Injuries Suck!

Yep, I got injured over at my BJJ tourny... very depressing. Something happened to my ribs, not sure what, but it started to painfully pop everytime I'd breath hard (and I was breathing hard after the match :P). So it's been a while I haven't posted because of midterms and well I didn't do much during the month because of my injury anyways.

Except for one thing recently which was interesting, my trip to ventura for the Hardstyle Ventura workshop hosted by Pavel and a bunch of RKC's. It was a fun time

Almost there!

Well, back to school!... :( . Now I have less time due to projects+homework, and no time for reading stuff about strength/fitness or nutrition, yay...

Anyways, my power endurance program is almost done! One more week, I can't wait! The program looks easier than it really is (by the way, ab work is HLRs and a circuit of ab wheel, russian twists, straight-leg sit-ups and straight leg bikers, getting an extra set every week and going to go up to 6 sets of that circuit. I noticed I didn't say exactly what I'd be doing). The reason I'm excited to take a week off before competition is because I do not remember the last time I actually took a week off, I think it was around last january-march or something, and think it is catching up on me. So! One more week of heart thumping workouts and then I take it easy before competition.

Now, the reason I don't take many week offs/tapers (easier week), is because I found in the past I would get weaker after that easier week, but recently I've read a post on a forum about how getting weaker after a week off was normal. What I didn't think of was because ( I don't know why I haven't even thought of this because I read about this multiple times) the body's still kind of in vacation, that's why what you do is you do a program, after after you peak in that program you taper, then you work up slowly to another peak but a bit heavier than what you did before. This is where the "2 steps backwards, 3 step forward" saying comes in!

Also, the weight class cap is 149 lbs and I think I am at that weight presently, I don't really know because my scale is completely screwed up! I'll know tomorrow before BJJ class, but I'm sure I'll be fine for competition in 2 weeks.

Off to study!...

Got me some new toys! :D

Last week-end I made myself some awesome new toys to add to my soon to be awesome home-gym, he he. I don't think I'm going to be going back to the gym, maybe I'll go to the university one to do something like "Power to the people" , which takes like 10 minutes, but no more memberships! I love being able to go outside when it's nice out and not having to wait for a taxi or bus to get home or at my brother's house, plus with winter coming and only having one car for 4 people it gets pretty annoying. Now, I take all my stuff outside and get a good workout done! Anyways back to my new toys.

The first one was a bulgarian sandbag, which is a very versatile tool for circuits (just like the kettlebells) so what I did was add 10 reps/side of sandbag halo's (if that's what it's called) in with my snatches and burpees on mondays. You can put it on the back of the neck for jump squats, pushups,etc, and hey, burpees! I'll probably put it on for my burpees towards the 4th or last week of my cycle to challenge myself even more. Next time I'm able to, I'll probably make myself a heavier sandbag to do deadlifts with but for now this sandbag is more to get the heart rate up.

My second homemade toy is my diego clubbell filled with sand, I don't think I'll be using this tool much since I find it just too light to really get anything done. Sometime I'll empty it and put in some Quikrete to see if that will get it heavy enough, or I'll use it as a piggy bank to store all my change.

Now for my big toys, big tractor tires! I got these this week thanks to the nice man at the front 

desk who said he could deliver them at my house since he lives near by, I was so happy/excited that I didn't even give him money, I'll be passing by there to give him something to thank him. Flipped these today and IT IS FUN! Free, fun, can go heavy and a full body exercise (kind of like the clean and jerk). I took a small one that I knew I could flip at least once, and a bigger one that I wasn't too sure if I could flip. When I flipped them I wished I took a bigger one but these will do for now, smaller one for numerous reps and the bigger one for low-rep sets e.g. 3-5 reps.

I can also use these with a sledgehammer which I hear is a nice heart rate booster, so I'll try that out sometime. It's too bad school's starting this week, I got all these new toys and now I'm gonna have a bunch of projects due and exams to do, etc...

I'll try putting some videos on this but my computer is kind of messed up so we will see.

Anyways, dropped a couple pounds and now I'm waiting for the official weight divisions for the BJJ competition this october not sure if it's 149 lbs or 154 lbs, if it's 154 great, if not, I'll have to drop a couple more pounds. Every week I put up the time by 1 or 2 minutes so I'll be able to shed off some pounds if I can keep going up, I haven't taken a break since I can remember and now I think it's catching up on me but I won't go easy until a week before the competition and then it's on again to get ready for the "hardstyle ventura" workshop hosted by Pavel Tsatsouline, the guy who cleared up so much for me in my first book by him "Beyond bodybuilding" (no it's not really a bodybuilder's book) and really pumped for that to come.

Until next time!

Making weight for competition

Right now I'm looking to cut down at around 153 lbs to get into the 155 and under weight class for my brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) competition, during october 3rd and 4th. Right now, I'm about 155 lbs (first thing in the morning) but I just want to be on the safe side so I won't have to compete with behemoths compared to me, the range after 155 lbs is whatever, so i could be going against a dude that weighs 205...which I don't really get but anyways!

I'll be posting photos/videos up soon enough. This is what I'll be doing for the next 4 weeks with BJJ 3 times/week:

Monday morning: A1.KB clean&press (5 reps) A2.pull-ups (5 reps), starting with 12 minutes
Now the 1st week I added A3.rocking push-ups (6 reps) A4. ring rows, but I felt there was just too many exercises, and now going to concentrate more on the C&p and pull-ups on mondays.
After those I would do 5 snatches/arm (45 lbs) alternated with 5 burpees, starting with 10 minutes. Ab work for last

Tuesday:Greasing the groove (GTG) with pistols, handstands, handstand push-ups/KB presses, pull-ups, hanging leg raises,etc. I'll just call this day a "variety" day. I mostly concentrate on pistols and handstands but do a couple of the other exercises. With some low volume speed work
Wednesday:Steve Maxwell's bodyweight 300 workout, intermediate level (but with strict b/w pull-ups).

Thursday:Variety

Friday: 1.Turkish get-ups (TGU) with a 55 lbs KB for time, will start at 6 minutes.
2.explosive swings with a 45 lbs KB (20 reps), alternating with 5 overhead squats/arm, will start with 10 minutes. Ab work for last

Saturday: Variety

BJJ classes are monday, wednesday evening and saturday morning. Which normally means 5-10 minutes warm-up, 15-20 minutes interval training 30 minutes technique and 30 minutes rolling (which means sparring). Now with the competition coming up, I'm going to have an extra hour in the class and I'm not too sure what's waiting for me...

I try to fit some joint moblity work during the days, but not able to every day.

So! I'll post this picture of me a couple weeks ago at around 160 lbs doing a bottoms-up press and will see if I can shed some fat, while miracously getting stronger :P

Oh and my diet's a low carb,high fat+protein, I've been doing it for a while and feel alot better energy-wise, with 2 carb meals a week. Loving it and sure it works because i went from around 138 to 163 lbs without getting a fat spare tire around the waist.