Mr Punch's Brand Spanking New Blog

[Mr Punch]

Got into training something every day... kind of by accident really.

Still doing the gym (still on FL2 from NROL - had a little over a week off with gastroenteritis) and loving it: making progress, even in the cursed chin-ups (which I added to the A workout to practice them for the B workout too!). By the time I hit the hypertrophy workouts at the end of next week I should be into some respectable weights (well BW anyway - not bad considering the damage I'd had to my body).

Finally got appt at the sports hospital this Saturday!

Started yoga - also going well: feel like superman after a session. Been doing it most days. Considering how picky everyone round here about lines of MA I'm ashamed to say it's bog-standard generic gym yoga, maybe hatha yoga based, and a general, non-level oriented class too. It's all I have time for right now and it's in my gym so I don't pay extra... but whatever, it does the job.

Neck still tweaking, esp when I'm at the ****ing computer too long, but generally much better.

Had a couple of great MA sessions: one WC sesh last week working on WC strength and energy drills solely; and one mixed sesh last Sun when I met a friend from another forum who practices koryu, and a load of other people, and we did core koryu strengthening exercises and some koryu jujutsu, and some chun. Great stuff.

[Mr Punch]

Got this from another forum:

1. Joint rotations
2. General warm-up
3. Dynamic stretching
4. Technical training
5. Speed training
6. Strength training
7. Endurance training
8. Isometric stretching
9. Relaxed stretching

It's exercise order, and is supposedly applicable to any programme: strength, flexibility, speed etc...

And this to back it up:

In the duration of a training cycle you should try to adhere to the following order of types of workouts:

1. Technical (learning or perfecting technique at medium intensity)
2. Technical (perfecting technique at submaximal and maximal intensity)
3. Speed
4. Speed-endurance (anaerobic endurance)
5. Strength with submaximal and maximal loads
6. Muscular endurance with medium and low loads
7. Muscular endurance with high and maximal intensity
8. Aerobic endurance with maximum intensity
9. Aerobic endurance with medium intensity

This was outlined by researcher N. G. Ozolin in a 1971 study. It is also supported by Thomas Kurz, the world's leading strength and flexibility coach.

Just thought I'd repost it here as it answers my questions earlier on this thread about exercise order, and seems useful but strangely, I'd never seen it before tho had seen many questions about exercise order before. Pretty useful if you design your own programmes.

Has anyone found anything that debunks this, or is it still accepted wisdom?

[Mr Punch]

OK, so in rehab: manipulation, massage, isometrics and other exercise once a week. It seems to be OK, but to be honest I think the yoga is doing me the power of good. It IS hatha yoga, which I hadn't done since I dabbled in my early twenties.

Found out hatha comes from:

ha - yang, male, sun
tha - yin, female, moon,

which together means 'forceful'... which explains why it's so frigging hard!

Still going with the weights but try as I might my schedule is only allowing twice a week right now: want to get back up to three. Thinking of looking for a local weight training partner: the programme I'm on now has 30 sec breaks and I can't change up the weights I need to in 30 secs with the set-up at the gym, and especially if there's anyone else there.

Starting my first ever hypertrophy programme next week: not really my thing but pretty excited about it... partly cos my current programme is a bit boring.

Still getting (sometimes quite a lot of) pain from my neck, but generally feeling very very strong and fit. And the other day, while in the midst of DOMS from weights and probably compounded by a hard yoga session, I cycled my usual 10.5 min (going fast - it's 4 km or so) route in an astonishing 8.5 mins, with no problem!

[Mr Punch]

Lent training log

25th: Seated yoga set. About 45 mins. Good. Worked well.

26th: Kurz leg raises. Aunkai leg raises, stationary and moving. Manji stepping. Sumo stamping. Altogether, about 25 mins. Plenty hard enough. Evening yoga sectional breathing exercises and eye exercises (partial set)

27th: Gym: Fat Loss 2 + 8 x chin ups. Small milestone: from a puny 2-3 chins when I started about 6 wks ago I’ve now reached the heady heights of 8 which is how many I’m supposed to be doing. Well, actually, this programme calls for 3 x 8 but you can’t have everything! Evening: 1 hr neck rehab yoga set, except some of the end breathing exercises and AUM/OM meditation (did sectional breathing). Full eye set.

28th: Lots of booze through an unavoidable social situation (amazing place, mind, 350 year-old village headman’s housing complex with waterwheels and a well and whatnot converted into a delicious kaiseki (small dishes, multi-course) restaurant); then ironically, lots more booze with my kung fu bros. Did manage to get a little stretching in in the morning, and about ten mins of demoing various fu concepts with my bro (strangely before we got too drunk!). Was going to train when I got home (planned it all on the 45 min trip) but crashed completely.

1st Mar: also a write-off, but I did get a lot of exercise! My wife’s computer finally died (she needs one for her design work), so we had to go and buy a new one. Well, we also took my daughter into Tokyo for an art exhibition, an epic adventure with a 12 kg very active nearly two year-old and always a good workout with sudden dives and squirms and angles coming from everywhere… then bought the new computer, which weighed 16 kg and the box was the size to ensure that I had to carry it in one hand with my arm out. I could feel the year of pain and the two months of physio in my neck slowly getting torn apart, but altogether, the active moving around time with said bulky 16 kg was about 45 mins. A good workout, but very very painful and essentially prevented me from doing anything active when I got back. Did, of course, do some shoulder, neck and upper back focused yoga but passed up on the full course I do for fear of further damage. Then, unfortunately had to work in front of the computer till the not-so-early hours of the morning. Impressed at the healing rate of my problem though… obviously getting much better.

2nd: Fat Loss 2 last workout! And another small milestone: first time hitting BW in anything (deads for 5) unassisted (have hit 92 kgs squat on Smith before). That was my aim for going into the first hypertrophy programme. Finally feel like I’m a novice weightlifter!

3rd: aching from yesterday so don’t want to push it and mess up the gain… kung fu + Aunkai footwork drills; the WC forms; seated and eye yoga sets. Bit disappointed haven’t been able to score any partnered fu work for ages.

[WinterPalm]

For your pain, check out Steve Maxwell's Joint Mobility Encyclopedia...it's gold and has helped me in several ways. There's a 20min neck mobility and loosening section among others.

[Mr Punch]

Thank you sir, I'll check that out.

[Mr Punch]

4th: still in a bit of pain from various things… maybe the yoga was pushing it yesterday. Still not sure of the relationships between recovery and stretching. Anyway, tried Thomas Kurz’s warm-up stretching routine today. It seems good and seemed to iron out a few little aches and pains. Added wing chun stepping drills of many kinds to that, plus the forms. Workout got interrupted (that’s what comes of doing it at work I guess). Really tried to squeeze another one in in the evening but didn’t have time and couldn’t make it, partly because I’d had to cycle a ‘new’ bike for over an hour in the pouring rain with a small frame and the top gears broken so I only had the soft ones which you have to pedal for dear life just to get going.

5th: Another milestone that would seem to be imperceptible to others – for the first time since about six years ago when I moved in with my then GF (now wife) I planned to get up earlier than usual and do some morning training, and DID IT! Just did 30 mins of Kurz’s warm-ups and some stretches: didn’t actually have time to do anything else but that was great.

Evening, last thing (I’d missed my chance to go to the gym helping my daughter out), the same stretch warm-up, three careful versions of the Sun Salutation (wanted to try two new ones: a bit more strenuous than usual), and Aunkai’s Tenchijin set. 30 mins.

6th: Morning training again: 30 mins Kurz warm-ups; SLT; Sun Salutation five times various versions. Lots of picking up and swinging round 1st and 2nd grade kids at work, sometimes several at a time! No way to make time in the evening.

7th: Morning Kurz. Midday - Hypertrophy 1A. DB incline bench, cable seated rows, wide grip lat pull-downs, DB presses, close grip BB bench, high pulls, all alternating 5 x 5 sets. Supposed to do 3 x 15 ball crunches at the end, but couldn’t be arsed: did chins and one set of crunches. High pulls were my first time: it’s hard so far… reckon I’m going to feel it tomorrow.

8th: Morning – very short Kurz. Had no sleep because of sick daughter, so really had no chance to recuperate as much as I should have after yesterday’s lifting. Had intended to lift (lower body split) this morning before yoga, but couldn’t possibly do it because of lack of sleep and of course, still looking after my daughter (and wife!). At least made it to the gym for an hour of yoga. Not as stiff as I expected to be after yesterday.

9th: Morning – Kurz and a rather uninspiring morning yoga set I found on youtube (added a couple of Sun Salutations). Early evening: gym for the lower body half of Hypertrophy 1B. Squats AND deads, plus Bulgarian split squats and step-ups, 4 x 10. Minor milestones on the way: 5 x 80 kg (my own bodyweight) squat – first time I’ve ever squatted my bodyweight without the use of machines. Re-read the programme: shouldn’t have been deads, but deads WITH shrugs… which would have seriously reduced the amount I should’ve been shifting. [/shrugs]

10th: was expecting some serious ache from yesterday but nothing. Morning - Kurz set. Daytime fu forms. Evening fu session: nearly two hours of mostly chi sao. Not that big on chi sao but it was the first time in a while and my fu-bro from another line was there with one of his students so we got some nice perspectives, plus my bro from Aunkai, my old koryu-based internal school which is always cool, and even did a bit of Systema with him too (one of the few really really useful drills from the system).

11th: Oh so that’s where the other days DOMS went! Gaaaargh. Walking like a dude who’s been riding a horse for three whole Westerns, with a huge ***** for a saddle! Er, anyway, brutalized my way through Kurz and McGill’s lower back therapy stretches. Fu forms.

12th: Kurz morning. Evening; 10 mins of eye yoga, and 10 mins of breathing exercises. Bit of a failure - busy day.

13th: Total failure! Daytime chucked loads of little kids about if that counts (in class). Tired, and busy all day with back to primary school classes, then a contract meeting, then a private class with a party after. Got home at gone midnight.

14th: Kurz morning. Minor fu through the day.

15th: Kurz morning, followed closely by 45 mins heavy lifting (lower body split: upped PR again: 5x85 kg squat and dead) then an hour of yoga for a warm down.

[Mr Punch]

Haven’t been writing my lent training blog down, so can’t remember, but basically trained every day.

Highlights and lowlights: now squatting and deading my own BW plus 5 kg for 10. Gonna push for the 100 kg landmark for 5 next 5x5 session.

Discovered (rediscovered? – sometimes I forget that I got into this lark for rehabbing injury and higher reps don’t suit my conditions) that I should basically subtract 20 kg or more from the highest weight I’m lifting for 5x5 for 3x15.

20th: went to Aunkai seminar: review here. Three hours of bodyweight exercises that work you as much as weightlifting, plus resistant partner drills. Excellent stuff: had forgotten how good it is. Downsides: the traditional (read ‘bull****’ and ‘dangerous’) ‘warm-up’ (did remember this beforehand so fortunately went in time to do some real warm-ups first), and essentially doing three hours of very heavy body work when certainly for regular humans and more so for people undergoing physio, 45 mins of weightlifting is about the limit before the cortisol will start eating your own body alive, causing more stress to your joints and overall detriment to your muscles and nervous system. Did manage to grab a quick fix of carbs and protein halfway through.

Knee, which had twanged ever so slightly in previous lower body weight set, felt a little iffy. This has continued since. Unfortunately means I have had to lay off those exercises since so can’t really consolidate what I had reviewed. Might have to lay off lower body weight split too for a week or so (did it yesterday but… not so good a session), which is going to mess with my weights routine. Can’t be helped. Really working the yoga strengthening exercises and Kurz routine to alleviate the stress on the knee and improve general leg health.

[dnovice]

Haven’t been writing my lent training blog down, so can’t remember, but basically trained every day..

Good stuff man. I've been practicing everyday except sunday myself. This morning was particularly hard. I almost didn't do it. But then i forced myself to.

Highlights and lowlights: now squatting and deading my own BW plus 5 kg for 10. Gonna push for the 100 kg landmark for 5 next 5x5 session.

props to you man. I don't use weights. I just do many reps of pushups and two sets in total. Then some crunches... However, I play soccer once a week in this amateur league so that handles my stamina. Lol. I'm still sore from saturdays game.

Discovered (rediscovered? – sometimes I forget that I got into this lark for rehabbing injury and higher reps don’t suit my conditions) that I should basically subtract 20 kg or more from the highest weight I’m lifting for 5x5 for 3x15.

About your injuries, I've read that you injured your lower back. Have you tried minor back exercises to strengthen your back muscles, to hold your discs in place better. I once tore a tendon in my shoulder and had to do a lot of shoulder excercises to strengthen my shoulder to make up for the tear.


Keep up the good work.

cheers.

[Mr Punch]

Thanks for the post.

props to you man. I don't use weights. I just do many reps of pushups and two sets in total.

I'm still very much a novice, but I'm hooked. It's so easy to measure progress, unlike non-competitive MA.

Good work on your daily exercise... but maybe you should try changing it around a bit...?

About your injuries, I've read that you injured your lower back. Have you tried minor back exercises to strengthen your back muscles, to hold your discs in place better. I once tore a tendon in my shoulder and had to do a lot of shoulder excercises to strengthen my shoulder to make up for the tear.

The lower back goes from time to time but my recovery rate is good and I do a lot of preventative exercises for it: you can find links to Dr Stuart McGill's earlier in the thread. I'm getting rehab for an upper back/neck problem (a bunch of torn muscles), and yes I do a whole lot of stuff for that: exercises from the physio, weights (sanctioned by the physio), Thomas Kurz's general flexibility exercises and yoga.

[dnovice]

Thanks for the post.

Good work on your daily exercise... but maybe you should try changing it around a bit...?

Thx. For now, I do the same warm up -pushups with some upper ab and lower ab crunches all the time. The only thing that I change are the quantity and the number of sets, ie. when I get used to the amount i am doing i increase the reps. I'm currently doing about 320 reps (no break) a set. In a month or so, I'll increase that again to maybe 400.

I can do these exercises anywhere thats why i like them. This way i can be consistent in my practice...

[Mr Punch]

Fair play, that's some serious reppage!

[Mr Punch]

Got overconfident in my shoulder's progress and tried to do the deadlift shrug instead of just the deads I'd been doing in my lower body workout (the programme calls for deadlift shrugs but I'd never done them because of my problem). Good idea, but studidly did it with 90 kgs for 5. Made it. Then shoulder went so rested it for a month.

Have been doing yoga every day before breakfast so continued with that, specifically this one among others and as well as doing it with my teacher.

Got in a good wing chun leg training day the other day, and have been doing various chun and kubujutsu core stance work.

Started back at the gym yesterday: upper routine. Went well. Had done a bit of research on bench form so put that into practice, and although my shoulder problems are not related, it felt good.

Also added the first day of this shoulder rehab workout with this warm-up. Again, these are for rotator cuff problems mainly but there's enough tie-in with my physio's exercises to make it worthwhile.

[Mr Punch]

It's now about a year since I started in the gym.

I've had one period of three and a half weeks, one two of two weeks off with the shoulder injury relapsing.

I trained something pretty much every day over Lent, and was in the gym for weights, yoga and hot yoga every day without fail for half of July, and the whole of August. I'm am starting to outgrow a lot of my clothes, and people are telling me I'm noticeably bigger (I was always skin and bone so this isn't so difficult to spot!). My neck was without a twinge for most of July and all of August (corresponding to work slackening off and a lot of gym time).

My gains

The first figure is roughly a year ago... well actually the real figures would be lower but I don't have that first record sheet with me. The * denotes the estimated one-rep max where I don't have one, from the Exrx site. I can't do Squats, Overhead Presses etc to failure for obvious reasons. All figures are in kg of course.

Squat:
72
94x4=104*

Dead:
73
115x2=118*

Shoulder press:
32x8=40*
45.7x6=53*

Bench:
36x5=41*
65x3=69*

Chin-ups:
3
25

My shoudler press and bench press are my slowest gains, but the shoulder press doesn't do my injury any favours so I don't ever push it.

Considering how injured I was (and the latest relapse only got better last weekend) I'm quite pleased, but there's still a lot of work. My deads are the most disappointing to me, and kind of point to a weakness in my back, especially upper, which would fit in with the injury.

The injury still tweaks a lot, but gets better really quickly, and everything I do is easier from a strength/energy/not getting tired point of view.

Work in progress. Thanks to everybody who's helped me on the board.

[Mr Punch]

Dead:
73
115x2=118*

BWUhahahhahahhahahahhahaahhahahahhaahh!

Just pulled 118.2 for 3: lost form a little on the last one... and just before 115 for 3 with perfect form. Eating more carbs on training day makes the difference I reckon.