Mr Punch's Brand Spanking New Blog

[stricker]

i dont know how strong you are but even with just one dumbell up to 20kgs you might want to try overhead dumbell squats, waiters walks, push press/jerks, bent over rows (balance the shoulder muslces). be careful with anything overhead though, theres raging debate about it with very good arguments for and against...

another good one (stolen off AndrewS) is if youve got a stability ball use that as a bench and do single arm db bench press, hits core strength a lot. be careful you dont smash ya face in tho

also all the usual shoulder stuff like front and lateral raises, L-lateral raises, 3 point raises etc db swings are really good but be careful of weights flying off etc... a good place to check for pure dumbell exercises would be ross enamait's site, cant remember the link right now but i think its rossboxing.com or warrior something.

[AndrewS]

Hmmm,

Let's see-

Single or double

For explosiveness and speed-strength-endurance
DB clean and jerk
DB swing
DB snatch
DB push-press

General goodness
DB OH squat
DB front squat

For strength, particularly the last two- Step ups and bulgarians are a substantial load even with bodyweight, add some iron and they get challenging fast. If I remember correctly, the guy who started using stepup instead of squats with his lifters (Soviet coach) was getting 600+lb squats out of people doing high stepups with 250-300lbs.

DB lunge
DB step up
DB bulgarian squat

For fun,

Windmills
bent presses
turkish getups

Hope this helps,

Andrew

P.S. Seated db power cleans- good for the upper back

[Mr Punch]

Cheers sirs,

some good tips I'll take you up on.

Coincidentally, before I read your posts I'd just looked up windmills, Turkish get-ups and side presses...

This was this morning's work-out:

Warm-up:

10 squats, 20 crunches, 10 push-ups
x2

Superset push-ups (10) and planks (side and front, 8 secs each) x3

Superset squats (12) and bird-dogs (10) x3

Double dumb-bell overhead presses:

11.7x5, 12.95x5, 13.2x5, 15.45x5, 16.7x5

Single DB presses:

16.7x5 x3

Turkish squat get-ups:

11.7x3(each side) x2 (these are way harder than I expected and hurt like a biotch: my guillotine injury from two years ago pinged out again in my right shoulder... gonna have to watch this one!)

Low windmills:

11.7x5, 16.7x5, 21.7x5 (each side of course)

LOVE THESE!

The windmills felt really good and were much easier than I thought... not so much as a wee twinge in my lower back: I should have listened to you Andrew when you first recommended these to me in my other blog thread. Mind you, they may be so easy because I've already been working on DLs and other back-related leg exercises for so long.

These windmills felt like they were doing good from the get-go. I was highly tempted to go all the way up to the full weight I have available, and also to go for High Windmills and High-Low Windmills, but I let caution get the better of me because my shoulder muscles already pinged and were preventing me from gettign a painless turn to look at my right hand on that side. Next time!

Finished up with Tabata lunges: 100 (alternate, all right, all left, walking, jumping: thought I'd try the jumping ones in the middle there. They're pretty hard but good. Will work more in to the tabata sets)

Went to the anma to get my shoulder seen to, and he said that my lower back and legs were in better condition than he'd ever 'seen' since I've been going to him (three years or so). I'd felt much better and stronger but it's nice to get some confirmation.

I'll the rest of your exercises when I come back from my New Year break next week. Until then the only training I'll be getting is shovelling snow, climbing mountains and pulling sleds... sounds pretty good, eh!

[Mr Punch]

31st onwards

DB training (still each one at 19.75kg)

DLs 39.5x5x5
Squats 39.5x5x5

Farmer's Walk (39.5kg - 30 secs) into Waiter's Walk (same) x 5 each. Hard but fun.

Felt grim from the Turkish get-ups... can anyone tell me what the point is? The exercise site I looked at (bodybuilding.com) says the main target is abs, but it seems to me that it's the same as just doing a lunge (gluts and quads) and then a squat... excpet there's a potentially dangerous changeover point in the middle which could lead to a bad squat position. So, what's the point of the TGUs and tips? (Other than to start with substantially lower weights)

My legs really hurt all week from the jumping lunges (think I had my stance too short) and I didn't get to train in the hills: no snow! Just lots of really good o-sechi ryori, sashimi, sake and shouchuu. Started and ended by carrying our bags (about 25 kgs) all round Tokyo and onto the plane and into the boonies and back again!

[Mr Punch]

Year review and training resolutions.

Last year:

Good points:

Felt my fu and general fitness were getting better.

Largely got over my asthma (maybe naturally, maybe partly as a result of training hard).

Got over my bad back and knees (back was the worst problem as it kept going - haven't really had any twinges now since I started weights and McGill's core work-outs - feel I can safely recommend it to anyone with similar problems (recurring mild bulging disc) )

Fu improvements:
understanding and being able to apply more of biu gee: issuing elbow energy in atypical directions; got stronger and faster strikes and better ability to use them in any direction with short hip power; being able to choose between moving as a unit more and delinking at will.

Gained about 5 kg of muscle (largely invisible on my gangly frame!)

Bad points:

Ate too much dairy produce. The week I had of sashimi when I found I could sleep on my back again without having any asthmatic wheezing proved to me that diary is a major exacerbating factor.

Gained about 5% bodyfat. Started last year at about 72-3 kgs and was measured on some dodgy machine at the gym as having about 12% bodyfat. My home scales measured me at 15 at the time, and I'm assuming that the gym's equipment is more accurate. Now I weigh in at 78.5-80 kgs and (on my home scales, not the gym's) 18-20% bodyfat. I'm not overly concerned, as I figure that a) the scales are not accurate, b) I'm going to gain a little bodyfat through my diet (basically eating more more often, including too many dairy products to keep up my amino acid balance), and c) I'm still getting stronger and fitter and you can only see a wee bit of a spare tyre (which is going to happen anyway as I'm 35 next weekend!)

No MMA. Due to time and money constraints, didn't go to the MMA gym at all this year, or to any seminars. Did of course include some throws and disruptive locks (note: not pain control locks, but those designed for unbalancing people as a prelude to a throw or to open up their defence) in training, but no mats so always training to the point of balance, which isn't so useful. Also of course included my excellent boxing skills and thai knees and kicks and some wrestling entries into the wing chun drills, chi sao and light sparring but...

No full-contact sparring! This was the first year I've had no full-contact sparring since I was about 21 years old, maybe younger. I'm not too concerned yet, as I know I have some skills, but I'd rather they didn't atrophy.

No gym. Quit the gym after only six months. Main reason was dollar. However, also felt I'd learnt everything I could from that gym (there were no trainers there and my trainer left to go back home after three months, also there was no squat rack).

Training resolutions

1) Gain another 5 kgs of muscle!
2) Lose about 5% bodyfat... partly by...
3) Eat considerably less dairy: eg, start taking the whey protein shakes with water instead of milk, take amino acid supplements and eat more tofu instead of milk and cheese.
4) Badger my training bros to get some equipment so I can...
5) Start full-contact sparring again.
6) Save and buy some more weights, and a bench.
7) Lift up to one and half times my BW in the big lifts (I know I can do my BW in DLs and squats so that's no problem. Have no idea what my 1RM is, or how quickly I can get new weights or step up the amount, so this is quite a modest goal I think. I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to manage 2xBW by the end of the year.)

[Mr Punch]

It's been a while again...!

Been training pretty much in the same vein as before. Still no full contact.

Started running a bit more again (found a cheap public gym, pool and free bouncy running track near where I've lived for the last three years! DOH!), mainly keeping it up for 20-30 mins and not concentrating on distance (usually about 5km) for a warm-up before weights.

Gonna start sprint intervals soon, maybe tonight.

Also started swimming recently. Or my approximation of it! To my horror I've found I should add it to the list of things I USED to be good at! I was in my high school's team, but now I suck, blow, gasp, spit and swallow! I put it down to the asthma, but maybe I'm just crap.

The (still light - up to 38.5 kg : 2x19.75kg dbs - still can't afford more) light weights I'm using are getting lighter in all lifting directions! I'll hopefully get back to posting more comprehensive details of the lifting (and fu) soon.

The fu has been the same. A little progress. Working on bong gerk and kicks to try and up my flexibility. Mostly going through basics with beginners and people who've been out of it for a long time.

My diet and minimal (and inaccurate) details of my workouts can be found here. For a two-hr fu sesh I usually put 1:30 of taichi and 30 mins of judo, karate etc in the activity session because that's about the same intensity level. They have separate sections for sparring and bagwork and whatever for boxing so I put those in as is.

Problems: Still can't really gain any more weight. How the hell do I do that?! Not interested necessarily in bulk, just strength and a few more kilos. Is that possible or are these goals conflicting? Am I doing too much cardio? Not enough warm-ups?

Also, according to my suspectedly unscientific scales my bodyfat is now up to 21%. My more knowledgeable exercising friends say this is nonsense, I'm inclined to believe them but if you look at my diet records maybe there's too much fat... what do you think?

Any help as ever greatly appreciated.

[Samurai Jack]

Hi Mr. Punch. Where are you? Haven't posted on your BLOG for a bit, and as I'm recieving a little ribbing for similar infractions, I thought I'd share the love.

Trying to lose bodyfat and gain weight at the same time isn't really a very realistic goal, but it's possible to approximate those results by manipulating your exercise level slightly. In fact I've found a relativly pain-free way to lose weight and keep muscle intact.

Here's what you do:

Use that "Fit-Day" site to track your diet and exercise for a week noting whether your bodyweight goes up, down, or stays stable. If goes up or down, try cutting or increasing your calories a bit until it stablizes. Once it is stable, you'll have an idea about how much you should be eating to keep it there.

Now this is where most people will tell you to cut calories and start eating six meals a day, and blah blah blah. It's a nightmare, and nobody i know ever sticks with such a plan.

Instead I suggest you increase your activity level. You don't have to do a lot more, in fact you don't want to lose weight very fast at all here. Instead just throw in an extra hour long class, an extra cardio session, or maybe lift weights for fifteen more minutes. Take a walk on the treadmill after you're through at the gym. Not a run... a walk.

You want to increase your metabolic activity just enough to lose maybe 200 more calories a day through exercise than you do now. Since you've been using Fit-Day, you know how easy it will be to add that as a daily calorie expenditure, and the beauty of it is that you won't really feel like you're doing that much differently.

The down side is that you'll only lose about two pounds of bodyfat a month. Interestingly though, at that rate of fat loss your body will retain 99.9% of it's muscle, and as your muscle-to-fat ratio changes you'll look much leaner and fitter than you would if you went on a crash diet.

All that and you get a painless habit that you can stick with forever.

[Mr Punch]

Hi Mr. Punch. Where are you?

Pretty busy unfortunately... and when I'm not busy, I'm training!

Trying to lose bodyfat and gain weight at the same time isn't really a very realistic goal,

I think you're the first person that's actually told me that... here I am living in fantasy land...!

but I figured your plan was about right... plus cutting out a bit of the fat (though I don't eat much and I want to make sure I'm not skimping on fishy oils and the things I need).

but it's possible to approximate those results by manipulating your exercise level slightly. In fact I've found a relativly pain-free way to lose weight and keep muscle intact.

Here's what you do:

Use that "Fit-Day" site to track your diet and exercise for a week noting whether your bodyweight goes up, down, or stays stable. If goes up or down, try cutting or increasing your calories a bit until it stablizes. Once it is stable, you'll have an idea about how much you should be eating to keep it there.

I've pretty much given up on fitday for now, as I simply don't have the time to fill it in... too busy eating and training!　

Also lot of the foods I eat just aren't there (as I live in Japan and eat a lot of wierd stuff) and too difficult to work out through their constituent parts too.

My weight was pretty much stable, and according to those shonky scales my body fat was too… though it noticeably went down with a few days of increased cardio (running, swimming, tabata bodyweight stuff and intense bag interval training).

Now this is where most people will tell you to cut calories and start eating six meals a day, and blah blah blah. It's a nightmare, and nobody i know ever sticks with such a plan.

Yeah, the little and often works OK for me, but it's never going to be that strictly doable: I work a full time and a part time teaching job, plus a couple of private lessons, plus kung fu, plus other training, plus lots of housework, plus lots of lovin and a little bit of halo 2!

Instead I suggest you increase your activity level. You don't have to do a lot more, in fact you don't want to lose weight very fast at all here. Instead just throw in an extra hour long class, an extra cardio session, or maybe lift weights for fifteen more minutes.

An extra hour of anything would be difficult right now… the fifteen mins may be doable!

Take a walk on the treadmill after you're through at the gym. Not a run... a walk.

Why a walk and not a run? And how long? I often walk to the gym, but then I sometimes swim after lifting.

You want to increase your metabolic activity just enough to lose maybe 200 more calories a day through exercise ... Interestingly though, at that rate of fat loss your body will retain 99.9% of it's muscle, and as your muscle-to-fat ratio changes you'll look much leaner and fitter than you would if you went on a crash diet.

All that and you get a painless habit that you can stick with forever.

Explanation makes a lot of sense, thanks a lot.

I just bought an exercise ball, so I can vary my workouts a lot and start putting in some seated presses, benches, single arm benches, tricep kickouts etc! Happy! Should finally be able to get a couple more plates to get my DBs up to a total of 30-35 kgs each this month too!

[Mr Punch]

BTW Jack, tried your 'Bear' thing the other day with two 20 kgs DBs... harsh! Even at that weight I could only do 3 before I felt my form going... I had just finished tabata pushups, situps and lunges, and a load of high-low windmills at the time.

Also the part where you do the squat with the weights on the back of your shoulders is pretty much impossible with the DBs and my puny arms!

[Mr Punch]

Plus, anyone know about CoCs? Their training grip is 40 kgs right? I closed a 40 kg generic gripper pretty easily several times (and held them closed for an experiment for a few seconds - till I got bored basically)...

what poundage should I go for?

I'm assuming you can do the same as any other weights with them... lighter poundage and more reps for endurance, and higher poundage/fewer reps for strength...?

[Samurai Jack]

Good to see you back my man! Yeah, we all know how it is trying to find time to fit in everything. Usually I just catch up here after a day or two, so my BLOG is a back-log of my hardcopy log. We also keep a community log at the dojo, and have a white board with the day's class content on it as well, so basically every aikido workout I log has actually been written down four times. Some people say I'm obsessive-compulsive.... I call it thourough.

So addressing things in order:

An extra hour of anything would be difficult right now… the fifteen mins may be doable! Why a walk and not a run? And how long? I often walk to the gym, but then I sometimes swim after lifting.

This is my own personal prejudice based on extensive research. Some people call it "lazy". Actually, since the goal is to keep your calorie expenditures small, and to avoid dipping too far into recovery reserves (the time it takes for the soreness to go away so you can get back to training), walking over running makes a lot of sense. That said, since you're in a time crunch, a brief jog will do the trick. I merely suggest that you take it easy and spread your extra exercise over several activities, because psychologically it's easier to maintain in the long run, and it's less uncomfortable. The idea is to lose a few extra calories, not train for a marathon.

I just bought an exercise ball, so I can vary my workouts a lot and start putting in some seated presses, benches, single arm benches, tricep kickouts etc! Happy! Should finally be able to get a couple more plates to get my DBs up to a total of 30-35 kgs each this month too!

Oh, I've heard that doing benches etc. on a stability ball with dumbbells is great for your abdominal core, and with practice you can still get up to considerable poundages. Let us know how that goes.

BTW Jack, tried your 'Bear' thing the other day with two 20 kgs DBs... harsh! Even at that weight I could only do 3 before I felt my form going... I had just finished tabata pushups, situps and lunges, and a load of high-low windmills at the time.

Yeah, I'm really falling in love with the Bear. I really feel it working my hips, abs, and lower back, and can feel those same muscles being engaged more in my aikido and iaido. There's something synergistic going on there, and I'm excited to see what the long term results might end up being. Several people have remarked that I'm "using my center more", and that I am "a lot stronger" since I've thrown them in. If you keep doing them, just do front squats instead of trying to get those DB's behind your neck.

Plus, anyone know about CoCs... what poundage should I go for?

Start out with the #1. The trainer is for folks who've never touched a gripper before. I suppose you could do it for reps if you only have a little Coc, but you want to work up to the larger size as soon as you can. Everyone here (who has one) loves playing with his Coc.

[Mr Punch]

This is my own personal prejudice based on extensive research. Some people call it "lazy". Actually, since the goal is to keep your calorie expenditures small, and to avoid dipping too far into recovery reserves (the time it takes for the soreness to go away so you can get back to training), walking over running makes a lot of sense. That said, since you're in a time crunch, a brief jog will do the trick. I merely suggest that you take it easy and spread your extra exercise over several activities, because psychologically it's easier to maintain in the long run, and it's less uncomfortable. The idea is to lose a few extra calories, not train for a marathon.

I getcha. Psychologically, I do whatever I can, when I can... I'm not the most motivated, but I don't have a motivation problem more than a time one.

Right now we're cleaning and rearranging everything in the apartment for a new arrival, which eats most of my real training time, but at least I try to use good stancework when lifting/moving stuff!

Oh, I've heard that doing benches etc. on a stability ball with dumbbells is great for your abdominal core, and with practice you can still get up to considerable poundages. Let us know how that goes.

Well, so far, the weight limitation is through money, not strength... now I've made the space the ball should be going up today, and the first session immediately after. I'm thinking benches (and should be able to work out a good position for incline type and decline type too), plus the one-handed benches Stricker mentioned, Box (ball) squats (the sitting down and stabilizing should be a hard workout as it goes, even with my puny 20 or so kg dbs), and if I have any gumption left some seated overhead presses... looking forward too it... also maybe got time for a swim before fu tonight, so if I have any strength left after I'll let you know how it went!

Yeah, I'm really falling in love with the Bear. I really feel it working my hips, abs, and lower back, and can feel those same muscles being engaged more in my aikido and iaido. There's something synergistic going on there, and I'm excited to see what the long term results might end up being. Several people have remarked that I'm "using my center more", and that I am "a lot stronger" since I've thrown them in. If you keep doing them, just do front squats instead of trying to get those DB's behind your neck.

Yeah, they're good, but maybe a bit much for my level. Like I said, I could only manage three with good form. Also found with the change between the DL bit and the squat bit (is that a clean or a jerk? I don't even know the basic terminology ) grinds on the T6 (the slightly protruding vertebrae at the base of the neck - if I've even got that right)... maybe I need to keep my elbows out more.

And yeah, I already subbed the front squat for the back.

Start out with the #1. The trainer is for folks who've never touched a gripper before. I suppose you could do it for reps if you only have a little Coc, but you want to work up to the larger size as soon as you can. Everyone here (who has one) loves playing with his Coc.

I think with my grip I'll be onto the larger CoC in no time...

[Mr Punch]

Didn't go as planned again, life got in the way! Managing to train every day right now though, which is great.

Saturday (was it?!) did a nice warm-up of eight silk brocade reeling, the core lower back exercises, koryu shikko and shintai jiku (manji walking - first time in a long time and boy am I feeling it now) before I went into squats and DLs... tried to get on the ball for the bench press... but couldn't catch the d@mn thing! LOL And then when I tethered it and tried again, I couldn't pick up the weights from the floor to bench them! No rack! Haven't got the ball skills down yet... will have to work it out and try again tonight/tomorrow.

Yesterday swam... improving my tech with the help of a friend. I used to swim in the high school team but haven't for about twenty years and completely forgot most tips. Good workout though... maybe better than if I was doing it properly! Also fu, basics of first two sections of SLT with beginner student... checked his form, went over the stance opening and connectivity, then punching, and tan, pak vs punch and dan chi sao. He wants to move on in the form, but I'm going to introduce him to basic turning and stepping through lap sao drill, stepping dan chi, pad and bag work as soon as he's got his root, and before he starts on the next section.

[Mr Punch]

Last Fri,

forms,

doc mcgill's core back workout

8-silk brocade

10 manji steps

10 shiko

(The above is my new core warm-up set although I usually do 20 manji steps and shiko if I have time)

tabata pushups (106) various kinds

db bear 40 kg x 5 (was going to do 3 sets but twanged my knee)

so

sb squats carefully 40 x 5 x 2

db dls 40 x 5 x 3

db bp (ball - finally got the hang of balancing on the ****er) 40 x 5 x 3

db flies (ball) 10 x 5 x 3

db skullcrushers 10 x 5 x 3

db ab rolls (ball) 10 x 10 x 3 (****ed hard but good feeling)

db curls and hammer curls 10 x 5 x 3 each

db forearm curls and pulls 10 x 5 x 3 each.

30 mins increasing intensity bagwork (my bagwork usually consists of boxing, kickboxing, koryu and wing chun nowadays - seems to work... well the bag never hits me back anyway! ) .

swimming - 40mins not so hard plus more manji stepping.

SatKung fu hanami!

Not meant to be a hardcore sparfest or anything - just some core stuff for some new people and a lot of chi sao... (in a park surrounded by the beauuuuutiful flowering cherries and thousands of drunk people). Ended up mixing up some chi sao with thai and takedowns (my friend also does thai so he started sticking in the knees with happy abandon and I was answering with mine we were mixing upn some thai roundhouses and knees with sticky legs - very nice - and since he was kicking my sorry ass, I chucked in a couple of takedowns - a single leg, a halfhearted double leg, an aikido gokkyo or two which is a basic arm drag throw to land him on his arm under me, and a few other things - good fun and a good workout and no-one hurt!)

Drank a few beers and scared (? bored?) off some fat drunken Yank tai chi chick.

Was very stiff from previous day!

Sun Washed out. Meant to train but wound up doing bugger all.

Mon Swimming. A little short of an hour mostly breast stroke and failed crawl (still no progress on timing there!). Also did a lot of wing chun stepping drills, thai and koryu kicking drills and manji stepping in the walking lane... really felt it in my thighs.

Tue Hard work. Did some lifting prior to fu... but heart wasn't really in it... Usual warm-up (McGill's, 8-silk, manji, shiko) then proceeded to fail on a simple and oft-done 40 kg overhead press... maybe balance of new warm-up is off and actually taking it out of me more than I thought. Anyway, went on to db side press (20 x 3 x 3) and full windmills (20 x 3 x 3)... and called it a day.

Cooked some soup ina hurry between lifting and fu and feeling a bit lightheaded from the workout, cut a 7mm x 5 mm x 4mm (deep) piece out of my left forefinger. Not really much fun to be had there. Went to hospital, missed fu.

Yesterday: rested. (Woman's banned me from training till I can do it without cutting my fingers off afterwards! )

Today Wife out:

Usual warm-up,

111 tabata pushups inc some new variations.

211 tabata sit-ups of various kinds.

10 kg ab ball rolls x 10 x 3.

sword wringing - followed tabata pattern again for simplicity - with 1.9 kg suburi bokuto: this wringing drill is actually a wing chun pole drill but it's similar to a drill we used to do in aiki and really burns the forearms.

wc pole drills - thrust and figure seven - don't have a pole so not getting the right weight distribution but do it with the bokuto which is near enough.

[Mr Punch]

Really felt the burn yesterday from the forearm workout the day before. The forearm curls and pulls, the sword wringing etc, but mostly the sword wringing I think (althought the marathon Halo 2 tournament may have also contirbuted to forearm fatigue! ). Wanted to capitalize on that yesterday - though doing more sword wringing would be overworking the forearms, so wanted to do some full sword swings, but in the end was too busy with work and family stuff to even fit that in... ended up as

yesterday (Friday 6th)

core back exercises.

full stop!

today

Again horribly busy with work and family, plus feeling jaded and exhausted from late night drinking to seal a business meeting, plus woke up with a really sharp crick in my right lower back... finally got round to finishing a kind of a workout just now (about 1 in the morn here).

Took it easy as it's late and I'm knackered:

Core warm-up:

Dr McGills

8 silk

manji steps (10)

shikko (10)

Yoga:
Half Lord of the Fishes
Cow Face
Sage
Plank - lunge

Tabata lunges (bw) 96 (alternate, right leg, l leg, walking)

Yoga:
Plank - lunge.

Nice to spend some quality time with my wife, but a struggle mood- and energy-wise. Oh well, tomorrow , I'm gonna kick my own ass! Good night Jon-boy!