2024 - 03 - 11

Coming off of a rest (de-load) week, I came out hot, maybe a little too much so and already noticed a regression to the mean. The Free Fall program has started, with the intention of addressing individual training needs via creative and autonomous means.

Summary:

I came out hard and hot this week, which was a good reminder to not fall into the habit of regressing towards the mean — or “going medium and getting nowhere.”

I’ve started doing Yoga Nidra sessions on my lunch break while I get some sun on my skin and dirt on my feet. Spring is officially here, tomorrow! I usually add a short breath session here as well and have been reminding myself to cooldown (literally) with breath work after training and with a cool (not cold!) shower. Here’s the breathwork app I’ve been using.

In other news I’ve upgraded my smartwatch to a Garmin Vivoactive 3 which is nice to get back some sleep and heart rate data — particularly when planning and assessing my own programming.

Contents:

• Monday: Free Fall 001, Strength

• Tuesday: Free Fall 002, Skill Development - Endurance

• Wednesday: NoGi BJJ

• Thursday: NoGi BJJ

• Friday: Passive Rest

• Saturday:

  • NoGi BJJ
  • Free Fall 003, Strength Endurance - Hypertrophy

• Sunday: Free Fall 004, Endurance

3/11/24: Strength, Level 2

Intention:

Aim for “maximal contraction” (i.e. strength) with a target of 7-20 reps total in either an area of need (progression) or maintenance. Stop while you’re ahead. Live / Rest / Recover to train another day… or tomorrow.

Warm: 3 rounds

• 10x burpee
• 10x front rack lunge (total)
• 20x alternating kick (total)
• 20m bear crawl
• 40m front rack carry
• 40m framer walk

Work:

• Front Squat (from floor): 8-5-3
• Front Squat x1 (from floor): EMOM/10

Result:

• Warm: 2 x 16Kg
• Work 1: 185, 205, 225 lbs.
• Work 2: 185 lbs.

Note:

What worked well and what allowed it:
The overall structure of this session was pretty good. I got to get some heavy-ish reps in that were skill-limited by having to power clean from the floor; then the time limit made sure I didn’t dig a hole I couldn’t get out of and not be able to train tomorrow.

What didn’t work and why:
I had to do some fiddling with the warm up to get the right dosage for each movement, but the general idea of taking 1/3 to 1/2 the session to warm up was good. My hip mobility is still a major limiting factor, I almost matched my full clean PR with a power clean which is indicative of the problem not being power, but ease of access to drop under the bar.

Plan for next time:
I’m not sure yet if I want to have dedicated mobility sessions or sneak some into each training session. Since this is a notable limiting factor for myself, I’m leaning towards the later. Similarly with breathwork. In previous notation these have fallen under the “support” segment of various sessions, taking place after the “work” is completed.

3/12/24: Endurance, Level 2

Intention:

The goal of this session is to pick a movement to explore, preferably one you struggle with. Choose a structure (strength, capacity, endurance, etc.) to incorporate that movement. Spend the first part of the warm-up specifically auditing your skill in the movement.

Warm Up:

Explore movements you struggle with and practice their technique. Try to find a good combination that can be implemented for the desired structure. For me this was endurance, which meant high reps, so the target mvoement(s) needed to be easy enough to keep plodding and tax the aerobic system more than isolated efforts (reps / sets).

Work:

For Time:

3-30, by 3s:
Box Step-Up-And-Over
Gorilla Row
Goblet Squat

Results:

24” box
2 x 16Kg KBs
1 x 16Kg KB

32:34

Support:

This week I’ve been getting some sun and doing a short yoga nidra session on my lunch break. The catch for me has always been finding someone who’s voice doesn’t aggravate my internal voice during the session.

Additionally, I added a simple breath protocol at the end of this training session:
Single Nostril:
10-0-10-0
10x each side

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
The 24” box was just right for this movement. If I wanted more of a strength-styled session, a taller box, or weighting the movement (as in the warm up) would have been good choices. But, this was just enough to keep me accountable with the intention of skill development, while also allowing respiration (rather than musculature) be the point of failure.

What didn’t work and why:
Those fucking goblet squats… I could not find a comfortable way to position my elbows under the bell and still keep my back from rounding. A front rack position, while more strenuous, would almost have been more comfortable. This is more evidence of overcompensating by rounding the back for poor hip / ankle mobility.

Plan for next time:
As indicated with the FFP scaffolding, I’ll keep dedicated “mobility” days as a function of strength. However, when given the option of specific movement selection I’ll try to stay focused on the areas I need to develop, largely identified here.

3/13/24: Sport, Level 1

Intention:

We have a competitor prepping for a National qualifying event, so I spent class first helping him prepare with leg lock breaking mechanic and then “refereeing” the class on ADCC-style rounds and scoring.

Warm Up:

None

Work:

~30 min of drilling

• Specific focus was on outside heel hooks and getting good leverage by side-arching.
• Additionally we put great detail into gripping / leverage of opposing forces.

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
My breaking mechanics are sound enough that I’ve been known to creatively “grab something and twist it the way it shouldn’t go.” In other words, employ creativity by employing sound concepts.

What didn’t work and why:
Personally, I need to get a better at the pinning portion of leg locks. My breaking mechanics are solid, and I can usually find my way to an entanglement. However, stifling someone’s defense is a key factor in escalating from passive drilling to live rounds.

Plan for next time:
Some of this content is hard to explain in a written format, but I’m re-watching Sean Applegate’s instructional for my own purpose because there’s several years of material to work through in there.

3/14/24: Sport, Level 1

Intention:

In this class I started the training block of leglocks. Really, as in Sean’s instructional, I’m using leglocks as a proxy to teach concepts for all joint locks. We started in the 50/50 position (inside heel hook) focusing on breaking mechanics and next week will repeat the class but in the “saddle” and “double outside” positions.

Warm Up:

5 min “play / explore”:
*The only instruction I gave was that to break any joint, you need to:

1. isolate the joint above it,
2. use the joint below it as a lever,
3. apply either compression, extension, or rotation (or a combination),
4. and apply opposing forces.*

I wanted people to play around with the concepts and see if they could make necessary adjustments break joints in creative ways rather than arbitrarily teach a given submission the particular way I most often execute it.

Work:

About 30 minutes of movement for me. I was able to get some drill rounds in letting people work set-ups and focusing on my counters and escapes — which were also shown in the class.

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
Once again, a class full of white belts (and one blue belt) did not injure anyone with a technique that’s allegedly too dangerous for many competitions.

What didn’t work and why:
50/50 probably wasn’t the best choice actually. If we had had slightly more advanced students in class we could have gotten a little further and done some scrimmaging. In contrast to the above, a couple people were getting a little froggy, so I pulled the plug on positional training for the night.

Plan for next time:
From a coaching perspective, people are wanting to roll (spar) more in my classes. Typically I lean heavily on a technical focus, but admittedly often times plan too big of a chunk of material than people can digest.

3/15/24: Strength, Level 2

Intention:

“With hypertrophy training, we are looking to increase the size of the muscle but more specifically, the resilience of the tissue. This should be an acidic sensation in whichever muscle / muscle group is chosen to develop… the limitation feels more like a build-up of acidity rather than… hitting a maximal load.”

Technically this session was done on Saturday evening because my egg dealer was in town on Friday and I met him at a bar (of course!), so some festivities ensued as well — I paid the price the next day.

Warm Up / Pre-Fatigue:

1-5 (1, 2, 3…)
Weighted bear crawl x 10m
Burpee x1

1-5 (1, 2, 3…)
Seated Scap Row (machine)
Sciatic nerve floss (each side)

Work:

Standing DB Clean and Press:
3-5-8-5-3 unbroken
*1x DB straight-leg deadlift between sets
3 rounds total, rest as needed

Piston Press (leaving the “resting” side locked overhead):
3-5-8-5-3 (3 left, 3 right, 5 left, 5 right, etc.)
*10x Gorilla Row between rounds (total)
3 rounds, rest as needed

Results:

Warm 1: 2 x 15 lb. DBs
Warm 2: 100 lb. (machine row)

Work 1: 2 x 25 DBs
Work 2: 2 x 35 DBs

Support:

Breath work:
10 cycles 7-0-7-0 (in-hold-out-hold)
10 cycles 6-6-6-0
10 cycles 6-6-6-6
2 cycles 7-14-7-0
Failure here meant it was time to stop. I wanted this to be a restorative practice rather than “more hard.”

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
The session structure was very suitable to the intention of the session. Rather than take a nap (here’s why) I opted for a long yoga nidra session in the afternoon to try to recover (see Spotify embed below).

What didn’t work and why:
Between the overindulgent beer Friday night, the hard BJJ rounds Saturday morning, and a mild sunburn all over, this was a tough mental session to get through. I didn’t want to be there. I also didn’t want to chalk up a passive rest day for the week and get behind if I didn’t absolutely need to.

Plan for next time:
Naturally, dis-inhibiting drugs grow their limits and push you past yours. I may need to re-evaluate or set a firm limit for my social drinking (i.e. X drinks per week, none at home). I’ll also have a full length breath work post coming out this summer; the content of which will likely make it into one of the monthly micro-courses (launching March 2023) as well.

3/16/24: Sport, Level 2

Intention:

I had caught wind that a high level black belt would be traveling through town, so I wanted to make this a pretty challenging day running my “A Game.” I also wanted to make time to drill the things I’ve been teaching in class (leg locks).

Warm Up:

6 min x light play round

Work:

7 x 6 minute rounds

Result:

Density: 73% (8/11)
Focus: 38% (3/8)

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
Overall, I felt like the high-level round was very competitive. Neither of us scored on or submitted the other though technically I would have lost by “advantage” points.

What didn’t work and why:
As I’ve mentioned above, I need to work on the pinning component of my leg locks. For < 180 lbs. I have notoriously “heavy” top pressure for upper body attacks; and need to make that same conversion to lower body attacks.

Plan for next time:
More drill time and more time attending to focus rather than density, though likely this will help (substituting rest rounds for drill rounds) even if the aggregate intensity is low.

3/17/24: Endurance, Level 1

Intention:

“Developing endurance and the aerobic system is about adding time to your effort… Today, we want you to choose a capacity session and make it longer by performing it at an easier rate than what is suggested.”

Warm Up:

1-10 (1, 2, 3… 10):
Front Rack Lunge
Front Rack Squat
Farmer Carry (m)
Backward Farmer Carry (m)

Work:

10-20-30-40-50-40-30-20-10:
Bike Cals
KB Swing
Headcutter
Suitcase Carry (each side)

For Time:

Result:

Warm: 2 x 12 Kg KB
Work: 12 Kg KB, 53:34*

*Note: I miscounted and only did 150 bike cals instead of the full 250 for a time of 41:04. Estimating an extra 100 calories at the 8-10 cal / min pace I was holding would have added about 12.5 minutes.

Notes:

What worked well and what allowed it:
It’s worth repeating that a session intentioned to develop one’s endurance should leave you with a feeling that you could have doubled the duration. I don’t know if I could have kept this up for 2 hours, but I could definitely do it again tomorrow.

What didn’t work and why:
I’m still struggling a bit to find the right range of intensity for long warm ups without robbing energy from the work portion. Usually I figure this out by the second or third set of the warm up and adjust accordingly. I also originally wrote this session without the bike, and that took about 25 min so I added more, except only ended up doing half of what I had mapped in my brain (doh!).

Plan for next time:
I felt myself slipping in to Gear 3 at the end of the session even though I kept my mouth closed for the whole session. Shifting to nose-mouth breathing would have been a must if I had done the full 50+ minute run.