Monday (27/05/19) - Active Rest Day Teaching at training tonight, which meant that, outside of some Kata Revision, ahead of the session, I didn't really get much work in myself. Tuesday (28/05/19) I didn't have anything planned today, but as I did so little yesterday, I thought I'd throw together a (short) Strength Training Circuit to make up for it - Stations: (15 reps each) Push Ups Bicep Curls Goblet Squats Lateral Shoulder Raises Bicycle Crunches (Repeat for 5 rounds) Wednesday (29/05/19) - Rest Day Looking back on the week so far, I seem to have had an unintentionally 'off week', but the 'rest' has been nice, so I won't let it bother me too much. Travess
Thursday (30/05/19) I spoke WAY too soon about having an easy week it would seem, as Sensei seriously put us through our paces tonight. Karate @ 90 minutes - No pre-training Kata for me today, as it was all hands on deck, getting the matts down for tonight's Ground Drills Session. The 1st portion of the session (60 minutes) focused on a variety of Pad Drills - Starting with 2 x 3 min Rounds, to get us warmed up, before we moved onto the ground based stuff. We covered Striking Drills from the Top Position, (in full mount, whilst covering/defending from upward coming strikes) and from Bottom Position (whilst being mounted, and covering whilst being ground and pounded) Next we combined the above 2 drills, starting from the back, Covering, (from incoming stikes) Striking Up, and Bridging (rolling out into guard) then Striking Down and Clearing (escaping) The final set of striking drills covered Striking our way back to our Feet (from sat on our backsides, and from kneeling) again, whilst covering from incoming shots. The final 30 minutes were spent on Grappling Drills (from the knees) working on Taking the Back, and then on transitioning into an RNC. Sensei said that he'd had enough of set drills at this point, so we finished the session with some Free Randori (from the knees) Note: I was absolutely beat by the end of the session, in that good feeling kind of way, and whilst blood was drawn (mine) I managed to successfully avoid getting any on my Gi. Travess
Friday (31/05/19) AM: I noticed during a lot of the upward, and to a lesser degree, the getting up striking drills last night, that my Core Strength was nowhere near where it once was. I decided on a little Ab work this morning, to give me a bench mark on where I am currently at, and to give me an idea of what I might need going forward. Plank: 2 min (30s rest) 1 min 30 sec (20s rest ) 1 min (FAILED! didn't make it past the 38 second mark!) (60 minutes rest) Mason Twists: (100 reps) 30 reps (30s rest) 25 reps (25s rest) 20 reps (20s rest) 15 reps (15s rest) 10 reps (70 minutes rest) Leg Raises: (100 reps) 30 reps (30s rest) 25 reps (25s rest) 20 reps (20s rest) 15 reps (15s rest) 10 reps Note: I seem to be more comfortable with dynamic exercises, as opposed to static, stress positions (go figure) but on the whole, I was not too discouraged with the outcome (though I would have liked to have completed the plank drills) PM: A much more relaxed afternoon, with just 10 minutes of Stretching, and 15 minutes of Yoga, to finish up my day of 'training' Saturday (01/06/19) - Rest Day I have stated in previous posts, about not being a fan of the 1st day of any month being a rest day, but I spent all day at a 1st Aid Refresher today, which was enough for me. Travess
Sunday (02/06/19) - Active Rest Day Had no exercises planned in today, but we did end up on a 7/8km walk, in the afternoon, so all was not lost. Monday (03/06/19) Karate @ 90 minutes - We have a Kyu grading coming up in 3 weeks, so I was assigned to a group of junior students, to work with them on their Kata. We concentrated solely on Gekisai Di Ni (their grading kata) which, given that they already showed a fair amount proficiency, was aimed predominantly at Timing. The latter half of the session was then spent on Kote Kitae (body conditioning) Drills, working Forearms (inner and outer), Legs (calves and thighs) and Gut - This included a Limb Clearing Pad Drill, to finish up the 90 minutes. Travess
Tuesday (04/06/19) I was experiencing some intermittent hip issues today, on my right-hand side, that would just randomly flair up when I was walking/standing, so I opted for a workout that I could do entirely from a seated position. I took the opportunity to give myself an Arm Day, doing Supersets, each made up of 4 exercises, all (but one) using my 8kg KB. (6 supersets in total) Supersets: (12 reps of each) Hammer Curls* Triceps Curls Forearm Grips Lateral Side Shoulder Raises (Note: *AMRAP for the Bicep Curls, on the final superset for 43 reps) Travess
Wednesday (05/06/19) It appeared that what ever happened to be going on with my hip, had cleared up just as quickly as it started, so I allowed myself a short (Rehab) Run. Just a 5km Treadmill Run, starting at more of a Speed Walking type pace - 7m 20s per/km - then only increasing the pace, should my hip feel up to it. Distance: 5km Duration: 27m 25s Slowest KM: 7m 20s (first km) Fastest KM: 4m 46s (last km) Average Pace: 5m 29s per/km Starting HR: 74 bpm Max HR: 189 bpm Average HR: 152 bpm Calories: 360 used Note: My hip had it's first spasm about 5/6 minutes AFTER my run, and even then, they only lasted (on and off) for about 20 minutes, which is a vast improvement on yesterday. Travess
Thursday (06/06/19) I had planned a double session today, one pre-lunch, then another later in the evening, but alas, Netflix ended up siphoning all my morning focus, which left me with just the one... Karate @ 90 minutes - Sensei absolutely melted us for the 1st 30 minutes, under the guise of a warm up, with a combination of Impact Pad Drills, and Heavy Kihon, which felt more like a full workout to me. He then dialled things back for the remaining hour, breaking us down into grade groups, so that we could work on Grading Kata - I paired up with someone that had only recently started working on Shisochin, and tried to help him out. (Where I could) Finally, as he'd started to look like he was suffering from a little bit of 'overload', we took things back a step, and I introduced him to some of the Kata's Bunkai I also managed to get in some of my own Seipai practice, as well as being able to pick up on a few technical points on Sanseru, from Sensei's GF, whilst the above was going on. Travess
Friday (07/06/19) - Active Rest Day Took a day off today, more or less, only setting aside 30 minutes for myself, for some Sedentary work - 10 mins of Stretching, followed by 10 mins of Yoga poses, and then finally 10 mins of Flexibility (splits) work Saturday (08/06/19) Today was actually down as a rest day, but seen as I had an active one yesterday, I hopped on Treadmill, for a chilled 5km Run Warm-up: 2 mins Stretching / 3 mins Walking Run: 5km with a total time of 26 minutes 47 seconds, for an average pace of 5m 21s per/km Cool Down: 3 mins Walking / 2 mins Stretching Note: Nothing during, nor directly afterwards, but my right hip flexor started causing me some discomfort again today, but this time it stayed with me for the rest of the day - Currently sat with the tens machine on my hip. Travess
Sunday (09/06/19) My hip flexor was feeling a lot better today, with a lot more mobility, but I still decided to take it easy, and focus solely on my upper-body. Pretty much just ANOTHER something of nothing routine, but it was better than doing nothing, and makes me feel like I've still got a toe in the game at least. Routine: 3 x Bodyweight Exercises, doing 6 sets each of 10 x Push Ups, then (on the TRX) 12 x Bicep Curls and finally 15 x Crunches, to finish up. Extra Credit: I also added an additional AMRAP set, hitting 31, 47 and 46 reps of each, respectively. I fancy doing a spot of Bag-Work tomorrow, which, if my hips aren't up to, will just strictly be a Boxing routine. Travess
Monday (10/06/19) Yeah, that didn't happen, not because of my hips, but because I was absolutely shattered (can't remember the last time I was this tired, if I am honest) 10-hours sleep appeared to sort me out though! Karate @ 120 minutes - I got to the hall early, to crack on with my own Kata Practice - In reverse order today, starting with Seipai, and ending with Gekisai Di Ichi - as well as a few minutes of Stretching. Sensei ran another fairly High Intensity session tonight, with 45 mins (which ended up being just over 50 minutes) of Pad Gauntlet Drills planned - If it wasn't for the Gi's and coloured belts, an outside observer would have been forgiven for mistaking these for Muay Thai style drills, as they were very Elbow, Low (thigh) Kick and Front (teep) Kick heavy. As is his way, Sensei dialled the intensity right back for the end of the session, focusing on Kata, and eventually Bunkai. Tuesday (11/06/19) - Rest Day I felt pretty zapped again today, so, given that this was the 2nd day on the trot, I figured I'd take it easy. Wednesday (12/06/19) I ended sleeping a whole hell of a lot yesterday, in the daytime, as well as at night, which meant that I ended up waking fairly early this morning - 05:15 - but still feeling pretty damn good for it. I wasted no time, jumping straight in to some Bodyweight exercises - Starting with 5 x 10 reps of Bicep Curls (on the TRX) and finishing with (I only did the 2 exercises) 8 x 10 reps of Push Ups. The above got my blood pumping a bit, so I thought I'd 'ride that wave' with a short (30 minute) Road Run (which I book ended with some Stretching drills) Distance: 5.64km Fastest Pace: 4m 25s per/km Slowest Pace: 6m 40s per/km Average Pace: 5m 19s per/km Not sure what the rest of the week has in store, but I am heading down south for a 4-day stag-do over the weekend, so may try to cram in some extra work, ahead of that. Travess
Thursday (13/06/19) AM: I squeezed in a couple of nice little pre-breakfast EMOM Sessions this morning, with the 1st (20 minute) EMOM alternating between Push Ups / Goblet Squats / Bicep Curls and Bicycle Crunches, for 12 reps of each at each minute mark. Whilst the 2nd EMOM (7 minute) had a much lower rep count, as it was more of a remedial exercise - Chin Ups (which are still a major sticking point for me) at just 3 reps per minute. PM: Karate @ 90 minutes - Didn't end up training in the end, as my presence was requested at home, for a family dinner, in lieu of us spending father's day together. Friday (14/06/19) to Sunday (16/06/19) inclusive - Rest Days Though, between all the bar hopping, and (really bad) late night dancing, I certainly didn't feel that 'rested' Travess
Monday (17/06/19) Karate @ 90 minutes - We started in much the same way tonight as we usually do, with a Pad Drill based warm-up, which took up approximately 20 minutes of the start of the session - One of our black belt candidates brought a new work colleague along to class, who had just moved to the area, so I volunteered myself to partner with him. Once the warm up was done, the rest of the class broke down into their grade groups, to work on their individual grading requirements, whilst I stayed with the new lad, for a spot of Teaching. I use the term teaching EXTREMELY lightly of course, as the gentleman in question already held a Dan grade in Wado-Ryu Karate, under instructors who in turn cut their teeth under Iain Abernethy* which ultimately left me with little to do, but observe - Until the time came to work on Kata that is, which of course, were stylistically very different. (That didn't prevent him from picking up Gekisai Di Ichi in less than 30 minutes though...) I certainly look forward to working with him again. (Note: *I have no idea of the scope of Iain's involvement in his instructors training, as per the comment above, other than the fact that his name was dropped during the course of the session) Travess
Tuesday (18/06/19) - Rest Day Wednesday (19/06/19) I decided to dust off my Insanity boxset today, to subject myself to their workouts once again, which is something that I plan to do at least one a week, potentially twice, between now and the end of July. Rather than go thru them in order though (where would the fun be in that?) I will be picking discs at random. (There are 10 discs in the set, and I have a 10-sided dice at hand) - Today's roll landed on disc 3 - Cardio Power & Resistance. If you are unfamiliar with the format, this is how they (generally) run: a 10 minute, continuous, increasingly vigorous Warm-up. 10 minutes of Stretching 15 minutes of various Cardio / Bodyweight / Plyometric Drills, broken down into several 2+ minute rounds (30s rest between each) 5 minute Cool Down Unlike Karate, I can actually wear my watch for these routines, so... Duration: 40 minutes Starting HR: 69 bpm Max HR: 181 bpm Average HR: 150 bpm Calories: 420 used Until the next time... Travess
Thursday (20/06/19) Karate @ 90 minutes - Sensei had a full Sparring session planned for tonight, starting with Light Contact, with Restrictions on Techniques, which escalated up to Heavy Contact, with No Restriction. 5 x 1 min Playing for Grips 5 x 2 min Hands Only (light) 5 x 2 min Hands & Feet (light) 4 x 1 min Ground Submissions* 4 x 1 min Takedowns / Throws 5 x 2 min Anything Goes (heavy) Due to the high volume of students in class tonight, we ended up doing one round on the mats, and one round off, as there were too many of us to be able to safely fit on them otherwise. (Note* I had to excuse myself from the 3rd round of ground work, due to a bad roll, when being bridged from top position (mount) in the 2nd caused my wrist to get trapped, and my fingers to almost bend all the way back to the back of my hand - After some R I C E care, and a few strips of micropore tape, I was back in for the 4th) Travess
Friday (21/06/19) My hand was a little swollen this morning, especially at the point of the knuckles, and down the back of my index finger, and the middle finger - All of which ruled out the intended Heavy-Bag workout this morning. My grip didn't feel great either, which took certain lifting exercises off the table, but, my legs were okay, so I headed out for a short Cross-country Run instead. Duration: 25m 42s Distance: 5km Slowest Pace: 6m 12s per/km Fastest Pace: 4m 16s per/km Average Pace: 5m 09s per/km Starting HR: 73 bpm Max HR: 189 bpm Average HR: 172 bpm Calories: 387 burned I struggled more than I would have liked on this run, which I'm not sure if that was down to having heavy cardio days on the 2 days previous, or possibly even that my resting HR this past week has been in the high 60 range. (or possibly both, or even neither) Travess
Saturday (22/06/19) - Rest Day I sat on the panel for the adult class Kyu grading today, which was a long and tiring day, and all I could find focus for in the end. Sunday (23/06/19) I didn't have a lot of free time for a big workout today, but I did have time for a quick Arm Workout, on the TRX, working in Supersets. Supersets: (10 reps of each) Bicep Curls Triceps Dips Press (Repeat for 8 sets) It took less than 20 minutes, all told, but I got a solid case of jelly arms out of it, so I'd say that it served its purpose. Travess
Monday (24/06/19) I had planned on reigniting my recent Yoga workouts today, but ultimately, I ran out of time / prioritised sleep. (The dreaded snooze button!) Karate @ 120 minutes - Despite the above, I still awoke early enough to get to the Dojo before anyone else, so again spent some time running thru Kata (Ichi, Ni, Saifa, Seyunchin, Shisochin, Sanseru and Seipai) all whilst the rest of the class were arriving/warming themselves up. Sensei, as he is sometimes known to do, dedicated the entire 90-minute session to a Saifa Kata (his personal favourite Kata) Masterclass. This was a high energy, relentless session, with plenty of work-on-points, with even an odd 'lightbulb moment', or two, and we didn't even make it as far as the 1st Kiai (well, we did only have 90 minutes...) Tuesday (25/06/19) - Rest Day Travess
Wednesday (26/06/19) Continuing my current (and on-going) increased Cardio goals, I put together an (approximately) hour long session for myself today, made up of a combination of Road Running, and Bag-Work. I got things started by heading out for a 2-mile Road Run, trying to keep a fairly even pace, but not actively pushing for any specific numbers. Duration: 17m 18s Av Pace: 8m 38s per/mile Once back at my garage (following a 3-min break) I moved on to the Bag-Work portion of today's workout - 10 x 1-minute Rounds, alternating between Hands Only, and Hands & Feet based rounds, with a 30s rest between each. Then (following an another 3-min break) I finished up the workout with an additional 2-mile Road Run, with the only criteria this time being to match (or even beat) my previous time/pace. Duration: 17m 10s Av Pace: 8m 34s per/mile I was, on the whole, pretty happy with tbe results of this workout, partly for my maintained output, but mostly because of my recovery. Duration: 55 minutes Starting HR: 72 bpm Max HR: 191 bpm Average HR: 165 bpm Calories: 658 burned Travess
Thursday (27/06/19) Karate @ 90 minutes - Sensei ran another of his (always well received) Restrictive Striking Pad Drill sessions again tonight (which I have to admit, are a firm favourite of mine) We started light, without any restrictions, with a single 3 minute round (each) of Stand-up Striking Drills, just to get moving. (Which served as our Warm-up.) Our first set of restrictions were from a Seated position - Striking to the Front, Striking to the side, and Exploding out of the Seat to Strike. (All executed with a variety of hand techniques) We also simulated a few additional Obstacles with these particular drills (tables, steering columns, and steps, to name but a few) For the 2nd set of restrictions, we were now allowed to stand, but had the striker Pinned against a Wall by the pad holder - This time working Hammerfists and Elbows specifically in to the mix. Next up, we started on our Knees, and had to Strike our way back to our Feet and were limited solely to Hooks and Backfists Our final restriction saw us Laying on our Backs, with the pad holder in full mount, where we were looking at pulling their heads in, and generating power in a short, sharp Slap I spent the entire session paired with a junior grade (8th kyu) who hits like an absolute sledge hammer (despite the restrictions) which my wrists/hands really did suffer for. Travess
Friday (28/06/19) Not sure how to classify today, as I originally planned it as a Timed Circuit, but due to time constraints, I only was only goung to manage get thru one full circuit. So, in the end, I guess was just a group of random 2-minute Exercises (alternated between Cardio and Strength Work*, done in succession.) with a 30s rest between each. Warm-up: 5/6 minutes of Stretching Exercises: (2-mins each) 10 x Bicep Curls / 10 x Triceps Dips Shadow Boxing 10 x Squats / 10 x Pistol Lunges Treadmill (Pace: 5m 30s per/km) 10 x Crunches / 10 x Mason Twists Staircase Sprints 10 x Push Ups / 10 x Press Shadow Boxing 10 x Bicep Curls / 10 x Triceps Dips Treadmill (Pace: 5m per/km) (Note: *Strength exercises were repeated, for the full 2-minutes) Cool Down: 5/6 minutes of Stretching Duration: 35 minutes Starting HR: 74 bpm Max HR: 172 bpm Average HR: 127 bpm Calories: 325 burned Saturday (29/06/19) and Sunday (30/06/19) both Rest Days Saturday was a planned rest day, but I awoke Sunday with a very scratchy throat, and an annoyingly tickly cough, so gave myself the day off - Though clearly a day is NOT going to be enough! Travess
