I probably should wait 2 more weeks until I'm really finished, but just for fun I took progress pictures today, and now I see what everyone's talking about. (Sorry about the weird gravity thing, tan lines, and bruises ).
Measurements are pretty much still the same, but that's still probably operator error.
HUGE differences - everywhere. First thing that hit me was mid-section, but hips, thighs, butt - ABS... even arms. I see improvement all over. Awesome!
And MUST be operator error if your measurements are the same!
I'm hopeless with measuring tapes, apparently. I get different numbers every time I repeat... I know I am losing inches because my clothes are getting too big. I'll try measuring again in two weeks and see if I can be more consistent...
Monday: no workout. Dinner out with a friend. Ate too much! But all protein: duck, lamb, fish, and pork.
BJJ, last night
Those BJJ gis are so heavy and hot! I was sweating before class even started! The instructors actually prefer rolling gi to nogi and would really like to have more gi classes. Last night they were hinting, as we warmed up, that soon we could have an all-gi beginners' class. We had 12-14 last night, I think; most of us were in gis.
Warmup was light in terms of the amount that we actually did, except that the gi made it so much harder. Then we worked a sweep from half-guard and then worked "Plan B", if you don't get in fast enough for the first sweep. Then rolling. Even with all the muscling going on, I was defending well and kept the newer wrestling guys from submitting me. Couldn't get anything on them, though.
Too much eating today! Greek with Mom for lunch, then Mexican with the guys after class. Ugh. I don't think my body likes all this work on this little food, and I've been really sleepy lately. One. more. week. C'mon. (Please?)
Gym & TKD, yesterday
Bike: 5 min warmup, 10 min intervals (1 min/1min), 15 min cooldown
Some guy was hogging the pullup bar, so no pullups for me.
TKD: nothing. They sparred. Room is too tiny for the black belts to join, so we just watch. Was fine with me, though; I was tired.
MMA, tonight
I need more sparring work. Movement and speed especially. We worked pretty much everything tonight except kicks. I'm still having trouble transitioning from upright fighting to a takedown; if I'm upright, I'm thinking about staying upright, not about taking the fight to the ground.
I've already talked to the Krav Maga/kickboxing instructor, and I'll start with him in two weeks, after TKD summer classes finish. He already wants me to do a tournament in November!!!
Watched a guy on the incline elliptical--he nearly shot off a few times.
BJJ, today
Beat up a 14yo. So wrong to say. Nah, just made him work. Apparently he wasn't working hard with the other guys (they outweigh and can out muscle him), but with me he was going really hard.
My mom's been doing the NROLFW Stage 1 workouts on and off since April (mostly off). She works out by herself in the basement, and she had never lifted before Stage 1. She hasn't really increased the weight on the lifts, and since there's no one to spot her I really don't want her going on to some of the more complicated movements. (She does, however, love the lat pulldown and seated row. The rest, eh, but she loves those two.)
So I decided that instead of putting her on Stage 2 that I'd move her over to Red Carpet Ready. Lower weights (I think the max is 10 or 15lbs), but it still uses lunges, Romanian DL, overhead press, planks, etc. Easier for my mom to do by herself. Each workout (A and B) has 3 circuits that you do 2-3 times; each takes about 1 hour. Cardio is intervals, 30 min, on non-weights days.
I'm also going to run all the calculations from FLTS for her. (She's probably a candidate for Repair. Eh, I'll have to read all that again and see what we can do.) Her biggest obstacle is food, especially not eating enough during the day and then too much at night and on the weekends. She doesn't stop to eat during the day because she's too busy at work; however, she works with my dad (just the two of them), so I'm going to recruit him to make sure she eats lunch at least. And she needs to sleep more.
This week is a sort of "break in" week while she works on going to bed earlier and getting up earlier, packing & eating lunch, and getting used to the movements in RCR. She did Workout A, one time through each circuit, this morning and said it was a lot harder than it looked: "I have to do that more than once through??" I'm still trying to talk her in to taking pictures, at least so she can see her progress.
She was excited, though, when I showed her the program; she liked the name, especially.
How wonderful that you can get your mom working out and help her be fitter and healthier!
My mom does senior exercise classes at the local community center... she LOVES using those 1# pink dumbbells
Heh, well, we've been trying for years; she just doesn't usually stay on the wagon. This time, I'm gonna make it stick...
BJJ, last night
Someone must've sent a memo to the guys that I was tired of getting muscled around . One of the worst offenders (the "MMA instructor") was actually the best roll of the night; he didn't jerk into the armbar when I had it defended (actually let go!) and in general just kept sweeping me (and actually the sweep we learned in class!) and trying for technique. I was really surprised and didn't know what to do with him. Told him what I'd noticed after the roll, and he said thanks, that he was really trying to focus on technique over muscling. Rolled with two other guys who're usually good about technique over muscle anyway.
(Worst roll of the night was a newer, littler guy (maybe 140-150lbs) who tried to muscle through everything. Kept trying to armbar me without being anywhere near my arm; thought he could get his legs in place and then jerk my arm in. Um, no. Defend, sprawl, defend...)
I've been so frustrated most classes because the guys just yank me around, and I don't have the mass or the strength to do anything about it. Any technique I try they just force me to the floor, hold me down with one hand, and pass, and I'm done. But last night, when it was technique against technique, I was holding my own against them. Did actually work toward a few submissions, but the rounds ended on me.
And, talked to Perry, the Krav/kickboxing instructor last night. He said he talked to a girl (either Monday or yesterday, I think) who wants to do everything--kickboxing, BJJ, MMA, everything we've got--because she wants to fight. And, best part, he thinks she's about my size. It would be so much awesome to have someone my own size to work against. I love my guys, but they're all bigger and stronger. I really hope she does come.
First, last night was the last full TKD class of the summer. Stripe testing class before their test on Saturday, and they all did much better than they've been doing all summer. Monday I'm back to full-time BJJ. Whoot!!
Second, our head instructor, a 4th-year vet student, has gotten all but possibly 1 of her remaining rotations scheduled for offices around here or for the vet school. So I won't be getting tossed in to head instructing quite as soon as we thought. (Whew!)
So we're back to our original plan, which is that I take over the beginners' class this fall and then add the intermediate class in the spring (and everything next year). (And sub for all classes when/if she's gone or on call.) Much less stress for me! I'll have to cut out fast after T/H BJJ/MMA, at least for the first few weeks, to make it in time to bow them in, but that's not too bad at all.
Lots of level-changing drills, and those just wear you plum out! Cool thing, though, was I finally got shots over my right foot. The big toe there, for whatever odd reason, hasn't wanted to bend properly for shooting, so I've always done it with my left foot forward; but then Karate College changed my stance to right foot forward, and my head's been messed up ever since. (Not that it was ever right to start with. )
We also did very light contact sparring, including kicks; you were barely hitting the guy. Working on movement. Didn't do so great on the movement part. But my kicks--wohoo. That right foot in front makes all the difference. I was sparring one of the instructors, and at one point he said, "Man, those are coming out of nowhere!" Hehe.
Rolled with spazzing new guy from Tuesday afterward. He just grabs a wrist and flings his legs up, hoping to land in either an armbar or triangle. He can sometimes force me in to it; sometimes I can defend it and get around. After he'd tried that same thing a few times, and I was tired of it, I said, "Okay, so you know that armbar and triangle. Try working something else." He said, "Oh, yeah, good idea... . I don't know anything from here, though." I said, "Sure you do: that sweep we learned on Tuesday." Oh yeah... So I walked him through the sweep and the armbar after for a few minutes. He actually loosened up and worked technique.
After class, one of my guys said he nearly stepped in and stopped our roll because the guy was pushing me around. I said no worries, I sorted him out.
Working my free form tomorrow; TKD testing on Saturday. Then back to BJJ Monday.
I wrote a little review of Red Carpet Ready, RCR, if anyone wanted to read more about it. Mom's already bought a small step stool for the step ups. She found the Valslides at Target and bought them, too.
Those "Moving Men" thingies work just like valslides, too.....so, if you have any laying around it might save you some $$$$$.
I mentioned those to my mom before she went shopping (I think I'd seen you or someone mention them in another thread), but she said when she compared the prices that there wasn't that much of a difference. *shrug* Mom's a bargain shopper & coupon-clipper, so I'm assuming she looked at everything.
TKD testing
The gold belt did not test because he did not have his own uniform and tried to borrow one from someone else the night before the test. (He has an aikido class right before TKD, so he's been allowed to stay in his aikido uniform for class. But he was told months ago to buy a TKD uniform, with club patches, for testing. He didn't do it.) He did find someone who let him borrow one, though it was at least 1 size too small, maybe 2. He showed up in the borrowed uniform, at which point he got reamed out by the head instructor, who then turned him over to the examiner. The examiner sent him back to sit down.
At the end of the test, I did my free form. (Someone named it for me last night: Slashing Streams. I couldn't think of anything else, so I went with it.) And it was acceptable. The examiner said I did three things well in making my free form: 1) included traditional elements, 2) included non-traditional elements, and 3) included stuff that I still haven't mastered. Awesome. So now I can move on with my 2nd degree curriculum.
Meh. Just meh. So sluggish last night. Annoying. Probably a result of crappy eating all weekend. (Hardly any food during testing--and mostly carbs--and then hungry/munchy the rest of the weekend. Pleh.)
Warmup, then a few rolls. I worked with one newer guy who kept trying to get an armbar from guard, only he didn't know how. So for drills, we worked armbar from guard. Then more rolling, which involved me tapping to lots of triangles. Meh.
Gonna have to ask about a triangle defense...
* * * * *
So I'm done for now with FLTS because I'm back to six days/week of martial arts (starting Kickboxing this Friday & Saturday). I should take pictures and measurements. Maybe tonight, if I can find the camera. Maybe I can swipe the scale tonight, too. Although, probably again because of eating this weekend, I'm feeling sluggish and bloated right now...
Overall, I'm happy with what I did. I'm back in my "goal" jeans (both pairs) and they fit comfortably. But I know I could have done better if I had tracked what I ate; I kept measuring everything, but never stuck with writing it down. The last two weeks, too, I haven't been stretching and foam-rolling consistently; started again this morning, though.
Trying to take this week as a rest week, as much as possible, though maybe only as far as food and sleep is concerned. (Maybe I can take one day and work from home...) Don't want to skip classes now that I can finally go back. I guess I should figure out maintenance calories so I can get back to it after this week...
Oh, I know a week off won't destroy all progress. And a week of not actually tracking so intensely should be good for me. Especially since there seems to be lots of eating out already happening this week. (Last night after BJJ...)
It's just that there isn't much "rest" available in my "rest" week -- BJJ last night, BJJ tonight (2 classes!), company picnic tomorrow (okay, that's rest. And food.), MMA Thursday, Kickboxing Friday, BJJ Saturday morning, and Kickboxing Saturday night. And of course, work all week.
* * * * *
Mom's on week 1 of RCR. She did Workout A1 two times through yesterday. Today she says her quads, hamstrings, and glutes are sore.
Now I've just got to get her to read the Nutrition section and/or FLTS. (Pasta salad is not a meal, Mom.)
Now I've just got to get her to read the Nutrition section and/or FLTS. (Pasta salad is not a meal, Mom.)
Well, it can be. I went through a couple of days where I just had to have pasta salad. It was mainly veggies and just a little pasta (like 10oz of veggies to 1oz of pasta) with chick peas and some turkey sausage I had around. I topped it with a homemade low-cal dressing. It really turned out quite nicely (and very filling).
Hmmm... I'm now thinking I should make it again before the summer is over. I have some edamame now that I could add as well.
Well, it can be. I went through a couple of days where I just had to have pasta salad. It was mainly veggies and just a little pasta (like 10oz of veggies to 1oz of pasta) with chick peas and some turkey sausage I had around. I topped it with a homemade low-cal dressing. It really turned out quite nicely (and very filling).
Hmmm... I'm now thinking I should make it again before the summer is over. I have some edamame now that I could add as well.
Now that does sound like a meal. My mom, however, is very plain in her eating, so pasta salad is lots of pasta with a little cucumbers and red pepper. I'm pretty sure the nutrition section in RCR said "no white carbs" or something similar, at least during the program.
* * * * *
Ack! All the logs moved! Logs flying every which way...
I decided not to do the next challenge because I have no idea what my goals are. Survive 6 days/week of martial arts is about it right now.
So you guys don't forget to come back and visit over here...
* * * * *
BJJ, tonight
Lots and lots of new guys. I know they want to prove themselves and show that hey, look, I can do this, too, but I'm getting really tired of being the target they pick to beat up for it.
Ugh, and the one guy who smokes or hangs out in bars too much--I had to roll with him twice, and I absolutely cannot breathe if he gets over my face. That is so gross.
I'm grouchy tonight.
Did hit an armbar on a first-timer. That sounds so lame to say, but it was the best I could do all night. (The one good thing about it was I had just rolled with one of the instructors and tried the same armbar, and he'd pointed out where I needed to fix it. Fixed it on the new guy.)
I was supposed to go to the company picnic, but it looked like rain. So I grabbed the food I was supposed to bring, dropped it off, stayed for a few minutes, and bolted for BJJ. (It did rain later.)
Glad I went--there were only 3 of us plus the instructors tonight. Maybe everyone's having one last trip to the beach before school starts back. Whatever. Means more practice for me.
Warmup, then hand fighting (and one of the guys kept trying to do ankle picks, grr), then drilling. Since there's only 3 of us, the two guys work first and then I work in. Kind of a round-robin drilling.
Something I do, that I learned from TKD testing*, is that I pay attention to the corrections that the instructors make on the other guys. And then when I do the drill, I'm not making those mistakes. (I just find new ones to make .) But so it usually looks like I've magically gotten the move down, when really I'm just paying a lot of attention to the details because I know that it's the details that'll make this move work for me.
Then we rolled until we'd all rolled with each other. I was doing much, much better tonight. Not so sluggish. Part of it, I think, was I went first with one of the instructors and so wasn't immediately on the defensive against strong-arming guys. Did better against the two of them. Not seeing openings as quickly as I'd like, though.
(*Because if you don't fix the mistakes that the examiner made on the other people, he will be especially unhappy with you because he's already corrected this once for the whole exam.)
Not too many of us, and Tim was out. So the guys set up a circuit again after a few drills. Upright row w/ Oly bar (push press), pullups (pushups), heavy bag, kettlebell swings (squats), ground'n'pound, shadow boxing, lunges, dips (one-leg dips off side of boxing ring), and down punches. (Down punches were holding 5-lb weights and hanging off the ... whatchamacallit... the thing for back extensions. Punch down.) Exercise in parentheses was what I subbed when I couldn't do any more of the main. 2 minutes at each with 30 second rest.
Whew. Now that'll wear you out!
Most of the guys bolted or sat down on the side after. I sat out on the mat. I wanted to roll. Spazzy guy finally bit and came out. Don't know how long we rolled, but the instructors kept jumping in and helping me when I was messing up. Showed me a triangle defense, too! Yayness! It's easy, too, so I should be able to pull it off most times when the guys try to muscle me in.
The tiredness is starting to catch up to me. Tomorrow I start kickboxing class. Whee...
Oh, and sluggishness & grouchiness from the last few days explained: TTOM was early and sneaky. Pfft.
So, guess what I did my first day of kickboxing class?
Ready?
Sure?
I broke the same little toe.
Yes, I am that talented.
First 30 minutes of class, it was just me working with the instructor. Another guy showed up, and we did a warmup and then more drills and finally sparring. Whole class was 2 hours. My shoulders were fried from last night's circuit.
And then a lady showed up (for a private lesson, I think), and the instructor told me to keep my gloves on and go with her. That wasn't too bad; she's a beginner, so I mostly worked on making her move and hit harder. But then the instructor let her rest for a round and he went a round with me. Arms so fried, can't punch, can't get arms back in time, ugh. We did a few rounds, me and her, him and her, him and me. He told me to start kicking again with him, and on one I was so tired and he was charging so I threw a front kick. Mistake. He caught my toe with his elbow. I knew as soon as it hit. Crap.
So I'm icing it now. I've got BJJ in the morning and kickboxing again tomorrow. Next week I'm signed up to help with freshmen move-in on campus. Argh!! Why do I have to learn everything the hard way?!
I know. Poor toes, they didn't pick a good person to be attached to
BJJ, this morning
Only 4 of us plus the instructors; 2 were new, the other was the 14yo. (One of the others used to work out with the team but moved away; back in town on vacation so he stopped in. The other has a lot of experience, too. So no crazy warmup.)
Almost two hours of straight rolling, though. I did go for lots of submissions, though I only got some on the 14yo. He definitely goes harder with me. I have many bruises from him this morning.
After class, had a three-hour break, and then went back for...
Kickboxing, this afternoon
M'kay, so tired already from MMA Thursday, KB last night, and BJJ this morning. And we started with a warmup, which nearly broke me. And then drills and then sparring. 1 hr 45 min. (Usually 2 hr, but one of our guys has an MMA fight tonight and the KB instructors were heading up there.) By the time we got to sparring, I could hardly move my arms.
Only 2 of the guys there today were from our school; the others are from another martial arts school in town. But our school is hosting a kickboxing tournament next weekend so they came in to train with us.
Finally got home, had a protein shake & a shower, and am trying to fall asleep now...
* * * * *
Oh, funny in the KB class: we were getting ready to start sparring, so we're getting gear on (and it was all way too big for me!). We have the doors open because it's hot inside. A dragonfly zips in and lands on one guy's leg, on his shorts. No one else sees this but me. And it's right where he's going to get kicked.
So before they start sparring, I run over and grab him and point at the dragonfly. And all the guys absolutely freak out. This guy starts dancing and shooing at it, but it doesn't move. So I have to grab him (and lock on tight b/c he was trying to run away) and drag him outside and flick at the dragonfly, which then zooms away.
Ugh, still recovering from Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Many bruises, which is freaking everyone out . And I've done something to my right shoulder, right up by my neck; if I lift my arm too high or too far back, sharp pain shoots either up the side of my neck or toward my arm. But of course I'm too stubborn to stop rolling...
BJJ, tonight
A really light advanced class. (I did skip some of the warmup because I couldn't use that right shoulder. Can't put weight on it, either.) Then drilled, then rolled. I was actually going for a few sweeps--and getting some!--and going for submissions. A pretty good night, actually.
Okay, wait, first: I went shopping at Old Navy before class. Size 6 shorts. Happiness.
Then gi class. Pleh. I don't know what it was, but I was slow and sluggish. One of the guys even commented on it after our roll. Last night I was fast and hitting stuff; tonight I could hardly get easy sweeps. Shoulder was mostly better and I could put weight on it, but not for too long.
Another pleh night. Everyone wanted to muscle me around. Need to learn to control my breathing when they're doing that; I tend to hold it, and that makes me more tense and frustrated.
Today and tomorrow I'm helping move freshmen in to dorms, so lots of carrying stuff. (That probably contributed to the tiredness and slowness tonight, too.) MMA tomorrow night, then a break until Monday.
Drills and then another circuit! 2 min each w/ 30s rest:
heavy bag
ground'n'pound
perfect pushups (pushups/situps)
kettlebell swings (squats)
shadow boxing
upright rows (RDL)
jump rope
dips (lunges)
down punches (up punches/"Y")
pullups (pushups/situps)
Again, in parentheses is what I did when I couldn't do the main one anymore. I think I'm starting to like these.
Three days off because of the kickboxing tournament this weekend.
I think I need a new name for my log. I'm not going to be able to do NROLFW now, with all the martial arts classes I'm taking. *ponder* *ponder* *ponder*
I just noticed in your new log that you are in Blacksburg, me too; but I didn't want to clog your new log. Where do you train, and where do you lift? Were you at the tournament at the Christiansburg rec center this weekend. I was thinking about going but my wife thought it was a bit expensive and we had too much to do anyway.
I have been thinking about getting involved in some contact sports, but would be a complete noob. What kind of levels do you have there. My wife might be interested too - has some karate experience from the American Martial Arts Center by BW3s.
Pics
).
Linear Mode
