Muay Thai/Strength Training Log

[quote]shallowseason wrote:
Working on passing guard also makes me thankful I built a (decently) strong deadlift. Talk about needing your posterior chain!
[/quote]

Glad to hear that you are enjoying BJJ; it’s a lot of fun!

The better you get technically the less you will rely on your posterior chain and the more you will rely on leverage, physics, efficient mechanics, aka “technique”. There are indeed some guard passes that are highly athletic and rely on physicality, but most of them do not (once you really understand the techniques). I know your instructors are probably already constantly telling you this, but really try to focus on the techniques and the biomechanics involved in them which allow you to use the least possible strength and/or athleticism to get the job done, and always seek to be able to use less and less strength and more and more technique not the other way around. Eventually of course you can add your athleticism back in or have your strength as that “last resort” option, but if you rely on it too much when you start and focus too much on the end result (passing the guard) it will stunt your technical development.

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]shallowseason wrote:
Working on passing guard also makes me thankful I built a (decently) strong deadlift. Talk about needing your posterior chain!
[/quote]

Glad to hear that you are enjoying BJJ; it’s a lot of fun!

The better you get technically the less you will rely on your posterior chain and the more you will rely on leverage, physics, efficient mechanics, aka “technique”. There are indeed some guard passes that are highly athletic and rely on physicality, but most of them do not (once you really understand the techniques). I know your instructors are probably already constantly telling you this, but really try to focus on the techniques and the biomechanics involved in them which allow you to use the least possible strength and/or athleticism to get the job done, and always seek to be able to use less and less strength and more and more technique not the other way around. Eventually of course you can add your athleticism back in or have your strength as that “last resort” option, but if you rely on it too much when you start and focus too much on the end result (passing the guard) it will stunt your technical development.[/quote]

That definitely makes sense. The main reason I considered my strength in the deadlift to be a factor is because the instructor gave us a cue to “‘pop’ the hips” after standing to pass the guard. It could also be that doing deadlifts (and squats) simply made me familiar with mechanics similar to the technique learned in class. Regardless, I’m glad to have been made aware of the dangers of relying on strength over technique, which I could have easily been doing without realizing. Thanks for the advice!

Did a ton of stretching/mobility work today (as I have been almost everyday and will be doing almost everyday from here on out). Also had a Muay Thai session, where we primarily worked on kicks, knees and elbows. The main thing I noticed tonight is how surprisingly easy everything is starting to feel. I don’t feel winded near the end of practice and during the conditioning portions of class like I used to, I’m solidifying my technique and my combos feel more fluid. The only negative tonight was that my strikes were less powerful than usual. But I’d say that has something to do with this week being my first week of BJJ on top of Muay Thai.

My bench days always suffer from all the pushup variations we do during the conditioning portion of my Muay Thai class, which is fine. But today was bench day, and I worked the following:

A. Bench Press - 155x5; 175x3; 195x2
B. Pullup - BWx3x8
C1. Half-Kneeling Landmine Press - Bar+25x2x12
C2. Underhand Barbell Row - 135x2x12
D. Hammer Curl - 22.5x3x10/arm

I have open mat BJJ tonight, which I’m very much looking forward to. I’ll write a log entry on that later!

Last night I rolled with a more advanced white belt in the class, and he showed me a lot of different escapes from side control/guard/mount and taught me where to put my weight at each position. It was super informative, and I left the session with a much better understanding of technique, especially side control technique. It was also super exhausting, since we rolled for two hours with only a few breaks here and there. Haha.

Luckily, my deload week for lifting started today. I did the following:

A. Power Clean - 75x5; 95x5; 115x5
B. Squat - 125x5; 155x5; 185x5
C. Zercher Squat - 135x6; 155x6; 165x6; 170x6

Then I hit the heavy bag. I worked on kicks (50 right, 50 lead) before working in 3x3 minute rounds, the first two working only on punches (primarily on my crosses and hooks) and the third working in elbows. All in all, today was a productive day of work!

After a day off yesterday I was back at it today.

I didn’t have much time in the gym today, but I managed to work in the following:

A. Push Press - 55x5; 70x5; 85x5
B. BW Pullups - 1x16; 1x8

Then I hit the heavy bag for roughly 15 minutes, working on my elbow strikes and knees along with my punches.

Tonight I had BJJ, which was awesome. We worked on side control positions 1, 2 and 3 and worked on submissions from the third position. I always leave class feeling like I learned so much yet feeling like I still know absolutely nothing. I seemed to impress the instructor tonight with how seamlessly I was able to lock in the submissions we learned though. That left me feeling pretty great.

As soon as a BJJ session ends, I’m already looking forward to the next one. It’s such a blast!

Had Muay Thai tonight. Worked on defensive drills, kicks and punch/elbow/knee combos.

Didn’t do much else today other than stretch. I have a final tomorrow and another Thursday. So I’m getting last minute reps in in the textbooks.

Had a gym session before my final today:

A. Box Jumps - 3x3
B. Power Clean - 75x5; 95x5; 115x5
C. Deadlift - 145x5; 185x5; 225x5
D. GHR - 2x12

Then tonight I had BJJ, which was great. Went over arm bars and chokes. Then I grappled with the other new guy. He had me in side control for most of the time, but I managed to finally roll out and retrieve guard. I kept him on the defensive the rest of the time, working for a submission. I felt we both did a pretty good job for a couple of newbies. It was fun!

After that I rolled with a blue belt that swiftly and repeatedly kicked my ass for the span of the round. That was cool, too. I feel like I’m learning from everything.

Great attitude. Keep up the good work.

Thanks, Sentoguy!

Hit the gym after my final this morning:

A. Bench Press - 75x5; 95x5; 115x5
B. BW Pullup - 1x17; 1x6; 1x2
C. Underhead Barbell Row - 135x3x8

This was the last workout of my deload week and the last workout of my first 5/3/1 cycle. I’m digging the routine, and I was thankful for the break this week since I just added BJJ to my schedule.

I have Muay Thai class tonight, which will probably be business as usual, so I’ll spare the details on that.

Worked on my striking for a good 45 minutes today. Started with 50 jabs, 50 crosses and 50 hooks, then did the following combos:

5x10 cross-hook-cross-uppercut
5x10 right middle kick
5x10 jab-cross-hook-knee
5x10 lead middle kick
5x10 jab-cross-hook-cross-knee
5x10 jab-elbow (same arm as jab)
5x10 jab-elbow (other arm)

Then I worked on my slips, rolls and footwork for a bit before stepping on a treadmill for 10 minutes.

Later on I went to my gym’s open mat time for BJJ practice with a couple other people from my class. I learned a new guard pass and got to practice some submissions. It’s really hard to go anywhere with anything when it comes time to roll though because I’m still at the stage where I have to think hard about what to do. I can’t wait for muscle memory to ease things.

I would put most of your time into technical practice and drilling at this point; rolling is the fun part that everyone wants to do, but doing your tens of thousands of reps on your basics is what is going to ultimately separate the really good grapplers from the mediocre ones and create muscle memory to where you can simply react/flow rather than having to think. So if you have open mat time like that, spend it on drilling and technical practice and avoid the temptation to just “play”/roll.

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
I would put most of your time into technical practice and drilling at this point; rolling is the fun part that everyone wants to do, but doing your tens of thousands of reps on your basics is what is going to ultimately separate the really good grapplers from the mediocre ones and create muscle memory to where you can simply react/flow rather than having to think. So if you have open mat time like that, spend it on drilling and technical practice and avoid the temptation to just “play”/roll.[/quote]

This makes sense. I did spend most of last night going over technique. The other guys then want to see me put what I learned for the night into practice for the last half hour or so. I do feel like even after going over technique it hasn’t quite translated into my time rolling. Maybe I’ll ditch rolling completely for the time being. Thanks again for the advice!

Lifted today and worked on my striking.

Started with the following:

A. Box Jumps - 3x3
B. Hang Clean - 125x5; 135x5; 155x5
C. Squat - 195x5; 225x5; 265x5
D. Zercher Squat - 155x6; 185x6; 205x6

Then I did 50 middle kicks, 50 lead middle kicks and hit the heavy bag for 2x5 minute rounds, working in elbows along with punching combos.

I’m about to practice BJJ with my best friend who’s been training for a while longer than me. We’re just doing drills and going over technique. Should be awesome!

[quote]shallowseason wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
I would put most of your time into technical practice and drilling at this point; rolling is the fun part that everyone wants to do, but doing your tens of thousands of reps on your basics is what is going to ultimately separate the really good grapplers from the mediocre ones and create muscle memory to where you can simply react/flow rather than having to think. So if you have open mat time like that, spend it on drilling and technical practice and avoid the temptation to just “play”/roll.[/quote]

This makes sense. I did spend most of last night going over technique. The other guys then want to see me put what I learned for the night into practice for the last half hour or so. I do feel like even after going over technique it hasn’t quite translated into my time rolling. Maybe I’ll ditch rolling completely for the time being. Thanks again for the advice! [/quote]

I’m not necessarily saying don’t roll at all; you’ve got to test the car out every now and then to know what you’ve been building is capable of and actual rolling provides you with experience. But it should make up a small portion of your training time and if you manage to get extra training time devote it to building your skills (drilling technical practice), not trying to apply them (rolling).

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]shallowseason wrote:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
I would put most of your time into technical practice and drilling at this point; rolling is the fun part that everyone wants to do, but doing your tens of thousands of reps on your basics is what is going to ultimately separate the really good grapplers from the mediocre ones and create muscle memory to where you can simply react/flow rather than having to think. So if you have open mat time like that, spend it on drilling and technical practice and avoid the temptation to just “play”/roll.[/quote]

This makes sense. I did spend most of last night going over technique. The other guys then want to see me put what I learned for the night into practice for the last half hour or so. I do feel like even after going over technique it hasn’t quite translated into my time rolling. Maybe I’ll ditch rolling completely for the time being. Thanks again for the advice! [/quote]

I’m not necessarily saying don’t roll at all; you’ve got to test the car out every now and then to know what you’ve been building is capable of and actual rolling provides you with experience. But it should make up a small portion of your training time and if you manage to get extra training time devote it to building your skills (drilling technical practice), not trying to apply them (rolling).[/quote]

That makes sense. I’ll stick with the approach we used last night. My friend and I worked on drills for an hour then grappled for two five minute rounds. I feel myself getting better each time.

Weights in the early afternoon went like this (after a general warmup involving mobility drills and jump rope work):

A1. Push Press - 85x5; 105x5; 125x5
A2. BW Pullup - 3x10
B1. Seated Cable Rows - 135x2x12
B2. Tricep Rope Pulldown - 65x2x12
C. Hammer Curl - 25x3x10/arm

Then I worked on boxing defense with a training partner.

At night I had BJJ practice. We drilled six different kinds of guard passes. I rolled the other new guy at the end of class. I find that I just can’t get aggressive/competitive in a class setting, even during rolling time. I’m not sure if this is a help or a hindrance. On the one hand, I always end up in bad positions because I’m not aggressive enough to take charge. On the other hand, I like to practice staying calm and learning how to get out of bad positions and into dominant ones. I just never know how amped up/competitive I should get when rolling in class.

Here are some good thoughts on that subject from Keith Owen:

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Here are some good thoughts on that subject from Keith Owen:

This was great. I’m definitely a progress-oriented person when rolling. But I’ll have to work on being more aggressive when it comes time (down the road, of course) to compete. Thanks for the video.

Studied my ass off for my final today then went to Muay Thai class tonight. We drilled front kicks, middle kicks and punch/knee combos. I have my last final of the quarter tomorrow, then I’m free for a week and a half to simply relax when not training.