Tuesday (19/06/18) I intended today to be very relaxed, non-exercise kind of a day, but I got bored when Mrs T was out visiting her stepsister, so decided I'd head out for a 30 minute walk (at about 5 minutes in to the walk, boredom struck again , so I switched it up to a 20 minute Interval Jog instead) Warm-up 5 minute Walk Intervals 1 minute Jogging / 30 seconds Walking (and repeat for 20 minutes) Distance: 2.93km Pace: 6m 53s per/km Cool Down 5 minute Walk As you can tell from the pace, this was a really relaxed effort, which I'm happy to say was hindered by neither my existing 'mysterious' illness, nor my current chest infection (though I did need a few puffs on my inhaler, post-shower) Travess
Wednesday (20/06/18) - Rest Day It was my eldest's school Sports Day yesterday, and I had the pleasure of cheering on her efforts this time, which made for a nice change. Thursday (21/06/18) AM: Since Strength Training doesn't appear to be cause me too many problems at present, I decided to stick with a Bodyweight Circuit this morning, putting together a little 10-down-to-1 Drill (circuit 1 = 10 reps each... - ...circuit 10 = 1 rep each) of Push Ups, Crunches, Squats, Tricep Dips, Calf Lifts (assisted) Pull Ups and Bicep Curls (TRX) PM: Karate @ 180 minutes - Starting with the 60 minute Kids Class. Today, following some Fitness and Co-ordination drills, we ran a truncated version of Monday evening's Adult Zenkutsu Dachi class. During the 30 minutes between the kid's and the adult's class (whilst I waited for my Wife to come and collect our daughter) my eldest and I ran thru Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Sanchin together. (Which I always love getting the time, space AND opportunity to do) Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - Following a brief revision of the work that we did on Monday, we got stuck straight in with some Heavy Kihon Drills (I found myself needing to go to the 'well' here already) which lasted about 15 minutes. The remainder of the session was then spent on Kicking Drills - Primarily Mae Geri and (low) Mawashi Geri - both of which took the form of Kihon Work, Partner Drills, Conditioning and Pad Work. I again found myself mentoring 2 junior (9th Kyu) students, so I did more teaching than actual doing, but I still managed to work up a (slight) sweat. Travess
Friday (22/06/18) - Rest Day I had not intended today to be a rest day, but whenever I found myself with some free time, something else always seemed to come up, until eventually I ran out of 'laters' Saturday (23/06/18) - Rest Day No. 2 Not sure if it was just a stomach bug, or actual (mild) food poisoning, but I was really whiped out, from the early hours, until well in to the evening and couldn't face eating anything for almost 24 hours. Sunday (24/06/18) - Rest Day No. 3 Decided to chalk this weekend up as a total right off!!! Monday (25/06/18) Karate @ 100 minutes - Prior to the start of the class, I grabbed 1 of the Black belt candidates (formely referred to as my 1st Kyu students) for his 44 Push Ups in 2 minutes test (he did the full amount, but it took him 2m 38s) which I did alongside him. (Though I did mine on my knuckles, with my feet elavated) The class got underway with a Kata based warm-up - Ichi, Ni, Saifa and Seyunchin - Before splitting up into grade groups to work on our Grade Kata. There are a couple of Black belts in the club (both of whom came from other clubs/styles) that up until today had not been taught Shisochin, so I worked on that with them for while. For the last 40 minutes, each group were tasked with working on a piece of Bunkai for the kata that they'd been working on, with each group being allocated a black belt (or 2) to help them out - But, we weren't allowed to offer advice, or demonstrate any techniques, and we were only permitted to respond to 'yes / no' answer questions. (Being very vocal about my Bunkai, I found the required amount if restraint quite s challenge!) Travess
Tuesday (26/06/18) - Rest Day Wednesday (27/06/18) Bought myself a new (to me) Rowing Machine for my garage on Saturday, and I have been looking forward to the day that I get to break it in ever since - Alas, due to tempratures in my garage being on the low 40's, today was not gonna be that day... Played with the idea of making today another rest day, but I have had enough of those this past week, even for someone who is meant to be taking things easy for a while... ...Cue a relaxed 30 minute (rehabilitation) Road/Trail Run/Walk* outing instead - Distance: 4.75km / 2.95 miles Av. Pace: 6m 19s per/km / 10m 10s per/mile Note: *I used a timer that randomly scattered walking points throughout the run, which, when added together, accounted for 4m 20s of the overall time. Travess
Thursday (28/06/18) AM: Not a major addition this morning, just a bit of a Bicep/Forearm Blast, to combat the monotony of end-to-end 'Peter Rabbit' 43 reps each of Regular Curls and Hammer-grip Curls, both @ 20kg, plus 43 reps of Forearm Grips, all over 5 sets (4 x 9 reps and 1 x 7 reps) PM: (Karate @ 180 minutes) Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - Started them off with a slightly more sedentary warm-up today, due to the heat, that was more Stretching based than cardio. We then spent quite a bit of time looking at a few basic Kakie Drills, which proved to require more attention than originally planned. As a change of pace, the last 20 minutes were spent on some Stock Bunkai for the opening part of Ichi, which they did to counts, moving through one technique at a time, until they got the sequence. Between Sessions @ 30 minutes - I collared one of the other kids instructors, so that we could practice a Gekisai Di Ni based Pad Drill that I'd been working on, and which required a little tweaking. I also stole a few minutes for myself, so that I could run through Shisochin a couple of times. Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - The class got underway with Kata, sticking with just Ichi, Ni and Saifa, as we loosened ourselves up. Following that, the rest of the session was aimed at putting Saifa under the microscope, really analysing key principles found within the kata. What this actually meant, was, that after we'd gone over the kata a few times, we turned our attention to the Heavy Hands/Ballistic Striking aspects of it - This was accomplished thru various Pad and Body Conditioning Drills, that helped to identify the relaxed, no tension manner in which techniques should be delivered. Travess
I struggle with forced rest! It's partly why I started Taichi/qigong many years ago, so I felt I was doing something active whilst resting. But you know it needs to be done, despite getting the itch. A walk sounds a good compromise
That was my main reasoning when I used to play golf (that, and my father had always been an avid player) and why I have been leaning towards digging out my clubs again - Active, but not too active. Travess
I had the Kris Wilder / Iain Abernethy Seminar over the weekend, but I am still in the process of writing that up, so won't get around to adding it to my log until sometime in the week. Monday (02/07/18) Karate @ 90 minutes - The session was broken down evenly tonight, into 3 segments, each running at 30 minutes a piece, starting with Sanchin Kata - There were a few people in the class that, before today, had not been introduced to this Kata, so we only got as far as going thru the movements. (Leaving the breathing, correct application of tension, and shime testing for another day) We then moved on to a few Kakie Drills, looking at the Stance/Grounding in the 1st instance, then moving on to trying to take the balance your partner. Lastly, we did a few Pad Drills, working on the benefits of the Hikite, which we achieved thru various Pulling, Redirecting and Limb Clearing Exercises. Travess
Tuesday (03/07/18) - Rest Day Wednesday (04/07/18) I've been feeling a lot better these past few days, so figured it would be a good time to start ramping up the intensity of my workouts slightly (still with generous rest periods though) Warm-up: 5 x 1 minute on the Rowing Machine, with 30s rest between each. (90s rest) Routine: 5 x 1 minute Rounds of Shadow Fighting, with 30s rest between each. (90s rest) 6 x 1 minute Rounds on the Heavy-Bag, with 30s rest between each. (90s rest) Cool Down: 5 x 1 minute of Jogging, with 30s of Walking between each. I definitly struggled during the latter bag rounds this morning, but felt fine again by the end of the cool down. Travess
Thursday (05/07/18) Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - There is a grading coming up this Saturday, so, following a Fitness (moderated for the heat) and Kihon based warm-up, we centred most of the session around that. We predominantly looked at their Kata, and as this will be a very junior grade heavy grading, so we limited our focus to Gekisai Di Ichi. Once we'd covered enough kata, we turned our attentions to some of the required Padwork, specifically Palm Strikes, Lead Hand Slaps, Hammerfists and Front Kicks, to finish up the session. Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - Sensei ran a rather subdued lesson this evening, thanks again to the weather, kicking off with some Kote Kitae Drills - Ranging from Inner and Outer Forearm strikes, to Thigh Kicks, and then finishing up with a few Body Shots (which left us all nice and tenderised!) Next up, we re-did the Kakie Drills that we ran thru on Monday, with a few added variation thrown in this time around. Sensei wanted to break down certain aspects of our Kata, so we ran thru each of them in turn - Ichi, Ni, Saifa, Seyuinchin, Shisochin and Sanchin - moving very slow and deliberately, focusing on Weight Distribution, Transitions, Flow and Finishing Positions. The last 20+ minutes of the session took the form of Kihon, done with our eyes closed during each technique (then opened again between each technique, to check positions erc...) - I found that my Zenkutsu Dachi ended up more like Han-Zenkutsu Dachi, when going backwards. Travess
Friday (06/07/18) - Rest Day Saturday (07/07/18) Today was a pretty packed day for me today, between the Kids Karate Class in the morning, followed by the Kids Grading throughout the day, finished up grading related Admin into the evening - Which just left me the early morning. My Eldest had friends sleeping over, and my Wife was already out at work, so I was restricted to staying in the house for today's session, so I excused myself upstairs, and put myself thru a short Cardio Workout. 30 seconds Continues Squats (with a Front Kick at the top of each) followed by 30 seconds Continues Lead Leg (Head Height) Mawashi Geri / Rear Cross (with 30s rest between each) I then repeated the exercise, working for 45 Continuous Seconds (of each) then again for 60 Continuous Seconds (of each) - I then rested for a minute, before repeating the whole routine again for 2 more rounds. Total time: 23m 30s This was a much harder routine than I anticipated, which, due to over 700 Kicks, and close to 400 Squats, left me with a pretty high HR, coupled with a serious case of jelly legs. Travess
Monday (09/07/18) Karate @ 90 minutes - The session started with some relaxed (50%) Kata, working on Ichi, Ni, Saifa, Seyunchin and Shisochin, which served as our warm-up (not that we needed much warming up in this heat!) The next 15-20 minutes minutes were spent on Peer-to-Peer Kata Analysis of Shisochin, (for my group) picking apart each others kata, and offering work on points, where needed. The final hour of the class was then spent on Sparring Drills - Starting with Light/Moderate Contact, Hands Only, (and elbows) changing partners every minute. After a few rounds of that, and maintaining the same contact levels, we were then permitted to introduce Foot Techniques (kicks and sweeps) Once we were all suitably immersed in the 'sparring zone' we were split down into 3 separate groups (juniors, intermediates and seniors) each of which dictated the contact levels (light/moderate, moderate/heavy and full contact, respectively) for what came next... ...which was to be Kata Based Sparring, specifically looking at a key principle(s) of a single kata (we chose the Trapping, Redirecting and Grounding principles of Seyunchin) which we had to employ during our sparring, against an unrestricted, free fighting partner. More to follow on Thursday apparently... Travess
Tuesday (10/07/18) I had an hour to myself this evening, so I ran myself thru a Cardio Routine, which followed a similar format to one that I ran at the end of last week. Warm-up 20 minute Walk Routine 30 seconds each of Continuous Shuttle Runs, Shadow Boxing, and Box Jumps* (with 30s rest between each) followed by 45 seconds of each, then finally 60 seconds of each. Following a 60 second rest, I repeated the above for 2 more rounds. (Note: *I varied the box height, depending on the duration of that work period - 30s = 24" / 45s = 20" / 60s = 16") Cool Down Light Kata Light Stretching In a welcomed turn of events, I also found where my 2-year-old had 'hidden' my HR monitor Duration: 1h 08m Starting HR: 75 bpm Max HR: 177 bpm Average HR: 126 bpm Calories: 460 used Travess
Wednesday (11/07/18) With Mrs T. at work, and both my little bundles in school, I have the entire day to myself today. So, taking full advantage of the cooler air this morning, I planned my morning around some time in the garage. Warm-up: 37 minute Walk (school drop-off) Only planned on 25 minutes, but had to do an additional 12 minutes, double timing it, as I'd forgotten my daughters PE kit! Routine: 5 x 1 minute on the Rowing Machine, with 30s rest between each. (90s rest) 5 x 1 minute Rounds of Shadow Fighting, with 30s rest between each. (90s rest) 6 x 1 minute Rounds on the Heavy-Bag, with 30s rest between each. (90s rest) 5 x 1 minute of Running, with 30s of Walking between each - Distance: 1.29km Av Pace: 5m 26s per/km Cool Down: 3 minute Walk (back to my garage) 4 min Light Spring Ball Tabata (Note: I had wanted to start doing this routine, or something similar, a lot more regularly, but I just noticed that this is the 1st time that I'd done it, since LAST Wednesday - Guess I know what I'm doing Friday!) Duration: 1h 19m Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 183 bpm Average HR: 127 bpm Calories: 573 used Travess
ah the classic "kid forgot school item" ad hoc run I did the same recently for forgotten school lunch box
If only I'd thought of this when I was still at school - The amount of times I'd forgotten stuff, I'd be able to give Mo Farrah a 'Jog' for his money by now! Travess
Thursday (12/07/18) Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - I centred the entire session today, following the warm up, around Kizame Tsuki, which I ran thru Static Kihon Drills, Static Pad Drills and finally Dynamic Kihon and more Dynamic Pad Drills. Adults Karate @ 90 minutes - The 1st 30 minutes of the class was Non-stop Kata, which in this heat, had me dripping from heat to toe, and my Gi almost going see-through! We then returned to the same grade groups that we were in on Monday, and continued with our Seyunchin Principles based Sparring Drill, which needed to be distilled in to a simple, teachable drill, that we could then share with the other groups - This was where everything fell apart! Too many cooks in the kitchen - Though not in a too much ego kind of a way, rather a trying to help, but over complicating matters kind of a way! I'll say no more on the matter, except to say that it is a rare old day indeed, where I leave the dojo more wound up than when I entered. Friday (13/07/18) I had intended to re-visit Wednesday's routine today, but got to my garage to find it already in use (I allow access to one of the 1st Kyu students at my club, to help him prep. for his BB grading) so I decided to head out for Tabata run first, to get myself warmed up, and it just sorta evolved from there... Warm-up: 8m 30s Tabata Run - Running for each 20s work period, then walking during each 10s 'rest' period. Distance: 1.55km Pace: 5m 34s per/km (Note: Had a longer break here than planned, as I stopped for a bit of a chat, during the 'garage hand-over') Routine: (back in the garage) 3 x 2 minute Tabata, swapping between 2 mins on the Spring Ball, 2 mins of Shadow Boxing and 2 mins of Bag-Work - Then rest for 60s, before repeating for 2 more sets of the 3 x 2 minutes. Finally, I headed out again, this time for a single 6 minute Running Tabata - Running for each 20s work period, then sprinting during each 10s 'rest' period. Distance: 1.16km Pace: 5m 02s per/km Cool Down: 5 min Walk (back to my garage) Duration: 43m Starting HR: 80 bpm Max HR: 184bpm Average HR: 147 bpm Calories: 411 used Travess
Saturday (14/07/18) Kids Karate @ 60 minutes - Sensei started them off with some Team Building games, that had specific Kihon points scattered throughout. He then handed over to me, and I absolutely beasted the little peeps on Kihon, Stance Transitions and Working the Angles. I am fully aware that these do not always prove to be particularly exciting drills for the kids, but they all dug deep regardless, making some serious improvements along the way. By the time I got back home, I had barely an hour left of free time, to be able to squeeze a workout in, and get cleaned up afterwards, so I kept it pretty short. (but intensive) Warm-up: (4 minutes) 2 min Spring Ball Tabata 2 min Shadow Fighting Tabata Workout*: (24 minutes) 3 minutes on the Heavy-Bag - 1 min Hands Only / 1 min Feet Only / 1 min Hands & Feet (1 min rest) 3 minute Road Run (1 min rest) *Repeated for a total of 3 sets Cool Down: (4 minutes) 2 min Shadow Fighting Tabata 2 min Spring Ball Tabata Duration: 33 minutes Starting HR: 74 bpm Max HR: 179 bpm Average HR: 145 bpm Calories: 319 used Av. Distance: 560m (per 3 min run) Av. Pace: 5m 21s per/km Travess
Sunday (15/07/18) - Rest Day I did have a workout planned today, but fell back asleep after my alarm went off, and didn't stir again for another 70 minutes - Workout window wasted! Monday (16/07/18) - Rest Day No. 2 Today is the 1st day of our family holiday, so most of the day was spent packing/driving/unpacking/settling in etc... Tuesday (17/07/18) to Thursday (19/07/18) - Inclusive. Each morning was the same - Warm-up: 3 minute Walk (holiday bungalow to beach front) Routine: (approx 20 mins) 5 minute Beach (out) Fartlek Run 7 x Kata (at the shoreline) Gekisai Di Ichi Gekisai Di Ni Saifa Seyuinchin Shisochin Tensho Sanchin 5 minute Promenade (back) Fartlek Run Average daily totals, for Combined 10 min Run (out & back) Tuesday - 1.26 miles / 7m 54s per mile Wednesday - 1.38 miles 7m 14s per mile Thursday - 1.36 miles / 7m 24s per mile Cool Down: 3 minute Walk (beach front back to holiday bungalow) Note: I also did extensive amounts of Walking, not to mention at least 90 minutes per day of Swimming in that time, but that was all just a bonus... Travess
Friday (20/07/18) - Rest Day Saturday (21/07/18) I had a very small window today (30 mins, inc. shower time) so I (foolishly?) chose to skip both the warm up, and the cool down, jumping straight into my Bag Routine instead. I opted to play Iain Abernethy's Bag Workout Podcast today, both in length - instead of 5 x 3 min rounds, I did 3 x 4 min rounds, followed by 2 x 3 min 30s rounds - as well as in format - every round contained at least 1 min straight of Just Kicking (which is the drill that I always find to be the most arduous!) Duration: 23 minutes Starting HR: 77 bpm Max HR: 181 bpm Average HR: 157 bpm Calories: 263 used Travess
