How often are you doing Yoga ?

not at all now, but after next week I'm hoping to get at least two times a week or so. I'll have to see where my funds are.

I'm trying twice a week also. But a few years ago we picked up a few dvd's so we can just do it at home. Not as good as going to a class , I find it hard to focus on the breathing and watching but it's cheaper and a person gets the hang of it... Main thing I notice is I'm not waking up stiff anymore.

that yoga stuff seems great. they have some on demand i thought i might practice on before i try a class out, but i heard when you do that stuff you sweat like crazy and i really dont want to sweat all over my carpet :)

^^^ first time I did yoga, I looked like I just got out of the ocean.

It sure is harder than it looks.

any recommendations on a good yoga dvd? :) might as well.

Take a look at Chapters or even amazon and pick a beginer one.

Now I'm at home so I found the one I have. It's called Simply YOGA book and DVD , by Yolanda Pettinato. I can't remember where we got it from (maybe Chapters) but it was like $15 .

It has some very basic stretching poses (corpse ,Limbering ,Hero's...etc ) and good breathing descriptions.

sweet thanks dude /hijack :)

holy hijack is right.. :P

Friday's Workout

Complexes:
Deads
Stiff Leg Deads
Hanging Cleans
Front Squats
Shoulder Press
Squats
Goodmornings
3 rounds of 5 reps @ 135
2 rounds of 5 reps @ 95
1.5 minutes break inbetween.


Core:
Crunches 3x20
Leg Raises 2x15


OVERVIEW
Very tired after this. I had to drop the weight down to 95 since I was having trouble with form and I wanted to at least finish with a faster pace. I'm going to add more weighted Ab work next week along with some banded Ab work. Right now my hammies are killing me.

how's the back feeling after the dead variations and good mornings?

Tight, but no where near as tight as before. The DOMs in my back also are not as bad as before. I think moving to more weighted AB work will aid further in me getting back to where I was and beyond. I'm just feeling good all around after taking it a little slower the second time around. I'm still living and learning.

suitcase deads would be sweet with kb's. :) quickly becoming my favorite core exercise.

That is definitely one I am going to have to put into the routine for next week. I think that and some band situps and side bends would be great.

LOL...Ya , sorry - Glad everything starting to feel better.

Update.

I'm going to Vegas tomorrow and I had to take care of work in order to go. I don't think I'm going to be able to go to Randy Couture's gym this time but I might workout a little bit. I'm not going to make any promises.. :biglaugh:

You know...you mentioned earlier that strengthening your core (as in abs, etc) is helping you with deadlift variations and stuff. I have observed the same thing after I got injured last fall. Doing more core work has helped me.

Have fun ! Your going to need a holiday when you come back :biglaugh:

I'm back.
 

Well Vegas was awesome. Lost a little bit of money and gained a little bit of weight but not as much as I thought for either. :biglaugh:

Yesterday I went to Muay Thai and Sub. Wrestling for a total of 2.5 hours. I have to say the weight I put on in Vegas came right off, well it was mostly water weight but regardless it still felt good.

On a side note, I talked to the head instructor and he wanted to catch up and know what my goals are in the future. I told him I wanted to do MMA and he seemed very happy with that. He told me that at my skill level I could do very well starting out and he would want me in the gym more. He also said he could have me in my first MMA fight by the end of the year. :willy: But want's me to do more grappling competitions to get the rust out. To tell you the truth, I'm excited and a nerves at the same time. So we shall see what happens.

Wednesday's Workout



KB rounds: A round is considered 1 minute of a 35lbs. KB exercise or other and ends with Jumping Rope for a minute, with a minute rest after each pair.

Double KB Snatches, JR
Double KB Swings, JR
KB Alternating Shoulder press, JR
KB Walking Lunges, JR
Jump Squats, JR
KB Renegade Rows, JR
Pushups, JR (rested an extra minute after this one)
Double KB Cleans with a punch unload, JR (maybe did 5 with each arm)
Single KB Swings, JR
Single KB Squats, JR



OVERVIEW
This was very tiring and after I was done I laid on the floor for about 5 minutes just to catch my breath. As you can see at the end I was losing gas and had to switch to single KB work. I want to make this kind of workout more of a staple in my weekly routine. The modified 5x5 that I was doing before I jacked my back up, will be starting next week. I'm also doing Yoga this weekend so that will help my hips and shoulders tremendously.

Friday's Workout


BB Bench: 5x5 @ 185, 195, 205, 215, 225

Suitcase Deads: 2x5 @ 135

Pullups: 3x5
Super setted with
Band High pulls: 3x5 Black

DB Suitcase Walks: 2 set at 60 ft. @ 100lbs.
DB Clean and Walk: 2 set at 60 ft. @ 100lbs.

Abs:
Crunches 4x20
Leg lifts 3x10 @ 12lbs
KB pass in-between legs 2x10 at 8lbs.
Side to side Medicine ball crunches 3x10 @ 12lbs.


OVERVIEW
I felt like goofing around and trying something new. The suitcase dead are very hard, mostly trying to find the center of the bar and not making it tip forward or back when lifting. Then I did the DB walk first carrying it and then I got tired of the Db hitting me in the leg so I opted to clean it and walk with it that way. That was very tiring. Workout was good and I was thinking about getting back into something a little more routine but we'll see. Still working on core stuff and trying to get everything back up to par. Muay Thai on Saturday.

Weekend Workout

Saturday
Muay Thai: 1 hour

Sunday
Yoga: (gentle and restorative) 1 hour


OVERVIEW
Well Muay Thai class was killer, and by that I mean I got my back all jacked up.... AGAIN!.. Yeah I have NO idea how but I was a very hard class and afterwards I had problems moving. I wanted to do the Judo class but I just couldn't. I also have a burse on my thigh that is the size of my hand and very purple. So I said to myself, "Now I HAVE to go to yoga."
So I went to yoga today and it was very relaxing. I made sure to take the gentle and restorative class, That was the name of the class. It worked a little. My shoulder feels good but my lower back is still very tight. I might go to yoga on Monday or just stretch. I'll have to see how I feel in the morning and what my work schedule is like.

Looks like a nice week , but take it easy with that back of yours... Hopefully you feel better tomorrow.

Thanks. I think I have a trake record of sprinting before I can even walk. I just get excited about training and think I can start where I left off. Yeah, we all the the end of that story.

I'm doing a little better. Bought some Tiger Balm and it is feeling awesome right now. :biglaugh:

"Ahh, it burns.... That means it's working.

Tuesday's Workout


BJJ: 1 hour
Sub. Wrestling: 1 hour


OVERVIEW
I know I'm sounding like a broken records but I tweaked my back a little.... yes again. I was feeling good in BJJ and was sparring well. Then I get to Sub. Wrestling and I've feeling very good. Started sparring and did a guard escape that takes a little bit more agility than most and I felt great so I said hell with it... yeah... bad move. Didn't even get the move right because I of my mobility and my back being tight already. Well, I'm taking a week off, not because I have to, I just want to make sure I'm better, and will be back at it next Tuesday. I don't know what I was thinking... I was just excited that I was feeling better. See you next week.

I train with a couple MMA guys, and one UFC fighter. Takes balls man, more power to you!

That sucks a$$.
Do you ever go for a deep tissue massage ? It may help out .

thanks. Who is the UFC fighter?

once. My woman has been so amazing in helping me out and babying me, so I was going to treat her to a spa day and I was going to go along and get a deep tissue. I know it's going to hurt but it'll feel so much better afterwards.

Oh ya , it hurts bad , but still so good . Enjoy it and after you get it down try and down about .5 gallons of water and take a day or two off the gym.

Impressive stuff goin on in here.:) Takes some serious balls to fight like that bro.Nice Benching too.

Dave, this may be kind of blue-skying it but you keep tweaking the back and I think I might sense a trend. You mentioned mobility and then you mention yoga sessions.

I don't know what the yoga sessions consist of but you know, all ROM, even for a mma fighter is not necessarily GOOD ROM. Something to keep in mind.

Most of the time when someone's back is feeling tight...they assume they need more range of motion in the back. Is this where you are trying to get the mobility? I'm sure you work on this a lot but what about hip mobility. This is really YOUR area I know, but one difference I've noticed between the really successful mma fighters..the really strong ones, especially, is that they are getting most of the ROM, their mobility from their hips. The back has some suppleness but it is not where the mobility really comes from.

I've definitely noticed that some of the young grapplers seem to use their lower back to replace hip mobility. Bad recipe. Now I know you aren't doing this but I'm just putting it out there that if your back is stiff and getting tweaked it could be due to lack of mobility in another place you need it.

You're training is brutal though, lol. Pain is to be expected I reckon! I'm not the one doing it so everything I say could be meaningless. I may also have missed some details so if so, my apologies.

always love when you stop by.

I was reading something about what you just said a while ago and now that you bring it up, it does ring a bell. My back and Hips are both very tight and I know my hips are tighter than my back. In doing more yoga I will mention this to the teacher and hopefully get them to do more hip stretches to help me out. I'm not so much worried about the ROM of my back, I have good back flexibility, I mostly just try to relieve the tension in my back from it being tight, I don't know if I'm saying this right.

Yes you are right, lots of mma fighters that are good have great hip strength along with mobility, BJ Penn is a perfect example.

As for my on going back problem, I feel that it is a combination of a lot of things, most of which stem from me not being careful and sprinting before crawling. I have to give myself a little more time to heal and not get so excited and do stupid stuff when I practice or lift in the gym. This along with tight hips and back are what's keeping me from getting back in the full swing. I just need to be more patients with myself and start back into things slowly, even though I go crazy not being able to perform at my best.

Thanks man. Glad to see you stop by.:)

Gotcha, Dave. And I know that you have a good sense of what is going on with your body. Of course it makes sense to me that you do need to maintain a certain "suppleness" in your back but you do not want to give up stability. If the hips are tight relative to the lower back then the back takes over range of motion resulting in a lack of stability in the lower back, hence, the entire core, and hence less than optimal strenght and power. I know that it is a fine balance and tradeoff. Definitely something to think about though.

I've had some pretty bad back problems that I've been able to improve greatly and one thing I can say is that for a long time I thought of my back being "tight" because it "felt" tight. What I figured out is that the tight feeling had more to do with neural response becasue of my back having to take over range of motion in a loaded environment. My back was "tightening up" but that didn't mean the problem was in the back. So as I really started to focus on hip mobiltiy, ankle mobility, upper back mobiltiy and core stability my back problems really started melting away.

Of course you can rightly say that I'm not doing MMA :biglaugh:. So take everything with a grain of salt. But I will say that all those very dynamic things, and odd implement things, olympic lifts, etc...that used to give me such problems are becoming more and more a walk in the park.

I think a lot of people believe in this myth about the lower back "locking up" if you don't stretch the hell out of it. But everything, when it comes down to it, is about "mobility" I.E. not how much your muscles can elongate or go past a set tension point but about how much dynamic range of motion you have...i.e. useful range of motion where strength and control are on par. I could be wrong, but my sense it that everytime you do grappling and things like that your lower back is getting a mobility workout. My honest opinion is to focus on hip, anke, and thoracis mobility.

And in case I don't say it enough...great stuff!

I do feel tight but I know it's my back that's tight because when I get my woman to rub Tiger Balm on my back she's surprised at all the knots in my back. She's been really helping getting them out. I feel great afterwards.

This also makes me think about my diet and if I'm getting a good balance. I also find that I haven't been drinking enough water and drinking more coffee, end of fiscal year is soon and I have a new boss. So I'll also be monitoring this closely and making sure I fix this if this is a problem.

I do find that after warming up grappling I feel better. But then again that has been my down fall, thinking I'm all better towards the end of class and pulling a dumb stunt in class that my body isn't ready to do yet.


I have a private MMA lesson tomorrow at 8 AM, a birthday gift from my coach. I'll let you guys know how I do and if I'm going to be gimpy.

Update
 

Well I did some BJJ on Tuesday and back was ok but very sore. The past two days I've been doing yoga stretches and starting to use a foam roller. I got to say that little thing does wonders. It really works the knots out. I need to get one of my own. As for the private MMA lesson I was suppose to have, well my coach forgot and emailed me later and said that he was going to give me 2 private lessons. I'm happy with that. I guess things happen for a reason. I'll lift a little on Friday but nothing much. Probably chest and Plyometrics.

Monday's Workout


BB Bench: 5x5 @ 185, 195, 205, 215, 225
DB Overhead lunges: 3x5 @ 45
DB Curls: 3x5 @ 45
DB Lateral Raises: 3x5 35


Abs:
Crunches 4x20
KB pass in-between legs 3x10 at 8kg
Side to side Medicine ball crunches 3x10 @ 12lbs.
Leg lifts 3x10
Half Turkish get-ups 3x6 (left then right) @ 16kg.

PM training:
MMA 1 hour
BJJ 40 mins


OVERVIEW
Back is feeling good and I ended both workouts with a lot of Foam rolling to really get into the muscles and work out the tight spots. It felt real good after BJJ. Speaking of which I finally got a chance to try out the MMA class they offer at my school and it was killer. BUT the first thing we worked on was clinching and pummeling, which killed me since I worked shoulders pretty good. Slept like a baby at the end of the night. I'm trying to build up my work load slowly so I don't burn out or hurt myself again. I'm also going to start strength training, like I was doing before (5x5) starting on wed. but start way lower than I can do just to get myself back into the swing.