Mr Punch's Brand Spanking New Blog

[Mr Punch]

...

Of course, they’re not my ideas: I have the basis of some of this stuff from wing chun, and some more from kobujutsu internals. These were taught to me in Japanese, a fairly ambiguous language in many cases so sometimes I have to have some relatively large leaps to translate it into coherent scientific English, and though my teacher likes scientific explanations, he isn’t a scientist! And although I only have the very smallest understanding of the kobujutsu, it is already helping and perfectly complementary to my fu and MA in general (I should say, although because of my injuries I haven’t been training full contact for a couple of years, I had already started to try out the kobujutsu internals in that setting and had reasonable results. I’m convinced I’m going to be better when I go back to it as a result of the core conditioning I’ve been doing).

In case anyone’s interested, I’m still not actually training at the kobujutsu school, and am training (almost) solely solo exercises. I do want to go back.

Also for the record, although I don’t believe there is any chi related work in wing chun, there is work on ‘internals’, i.e. slow moving/totally isometric stance work, which on the face of it is hard to see, and to explain, but that makes a difference. I do not have access to a sifu so I cannot progress any further in pure wing chun internals, but the crossover from kobujutsu is too great to ignore. To me, the internals are just another way of connecting with your kinetic chain, and a good complement to weightlifting and regular MA training.
...

[Mr Punch]

...So, for the record, what I’m actually doing now is

Gym for weights 3 times a week
MA (wing chun: no full contact sparring and unfortunately no groundwork, but plenty of live resistance training. As the group is an informal but experienced circle we do work with and against various other arts’ techs and principles too) one or twice a fortnight.
‘Internals’ (wing chun, kobujutsu based exercises, mostly solo but sometimes with partners; and various other non-resistant specifically MA related endurance or strength training)… about every other day.

This is actually going somewhere... back later!

Of course, anyone any comments, please feel free!

[Mr Punch]

1) Weightlifting: As I’ve mentioned in passing before, the whole body connectivity in weightlifting is tremendous...

2) Biu jee: Never a big fan of form for form’s sake, but practicing the actions from the forms in chi sao, light sparring and against all kinds of progressive resistance is helping me right now where I am in my training.

3) Internals: ...I mean simply isometrics and (mostly) slow moving stance training. I’m starting to understand how to put it into practice more, and am finally getting a little better at putting my ideas into scientific explanations.

BTW, if anyone is interested in the whys and wherefores of any of this training, what exactly I'm noticing, and how I arrive at my conclusions, please ask.

It's all quite long and complicated so I don't want to just start on about it if there's no interest.

[Mr Punch]

Typical solo internals, isometrics and bodyweight session:

Warm-up:

BW squats: full-on ATG 3rd world squats, concentrating on putting weight back on heels (I actually wriggle my toes to make sure that I'm getting this), keeping the shoulder blades pulled together, keeping an arch in my back, keeping my knees rounded out in the same direction as my feet, holding for 8 secs at the bottom, and pushing my hips out on rising. I vary the speed. If you focus on all of those things, this is an excellent BW warm-up that is still quite taxing.

T-push ups

Walking lunges with variations.

Ball crunches, sometimes with weights. What can I say? I like crunching my balls!

This warm-up hits everything. I vary the numbers, speed and intensity. Unfortunately I don't have any pull exercises for them except the crunches. My neck can't take pull-ups yet (though it's getting better) and I have nowhere to do them except the gym - this workout I do at home.

The meat

Turning drills from Chum Kiu, keeping weight back, kicking with front foot.

Walking drills with various chun stances... concentrating on really rooting but floating, by dragging my foot hard on the floor slowly and releasing the pressure and changing direction/stance rapidly.

Shiko (sumo stamping drill)

'Upper-cross' training: leg raises while moving forward, concentrating on keeping hips stable, upper body stationary and pull between shoulder blades.

Manji walking (shintaijiku): very basically walking alternate steps from low horse to legs together to low horse... again really pulling the feet along the floor.

Shiko (aiki-based knee walking): same emphasis on shoulder blades, driving hips through.

Wing chun pole horse stepping punching drills

WCP horse stepping drills with weighted pole

WCP thrusting drill just sinking into horse and thrusting, concentrating as much as possible on jing.

WCP figure 7 pole drill, as above.

WCP wringing drill with weighted pole (neutral stance, relaxing shoulder as much as possible - killer on forearms)

WCP punching drill with weighted pole (stationary horse stance)

Some section from a WC form for jing or for concentration on slow dynamic tension.

Variations on upper cross leg swings to loosen up and warm down.

Tabata push-ups/crunches/pole exercises or something to finish with a burn.

Round-up

Some of the above routine I do on the bag sometimes, some with weights, but basically it's core training: tanren kunren ('forging drills') and near isometrically slow BW stuff.

Altogether this makes a very very demanding routine.

I'll be back with more typical partnered fu sessions, and more detail on my current weights programme, and a load of questions later.

[Mr Punch]

How do you keep an idiot in suspense...?


Daughter's in hospital...

more detail on the training when she's better.

[Mr Punch]

Haven't trained properly in over a week as I said.

Hopefully back to it tonight.

My weights routine is the false beginner's routine from Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove's book 'New Rules for Lifting'. It's a great book for beginners or advanced level lifters with all the latest round-ups of the latest tests and studies into lifting, various other exercise science and nutrition (though the nutrition section isn't that great). It teaches you how to design your own programmes, but at the moment I'm doing one of their ready-mades because it makes sense, it seems right for what I want (except for a little too much emphasis on hypertrophy and endurance -15 rep routines - at various stages) and because I want to get to know the workings of a programme before I design my own, and this one gives me a year of exercises.

My goal is basically strength. This programme also involves metabolism speeding 'fat-loss' routines and hypertrophy.

I finished the break-in programme of one month of 2x15 supersets based on deads one session and squats the next, twice a week. Now I'm on a fat-loss programme which is supersets working unrelated muscle groups (for the added element of surprise to prevent adaptation) of 3 x 15 with 75 secs rest three times a week for two weeks. It'll then change to 3 x 12 with 60 secs, and then 3 x 8 with 45.

Here are some questions:

1) If I can't finish the required number of reps I've been changing down ASAP and finishing the number with a lower weight to go out on a high note. Is this a good idea?

2) I can usually finish the reps with the weights I've chosen (though of course, sometimes it's struggle), but then I find 75 secs too short to recover so I'm not so strict in keeping to the recovery period. Is this bad? Should I choose slightly lighter weights so I can stick to the timing, should I just fight through it even if it means not being able to complete the final set, or am I OK in extending the rest period by 10-20 secs?

3) When should I do yoga (I'm pretty much a newb at that too)? I guess that elongating muscles to that extent is bad just before weights. What about a day before (training weights three times a week I only get alternate days rest)? What about immediately after (i.e. will that kind of stretching hamper my muscle recovery?)?

4) When should I do isometrics (and slow sloooow stance work)? As mentioned above the stance work I do is a hard workout in itself. It's a form of endurance. According to studies cited by Cosgrove and Schuler, aerobic endurance work interferes with weights for strength: if you do alternate days the gains are in endurance to the detriment of strength, so you should do it together with your weights, or after and before a full day's rest. So what about anaerobic endurance?

The usual wild guesses/educated answers welcome!

[Mr Punch]

Well, those questions sank like a friggin stone!

Och well.

Today, went back to the gym for the first time since my daughter got sick two weeks ago.

Cycled to the gym.

Warm-up:
20 walking twisting lunges
20 T-push-ups
20 side lunges
20 ball crunches
3 inchworms
20 Russian twists on the ball
20 kg x 5 seated good morning + box squats + overhead presses with no rest.

Squat
50 x 15
55 x 15
60 x 7 (fail)
55 x 8

SS (75 secs rest) with DB push press
10 (each hand) x 15
12 x 15
14 x 15

Cable seated row
37.5 x 15
42.5 x 15
47.5 x 15

SS (75 secs) with Supine hip extension
10 x 15
12 x 15
14 x 15

Walking twisting lunge
14 x 30
16 x 30
18 x 30

SS (75 secs) with Weighted crunches
12 x 15
14 x 15
16 x 15

Couple of stretches, lunges, 20 kg presses for a warm-down.

Cycle home quickly.

SLT
CK
BJ

First time in a long time for the forms. Don't do them too often, just occasionally to keep my eye in. This time particularly wanted to concentrate on body unity, esp in turning, whilst fatigued from the weights.

The weights are still relatively light, as I'm still a noob. But, you know, finally worked through the advice you guys gave me on this thread/board and the Cosgrove book... going well, and fixing my injuries, what's more. Shifted over 7.5 tons in just under an hour FWIW.

Actually spent much over three hours carrying a huge 20 kg rucksack with groceries and my daughter (about 11 kg if you're interested!) walking and cycling, which kind of wiped me out before my workout.

Good day.

Tomorrow, my fu bros have ****ing cancelled again, so it's no fu for the fourth week or so: might try out my gym's new capoeira class, just for the hell of it. Got a 1 km charity run in the morning too.

[Mr Punch]

These are from my blog thread... which unfortunately nobody answered!

Thought I'd post them separately and add one...

1) If I can't finish the required number of reps I've been changing down ASAP and finishing the number with a lower weight to go out on a high note. Is this a good idea?

2) I can usually finish the reps with the weights I've chosen (though of course, sometimes it's struggle), but then I find 75 secs too short to recover so I'm not so strict in keeping to the recovery period. Is this bad? Should I choose slightly lighter weights so I can stick to the timing, should I just fight through it even if it means not being able to complete the final set, or am I OK in extending the rest period by 10-20 secs?

3) When should I do yoga (I'm pretty much a newb at that too)? I guess that elongating muscles to that extent is bad just before weights. What about a day before (training weights three times a week I only get alternate days rest)? What about immediately after (i.e. will that kind of stretching hamper my muscle recovery?)?

4) When should I do isometrics (and slow sloooow stance work)? As mentioned above the stance work I do is a hard workout in itself. It's a form of endurance. According to studies cited by Cosgrove and Schuler, aerobic endurance work interferes with weights for strength: if you do alternate days the gains are in endurance to the detriment of strength, so you should do it together with your weights, or after and before a full day's rest. So what about anaerobic endurance?

The usual wild guesses/educated answers welcome!

The Bonus Question:

5) Sometimes I only get to train after say, 9:30 at night. If I follow John Berardi's diet guidelines, and those of various others, I should be eating a certain amount of carbs and protein every two hours at least three times to aid recovery/growth (the amount according to various calculations I've come across for my bodyweight of 82 kg is 68 g of carbs and 36 g of protein). If I train late at night I find:

a) I get really drained the next day... basically have to eat and sleep a lot. And/or

b) I get the gippy guts! I guess my body can't take that much protein! (Though this is only if I train late at night and try to squeeze in more nutrients than I would normally).

Anybody any advice for good ways of getting the right balance of nutrients if I train late at night... I dunno, slow release carbs/proteins...? Is it something that gets better as my body adapts more to this kind of heavy training? I don't want to have to give up training late because with my life it's the only time I have sometimes, but I can't help but feel that my training goes to waste if I don't eat right afterwards and feel washed out the next day.

Answers here, or preferably on my training log thread. Thanks in advance.

[Mr Punch]

Nobody know?

Questions too daft?

Or are you all busy researching?!

[uki]

i think you need to discover your own needs based on your own body... i can't believe you haven't figured this out yet...

[Mr Punch]

I know that much Einstein.

Thanks, but no thanks, we already have the wheel.

1) It feels good, which is why I do it.
2) Obviously, by listening to my body I can do either... I'd like advice on which to do, which obviously you don't have.
3) This is something researchers have found to have long term effects. I don't want to get five years down the line and then go, 'Oh, ****, yeah, that was the wrong way to do it!' when I can't get out of my chair.
4) See 2
5) I know a fair bit about nutrition, and I go with my body on most of it. In this case the advice I'm following isn't serving me well, and I don't know what to do, so I'm after some nutrition advice.

6) I can't believe I'm so bored I actually answered you seriously.
7) Believe it or not, some people know useful things better than you. That's why I'm asking. It's part of my inner nature to not be so proud as to not accept or seek help. Does that satisfy your holistic integrity?

[Oso]

are you trying to eat that much protein at each meal?

probably the meal i'd guess.

are you just doing 3 meals or 5 or 6? if you split to 5 or 6 you can drop the total per meal and that last meal will only be 40/20 grams each or so

i believe cassien is sometimes indicated for the late day protein intake because it is absorbed slower....????

[Toby]

1) If I can't finish the required number of reps I've been changing down ASAP and finishing the number with a lower weight to go out on a high note. Is this a good idea?

I rarely train to failure but it's part of a lot of established training methods. I find it increases DOMS for me, so if I were to unload a few plates and finish off the set I'd pay for it the next day. I reckon you get better (strength) gains from periodisation than from training to failure every time, so maybe look into changing up your routine if you're failing too often?

2) I can usually finish the reps with the weights I've chosen (though of course, sometimes it's struggle), but then I find 75 secs too short to recover so I'm not so strict in keeping to the recovery period. Is this bad? Should I choose slightly lighter weights so I can stick to the timing, should I just fight through it even if it means not being able to complete the final set, or am I OK in extending the rest period by 10-20 secs?

I'm sure it's not a big problem. My rest periods stretch out to 30min+ sometimes but then I'm training strength and IMHO the rest periods aren't as critical (i.e. it's better to be fresh for each set than pushing the limit of fatigue for strength training).

3) When should I do yoga (I'm pretty much a newb at that too)? I guess that elongating muscles to that extent is bad just before weights. What about a day before (training weights three times a week I only get alternate days rest)? What about immediately after (i.e. will that kind of stretching hamper my muscle recovery?)?

I'd definitely do it after vs. before. And ideally I'd like to lift in the morning, recover all day, then do yoga at night so you'd get some time to repair your muscles before stretching them to buggery, then a day and a half to recover before lifting again. But it depends on which is more important (I'm biasing towards the lifting).

4) When should I do isometrics (and slow sloooow stance work)? As mentioned above the stance work I do is a hard workout in itself. It's a form of endurance. According to studies cited by Cosgrove and Schuler, aerobic endurance work interferes with weights for strength: if you do alternate days the gains are in endurance to the detriment of strength, so you should do it together with your weights, or after and before a full day's rest. So what about anaerobic endurance?

Same thing for me, I lift in the mornings and do MA in the evenings which maximises my rest intervals.

5) Sometimes I only get to train after say, 9:30 at night. If I follow John Berardi's diet guidelines, and those of various others, I should be eating a certain amount of carbs and protein every two hours at least three times to aid recovery/growth (the amount according to various calculations I've come across for my bodyweight of 82 kg is 68 g of carbs and 36 g of protein). If I train late at night I find:

a) I get really drained the next day... basically have to eat and sleep a lot. And/or

b) I get the gippy guts! I guess my body can't take that much protein! (Though this is only if I train late at night and try to squeeze in more nutrients than I would normally).

Anybody any advice for good ways of getting the right balance of nutrients if I train late at night... I dunno, slow release carbs/proteins...? Is it something that gets better as my body adapts more to this kind of heavy training? I don't want to have to give up training late because with my life it's the only time I have sometimes, but I can't help but feel that my training goes to waste if I don't eat right afterwards and feel washed out the next day.

I don't ever get the "gippy guts". In fact, I shit rocks on protein. But I mix my proteins with whey and, like you said, slow-release calcium caseinate. The whey mixes with a spoon, the caseinate gums up and requires a minute or two with my Bamix. You can just tell it's doing the same thing inside your gut, and that's why it takes so long to digest (like overnight, great for muscle recovery after a workout). I mix about 30g protein with Milo and about 500ml milk so that's borderline on usable protein in one serve and I get carbs from the Milo and milk.

IIRC the usual formula for protein requirements is 2g protein/kg bodyweight/day, so for you it's ~165g. That's for someone pushing things (i.e. lifting, damaging and repairing muscle). Much more than that is wasted down the toilet and places load on your kidneys. Bear in mind you'll get a significant amount from everyday diet (so eat your enagi). Maybe not so much in Japan as in a western diet.

The usual wild guesses/educated answers welcome!

Wild guesses and opinions only on my part.

[Toby]

i believe cassien is sometimes indicated for the late day protein intake because it is absorbed slower....????

Oso beat me while I was doing my long-arse reply.

are you just doing 3 meals or 5 or 6? if you split to 5 or 6 you can drop the total per meal and that last meal will only be 40/20 grams each or so

Yeah, I forget the formula but for my ~90kg I work on only about 40g being absorbable (inventing new words?) in one go. So that's a litre of quality milk and on busy days I'll drink 3L+. I drink too much milk, usually 2L+ every day. I don't mind going over the 40g/serve limit to saturate my system but I know that e.g. if I ingested 100g most of it would be gone and it'd be wasted $$ and sore kidneys.

One more comment, I'm sure you already know this but for the sake of other readers - I view carbs as fuel for the muscles and protein as first aid. For the type of lifting workout I do I don't burn appreciable carbs so I can pretty much ignore having to refuel. I do however stress/tear muscle so I need to focus on the protein. Then for other training sessions where I do MA or HIIT I need to focus more on carbs and e.g. I won't have a protein shake after those sessions but I will gorge myself on a quality meal and then a bunch of bad-for-me crap.

[Mr Punch]

I rarely train to failure but it's part of a lot of established training methods. I find it increases DOMS for me, so if I were to unload a few plates and finish off the set I'd pay for it the next day. I reckon you get better (strength) gains from periodisation than from training to failure every time, so maybe look into changing up your routine if you're failing too often?

It depends. With benches/OPs it's to failure. With deads/squats more often or not it's not to failure as in I can't pick it up again, but I get dizzy and since I don't have a spotter and I don't want to eat 70 or so kg of iron I usually drop-set after two or three reps of dizziness. I am improving (lifting more for less sweat!) every session however, so I don't think I need to change down yet. The periodization is well-planned on the programme I'm following.

I'm sure it's not a big problem. My rest periods stretch out to 30min+ sometimes

LOL, funny you should say that - I got friggin god-squadded in the middle of my last session and took 40 mins longer than usual trying to avoid him!

(i.e. it's better to be fresh for each set than pushing the limit of fatigue for strength training).

hat's probably good advice for me too... it's a fat-loss workout but it's more for breaking me into the exercises since I don't really need to lose any fat.

I'd definitely do it after vs. before. And ideally I'd like to lift in the morning, recover all day, then do yoga at night so you'd get some time to repair your muscles before stretching them to buggery, then a day and a half to recover before lifting again. But it depends on which is more important (I'm biasing towards the lifting).

Seems to make sense, thanks.

Same thing for me, I lift in the mornings and do MA in the evenings which maximises my rest intervals.

But the isometrics are anaerobic endurance more so than MA training I'd've thought... so a different thing to kicking/punching. (Of course I do that too, but TBH at the intensity I'm doing it at now it doesn't really tax me at all!)

BTW, I can't lift in the mornings: my gym opens at 8, I work from 8:15!

IIRC the usual formula for protein requirements is 2g protein/kg bodyweight/day, so for you it's ~165g. That's for someone pushing things (i.e. lifting, damaging and repairing muscle). Much more than that is wasted down the toilet and places load on your kidneys. Bear in mind you'll get a significant amount from everyday diet (so eat your enagi). Maybe not so much in Japan as in a western diet.

Hmmm, dunno. John Berardi, who seems to make sense on nutrition recommends more for recovery.

According to him (if you don't know him, check his recovery diet article on his website) and the Cosgrove/Schuler book I'm needing a hefty whack of protein (plus carbs to up the insulin required to get it to my muscles) every two hours after a workout at least three times (which already causes problems in night-time training right?!) to prevent the cortisol from eating my muscles. The whack size is ... yep, you got it the numbers I quoted above. I'm 82 kg and on average on a training day I eat about 300 g of protein from a variety of sources: beans in cooking/salads, tofu, natto; lots of fresh, dried and canned fish, mostly oily fish grilled, or raw fish like sashimi; eggs, raw/fried/sometimes boiled; and bog-standard Weider whey protein (which is 15 g of protein per scoop, plus 6 g from the milk I mix it with, so if I'm just using that for recovery I'll have two scoops coming in at exactly 36 g). On a non-training day it's about 200 I would think.
Maybe it's excessive.

I also often choose fruit for the fast absorbing carbs for recovery (pectin is said to be good, right?) so maybe the combo of Weider protein and fruit is causing the... chi...

(And to Oso too) I'm eating maybe 5-8 meals, but each one's pretty small. On training days I eat that Berardi formula three times (so every two hours) after the workout, but drop off from that much protein otherwise.