Beyond 5/3/1 Box Squats Nov 26

This is the second week of my experiment with accomodating resistance in conjunction with 5/3/1 programming. First week was bands, this week was chains. Loving this so far.

Warm-Ups

45, 95, 115, 135, 155, 185

Added 50lbs Chains - Two Links on floor at lockout

185, 205, 225

3 @ 230
3 @ 260
6 @ 295

My knee was feeling way better this time so I tried doing the max set without wrapping up. It felt a bit shaky but okay. I just have to make sure I keep my mobility up.

3 @ 315

Its been a while since I had 365 on my back, felt good. At one point before the neck injury in August I'd done a triple with 375 straight weight, so it's nice to know I'm on my way back to that.

Leg Press - Agonizingly slow negative, slight pause, explode up

Sets of 10 @ 90, 180, 270, 360, 450, 540, 630, 720

Beyond 5/3/1 Bench Nov 24

This was a pretty good workout. I don't get as excited about numbers I do in the slingshot as I did when I first got it a few years ago but I set a PR nonetheless.

Warm-Ups

Triples @ 45, 65, 95, 115, 135, 155, 185

5 @ 190
3 @ 215
10 @ 240 (Sloppy, capped it to prevent injury and hopefully do better on Jokers)

Singles @ 255, 265, 280, 290, 300

290 and 300 both pulled to the left, no idea why. Its never happened before and it was annoying as hell. I was able to wrestle it back into the groove to finish but it took way more energy than it should have.

Put the slingshot on for the next few singles

1 @ 300
1 @ 315
1 @ 335
0 @ 355 - 335 felt super easy so I jumped the gun on this a bit. Felt really weak off the chest.
1 @ 345 - Destroyed this. I was shocked at how easy it felt.
0 @ 355 - I figured the first 355 attempt must have been a technical error based on how easy 345 felt, so I rested about five minutes, got my head right and tried it again. I almost got it, was way stronger off the chest but still got stuck about four inches off. I'm not too worried, I think it'll fly up when I do Joker singles again in three weeks.

Rear Delt Fly Machine

6 x 10 @ 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200

Beyond BJJ Box Squats Nov 20

Horrible knee pain kinda put a damper on this workout. My knees have been terrible for years but the left one has really been bothering me for a little while now. If it's not one thing...

Anyway, it was hurting for my trap bar deads as well but I wrapped it and that seemed to help. I figured squats would be okay if I wrapped my knees after 185 or so. It didn't end up being the case, but at least I got my base percentages done.

Triples @ 45, 65, 95, 115, 135, 155, 185 - I usually go 45, 95, 135, 185 etc but I figured a few extra warmup sets would help the knee. They didn't.

Added Bands (about 140lbs extra at lockout)

Fives at 135, 185, 215, 245, 280

5 x 20 Gym Ball Hamstring Curls

Seven Habits of Trying to Be Successful - EliteFTS

This is a great article I read this morning on EliteFTS, so I thought I'd share it here for those who don't frequent EliteFTS (you should though)

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/a-lion-in-iron-seven-habits-of-trying-to-be-successful/

Beyond 5/3/1 Bench Nov 17

Surprisingly good workout today! I was out late watching the fights and didn't exactly wake up with a spring in my step but I picked up a NOS on the way to Gold's and it helped quite a bit.

Warm-ups

Triples @ 45, 65, 95, 115, 135, 155 superset with sets of 10 band pull-aparts

3 @ 180
3 @ 205
14 @ 230

This was definitely a PR for 230! I might otherwise have capped this to get some volume in but still save more energy for the Jokers, but by some wierd fluke my training partner and I ended up with the exact same working sets for today since he's a couple of cycles ahead of me. I weigh more than him so I wanted to push myself to do at least a few more reps than he did.

3 @ 245 - Good god, did this feel way heavier than 245. I did rest after my max set at 230 but maybe not enough.

3 @ 255, 265 - These felt way better and faster than 245 did

2 @ 275 - Yeah, I was done. First rep went up really easily, second rep was a bit wobbly, lowered the third rep way too fast and lost my arch a bit, I'm not even sure I got it off my chest.

Lateral Raises - 10 Second Parallel hold followed by 10 reps

Got these from John Meadows' member area on his website, the burn is awesome.

4 sets @ 10, 15, 20, 25lb dumbbells

Rear Delt Cable Flies

4 Sets of 20 @ 15, 25, 35, 15 (super slow on the last set)

Tricep Pushdowns

4 Sets of 20 @ 40, 50, 65, 85

Beyond 5/3/1 Trap Bar Deadlift

I'm loving this for 5/3/1. Using the trap bar doesn't hurt my neck, and my glutes and hamstrings get worked really well with the dead stop at the bottom every time.

Triples @ 60, 110, 150, 200, 240

Fives @ 270, 310

19 @ 355

This was a bit disappointing, not because of the number (it projects 580 for a 1RM, lol) but because I thought I was at 18 when I stopped. My usual rule is "Stop when the reps start to get ugly" but if I'd known I was at 19 I definitely would've done 20. One slightly ugly rep wouldn't have killed me.

Five @ 375

Had to go to work :( Hopefully it doesn't get too cold to train in the garage for another few weeks so I can do this some more before our winter Gold's Gym hibernation.

Beyond 5/3/1 Bench Nov 10

Back to 5/3/1 with new targets. I decided to take more conservative training maxes using 80% instead of 90% and build up some good momentum. While I was prepping for the black belt grading everything felt heavy, even the first and second working sets. I was way too burnt out.

Warm-up triples at 45, 95, 115, 135, 155

5's at 165, 190
10 Reps @ 215 (I decided to cap this. I wanted to hit most if not all my jokers and I don't care much about what I can do with 215)

Jokers

5's at 230, 240, 250, 260
Triple at 270 (Five at 260 felt really easy so I had a lot of confidence going into this but I took the bar too low on the first rep and had to wrestle it back into the groove. I should've racked, rested and tried again but I thought I could salvage it. The next two reps drained me way more than they should've, didn't feel up to taking another crack at it.)

Seated Military Press - Slow negative and long pause at the bottom

Sets of 10 @ 45, 65, 95, 115 (burned like hell)

Superset - Tricep Pushdowns and Dumbbell Hammer Curls

Four Sets of ten reps each exercise - up to 140lbs pushdowns and 55lb curls

Trap Bar Farmer Walks Nov 4

I'm adding these in for grip, conditioning and variety. I even figured out a way to use 5/3/1 to program it, though I'll need to establish a baseline with some more progressive work. Unfortunately here in Edmonton the temperature is starting to drop pretty quickly and Brandon and I are about to leave the toys in the garage and start our Gold's Gym hibernation. Even for this workout I was planning on using the alley where we do our sled dragging for the farmer walking but it was covered in ice, so we had to do 15-foot lengths of Brandon's garage with a quick turn-around-and-deadlift at each end. It was still fun.

These are the 'sets' I did

2 x 15ft

4 x 15ft

6 x 15ft

8 x 15ft

12 x 15ft

20 x 15ft

We used 240lbs for all of these.

What My Black Belt Means to Me

On October 25th, 2013, I received my black belt in Brazilian Jiu-JItsu from Mestre Sylvio Behring. It was a seven-hour instructor symposium culminating in my demonstration, in which I showed some of my best techniques including wrestling, no-gi, sport Jiu-Jitsu in the gi and self-defense. Two of my training partners assisted me in the demo, a brown belt named John and a blue belt named Correy. This was the demo:




In the weeks leading up to this huge day, I did a lot of thinking about the concept of a black belt, what it represents and what it means to me to wear one. I remember the day I made the decision to leave the MMA school I was training at before Arashi-Do, which was mainly a Kyokushin Karate school. While they did have grappling elements in the program, I knew that someday I wanted to be a black belt in BJJ and that I couldn't achieve it if I stayed there and that was one of the main reasons I left. Even then though, I didn't really understand the gravity of actually being one. I was too far removed. Being a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to me meant being Fabricio Verdum or Ricardo Arona - respected and feared. In my state of emotional maturity at the time (See: teenager), that was what I wanted out of it.

When I arrived at Arashi-Do, BJJ was definitely a means to an end. I had my sights set on being a professional fighter and had my second pro fight just before starting to train there officially. However, when I got a taste of real BJJ, I completely fell in love with it and MMA quickly became a distant second priority, then dropped from my mind entirely.

When I was growing up, I was a competitive swimmer. I was very successful in swimming on a national level, but it wasn't really the kind of sport that you got into as a way of expressing your individuality. The best and fastest way to perform the four strokes has been established for decades now, and success on a technical level will depend largely on how well you're suited to it. Jiu-Jitsu, on the other hand is so incredibly expansive - literally anyone can find Jiu-Jitsu that works well for them and expresses their personality and intellect. I know that statistically very few people that start Jiu-Jitsu will ever make it to purple belt, let alone black but I've just never understood how.

I love everything about BJJ. I love how I can train in it for literally the rest of my life and still discover new things about it. I love the kind of people it attracts (three of my four groomsmen were people I've met through BJJ) and I love how when people look at me doing BJJ, it doesn't look exactly the same as anyone else in the world doing it, and since I started the thought has literally never crossed my mind that there might be a day that I don't do this stuff anymore. Being a 10th degree Red Belt is even further removed from me now than black belt was when I first started, but now that the black belt has come and gone, if I keep teaching and training for the rest of my life, who knows?

The black belt represents the techniques I've learned, but when I look at it or feel it around my waist I know that it's also made up of the experiences and people that make up my Jiu-Jitsu family. It's amazing to think about how much of my life has happened since I walked into Arashi-Do with a white belt on. I think that's also why I love teaching so much. If someone in my class someday looks at their own black belt and thinks to themselves that some of their happiest memories are from being on the mats in my class, I think I'll have achieved something very special, as my instructors have done for me.

Oct 30th Trap Bar Deads and Sled Dragging

Alright! So... I've missed blogging a few workouts.

I'm very happy to be back deadlifting again though! I haven't deadlifted heavy since the neck injury in early August, and haven't gone this long without deads since I was like 18. Buying the trap bar was one of the best moves I've ever made. The high handles, neutral grip and foot position makes a world of difference, and since I'm so tall even the high handles are well below my knees.

One big difference is that with a traditional bar I usually do touch-and-go deadlifts, with the trap bar I do a dead stop every time.

Triples:

60 (Empty Bar), 110, 150, 200, 240, 290, 330, 380, 420, 440, 470

The triple at 470 was a little shaky but still felt good. The trap bar is a smaller diameter than the Cemco barbell that Brandon and I use for everything else, and the knurling isn't as deep so it doesn't take chalk as well but my grip still felt great. It'll take some getting used to.

Sled Dragging

370lbs - Dragged it approx 200m with a slow trudge using the harness