The Year of the Mouche

[mouche]

Tuesday 05th June
Deadlifts: warm-ups at 40, 60, 70; single reps at 80 and 85

Yay: 85 felt suuuuuper easy!
Meh: platform was really slippy, and we were a bit pushed for time which screwed with my focus
Nay: much too excited to be deadlifting again so rushed into my lifts, let my legs straighten and hips raise too quickly, just generally had trouble getting into the flow of it

Beginners' MMA
Drill: side control, passing from side control into mount
Sparring: one tap (rear naked choked a beginner, though he did seem to have a fair idea of what he was doing), didn't get tapped
3 rounds, all very light guys, two of them more experienced. Attempted a couple of submissions and took one of their backs (besides the new guy) but couldn't finish the choke - hard to tell how much I actually achieved on my own as the guy insists on giving me tips and hints throughout, which isn't always very helpful.

Yay: stayed busy and smart
Meh: could have been faster, more aggressive
Nay: can't really complain

X-trainer sprints
10 x 1min hard (lev. 9) / 1min easy (lev. 6)
1mile in 7:28
Can't remember any other splits as my mind deserted me, and I also managed to hit "stop" instead of "level down" at 14 minutes and had to restart.

Yay: destroyed myself in my first sprint, really gave it everything, and held on for dear life after that. Made a really conscious effort to push through when it got hard, analysing the pain and realising that I may as well go a little bit harder as everything felt horrible anyway. Felt strong and determined.
Nay: let it go in the last sprint, just switched off and forgot to push - ultimately I don't mind though as I really gave it everything I had until then.

10 mins upright bike level 8

New Swiss ball abs circuit (10 reps each exercise) - disgusting!

Really pleased with what I felt was a pretty tough comprehensive session.

[mouche]

Wednesday 06th June
Had to work late so worked out in the gym in my building.

2 x pressup circuit: 8 reps of mountain climber pressups, narrow, walkarounds, wide
(couple of minutes recovery in between sets)
Emphasis on depth.
Felt strong, but had no sort of endurance - started taking short breaks/pauses in the first set, and had to take quite noticeable breaks every few reps in the second set.
Felt it more in my chest than I usually do though.

Swiss ball abs circuit (15 reps)

20 mins recline bike level 8

[mouche]

Thursday 07th June
Beginners' MMA
Drill: armbar from mount
Sparring: 3 short rounds, tapped Steph once (rear naked choke), got tapped 3 times (one guillotine, one triangle-armbar, one footlock of some sort which I tapped early to because I didn't trust the guy's self-control)

Thumbs up: hit a couple of sweeps I was pleased with, spent most of my round with Steph in mount
Thumbs down: there was no reason for those guys to get those submissions on me, I was being weak and lazy and absent-minded and I don't know why

Really disappointed with tonight, I can't even use an excuse that I was tired or overtrained, but had to rush off to meet friends for dinner so couldn't dwell on it too long. Hopefully my frustration will fuel some good sessions next week.

[mouche]

Friday 08th June
Working out at home again due to time constraints

20mins upright bike level 12 (think the bike was faulty as me pedalling on level 12 for 20 minutes is ridiculous), kept speed above 75rpm to get a nice gentle sweat on

2 x pressup circuit: 8 reps of mountain climber pressups, narrow, walkarounds, wide
(2 minutes recovery between sets)
Took a minute's breather and added in one more pressup circuit of 4 reps each just to push it a little bit further
Felt like my depth was much better tonight, really squeezed hard and properly felt it through my chest.

The good: made it through set 1 without breaks in the middle of the exercises, though I did pause a little bit on the transitions. Got much further into each exercise of set 2 than last time - at least 4 reps before taking a break, sometimes 6. Baby steps but steps nonetheless.
The bad: failed on last rep of narrows, walkarounds and wide pressups in set 2 (but then got all 4 of my last reps done)

Abs: leg progression followed by the Swiss ball circuit
Felt like form may have dropped a little towards the end but goddamn it did it hurt.

Overall very pleased. Took 30 minutes but I worked hard and was very focussed and felt strong. Still aching now, over an hour later. Very worth it.

[thestoatyone]

Loving the MMA stuff. Good that you're getting some strength stuff in there as well!

Quite fond of the "Yay, meh, bleh" report structure too...

[mouche]

Loving the MMA stuff. Good that you're getting some strength stuff in there as well!

Quite fond of the "Yay, meh, bleh" report structure too...

Haha glad you like it, it's my vague attempt at keeping my ramblings a little less rambly!

I'm feeling good with my routine at the moment, just wish I could get some more lifting in and more grappling, and work is about to go crazy manic as of next week so it's only going to get worse. But I guess training is about being part of your life, not taking it over...

[mouche]

Sunday 10th June
Wasn't planning to do anything today but got home from my work training weekend feeling a bit crumpled and stale and just wanted to get the blood flowing, so did a little session at home.

10 mins upright bike level 12, about 80rpm.

2 x pressup circuit: 8 reps of mountain climber pressups, narrow, walkarounds, wide
(2 minutes recovery between sets)
Took a minute's breather and added in one more pressup circuit of 4 reps each again

Felt a bit stronger through the first set, depth and overall form is definitely getting there, getting a bit snappier with each rep too.
Second set was pretty much the same as last time; needed to mark a pause during each transition, knees fell down briefly at about 4th/5th/6th reps, failed on the last rep of each exercise.
Last mini-set felt more difficult, struggled to complete my final rep.

Abs: leg progression, followed by 300 reps of speed abs/butterflies/prayers (split into 100 speed abs, 50 butterflies, 50 prayers, 50 butterflies, 50 speed abs) in 2:20

20 mins recline bike level 8

Nothing crazy, did the job, glad I went in the end!

[mouche]

Edited to add: weight was 51.2kg in the morning

Monday 11th June
Beginners' MMA
Drill: escapes from side-control
1-2 minutes live drilling
Sparring: 2 rounds, 1 tap (rear naked choke, but Steph had a bad neck so tapped very early), got tapped once (ankle lock, tapped very early because the guy's previous three attempts had failed miserably and when I slipped on my escape and he tightened his grip I heard him grunt with the exertion of preparing to rip my foot off so I didn't want to take any chances)

Sunshine: felt quite smooth in my transitions, but it may have just been because my partners, particularly the guy, were exceptionally slow
Cloudy: obviously not delighted at being tapped by a guy who really wasn't anything special, shouldn't really have gotten into that position a fourth time even if he was absolutely useless at catching ankle locks previously
Rain: really should have attempted more submissions with the guy, just got a little bit too safe in my comfort zone

Abs: 8 x 30 routine
Abs felt crazy strong tonight!

[mouche]

Tuesday 12th June
Weight at 51.7kg this morning. I wonder why there's so much fluctuation under similar weighing conditions.

Beginners' MMA
Drill: lockdown and more escapes from side-control
Sparring: one five-minute round with small manchild, no taps either way
This was the guy who tapped me several times when I was having a horrible session last Thursday so there was no way he was getting a tap from me tonight.

The optimist: actually pulled off the lockdown escape we had bee drilling which is always pleasing. Worked very hard, didn't get lazy (mainly because I couldn't), and survived some horrible situations (triangle, armbar, omoplata, guillotine - and he was a very small pretty fast kid so it's not even like I was squirming out thanks to being about half the size of my partner, which is usually the case)
The pessimist: spent my time just surviving and really just pulled through by the skin of my teeth...
The fact: ...but hey I survived!

X-trainer sprints
10 x 1min hard (lev. 9) / 1min easy (lev. 6)
1mile in 7:38 (10secs slower than last time)
2miles in 15:23
Can't remember anything else.
Felt very tired from the very start unlike last week where I destroyed myself after the first sprint, so I'm not too disappointed with the times. Quite odd for my second mile or ten minutes to be slower than the first, but I think it's just a sign of how tired I was.

10 x 10 double-handed rope pulls level 1
Felt very tired and towards the end a little bit sick!

Abs: 8 x 30 routine
Felt strong still.

10mins upright bike level 6
1km in 4:29
2km in 8:40
Wasn't meant to be working hard on this so pretty pleased with the times (for me)

Another good Tuesday!

[mouche]

Wednesday 13th June
Weight at 51.1 this morning, another crazy fluctuation!

Again had to work out at home due to working late.
10mins upright bike lev 8 (used the other bike, confirming the one I'd used previously is definitely faulty)
3 x pressup circuit: was helping housemate out in between sets, so recovery was much longer and I managed all 8 reps in all 3 sets, fast and strong and deep
Abs: 8 x 30 routine, Swiss ball routine (15 reps)
20mins upright bike lev 8

Felt like a decent session, nothing crazy but what I did I did well. Abs are wrecked now though!

[mouche]

Thursday 14th June
Beginners' MMA
Drill: more work on lockdown and sweeps from lockdown
Sparring: no taps either way

The good: managed to put a triangle on Walid though I couldn't finish it, still probably more than I've ever achieved rolling with him. Managed to scramble a fair bit, worked quite fast tonight, and was never really in too much danger.
The bad: I think Walid let me get out of a footlock to be nice, if he hadn't been that sensible I'd have been screwed. Lost position very quickly on my second roll, with a guy who is really quite useless, but I did manage to get him back in my guard eventually.
The ugly: to be honest I don't think I believed that I could tap Walid so I don't think I went at it with the determination I should have - not a frame of mind I want to make a habit of!

Weights circuit (all guided machines):
12-10-8 on leg press, hamstring curl, seated cable row, chest press, shoulder press, adductors

Abs: leg progression
Damn that hurt!

10mins stepper (5mins 75 steps per min, 5mins 80 steps per min)
20mins recline bike lev 6

Legs and hips were all quite tired and slow-moving today so pretty pleased with what felt like a pretty comprehensive session. Tired now!

[mouche]

Friday 15th June
Beginners' MMA
Drill: armbar
Sparring: didn't get any taps, got tapped once (chimora)

Yay: scrambled a lot more, hit a number of sweeps including a couple of scissor sweeps
Nay: not sure how that chimora ended up getting put on and not entirely sure why I didn't get myself out of it

Overall, I was tired and sore to start with and am actually very pleased with how hard I worked.

Abs: 30 x 8 routine
Did some stretching

Was absolutely wrecked after, felt like I had been tumble-dried!

[mouche]

Sunday 17th June
Deadlifts: some reps at 50kg and 60kg, 2 x 70kg, 1 x 80kg, 1 x 90kg, 1 x 90kg
Bench: some reps at 30kg, 2 x 40kg, 1 x 45kg (had a little bit of help on this one so probably more like 43kg), 1 x 40kg

Woo: got a few really smooth lifts in, and definitely had a lot more strength in me on the deadlifts
Boo: a few wobbly and rushed lifts, still not feeling like I have mastered technique enough to make the most of my strength
The big picture: confidence is turning out to be a major issue, I don't feel like I'm lifting often enough to step up to a bar and slip into my comfort zone. I want to lift and I know I can lift, but I'm not sure my body believes me.

Strength and conditioning
3 x leg crank (sumo squats, outs-to-ins, lunges, split jumps, squat jumps)
5 x 15secs alternate squat-thrusts
Pressups: mountain-climber, narrow, walkarounds, head touches, wide - followed by 1min best effort
Abs

Woo: beat everyone at the leg crank though it took being shouted at, killed it on the squat-thrusts, felt crazy strong and got good depth on the pressups, aced the abs
Boo: did the lower number of all the pressups though I probably could have gotten more out of me, but Ben is happy with it. Pressed for 25secs (23 pressups) but then took regular breaks every few reps and finished whilst being shouted at.

Legs are wrecked!

[mouche]

Monday 18th June
Another workout at home because of work:

15mins upright bike lev 6 (I think) about 75-80rpm - slow and easy because everything hurts from Sunday!

2 x pressup circuit: 10 reps of mountain climber pressups, narrow, 8 reps of walkarounds, wide
no idea how long my recovery was as I was helping Eilidh in between sets
Added in one more pressup circuit of 6 reps each again

Abs: 30 x 8, Swiss ball abs (15 reps)

5mins stepper level 10

Hips, legs, chest all so sore from Sunday so felt pretty useless. Also was 9pm, had had a very stressful day at work after a busy weekend and can feel a cold threatening, so didn't expect anything great and didn't want to push it.

Hope it's a case of 1 step back, 2 steps forward.

[mouche]

Wednesday 20th June
Meant to get to the gym tonight but had a slightly major crisis at work so had to stay late, so worked out at home.

5mins x-trainer

3 x original leg crank (squats, lunges, split jumps, squat jumps)

3 x hip bridge circuit (10 x both feet down, one foot to the ceiling, other foot to the ceiling)

3 x pressup circuit (8 reps), with 1min break in between sets
First two sets went smoothly, last set saw a lot of breaks)

Abs: leg progression

10min stepper level 10, 15min recline bike level 6

Hips still super sore all day from Sunday, now everything hurts!