GOOOOOD MORNING!

My Diet officially blows. Things are in full swing in preparation for the NAGA event.

Eating resumes every 2 hours until 7PM. Cardio training will be at least 5 days a week in the form of hard rolling, running, rowing or the VERSA climber.

Today at 12:00PM I will be brushing up on some basic Jiu Jitsu then switch over to long 10 minute rounds with my man Dan to condition for the the tournament's 4 minute rounds. My water intake will be extremely heavy and loaded with carbs and protein up until 1 week away then the heavy cut begins. Fuck my life.

I'll be giving a detailed description of today's training at the end of the day.

Fitness Tip:
EGGS! Eggs are a great natural way to obtain healthy calories which are low in SATURATED fat. Studies show that people who eat eggs first thing in the morning are more easily able to curb calorie intake throughout the day. The average adult can eat 2 eggs without heart complications. SUPER HEALTH TIP: Remove 1 of the yolks for your 2 egg breakfast to help reduce cholesterol. If you are trying to cut weight and get as much protein as possible, cut both yolks and drink with a large glass of water to curb appetite. Be sure to eat small meals frequently to maintain a high metabolism.

Captain, this is going to hurt

Today's training was very gritty. I just slapped on my knee brace, put my shorts on, strapped in and hit the mat. My partner Dan came in ready to party. Our warm up roll which was supposed to be "slow and easy," turned into an epic chess match that lasted the better part of 15 minutes. Position transitions were smooth, shots to the head were received, people were bruised and we didn't stop until one of us took the submission.

There was about an hour spent with Mr. Clontz drilling Judo take downs and some Wrestling. After he was kind enough to work me through 3 or 4 more chokes for sport Jiu Jitsu (in a GI).

A very good burn, only to do it again tomorrow.

Today

So it goes like this.
Work
Train
Study or climb
Workout
Sleep
Repeat

I'm in a routine right now that allows me JUST enough time to work and train. Every time I want to fit something in, something else must be removed from the list.
Anyway, Enough of that.

The tournament is drawing closer and closer. I have lost more weight and my conditioning is in top gear. I can roll harder, faster and longer. I'm hitting harder and more accurately. I'm not without my flaws, however. I haven't had the time between working in my routines into some good old drill time. My technique on the ground is rusty and not looking fluid. I'm going to put some effort into my judo and wrestling as I learned tonight in circuit training that my skills or lack there of taking experienced opponents down is sluggish and half ass.

Today's regime was not as intensive but rather a combination of moderate conditioning and no skill training.


Workout 1:
Sprint 5 minutes on treadmill
Intense, 1 minute rounds to include, shadow boxing, pull ups then push ups.
30 second break
Repeat 3 rounds.

Bench press 3 sets @ 160 pounds of 15 reps
Pec fly 3 sets @ 110 pounds of 12 reps
Incline press 3 sets @ 160 pounds of 10 reps
Sprint 5 minutes on treadmill

Sauna 30 minutes.

I lost 3 lbs for a current weight of 164.

As you can tell, my weight continues to change up and down, but is slowly creeping it's weight down to 160 where I then plan to cut 10 pounds to make it into the 145 lb weight class.


Fitness tip:

Sex for health and life.

I like to have a good time and maybe entertain some people when I write my training down, but I'm not here to waste any one's time.

A frequent sex life has extremely positive health benefits both physiological and psychological. Sex is proven to reduce stress, improve respiratory capacity, increase flexibility and several other documented health benefits.

SO HAVE AT IT!!!

Keep hitting the mats.

Another day:

Another day another workout. My apologies as to this will be a brief update on today.


Row: 5 minutes
25 push ups
50 crunches with bicycle kicks
Row 10 minutes
25 push ups
50 crunches with bicycle kicks
Row 5 minutes
25 Push ups
50 crunches with bicycle kicks
Row 3 minutes

Current Weight: 164.9

Day 3

"The more I sweat in training, the less I bleed in the fight." - Georges "Rush" St Pierre

I believe that limiting your training to one teacher's knowledge and experience is to not give yourself the opportunity to have the most complete knowledge of a particular style of fighting and/or training. I have total faith in my coaches Jay, Mandy and Paul. However, it's nice to experience a slightly different style with a different "game." This is why I like to spend a few nights a week with a fellow MMA style fighter and friend, Andy.

Andy has a very broad style of stand up fighting based on the Muay Thai platform. He incorporates styles of martial arts such as Wing Chun, Boxing, Shotokan. While from a fighter's point of view, styles like Wing Chun, Karate, Shotokan are a great style of martial art, not all of them are truly effective in a fight. However, each style has at least some techniques which can be mixed into an effective stand up game. Andy's striking, to this point, is by far the best I've seen. Andy runs a small school within a school which dawns the name MOFUT (or "No form") martial arts.

Andy and friend Michelle will be joining me in training for the NAGA event in February.

Today's Training:
Today I will do a Circuit Training which is 45 minutes straight of continuous grappling with a variety of partners in order to improve cardio conditioning for the sport. Though there is no technique training here, it does allow me to take time to try some drilled moves to test effectiveness and close any holes in the techniques.

After this training, I will meet with Andy and Michelle to continue to work on conditioning as well as pass some ideas back and forth for new training ideas.

I will perform 25 minutes of strength training to include:

3 Rounds

20 Burpees (push up into a jump)
3 minute shadow boxing
Alternating triangle locks for 1 minute
Pendulum swings into sweeps for 1 minute

Day 2 (Cont)

I'm still working out the format of this blog, so please bare with it.

To give a more detailed explanation of today's training, I figured I would lay out in a bit of detail what I worked on.

Back to Basics:

Escape from side control position


Side control is a dangerous position for the man on the bottom. It keeps you pinned while you are vulnerable to attacks such as chokes, arm bars, leg bars, etc. Learning to effectively escape variations of this position is crucial in having a complete ground "game."


As far as today's diet:

Breakfast:
4:45 AM: Cup of Yogurt w/Granola | 2 8oz glasses of water
8:00 AM: Protein Bar | Apple | 2 8 oz glasses of water
11:00 AM: Left over American Chop Sewey with Whole Grain elbows and low fat Turkey instead of hamburg | 1 8 oz Glass of water
1:30 PM: Protein Shake
3:30 PM: 2 cups of trail mix | 8 oz Glass of water
6:30 PM: American Chop Sewey with Whole Grain elbow and low fat turkey
9:00 PM: Protein Shake

I admit it's a weak diet to have but it is helping me with energy as well as weight loss.

Day 2

So this was what the great state of Maine woke up to this morning. A foot of snow. Unfortunately, BOTH of my gyms were closed yesterday due to this huge storm. This just means I have to work twice as hard today.

Today's Mission:

Today is what I would call a technical day. I will be drilling a mixed ground game of Wrestling and Judo, based on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Aside from improving my technique as a fighter, I will also be moving at a hard pace and doing rounds.

Immediately upon entering the gym I begin my warm ups which consist of:
Stretching
Jumping Jacks
Cross Over Jumping Jacks
Back Steps (A technique used primarily in Judo for throws)
Front Rolls/Back Rolls
Bridges
Hip in/out
Leg triangles
Break Falls
Kicks from the Open Guard
Kicks up into the base position

After a sufficient warm up, I begin my rounds. For this NAGA event, rounds in my division are only 4 minutes long. To be fully prepared condition wise, I will train at full intensity for 7 minute rounds, so there is no chance of fatigue during my matches.

I've given my muscles a rest especially from the high repetition squats I did on Saturday. Those who know me know I have a different outlook on strength gain. I don't prefer traditional weight lifting with an exception of "the big three". Quadriceps, Pectorals and the dreaded Dead Lift. These three muscle groups provide a foundation for heavy lifts and athletes alike. Your body will make significant gains in performance if you regularly work these muscle groups: Pectorals, Quadriceps, Calves, Traps, Abdominal muscles, Glutes, Lats. You get my point, these are extremely important and should never be neglected.

Aside from these core muscle groups, I don't lift weight. You heard me, I don't lift weight, except my own. I'm a firm believer of Push ups, Sit ups and Pull ups. This is why rock climbing is such an important part of my training. It allows me to maximize my flexibility, work on my lats and forearms, my legs, my abdominal muscles my cardio and my state of mind. I will climb for an average of 3 hours during each session.



Fitness Tip of the Day:

Grip Strength! Focus on training your muscles in the hands. Every workout you will do will in some way involve your grip strength. Not only will training your grip strength help your workouts, it will improve your daily fitness and assist with daily activities. You can pick up grip strength devices for around $10 at any Wal-Mart, Sports Authority, etc. They make different levels of difficulty. Start with the lowest possible resistance and focus on getting into a routine (done easily enough sitting at your desk or watching television). There is no excuse for neglecting these simple and effective workouts that can be done in less then 10 minutes. As the repetitions become easier, increase repetitions per minute and in time, increase the resistance as your body adapts.