Tallcall's journal [Forum Archive]

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Tallcall's journal

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Posted by: tallcall

Just like I thought, I didn't do any training tonight. I'm going to let the legs have the night off and see if things feel better tomorrow. Renato likes to have us run for 25-30 minutes, my shins were not going to take that kind of punishment. I talked to him at the beginning of class about the problem and he told me that I was doing the right thing by resting it because if I worked with it and made it worse it'll take a lot longer to heal fully.

I have to admit, I'm going to miss working with him (from what I've been told, it's pretty rare to get a teacher that cares so much for their students well-being and progress).

Calories - 3400 (kept light because I really didn't think I'd be training tonight)

Posted by: katt

Nice job on the fat loss!! You seem to be consistant with it every week!

Posted by: tallcall

Thanks Katt! I'm eating more and more or less maintaining the weight while losing some fat each week

Posted by: tallcall

Thursday:

BJJ Training:

We went over another sweep from closed guard.

Lock opp's arms, foot on thigh, opposite foot across opp's back behind the neck, escape hips opposite of foot on thigh, reach under opp and grab their far knee (with the hand opposite of the foot on thier thigh), kick hips up and pull their knee and arm out from under them.

Pretty nice one, but I still have problems getting my hips to move fast enough to get it smoothly.

I still had some issues with the shin splints. I wore some wraps so it wasn't too bad. I got almost all the way through the warm-ups before I had to slow down. I let everyone, including Thiago, know way before class started. He just told me to do whatever I could and try to keep up (he understands what it feels like!).

All in all everything was good. Nice rolling session. I got tapped out by everyone. From what Thiago said, I showed a lot of improvement for just now going on my second month. I did a good job keeping my base and trying to posture up, I also stayed calm when I was in some bad situations (Kimuras, omo platas, and chokes - couldn't move fast enough and the injury

).

Calories - 3700

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Legs - Going For Speed and Reps For the Next Three Weeks:

Superset 1: RI - 0 - Just Enough Time to Change Machines
1 - Double Leg Extension | 80x15, 90x15, 100x15

2 - Lying Leg Curl | 90x15, 100x15, 110x15

Superset 2: RI - 0 - Same As Above
1 - Hip Abductions | 90x20, 130x20, 150x20

2 - Hip Adductions | 90x20, 130x20, 150x20

DB Swings: RI - 0 Pretty Much Went Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Arm... | 3 sets x 10 reps x 30 lbs

[Single Leg Leg Press: RI - Just Enough Time to Change the Weights | 90x15, 100x15, 110x15

Cable Crunches: RI - 30 | 95x20, 20, 20

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes doing abs, and all the stretches (not doing any running for now - waiting on the shins to heal more). Basic warm-up routine we practice in class.

10 minutes on a recumbent bike (

). I deliberetly drove the pedals down with my heal keeping my feet angled back to stretch the calves and all the tendons in the feet (One reason people get splints is because their feet aren't as flexible as they need to be, so I'm doing everything I can to improve their flexability - including stretches EVERY morning).

Calories - 4250

I got stuck waiting for a few people today. I swear I must be a magnet for idiots because they (there were three of them - oh and they loooove to talk) basically followed me from station to station and actually stole some of my machines during my supersets. That's just annoying, but they're just new and looked like they were just trying new things. I would've been happy to show them how all the machines worked (informing and impressing at the same time - very efficient).

Posted by: katt

So your shin splits are doing ok?

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by katt

So your shin splits are doing ok?

They seem to be fine. It's been almost two weeks and they feel about 1000x better now (still a slight pain on my left tibia.

Posted by: PreMier

mine took months almost years to heal.. they are a bitch. just try not to enflame them and they will go away

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by PreMier

mine took months almost years to heal.. they are a bitch. just try not to enflame them and they will go away

Good advice!

I'm watching how I walk and making sure to stretch pretty often.

I wonder if this is just because I'm now doing all the extra stuff with my BJJ class. During our warm-ups, we have rapid direction changes, sprints followed by backward running then side shuffles. I'm guessing my body is just really trying to get used to all of it (very much increased workload).

Posted by: PreMier

yea.. for sure. i got mine from football.. running with people on my back

Posted by: tallcall

Saturday:

Upper Push: Speed and Reps

DB Bench on a Stability Ball: RI - 30 | 25'sx15, 30'sx15, 30'sx15, 30'sx15

Arnolds: RI - 30 | 3 sets x 15 lb dbs x 10 reps

EZ Bar Skull Crushers: RI - 30 | 30 lb bar x 3 sets x 15 reps, 40 lb bar x 2 sets x 12 reps

Front/Lateral Raises: No Rest - Just Went From One Variation to Another and Back | 3 sets x 10 lb dbs x 12 reps

Cable Incline Flys: RI - 15 seconds | 20 lbs x 15, 30 lbs x 15, 40 lbs x 15, 50 lbs x 15

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes abs, back, stretching, a couple triangle choke drills (just to scare people

)

10 minutes on a Treadmill (

). I got in a few sprints at 6-6.5 mph for about 45 seconds a piece. I changed my run style a little to try to sprint directly off the balls of my feet instead of letting my heal impact the belt. It actually felt really nice at the higher speeds, definitely something I want to get used to!

Calories - 4250

This is the end of week 2 of my 6-OXO cycle. I have only experienced tiredness, some aggression (

) and definitely some strength gain (

). I'm also hungry as ever (I feel like a garbage disposal that's just begging for more ALL the time).

No one was there today, I got everything I wanted and more. I even got to watch one of my trainer friends school someone on squats (

). Man, I was so happy to see that (although he was only showing the guy because he was trying to work in with the guy - but a good job nonetheless!).

I didn't even run into the same idiots I usually do, I actually ran into some power lifters and one female power lifter (very rare for me to see that, but she was impressive with all her lifts).

Oh well, tomorrow I might be heading over to Red Lobster. It's a gift from the station I work fo, a $75 gift card to and Darden restaurant (I'm definitely getting some lobster or crab meat!).

TTFN

Posted by: tallcall

Sunday:

Upper Pull - Speed and Reps:

Pull-ups:RI - 30 | BW-112 x 3 sets x 10 reps PR for total reps

One Arm Seated Cable Row: RI - 30 | 105, 120, 135, 120, 105 x 15 reps each

Bent Over Trap Bar Row: RI - 30 | 65, 75, 85 x 15 reps each

Back Extensions With Cobras: RI - 30 | BW+20 x 3 sets x 15 reps

DB Shrugs: RI - 30 | 50's x 3 sets x 20 reps

Farmer's Walks: RI - 30-60 | 60 lb dbs x 3 round trips, 456 feet - PR for Distance

Cardio - 20 minutes-ish

10 minutes doing abs, back extensions (supermans), stretching, and Triangle and momentum to advance drills.

~10 minutes doing some shin work - 4 sets of 20 reps with a plate sitting on an aerobic step which was placed on my feet. I sat on a bench and flexed my feet up as far as they would go (dorsiflexion), then drove them as far down as possible (plantarflexion??). I did this with both feet, and then with each foot separately. I really felt the stretching there, felt kindo of nice.

Calories - 4000

Those Farmer's Walks gave me a nice burn and a bit of a pump in my forearms - not that it matters of course, but I've never had that happen to them. It felt very nice, I felt like I could crush anything (

)!

I ran into one of the guys I work with in BJJ class. That was too cool, we didn't talk much since we were both pretty busy, but it was nice to see a familiar face among all the new crazy people.

Speaking of that, I overheard someone asking about arm exercises in one of the big expensive cable machines (the kind with the nice weight stacks and a second pulley on the other side). He was asking if the straight bar was for arms. I couldn't help but laugh a little, then I thought, damn, I wanted to do some upright rows with that attachment, now this moron's going to spend the next 25 minutes doing curls with it and talking with his friends (3 of them - why do they always travel in packs of 3?) for 5 or 6 minutes between sets.

Anyways, he was the only major idiot I saw today, so I guess all is pretty good.

Posted by: fUnc17

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

Anyways, he was the only major idiot I saw today, so I guess all is pretty good.

You seem disappointed.

Lots of cals burned there, good job

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fUnc17

You seem disappointed.

Lots of cals burned there, good job

Oh that was the calories taken in.

I burn 3600 walking around (I get too tired if I eat much less), probably 600 or so from the workout = 4200 burned calories.

Posted by: fUnc17

Thats great, thats about what I burn. I have no idea how I maintain weight.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fUnc17

Thats great, thats about what I burn. I have no idea how I maintain weight.

I know what you mean, it seems like the weight should be just falling off. I just want a general fat reduction.

Posted by: Gazhole

Congrats on the PRs, man

that was an awesome workout!

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazhole

Congrats on the PRs, man

that was an awesome workout!

Thanks man. I have 2 more weeks of this high rep stuff, then I think I'm going to take a week off (or do a deload - not sure yet) and start back up with 3 power weeks afterward. I like this cycle better than the one I was on before (some exercises were for power, now all will fit either power or reps - power weeks will have fewer exercises in general and fewer sets).

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:

Legs: Reps and Speed Week 2

Superset: RI - Just enough time to get to the other machine and set the weight

1 - Leg Curl | 90, 100, 110 x 15 reps

2 - Hip Rotationa | 62.5, 87.5, 100 x 15 reps

BB Back Squats: RI - 60 | 90, 100, 110x15

Double Leg Leg Press: RI - ~15 | 200, 210, 220 x 15 - It felt like I was throwing this weight up it was just a little too light.

Seated Calf Raises: No rest, just enough time to change the weights | 45, 90, 90 x 20

Shin Work for about 10 minutes: RI - 15-20 | Placed a aerobic step on my feet and 35 pounds of weight, extended my legs out so that the feet were still flat on the floor but my legs were stretched. I sat on another bench and did 3 sets of 20 reps. Starting with both feet, then alternating left and right, back to both feet, and finished by going through the entire range of motion from dorsiflexion to plantarflexion and back, really getting a nice stretch on each one.

Cardio - 15 minutes

5 minutes on a stair mill - going slow due to the splints and stretching on each step.

10 minutes abs, back, stretching (really I think I spend 15-20 minutes just stretching now that I know how to do it effectively and see - and feel - its importance).

I talked to ATT's strength and conditioning coach about them today. He showed me a few stretches I can do anytime to help them. I think it's all from the running we do here. I jumped in and went full speed. We do a lot of sprinting and rapid direction changes. Usually we're told to sprint down the mat, then side shuffle along the far side and run backwards the rest of the way back to the original starting position and do it again (lasts for about 5 minutes). That's a lot of quick direction changes. He agreed with that thought and said he definitely knows it is possible.

BJJ:

Practiced another variation of basically (from what I can tell) a failed triangle choke turned into a Kimura. Then I got to roll for about 15 minutes with everyone (there were only 4 of us). I did pretty good, I'm just focusing on keeping my balance and posture, also staying the HELL off of my back. One of the guys there is also a wrestling coach and he and I work one on one for about 30-40 minutes after class on Mondays. He's always demanding that I do anything I have to to stay off my back, I have to either immediately sweep or get on my side and limit the other guy's options.

All in all a great session, everyone commented on how they thought I have very much improved my balance and control, also staying calm on the ground and not tapping out so quickly when a reversal is right in front of me (although to be fair, I really didn't know how to get the reversals until after the match).

I think I was in class for about 1 hour 45 minutes (that last 45 minutes was all solo with my friend doing some techniques and a little rolling).

Posted by: fUnc17

Good job, I like the kimura from triangle position, they never expect it.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fUnc17

Good job, I like the kimura from triangle position, they never expect it.

Yeah, it is fun to pull things like that on people. I kind of like working on my back, it allows me to be sneaky and try to catch people off guard.

Posted by: fufu

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

Monday:

Legs: Reps and Speed Week 2

Superset: RI - Just enough time to get to the other machine and set the weight

1 - Leg Curl | 90, 100, 110 x 15 reps

2 - Hip Rotationa | 62.5, 87.5, 100 x 15 reps

BB Back Squats: RI - 60 | 90, 100, 110x15

Double Leg Leg Press: RI - ~15 | 200, 210, 220 x 15 - It felt like I was throwing this weight up it was just a little too light.

Seated Calf Raises: No rest, just enough time to change the weights | 45, 90, 90 x 20

Shin Work for about 10 minutes: RI - 15-20 | Placed a aerobic step on my feet and 35 pounds of weight, extended my legs out so that the feet were still flat on the floor but my legs were stretched. I sat on another bench and did 3 sets of 20 reps. Starting with both feet, then alternating left and right, back to both feet, and finished by going through the entire range of motion from dorsiflexion to plantarflexion and back, really getting a nice stretch on each one.

Cardio - 15 minutes

5 minutes on a stair mill - going slow due to the splints and stretching on each step.

10 minutes abs, back, stretching (really I think I spend 15-20 minutes just stretching now that I know how to do it effectively and see - and feel - its importance).

I talked to ATT's strength and conditioning coach about them today. He showed me a few stretches I can do anytime to help them. I think it's all from the running we do here. I jumped in and went full speed. We do a lot of sprinting and rapid direction changes. Usually we're told to sprint down the mat, then side shuffle along the far side and run backwards the rest of the way back to the original starting position and do it again (lasts for about 5 minutes). That's a lot of quick direction changes. He agreed with that thought and said he definitely knows it is possible.

BJJ:

Practiced another variation of basically (from what I can tell) a failed triangle choke turned into a Kimura. Then I got to roll for about 15 minutes with everyone (there were only 4 of us). I did pretty good, I'm just focusing on keeping my balance and posture, also staying the HELL off of my back. One of the guys there is also a wrestling coach and he and I work one on one for about 30-40 minutes after class on Mondays. He's always demanding that I do anything I have to to stay off my back, I have to either immediately sweep or get on my side and limit the other guy's options.

All in all a great session, everyone commented on how they thought I have very much improved my balance and control, also staying calm on the ground and not tapping out so quickly when a reversal is right in front of me (although to be fair, I really didn't know how to get the reversals until after the match).

I think I was in class for about 1 hour 45 minutes (that last 45 minutes was all solo with my friend doing some techniques and a little rolling).

Nice, sounds like you have a good bunch of people to train with.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

Nice, sounds like you have a good bunch of people to train with.

They are very good guys (on and off the mat).

We are preparing for a tournament locally in February. From what I'm told, our school has always had a pretty good turnout. I plan on being there for them.

We are training in every class now for that tournament, Thiago sure likes to punish everyone. Usually a 12 lb medicine ball gets slammed into everyone's abs during the warm-ups, then he stands on us and jumps on one foot twice - I thought I was going to puke. He does far worse to his MMA and no-gi classes!

For practice, we just went kind of down the line and cycled through everyone for 2 minutes each, one guy taking top, the other on the bottom (guy on top is trying to pass and submit, the guy on bottom is trying to sweep or get to a better position). I had a lot of fun and got my butt kicked a few times. I've definitely improved my balance over last week and all of the guys noticed it (

I'm so happy, it's all paying off)!

After the initial beatings, we rolled for our customary 15 minutes. Again, I felt much more in control and calm during the first match. The second guy kept getting me and sweeping, on the plus side, I still gave him hell on my back as much as I could (made it very difficult for him to get me even though he had side control, I kept moving everywhere). He did frustrate the hell out of me but I didn't lose my patients (I still lost to him a bunch of times).

Posted by: tallcall

Weigh In
Weight: 285 – up 1.5 pounds from last week’s 283.5

Waist: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Chest: 50 inches – No Change from last week
Shoulders: 63 inches – No Change from last week
Neck: 19.5 inches – No change from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 276.75 – Up from last week's 273.25 (+3.50 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 8.25 – Down from last week's 9.75 (-1.55 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5.5 mm – No Change from last week
Suprailiac – 5.5 mm – Down 0.5 mm from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 3 mm - Down 0.5 mm from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.89 %.

Once again, I gained weight while reducing fat! I’m still feeling great and hungrier than ever!

Posted by: goob

I am astonished that you have'nt slipped up once in this. You always get results TC, I think you are the most commited person on this board.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

I am astonished that you have'nt slipped up once in this. You always get results TC, I think you are the most commited person on this board.

I've been eating like a horse, weight training for 3 hours a week, and training martial arts for 3-4 hours a week on average (some weeks are 5 hours). I could probably eat a cow and not gain much fat!

.... that sounds pretty good.....

Posted by: katt

I agree w/Goob - you've been so consistant you're an inspiration to us all.

What is your final goal??

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by katt

I agree w/Goob - you've been so consistant you're an inspiration to us all.

What is your final goal??

To be honest, I don't have a final goal. I just want an all around great level of fitness and to see my abs (I can see the top row right now if I flex), and do as much of this as I can without giving up strength.

Posted by: tallcall

Wednesday:

Upper Push: Reps week 2

DB Bench on a Stability Ball: RI - 30 | 25's, 30's, 30's, 35's x 15 reps each

X Body Raises: RI - 30 | 10 lb dbl x 3 sets x 12 reps

Side Raises: RI - 30 | 10 lb dbs x 3 sets x 15 reps

Pushdowns: RI - 30 | Machine #6 x 3 sets x 15 reps

Shin work - DB Calf Raises: RI - 30 | 4 sets x BW+50 x 20 reps

Dorsiflexion and Plantarflexion with Weights: No Rest | 4 sets x 35 lbs x 20 reps

Cardio - 25 minutes

Before Workout:
5 minutes on a treadmill doing some sprinting.

10 minutes for abs, flutters, leg outs, back extensions
- 20 minutes for stretching

After Workout:
10 minutes on a treadmill sprinting on the balls of my feet (60 seconds sprint @ 3.0 mph/60 seconds active recovery). I know it's only 3 mph, but running on my toes is very different and I have to take it a little slower, plus the splints are still there - a LOT better than last week though (slow to heal).

Calories - 4000

I was working right next to one of the new trainers (kind of a moron). He was "training" a new person. I felt bad for the new person, the trainer told him his traps would be able to handle a lot of weight. I know they're a very strong muscle group and can handle a lot of weight, but the trainer just started saying things like "you can handle another 50 pounds, traps are very strong" - not a great idea to assume without any kind of strength test.

Anyways, it kind of felt like I was in a sea of idiots today. Everyone's looking at me strange when I'm pressing off a stability ball. I think this is a pretty decent workout when you consider that I'm moving weight across a moving center of gravity - as opposed to a fixed center when lying on a bench or on the floor!

A nice day all around though (

... keeps smiling in the hopes that good things will come...

Posted by: tallcall

Thursday:

BJJ:

I had a good time in class, I got to work with some guys who haven't been there for a while. One of them had an amature fight about 2 months ago and has been out for the last month or so. He lost the fight but said it was something he did not regret.

I have to admit I really missed talking to him. What a cool guy! I have to say, he was looking pretty lean too (which always nice to see

)!

We did a lot of rolling, 2 minute rounds where one guy starts on top and another starts on the bottom. Generally speaking, the first one to better their position stays and goes to the bottom while the other one is replaced by another student on the top. I think we each had 3 rounds of this. Then 15 minutes of free rolling.

Our instructor likes to punish everyone during the warm-ups as much as possible. He usually has us lay flat, chin to chest and legs elevated with our hands under our butt. He walks around to everyone and will do pretty much anything - sometimes he drops a 12 pound ball on us (more like a forced drop) about 6 times, stomps on us with a flat foot, stomps on us with his heel, stands on us and hops on one foot 3 times, hops on two feet 3 times, stands on us and turns to give a little speech, kneels down and delivers punches straight to the abs, or he'll just start running and hop onto each of us as he runs the circle. He'll usually do two of them each day (you'd swear he thinks he's a lightweight when in reality he weighs about 190 pounds).

Today he did the stand on us and stomp along wit the straight heel stomps, all while we're holding the position for almost 3 minutes. He's really pushing everyone hard for this tournament. From what I've been told, none of the other local places push their guys nearly as hard, so I can't wait to see everyone who enters win their matches!

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Upper Pull: Reps Week 2:

Pull-Downs: RI - 30 | 120x15, 150x12, 12

DB Rear Delt Rows: RI - 30 | 40 lb dbl x 3 sets x 15 reps

T-Bar Row: RI - 30 | 75, 85, 95 x 15

Back Extensions W/Medicine Ball: RI - 30 | 10 lb med ball x 3 sets x 15 reps

DB Shrugs: RI - 30 | 60'sx3 sets x 20 reps

Farmer's Walk: RI - 60 | 70's x 2 round trips x 378 feet

Shin Work - Calf Raises on Leg Press: RI - 30 | 200, 250, 300, 250, 250 x 20

Shin Work Dorsiflexion with aerobic step and plate weight: No rest between sets | 45 lb plate x 4 sets x 20 reps

Cardio - 30 minutes

10 minutes on a treadmill
20 minutes for abs, back, and some BJJ drills

20 minutes for stretching

Calories - 4000

Pretty good day today. I ran into a guy from another local ATT facility (the one that Ben Saunders from the Ultimate Fighter Season 6 trains at

). He was pretty cool, he came in wearing his ATT shirt so I just had to ask him and let him know I was on his team (his eyes lit up and we talked about it for a few minutes). I also met some other new people, I have to admit that the people in there today were less dumb than the usual crowd (except for a guy and his friend doing barbel curls in the squat rack -

).

Shins felt ok today, really I think they're doing much better than they were doing last week so I think things are looking up. I'm just going to continue doing what I'm doing until they feel at 100% then I'll be able to bring my cardio back up slowly (Thaigo knows about the splints and has been very understanding in class even though he is still pushing everyone - including me - to their limits).

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:

Legs: Reps Week 3

Suoerset: No Rest |
1 - Hip Adductions | 90, 130, 170 x 20

2 - Hip Rotations | 75, 87.5, 100 x 15 - Felt like I was throwing the weight - nice way to mimic kneeing someone in the stomach!

Romanian (the ones that do sumo stance) Deadlifts - Switched Grip No Straps: RI - 120 | 185, 205, 225, 205, 185 x 12 switching grip on every set (that's 5 sets of 12, I think my new working weight is 225).

Superset 2: RI - 45 |
1 - Single Leg Leg Press | 90, 100, 110 x 15

2 - Calf Presses -Single Leg - on the Leg Press Machine | 90, 100, 110 x 20

Shin Work - Same as before: No Rest | 55 lbs x 20 (both feet), 55x20 (left foot solo), 55x20 (right foot solo), 55x20 (both feet with plantarflexion on all reps)

BJJ:

Trained with a different instructor today. He didn't have us sprinting, just doing some stretching and got right to the rolling (makes me happy). Today was all about the shoulder roll escape from a nearly mounted position. I still suck at rolls, but I got to work one-on-one with the instructor and he really helped clear a lot of things up for me (he is an awesome guy, I've worked with him before many times).

In other news, I was able to talk to the strength and conditioning coach today and found out that he has written a program for me to follow. It's an 8 week program, so this should be a lot of fun

! He's going to bring it in for me to look at tomorrow night (hopefully, he said he would, but you know how things just come up sometimes).

I got taken to my back a lot, but I'm getting very comfortable there (I like to show how I can defend against chokes and arm-bars from my back). Besides, I was taught to go with the flow and attempt to use my opponent's momentum against them, they want me down, I go down and escape to guard then omo-plata, triangle, arm-bar, kimura, or some sweep and take his back (I did this to the instructor and was able to sink my hooks in, rotate him, and get a rear collar choke - training with the Gi

).

Gym was fine, I got to talk to two other guys who also train MMA (one from my school, the other trains with Ben Saunders and Seth Petruzelli just a few miles away- AWESOME

). I swear there are at least 6 other guys there on a somewhat regular basis that train MMA!

Calories - 4200 - I'm being a good boy

Posted by: fufu

nice nice

I hate collar chokes with a passion! That will be frustrating when I start gi training this next monday. I don't like having to worry about that plus I am not interested in submitting people that way.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

nice nice

I hate collar chokes with a passion! That will be frustrating when I start gi training this next monday. I don't like having to worry about that plus I am not interested in submitting people that way.

All you really have to do to defend is to grab your own collar and hold it closed (no gaps for someone to slide their hands in) and get into a turtle guard, since you can roll out of that guard position with relative ease and put distance between you.

Posted by: tallcall

I don't know what I came down with, but it feels like my skin's on fire (it's was much worse a few hours ago). I have to work at 3 am, so maybe it's a good thing I can't sleep. I'm going to see if I can leave early at 10 am and use sick time for the rest of my shift (so I can get some meds, dinner, and try to sleep before class tonight). I may not participate but will be there to get my program, I've waited a long time for that program (not that I'm complaining).

Wish me luck!

Posted by: DOMS

Good luck, man.

Posted by: goob

Yeah, working at 3am blows goats, nevermind feeling ill. Good luck.

Posted by: fufu

good luck

Posted by: tallcall

Today was all overtime at work, so I told them I felt sick and asked if I could leave when my replacement arrived (we overlapped by 4 hours). So I left at 8 am and got a few things done, now I'm planning on some sleep.

I hope to feel well enough to be in class tonight, I'm still not sure if I'm going to try to play with everyone or not, we'll see.

Posted by: katt

Hope you feel better soon TC - it seems this is the time people are getting sick..

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by katt

Hope you feel better soon TC - it seems this is the time people are getting sick..

Yeah, it sucks. I think my immune system is in very good shape (I tend to expose it to everything), so I'm sure it'll be gone in a day or two.

Posted by: katt

Yeah, keep the positive attitude.. I was fighting "something" all last week,, I knew I just wasn't feeling up to par, then this week, BAM! head cold, congestion, coughing... it's the first time I've really been sick in a couple years..

Posted by: tallcall

Tuesday:

BJJ:

I went to class but did not participate and stayed away from everyone. I just wanted to talk to someone (he wasn't there), and see what they were learning.

They just went over getting an omo-plata from closed guard after the opponent blocks you from taking his other sleeve (by grabbing his Gi with that hand). It seemed really easy, I didn't miss too much.

He tortured his no-Gi class again and had them drilling take-downs for about 30 minutes straight (hell of a cardio work-out).

The suggested that I get a Z-Pack (anti-biotic) and kill my fever right away. I have no idea if it would work but I know it can be given without a prescription, just get a sampler pack (I always have to take this stuff when I get sore throats because I'm allergic to Penicillin)

Oh well, it's off to bed, no work for tomorrow and no workout, unless, by some miracle, I'm feeling so much better (doubtful)..

Posted by: fufu

Should be careful with anti biotics unless you have an infection.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

Should be careful with anti biotics unless you have an infection.

Yeah, I think I'm just going to use the standard stuff.

Posted by: tallcall

2/6/08 Weigh in
Weight: 283.5 – down 1.5 pounds from last week’s 285

Waist: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Chest: 50 inches – No Change from last week
Shoulders: 63 inches – No Change from last week
Neck: 19.5 inches – No change from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 275.49 276.75 – Down from last week's 276.75 (-1.26 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 8.01 8.25 – Down from last week's 8.25 (-.25 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5.25 mm – Down .25 mm from last week
Suprailiac – 5.5 mm – No change from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 3 mm – No change from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.82 %.

This is pretty good for being sick. I haven’t lost too much lean mass. I kind of feel like I’m retaining water (feeling bloated).

Posted by: tallcall

I was curious, so I weighed myself again today. Now I'm at 282 pounds, I lost another 1.5 pounds since Wednesday. I hate being sick! At least the worst part is over.

Posted by: tallcall

BJJ:

I was able to go and perform without incident. I felt very weak, but was able to actually do something and put forth an effort (this actually made my teacher happy - I think he likes to see us push ourselves to the limits like that).

We drilled take-downs for about 30 minutes. I had no idea what I was doing and it took me three tries to figure out that I can make things harder by dropping to my knees and grabbing my opponent's leg. I still have no idea how to take them down or even how to reverse quickly enough to avoid being mounted.

Oh well, I learned how to fall real nice doing them

.

I rolled with one guy for about 5 minutes but had absolutely no energy, so I sat out the last 10 minutes of class. I was literally pouring sheets of sweat (I guess that is where that 1.5 pounds went, huh).

Monday should be a lot better, I hope.

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Upper Pull: Reps Week 3

Pull-ups: RI - 40 | BW-88 x 6, 6, 6, 6

T-Bar Rows: Ri - 45 | 75, 85 x 15, 150 x 10 PR for Weight

Upright Row: RI - 30 | Machine #6 x 3 sets x 15 reps

Front/Side Raises: RI - 45 | 10 lb dbs x 3 sets x 12 reps

Farmer's Walk | 80's x 2 round trips, 305 feet

Shin Work | 55 lbs on an aerobic step x 4 sets x 20 reps

Cardio

10 minutes on a treadmill

10 minutes abs/back/legs

20 minutes stretching

10 minutes on a treadmill after the workout

I was still a bit tired today and there were more idiots that just kept making me angry there. It was nice to run into two friends, one is actually training at one of the other BJJ schools in the area, he was just doing some stretching and drills when I walked in (I wish I could've joined).

Aside from feeling a bit tired, I think everything was pretty normal.

Calories: 5000 (cheat meal)

Tuesday - Thursday (while I was sick) I kept my food intake up to about 3500-3600 calories (Tuesday I couldn't seem to stomach much bread for some reason). I think I did pretty well with the eating and am still wondering how I burned through 3 pounds in about 4 days (I'm again reminded of the Niagara Falls episode in my Jiu-Jitsu class from Thursday).

Posted by: fufu

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

BJJ:

I was able to go and perform without incident. I felt very weak, but was able to actually do something and put forth an effort (this actually made my teacher happy - I think he likes to see us push ourselves to the limits like that).

We drilled take-downs for about 30 minutes. I had no idea what I was doing and it took me three tries to figure out that I can make things harder by dropping to my knees and grabbing my opponent's leg. I still have no idea how to take them down or even how to reverse quickly enough to avoid being mounted.

Oh well, I learned how to fall real nice doing them

Your dedication is good, but are you recovered enough to train?

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

Your dedication is good, but are you recovered enough to train?

Probably not. I'll see how I feel Monday (I might just go and watch instead).

Posted by: tallcall

I decided not to do any strength training today (would've been an upper push day). I think I'm just going to try starting all over again on Monday for a bit of a deload, maybe I'll go for power, I'm not committing to anything right now.

It's strange that I feel like a total failure this week. I haven't really been able to do anything. Oh well, maybe Monday will be better.

That reminds me of a song....

YouTube Video

Come Monday - Jimmy Buffett

Posted by: tallcall

Here's one of my favorites:

YouTube Video

Volcano - Jimmy Buffett

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:

Legs - Power Week 1:

Superset: RI - 30 |
Hip Rotations | 87.5x10, 100x10, 112.5x10

Hip Abductions | 185x12, 195x10, 205x8

Lying Leg Curls: RI - 30 | 140x10, 150x8, 180x4 PR for Weight

Deadlift - Sumo style with straps and DOH grip: RI - 120 | 225x8, 275x6, 305x4 PR for Weight

Leg Press: RI - 60 | 450 (5 plates per side) x 10, 540 (6 plates per side) x 8, 630 (7 plates per side) x 8 PR for Weight

Calf Presses: RI - 30 | 450 x 3 sets x 20 reps

Shin Work | 55 lbs x 4 sets x 20 reps

Cardio - 30 minutes

10 minutes on a treadmill
10 minutes abs/back
20 minutes stretching

10 minutes on a treadmill post workout - sprinting for about 40 seconds/20 seconds on the balls of my feet at 3-6 mph.

Calories - 4300

Wow, I can't believe I finally broke 300 pounds on my deadlifts, that is awesome. Honestly, it didn't really feel like that much weight, and I know I had a few more in me but my left hand was starting to slip (even with the strap on) so I decided to just put the weight down and take it for what it's worth.

Heck, I even felt really good on those leg presses immediately after the deadlifts.

Amazingly my shins feel fine today, lets keep this up. It was nice to be able to do those sprints and have virtually no pain (I just noticed that they were feeling tight, so I'm going to continue what I've been doing to them with all the stretching and strength training.

I still have to go to my BJJ class, I feel pretty good, a little tired from all the lifting, but good enough and in high enough spirits to take part. I think it's going to be fun!

Posted by: fufu

congrats on the deadlift!

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

congrats on the deadlift!

Thanks!

Posted by: Rubes

damn TC your one strong dude

Posted by: goob

Excellent Deadlifting TC.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rubes

damn TC your one strong dude

Thanks man, my leg days have always been my best days. I love feeling like a wet spaghetti noodle

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Excellent Deadlifting TC.

Thanks G, of course nothing matches the torture you go through with those rotational deads, RDLs, and Bulgarian Squats - Maybe you should think of adding leg presses in on top of all that, it would only be a natural progression from what you're doing now.

Posted by: goob

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

Thanks man, my leg days have always been my best days. I love feeling like a wet spaghetti noodle

!

Thanks G, of course nothing matches the torture you go through with those rotational deads, RDLs, and Bulgarian Squats - Maybe you should think of adding leg presses in on top of all that, it would only be a natural progression from what you're doing now.

Leg pressing is already included. It goes RDL's, bulgarians, leg press. TRy it, you might like it.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Leg pressing is already included. It goes RDL's, bulgarians, leg press. TRy it, you might like it.

Is RDL short for Romanian Deadlift? Rack Deadlift? I guess I just get confused by some of the names.

Posted by: goob

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

Is RDL short for Romanian Deadlift? Rack Deadlift? I guess I just get confused by some of the names.

Romainian. Bulgarian. It's an Communist themed workout....

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:

BJJ:

We did an interesting warm-up. He supersetted everything with 10, 20, and 30 push-ups with progression. We did 50 crunches, 10 push-ups, 50 crunches, 20 push-ups, etc. Then moved on to leg raises with 10-30 second static holds about 3 inches from the bottom of the movement supersetted with the push-ups, again with the progression. I think we started losing count of all the push-ups after about 100.

We went over a variation of a clock-choke (aka North-South choke, and 6-9 choke - so many different names it makes my head spin). We must've spent about 15 minutes drilling this.

Finally we rolled for 5 or 10 minutes. At the very end I locked in that new clock-choke right as the instructor called time - Damn!

I stayed late to get some more training from my friend the wrestling coach. He's been concentrating on drilling take-downs. We started with some hip exercises designed to make our movements faster.

After about 15 minutes of those warm-ups, I was introduced to a head-arm take-down, he drilled that with us for the entire class (his goal is to make sure we learn one or two take-downs each week).

I thought this was pretty easy once I got over my own fears (it took being thrown once, then everything was fine). I got to the point by the end of the class where I didn't even have to drop to my knee to throw my opponent, I just performed the hip movements with a little more force and lifted him right off the mat (we were just drilling the first part of the movement at the time so I didn't really slam him - I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have forgiven me).

He also showed us an arm-drag take-down, a Japanese take-down (that is what he called it), and a bear hug take-down (which is a great counter to the one we were doing). He said that Wednesday he'll be teaching the Fireman's Carry.

Oh, well, it was a fun night! I feel a little more flexible and confident.

Posted by: tallcall

Tuesday:

BJJ:

We worked on passing guard today. We all attempted to pass our instructor's guard. He made it hard as hell (he's a black belt you know), none of us succeeded.

He kept shifting his hips up and down, no one noticed that we were all focusing on pushing his legs and we all left his upper body and hips free, so he just relaxed and kept his knees resting on our hips and bridged slightly when he felt us pulling away, or squeezed in with his knees to bring us back to him - he had total control.

Then we switched positions and he passed very quickly and got in side control or full mount.

I only got to roll for about 5 minutes because he wanted to keep me out for a little while. I had a hard time during our warm-ups and had to stop every minute or two to breath (I had kept coughing - damn this cold just won't finish up - it's just a dry cough and is brought on by my heavy breathing and irritated throat). He went a little easier on me realizing that I'm still in the finishing stages (everyone there was sick all last week). He didn't push it when we were holding our supinated planks (not really planks, just keeping your legs, feet, and head off the ground with your hands under your butt - held for about 5 minutes), usually he walks over to you and stands on you for a few seconds each time you drop your head or feet, sometimes he resets it for everyone, and sometimes he'll start dropping 12 pound balls on everyone. He kind of allowed me to keep my legs up a little higher instead of straight out (he tends to very strictly enforce that), man my thighs were burning from yesterday's leg workout, my whole body is sore right now.

So far this week, we've learned a clock-choke, a head-arm take-down, and worked on guard passing, and I still have at least one more day there.

Also, one of my friends came back. I only really worked with him for about a week when I started in December, but he's back now. His wife just had their first baby. The funny thing is that this is his second day and he broke his nose rolling with the instructor (most likely on the mat), then afterwards, both instructors were treating him and one placed his belt in my friends mouth and grabbed the nose and forced the bone back in alignment. How's that for a nice welcome back, we're going to break your nose then yank it back into place - No Charge

. It's probably awful of me to laugh at him, but it was pretty funny. He's a cool guy (native Brazilian whose English is OK at best, but I love him anyways), and he took it all in stride

!

Calories - 3900

Posted by: tallcall

Wednesday:

Upper Push: Power Week 1

Dips: RI - 60 | BW-52x6, BW-46x4, BW-46x6 PR for Weight

DB Flat Bench on stability ball: RI - 60 | 35'sx10, 40'sx9, 45'sx8 PR for Weight, 35'sx10

X Body Raises: RI - 60 | 15 lb dbs x 3 sets x 10 reps PR for Weight

Peck Deck: RI - 60 | 60x10, 90x10, 120x8

Shin Work | 55 lbs x 4 sets x 20

Calf Raises off raised platform | 3 sets x BW x 20

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a treadmill.
10 minutes for abs and back.
20 minutes stretching.
about 5 minutes for drills - I finally got myself into the position where you're sitting on your shoulders upside down with your toes on the floor. That was cool and kind of freaky at the same time, I held it for about 40 seconds.

Calories - 5000 (cheat day)

I am very happy that I finally got a chance to use that Peck Deck machine again (it's always busy when I'm there, so I snatched it right up).

Still have some pain in my shins, it may have come back, I guess I'll just keep treating it (using wraps, heat, and Tiger Balm with some massaging and certain weight training exercises).

I chatted with one of the trainers today (one of the good ones). We went on and on about the benefits of the type of training I'm doing as opposed to what most of the other guys there were doing (lots of bi-lateral movement and un-even platforms to increase balance). He said that he thinks with this kind of training I will probably avoid most of the common injuries because I'm focusing more on dumbbells than on barbells and doing it on that ball should actually help avoid any shoulder problems. This is because it forces each arm to act independently and creates the mindset that weight isn't everything and that maintaining proper balance really is very important. I thought that was pretty cool.

I also got a chance to talk to my old trainer again who was very happy to see me picking up new things from the other guys there (like the shin work) and implementing them properly. That, plus me keeping my workouts kind of basic and primitive (trying to make it all sport specific now with a focus on conditioning coming soon).

I also ran into a few friends and talked with them for a few minutes (one keeps complaining about not being able to break a sweat until his girlfriend "works" with him

).

All in all a very nice, though short, day.

Posted by: tallcall

Thursday:

BJJ:

Only two of us there today plus two guys training Muai-Thai and one instructor. I got to work with my friend from Tuesday on guard passes. We did two ground passes and two standing guard passes, one of the standing passes was picked up from a student of Rickson Gracie (I think his name was Saulo) which was very cool and simple - elbows never leave the knees and your holding one arm and waiting for the right time (it's all about timing - just be patient).

We talked about the differences in styles, like how Royce's style is much more derived from Helio's teachings and fine for straight Jiu-Jitsu matches, but really Carlson, Carlton and Renzo's style is for MMA. It's also very much a West coast versus East coast thing (most of our guys on the east coast seem to be of the Carlson or Carlton Gracie school while most of the guys on the West coast seem to be of the Helio Gracie school). My original instructor was a student of Carlton Gracie. My current instructors are products of Carlton Gracie Jr and his students, so we're all kind of related.

We didn't get to do any rolling but my friend did get a call from Cage Fighter and might get his first MMA match so that is awesome!

Calories - ~4000

Weight went down to about 281 - down 2 pounds from last week. I'll figure out all the other numbers in the morning.

Posted by: tallcall

2/15/08 Weigh in
Weight: 281.5 – down 2 pounds from last week’s 283.5

Waist: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Chest: 50 inches – No Change from last week
Shoulders: 63 inches – No Change from last week
Neck: 19.5 inches – No change from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 274.52 – Down from last week's 275.49 (-0.97 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 6.98 – Down from last week's 8.01 (-1.03 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5 mm – Down .25 mm from last week
Suprailiac – 4.5 mm – Down 1 mm from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 3 mm – No change from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.48 %.

Not too bad, haven’t lost too much LBM. I’ve been sick for about the last week and a half so I really can’t complain.

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Upper Pull: Power Week 1

One Arm Seated Cable Rows: RI - 90 | 210x8, 225x8, 240x8 PR for Weight

T-Bar Rows: RI - 90 | 125x8, 150x8, 175x8 PR for Weight

Pull-Ups: RI - 120 | BW-58 x 3, 2, 3 PR for Weight

Back Extensions with Cobras: RI - 60 | 10 lb dbs x 3 sets x 10 reps

Plate Grabs | 25 lb plate hold x 1:31 Left and Right
2 - 10 lb plates hold x 1:00 Left, 1:17 Right
3 - 10 lb plates hold x 0:25 Left, 0:32 Right

Shin Work | 55 lbs x 4 sets x 20 reps

Calf Raises | BW x 4 sets x 20 reps

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a treadmill
10 minutes abs/back
20 minutes stretching

Calories - 4000

Calories for Saturday - 4200

Still having some soreness in my shins, it comes and goes so I'm just going to continue with the strengthening exercises I'm doing. This is the reason for me cutting my cardio sessions short - also, I hate bikes in general.

I couldn't get the assisted pull-up machine for the longest time Friday because some people kept hogging it - I still did pretty good.

Still recovering from my cold, I was coughing all over the place - all dry coughs but annoying either way.

My car windshield got cracked a few days ago

. The crack is not running or anything but it is pretty long. I called the insurance company any got them to pay for a replacement, so I'm not going to be going anywhere Monday. I'll have to leave it alone and let it seal in a dry place for almost a day before I can take it back out on the road - in Florida where it rains almost every day, it means I have to keep it locked up in the garage for a while.

Anyways, I've just been generally pissed off for the last few days

Posted by: goob

Holy shit! 225 one armed seated rows!!!??? That's fucking incredible.

Awesome, really is superb.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Holy shit! 225 one armed seated rows!!!??? That's fucking incredible.

Awesome, really is superb.

Yeah, they're fun, I put everything into those.

I also love those Trap Bar rows - just power that weight off the ground and squeeze it back a bunch of times, makes me feel all powerful all over

Posted by: tallcall

Sunday:

Legs: Power Week 2

Single Leg Leg Extensions: RI - 60 | 70x8, 80x8, 90x8

Smith Squats: RI - 90-120 | 180x10, 230x8, 280x5 PR for Weight - I basically had 2 more in me before I was going to fail so I stopped there, still it was awesome because I was squatting my own bodyweight.

Side Lunges with a Smith Machine: RI - 60 | BW x 3 sets x 10 reps

DB Snatches: RI - 90 | 30x12, 40x8, 40x8 PR for Weight - I used to call these DB Swings but I realize that a swing only goes up to about shoulder height, I've been taking these up to my shoulders then throwing them up above my head in a single fluid motion so I think they are really DB Snatches.

Calf Presses: RI - 60 | 540 x 3 sets x 20 reps

Shin Work | 70 pounds x 20 (two feet), 20 (Left), 20 (right), 30 (two feet) with plantarflexion.

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a treadmill with some sprints
10 minutes for ab/back work
20 minutes for stretching
10 minutes for some BJJ drills (mostly sweeps and momentum to standing drills - almost got it)

Calories - ~4500

I felt great yesterday, I can squat my bodyweight, I'm sure I could deadlift about 380 pounds if I really pushed myself (not really interested though). I guess I'm more impressed with those DB Snatches I basically did right afterwards, I might have been able to hit 50 pounds even.

I saw someone walking around in a Gracie Barra shirt, I wanted to talk to him for a minute, but he was gone before I could say hello. It is so cool to see that so many people are doing the same thing I am - it sometimes feels like a giant family.

My shins felt fine, they seem to come and go. Overall, my legs felt like wet spaghetti after that squat/side lunge/snatch combo!

I'm not really sure if you would call them snatches or not, they were kind of swings that ended overhead with a quick deceleration and then thrown back to the floor and swung up overhead again (no stopping between reps, and all in one fluid motion).

Posted by: tallcall

Tuesday:

BJJ:

No Running for Warm-ups - just stretching. I informed Thiago (along with just about everyone else) and he totally understood about the whole waiting until the shin splints heal thing before doing any running again. So that was cool.

Now the fun stuff. Marcello Grosso's Brothers (can't remember their names right now) came here from Brazil to visit my teacher. My instructor trained under Marcelo for a while and is a Marcelo black belt (who was a Ricardo De La Riva black belt - De La Riva is a Carlson Gracie black belt - Thiago also trained with De La Riva to some extent). These guys were so cool. They taught class tonight. We learned a sweep out of turtle guard into side control (for the guy on top of the one turtled up). and a scissor sweep from closed guard into arm-bar (which was also very cool, I like it a lot).

We took a series of class photos with the brothers. I still can't get over how nice these guys were to donate their time to help us like that. Also there is some idea floating around that Marcelo himself might be coming here in a month or two to teach a class and that he might be convinced to stay on as a teacher !!!!(

)!!!!

Man, that news has me so excited, plus we're getting a cage installed and getting a little more room for the mat (knocking down some walls)!

Calories - ~3600

Calories for Monday - ~5000 (cheated a little)

....So Excited....all my friends were there so was the strength and conditioning coach who totally re-affirmed what everyone (my family) has been telling me about the shin splints - to stop running until they heal and to probably just switch all my cardio to bike and just do stretching warm-ups for Jiu-Jitsu, Ice everything down (or cold wraps and of course elevate). He was cool and demanded that I tell Thiago (which I already had) then, before I could answer, he siad he was going to tell Thiago right then (it's very nice to see that all the guys there really cared about me as much as my family does - makes me feel like being in a big extended family while I'm there - absolutely no pressure to do anything you can't physically do).

Posted by: fufu

cool

Posted by: tallcall

Wednesday:

BJJ:

Warm-ups were the same for me. When the class started the abs session, I joined them. Thiago had us doing those supinated plank like things (stretching our legs out and holding them off the mat while keeping our heads off the mat). Usually it is held for about 5 minutes (fine, no big deal), but this time he punished the group everytime someone laid their feet or head down for a second. He stopped us and restarted the timer and added one minute. It ended up being like this: 4:30 on the first try (someone dropped their legs); 5:30 on the second try (someone dropped their head); 6:30 on the third try (someone raised their legs over their hips one too many times and someone else's head hit the mat); 8 minutes on the final attempt (we all finally got through). That is 24:30 minutes holding that stretch (so he held us late).

He showed us another clock choke (piece of cake), and reviewed the moves that Marcelo's brothers showed us yesterday - the sweep from turtle guard into side control. That sweep was one of the most popular moves any of us have seen in a long time and it was very simple to pull off.

Everyone's preparing for this Saturday's tournament in Lakeland. I'm going over to watch, I expect a good showing. Thiago is going to put me (and one or two other guys who are not competing) through some kind of hell tomorrow to help get these guys ready!

Thiago didn't let me roll tonight, probably because I rolled a lot yesterday. He also stopped me 2 or 3 times to check on me and see if my shins were ok and if I needed a quick break - I felt fine on the ground, but it was nice of him to do that and I can understand his position and reasoning for not allowing me to roll, maybe tomorrow.

Posted by: DOMS

You teacher sounds like a nice guy.

I'm so jealous that you're doing a martial art. I can't do mine until I get a job.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOMS

You teacher sounds like a nice guy.

I'm so jealous that you're doing a martial art. I can't do mine until I get a job.

Get a job, slacker!

but yeah, he is a pretty understanding guy.

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:
Upper Push: Power 2

Dips: RI - 90 | BW-46x6, BW-40x6, BW-40x5 PR for Weight

DB Flat Bench on Ball: RI - 90 | 45'sx8, 50'sx8, 55'sx5 (technical failure) PR for Weight, 45'sx8 (technical failure)

DB Fly on Ball: RI - 90 | 20's x 3 sets x 10

Cross Body Raises: RI - 90 | 15's x 3 sets x 8 - I tried to use 20 lb dbs but my shoulders just would not take it, maybe 15 is my limit on this?

Superset: RI - 90 |
1 - Rope Pressdowns | Maxhine #6 x 3 sets x 8

2 - Cable Crunches | Machine #10 x 12, #11 x 12, #12 x 12

Cardio - 30 minutes

Before Workout -
10 minutes on a Bike
10 minutes abs/back
30 minutes stretching and BJJ drills (shadow sweeps, and momentum to standing drills)

After workout -
10 minutes on a bike

Calories - 4500

Felt good today. my legs didn't hurt as much and I haven't been wearing those compression sleeves for about a week now - pain is still there a little bit, but much decreased from last week. I'm still doing a lot of stretching on my shins and trying to rehab them, maybe they'll feel even better next week.

Some guy was checking me out, I just looked over and smiled, and he kept doing it. I never did talk to him, he left before I could say anything, but it was kind of funny (never had that happen before).

Oh well, today I'm off to watch my friends go through their tournament - I just hope the school lets me bring some food in (trying to eat every 2-3 hours and I think I'm going to be there about 5 hours max - get through all the adult weight divisions, or at least the feather-, light-, welter-, middle-, and light heavy- weight divisions). I'm going to take pictures and maybe post some of them, but for the most part I'm going to put them on CD and either sell them (maybe 50 cents or a dollar) to the guys who want them, or I'll probably just burn 20 CD's and leave them at the school for anyone who wants a copy with one disk specifically for the school/Thiago and another just for my friend at work who has never seen one of these and is interested in taking a look.

Thursday - 2/21/08

BJJ:

Because of my shin splints, I did a stretching warm-up only. Thiago didn't let me do anything today besides run the stopwatch because they were practicing takedowns and drilling penetration steps (everything that would've had me placing a lot of extra pressure on my legs). I was a little angry that I couldn't do anything, but I was able to help in the background so I think that's all that matters. Thiago dislocated his shoulder and everything stopped, we all gathered around and helped him up as he told us to do. He walked over to the wall and bit down hard on his Gi collar and reset his shoulder himself (he had to push it in twice)! Talk about a high pain tolerance threshold. Then he did a complete arm circle and had no problems. He made his own sling out of his Gi and his belt and went on rolling with one arm and still beat everyone in the room. That was just amazing, there's no way I would've done that, I'd be crying in pain on the floor if I dislocated my shoulder then had someone reset it

Posted by: goob

Awsome Dips TC. Do you use an supps pre-workout to give you the energy for that madness?

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Awsome Dips TC. Do you use an supps pre-workout to give you the energy for that madness?

No, I just eat a grapefruit and a granola bar for some energy. I have some amino acids mixed in my water during the workout, and a meal replacement shake after.

Posted by: tallcall

Sunday:

Upper Pull Power 2:

Pull-Ups: RI - 90 | BW-52 x 3, BW x 0.5 (Failed), BW x 10 second hang to failure, BW-52 x 2 All of this is really a PR for Weight

One Arm Seated Cable Row: RI - 120 | 225x8, 240x8, 255x8 PR for Weight

T-Bar Rows: RI - 120 | 150x8, 175x8, 200x8 (Barely) PR for Weight

Back Extensions with Medicine Ball: RI - 90 | 12 pound ball x 3 sets x 15 reps - bounce and catch at the bottom of the movement and toss and catch at the top of the movement.

Superset: RI - 30 |
1 - Ab Wheel | 3 sets x 10 reps

2 - Crunches | 3 sets x 20 reps

Tablemakers: No Rest | 15 reps total in abour 2 minutes - just trying these on for size and they seem pretty good.

Cardio - 30 minutes SS

10 minutes on a bike.
10 minutes abs/back
30 minutes stretching/BJJ shadow drills

10 minutes on a bike post workout

Calories - ~4500

I felt pretty good today for those pull-ups and just had to attempt a bodyweight pull-up, not quite there yet. I love my rows, those T-Bar rows were much more difficult to get into position this time with 200 pounds on the bar, and those one arm rows kick ass.

I tried Tablemakers for the first time and they seem to be a nice fit, I'll time myself better next time and shoot for as many as I can get in a 2 minute time period.

Posted by: fufu

nice, good job

Posted by: tallcall

I promised I'd upload some videos of the tournament I went to, so here are a few clips:

1.

YouTube Video

The one in the blue gi is on my team and wins this match.

2.

YouTube Video

Same guy as he after he wins his match.

3.

YouTube Video

These two guys running up and down the mat, the one on the right is my strength and conditioning coach, the one on the left is the same as above and my instructor Thiago is there in the black shirt giving them advice. Another friend joins later in the blue and white gi.

4.

YouTube Video

The three in the center of the shot are from my team.

5.

YouTube Video

Random video of two guys doing a little rolling before they began.

6.

YouTube Video

More guys rolling

7.

YouTube Video

My strength and conditioning coach getting ready.

8.

YouTube Video

My instructor serving as a official (that thought is kind of funny actually, oh the irony) refereeing a match of purple belts.

9.

YouTube Video

My friend in the blue and whit gi has his match.

10.

YouTube Video

More of my friend from the last video in the background.

It was pretty damn cool, two of my friends (the small guy you see in these videos, and another guy whose match I didn't get to record) placed in the top three in their respective weight classes. The other guy is the wrestler from Nebraska I've been training with a lot lately, he fought at about 200 pounds as a light heavyweight, the smaller guy was a feather weight I think at around 150 pounds.

I don't know how the rest of them did since the event ran until 5 pm and I could only stay until 3 pm (nearly a 2 hour drive each way and I had to get to sleep early for work on Sunday).

A sad note - my strength coach lost his match when he injured his arm. He was fighting in the ring right in front of me and I believe he hyper-extended his elbow in an arm-bar. Then some idiot right next to me pointed at him and said "that's pathetic," I just about smashed my camera over his head, then I paused and thought about how it might reflect on everyone else and decided to ignore him.

Then my friend was wrapping his belt around his arm and tying it in place, this guy next to me started asking what he was doing and I along with another guy responded that he was making a sling and that it was BASIC FIRST AID (I really wanted to yell at him to let him know he had know idea what he was talking about), then out came the ice.

I saw my friend later and he didn't look too bad, but you never can really tell by looking, he has literally gone through Hell before. I love working with him and for someone to insult him like that brought about a strange kind of rage I haven't felt many times before, I was really going to hurt that guy.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

nice, good job

Thanks man, I feel like I had a lot of useful aggression to work with today.

Posted by: tallcall

I weighed myself in a few days ago at 280.5 (lost 1 pound from the last check) but still haven't done any other measurements, I think I'll just wait and do them next week, or maybe tomorrow if I feel like it.

Posted by: fufu

It sucks when people throw around disrespect in competition like BJJ. It is easy to get angry in that kind of competition since it is so physical, fucking losers!

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

It sucks when people throw around disrespect in competition like BJJ. It is easy to get angry in that kind of competition since it is so physical, fucking losers!

Yeah, I just hope he didn't hear any of that. I hope I see him tomorrow so I can talk to him about everything.

Posted by: tallcall

I apologize for the short videos, it was a digital still picture camera with a combined 256 MB of memory on 2 sticks. Maybe next time I'll have a real video camera (thinking about a nice Cannon - looking for one under $300 with decent battery life, decent mike, decent lens and aperture, and uses MiniDV format).

Posted by: fufu

Do you plan on competing at any of these events?

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

Do you plan on competing at any of these events?

I would eventually like to, but right now I lack too much experience and really don't have a good handle on the takedowns. Plus the crowd size made me a little uncomfortable, I get really nervous in large groups sometimes - paranoia and/or anxiety, which I felt when I was there and is the reason I left about 30 minutes early, I must've seemed awfully weird to the other guys when I was saying goodbye and quickly heading for the door. I haven't had anxiety attacks like this for a long time, but it is usually when I'm around a lot of people.

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:

Legs/Abs Power 3:

Leg Ext: RI - 90 | 240x8, 250x8, 260x8 PR for Weight

Cross Body Push: RI - 120 | Machine #7 x 10, #9 x 8, #10 x 6 PR for Weight

Superset: RI - 90 |
1 - Squat Thrusters | 45 lbs x 3 sets x 8 reps

2 - Side Bends | 45 lbs x 3 sets x 10 reps

Ball Chops: RI - 60 | 8 lb ball x 3 sets x 10

Plank | 45 seconds

Tablemakers | 10 in 120 seconds

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 min on a bike
10 min abs/back
30 min stretching/BJJ drills

Calories - 5000 (cheat day)

I felt a little out of place since I could not do any better lifts like deadlifts, squats, leg presses, or lunges (well, maybe I could've done the lunges) because I have to avoid adding pressure like that to my shins while they're healing. What made things worse was that all the machines I was trying to get were being serviced and everyone was in the free-weights area. So I decided to add the cross body and squat thrusters and just spend more time than I originally planned for doing ab work. Right now my abs are in a little pain (DOMS), so I think everything went fine considering.

BJJ:

I did my special warm-up with another guy (an injured purple belt - one of my friends), so he just led me through it while everyone else (all three of them) did their running.

We didn't learn anything new but we did get to learn a game that Joel (our instructor on Mondays and Wednesdays) played as a kid in Brazil that he called (translated roughly) get the belt. I couldn't play because of all the jumping and sprinting and he knew about it and understood. The game has everyone taking their belts and knotting them all up and throwing them on the other side of the mat. Then two stations are created, one guy runs this gauntlet at a time and is timed with the best completion time winning. The goal is to leap frog over the first guy, then immediately slide back between his legs and leap over again, then you must sprint to a belt and run it back to your side - do this for every belt on the mat. Once done, the person running the event resets all the belts and continues the timer. Now your task is to leap over and slide back under the first guy, then leap over him and run to the second guy where you lift him as if you were going to fireman's carry him on one side, then switch to the other, finally run and grab one belt and bring it back to your side, do this for every belt. We had two people tie for first place at 1:10 (4 belts to grab), no surprise that one was out instructor. It was an interesting game and made us all realize that Joel must not have had mush better to do as a kid and that he loved this one because he owned everyone (except the smaller fast guy).

I rolled with the instructor for a little bit, I messed a bunch of things up and he slowed down with me, I finally got the choke from side mount I was trying to go for (Neck Crank or Arm Triangle, not quite sure what it's called, I had his arm around his throat, one of mine under his head grabbing my other bicep, and I leaned into his shoulder then walked through and cranked until he tapped) with a little help and a few reminders. I did pretty well against everyone, I tapped a few times and got others to tape once or twice. I worked on balance after class with my purple belt friend and maintained my posture for about 10 straight minutes before he caught me and swept me on my back. I couldn't get out and was forced to tap to a Kimura from a high side mount (basically over my face).

I gave away CD's with the video I took at the tournament, and everyone thought it was such a cool gesture, I don't know if I can say enough how good these guys make me feel, they're all kind of like brothers in a way.

I get to go back tonight for more fun

Posted by: tallcall

Tuesday:

BJJ:

Just two of us today. We did some clench drills (just swimming under each other's arms - then fighting for dominance when the instructor called for it, I won every time). Then we got to some new technique drills.

The first was a bicep/bone crusher from a spider guard, then there was a sweep from spider guard to side mount (set up like the bicep crusher but grabbing between the guys legs and using the momentum of the initial pull to cause him to roll over you and you end up on top in side control with his arm trapped between your legs - could just raise your knee and get a bone crusher right there or let it go and take side control). We did these so many times both of us were in a little bit of pain. Thiago likes to play with me so when he was demonstrating the sweep on me for the other guy, he kept going for the crusher (put it on me 4 or 5 times), I got him back the next time he demonstrated some aspect of the sweep when I found myself in side control and just kept fighting with him - I lost, but I did get to push him a little.

I rolled with the other guy for 10 or 15 minutes and forced a submission via Americana. The second time, I slipped and he got my back, but I remembered to tuck my chin and grab high on both sides of my lapel to prevent the rear naked choke. Then I rolled onto my side where he was trying to pull me and kept turning to all fours so I could attack and take mount, but I was too slow and he jumped right back on and got me the second time. Thiago showed him the better way to do it where you're on his back and place both arms under his arms, grab the wrists and pull them in, then with your hooks in just extend your legs to flatten him out, grab his shoulders and pull up and push down with your butt (this extends his back and forces him to look up so you can start your choke), next just get your rear naked choke.

It was a very good session, and it's always awesome to work with Thiago mostly one-on-one.

The legs feel pretty good now, the right leg seems to have no more pain, the left leg was in pain much longer and is still having some pain. At least it's moving a bit and not always on the shin, it moves between the ankle and the tibia, I'm thinking it may have been a problem with the Achilles Tendon, but whatever it was/is, it is getting much better.

YouTube Video

God I can't believe I found something like this - This is my place - it really is!

About 3:50 in is my friend Daniery who really convinced me to try BJJ. This video was done right around the time Renato left us and there have been some very nice renovations to the place. We still do pretty much everything seen in this video - Thiago really does walk around and stand on us for fun sometimes!

I wasn't there when they were shooting this - that'd be the reason I had no idea this existed - so no pictures of me

. Still, I can't believe they got both Daniery and Kyle in the same class playing war like that, that's awesome and this video is going in my favorites list right now.

Posted by: tallcall

We also got some new shirts with the new school/team logo. So I'll have to pick a few up tomorrow if I can - the logo looks pretty nice (not an ATT logo, just the new school logo). Just go to Elite Fighting Academy and check out the logo on the top of the page - that's the new look, just on a black or gray t-shirt.

Posted by: tallcall

Weight: 281.5 – Up 1 pound from last week’s 280.5

Waist: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Chest: 50.5 inches – Up 0.5 inches from last week
Shoulders: 63.5 inches – Up 0.5 inches from last week
Neck: 19.5 inches – No change from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 274.52 – Up from last week's 273.55 (+0.97 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 6.98 – Up from last week's 6.95 (+0.03 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5 mm – No change from last week
Suprailiac – 4.5 mm – No change from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 3 mm – No change from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.48 %.

Last week I was at 280.5, this week I’m one pound heavier and added 0.5 inches to my chest and shoulders. My fat measurements didn’t change so I take it as I must have added some muscle. Every thing’s good.

Posted by: tallcall

Wednesday:

BJJ:

Great night! Only about 5 of us there, two stayed from the class before and were having a difficult time walking (he beats up his no-Gi class, so they were all physically broken by the time they got to my class). Our warm-ups consisted of those arm lock/hip escape moves and ankle lock set-ups (not sure how to name any of these).

We just drilled Kimura from guard with a person who posts with both hands - Grab wrists with a Monkey Paw grip, escape hips to break one hand loose, throw arm that was with the hand you broke away across their face and end with your elbow on their shoulder (tight), sit up slightly and begin pressing them down, loop under their trapped arm's elbow and grab your wrist with your free hand, escape your hips and throw them to the ground while pushing their trapped wrist to their ribs and immediately rotating and sliding it across their back (won't go very far at all before they tap). It is important to pull them to the ground, escape and twist the arm at the same time and fast to avoid giving them time to possibly counter.

I also went over some sweeps with my purple belt friend. Including a simple one from guard when your opponent is posting with both hands. Pull their elbows out and lift them toward you with your legs at the same time, as they are falling toward you, escape your hips and continue the pull and push them down to where you were, then come up on top and take mount.

Another thing from the Turtle with someone on your back is to drop your head to the mat, tripod up with your legs, grab their head or arms and pull in toward you, this causes them to flip in front of you so you can possibly mount. This is only really possible if the opponent doesn't have both hooks in (before they get any in is preferable, but with one it is still possible).

They all kept applauding me for improving my balance so much and told me that I need to be more aggressive on my attack and take-down, and not to worry so much about hurting the other person (I can't help but worry that I might cause someone to take time off to recover from a nasty injury, so if I know one exists, I'll go easy on that area if possible - avoid arm locks if they have problems with their elbows).

Calories - 4000

Posted by: katt

Hey TC - just stopping by to check out the journal... Fantastic progress as always!!

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by katt

Hey TC - just stopping by to check out the journal... Fantastic progress as always!!

Thanks Kat, I'm just trying to keep up with everyone else.

Posted by: tallcall

Thursday:

BJJ:

Last day for this week - four days is a lot for me.

Only two of us showed so we drilled arm locks for our warm-up. That is a great way to do a warm-up since it warms up the hips, arms, back, abs, and legs. We traded on and off for 3 minutes each four times (two times per person), so we did those for about 12-15 minutes.

We learned how to get an arm-bar from the guard. Turn your opponents sleeves up a little to make a small cup, choose the arm to attack. Now using your arm on the same side as the arm to be attacked, grab his Gi sleeve (the cup you made) and using your other hand, reach under his arm and grab between his triceps and his elbow and pull it toward you so his elbow rests on your stomach, then lock your elbows firmly against your body. Release your grip on his cupped sleeve and reach across his face and grab his shoulder and pull hi to you some. Now place the leg that is on the same side as the arm to be attacked on his hip and escape your hips, slide the other leg up his back. Now turn his wrist so the thumb is pointing up or the palm is up and make sure his elbow is resting on your stomach. Now bridge your hips slowly and wait for the tap (or go fast and break his arm - your choice). I like to use my free leg on his back to push him to the floor and sit up then pull back down and bridge as I'm coming back down.

We rolled with each other for about 10 minutes and I just kept sweeping him and evading and reversing all his rear naked choke attempts. I even tried to reverse it in the turtle, but he threw both hooks in too fast for me, so I rolled to the side, guarded my neck, turned into him, got up on all fours and bull dozed him with my head back to the ground, then immediately passed into half gurad (smaller guy was too fast for me to get to full mount, but oh well). He tried to sweep and almost succeeded, but I scrambled and ended up back on top just as the buzzer sounded - I WIN!

I also had a slight impromptu roll with Thiago, he really likes to play, so I jumped right in and as he looked like he was going for a take down on me. I reached in and grabbed his exposed leg and tried to block it, but he still got me good. I really love that about him, he'll sometimes just randomly jump in there like that, and to be honest, I'd probably be angry if a black belt like him lost to a white belt like me in an impromptu match like that.

Calories - 4000

I got some of the new shirts with the school's new logo at a pretty nice discount. I also got to watch Thiago beat the hell out of some new people in his no-gi class.

We all shared stories about the day he decided to turn the air conditioning off around 4 pm. He said that his first class at 4 started heating up the room, then the Muay Thai class started dropping gallons of sweat at 5 pm, by the time his no-gi class started at 6, the room temperature was about 97 degrees plus all the humidity. Then my class started at 7 pm wearing those 4 pound gi's so he turned the air on slightly (brought it down to 85 degrees) until the owner walked in and said something like "DAMN...... it's hot in here, what is the AC broken?" Then we all realized what he had done and the temperature was reset to something more normal.

Thiago says that in Sao Paulo the only air they get is from an open door or window and that it is not uncommon to hit 105 with humidity. He really did this because one of the guys said that we could easily handle the Brazilian style workouts, the worst part is that he wasn't even there that day for class (little bastard)

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Upper Push Power Week 3:

DB Bench on Ball: RI - 90 | 50'sx10, 55'sx8, 60'sx4 PR for Weight, 50'sx8

Cross Body Raise: RI - 90 | 20 lb dbs x 3 sets x 8 reps PR for Weight

DB Fly on Ball: RI - 60 | 25's x 3 sets x 8 reps PR for Weight

DB Skull Crushers on Ball: RI - 90 | 20x8, 25x8, 25x6 (technical failure) PR for Weight

Hanging Knee Raises: RI - 60 | BWx10, BW+25x8, BW+45x1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 PR for Weight

Bird Dogs: RI - 30 | 3 sets x 10 reps

Table-Makers | 15 in 120 seconds

Cardio - 30 minutes

10 minutes on a bike.
10 minutes abs/back
30 minutes stretching/BJJ shadow drills
10 minutes on a bike. 60 seconds at the following levels (50 sec low intensity, 10 seconds high intensity): Levels 13, 15, 17, 19, 13, 17, 19, 20, 12.

Calories - ~4500

I felt good today too. I ran into 4 other guys who train MMA at one of the local American Top Team places (not mine). We all talked for a little bit about how things were at our places with our teachers, etc. I still think it's amazing how many people I see at the gym that train MMA or BJJ like me, and 99% or us are American Top Team. I swear all my friends are involved in either Capoeira, Jeet Kun Do, MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or Muay Thai.

I don't think I said it before, but Thiago mentioned that he thinks my signature submission is going to be the Americana from side control. It is because of my size and ability to control from the side, not many people have escaped that one once I was in position to take it (I like to feel people tapping their hand on my side while I'm trying to dislocate their shoulder

!).

Posted by: tallcall

Saturday:

Upper Pull Power Week 3

Pull-ups: RI - 120 | BW-46x2, 2, 2, 15 sec hang PR for Weight

DB Serrates Pull: RI - 60 | 45x6,8, 8

DB Rear Delt Rows: RI - 90 | 50x10, 55x10, 60x8 PRs for Weight

DB Straight Legged Deadlift On Platform: RI - 120 | 60'sx8, 8, 8 PR for Weight

Superset: No Rest |
1 - Cable Crunches | Maxhine #10x12, #12x12, #14x8

2 - Calf Raises leaning against a wall (more of a stretch) | BWx3x20 per leg

Hanging Knee Raises: RI - 60 | BW+45x1, 2, 2, 3, BWx12

Table Makers | 15 in 120 seconds

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes for abs/back
30 minutes stretching/BJJ drills (triangle drills, momentum to standing, then some sweeps - like from guard to armbar, etc).

My total time for this week is about 5 hours and 10 minutes ( 4 one hour long BJJ classes, and 20-30 minutes each of the three days I went to the gym). Not as impressive as the 5.5 hours I did a while ago, but enough for me to be physically drained right now.

Calories - 4500

I was really tired, but got through it with flying colors. I did skip the back extensions, due primarily to the deadlifts I was doing. I also skipped out on some of the rows to allow for some variety.

I'm still not very happy with my pull-ups, I just feel so weak on them.

Next week I start my high reps low weight cycle which will run for 2 weeks, then I have a 1 week deload, then my power cycle starts again for 3 weeks, and the cycle continues.

I think it's funny that before I did my deadlifts my shins were in a little pain (very slight pain), then after my deadlifts they felt fine (and are feeling pretty good even now -

very strange). Of course it might have something to do with the insane amount of stretches I did on them all day at work and at the gym, but either way it was pretty nice. Now it just feels like they are cramping up every now and then and when I stretch them the pain just goes away.

Posted by: tallcall

Tuesday:

BJJ:

Still no running warm-ups, waiting for ankles and tendons to heal. I figured out that all of this was most likely some kind of ankle or Achilles tendon issue that caused the problems in the shin, so they are still healing (everything else feels great though including the shins).

Worked on escaping side control by holding the hips, grabbing the back of the opponents gi collar and sweeping arm around the face, pushing up with the forearm (and shoulders or whatever you need) to get enough space to swim the arm under so you can grab the back of his gi. Grab the back of his gi, then bridge with your one flat foot and push him up enough so you can sweep around him and take his back while he's on all fours. This also allows a sweep to side control or mount if you keep pushing after you escape because you will still have control of him with both hands. This worked very well and I got to use it a few times during our rolling session. Really, just about everyone ended up trying this one on me, which was great because it forced me to adapt to something new. I did go a little lighter on one of the guys just because he was so light and I really wanted to give him a chance to use it. He did get it, but I certainly wasn't making it easy, just lifting my weight a little (I outweigh him by almost 90 pounds) so he could focus more on the hand positions and force me to roll and end up defending a RNC.

This was a really good session, I was more in control and more aggressive than normal, I got almost all the positions I wanted and really only tapped twice (armbar and gi choke) and dominated everyone I was working with.

I'm kind of liking the stretching warm-ups better than the running warm-ups, but I don't want any special treatment, so as soon as these ankles feel like doing this, I'm getting back into it at about 50% and slowly working back to 100%.

Calories - Sunday - 4500 (cheat day)
Monday - 4000
Tuesday - 4000

Also, my total cardio time for all of last week was almost 5.5 hours (4 hours of BJJ, and about1.5 hours cardio in the gym).

Posted by: tallcall

Weight: 282.5 – Up 1 pound from last week’s 281.5

Waist: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No Change from last week
Chest: 51 inches – Up 0.5 inches from last week
Shoulders: 63.5 inches – No change from last week
Neck: 20 19.5 inches – No change from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 275.50 – Up from last week's 274.52 (+0.98 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 7.00 – Up from last week's 6.98 (+0.02 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5 mm – No change from last week
Suprailiac – 4.5 mm – No change from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 3 mm – No change from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.48 %.

Again, I added about a pound of muscle and added 0.5 inches to my chest. I think that’s a good trade off. My fat measurements didn’t change this week either, so that’s nice.

Posted by: goob

Excellent progress TC. What would the comparison be with your starting off stats? Pretty big difference I would think.

Posted by: tallcall

Wednesday:

Legs Reps Week 1:

Seated Leg Curls: RI - 30 | 100x15, 110x15, 130x11

BB Back Squat: RI - 60 | 100x12, 110x12, 120x12

Superset: RI - 60 |
1 - DB Snatches | 20 x 3 sets x 10 reps, 30 x 3 sets x 10 reps

2 - Single Legged Deadlift (to improve balance and stability of each leg emphasizing the ankles) | 10 lb plate x 5 sets x 10 reps on each leg

Shin Work | 25 lb plate x 3 sets x 20

Calf Raises | BW x 3 sets x 20 reps

Cardio: 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike.
10 minutes abs/back
30 minutes stretching/BJJ drills

BJJ:

Drilled armbars from the guard (same one we did earlier). Then we spent the rest of the class just rolling.

I loved it, I got to roll with a blue belt first, my instructor second, and a purple belt third (no rolling with any white belts today). Thiago made quick work of me as usual but I would probably not be very happy if I was able to win against a black belt like him, so I loved it. My purple belt friend was really cool as well, he showed me a few of my weaknesses real quick. I tapped out a whole bunch of times in 15 minutes!

I stayed more than an hour late to work with a few guys on some rolls (I still can't do them right - just don't have the flexibility yet). We got to drill a few moves and discuss a bunch of things such as the fact that we can never remember everything that is taught, so he suggests that we don't try, just pick up the basics and try to add in one of the new techniques once we are ready and understand them. I like that way of thinking, it allows me to focus more of my rolling on sweeps, mounts, and staying balanced (frustrates the hell out of everyone).

Oh well, we get to look forward to a visit from De La Riva in April, no sure of the exact date, but we are his first stop (Thiago got his black belt from De La Riva and is the one picking him up from the airport). We are going to have students here from all over the state (especially central and south Florida) so it's going to get crowded quickly. I believe the seminar is going to be 3-4 hours long and it'll probably cost 45-55 dollars so I definitely plan to go for this one (going to be so much fun

).

Calories - 4000

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Excellent progress TC. What would the comparison be with your starting off stats? Pretty big difference I would think.

I started out at 335 pounds and am now around 282. I can't remember the other numbers, but I know the 335 pounds was mostly fat and the 282 right now is a lot of muscle (still waiting for the definition in the abdominals - I know my fat measurements are off slightly but it is the best I can do).

I eat like a horse, an average of 4000-5000 calories a day (sometimes up to 6000) as opposed to when I started (2500-3200). I learned how to eat right real quick with the help of my brother's fiancee (gave very helpful nutritional advice) and my personal trainer. The rest is history.

Posted by: tallcall

Thursday:

BJJ:

No one else showed up for class so I got a nice private session with Thiago (

)! We spent the entire time talking about what's going on with me, I thought it was kind of funny because I ended up explaining Tourette Syndrome and some of the effects of it. I have a few balance problems which may be partially behind my strange walking pattern. I sometimes have a hard time landing evenly and land on one side or another on each foot, which I think is causing my shin problems now that I'm taking a closer look at how I move. He told me that now that he knows that that it is understandable if I choose to keep doing my warm-ups the way I'm doing them. I told him that I am going to get back to the point where I'll be doing the running because I like to keep my standards set high and the standard is that everybody runs. This may not be easy but I will get there at some point!

We went over positions concentrating on side control to full mount and side control with Americana (he is now convinced that this is my submission - I knid of own it now

).

The side control to full mount was very simple but very effective, just hug the guy with your hands clasped together, switch your hips and lean your shoulder and weight onto his neck and face to prevent him from turning, then slide your leg up and over him, shift yourself higher so you end up sitting on his ribs and squeeze your knees together. Now you can easily stay upright and go for quick arm-bars, Americanas, Kimuras, Arm Triangles, and all the chokes.

We went over another variation of this where you pin his belt to the ground and grab your own foot to slide it up and over faster so he can't even see what is happening and he ends up expecting an Americana until he realizes he is being mounted.

I rolled with him for about 15 minutes, and ended up tapping a lot, but I expect that from him. I did reverse one of his arm-bars though and nearly ended up in side control from it (couldn't move fast enough and he got me into his guard). It was a lot of fun, he made a comment about how I've improved so much and that I just need to keep the agression high and use my weight to my advantage more, but that he thinks I'm doing great (

)!

Also, My strength and conditioning coach returned today to watch my class after about two weeks of recovering from a dislocated elbow! It was so nice to see him, he is such a nice person, everyone just kind of gravitates to him, and I usually just feel kind of protective of him. We all end up exchanging big hugs everytime he comes through, I probably ended up hugging him 3 or 4 times tonight (I really have missed him - and it is nice to see that he is doing fine after the beating he got -

).

In the end it was a very cool day and I hope to have more like it sometime.

Posted by: DOMS

That really does sound like a great night.

And great job on the weight loss!

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOMS

That really does sound like a great night.

And great job on the weight loss!

Oh it was a great night, everything was so simply explained that I think as long as I can get into the correct position with everyone else, I'll be fine.

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Upper Push Reps Week 1:

Push-Ups: RI - 60 | 3 sets of 10

Dips: RI - 60 | BW-70 x 3 sets x 8 reps

Cross Body Push: RI - 30 | Machine #5 x 10, #6 x 10, #7 x 10

Cross Body Raises: RI - 30 | 10 lbs x 3 sets x 10 reps

DB Skull Crushers on a Stability Ball: RI - 45 | 10 lbs x 15, 15 lbs x 15, 15 lbs x 15

Cardio - 30 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes abs - this is always 200 crunches, 25 leg outs, 25 vertical flutters and 25 horizontal flutters, and possibly 25 back extensions.

30 minutes stretching/BJJ shadow drills (triangles, shrimping, and some sweeps just so I can remember the positioning) - nice flexibility in the arms today, I got my feet to touch my face and am almost laying flat back during that stretch where you lay one leg next to you and prop your other foot up on that knee then lean back as far as possible, I got almost all the way back.

10 minutes on a bike

Calories - 4500

I felt good, I ran into two friends from other BJJ places around here (no one from Gracie Barra - we're kind of cross town rivals - interesting story...). Once again, people just starred at me like I had the plague when I was doing my BJJ drills and watching me and my new found speed and flexibility!

Wednesday night at class some girl came in wearing a Gracie Barra shirt from the local club to but some shin guards. My teacher just laughed and sold her the guards and let her leave then turned and said how he thought it was funny to see one of the Gracie students coming here for her supplies and that he had absolutely no problem taking money from any of them (I loved it, maybe they'll send some more guys over to buy some stuff from us and make us some money off of Gracie Barra

).

Anyways the whole rivalry is basically because they generally have an attitude and think they're morally superior to everyone and one of our guys took on one of their guys in a competition which we won. We also started selling our t-shirts at some of their events and actually did pretty good. Ahhh...It's good to have some people who want to see you lose all the time, it keeps you motivated and makes you proud when you or your friends do well in competition.

Posted by: lucifuge

great work Tallcall, keep it up!

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucifuge

great work Tallcall, keep it up!

Thank you, thank you!

Posted by: tallcall

Saturday:

Pull-Ups: RI - 60 | BW-70 x 6, 5, 4, 4, 4

MTS High Row: RI - 60 | 70's x 15, 15, 12

Back Extensions With Medicine Tango: RI - 30 | 6 lb ball x 3 sets x 12 reps

Superset 1: RI - 60 |
1 - DB Straight Legged Deadlifts | 30's x 12, 40'sx12, 50'sx12

2 - DB Shrugs | 30'sx20, 40'sx20, 50'sx20

Hanging Knee Raises: RI - 60 | BW+45 x 3, 2, 2, 2, BW x 12

Tablemakers | 17 reps in 120 seconds

Cardio - 30 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes abs/back
30 minutes stretching/BJJ drills
10 minutes on a bike

I was kind of tired today, but it was all good. Everything feels like it's getting easier.

Calories - ~4200

Posted by: tallcall

Off Day:
Calories - ~5000 (cheat day)

I went with family to Red Lobster! What a cheat meal, man that was a lot of food!

Back to "normal" tomorrow.

Posted by: fufu

Red Lobster...mmm. I haven't been there in ages.

Posted by: tallcall

Mmm yeah Lobster...

Monday:
Legs Reps Week 2:

Superset 1: RI - 30 |

1 - Lying Leg Curls | 130x12, 12, 10

2 - Hip Rotations | 112.5x12, 10, 10

Superset 2: RI - 60 |

1 - Leg Press | 270x12, 360x12, 450x10, 360x10, 270x10

2 - Calf Presses | 270x20, 360x20, 450x20, 360x20, 270x20

Single Leg Deadlift: RI - 30 | 10 lbs x 12, 25 lbs x 12, 12

Side Lunges: RI - 30 | 3xBWx10

Ab Wheel: RI - 30 | 3xBWx10

Bird-Dogs: No Rest | 3xBWx10

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes abs
30 minutes stretching/BJJ drills

That felt nice, I finished the weightlifting portion in about 50 minutes. It seems that this week has been all about deadlifts I did the straight leg deadlifts on Saturday and before that did the single leg deadlifts on Wednesday. Next time I do legs I'm probably going to use sumo deadlifts as my main exercise (today's was the leg press).

Didn't do anything super special today - got a hair cut and am going to class tonight. I also finally had time to clean out my closet (I guess there's a pun in there somewhere

).

Hope everyone else is having a nice day.

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:

BJJ:

Class ran for about 2 hours so it was about 15 minutes for warm-ups, 30 minutes for technique drills, and 1 hour 15 minutes for rolling (taking a few breaks here and there). I have been told by my instructor to stop running (the Tourettes syndrome is causing some balance issues and I'm landing my feet on the sides and all over the place just when walking, so running just emphasizes this), so I think most all of my warm-ups there are going to be stretching and all the core work they do, anything as long as it does not involve running for long periods. This also means no more treadmill and I'm going to be using the bike and maybe an elliptical for now (

My legs now feel fine, but I feel like crap - I hate being given any special treatment - Damn the Americans with Disabilities Act!!!!!!!!!!). Thiago knows how angry I am with this and said that it isn't worth it ruin my legs and that those runs aren't the only way to warm-up, I told him that I just wanted to be treated like everyone else, he reminded me that we're all different and that what works well for some doesn't necessarily work well for others and that stretching is just as good as those runs and not to worry about it (didn't really make me feel any better - still can't stand it).

We drilled arm-drag takedowns and transitions from that takedown to back mount and rear naked choke. Afterwards My purple belt friend and I rolled for a bit and he showed me how these moves can be applied in any situation where an arm presents itself and the momentum is going in that direction (so it is not just possible from butterfly guard).

I was so tired by the time I got there that I felt drained and had nothing to run on but I got through the entire class and rolled for at least 7 rounds. It was just a bad day all around, but it was nice to get to roll that much even though the other guys couldn't have gotten very much out of it. Oh well, Wednesday will be better.

Calories - 4000

Posted by: fufu

Hey, running is over-rated!

On the bright side, you have a guy who caters to his students and considers them.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

Hey, running is over-rated!

On the bright side, you have a guy who caters to his students and considers them.

This is all true....

I always hated running anyways, I think I'm going to boycott it

Posted by: tallcall

3/12/08 Weigh in
Weight: 281.5 – Down 1 pound from last week’s 282.5

Waist: 35 inches– No change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No change from last week
Chest: 51 inches – No change from last week
Shoulders: 63.5 inches – No change from last week
Neck: 19.5 inches – Down 0.5 No change from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 274.92 – Up from last week's 275.50 (-0.58 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 6.58 – Up from last week's 7.00 (-0.42 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:

Abs – 5 mm – No change from last week
Suprailiac – 4 mm – Down 0.5 from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 3 mm – No change from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.34 %.

I’m just about ready for a nice week off. I still feel a little flabby, but I wonder how much of it is loose skin? My fat measurements didn’t go up or anything so I’m not sure.

Posted by: fufu

Don't let the fine tuning of weight loss bug you. For me I get alot more critical on my body when I am cutting. Sometimes I just have to stop looking at myself for a while or else I start making things up in my mind.

Anyway, looks good.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

Don't let the fine tuning of weight loss bug you. For me I get alot more critical on my body when I am cutting. Sometimes I just have to stop looking at myself for a while or else I start making things up in my mind.

Anyway, looks good.

Thanks man!

Some weeks I just forget about it all anyways, those are usually good weeks.

Posted by: tallcall

Wednesday:

BJJ:

We drilled a sweep from open guard to bicep crusher/side control. This is the same setup as if we were going for a one crusher or bicep crusher from open guard except I circle my leg outside the arm I'm attacking (circle inside to crank it good and lock it between your knee and calf to go for the crushers, then just sit up and push your knee into it a little - it takes almost no effort to really hurt their forearm or bicep).

I rolled with Thiago first and a blue belt the rest of the time. I ended up staying for 2 hours and working for at least 90 minutes of it - so far this week I have 4.5 hours of cardio (2 hours from Monday's BJJ class, 0.5 hours from Monday's workout, and 2 hours from today's BJJ class).

Add in 1 hour tomorrow, plus an extra hour over the course of the rest of this week at the gym and I have a grand total of 6.5 hours (though I think I'm going to skip one of the regular cardio sessions to make sure it doesn't go above 6 hours).

Today was a much better day, I kept getting owned by the blue-belt (he is seriously one strong guy and kept me on my back most of the time

).

Calories - 4000 (a little heavier than normal on the calories today )

Posted by: goob

Hot damn. Do you have time to work with all this training????

Posted by: fufu

Nice.

How much time do you get to roll during class? Tops I get 15 minutes, it sucks. I could easily spend 30 minutes, it's the most enjoyable part of training.

I rolled with my instructor(high purple) last week. I think he did something like a bicep crusher but it was done on the back of the knee instead. He cranked it for a good 10 seconds, I was feeling blood loss to my foot. He gave up eventually, my leg was sore for a few days, heh.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Hot damn. Do you have time to work with all this training????

Oh yeah, sleep is what I don't have much time for.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

Nice.

How much time do you get to roll during class? Tops I get 15 minutes, it sucks. I could easily spend 30 minutes, it's the most enjoyable part of training.

I rolled with my instructor(high purple) last week. I think he did something like a bicep crusher but it was done on the back of the knee instead. He cranked it for a good 10 seconds, I was feeling blood loss to my foot. He gave up eventually, my leg was sore for a few days, heh.

We only get about 15 minutes in the regular classes, but if my purple belt friend shows up (Mondays and Wednesdays) he stays around for another hour and we usually roll for another 20 minutes, he also likes to go over things we learned in class in more detail. Sometimes he just helps myself and a few others out with mastering the basics (you can never learn them well enough and never underestimate their effectiveness). This usually means no flying arm-bars or any of that fancy stuff just the basic stuff that always works, he wants to see us get it down to the point where we're flawless with it.

One of my friends and I were rolling and he tried to get me in a triangle choke, so I looked up to the ceiling and began posturing up, pulled my arm back and pressed against his legs to open them up when I heard his knee pop twice. I dropped back onto him to help relieve the pressure and stopped everything. I guess that he had a hard time locking in and my posturing up put pressure on his right knee (he should have given it up when he started feeling pressure - I think this is kind of like a knee-bar - I've never performed one since only those with about 6 or so years of experience can even do one legally). He was alright and was able to continue on after a quick 2-3 minute break. I really felt bad about that though, but everything was alright.

Posted by: tallcall

Thursday:

BJJ:

About 20 minutes warming-up, 20 minutes learning techniques, and about 15 minutes rolling.

We drilled a transition from Spider guard to Triangle Choke. I rolled for about 4 minutes with my friend before his knee popped, then I finished my round with Thiago. For some reason I was moving a little quicker today than yesterday.

On Wednesday, when I rolled with Thiago, I got caught in a rear naked choke and started using the wall to help me escape. When I did this he laughed and said something about how I'm using the cage to get out of a bad situation (I've been lobbying them for a cage there and I think they're going to finally set one up). I kicked my feet up on the wall and used it to help me over his blocking leg, I almost got side control out of it.

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Upper Push Reps Week 2:

Bench on Ball: RI - 60 | 30'sx12, 35'sx12, 40'sx12, 35'sx12, 30'sx12

Cross Body Raise: RI - 30 | 10 lb db x 3 sets x 12 reps

DB Fly on Ball: RI - 45 | 15's x 3 sets x 12 reps

DB Skull Crushers on Ball: RI - 60 | 15x10, 20 x 2 sets x 10 reps

Peck Deck: RI - 30 | 60x12, 75x12, 90x12, 75x2, 75x12

Shin Work | 45 lb plate x 4 sets x 20 reps

Superset: RI - 30 |
1 - Ball Chops | 8 lbs x 3 sets x 10 reps

2 - Bird-Dogs | BW x 3 sets x 10 reps

Table-Makers | 35 in 5 minutes

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes for abs - 325 crunches (50 normal, 50 left oblique, 50 right oblique, 50 bicycle, 25 legs lying to right facing ceiling oblique, 25 on the other side, 25 vertical flutters, 25 horizontal flutters, 25 leg outs)

30 minutes stretching and BJJ drills

Calories - 4200

I saw one of my friends over there again. He works there and was very interested in talking to me. I asked if he was working Sunday afternoon, he said yes, and I told him that I'd be in Sunday and that I really liked talking to him. He's such a cool guy - I have to admit he looks nice too.

All in all a great day.

Now Saturday (today) was a different story. I got stuck working a 12.5 hour shift because one of the senior operators decided to call in sick (he has family over this weekend, so I doubt he is sick - but whatever). SO i got screwed into working half of his shift and I'm going to be very angry if it happens again tomorrow. I hope they fire him soon and give me his position like I've been asking (it's a 6-10,000 dollar a year raise I believe). My new boss has teeth and really doesn't like this guy, but seems to love myself and one or two others in my department (all the good ones he trusts to make "executive" decisions -

). Only time will tell.

Calories for today (Saturday) - I think it is close to 4200 but lost count because of the long day and had a few extra meals to give myself some extra energy (operating off of about 5.5 hours of sleep)

Posted by: tallcall

Sunday:

Upper Pull Reps Week 2:

Pull-Ups: RI - 30 | BW-70 x 6, 6, 5, 4, 4

Seated Cable One Arm Row: RI - 30 | 120x12, 135x12, 150x12, 135x12, 120x12

T-Bar Row: RI - 30 | 100x12, 125x12, 150x10, 135x10, 100x10

DB Shrugs: RI - 30 | 70's x 3 sets x 20 reps

Cable Crunches: RI - 30 | Machine #10 x 12, #12 x 12, #16 (Stack) x 1 PR for Weight, #14 x 3

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike, 10 minutes abs/back - 325 for abs (250 crunches, 50 flutters - vert/horiz - 25 leg outs), 25 back extensions.

30 minutes stretching/BJJ drills

Cardio time for this week - 6 hours or 51 minutes per day for 7 days

Calories - 5500 (cheat Day - I deserved this one!)

I didn't get to meet the guy today, but was able to leave him a note. The other people there told me he'd be in Monday afternoon, so I think I'll stop by and chat with him for a bit.

Posted by: tallcall

3/19/08 Weigh in
Weight: 285.5 – Up 4 pounds from last week’s 281.5

Waist: 35 inches– No change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No change from last week
Chest: 51 inches – No change from last week
Shoulders: 63.5 inches – No change from last week
Neck: 19.0 inches – Down 0.5 from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 278.82 – Up from last week's 274.92 (+3.90 pounds)
Body Fat Weight: 6.68 – Up from last week's 6.58 (+0.10 pounds)

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5 mm – No change from last week
Suprailiac – 4 mm – No change from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 3 mm – No change from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.34 %.

Alright, I feel a lot better this week. I gained some muscle, probably from
constantly having to throw everyone’s bodyweight around. Weight gain is fine
with me as long as it is mostly lean mass (no fat please). Everyone at school told me that they thought I lost quite a bit of weight already, I told them that the numbers on the scale showed a weight gain, but I think I’m mainly losing fat.

The estimated bf % is not really correct, I’m just happy to see that I’m adding weight (albeit accidentally) and that my fat measurement numbers (also flawed) are not going up in the process. I’ll take the extra weight as long as it is mostly muscle.

Posted by: tallcall

BJJ for Monday:

We did some work from side control. Pulling out the Gi, wrapping the arm, feeding it to the other hand, going north-south, trapping the opposite hand and going for a choke from the side with just the wrist that is controlling the gi. Or switching hips, swimming your free hand under opponent's trapped arm and grabbing his far shoulder, then pulling him up onto your leg, releasing the gi and going for a modified rear naked choke (free foot on his thigh and not letting his head slip between your chest and arm - not easy to do, got to keep the arm tight to your body while trying to get into position).

I rolled with two white belts and dominated the first. I told him that I have noticed a big improvement in his speed and control (which is completely true and good since he and I started at the same time). The other guy has been there for a while and training mostly no-gi. He has never tested for a belt promotion so he is still a white belt (we usually laugh and say he is a Thiago white belt which usually translates to purple belt

- same for me). I got owned by him quite a bit, he is going to be great when he gets into MMA (I've seen his Muai Thai (spelling?) and I think he's doing fine).

I rolled with one of our purple belts after class. Well, another guy and I rolled with him, we even double teamed each other once or twice (I scared the hell out of that other guy a few times

).

Tuesday:

I got to meet Thiago's first black belt student - Renato something (he's going to do his first pro fight for Cage Fighters down here and came by for some training with us - that was quite an honor). He was drilling take-downs with the class before mine and kept driving the guys off the mat, once almost going through the large front window (

), then landing on me (it was alright, I caught them, no damage).

In class we went over more sweeps from spider guard, one had us kicking the opponent's knee out. Both sweeps ended up landing with the foot still on the bicep, then pulling both arms us and sliding that foot under the guy's head blocking one arm, pull the other arm up and over his neck and lean all your weight into it for a nice choke. There, a quick sweep to choke to tap tap tap.

We found out the De la Riva is coming to town here on April 18 (Friday) and is going to be doing a 3 hour session. I am so going to this, I've already spoken to Thiago and apparently there are only 30 spots available - I'm getting one reserved tonight. Also, De la Riva likes to train with gi (he'll do no-gi if asked, but prefers to train people with gi - don't ask, I don't really understand). This will be fun!

Posted by: nadirmg

wow, awesome numbers on the one-armed seated rows, tallcall!

hey, what kind of calipers to you use? been thinkin' about getting me a pair of them so i can track my progress more accurately.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by nadirmg

wow, awesome numbers on the one-armed seated rows, tallcall!

hey, what kind of calipers to you use? been thinkin' about getting me a pair of them so i can track my progress more accurately.

Thanks man!

Mine are cheap ones from Body Tracker - Slim Guide Caliper.

I know my numbers are off, but I've been having fun with the calipers.

Posted by: tallcall

Wednesday:
Legs Reps Week 3:

Hip Rotations: RI - 30 | 112.5 x 3 sets x 12 reps

Deadlifts: RI - 60 | 155x12, 205x10, 225x8 - All of this with no straps and DOH grip - also, no back belt.

Side Lunges: RI - 20 | BW x 3 sets x 10 reps

Lying Leg Curls: RI - 30 | 130 x 3 sets x 10 reps

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes bike

10 minutes abs/back

30 minutes stretching/BJJ drills

Calories - ~3600

I was not in a great mood this day, and performed very poorly. I did get some good looking deadlifts without any equipment though.

BJJ - Wednesday:

More work from Spider guard - pulling a triangle. Using the higher positioned leg, dropping it and switching legs so that the other leg is across the back and locking down a triangle.

We rolled a few times, I frustrated everyone and stayed in their guard as much as possible - god I love that!

BJJ - Thursday:

More work from sipder guard. This time we pulled the triangle with the higher mounted leg, escaped the hips and locked it down. Also, we drilled a omo-plata (I think that's how it's spelled) by pulling the higher mounted arm down and wrapping around the higher mounted leg, grap the guy's thigh, sit up, grab is back and the floor, escape hips to the side to force him to flaten out, lock the foot whose leg is controlling the arm under the opposite knee, place your hand on his back and lean forward - also you might have to bridge your hips a little (not much really, I didn't need to move anything much at all because I had it locked in so tight).

I rolled with just about everyone and dominated all (I didn't get anyone to tap and I tapped out only once). I got everybody at one point or another in side control and made several smooth transitions from side to full mount, I even almost got a north-south mount and a clock choke.

I was most proud of escaping a rear naked choke that was in really tight, then having it converted to a guillotine and pushing in and pressing my head to the mat to breath. Then slipping out of that (he had me in it while he was directly in front of me). When I was able to breath, I started pulling out and ended up sliding out the back door nearly getting him in a back mount before time was called (he had tried to go from guillotine to either a rear naked again or a variation of a triangle - either way, I got out).

I had a lot of fun rolling tonight - my only issue was keeping my hips down tight during side control (just can't always think while I'm trying to do this - so many things to consider - really like playing Chess

).

Calories - Thursday - 4000

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Upper Push Reps Week 3:

Dips: RI - 30 | BW-70 x 3 sets x 6, 6, 5 (+1)

Bench on Ball: RI - 30 | 30'sx12, 35'sx12, 40'sx12, 35'sx12, 30'sx12

Cross Body Push: RI - 30 | Machine #4 x 3 sets x 12 reps

Rope Triceps Extension: RI - 30 | Machine #6 x 3 sets x 12 reps

Peck Deck: RI - 30 | 150 x 3 sets x 10

Cardio - 30 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes abs/back
30 minutes stretching
10 minutes on an elliptical - didn't feel too bad on my legs, I think I'll keep it in.

Calories - 3900

Is it just me or does anyone else think that the Peck Deck can be counted as a push - I'm doing the reverse fly on it. I can easily see it as either a push or pull, pushing to the side or pulling to the side. I like it and am thinking of keeping it on my push days, if only to balance the normal pushes a little (feels nice to internally rotate my shoulders after all that external rotation).

All in all a good day - I'm getting a bit lethargic about everything and chose not to do any drills there, just to try and remember all the things we went over last week.

I saw my friend from Tuesday night. Apparently I caused some damage to that knee, he said he could walk on it fine, but running was out of the question for now. He was very cool about everything, we sat and talked for a little while. It's pretty cool to have friends that you can basically beat up and are still willing to come in and talk to you (I did not do anything to him intentionally and stopped immediately when I thought something may have been wrong - I heard his knee pop twice). I told him I felt really bad about all of it, that I thought he was a pretty cool guy and how it was a pleasure to train with him.

Posted by: PreMier

do you do the pec dec to hit the chest, or the rear delts? former is push, latter is pull.. i always do a pull movement at the end of push day

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by PreMier

do you do the pec dec to hit the chest, or the rear delts? former is push, latter is pull.. i always do a pull movement at the end of push day

I'm doing it to hit the rear delts, so I guess it is really more of a pull. That's ok, after a day of pushing it feels nice to do a good pulling movement.

Posted by: tallcall

Saturday:

Upper Pull Reps Week 3:

Superset 1: RI - 30 |
1 - Pull-ups | BW-70 x 7, 6, 5, 5, 4 - Nice improvement over last week!

2 - DB Rear Delt Row | 30 lbs x 3 sets x 12

Superset 2: RI - 30 |
1 - MTS High Row | 80's x 3 sets x 10 reps

2 - Hammer Curls | 25's x 3 sets x 8, 8, 7

Superset 3: RI - 30 |
1 - Back Extensions With Medicine Ball | BW+8 lbs x 3 sets x 10 reps

2 - EZ Bar Curls (21's) | 3o lbs x 3 sets x 21 reps (of course)

Hanging Knee Raises: RI - 30 | BW+25 x 7, 6, 6, 7, 7 - Also a nice improvement

Cardio - 30 minutes

10 minutes on a bike.
10 minutes for abs/back
30 minutes for stretching

10 minutes on an elliptical - I am getting back into doing some HIIT training on this machine (lower impact might not be so bad for my legs and it is a controlled movement so I can't accidentally have my feet land sideways or in the wrong place and get thrown off balance like on the treadmill

). I did six 20 second sprints each with 40 seconds active recovery between them, then finished is a steady state form.

Calories - ~3700
I'm trying to cut my calories back a little to get back to having days at ~3400, 3600, and 4000-4500 (depending on the level of anticipated activity)

Pretty good day, I saw a bunch of friends there, other than them, no one was there - probably due to the holiday. Very nice, I got everything I wanted without any hassle.

I feel very strong on those Pull-Ups, just got to keep working it up to body weight.

Shoulders feel fine. Shins feel great. I credit my shoulders to doing those bench presses off a stability ball. I think it allows me to get a little more of an internal rotation on the latter half of the movement which relieves pressure and makes me feel better. Also, I've noticed a size difference in my chest since I started doing these so I think I'm going to keep these in for a while.

Anyway, this is my last strength training workout for about a week so I can have some time to rest up for my next power cycle. I'm still going to go in for cardio and stretching 3 times and probably go to 2 BJJ classes. I have to make sure I have my spot for the De La Riva seminar

. Plus I hope to see my poor injured friends there Monday or Tuesday (My strength/conditioning coach and the guy I accidentally injured this week - not really my fault but I still feel bad about it

Posted by: tallcall

Happy Easter!

Today was a nice cheat day, I don't think I went too far overboard.

Calories - ~4500-5000 (not really sure, just guessing)

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:
Rest Week:

Cardio: 20 Minutes

5 minutes on a bike

5 minutes on a treadmill. I did this very slow (so as not to cause any problems) and at the highest elevation (to allow me to get the most bang for my buck).

10 minutes on an elliptical trainer. I did this as a strange mix of HIIT and SS, maxing out at level 20 of 20 (working around level 8-12).

Slight fatigue in my shins but nothing more.

BJJ: 1.5 hours

We just drilled arm-bars from full mount. I'm still having difficulty with the swing motion (mostly the speed).

My purple belt friend described my strength and Thiago (my trainer's strength - since they have worked together since 1996) as "retard strength" - meaning I have a lot of untapped strength that I need to learn to use, Thiago used to have "retard strength" but he learned to use it so now he's just "retarded."

I rolled with my friend, who was injured by me last week, a couple times. He was cool, we just kind of played for a little while, he pretended to rain down punches while I just kept trying to jump him any time he turned his back. He's a strong beast of a person too, he used to do a lot of boxing, now he does a lot of Muai-Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, and Capoeira, so even those playful punches still kind of stung. It was all great, I got to have some fun with him and relieve some tension (

).

I count my cardio time for today as about 2 hours.

Calories - 3400

Posted by: fufu

noice

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

noice

Posted by: goob

Good job TC.

Posted by: katt

Do you feel any anxiety when you're about to go at it with someone that was injured by you?? I kinda think I would...

Posted by: DOMS

Great work on the BJJ!

How long have you been at it?

You're "retarded" comments reminded me a something I used to say: "You're not just tarded, you're retarded."

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOMS

Great work on the BJJ!

How long have you been at it?

You're "retarded" comments reminded me a something I used to say: "You're not just tarded, you're retarded."

Only since December, so I'm going on 5 months now.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by katt

Do you feel any anxiety when you're about to go at it with someone that was injured by you?? I kinda think I would...

Just a little, but he likes to be rough. Like I said he is a strong guy with a great attitude.

Posted by: nadirmg

'bout 2 hours of cardio? nice, man!

hey, what's 'BJJ'?

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by nadirmg

'bout 2 hours of cardio? nice, man!

hey, what's 'BJJ'?

It stands for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It's kind of like MMA (think of UFC), but we don't throw punches - that's done in another class there.

Posted by: nadirmg

must be nice to live in a place where you can get all kinds of stuff like that.
here in n.c. we have a plethora of BBQ and fried chicken shacks.

'karate? kung-who? what yoo, talkin'bout boy? s'at some kinda newfangled food?'

*sigh* i hate n.c.

Posted by: tallcall

Tuesday:

BJJ:

Drilled some Gi chokes since there were a lot of new people. I did pretty good, but go owned by everyone for quite a while. I held my own against the blue belts I went against and the stronger one really gave me a nice workout by keeping the pressure on me and forcing me to keep shrimping out of his control. I kept reversing rear naked chokes all night - I think I'm getting pretty good at that, now if I could only keep people from getting my back in the first place.

One other thing, I still can't generate that much power/speed with my hips. I have a really difficult time bridging out of everything, I can't bridge with my neck because of the Tourettes so it's not very fun.

Oh well, I might never be that good, but I am really just there to have fun and get a lot of cardio. Also, having all these great guys there really makes things so much nicer and easier (I still love rolling and just playing with Scott - rain down all the punches you want man, then I go for a rear naked chock while he's talking to one of his other friends

).

Calories - ~3600

Time - 1 hour

Posted by: PreMier

do they know you're gay? if the do, does it bother them? if they dont, do you think it would bother them? im just curious

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by PreMier

do they know you're gay? if the do, does it bother them? if they dont, do you think it would bother them? im just curious

Most of them know, Scott knows as well as Thiago and a few others. They're all fine with it. I don't try to do anything inappropriate there.

Posted by: tallcall

3/27/08 Weigh in

Weight: 279.0 – Down 6.5 from last week’s 285.5

Waist: 35 inches– No change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No change from last week
Chest: 51 inches – No change from last week
Shoulders: 63.5 inches – No change from last week
Neck: 18.5 inches – Down 0.5 from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 273.25 – Down 1.67 pounds from last week.
Body Fat Weight: 5.75 – Down 0.83 pounds from last week.

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5 mm – No change from last week
Suprailiac – 3.5 – Down 0.5 mm from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 2.5 – Down 0.5 mm from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.06 % - Really more like 15 %.

The weight has dropped kind of quick and has been hovering around 279-281 for the last few days. I feel great for finally breaking into the 270’s.

Posted by: goob

Awsome job TC, i can't believe it's still coming down. Good job on the body fat loss.

Posted by: tallcall

Calories for3/26/08 - ~3400

BJJ:
1 hour

Learned arm-bar from spider guard. Basically it can be used after a failed sweep attempt where the opponent bases up too much. Pretty cool move.

I did alright rolling. My first time I was able to keep good control. I was able to keep stalemating my purple belt friend the second time. I kept getting choked and owned the third time by one of the blue belts (very strong guy - he's a bouncer for a local night club

).

I hated the last roll with that guy, it pissed me off so much, I kept trying to get in on him and every take-down attempt I made ended up in either Americana or rear naked choke, sometimes a different typ of gi choke where you wrap the gi around the person's neck and crank it (my teacher's specialty choke for all his gi fights). That guy pissed me off in a good way, I'm going to come back Monday night ready for a rematch.

On a side note, I watched Scott and Renato Sobral (sp) going at it in preparation for Renato's upcoming cage warrior fight this Saturday. Renato is a black belt in BJJ and does very well with Maui-Thai. They were drilling him on ground defense with Scott on top in guard throwing punches only to the side and abdomen (I think since this was the last hour Renato was there they must have already drilled him on a lot of other things - he did 3 hours last night). Renato was allowed only to sweep, mount, and throw light slaps and mimick elbows while blocking his elbow with his other hand (so as not to injure the other guys). While rolling with Scott, Renato accidentally hit Scott's nose. Man there was a lot of blood for a light tap - blood all over the mat, it was cool but gross. Scott got cleaned up and got back in there, that kind of thing is bound to happen sometimes when doing things like this (heck, we have people with injured knees, dislocated shoulders, broken noses, hyper extended elbows, rotator cuff problems, messed up hands, etc - and that's only from the Jiu-Jitsu Gi only class not any of the MMA classes

- we kill each other for fun)

Calories for 3/287/08 - ~3600

I'm trying to keep my calories fluctuating all week. 3200 is a little too low because I always end up feeling so tired. I took a nap yesterday and just wanted to pass out because I just didn't have enough to eat, which was the reason I didn't stay for my normal 2 hours of BJJ.

Total Cardio time for this week - 4 hours (for a rest week it isn't bad)

Posted by: tallcall

Calories for 3/28/08 - ~4000

Calories for 3/29/08 - 3600

Today may be a cheat day so I'm just aiming to keep it near 4500 for today.

Back to the weights tomorrow.

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:
Legs Power Week 1:

Hip Abductions: RI - 30 | 185x10, 195x10, 205x8

Double Leg Extensions: RI - 60 | 150x8, 160x8, 170x8 PR for Weight

Sumo Deadlift: RI - 60 | 225x8, 275x6, 325x1 (+1 - Failed) PR for Weight

Squat Press: RI - 60 | 270 (3 plates) x 10, 360 (4 plates) x 10, 450 (5 plates) x 10 PR for Weight

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes abs
30 minutes stretching and BJJ drills

Calories - ~4600

I had a good time on this one and got to see another friend at the gym today. Dave's a really nice guy, kind of oblivious but very down to earth and I think he has done Jiu-Jitsu before. He gave me a few bits of advice on my cardio and getting around doing the running while still keeping my endurance and stamina up (today I might be dead but that's because of the double workout), basically I just have to work very hard on the bike and keep everything running hot for a good 20 or 30 minutes every time I'm in the gym - which is what I do already so I guess I'm on the right track.

My deadlifts keep getting better! I got a little rushed on my last set and decided to really test myself by going up 20 pounds from last time instead of the 10 I was going to go for so I guess I got what I deserved and only got 1 rep (I did try to reset and get one more but I failed - all while the guy who was rushing me watched -

).

I also wanted to superset inner and outer thighs but could only get the machine for outer thighs because some girl was on the other one talking to her friend -

!

All the mats were full today -

!

Squat Press power went up -

- but only because I couldn't get a real leg press from this other girl who said she had another 15 (!!!!!) sets to do before she would be done -

!

Leg Extensions went up -

- but this may have been related to me not being able to do my original superset because of that girl -

!

Yep, I had a lot of fun today! Also, I learned something very important - "Rage is a lot of work!" - Chris Leavins

Posted by: fufu

gj on the DL PR.

15 sets of a machine, wth is that chick thinking?

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

gj on the DL PR.

15 sets of a machine, wth is that chick thinking?

I know! You got to love it when people do stupid things like that. I really should have brought my camera - if only I could find the batteries.........

Posted by: fufu

true story

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:

BJJ:
2 hours

We had a lot of new people in today. We drilled guard passes and arm-bars. I rolled with one of the newer guys, he did pretty well and got me in a few chokes - he's about my weight and size so I think we are going to have some fun together!

After most of them left, I stayed with 3 others and we went over some standing take-downs and even learned some De La Riva moves like the De La Riva guard and hook with 2 or 3 of it's sweep variations. We were shown De La Riva's escape from triangle to full mount. I definitely had a full night and am looking forward to April 18th when De La Riva comes here.

Side note, another cool thing is that when everyone was doing their warm-ups and I was doing my stretching routine, Joel (our Monday night instructor) joined me in the middle of the mat and asked me to roll with him. That was one heck of a nice warm-up for me. He was doing it because he needs as much practice as he can get before his fight on April 19th in Oklahoma. I'm very happy for him, he's going to break somebody that night and that'll be cool!

Posted by: tallcall

Tuesday:

BJJ: 1 hour

We drilled a scissor sweep and a sort of momentum sweep (where the guy ends up pulling away to get away from you because he thinks you're going to sweep him so you just switch from a pull to a push and roll straight up into mount).

I rolled with everyone it seemed and got owned by them all (I was tired). One of the guys who has been the hardest for me to get through gave me one of the nicest compliments when he said that he felt a huge improvement when he was rolling with me and that I did very well. That is a big compliment coming from him

. Even though I was kind of manhandled, I was honored to be beaten by him.

I was tired because I was called in to work to fill in for someone who was out sick for about 5 hours then went straight to class.

Calories - ~4000

Posted by: tallcall

Wednesday:

I wanted to do BJJ today but I ended up working 13 hours straight - 4:30 am to 5:30 pm - all because of the same guy who called in yesterday.

I was just too tired and didn't have my clothes for it today. I ate a lot because I was planning on doing a lot today so I am kind of pissed off right now and started snapping at everyone earlier - there were a lot of expletives coming out of my room at work this morning.

Tomorrow is my birthday, so this better not happen tomorrow. I'm going to do everything I can to get to class tomorrow night - Thiago is going to be angry that I missed a day with him (

). I've been trying to give one of my teachers some help training for his first fight in Oklahoma (mostly me just giving him a hard time getting out of side control and full mount due to my weight - at least he'll get something out of it

), I've also been trying to give all the new people as much help as I can and have been volunteering to be used by the teachers for demonstration purposes. All the guys there love to joke around so they always ask us to repeat the moves (arm-bars, bone-crushers, all the painful ones) about a dozen times over - the bastards!

Calories - ~4000 - Really Rough
I planned on so much but didn't get to do any of it

Posted by: tallcall

4/3/08 Weigh in

Weight: 277.5 – Down 1.5 pounds from last week’s 290.0

Waist: 35 inches– No change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No change from last week
Chest: 51 inches – No change from last week
Shoulders: 63.5 inches – No change from last week
Neck: 18.5 inches – No change from last week

Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 271.34– Down 1.67 pounds from last week’s 273.25 (-1.91 pounds).
Body Fat Weight: 6.16– Up 0.83 pounds from last week’s 5.75 (+0.41 pounds).

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5 mm – No change from last week
Suprailiac – 3.5 – No change from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 2.5 – No change from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.22 % - Really more like 15 %.

The weight is still dropping. My strength is still up there and I can feel the loose skin around my stomach and arms. It’s nice to see the weight dropping.

Posted by: Rubes

keep up the good work TC.

Posted by: tallcall

Thursday:
BJJ:
1 Hour

We drilled shoulder locks from open and closed gurad by first getting into a triangle position then, instead of keeping the arm under the guys neck, we just bridge the hips up push the arm in a little further, pull back down and twist forearm back to lock the shoulder - make sure the elbow passes the belly button and is being firmly squeezed between his neck and your stomach before you pull back onthe arm.

I rolled with the best of the guys that were there today. I got submitted by all of them many times (they're all very good and two of them are MMA fighters with actual experience in the ring - my friend Scott actually watched the guy before him fight and just about cave someone's eye socket in - interesting stories from these two). Everyone commented on how much improvement they've seen in me, I guess I just judge myself too harshly when saying that I don't really see that much of a noticeable improvement. I have a very hard time becoming aggressive, usually it takes most of the night to get there, but it sure feels good when I can get all that out - normally for the last match up (hey, why not save the best for last?).

Calories - 3600

I'm still angry about everything that has been going on this week. By tomorrow afternoon I'll have had 18.5 hours of overtime at work, all because we are down 3 people (we have only 3 left including myself and we have to man the station 24 hours - the only position that has to do that). Today was my birthday and I still haven't heard from my best friend in Virginia, Paul, that bastard should have e-mailed me if for nothing else than to say happy birthday

!

Of course after class I felt MUCH better and much more confident.

Posted by: Rubes

happy birth day tallcall.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rubes

happy birth day tallcall.

Thanks man!

Posted by: fufu

happy birthday!

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

happy birthday!

Thanks!

Posted by: countryboy

happy birthday..!!

Posted by: tallcall

YouTube Video

A little present for me.

Posted by: goob

Happy boithday!

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Happy boithday!

Thank you, thank you

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:

Upper Push Power Week 1:

DB Bench on Ball: RI - 60 | 55'sx10, 60'sx8, 65'sx1 (failed on the second rep) PR for Weight - It sure is hard to get that kind of weight in place.

Cross Body Raises: RI - 60 | 25 lbs x 3 sets x 8 reps PR for Weight

Dips: RI - 60 | BW-40x6, BW-28x1, 1, 1, Fail PR for Weight - That is 18 pounds heavier than I have ever gone.

Machine Flys: RI - 30 | 120 x 3 sets x 8 reps

Triceps Extensions: RI - 60 | #7x8, #8x8, #9x5 PR for Weight

Cardio - 28 minutes

10 minutes on a bike.
10 minutes for an abs circuit.
30 minutes for stretching.
8 minutes on an elliptical - levels 1 and 10

Calories - 4500-5000 (don't know yet, it is going to be a cheat day since I am being treated to a birthday dinner!

I'm not happy with failing on those two exercises, but I am happy that I hit all my weight goals! My dumbbell press and barbell press are now about the same, my dips have never been better, I am much quicker to push people off me in class and can create much more distance than I could when I started in December.

I think I'll start my next Push session with the Dips for power again.

Posted by: tallcall

Sunday:

Upper Pull Power Week 1:

Pull-Ups: RI - 60 | BW-46x5, BW-34x3, 2, 2, 2 PR for Weight

One Arm Rows: RI - 60 | 240x8, 255x8, 270x5 PR for Weight

Bent Over Trap Bar Rows: RI - 60 | 175x8, 200x8, 225x3 PR for Weight

Back Extensions W/Cobras: RI - 60 | 15's x 3 sets x 8 reps

Plate Holds | 45 x 30 sec Left hand, 27 sec Right hand, 2-10's x 1:30 Left hand, 1:10 Right hand, 3-10's x 36 sec Left hand, 34 sec Right hand

Shin Work | 55 lbs x 4 sets x 20 reps

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes for abs (250 crunches, 25 kicks, 25 scissors, and 25 leg outs)
30 minutes stretching/BJJ drills

I was very happy with all of this. I turned a few heads with my bent over rows (really Ghetto rows), especially after I got that 4th plate on there and kept picking it up like nothing.

The machine I do the one arm rows on only goes up to 300 pounds, so I think I'm going to be at the machine maximum kind of soon.

I kind of wished Scott were there to see that, I think he'd be proud. I'll have to tell him if I see him Monday night.

I went down to a place down here called Parliament House, a gay nightclub. It was a lot of fun, they don't charge cover on Sundays so it was all free. I like to go in for their T-Dances, I get to see all the good looking guys and eventually I might gain the confidence to actually say something to one. One guy did come up and say hello early on, he was very nice, we talked for a little while, it really felt good to be with other people like me. I try to go Sunday nights because it is a slightly older crowd (mid 20's and 30's, especially when I go around 7-8 pm) - which is nice because I really don't like all the drama with the younger gay guys and anyone much over 30 is kind of too old for me (not really into that). It was nice to see guys my age there having a nice time, I hope to join them some time.

Posted by: fufu

just go say hi!

what is to lose?

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

just go say hi!

what is to lose?

You're right. Most of them seem really nice, people were even willing to approach me and say hello.

Posted by: tallcall

Monday:
Legs Power Week 2:

Single Leg Extensions: RI - 60 | 80x8, 90x8, 100x8 - My right leg had a few problems so I assisted it a little with my left leg. Left leg was fine with the weight.

Smith Squats: RI - 60 | 190x8, 240x8, 290x6 PR for Weight

Side Lunges: RI - 30 | BW x 3 Sets x 10 Reps

DB Snatches (Each Arm Separately): RI - 60 | 35x8, 40x8, 45x6 PR for Weight

DB Step-Ups: RI - 30 | 50's x 3 Sets x 8 Reps

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes for abs
30 minutes for stretching

Very good day. I had a slight problem with the DB Snatches on the last rep of my last set I overcompensated with the weight and nearly fell backwards - that's when I said to myself that I've had enough for one day and stopped there.

I saw one of my friends from the other ATT school there, he said he's moving to Vegas and hasn't been there in for a while to train. It's too bad, he was really good, good for him though, maybe I'll see him someday on the UFC or something.

Calories - 4000

YouTube Video

Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody

YouTube Video

Whitney Houston - How Will I Know

^I love those songs!

Posted by: fufu

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

You're right. Most of them seem really nice, people were even willing to approach me and say hello.

exactly!

Posted by: fufu

nice workout

Posted by: tallcall

BJJ:
2 hours

We had a lot of new people again (and people who hadn't been there for a loooooong time) so we drilled arm-bars from full mount.

I got to roll with our newest guy - just going over the technique we did today (he was brand new). I think the teacher felt bad about that for some reason because after class the two of us rolled for about another 15 or so minutes, then went over some of my mistakes - I accidentally gave him an omo-plata by holding his gi collar too long and he pushed his free arm through and rolled to crank my arm and pull me down (he thinks he is the first to do that to someone, I think it'll be named the "Caballo"

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

nice workout

Thank you

Posted by: fufu

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

BJJ:
2 hours

We had a lot of new people again (and people who hadn't been there for a loooooong time) so we drilled arm-bars from full mount.

I got to roll with our newest guy - just going over the technique we did today (he was brand new). I think the teacher felt bad about that for some reason because after class the two of us rolled for about another 15 or so minutes, then went over some of my mistakes - I accidentally gave him an omo-plata by holding his gi collar too long and he pushed his free arm through and rolled to crank my arm and pull me down (he thinks he is the first to do that to someone, I think it'll be named the "Caballo"

Heh, that reminds me of a guy I rolled with last friday. I don't know how much experience he had grappling(he wrestled some) but he was pretty small and it was one of his first times rolling at our school. I decided to use no strength at all and just work my technique and go easy on him. This guy wanted to go all out, he was working alot. We got to a stand up position and I decided to go for a double leg(never actually done one besides drills) and I made the biggest mistake possible of leaving my neck exposed. He clamped onto me with a guillotine and I still wasn't taking it too seriously. I passed to side control and he still had it squeezing really tight, I was breathing fine but my right arm started going numb. The little guy had quite the squeeze.

Guillotining from being taken down from a double is something I do all the time because always make that mistake, can't believe I got caught in one myself.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

Yeah. I've never had a really hard time wiggling out of a Guillotine choke, I just tripod up and slide the elbow off usually have easy access to side control.

Do you wear a mouth guard while doing BJJ? I've been in situations where the chokes were locked down pretty tight and I felt a lot of pressure on my jaw and teeth (the guy locked the choke improperly and couldn't get under my chin because I was defending it very well).

Posted by: fufu

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

Yeah I do. People often think they have chokes on me but I just let them waste energy. The squeeze on the jaw sucks though. I remember the last place I trained people would shove their elbows into my jaw when in side control. Sometimes a knee in some positions.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

I hate it when people drive their knee into your stomach or ribs when they're trying to pass to full mount. Just to add that little bit of extra pain

Posted by: tallcall

Tuesday:
BJJ:
1 hour

We had a bunch of new people in again so we went over two variations of a collar choke with the opponent in the turtle position. Man I sucked at them today. I just couldn't understand the roll I had to do to get into position (I knew what I had to do but just couldn't see how I was going to do it - even after I was shown it about a half-dozen times - this kind of thing always happens to me because I usually need to do things first hand to figure them out). I guess I was just too nervous to do it. I have had some mental blocks and fears like this pop up from time to time - I am very much afraid of some of the rolls that place weight on my neck like that especially when I can't stop it from twitching (I always think I could cause so much damage that it scares me out of doing them).

It just wasn't a good night, I went in all depressed and got submitted over and over by everyone. At least I got to roll with one of my wrestler friends (he came back

) - that made all the crap I was dealing with seem like it was worth it. I actually kept stalemating my second opponent and didn't do so bad against the wrestler. My first opponent took me to town - got a nice bloody nose against the mat (I guess it was a good roll but I was basically his rag doll - just not my day).

Calories - 3600

Posted by: fufu

Shitty days are bound to happen, sucks doesn't it.

ah well, just gives you something to compare to when you on top of your game.

Posted by: tallcall

4/10/08 Weigh in

Weight: 277.0 – Down 0.5 pounds from last week’s 277.5

Waist: 35 inches– No change from last week
Stomach: 35 inches– No change from last week

Chest: 51 inches – No change from last week
Shoulders: 63.5 inches – No change from last week
Neck: 18.5 inches – No change from last week
Bi's: 17.5 inches – No Change from last week
Calves: 19.5 inches - No change from last week

Lean Body Mass: 270.85– Down from last week’s 271.34 (-0.49 pounds).
Body Fat Weight: 6.15 – Down from last week’s 6.16 (-0.01 pounds).

Caliper readings - 4 point test:
Abs – 5 mm – No change from last week
Suprailiac – 3.5 – No change from last week
Thigh – 2.5 mm – No Change from last week
Triceps – 2.5 – No change from last week

Estimated body fat % is ~10.22 % - Really more like 15 %.

The weight has dropped again! I have added strength, speed, and flexibility while losing weight.

Posted by: fufu

very nice.

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by fufu

very nice.

Posted by: goob

Quote:

Originally Posted by TC

The weight has dropped again! I have added strength, speed, and flexibility while losing weight.

Hmm....we may have work for you.

You like travel? Do not fear the customs man? Can run?

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Hmm....we may have work for you.

You like travel? Do not fear the customs man? Can run?

Hmmm.....well the competition made a very tempting offer...let me think about it.

Posted by: goob

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallcall

Hmmm.....well the competition made a very tempting offer...let me think about it.

Competition?????

Posted by: tallcall

Quote:

Originally Posted by goob

Competition?????

Yeah, the DRAA - The Drug Runners Association of America! Sorry, but you've got competition!

Posted by: tallcall

BJJ:
1.5 hours

Rolled with a guy who is head of security for a local night club and a former member of the Air force. He is well versed in Judo and is learning BJJ. We rolled for a good 30 minutes, he helped me better my base and control while passing guard.

We drilled some more chokes out of turtle guard, they all worked pretty well for me, but I can almost never catch anyone in a turtled up position, so I probably will not remember any of these after next week.

Calories - 3600

Posted by: tallcall

BJJ:
1 hour

More drills from turtle guard. I actually liked this one because it is the first time I was actually able to do it with the required shoulder roll (last time we did these was right when I began and I couldn't get any of the rolls)! It was one of Thiago's special moves using the underside of the knee and the grip on the guys gi to do a push and pull gi/arm and leg choke. Really the roll is enough to make most of the guys tap out, I didn't even have to put pressure on them with my leg, they just tapped during the roll (maybe I had the grip too tight and too far in on their lapel).

I rolled for about 15 minutes - 10 with the blue belt I worked everything on today - he tapped me out twice and I stalemated him the rest of the time. I also rolled 5 minutes with one of the new guys, he got me on my back, then I squeezed in with my guard and he couldn't break free, so I just kept him there and forced him to struggle from the top - good exercise for him! He did eventually get me to half guard, then I pulled a sweep and landed in his half guard right as time was called. I really had some fun with those guys.

My wrestler friend came back in today, I had a blast chatting with him after class - he's from Nebraska (real hardcore wrestlers there - I also know a wrestler from Illinois who trains here and he is solid and damn good). This guy is really one of my best friends, Not counting the teachers, I have 5 really good friends over there, two have fought before in MMA matches. Paul is still my best friend, but these guys come in very close to the top!

Calories - 4000

Posted by: tallcall

Friday:
Upper Push Power 2:

Dips: RI - 60 | BW-40x7, BW-32x4, BW-34x4 PR for Weight

DB Flat Bench on Ball: RI - 120 | 55'sx8, 65'sx5, 65'sx1 (Fail) PR for Reps

DB SkullCrushers: RI - 120 | 25x8, 30x4, 30x6 (All Assisted) PR for Weight

Cross Body Raises: RI - 120 | 25 x 3 sets x 8 reps PR for Weight

Rope Triceps Pulldown: RI - 30 | Machine #6x8, #7x8, #8x8 PR for Weight

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes for an abs circuit
30 minutes stretching/BJJ shadow drills and sweeps

I was very tired when I went in, but I felt great by the end. That may explain why I had a hard time with the presses and had to self assist on those skullcrushers so much.

I met a guy there who has been working out for about 4 years. He was a very nice guy, we just talked for a minute as we were both getting ready to leave. He is not available in any way, but was a very nice guy.

Posted by: tallcall

Saturday:

Upper Pull Power 2:

Pull-Ups: RI - 60 | BW-34x5, BW-28x3, 2, 2, 2 PR for Weight

Cable One Arm Rows: RI - 60 | 255x8, 270x8, 285x4 PR for Weight

DB Rear Delt Rows: RI - 60 | 55x8, 60x8, 65x5 PR for Weight

DB Straight Legged Deadlift: RI - 60 | 65's x 3 sets x 8 reps PR for Weight

EZ BAr Preacher Curls: RI - 30 | 40x8, 50x8, 70x7 PR for Weight (I think)

Hanging Knee Raises (performed in a Roman Chair): RI - 30 | BW+25 x 9, BW+45 x 6, BW x 15, 15

Superset: RI - 30 |
1 - Bird Dogs | 3 sets x 8 Reps

2 - Planks | BW x 30 sec, BW+25 x 30 Sec, BW+45 x 30 Sec

Tablemakers | 15 in 2 minutes

Cardio - 20 minutes

10 minutes on a bike
10 minutes for an ab circuit
30 minutes stretching/BJJ drills

That was kind of fun. I don't have real large Biceps or anything but I was certainly able to curl that 70 pound bar with ease. I'm almost at the machine max for those one arm rows!Next week I'm going to be hauling that entire stack!

Only 5 more days to the De La Riva seminar - I'm getting a bit excited! I wonder how many people are going to show up. Last time they said they packed the mat and the surrounding area, so I would expect the same this time.

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