for the girls: yup.. I went there.

Wednesday: no day class got caught at work. Night class: simple hip toss (for which my foot work was bad), hip bump sweep (which I like, but I'm just not smooth at), and more guard work. Couple good rolls, then ran out of dance partners.

Today I'm going to take off.

Tomorrow I'm going to do a light workout (a few swings and some light front squats). Hopefully if my wife doesn't go into labor, I'm going to the Renzo Gracie Seminar. (Fingers crossed).
So probably no updates till Monday.
Mahalo.

Harder than you think..

Great article from "Cracked" of all places.

Mahalo.