2024 - 01 - 08

What an amazing week! I was reintroduced to the grieving process associated with long slogging capacity-endurance efforts, approaching 700 calories / hour of work output and fulfilling that 1-hour obligation. Additionally, my family pack grew by +1.

Dean, 8 years old, 80 lbs. (left); Lucy, 9 months old, 55 lbs (right).

Summary:

Monday and Tuesday’s sessions were appreciated from the perspective of “testing my understanding” of my self and the Escape Velocity program material in that I made several adjustments to accommodate equipment and conditions. The hypertrophy / strength-endurance format(s) were nice to avoid the redundant feel endurance work has, while still stimulating blood flow to help recover from hard capacity sessions (e.g. FYF).

Friday’s session brought with it some trepidation, knowing that what lies ahead “will not be over soon, and you will not enjoy it.” I wanted to find an excuse to back out, there was a lot of negotiating within the first 15 minutes of the hour-long work segment. Even before I walked in the gym door I could feel the searing hesitation in my legs and fear in my lungs. Nevertheless, I didn’t let fear rob me of the lesson(s) failure offered to teach me.

This week’s grappling continued to focus on wrestling, specifically snap-downs and single-leg set ups. Additionally, I welcomed a new canine companion to the family. I haven’t settled on a new name at the time of writing, but her “government name” is “Lucy.”

Contents:

• Monday: Escape Velocity 07, Capacity Intervals
• Tuesday: Escape Velocity 08, Strength Endurance
• Wednesday: NoGi BJJ, half-guard passing combinations
• Thursday: NoGi BJJ, Collar-Tie Snap-Down and Single Set-Ups
• Friday: Escape Velocity 11, FYF - capacity accumulation
• Saturday: NoGi BJJ Open Mat
• Sunday: Dog adoption / active recovery

1/8/24: capacity, level 1

Intention: ESC:07 - “If you do not know your engine or the machine well enough to maintain a high output pace, this is a great session to repeat and try variations of with different machines. There really isn’t a wrong way to do this session, but I would encourage you to set some perimeters to learn about your capacity, the paces you can hold, and how long you can hold them, etc.”

Warm Up:

3 sets of:
7x Romanian Deadlift
7x High Pull
7x Hang Power Clean
7x Front Squat
7x Push Press

Work:

Every 2 min for 30 min:
4x Hang Clean (unbroken)
Rest 90 sec
*add 5 - 10 lbs every set

Results:

Warm Up: 45, 65, 75 lbs.
Work: 65 - 175 lbs.

Support:

Mobility: 1 min each.
Weighted Pigeon Pose (sitting)
Weighted Forward Fold / Straight Leg Deadlift
Deadhang (with straps)
Tricep Eccentric Position / Lat Opener
Deadhang (with straps)

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
As written, this session called for a ski / row. However, my lets were still shot from the FYF session a few days ago. My regular gym doesn’t have a rower, so my per-calorie substitutions were limited. I elected for a ladder, with consistent reps and increasing the load which had a similar effect. This was tough, but doable.

What didn’t work and why:
For some reason I thought this would spare my legs. I suppose it did, compared to bike sprints or lunges. It’s still a difficult exercise to “know thyself” and “know thy recovery” and program / adapt sessions accordingly.

Plan for next time:
Continue to practice “assessing (recovery) need” and “readiness” (or not) and program difficulty / intensity accordingly.

1/9/24: strength, level 2

Intention: ESC:08 - On the surface this session appeared to contrast with the last few, hammering the upper body. Strength endurance typically entails “hypertrophy” types of work, so the goal for me here was to stimulate blood flow to the legs while exploring upper body limitations.

Warm Up:

3 sets of:
5x dumbbell strict press + 100 ft. overhead carry + 5x push press
10x strict pull ups
50 ft. pinch grip plate carry

Work:

Part 1:
100x dumbbell bench press
*Every time you break completely, 8 bent over rows. Add 2 reps each time you come back to the rows.

Part 2: Alternating EMOM for 30 min.
Min 1 - Tank Push x 25 ft.
Min 2 - Tank Pull x25 ft.
Min 3 - Double KB Swing x10
Min 4 - Gorilla Rows x16 (single count)
Min 5 - KB headcutters x10

Results:

Part 1:
Dumbbell Bench Press: 2 x 45# (x100 total)
Bent Over Row: 80# (x60 total)
Time: 11:39

Part 2:
Tank push / pull: max break + 180#
KB Swing: 2 x 16Kg
Gorilla Row: 16Kg KB
Headcuttter: 16Kg KB

Support:

Mobility: 1 min each
Seated weighted pigeon (hip opener, 1 min each side)
Kneeling Knee-Over-Toe stretch (weighted, 1 min each side)
Weighted forward fold (KB for support, flex hamstrings, 2 x 1 min)
Tricep Eccentric / Lat opener (1 min each side)
*maintain consciousness of breath (no particular pattern)

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
The goal was met this session of getting some blood flow and strength / limit exploration. Recovery time seemed ample with the implements / loads I used, barring a series of intense pumps. This also allowed an unhurried focus on breathing during rest intervals.

What didn’t work and why:
Finding clever ways to rest during the warm up and Part 1 were crucial. Inefficient positioning was harshly punished. Similarly, in Part 2 if you let your back round during the gorilla rows, swings, or tank push / pull you’d find out real fast how much mobility you lack and what’s overcompensating.

Plan for next time:
Working intervals took about 30-35 seconds, so that tells me they weren’t scaled quite right as the later rounds should have shown more fatigue / decompensation (e.g. taking more of the minute interval to complete).

1/10/24: sport, level 1

Intention: X-Pass and other half-guard passing variations.

Warm Up:

Collect / Connect hips stand-up positional game.

Work:

1.5 hour class

light positional sparring

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
The importance of grip (which isn’t necessarily with the hands) fighting never ceases to amaze me. If you can keep your obliques closed / armpits protected and deny grips while making your own, you’re at a significant advantage in grappling.

What didn’t work and why:
The nuance of grip fighting usually lies in what gets exposed at the expense of the grip (connection). By connecting yourself to your opponent, you’re also allowing them to connect to you. So, it’s a risk-reward dance.

Plan for next time:
As usual, patient and persistence prevail. Sticking to what’s fundamental, especially when someone turns up the accelerator, is a valuable tactical decision. Assume that someone who wants to turn a match into a boat race has a helluva gas tank to justify doing so. Don’t play their game.

1/11/24: sport, level 1

Intention: Teaching class - “snap and circle” dilemmas and takedown set ups.

Warm Up:

Wrestling reaction drills (video coming soon)

Work:

Disc 1 material from “Bo Knows Takedowns” instructional.

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
The most successful takedown in college wrestling is no longer a single-leg. It is a go-behind or snap-down-counter. Talking to other black belts, this is probably because the counter game can be applied as a defense to a many more attacks than just the single-leg (and it’s variants).

What didn’t work and why:
Nothing is magic. You must read your opponent and create opportunities, reactions, and dilemmas. You can’t force a certain takedown because it’s the only one you know, but you can set it up.

Plan for next time:
Don’t think you have to play nice. Make snap downs punishing and collar ties dominant. You don’t have to be a dick, but being lazy / loose with these set ups is only going to reinforce bad habits that lack efficacy.

1/12/24: capacity, level 3

Intention: ESC:11 - “One of our structures that work to keep intensity high and motivation up for long slogs is by adding an accumulation component. The trick here is coming out hot but not too hot. The increase in intensity comes from the movement becoming more complex and more demanding … finishing under 40 minutes is difficult, but it can be done. ”

Warm Up:

5 min easy pace on Assault Bike, then

4 sets of:
10 goblet good mornings
10 DB single-arm hang clean and press
5 burpee + step-up (20”)
5 burpee + pull-up

Work:

For Time:
500 calories on Assault Bike
Every 3 min on the 3 min (e.g. 3, 6, 9, 12 minutes in, etc.) complete:
0-15 min: 5 x burpee
16-30 min: 5 x burpee + DB deadlift
31-45 min: 5 x burpee + DB hang clean
46-finish: 5x devil’s press

Results:

Warm Up: 44 cal, 12Kg KB

Work: 1:02:28, 16Kg / hand KB

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
The recommended male loading for this session was 35 lb / hand, which I followed. The session sucked for sure, but I think I scaled it appropriately for my fitness level. I knew that the aerobic part would be difficult for me, so I adjusted the exercises from every 2 minutes to every 3 minutes. The idea is that you’ll have less and less time / interval to work through the calorie goal, so this shouldn’t be “easy” but if you get defeated and run out of time (e.g. end up constantly doing the lifts) then you’ve missed the point of the session.

What didn’t work and why:
3 minutes may have been slightly too generous as I noted that I was able to keep the same power / RPM output throughout most of the session. If I understood the session correctly, there should have been some decompensation. However, perhaps I just didn’t “come out hot enough.” At any rate, this appears to highlight that I can “recover” well (enough) with even brief rests (while transitioning) which is a very different sensation than a single monolithic single-motion-mind-fuck (SMMF).

Plan for next time:
If you didn’t have access to an appropriate KB load, or just wanted a similar structure, simply increasing the number of burpees done at each intermission would be effective. This was one of the implements in last week’s FYF with the BOBs.

1/13/24: sport, level 1

Intention: This session was intended for lighter grappling, specifically to get active resistance while training the takedowns I taught in class as well as exploring other concepts (ref., ref.).

Warm Up:

5 min hip mobility (deep and overhead squat)

Work:

1.5 hour NoGi BJJ open mat

Session difficulty and density were not logged because the intention was cultivation and exploration.

Results:

I will adding short video clips / highlights of the classes and techniques I teach. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to edit this week because of the special circumstances of the training session below.

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
Down-block. Grip fight. Posture.

What didn’t work and why:
As is often the case, BJJ is great against BJJ, because certain reactions become expected. I, as a black belt, know “the right” defense and plan counters based on your implementation of “the right” defense. However, sometimes “the wrong” thing still works. For example, I had a helluva time trying to drill counter wrestling with someone who wanted to pull guard every time I touched their feet from the standing position.

Plan for next time:
I made an adjacent intention this session to hunt for wristlocks. Some say they’re a “dirty” submission, but it’s legal in every ruleset, at every belt, in every format.

1/14/24: misc.

Intention:
It was an honor and a pleasure for an LEO friend of mine to ask if I wanted to adopt a malinois he was fostering because the original owner could no longer give her the attention she needed now that she (the dog) was growing to adult size (55 lbs.).
With great power comes great responsibility, so I accepted the charge and began the process of integrating this 9 month old pocket rocket into the pack with my 80 lb. 8 year old.

Results:

12,000 steps before noon.