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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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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.

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


Posted by: tallcall

Quote:
Originally Posted by fufu View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 View Post
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 amaz