Pushup x 10
Situp x 10
BW Squat x 10
8 min round
6 min round
4 min round
20 min on stationary bike
Run 1 mile
Circuit x 5
10 inverted rows
5 dips
Circuit x 5
10 situps
10 box jumps
100 yard hill sprint x 2
100 yard hill lunges x 1
Walk 1 mile
BJJ class
Circuit
1 Power Snatch
5 Behind the neck squat thrusters
5 Burpee pullups
5 Powercleans
5 Overhead presses
5 Front squats
5 Ab wheel rollouts
100 Rope skips, as fast as possible
45, 95, 115, 135
Holy shit⊠I need a freakin ventilator
BJJ Class
EMOM x 10 min
Deadlift 405x2
Pullup BWx2
EMOM x 10 min
Bench Press 245x2
DB Row 110x2
Heavy Bag 3x3
Suspended Bag 3x3
Warmup
Bike x 10 min
Squatx3x10âŠssâŠpushupsx3x10
DeFrancoâs limber 11 hip mobility drills
Circuit (135lb barbell, 40lb dumbbell)
Clean and press x 6
Pullups x 6
Behind the neck thrusters x 6
Pushups x 10
Situps x 10
Jump rope x 100
Dragon flags x 10
Delt raises x 10
DB curls x 10
Did circuit 3 times with a couple min reat between
AM BJJ Class
We drilled establishing and sweeping from the X-guard. It felt very slick and tight (thatâs what she said) so I will have to start trying to work this into live rolling.
I also inadvertantly discovered the head and arm choke from north south which is really easy to setup when you sit out to modified scarf hold from a knee slide guard pass. I will have to start refining this as well.
I rolled for one round and did well but the guy I roll with in the mornings is really hip to my game and his defense has gotten really good. I was still able to start from the bottom, reverse quickly and maintain a dominant position, transitioning around his escape attempts which apparently is the âstyleâ I am starting to develop (from what the coaches have told me).
The extra calories I have been consuming have resulted in about 15lbs of weight gain in a very short period of time; however, I look like I have actually gotten leaner. I am starting to show veins on my arms and shoulders which has never, ever happened in my 30 years. Also, my stomach doesnât shake when I run and jump rope haha, so thatâs a plus. I know physique development isnât the point of this forum or my main goal but I have never looked decent in my life so itâs gratifying to see those changes take place. Also, my blood pressure and cholesterol are no longer a problem which is the most important improvemwnt I have made.
As of late I donât feel like I have gotten any better but I hear the same thing from multiple coaches saying otherwise. This morning Jesse said that I was starting to develop intuition about where my opponent is about to go and thatâs why I was able to shut down all of my partnerâs reversal attempts. So, I guess I am getting better but just not at the things I have been paying attention to. In retrospect, I can appreciate only one instance of this durimg which I knew where my partner was going to move based off of how he changed his grips and used a shoulder smash pass to transition to side mount, back take, kimura (failed), straight armbar (failed), Americana (also failed) and bow and arrow choke for the finish. Anyway, I keep chipping away.
Weights tonight
Warmup
Squat/pushup 40 reps
Jump rope 500 skips
Limber 11
Block Pulls
135x5
225x5
315x5
405x3
475x3
545x1
600x1
425x8
Power Shrugs from Blocks
315x3x5
Snatch Grip High Pulls from Blocks
185x3x3
Barbell Row from Blocks
185x3x15
Ab Wheel
3x15
Situps (no foot support)
3x15
I felt like doing a random powerlifting workout for old timeâs sake 
Except now, the deadlift weights are a little over 200lbs lighter than they used to be lol
Nice to see your hard work in your BJJ training starting to pay off.
That you are seeing sub opportunities and starting to chain things together is a good sign. Now itâs going to be a matter of technical refinement of those subs so you start to hit them more consistently. During that process you will also become more familiar with your opponentâs likely defenses and start to develop counters/submission extensions/combinations to thwart those defenses.
X Guard is great for people with shorter legs or stockier builds IME or when dealing with opponents really thick torsos. It also transitions well from and into other shorter leg types of guards like Butterfly or shin guard. Lots of solids sweeps and transitions from there too.
Iâm sorry, I meant single leg X-guard. I havenât started playing around with the x guard yet.
Single leg X is great too, nice transition to leg locks if you like those as well.
The coach at the am classes is really big on ankle locks after sweeping with the single leg x. I prefer to try and establish a dominant position before chasing subs. If they have a guard thatâs too hard to pass I might go back and try to get a sub with a leglock.
DB Press
60âsx15
80âsx10
90âsx4x8
Run 1 mile
Dips
BWx4x8
Foot elevated pushups
BWx4x8
Run 1 mile
Yeah, I guess it kinda depends on your focus, desired arena of application, and mindset. Ankle locks (or heel hooks if they are allowed) can finish the fight immediately, but, if you miss them and arenât skilled at controlling your opponent or the ensuing scramble if they should defend, then you may wind up back on the bottom. If you simply sweep and look for position you have the advantage of winding up on top, but miss the opportunity for the quick finish. Itâs also of course going to depend on who you are rolling with.
My school only allows white belts to do straight ankle locks and estima locks so if a sub attempt goes awry I donât really have other options but to scramble and try to get on top.
There is a guy at our school who does a lot of catch wrestling techniques. When he starts chasing a foot lock, he has an answer to anything you do to try and escape or defend. He will transition between locks lightning fast without ever giving up control of your leg. Itâs a killer game that I would love to learn!
Yeah, CACC and Sambo tend to be the best leg lock arts in isolation. I can understand your instructors not wanting white belts chasing heel hooks as they tend to have a much higher risk for injury than straight ankle locks. What about Knee bars? Are those fair game?
Even if you can only actually hit/finish straight ankle locks, I would encourage you to study up on CACC/Sambo skills off the straight ankle lock position and try working some of the flows or sweeps off of them in training. Even if you lose the position or are prohibited from certain âsubmission extensions,â the more familiar you get with the position the more quickly you will start picking up those skills once you are permitted to start using them.
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I have been implementing them with mixed results. I definitely need more drilling and live rolling with them before I even think about developing a sub flow around it.
In the last year I lost about 100lbs. Now, I have a new year and new goals to set. Goal 1: 230lbs @ 12% bodyfat, Goal 2: run a mile in less than 7 minutes, Goal 3: Maintain 1300lb+ powerlifting total, Goal 4: Earn blue belt in bjj, Goal 5: Pass the CNIM board exam. Passing the CNIM is my #1 goal this year. It is a surgical neurophysiology board examination and is generally compared to the bar exam that attorneys take. After that, bjj is my main goal. The other fitness goals are only thrre because I think they would benefit my grappling ability.
I have not had structure to my training plan for the past few months and havenât made the progress I could have because of it. My training for 2017 will be as follows:
There will be 2 âgymâ workouts per week. Each will include something for maximal strength, something for hypertrophy, something for metabolic conditioning and something for cardio. One will focus on upper body and one on lower body. I will keep the main lifts for 4 weeks each and add 5lbs a session. There will be 1 conditioning session per week consisting of running and bodyweight exercises. I will go to bjj 3 times or more each week and will do my gym work on the days that I am not able to go to bjj. I will take at least 1 day off of training each week.
My diet will also need to be on point, I will eat a diet of veggies, poultry/fish, nuts, whole grains and rice. I will allow myself a cheat meal every time I hit a new low morning weight. This usually winds up being about every 5-10 days.
Here are some shirtless pics from today, I was 276 when I woke up this morning with all my holiday food bloatiness. Hopefully the ones I take on 1-1-2018 look much better!
Todayâs training session
Warmup
Spin bike 15 minutes
Strength
Bench press 225x3, 245x3, 265x3, 285x3
Pullups BWx3x3
Hypertrophy
Bench press 225x3x8
Circuit x 3 rounds (40lb dbâs)
Delt raisesx10, 8, 6
Hammer curlsx10, 8, 6
Flyesx10, 8, 6
Tri extensionsx10, 8, 6
Metabolic conditioning
Circuit x 3 rounds
Snatchx5
BTN thrustersx5
Snatch grip high pullx5
Cardio
Heavy bag 1 min/1 min rest x 16 minutes
Nice way to sweat out all that metabolic waste I doubtlessly acquired over the holidays.
Bench Press
135x10
225x8
315x5
315x5
365x1
Incline Bench Press
135x10
185x8
225x5
185x8
DB Bench Press w/ 4 second pauses
70âsx10
85âsx7
100âsx5
Flat machine pressâŠssâŠpec deck
3 sets of 10-15 reps
Decline machine pressâŠssâŠincline machine press
3 sets of 5-10 reps
Hands elevated pushups
I did about a billion of these. I went way, way past failure
A buddy of mine who is a bodybuilder asked me to come lift with him so thatâs why my training session looks like this. It was a pretty brutal lifting session, though.
BJJ class
Rolled 5 rounds, drilled a gift wrap rock choke from side mount, transitioned to armbar, transitioned to bicep slicer, back to side mount, transitioned to north south choke, transitioned to inverted shoulder lock, move to scarf hold and end with a head and arm choke.
Rob taught this flow today because he saw me getting hung up in the side mount with gift wrap against someone who was defending really well.
Am BJJ class
We drilled establishing the X-guard and sweeping. Great drilling session, we went back and forth doing the same move for over an hour. I need more classes to be like this.
Pm
Strength
Snatch grip high pull
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
Snatch grip power shrug from blocks
315x5
365x5
Hypertrophy
Pullups x 3 x 10
Metcon
Circuitx135x3 rounds
Powerclean x 5
Overhead press x 5
BTN thrusters x 5
Barbell row x 10
Love the âgift wrap!â One of my favorite control positions. Lots of great subs and transitions off that as well.
Looking solid, keep up the good work!