Humour me please!

[Mr Punch]

OK so I know that I ask these questions from time to time, and I've always actually been prevented from going to the gym and picking up any weights...

but I've got another opportunity now my anma has finally put my latest bulging disc back in place...

so I've got another opportunity to ask you guys dumb questions! :D

1) What are your big four?

If you could only do four weights exercises what would they be?

2) What weights exercises do you recommend to strengthen a lower back that keeps popping out? (Or if you think weights are a bad idea, why?)

I should have access to a gym fully eqipped with free weights and someone who can show me good form.

[Chief Fox]

Number one for me is squats. Back squats are great and so are front squats. Both exercises not only work your legs but they also work all of your stabilizer muscles from your shoulders down.

Number Two is deadlifts. Great for your lower back. Also any time I pick up something heavy like a bag of dog food or one of my kids I'm using the deadlift motion. This is a great exercise for every day life.

Number Three is any kind of over head press.

Number four would be a combination of body weight exercises like dips, push ups and pullups.

My only advice is to really evaluate why you want to lift weights. Are you trying to get stronger, bigger or have more functional fitness? Also, don't get sucked into the standard body building isolation exercises because you're not sure what you want to do.

Maybe post what your goals are so people can give you some ideas as to what you can do.

[IronFist]

My big four?

Squats

Deadlifts

Bench Press

Pullups

However, that's not a complete routine, and most people will not get full development from just those. However, those are the four most important lifts that should be the core of your workout, in my opinion.

Of course, you should still do things like calf work, ab work, and you may need some additional arm work (I do, because my arms don't like to respond to bench and pullups).

[_William_]

Big Four lifts? Er, well this is what I emphasize right now, but it is important to work weaknesses. For example, at a later time I might be emphasizing deadlifts over the pulls.

Clean pull OR power curl(I throw the discus so I am a bit partial to the power curls, but clean pulls and snatch pulls work fine)

Back squat OR front squat(full ROM)

Bench AND Row(Both should be done for balanced development of the shoulders, so I treat them as one exercise)

Dumbell clean and press with one hand - done from the hang(knee height or so)good torso strengthener.

But... gosh, theres so much else you can do, and as Dan John says, "All training is complementary" so there is much synergy between different exercises, and each develops a specific quality. Outside of weight work, my big four would probably be sled dragging, sprints, jumps and throws of various kinds.


2) What weights exercises do you recommend to strengthen a lower back that keeps popping out? (Or if you think weights are a bad idea, why?)


Give these a try, Dr. McGill really knows his stuff, and these exercises has helped a lot of people.

http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/~mcgill/fitnessleadersguide.pdf

Also I would practice statically tensing up the core. I know Zatsiorsky recommends these for developing the "abdominal corset", but I don't remember the exact parameters because I don't have the book with me. Do these a few times a day, a few sets at a time. Stand upright, inhale and maximally tense everything in the midsection.

[Mr Punch]

Functional strength. Especially in the lower back to try and prevent yet more bulging discs.

I was thinking four basic exercises because I want to start simply and I'll only have maybe half an hour a week maybe twice a week to start with, with the weights in the gym
.

I've just started doing push-ups, sit-ups and bodyweight squats again. I think the bootstrappers put my back out last time so I'm giving them a miss for now.

Cheers.

[AndrewS]

Mat,

Big four- kinda a 'which art is best question', IMO. ATG squats rock, but for me, right now I need to rehab my hips to save my knees before going heavy ATG, for instance.

If you're concerned about your low back here are some things to think about-
1). You need strength and strength endurance in your abdominals and lower back both symmetrically and asymetrically.

2). You need to work on avoiding spinal flexion, keeping a strong L-spine curve (arch), and using your abs to stabilize your back. Check if you're getting your hips under you in the WC stances by using some rectus or hip flexor, or if you're using more glut- glut is right, shortening using the other stuff seems to do some bad things structurally (from a mechanical perspective) and may flex your L-spine, making you lose your arch, and predipose you to low back injury. Gluts extend the hip and move the pelvis forward, from what I can tell this is what Yip Man, Emin B, Steve Cottrell (on his kb videos) and Chuck Vogehpul (on the EFS exercise index demoing squats) are all doing.

3). For low back work for you I'd actually recommend k-bell (or DB) swings as you shouldn't be taking any compressive load on your low back during their execution (and compression + flexion + rotation in the L-spine seems to = disc injury), but they will work your spinal erectors, hams, and gluts giving you both strength and muscular endurance.

4). For overall stabilization- farmer's walks, figure 8 walks w/ a weight pressed overhead, suitcase deadlifts, windmills, bent press (done very carefully)

5). Westside guys swear by the rever hyper for rehabbing back injuries- L spine work without compression or rotation (actually with a little traction).

6). If you want a *big* exercise for strength- go with belt squats or trap bar deads until your back is right. The trap bar was invented by a powerlifter trying to train through a low back injury.

7). Stretch your hip flexors.

So-
Workout #1)
Trap bar DL
Upperbody press/pull horizontal plane, paired
Pick 1 from #4
Farmer's walk or kb/db swings

Workout #2).
Unilateral leg work w/ dumbells (keep the load off the l-spine)- split squat, lunge, stepup, bulgarian squat
Upperbody press/pull vertical plane
Pick 1 from #4
Farmer's walk or kb/db swings

Andrew

[AndrewS]

Mat,

Big four- kinda a 'which art is best question', IMO. ATG squats rock, but for me, right now I need to rehab my hips to save my knees before going heavy ATG, for instance.

If you're concerned about your low back here are some things to think about-
1). You need strength and strength endurance in your abdominals and lower back both symmetrically and asymetrically.

2). You need to work on avoiding spinal flexion, keeping a strong L-spine curve (arch), and using your abs to stabilize your back. Check if you're getting your hips under you in the WC stances by using some rectus or hip flexor, or if you're using more glut- glut is right, shortening using the other stuff seems to do some bad things structurally (from a mechanical perspective) and may flex your L-spine, making you lose your arch, and predipose you to low back injury. Gluts extend the hip and move the pelvis forward, from what I can tell this is what Yip Man, Emin B, Steve Cottrell (on his kb videos) and Chuck Vogehpul (on the EFS exercise index demoing squats) are all doing.

3). For low back work for you I'd actually recommend k-bell (or DB) swings as you shouldn't be taking any compressive load on your low back during their execution (and compression + flexion + rotation in the L-spine seems to = disc injury), but they will work your spinal erectors, hams, and gluts giving you both strength and muscular endurance.

4). For overall stabilization- farmer's walks, figure 8 walks w/ a weight pressed overhead, suitcase deadlifts, windmills, bent press (done very carefully)

5). Westside guys swear by the rever hyper for rehabbing back injuries- L spine work without compression or rotation (actually with a little traction).

6). If you want a *big* exercise for strength- go with belt squats or trap bar deads until your back is right. The trap bar was invented by a powerlifter trying to train through a low back injury.

7). Stretch your hip flexors.

So-
Workout #1)
Trap bar DL
Upperbody press/pull horizontal plane, paired
Pick 1 from #4
Farmer's walk or kb/db swings

Workout #2).
Unilateral leg work w/ dumbells (keep the load off the l-spine)- split squat, lunge, stepup, bulgarian squat
Upperbody press/pull vertical plane
Pick 1 from #4
Farmer's walk or kb/db swings

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Great. Thanks a lot Andrew, that's diamond. That gives me plenty to work with. Starting after payday (next week) so I'll let you know.

I kind of figured it was a 'best art' kind of question hence the title, but still, everyone has an opinion and thank you for taking the time with the provisional workout.

[fa_jing]

wow, hope you take Andrew S' advice. I've come back from a bulging disc in the mid back, and I say ditch the "I've just started doing push-ups, sit-ups and bodyweight squats again" ... A little stance work is good, jumping jacks, deck squats might be good, you know, gymnastic bridge, highly dynamic or static stuff, one or the other, not isolation strength moves done for reps.

I don't stick to just a big 4. If I had to limit it to four single movements, it would be squat, deadlift, bench, and clean and jerk. That's limiting though. It's really more like a big 1, sometimes 2, rarely 3, because I'm only ever concentrating on one lift at a time in terms of really moving it, and take what I get with everything else.

I actually think windmills are amazing. I'm usually too lazy to do them but now that I got the 70 lb kbell my interest is back up. Time to go do some.

[Sifu Darkfist]

The idea of a "Kung Fu Core" is what you need to work on. most guys go for the ripped glamour boy abs and neglect the back. Treat your abs like any muscle increase weight and make them big and block like. Then tend to the back with the same intentions. build your "tree" (lower back area) into a powerhouse with steady smooth heavy movements. then when done do smooth fast moves with no weight.

you will become harder at your core than anywhere, and rightly so because all punching kicking walking jumping everything starts there. I actually ab pull downs with 150 pounds and my core feels terrific. then of course i spend alot of time with hanging knee lifts and finish with an equal back routine.

Another thing few people understand is the role of the Buttocks in the scheme of core power. Train that booty till it twitches and you will help your back.

[Mr Punch]

wow, hope you take Andrew S' advice. I intend to.
and I say ditch the "I've just started doing push-ups, sit-ups and bodyweight squats again" ...Are you suggesting that it's not a good idea to do these on an off day? I'll only have max two sessions in the gym a week, but on the days when I train fu at home I've always done this kind of exercise. Does that not have benefits?

Cheers Darkfist... not entirely sure what you're talking about, I'll come back to it when I have time to digest it.

[Mr Punch]

Right, I've been wandering about this enormous place called the Net, with it's infinite contradicting information and I think I've come back to a just a couple of steps further on from where I started!


2). You need to work on avoiding spinal flexion...Would it be possible you could give me a quick functional definition of spinal flexion, especially in relation to the lower spine?


Check if you're getting your hips under you in the WC stances by using some rectus or hip flexor, or if you're using more glut- glut is right, shortening using the other stuff seems to do some bad things structurally (from a mechanical perspective) and may flex your L-spine, making you lose your arch, and predipose you to low back injury. Gluts extend the hip and move the pelvis forward...From what I've read about what these muscles are I'm doing OK. My line seems to open stance through the rectus and hip flexors and sink in by pushing out seemingly using the gluts. If I lose position esp when stepping/kicking, I can see how this relies more on the rectus and (esp) flexors and loses the arch. This has lead to my back going again at some points


5). Westside guys swear by the rever hyper for rehabbing back injuries- L spine work without compression or rotation (actually with a little traction).This looks like it might be precisely the kind of thing that would pop my back out again...

7). Stretch your hip flexors.Any specific movements that would do this?

The specifics of your workout:
Trap bar DL: If there's no trap bar is there something that will achieve a similar result? I'm assuming straight bar DLs will not be nice!

Upperbody press: Can't actually find what this is! There are any number of presses on the sites I've looked at... which one would this be?

Farmer's walk: looks esp good, and simple!

kb/db swings: the sites say to keep your back striaght but most pictures have it bent... and how would I keep the arch? Oh, and one hand or two?

If you know a good comprehensive site you can recommend that would make your and my life much easier!

Thanks in advance!

[fa_jing]

I intend to.Are you suggesting that it's not a good idea to do these on an off day? I'll only have max two sessions in the gym a week, but on the days when I train fu at home I've always done this kind of exercise. Does that not have benefits?

I guess. My big thing is that pushups hurt my shoulders and back, situps don't do much for the core and bother my sacrum. I've done high rep hindus and they bothered my knees. I would just pick different bodyweight exercises like the ones I mentioned. Especially gymnastic bridge which targets your problem.

PS "Upper body press" means any upper body press, like bench, MP, one armed, etc.

[AndrewS]

Hey Mat,

spinal flexion- bending forward at the lumbar spine, rounding your lower back, making it into a 'C', basically. This puts massive strain on the anterior portions of the discs.


From what I've read about what these muscles are I'm doing OK. My line seems to open stance through the rectus and hip flexors and sink in by pushing out seemingly using the gluts. If I lose position esp when stepping/kicking, I can see how this relies more on the rectus and (esp) flexors and loses the arch. This has lead to my back going again at some points

There's going to be some play there, especially in motion. It's worth taking a look at your practice to see if an old bad habit is a culprit.

If I remember correctly Louie Simmons devised the reverse hyper to rehab himself from a back injury many years ago. I haven't used one, but the obvious advantage is that the back is being worked but is *not* under a compressive load (and, in fact there's some traction being placed on the spine in the bottom position, decompressing it).

Hip flexor stretches- most unilateral leg work (lunges, bulgarian squats, etc) has the lovely advantage of forcing you to stretch the flexors of the rear hip. You can do a variety of pieces of mobility work, static stretches, etc, too, but nice long sets of walking lunges seem to do a pretty good job. One drill I used to do was lunges to 10 positions, straight forward, 45 degree forward, to the side, 45 degrees back, straight back, 10 reps each positon each leg. if you're feeling froggy you can add in crossover lunges in front and back, too.

Trap bar DL- if no trap bar then do DB deadlifts or deadlift two barbellls- basically get the load off your low back.

Upperbody press- any upper body press you care to work.

kb/db swings- I'd start light so single handed should be fine once you've learned the motion. Hit the EFS site, they have exercises up there, dragon door has a bunch, and there are some nice resources up in the sticky 'links' thread at the top of this page.

Feel better,

Andrew

P.S. You're in Japan right? Drop me a line if you're coming stateside by way of LA.

[Mr Punch]

Thanks all.

Think I'll jump on the blog bandwagon with this thread so you chip in when you have a suggestion.

May be a bit sporadic posting of course.

[neilhytholt]

Thanks all.

Think I'll jump on the blog bandwagon with this thread so you chip in when you have a suggestion.

May be a bit sporadic posting of course.

What I want to know is ... how do you keep f-ing up your lower back? Seriously, how does it happen? Just so we know and don't do it to ourselves.

One guy I met who did a desk job for 60+ hours a week had to get periodic shots into his spine to relieve the pain. The doctor prescribed him situps, and crunches, but for some strange reason he never did them.

[Mr Punch]

Here goes.

Wed's a long work day (get up 6, leave house 7, get back 2135)... so basic one-hr workout (at home so no weights).

- Basic lunges 20 each leg.
- Walking lunges 20.
- Hindu squats 20.

- Siu lum tao.
- Chum kiu.
- Biu jee.

(these three at reasonable pace - not really really slow)

- Push-ups (I know, I know, but I've no imagination for other bodyweight upper body stuff right now!): 10 standard, 10 wide, 5 narrow.
- 10 bridges.
- 5 manji steps (basically a low horse stance with arms outstretched, chest pushed out, back curved, stepping slowly with count of ten, dragging rear foot to low squat position not rising and slowly wheeling the arms so one is reaching up straight and the other pushing down straight, then into the next horse stance) - usually do 10 but hadn't the energy after the increased leg work.
- 3 shiko (sumo leg stamping warm-up).

- 8-silk reeling brocade with full extension and relaxation.

Legs already feeling it. It's been too long.

With this kind of workout usually do shadow boxing/bagwork too, but it's too late to make the noise with the bag and I don't want to overtax my back with the chance of jerking it out with the shadow boxing.

[neilhytholt]

Here goes.

Wed's a long work day (get up 6, leave house 7, get back 2135)... so basic one-hr workout (at home so no weights).

- Basic lunges 20 each leg.
- Walking lunges 20.
- Hindu squats 20.

- Siu lum tao.
- Chum kiu.
- Biu jee.

(these three at reasonable pace - not really really slow)

- Push-ups (I know, I know, but I've no imagination for other bodyweight upper body stuff right now!): 10 standard, 10 wide, 5 narrow.
- 10 bridges.
- 5 manji steps (basically a low horse stance with arms outstretched, chest pushed out, back curved, stepping slowly with count of ten, dragging rear foot to low squat position not rising and slowly wheeling the arms so one is reaching up straight and the other pushing down straight, then into the next horse stance) - usually do 10 but hadn't the energy after the increased leg work.
- 3 shiko (sumo leg stamping warm-up).

- 8-silk reeling brocade with full extension and relaxation.

Legs already feeling it. It's been too long.

With this kind of workout usually do shadow boxing/bagwork too, but it's too late to make the noise with the bag and I don't want to overtax my back with the chance of jerking it out with the shadow boxing.

Yeah, you're not doing any ab exercises + I don't know what kind of job do you have, is it either sitting around a desk all day or carting around some heavy things?

Why not any ab exercises?

[Mr Punch]

I'm a teacher, but I do have a lot of time for light exercise during the day, as long as I don't get too sweaty! :)

I usually do sit ups and various other things, but I'm fighting shy to avoid putting my lower back out again. I think part of the problem may be I have strong abs and a weak lower back.

[neilhytholt]

I'm a teacher, but I do have a lot of time for light exercise during the day, as long as I don't get too sweaty! :)

I usually do sit ups and various other things, but I'm fighting shy to avoid putting my lower back out again. I think part of the problem may be I have strong abs and a weak lower back.

That's weird. Usually you find people with weak lower backs and they have weak abs.

I don't know what to say, then. Maybe check with a physical therapist type person. (A good one, not the usual idiots running around these days).

[stricker]

mat,

quick suggestion for something to do no kit no space no sweat would be holding planks for core strength. one of the ground coaches at my mma club likes them but i never really trained them i found just normal training (lots of thai kicks + wrestling) and i improved every time we came to do them. i also did them at a systema class i think 5 mins in the basic plank position. found it easy just from the mma training. you can do them for front back sides dont know if theyd help might be worth a try

also swings either kettlebell or dumbell are awesome. for a while i did a bunch every day before leaving for work, helped my posture and a good warm up for the day.

[_William_]

Mat,

I really think the series of Stuart McGill exercises I linked to would be of great help to you.(they are designed specifically for those with low back problems)

Situps are really of little use in low back health because the activation of the illiopsoas(hip flexor) muscles pulls on the lumbar spine.

[Mr Punch]

What I want to know is ... how do you keep f-ing up your lower back? Seriously, how does it happen? Just so we know and don't do it to ourselves.Long history... thought I'd already said...? Anyway, sorry I hadn't seen this post.

Maybe originally it was from being tackled by a friend of mine on concrete. I landed pretty much on my lower spine with a 105-110 kg friend on top of me. We'd been clowning around (it was New Year's Eve) and were very drunk. We were playfighting (he used to do karate) and I was beatin his ass, and pinned him to a fence, realised there was nothing else to do (for the sake of playfighting restraint) and let him up, when he decided to see if he could make his bulk work. He could! He drove me back like an American footballer and dropped me on my ass.

I could barely get up the next day, and couldn't walk properly for a couple of days, with lasting pain for a couple of weeks. Being younger, bullish and busy, and also not having insurance or enough of a knowledge of Japanese at the time, I didn't go to the docs, and just did various tai chi and chi kung to try and right it.

So, if you want to avoid it try this:

don't be a drunken arse,
go to the docs.

It has since gone at various points, through kung fu, wrestling, coughing, taking off my sock, that kind of thing!

I have been to the docs and they are useless. Xrays showed no prob, and if it persists after my latest regime, I'm going straight to get an MRI and to visit the K1/Pride doc down in Chiba (long way but my pro-fighter friend swears by him). Generally the docs here have no sports/trauma knowledge and none of the gyms even have trainers, unless they're VIP gyms.

My anma (blind masseur) is a wizard tho with acupuncture and massage.

[Mr Punch]

That's weird. Usually you find people with weak lower backs and they have weak abs.

I don't know what to say, then. Maybe check with a physical therapist type person. (A good one, not the usual idiots running around these days).Dunno, the way I'd always seen it is a lot of people have an imbalance in opposing muscle groups even if they're not aware of it.

Physical therapy would be a great idea, but I live in Japan, and there's no chance of that unless you're a (rich) pro.

[Mr Punch]

Stricker, so what is 'the basic plank position'?!

[Mr Punch]

William, thanks for the link, I hadn't checked it for some reason, but tried the exercises yesterday and they're marvelous! I think they're just what I need to do every day, and add to the beginning and end of my other workouts.

And, yeah, I don't do sit ups when my back's going through one of it weak periods or feels remotely damaged again, and wanted to find something that would work my abs without straining my lumar region... maybe McGill's curl-ups are another piece of the puzzle. I'd seen and done them before, but had kind of let them go again, and the emphasis on the 'abdominal shield' is new to me.

[Mr Punch]

Thu is another busy day. My back felt good, so did a little light bagwork and the wc forms.

Then went to the anma, but this time my back felt worse after (sometimes this happens, usually when I have to go back to work after the massage instead of relaxing/sleeping/stretching etc), so in the evening after my night job, I just went to bed early.

Fri, back was weak, and had another very busy day (Fri's usually easy), so just did ten regular pushups and the forms.

Yesterday, unusually busy again but made myself the time to try those exercises William linked too. Great stuff.

Today's the main training day... Tomorrow or Tue should be able to start at the gym... back later.

[Mr Punch]

Sun (yesterday).

Started early after breakfast had a chance to go down, with McGill's back exercises.

In case you haven't read the article they are:

cat/camel yoga pose
curl ups
bird dog yoga pose
side bridges

Then did SLT, CK and BG.

Then to the park for some WC. Keeping it light (no sparring, no strong lap saus, no hard chi sau) while my back is still ropey.

SLT (with a bit of application from second section double fak etc)

Huen bo as applied in sweeping, entering, and low-mid roundhouse kicks, with and without hooks/elbows. Very light application work (was feeling it in my back anyway) and a couple of light reps of light mid roundhouses with thai pads.

Too bloody humid in the park and the mozzies are already out in full force, so retired to my balcony for some very light bagwork (turning punches and low-mid kicks - still can't really whack the bag cos the jerking goes straight through my lower spine... I know a well connected strike shouldn't particularly stop there and should come all the way from the feet, but of course there's still some major 'traffic' going through the problem area, so I still have to keep it light).

Light pushing and punching partner to check stance.

Also some light chi sau on the balcony.

Focussing on keeping our arms low to relax our shoulders and get a better connection to our stances rather than on any specific techs. Started with rolling to changeover in response to pressure, then the exercise beginning with L(ik?!) which involves your partner letting his pressure go briefly so you should automatically find an opening... wtf's that called again!?

Then some light free rolling.

Went well. Kept relaxed. Not too much pressure on my spine.

Then ate and went shopping (lots of walking! - probably good for my back too!).

Evening: 30 walking lunges (no weights - already feeling stronger in legs, no burn at all)
10 slow tackle drills (usually do more and faster but still wary of back and couldn't use my kitchen... the tatami in my bedroom are evil for mat-burn, liek a mincing machine!)
10 reg push-ups, 10 wide and 10 narrow.

Finished with the back routine again.

[Mr Punch]

Found some time at work to do slt, ck, bg, and ten manji steps taking 8ish seconds in each transition and stance.

After work finally made it to the gym! :)

5 kg DB DLs x 15.

Long, deep lunges with 6 kg DBs x 5 each side.

5kg squats on Smith machine.

10 kg trap bar DLs x 15.

6 kg walking lunges x 15 each side.

35kg oblique machine thingies x 12 each side twice.

15 kg Smith machine DLs x 5.

35 kg with some leg pushy machine thing (supposedly works same as squats without the strain on your back) x 15 with a high leg position for gluts, x 15 with a lower leg position for quads, x 15 with a low leg position for calves.

20 min run (3 + km).

So now I know what the exercises should look and feel like.

Started slowly, and gonna work it up slowly from here... there was nothing really taxing in that lot but my legs are feeling it, so I'll be back with a progress (pain!) report tomorrow. Mostly concentrating on back and legs today, and will next be able to go back to the gym probably Friday, when I'll work upper body a bit I should think.

No idea what to go for reps or weights TBH (I know these weights are way light, but obviously concerned about form first as total newb, for the sake of my back rehab) , so as usual I throw myself at your mercies for any suggestions!

I'll be doing my stretches, a couple of push-ups and McGill's core back work again tonight before bed to make sure I don't wake up like a board.

[Mr Punch]

Finished up last night with 10 reg pushups, 10 wide, 10 narrow, and 10 scapula, a load of leg stretches and those back exercises.

Couple of questions:

1) I noticed on a few other blogs people do their sets of the same exercise back to back, as opposed to doing one exercise and then doing another then coming back to the first like I did. What's the advantage?

2) People complain about machines. That oblique thingy I used yesterday seemed to be the only way I could do that... how would I be able to replicate that with weights and does it matter (ie. is there a problem with using machines)?

3) Sups? Drinking basic protein shake with its multivits and mins etc. Is there something I should be looking for in a protein shake? What other sups are useful? Andrew, you take aspirin... why?

[stricker]

alright mat. planks are just another word for bridges i think but you do them with your elbows and feet on the floor. so basic plank would be like a press up position resting on your forearms. back plank is the other way round so looking at the ceiling, like a back bridge but again on your forearms not your head or shoulders. the idea is to keep your spine and legs in an exactly straight line hence plank. again dont know how great they really are but a lot of people rate them.

[AndrewS]

Hey Matt,

1). Back to back vs. circut- circut training is useful and a nice way to do active recovery. For hypertrophy, CW is not to rest for more than 90s between sets of the same or similar exercises, hence sets will be done back to back, or paired, while pure strength/speed work will use rest intervals of up to 10min (usually 3-5min). For conditioning, and convenience, rotating through your exercises allows you to be using your rest period (if your primary goal is strength) to do another group of exercises working different or complementary motor patterns. This also can wind up being nice energy system conditioning work, something that you wouldn't want (or be able) to get if you were using higher percentages of your RM1 ('cos being heavily fatigued and trying to move around 90% rm1 is a recipe for injury).

2). Machines force you into using the path of travel of the machine, while stabilizing you in other directions- hence you may wind up using a 'groove' which sets you up for injury (smith machine squats), and don't get the same benefit you could get by doing a similar exercise with free weights. There are a lot of ways to work the obliques- side bends, MB passes, and full contact twists come to mind.

3). Aspirin- primary prevention of cardiovascular disease- of equivoval benefit unless you have several risk factors. For other supplements- the place to start is with macronutrients- enough protein, carbs at the right time, essential fatty acids (fish oil).

Gotta dash,

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

OK stricker, I got you... already do those, as illustrated in that McGill article, and they are already having a good effect (well, it could be the other McGill exercises of course!).

And thanks again Andrew... looks like number 1 would be esp useful... might take me a couple of days to understand it though.

OK, last couple of days:

mostly busy so SLT CK and BG, the back work plus some manji walking and pushups.

Today managed to squeeze time in for the back work, two pyramids of five pushups reg and wide with jumping up and shadow boxing the combos of the day between each, 20 sprawl drills (plus jumping up and shadow boxing between each one), 5 tackle drills (no space!), and 20 minutes of intense bagwork: wing chun and boxing combos and some roundhouse kick work.

Tomorrow gym and upper body.

[Mr Punch]

OK, been busy as usual... having trouble juggling the new gym schedule with the fu and work, plus my lovely gf... but that's life.

Last Fri,

20 mins on elliptical trainer.

Machine back work:

v light of course.

3x15x15 kgs of lat pull-downs and trap pull-downs and some other kind of pull-downs, plus 7 kgs DB shrugs.

Sat and Sun: very light fu with no partner (they're sick/injured :( )

SLT, CK, BG, 20 mins bagwork (boxing, WC, thai legs)... pushups as usual, plus McGill's backwork as usual.

Pleased that my bagwork went well as it sucked on Thu... realised this was probably down to fatigue of training for rehab and avoiding further damage, plus bagwork with 500 g weights on my wrists (which I do sometimes and had forgotten about that time!).

Mon: this week, not many days I can go to the gym, maybe only once, so did legs, chest and tris:

back work

10 mins stairmaster (everything was being used in the gym!)

2o mins elliptical

bench press 1x15x15 kgs, 1x15x30 kgs (by mistake but no probs), 1x15x20 kgs.

incline press 3x15x20 kgs

db flies 3x15x7 kgs

push-downs 3x10x15 kgs

obliques on the machine 3x15x30 kgs

leg press 3x15x30 kgs legs high, middle and low

walking lunges 3x15 (each side) x 7 kgs db

trap bad dls 3x15x15 (hard work - felt it in my lower back until i corrected my form)

20 mins elliptical

more back work and stretches.

Yesterday, just the fu stuff and stretches.

Today same.

Overall impression so far: I feel stronger, better balance and some of the fu stuff is coming together with more oomph. Next to no back tweaks. Wish I'd discovered weights 10 years ago or more! Little bit of soreness but generally not too bad: recovery period v quick - still light exercises only for rehab. Wanna get a med ball too as per Andrew's suggestion.

[Mr Punch]

For hypertrophy, CW is not to rest for more than 90s between sets of the same or similar exercises, hence sets will be done back to back, or paired, while pure strength/speed work will use rest intervals of up to 10min (usually 3-5min).CW is what? 'Conventionlal Wisdom'?
For conditioning, and convenience, rotating through your exercises allows you to be using your rest period (if your primary goal is strength) to do another group of exercises working different or complementary motor patterns. So for pure strength training I should be doing a different muscle during my five (ten) min rest period?
... if you were using higher percentages of your RM1 ('cos being heavily fatigued and trying to move around 90% rm1 is a recipe for injury).OK, you've got me again... looked around a bit but what's RM1?


2). Machines force you into using the path of travel of the machine, while stabilizing you in other directions- hence you may wind up using a 'groove' which sets you up for injury (smith machine squats), and don't get the same benefit you could get by doing a similar exercise with free weights.That's kind of what I thought.

Update:

Had to work Sat and Sun, so again no partnered fu! :(

Managed to fit in a quick go at the gym on my way home...

lat pulldowns 1x15x22.5, 1x15x25, 1x15x27.5
trap pulldowns (same)
oblique machine 3x15x30
the other pulldown machine (can't remember what it's for but you pull down with your arms straight from head height to past your hips while standing) 3x15x10 (bloody hard), 3x15x7.5

walking lunges 30x14(db) - in a hurry so just that set.
tb dl 2x15x15, 1x15x17.5 - feels good but need to take it slowly.

leg press (wanted to squat but trainer wasnt there and not sure of form without smith mach) hi position (quads) 3x15x40, mid (gluts) 3x15x40, low (calves) 3x15x40 then for ****s and giggles hi and mid 1x3x110 and low 1x3x90.

elliptical 10 mins high intensity.

usual stretches and forms on other days. hopefully today some partnered fu...!

[Mr Punch]

Finally managed some fu!

A systema pushing/punching drill to practice relaxing into stance and naturally letting your own strike feed out...

Partner pushes/punches off centre, eyes closed no stance just try and absorb and let your opposing arm naturally fly out for a strike.

Same again, but sinking into stance.

Same again but with stance and shooting both arms out.

First part of SLT with partner(s) pushing, pulling, punching, palming, kicking, sweeping lightly to check root.

Dan chi sao.

Kicking drill. Cross hands. Partner straight kicks to chest (long range, straight post leg/short range bent post leg). Same with me kicking through partner's kick with bong gerk.

Clinch san sao: clinch centreline control flowing drill. Elbow to chest control. Forward knees to ribs and nuts. Roundhouse knees to ribs and legs. Pulling back out of clinch with jum sao. Dropping into forward pull with double/single lan sao to knee/inner thigh. Occasional butts to keep us alive! :D

San sao: set up for and defence against knees; gan, fak, lap head into knee.

Pad work. Stepping punches. Doubles and triples, forwards and backwards. Just straight stepping this time. Standing combos starting fak, punch or punch fak. Walking knees.

Light rolling drill, and very light chi sao.

[Mr Punch]

Today.

Forms and stretching as usual.

elliptical 10 mins med intensity

walking lunges 3x30x14

squat (first time without machine... feels very different: MUCH harder work and makes me wonder again the point of the machine!) 1x15x20 1x15x22.5 1x15x25

bench 3x10x30 (failed on the second set and had to rest before i went again)

push downs 1x15x12.5 1x15x17.5 1x15x15

incline bench 3x15x15... hard!

15 mins fast running.

[AndrewS]

Mat,

CW= conventional wisdom

For pure strength work, once you're over 1-1.5x bw on squat, dl, bench as a rm1, you're gonna basically chill between sets when working at >90%rm1. If you're setting up a circut and aren't doing lifts quite so stressful (<90%rm1), then you'd prefer to use a complementary motor pattern to make exercise pairs or circuts- i.e. bench, barbell row, or db bench, db row, weighted ab.

RM1- max amount you can lift, once.


How's your back?

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Thanks again Andrew.

My back's better than it has been since the accident. I wish I'd started this weights malarkey years ago. And my knees. And my balance (which was always pretty good) seems better, plus how can I say it... general connectivity.

So how's my training looking, bearing in mind I still want to take it really easy for now for rehab's sake?

I wanted to try the farmers' walk but there's not really space in my miniaturized Japanese gym! And I still haven't tried any upper body presses yet as I haven't got round to asking my trainer to show me the correct form.

The windmills I'm nervous of as she doesn't know them, but they seem simple enough so I may give them a shot tomorrow.

[Mr Punch]

What **** week. Was too busy to go more than once last week, then got a cold on Fri, so couldn't go over the w/e or even do any partnered fu.

Them's the breaks I guess.

Today the cold seems fine but had one mysterious episode of the squits this morning... wtf!? :(

Also somehow blew my knee over the w/e.

So, if I can (bowel-wise) I'm gonna go today and focus on some upper body stuff to give my knee a rest...

should also be able to fit a sesh in tomorrow, then nothing till next Mon.

Anyway, going by what you've said Andrew and my general condition, I'm gonna go with upping the weights on every exercise by 10% or so each time with 15 reps for form's sake and endurance till I start failing. When I reach BW I'm gonna start pushing it a bit for strength work if that makes sense.

[AndrewS]

Hey Mat,

Your plan sounds good, but don't get too caught up in using more weight. Try to put the biggest/most intense exercises first, balance pushing and pulling, horizontal and vertical, and try not to do more than 4-6 exercises per session. Some folks will argue that higher reps at the outset of training are a good way to condition your connective tissue. Stick with this plan for 6-8 weeks, after that you'll probably need to start to change up your exercises and sets and reps depending on your goals.

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Been sick for over a week. :( Caught some kind of bug, and really wanted to train but didn't want to stress my body out and get worse.

Gym today. Dunno what to do yet, my knee's shot too.

Maybe start with something like light squats that will allow me to gently test the knee and see if it's going to be ok. Certainly giving the lunges a miss today.

[Mr Punch]

Went. Was good. I am puny. Oh well.

Shoulders/biceps (knee def still no go for now):

Some inverse thingy pulling a BB up to a bit above my nips, with a narrow grip and the elbows pointing up: 1 x 15 x 10, 1 x 15 x 12.5, 1 x 15 x15.

BB bicep curls 2 x 15 x 15, 1 x 10 x 20.

DB hammer curls 2 x 15 x 4, 1 x 15 x 5

Incline hammer curls 3 x 5 x 15.

Some thing like flies, where you lift the DBs directly out to the side, straight, to shoulder height: 3 x 15 x 5.

Some thing where you lift the DBs directly to a bit above shoulder height with a straight arm at the front... 3 x 15 x 5.

All of these exercises were difficult, and I was nearing failure on some. Today however, I feel nothing. No pain, no stiffness. So maybe I'll go for something heavier next time.

[Mr Punch]

Fri,

Stupidly hot and humid, nearly dead before I started.

Knee wasn't good still, so did back.

Lat pulldowns 1x15x35, 1x15x37.5, 1x15x40

Another pulldown (arms ahead a little more than shoulder height, straight: pull down the handlebar thing to my waist) 1x12x12, 1x12x10, 1x12x7.5 (hurt: decreased weight cos I was losing form)

Low rows (same as lat pulldowns)

Obliques machine 3x15x30

Elliptical trainer 15 minutes intense.

No fu over the weekend (too much work, beer, and World Cup... though can't believe I forsook my fu training to watch that useless shower England go out so ignominiously!).

Just did the forms and some chikung, the back exercises, some stance work and about 30 minutes lazy bagwork.

Yesterday:

Again, pretty much fatigued before I started because of the weather, but went to the gym and did chest and triceps.

Bench 1x12x25,1x12x27.5,1x12x30

Incline bench 1x12x25,1x12x20,1x12x15 (felt good after the bench so started at same weight but could barely do it, so had to reduce each time - hard)

Dumbells flies 3x12x5

Tricep exercises on the bench, lowering weight overhead (don't know the name yet): 1x12x10,2x12x7.5 - hard

Triceps pushdowns on machine: 2x12x7.5,1x12x10.

Elliptical 10 mins warm-up, 15 mins warm-down, moderately intense.

Wanted to go again today, but had to work and do things at home till 2:30 this morning, so suffering from lack of sleep, so I'm going to play safe and give it a rest till Fri.

[Mr Punch]

Yesterday (Sat)

Thought I'd progress to something a bit heavier, now my body seems to be getting better (back anyway, the occasional knee-pop is still going on: MRIs for both if they persist) and my recovery time seems very quick. Plus I want to get some idea of what I can actually do, what my limits are... and I don't know any other way to find out my RM1 without lifting heavier things!

3-5 mins break between each set.

TB DLs: 5x50, 5x60, 5x60, 5x70, 3x75 (target weight for today - my BW... maybe the first time I've lifted anything that big - quite happy with that!)

The 75 I did want to only do 3, just so I'd done it... but I have to say it hurt. It didn't hurt the things it's not supposed to hurt (like the back or legs) but my left elbow really felt it. Bit sore in the lower back today. It's a muscular soreness, not the disc, but I've still gotta watch my posture carefully especially for the next few days.

Squats (SM): 5x40, 5x50, 5x60, 3x70.

Although I was resting up for 3-5 mins between each set of DLs, I still felt a bit fried when I went to do my squats (good, but fried), and there's no squat rack at my gym, plus my trainer wasn't there to spot me, so I went for the Smith machine for safety.

Was quite prepared to fail completely at these cos my knee had still been giving me problems, and had also intended to go for BW. Felt good until 60. Thought I'd try 70 anyway... wasn't bad.

Knee hurts again today though.

Lat pull-downs: 5x40, 5x50, 5x60, 3x70.

Again, wanted to hit BW (just as a reference) but wouldn't have made it. Couldn't lock out my left arm on the last rep of the 70 set, but didn't feel bad.

Also wanted to hit low rows but felt I'd taxed my body enough for one day. Started and finished with 15 mins on the elliptical and a lot of stretching.

All in all, an interesting fact-finding mission. Feel a bit sore today, but not bad at all... we'll see if I can move tomorrow!

Next gym Tue. Next fu today.

[Mr Punch]

BTW, in case anyone's wondering, am now Mr Punch in case my ultra-conservative bosses in my new job follow me onto the boards! Most of them can't understand any English, but better safe than sorry!

Quick question: on the days I can't train but am still stiff/sore, should I still be upping my protein intake?

On a normal day with no sups I eat about a gram of protein for a gram of BW (75 kgs 75-125gs). On training days, in the morning and when I've finished (usually about 7 at night) I usually have a protein shake with two eggs which puts up intake by at least 75 gs a day. On the day after training I usually do the same. Is that a good idea?

Should I give my body more of a rest from the high-protein stuff?

or

Should I keep the protein intake high more days a week even when I'm not training to facilitate absorption and get my body used to it?

[Mr Punch]

Yesterday (Sunday)

Some fu.

Good session going over basics carefully :) for a bro we're teaching chum kiu to... but absolutely nothing resembling a live exercise :(

Stepping drills, inc huen bo, knife stepping and variations... but just the stepping, no interaction (perishingly humid and hot!).

Sil lum tao.

Chum kiu up to the end of the first bit, with a couple of applications, a lot of fine tuning, and comparing the splitting the bridge motions with aikido's ten-chi nage (very nice - but still not live).

Was very stiff, but not in pain.

[Mr Punch]

Yesterday (Mon)

Abortive attempt at going over chum kiu with the same (ever injured) student. Worked a couple of lap sao drills out of it, and then a lot of backward and forward stepping punches concentrating on keeping a broken rhythm and range, then the same with jab, jab-straight, jab-jab-straight and various other boxing combos with and without evasion.

30 mins full speed cycling.

SLT, CK etc as usual... well as quite often.

[Mr Punch]

Today (Tue).

Gym, trying to work on my puny chest!

20 mins elliptical.

Bench (free barbell): 10x30, 6x40 (was trying for 8, couldn't do it), 5x40 (after five mins went back, being bullish... failed at the 6th), 5x50 (assisted by my trainer). Dang, that was hard.

Incline bench with DBs crossing over at the top (weight figure for single DB): 12x9, 12x8, 12x7.

Pec machine (same as decline bench?): 15x17.5, 12x22.5, 10x25.

More elliptical.

Bit of improvement on the bench.

Not sure if these workouts are in line with my goals, and not sure if my trainer really knows what she's talking about sometimes! :eek:

For example;

Training for strength only is it a good idea to do say 10-12 reps of a lighter weight to warm up to 3-5 of a heavier weight, or is it a better idea to start with 5 of each weight and progress up?

And should I lift lighter after I've failed on heavier?

Anybody still reading wanna help out a bit please?!:confused:

And I still don't know about the protein question...:o

:)

[AndrewS]

Hey Mat,

Reasonable protein intake is 1-2g/kg/day- it sounds like you're within those parameters. People will argue you should have a serving of high bioavailability protein (whey or casein or both) within 1hr post workout.

Warmups- they shouldn't burn you out. So, if you're squatting working up to a 5rm at 100kg, you might go bwx10-20, barx10, 40kgx5, 60kgx5, 80kgx5, 95kgx1, 100kgx5 (the single just below your work weight is helpful to prep you for what is to come, 5 reps would impair your recovery).

The question you're asking about reps and weight is basically about volume. For strength, Prilepin's tables are useful for this sort of thing (see around page 7-9 of this blog), for mass, not so useful. If I miss a weight, I may do a set at a lighter weight to up the volume at a desired intensity range- i.e. if I miss an RM1 attempt at 400lbs, with an old RM1 of 380, I might do a backoff set at of 2-3 reps at 340-350, just to get a groove. There's no magic answer for when/how to do this that I know of, just some rough guidelines and time under the bar. Now, for hypertrophy- what you're talking about are called drop sets and, yes, do them.

Andrew

P.S. Try not to work to failure when going heavy too often, it burns you out. It's one thing to rep out with 60% RM1 as a hypertrophy thing, but missing singles or triples can leave me toasted for days.

P.P.S. Try not to do trap bar deads and squats on the same day, or back squats and full deads- these are too demanding for most people to combine.

[Mr Punch]

Thanks Andrew, a goldmine as usual, thanks for your time.

Having trouble with Prilepin's table, so might have to have a look at that again later at leisure.

[Mr Punch]

The weekend was a bit of a washout... no partners and rain. Did forms, and more forms, and worked the bag from the forms and some boxing and kickboxing combos. Productive but not productive enough. Need more live training.

The good news is: got five weeks of summer holiday starting next week! :D Gym and fu everyday, supplemented by going back to train with my shooto teacher for a bit and maybe even the crazy koryu guy if he's got any seminars... :D

[Mr Punch]

The week was a washout too, too busy with work, pouring down with rain at 27-9 degrees and unbearable humidity. Looking for an indoor place to train: fed-up with this. Can just fit two people on my balcony for some chun, but wouldn't like to throw a roundhouse out there!

Anyway, weekend (Sun), everybody was in a hurry, but got an hour and a half of chum kiu with some apps. I wanted to do some sparring/live drills but everybody was too **** busy. :(

Yesterday (Mon) gym

10 mins on elliptical then immediately...

5km run. Wanted to do it in 20 mins but still well out of shape I guess: only made it in about 24.

Try again tomorrow. After the 20 min 5, I want to get back to less than 35 min for 10 like I used to. So, I'll run the 20 min 5 until it's comfortable then see how long it takes me to do 10 so I know what I'm aiming for.

Lat pull-downs on machine: 10x20kg, 5x50, 5x60, 5x62.5, 5x65, 1x67.5, 3x70, 10x30. My target was 75 (my bodyweight - when I'm comfortable with that I'm going to see how I can take pull-ups), didn't look like I was going to make it so went for 70, and a back-down set of 10x30 (the 10x20 warm-up set was far too easy). Think I'll start from higher than 50 and work my up from higher weight start next time. Rested about 2-3 mins between all of the sets, except the last two big ones.

Lat rows on machine: 10x30, 5x60, 5x65, 1x70, 3x75, 15x30.

Straight-arm pulldowns on machine. 10x7.5, 5x10, 5x12.5, 1x15, 3x17.5.

10 mins elliptical, then straight into 2.5km in 10 mins.

Wanted to go swimming afterwards but turns out the waterproof band-aid I bought to cover my tattoo was useless. :rolleyes:

[Mr Punch]

Tue-Wed, minimal core work and stretching. Half an hour boring bagwork. Too hot and humid and no enthusiasm.

Thu, still no enthusiasm but had to meet old training partner (who hopefully will be joining me regularly again).

Good session though extremely hot and humid, after dark and mosquito hell.

Systema drill: punch/push for different effects, and receiver tries to send something back on whatever natural axis to connect with centreline asap from whatever angle the puncher is coming...)

5 mins, eyes closed, no stance, one strike return.

5 mins, eyes closed, no stance then finding stance on contact.

5 mins, eyes closed, two arms sent out (one strike, one tan/bong/wu/man etc), finding stance.

5 mins of opening of SLT with partner pushing, pulling, palming (usually we do sweeps, kicks, knees in back to short takedown etc too but too hot sweaty and my friend was in an expensive suit!). SLT geezer tries to stay relaxed, focused on SLT esp keeping posture down, and not tensing up hand positions except for to feed back on contact. Of course if the strike is too strong he should flow with it and regain posture as soon as possible. Punching partner should come from all angles.

Dan chi sao. Very difficult with the sweat!

LSJC drill: rolling slowly and carefully like chi sao, partner drops a hand, goes for a hook, slackens his position, and you let your strike throw forwards and find the gap.

Rolling: chi sao changes, huen, pressure on fuk, non-centreline strikes etc.

Pad work: stepping punches, backwards and forwards, concentrating on one-twos, and getting power into the backward stepping punches to shock the centre rather than just push through the pad. Tiring in the heat.

Chi sao, very slow. Too hot for many things to work at all: lops were next to impossible in the sweaty conditions (made me wonder about HK where half the year is this bad! - which techs they modified...!). Worked a few things like trying to roll straight into clinch range to get elbows and short fist pummeling in, but again too slippy to work clinches themselves effectively. Gave up on inside and concentrated on escaping to the outside.

[Mr Punch]

Fri, played around at home to see what was possible with my new one dumbell and its 20kg...

ended up doing small weights (all the below figures are with a 1.75 kg db bar) in a kind of all-over body routine:

Walking lunges, 12 each side no weights, 12es x 7.5, 12es x 10, lunges, 12es x 11.75.

Floor press: 10 x 2.5 each hand, 10 x 5eh x 2. Too easy!

Crossover Flies: ditto. Harder.

Skullcrushers: 10 x 5, 10 x 7.5, 10 x 10.

Bicep curls: 10 x 5, 10 x 7.5, 10 x 10 (Hard... last few assisted with other hand)

Hammer curls: 5 x 10 (assisted at end)

20 mins very light bagwork (boxing) for positioning, footwork and speed.

[Mr Punch]

Yesterday, more home DB play.

45 mins very fast cycling (on road so dubious health benefits, but not too busy traffic and big hills)... straight into warm-up, then;

Hammer curls (Fri I felt my bicep routine was very bad, and much as I'm not particularly interested in biceps I thought I'd better work on them as my tris seem much stronger - and no stiffness so went for Hammer Curls) - prefer these to normal bicep curls cos it feels like its working my forearms more too: 10 x 5, 10 x 7.5, 10 x 10 (still hella hard - assisted but only with a couple at the end)

Forearm curls and reverse forearm curls: 10 x 5, 10 x 7.5, 10 x 10 each.

Shrugs: 15 x 5eh x 3.

Front shoulder raises 10 x 2.5, 10 x 5 x2

Side shoulder raises ditto: very hard on last few at 5, probably because I'm gripping the plates because I only have one DB bar!

Rear shoulder raises... these are evil anyway and I'm not convinced they're good for the rotator cuffs so I dont do them often. Previous PB a measly 2kgs for 5: 10 x 1.25, 8 x 2.5, 3 x 5. Much better than before which suggests that my shoulders have got much stronger using exercises which are potentially less damaging to the RCs so might give them a miss altogether from now.

Notes: def need another DB bar to make home workouts more ordered and useful. Next payday, and maybe a trap bar or w-bar too! Also going to look into medicine balls.

Found kettlebells in a shop in Shinjuku but the cheapest (4 kgs) was 5000 yen and the biggest (12kgs) was 8500! No ****ing way! CoC grips were 4000 each (maybe twice the price of those in the States, and a third extra inc shipping...?). Maybe look into club exercises with a DB with plates on just one end...?

Still gotta look into some more home exercises now my body's getting fitter and my back's better... windmills and side presses for eg.

Warmed up and cooled down with 25 mins light-heavy intensity bagwork. Starting with pyramid chain punching (I hate chain punching so I don't often do it and was using it as a warm-up...!) to sets of ten. Then turning one-twos WC stylee, then turning one-two-elbows (downwards and side) WC stylee, one-one-twos WC stylee with the third one being the biggy. Then boxing jabs (single) for position, more boxing jabs for speed and broken rhythm, double jabs, jab-straight, jab-jab-straight, jab-hook, jjh, j-j-h-backstepping s, jjsh, jjelbow (hook trajectory), jje (down), j/jj-hh/ee/eh etc. Happy with power, happy with speed, happy with stamina, happy with rhythm (none!), need some work on actual position but generally a good bag sesh.

[Mr Punch]

Today (Sunday), training partner probs so nearly couldn't meet and couple of injuries, plus fatigue thru lack of sleep in this weather, potential dehydration etc meant a rather cut-short training session but quite good.

Need to find somewhere with showers, or indoors so we can work on takedowns, maybe some groundwork, and kick without getting covered in sh!t! Not to mention the d@mn humidity and mozzies...!

Anyway, took our partner thru the rest of chum kiu. We took him through it quicker than would be ideal... usually I would get a student to learn a bit of the form, drill relevant apps and energies with set drills, and try and get him to work it into chi sao and sparring or live two-step sparring... but this guy's a false starter with quite a bit of experience but slack and often injured so he needs to get something new to kick him up the arse!

So today we did the last section which was interesting cos it meant that I learned a (mostly) new version too, from my senior training partner with a rather different lineage. We then drilled some bits from set shots (wanted to repeat with some random stuff but we had to call it a day); wrong bong to lop strike, wrong bong to kap jarn (?), lan sao to disrupt balance under the attacking arm and simultaneous strike. Practiced them with straight chun punch, straight boxing right and jab (boxing strikes working a bit - tho not enough - on continuing the attack anyway when the arm does not stay out).

Need to do more live stuff, even if it's just unset san sao and work on withdrawing the arm etc, but quite good 2+ hour session: good groundwork for one student and for us to work on something more realistic next time.

[Mr Punch]

Been away with work, active but not training.

Sun: 1.5 hrs training with partners.

LSJC rolling/changeovers.

Pulling and pushing in chi sao to maintain structure.

San sao with (mostly gan sao defence against) boxing jab-straight-hook/straight-hook.

Need to teach my partners how to hook properly before this becomes a useful exercise! Also need to work more on jamming footwork.

Last night (Mon): a little short of 2 hrs training.

Went over chum kiu with student again.

LSJC and changeovers again.

Pushing and pulling again (good basic exercise for balance, on/off energy - like setting up for the double leg, getting into clinch position, and the old receive what comes, escort what goes).

Too dark for safe san sao (in the park) so did slow careful chi sao, working esp on the jum-punch from the end of chum kiu, and a very brief look at the six basic chi sao exercises.

[Mr Punch]

Still can't go to the gym cos they're on holiday. Yes, here in Japan, not only do some gyms have one day off a week, but they also have holidays. :rolleyes:

So,

new warm-up:

10 push-ups
10 lunges,
10 lunges with 10 kgs,
10 squats,
10 squats with 20 kgs,
10 ab crunches from the back routine,
10 planks from same.

3x10 squats superset with 3x5x5 sec bird-dogs (from back routine)

3x8 push-ups (3-1-1, and that 3 hurts) superset with 3x15 sec side planks

3x15 crunches superset with 3x15 x2.5 kg inverse rows

3x8 hip extensions superset with 3x15 sec planks

That was a programme a friend gave to me. I added the lunges and the weighted squats to the warm-up, and since it already had the back-routine I do I thought I'd give it a go. Nothing was a problem except surprisingly the bird-dogs immediately after the squats and going slowly down with the push-ups which I found alarmingly hard.

Generally it was too easy to make a good work out, so I might use it as a warm-up if I use it at all.

Then went on to:

floor press: 1x15x2.5dbs, 1x12x3.75dbs, 1x10x5dbs
flies: same.
inverse tri curls: 1x10x2.5dbs, 1x10x4dbs, 1x5x5dbs
horizontal inverse tri curls: same.

Then 30 secs of 90% intensity bagwork, 1 min of 40%, repeated 6 times.

It's a hot day.

Fu tonight.

Need more weights, a second db, a bench and a bar!

[Mr Punch]

Wed night.

Fu.

Usual warm-ups... LSJC drill, pushing around,

lan sao and lan sao into elbow, counters: side-stepping, taking the knee etc.

Thu DBs at home:

Same warm-up but with 3x10x20 DLs instead of weighted squats.

Bicep curls can't remember the weight..., finished with 1x5x10 which hurt, and hammer curls finishing with 1x3x10 which hurt a lot.

Skullcrushers (started a policy of continuing with the same muscle group from the previous day if there's not much soreness) finishing 3x8x10.

Forearm curls and reverse forearms curls finishing 3x8x10.

Yesterday had a rest except for buying and walking home with another 20 kgs of plates and a new DB bar.

[Mr Punch]

Haven't posted on here for a while partly cos it takes a lot of time and partly because I don't even know if anybody reads it!

I was keeping it as a training diary but I can generally remember what I do so kind of stopped.

Anyway, had a couple of sessions doing the warm-ups above and that training programme (which is supoosed to be four weeks before you up the intensity) but a) some of it doesn't seem to make sense and b) the B programme involves some step exercises and I don't have a step or anything that is safe to improvise with really, some of its pairing of supersets don't seem to make sense and they have included something called a 'stick-up' which seems designed only for people who have zero shoulder movement (basically standing against a wall and raising your arms with no weights!)... I was wondering whether to go to the next level of the workout but my back was tweaking after the B programme so I may just skip the whole thing!

Anyway, did the A prog again with 3x15x40 squats and 3x15x40 dls too (all dbs of course) to break me back in to going and going for bw lifts when I get back to the gym next week.

Had some productive fu recently (seem to be able to train more with various people recently) including a couple of nice seshes working clinch, neck ties and answers to them, rolling elbows and short hooks on the inside, and the same over the outside, and using fuk sao for clinch positioning.

Yoga picnic tomorrow... too stiff so hope I don't fall apart or strain myself too much!

[Mr Punch]

Yoga picnic in the park.

Three hours of yoga including some pranayama.

Feel great, should do it more often.

[Mr Punch]

Been busy training mostly but thought I7d pop in with my now occasional blog...

Highlights and lowlights:

Rather ****ed off at my not being able to run any more. Used to be a good runner, but am not seeing any improvement despite having been running 5 km every couple of days. Would like to get it to every day but don't really have time. Would like to get back to 10 k under 40 mins, but currently running 5 at 24 or so that's not looking likely. :( Partly because of my hatred of the treadmill. It's so ****ing boring. The TVs in my gym are always playing ****ing golf. But even running outside isn't doing the job... although through being busy I've been running recently at stupid times like when there are loads of cars about (which ****s up my asthma), it's hot and humid, or the park is full of families cluttering up the paths! Also if I run with my running partner I can't go at full speed because he's a lot slower. Don't know if I'm just making excuses or what...!

Tried Tabata training the other day (was short of time) with unweighted squats and push-ups: very good. Will include it more regularly into my training.

Reached the limits of my 20 kg dbs with the big lifts: 40 kgs just isn't enough to even stress me on the dls, squats or presses. Of course still some work to do with bis and tris. When I'm at home, started on an all-over workout with the 40 kgs. It feels good, but want to get back to big, specific lifts.

Don't know what to do next. Have to quit the gym for various personal reasons, plus they don't have a free weight rack, only the Smith. Be using the gym until the end of Oct. So, I've got to buy more equipment. Want to continue with the dbs but should get a bar and a bench too, so money'll be a problem, esp as I should go for an Olympic bar for when I get to lift heavier.

Started incorporating pull-ups the other day. Did six which I was quite pleased with since it was the first time in a few years. Didn't fail but thought I'd quit while I was ahead. Felt good. Going to make it regular.

On another note, carried the shrine in a festival downtown yesterday. Recovery periods much quicker tho felt some pain in my knees. Great all over workout for strength and endurance: lifting a ton of gold and metal, chanting and dancing forward rhythmically for 10 hours! Really really feel it in my calves and quads today! Great workout if you can get hold of a shrine! :D The all-day drinking that accompanies it isn't even too hard since you're also drinking a gallon of water, constantly snacking on high-protein foods like sashimi and octopus and sweating it out in seconds!

[Mr Punch]

Oh yeah, also started kendo again. Had forgotten how tiring it was with all the springing and shouting.

Very good cardio it seems.

[SevenStar]

Haven't posted on here for a while partly cos it takes a lot of time and partly because I don't even know if anybody reads it!


We read blogs. However, perhaps you should start a new thread and indicate that it's a blog. For example, I never read this thread, so I didn't know it was a blog until today. Had I known, I would've checked it out a long time ago.


As for your initial question, my big 4 are

squats
cleans
bench press
deadlifts

I'd add other things like the farmer's walk or yoke carry, but you have to have special equipment to do those with heavy weight.

[Mr Punch]

Thanks for your two cents Seven.

I realize the thread title is useless, but I hadn't intended it as a blog at first. Unfortunately you can't change the thread title... and then some people came with some useful stuff (William's back exercises, all of Andrew's advice to a rehabbing noob) so I was loath to let it die and start a new one. May do, or I may just continue to post on it irregularly.

As for your big four that seems similar to a lot of people's. I do all of those regularly now except the clean. I don't know cos I've never tried it but it seems to me that it's a combination of the DL and squat: what does it add?

BTW, in addition to the weekend's notes: anybody who thinks the ninja walked around all the time in tabi and their uniforms (and I know some people still have this romantic notion! :D ) is in fantasy land. I carried that mikoshi (shrine) for nearly ten hours yesterday and I now have immense pus-swollen blisters on my next-to-big-toes, and the toes themselves are swollen. It makes it very difficult to any more training right now and I hope they heal soon!

I do need to do a lot of calf raises, and maybe running backwards and forwards up and down hills to improve my calves' endurance though I think!

[SevenStar]

cleans work like 10 or 12 major muscles in the body, as well as stabilizers. It enforces the body working as a single unit - "functional strength".

[AndrewS]

Seven,

I like cleans and worked on them a bit for a year and a half or so. Right now I'm playing with incorporating pulls back into my lifting regimen. I've heard a variety of arguments back and forth on the merits of full oly lifts vs. power oly lifts vs. pulls vs. dynamic box squats, and presently I'm thinking pulls may be the way to go for beginners and people trying to handle a lot of volume (i.e. people engaged in other athletic activities). They require less skill and are the first stage in many schemes for teaching the oly lifts, and you don't wind up with badly beaten up clavicles, wrists, and shoulders by doing them. The argument has been made that the duck under to catch is an important component of the full oly lifts for athletes, training the ability to reverse. If you believe that, snatch drops + pulls might be a better way to go for a year or so, then start messing with full snatches and cleans.

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

Thanks Seven.

And Andrew
snatch drops + pulls What are these things?

[AndrewS]

Snatch drops- put the bar on your back with hands at snatch grip width, jump so it goes no more than an inch or two up, and duck under the bar as fast as possible, so that you're rock bottom when the bar's weight settles.

Pulls- the explosive phase of the clean or snatch, done from the floor, below the knee, or above the knee, pulling to a set height, either leaving the arms locked and moving the weight just a little, or pulling high- up to chest level. They're executed by jumping with the weight explosively.

Andrew

[Mr Punch]

OK, thanks. Still not entirely sure about the pulls, but I'll give them a try.

Just started the next phase of the bodyweight programme which I do alternate days with the weights. It was interesting and quite hard. My kneesa re too shot to do pistols right now, but I'm hoping they'll strengthen up soon.

Weights tomorrow, but at home so all over programme with max of 40 kg dbs. Need to buy some more weights.

[_William_]

Regarding pistols: try doing stepups instead. I worked up to doing pistols while holding a heavy ass sandbag in front of me, and I can't say I got a **** thing out of doing them.

[David Jamieson]

Drink water before you sleep as well.

http://www.bigbackpain.com/back_pain_factors.html
http://www.spine-health.com/Topics/surg/recovery/advice03.html

And again in the morning.

Meditate with good posture with whatever time you can give to doing so.

[Mr Punch]

Regarding pistols: try doing stepups instead. I worked up to doing pistols while holding a heavy ass sandbag in front of me, and I can't say I got a **** thing out of doing them.OK. I do step-ups and just started with Bulgarian split squats, but can't seem to get back to pistols. May be fear.

Cheers DJ. I drink a lot of water at all times.