Day 6

Just returned from my strength training session.
There’s a good thing and a bad thing:

Good thing: I’m currently free of pain.
Bad thing: As soon as feeling returns to my body, it’ll be agonizing.

The routine was the same as last time, only today we upped the weights a bit. Also, today was „bench“ day, so we re-estimated the 1RM for the bench press and did 4×8 on the dealift and the squat. Those two exercises are propably the most useful one can do, but combined in the same workout, they’re murderous.

We wramed up by doing some movement-prep exercises from Mark Verstegens „Core Performance“ book. I have to admit I was positively surprised by the effect. I felt loose yet stable and properly prepared. We did:

1. Hip crossover, 10l/10r
2. Scorpion, 10l/10r
3. Calf strentch, 10l/10r
4. Hand walk, 5
5. Inverted hamstring, 5l/5r
6. Backward lunge with a twist, 5l/5r
7. Drop lunge, 5l/5r

Today’s stats:

1. Bench press, 1RM: 95kg (I was disappointed)
2. Deadlift, 4×8, 90kg
3. Military press, 4×8, 35kg (tried 37,5 but that’s too much for me at the moment)
4. Bent-over rows, 4×8, 40kg
5. Parallel squats, 4×8, 85kg

On the deadlift, I’ve found that my grip strength is lacking. I propably would have been able to pull 100 or 110 if not for that deficit. I’ve decided against the use of straps and bands, however, as I firmly believe in arganic improvement. What I mean is that the forearms have to imrpve along with the rest of the body so as not to create muscular imbalances. Presumably, man isn’t build to lift more than he can hold anyways.

My biggest focus while doing the squats is onmy ankle/tibia positioning, my foot-axis if wish. Therefore, I’m doing parallel rather than ass-to-the-grass squats. On the side of specificity, there’s very few movements in standup fighting that require the full squatting ROM (range of motion).

If all I did in a week was two strength training sessions, I’d add the pushup (wide grip), glute-ham raises and russian twists. Anyhow, since those strength sessions are but two out of ten weekly workouts, any increase in volume would lead to massive over-training.

Speaking of those other workouts, in about 60 minutes I’ll be off for the bath to do my interval swimming. (Writing this post took me some while, I ate some oatmeal in the meantime, so I’ll be good to go.)

My weekly plan for the next 8 weeks (having done week 1, if altered, this week) looks like this:

Monday:

• 15:00 – 16:00 Rope skipping (+1 round every week up to 15)
• 16:00 – 19:45 Teach a class
• 20:00 – 21:00 Padwork (+1 round every week up to 15)

Tuesday:

• 10:00 – 11:30 Strenght training
• 16:00 – 17:00 Rope skipping (+1 round every week up to 15)
• 17:00 – 19:45 Teach a class

Wednesday:

• 08:00 – 10:00 Teach a class
• 11:00 – 12:00 Interval swimming (+1 interval every week up to 15)

Thursday:

• 18:15 – 19:45 Shinergy class OR
• 20:00 – 21:30 Shinergy[supreme team] prep training (depends on my ankle)

Friday:

• 10:00 – 11:30 Strength training
• 19:00 – 21:00 Boxing class

Saturday:

• 10:00 – 11:00 Interval swimming (+1 interval every week up to 15)
• 15:00 – 17:45 Teach a class
• 18:00 – 19:00 Padwork (+1 round every week up to 15)

I’ll have to rearrange things a bit in march, as I’ll be having an additional class on saturday, but that’ll be minor adjustments. Keep in mind that this is a rehab program to get me back to an acceptable form. After surviving those 9 weeks I’ll cut back on volume and do more specific, more intense work.

Now, I’ll be off for swimming.

So long,

take care