Barbell Row / Fat Man Pullups Compound Superset
120 x 8 / BW x 15
120 x 7 / BW x 12
120 x 6 / BW x 10
Weighted Chins / Lat Pulldown Compound Superset
BW x 8 / 90 x 12
BW x 6 / 100 x 12
BW x 4 / 110 x 10
Not at all happy with the Chins. Part of why I’ll be returning to the 531 Rest Pause when this BB work is done in mid-May.
Decline EZ Bar Triceps Extension / Rope Triceps Extension Compound Superset
25 x 8 / 90 x 15
30 x 8 / 90 x 13
30 x 8 / 90 x 12
30 x 8 / 90 x 13
30 x 8 / 90 x 12
Post Training Cardio
Incline Treadmill Walking
2.0 miles 33:30 minutes, 400 calories
You’re BB, that I think will put the strength a little on the backburner.
Supersetting chins and pull downs will have your lats fatigued. And doing them after the other back superset, well there you have it. Try to do the chin superset first next time.
But if you gain some muscles then the strength will come back up right away.
Keep grinding, focus on building muscles not strength.
Thanks. I figured that the supersetting had something to do with it. I was never great at pullups. I think I was doing RP sets of 10-5-3 at the end of my Rest Pause Challenge. So there’s an argument that I’m at or maybe even a little beyond par when you factor where the chins were in the workout - like you said.
Woke up at 157.0 and wanted to chop an arm off. Two weeks averaging 1500-1600 net calories a day is turning out to be closer to maintenance than I thought. So much for online estimates and calculators telling me BW x 15 or even 12. Apparently BW x 10 is closer to the mark.
I’m going to pull back even further on the calories on non-training days (and the treadmill is finally up and running), to see if I can get some serious movement on the scale and/or waistline.
Low Incline DB Press / Seated Machine Flyes Compound Superset
45 x 12 / 60 x 12
45 x 12 / 70 x 12
45 x 12 / 80 x 12
Low 2 High Cable Flyes
30 x 10 x 3
Bench Press 100 Rep
bar x 50
bar x 30
bar x 20
Barbell Curl
80 x 5 x 5
Kneeling Cable Crunch
130 x 15 x 4
Hanging Knee Raise
BW x 15 x 2
Had to make a few adjustments due to equipment availability. Pretty good workout today; especially glad for the progress toward the 100-rep Bench Press. Also grateful for the mid-150 scale weight - hoping to slip beneath the 33" mark on the waistline by week’s end.
AM Cardio / Incline Walking
2.5 miles / 42:33 minutes / 255 calories / 6.0 intensity
Jiu-JItsu Training
Tutored first class / Three eight minutes rounds of Live Training in second class
Cardio felt very, very good during the Live Training. The brown belt I often train with remarked that I had a lot more energy and attacked far more than I had all year. I took it as a compliment; he’s about my size but probably 20 years younger, and a great guy to have in my training rotation.
I also did a lot of resetting back to neutral if/when I passed guard to focus more on guard passing than on finishing from dominant positions like side control (especially important since I only train twice a week).
Great workouts BTT.
The weight came down so did waistline that’s good.
I would up the protein a bit and dial back a bit on fat and carbs, shooting for at least 160g protein.
You are doing a hypertrophy program, you might be putting on some muscles.
I’m trying to become more aware of training opportunities like this, but I’m also trying to balance that with making my techniques succeed. I want to make sure I’m a guy people of all levels want to roll with, which isn’t always a given when you’re 6’00", 270lbs and can deadlift 600 on a bad day. I can shelve pressure techniques pretty easily now, but I can’t stop being a big strong guy who is going to present difficult training opportunities to my partners.
I usually enter each roll with an objective that’s somewhat tailored to my training partner, but I still struggle with the little decisions in the round where I have to decide whether it’s more important to “win” via successful application of concepts imparted to me or “lose” (via concession of positions and techniques that I could have defended against) to work on weak points. I feel like both are avenues to improvement at my stage, but I’ve been following my instinct to “win”. I’m beginning to recognize that expanding my toolbox is just as important (and enjoyable/rewarding) as refining the tools I already have, but I have such a strong urge to apply what I know and come out on top as often as I can.
If you had to put yourself in the position of a senior white belt with significant attribute advantages who is routinely tapping blue and purple belts (and even a few browns) how would you advise this goon to become a better grappler? I’m being encouraged to smash and “win”, which always feels good, but I’m also beginning to realize that working on the things I’m good at leads me away from working on the things that I’m not so good at.
I ask this as an outsider with deep appreciation of your mat time and experience. I would really appreciate your perspective on my simple, yet somewhat complex dilemma of smash or not smash. How would you proceed, knowing what you know now?
Jiu-Jitsu Training
Tutored first class / Three rounds of Live Training (5 min/5 min/10 min) in the second
Rolled with three purple belts during Live Training. Energy levels were great through the first round, okay most of the way through the second (lost position with a minute left), and pretty lousy in the third. My goal by the end of August is to be able to roll with this calibre of training partner with less fatigue and more efficiency.
Thanks! I caught a good video from Canadian bodybuilder Jeff Nippard who pointed out that skipping breakfast can make it harder to get all of your protein in (without cramming it all in at the end of the day). So I’ve started making sure I’ve got at least 75g of protein in me by noon (and half of that within the first two hours of waking up). Today was a great day on that score: almost 170g, which is super high for me.
It’s a good question - and probably a matter of personal preference and school culture at the end of the day.
My general rule of thumb is that - all else equal - the significantly larger partner should spend the majority of the time working from guard. It’s a truism that bigger guys are better on top and smaller guys are better with their guards. I know that our professor is constantly encouraging some of our bigger guys (we have one UFC heavyweight who trains with us from time to time) to play from their back more frequently.
I’m also focused quite a bit on efficiency. I’m older and/or smaller than most of the folks at my academy. So energy expenditure is a paramount concern for me. Doing more with less effort - including speed and strength - is sort of my Zen Rickson philosophy right now.
P.S. You ever train with the guys at Fosters BJJ? They aren’t a huge school, but they’ve been around forever and have more than a few big guys. James “300” Foster himself won the Black Belt Masters 3 Ultra Heavy division at the Masters Worlds last year, and seems to attract some of the bigger jiu-jitsu guys around the area …
I have not. I live in Maine, so those guys aren’t in my neighborhood. One of my instructors and his instructor are from the Marcelo Alonso lineage, with the senior of the two spending a good chunk of time in the Pacific NW and then importing his knowledge to New England. He set about spreading it around like jiu jitsu guys are known to do, giving one of my instructors his black belt a few years ago. I’ve been to two Marcelo seminars and they were great fun.
There’s a handful of guys in my area who are around my size who train sporadically, but none of them ever show up to class consistently. I’ve done well against the ones who do, but I’m also a lot stronger than them and out-class them technically. I’ve heard tales of a large and rugged purple belt who lives 90 minutes north of me, and hopefully we’ll cross paths someday.
My other instructor murders me at 100 lbs lighter, and so do the brown and above belts from his school. So I get to spend a lot of time on my back against those guys, albeit in survival mode.
I’m almost 40, so I’m no spring chicken either compared to the young and aggressive guys. I think I’m doing a good job at moving with a purpose and making my game more energy-efficient, but that’s something I balance with being a guy who people want to roll with. It takes a lot more energy to carry my own weight in side control, mount and high mount compared to letting my opponent carry my weight. I call it the “drunk uncle treatment”, where I roll with guys up to purple belt without using any pressure that opens up pathways I like to take. I find a lot of value in that, and I suppose that’s been my first stage of deliberately “losing” in order to develop a more complete technical game.
I think you’re right that I need to spend more time in the guard. It’s definitely my weakest position. I do okay in closed guard, usually looking for a sweep instead of a sub, but my lack of mobility hampers me in open guard and trying to defend guard passes from open guard. Open guard is one of the weakest parts of my game. My open guard is basically a barn door that people can walk through into side control, even lower-level guys.
There are quite a few guys I train with who don’t like to start standing, so I think playing open guard to start is what I need to do in those situations.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!
Sure thing! I must have gotten confused about the Marcelo Alonso lineage and thought you spend a good amount of time out here on the other northern tip of the nation!
Never been to Maine. Spent a few years in Western Massachusetts (preschool - 3rd grade), Northhampton, to be specific. Just down the block from one of Calvin Coolidge’s old homes (allegedly).
I’ve been trying to demystify the open guard for myself over the past several months, focusing on sitting guards (Rodolfo Viera, Octavio Sousa, Cobrinha - BJJ Scout has a great technique video on them) and single X - which we are working on this week in class. I’m also a big fan of Kron Gracie’s “scissor sweep” open guard, which is one of my go-to open guards of late.
Biceps Conjugate / Upper Chest Heavy
[warmup sets not shown]
Barbell Curl
75 x 8 x 4
Reverse Preacher Curl / Hammer Curl Compound Superset
bar+15 x 10 / 30 x 12
bar+15 x 10 / 30 x 12
bar+15 x 10 / 30 x 12
Machine Curl - 2 arms concentric / 1 arm eccentric
40 x 6
40 x 6
40 x 5/4
Preacher Curl 100 Reps
bar x 30
bar x 30
bar x 40 (!)
That 40 rep set was stout. Just determined to get the 100 done in three sets.
High Incline DB Press
55 x 5 x 5
Sometimes just getting these heavier DBs into position is half the work!
Kneeling Cable Crunch / Hanging Knee Raise Compound Superset
140 x 15 / BW x 15
140 x 15 / BW x 15
140 x 12 / BW x 15
Took the day off, so it was nice to enjoy a non-rushed workout. Will head down the highway to Tacoma tomorrow to celebrate the re-grand opening of our new school there. Hope to get in a few rounds of training, then back to the gym for the final workout of the week (shoulders/triceps).
Also too … I think there might be an Outback Steak and Lobster dinner waiting for me Saturday night once I’m done. That’s some serious motivation!
Barbell Row / Fat Man Pull Up Compound Superset
120 x 8 / BW x 18
120 x 7 / BW x 14
120 x 7 / BW x 12
Weighted Chin / Lat Pulldown Compound Superset
BW x 8 / 100 x 12
BW x 6 / 100 x 12
BW x 5 / 100 x 12
Decline EZ Bar Triceps Extension / Rope Triceps Pulldown Compound Superset
35 x 8 x 5 / 90 x 15 x 5
Each cycle in this protocol has revealed a specific weakness. The first cycle exposed the weakness in my rear delts. This current cycle - half-completed - is exposing the weakness in my arms, specifically my Brachioradialis. All far more pronounced on my left side than my right. Will be taking the reverse Preacher curls cautiously for the next two weeks.
20 Pounds of Superhero Muscle - Thibaudeau Template (Mostly) Phase 2 of 3 / Week 7 of 12
[Rest periods reduced to 30 seconds]
Halfway through the protocol. Seeing some nice muscle development in historical areas of strength (back) and historical areas of weakness (arms, especially biceps and forearms). Upping protein minimum to 160 per @mortdk’s suggestion and trying to reign in carbs and fats.
Upper Chest Conjugate / Biceps Heavy
[warmup sets not shown]
Incline Bench Press
140 x 8
140 x 6
140 x 5
140 x 4
The shorter rest periods and the weight loss may have had an impact on this opening set.
Low Incline DB Press / Incline Cable Flyes Compound Superset
50 x 10 x 3 / 80 x 12 x 3
Low-to-High Cable Flyes
35 x 10 x 2
35 x 9
Bench Press 100 reps
bar x 50
bar x 30
bar x 20
Barbell Curl
85 x 5 x 5
Short on time today so I skipped ab work. Good training today though, again, I can tell that the weight loss and shorter rest periods are going to make for a challenging week.
Calories a little on the high side, getting to be a trend on Wednesdays between my two low calorie, high cardio days. Need to be careful not to give too much back.
Quads / Hams
[warmup sets not shown]
Back Squat / Romanian Deadlift Compound Superset
140 x 15 / 120 x 12
140 x 12 / 120 x 10
140 x 8 / 120 x 8
140 x 20 / 120 x 15
Screwed up with my numbers and ended up going much lighter than planned. Good grief … I also had half my workout written up incorrectly in my log book (mixed in the second half of Friday’s workout). And here I was thinking that I was rocking this superset this afternoon …
Got back on track with the rest of the workout.
Leg Press
180 x 12
180 x 12
180 x 10
Leg Curl 100 Reps
60 x 25 x 4
Gironda Leg Curl (did Standing Leg Curl)
45 x 12 x 3
Kneeling Cable Crunch
140 x 10
140 x 15 x 2
Hanging Knee Raise
BW x 15
Lost my spot on the HKR station mid-circuit. I’ll make up the balance on Friday (and maybe throw in a few sets of squats for good measure, as well).