Picking up heavy stuff and getting hit a lot

[BigAl]

Might as well, I already have one or two journals out there but it's not that hard to cut and paste.

HOME WORKOUT:
It was pouring out rain mostly the entire workout with only a few breaks, so we had to skip the thickbar deadlifts for reps.

Log Presses: 118x1, 138x1, 148x1, 163x1, 178x0 (missed it again), 173x1 (PR!).

Videos:

178 log press attempt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2X4LNbooPY
173 log press PR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbEbN9RXcWQ

My stance is still too wide, I keep stepping out to get braced underneat the log. Need to shorten it up and explode better with the legs, get my head under the log faster. Yes I am a dork and work out in my gi pants

Atlas Stone: Loaded the 225 onto a 42" barrel right next to it, then did a 3' carry to the platform and loaded the stone. Tried a third time from 6', wasn't happening.

Once I started getting the grip down right, this stone started just flying up. No tacky, just used a little chalk to try to minimize tearing up my forearms. Clay Edgin told me to not squat as deep next time since the barrel's not that high, gotta get something to make it taller. Maybe throw a tire or two on top.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMG2IInCbVA

Keg Squats: 15 each side with an 80lb keg. Filled up the keg to 80lbs then did 15 squats on each shoulder, going to parallel each time. Not bad at all, need to add more water.

Keg Presses: Did 5 presses with the 80lb keg, just took one clean and did them all strict.

We ended by doing reps with the Captains of Crush #2 gripper (takes 195 pounds to close), then sat down and drank some Budweiser while watching FIRST BLOOD.

[Fire!]

You look very powerful in those videos on youtube!!!!
What type of fighter are you?
osu

[BigAl]

Thanks, I'm not too bad I guess I tend to be an infighter, primarily punching with a few knees and gedan mawashi geris. With the help of my sempais I'm trying to fight a bit farther out and use more elements that you might see in the Sabaki Method.

[BigAl]

KYOKUSHIN KARATE:
Good workout today. Straight kumite focus. We hopped right into it and did several rounds on the pads with the following combinations:

**Lead low roundhouse kick to the inner thigh, lead straight-rear shita tsuki to the solar plexus. Did both sides, 5 minutes each.
**Rear low roundhouse kick to the outer thigh followed up by a lunging knee to the solar plexus. Both sides, 5 minutes each.
**Lead push kick to the gut to a rear low roundhouse kick to the outer thigh. Both sides, 3 minutes each.
**Lead straight-rear straight to the solar plexus. Both sides, 2 minutes each.
**Rear straight. Both sides, 1 minute each.

Totals out to be 32 minutes of padwork each, or just about 11 rounds. Add into the fact that you've gotta hold for the other person the same amount of time and you get little rest between them. Real tough workout, we were all hurting by the end.

Finished off the day with some fingertip pushups, knuckle pushups, then some abwork (crunches, oblique crunches, reverse crunches, and accelerated leg raises), then finished off with some Ikken. A little dehydrated today, need to drink more water.

Stuff to work on:
**Dropping my weight more into the gedan mawashi geris.
**I either draw back or drop my hand when I'm getting ready to fire off a rear straight, need to rectify those ASAP as it shows I'm getting sloppy.
**Make sure I don't shuffle when I get ready to throw the lead push kick, by raising my leg high and forward I should get enough of a slide to avoid this.

[BigAl]

GYM WORKOUT:
Tons of PRs and goals made today.

Back Squats: 185x3, 235x3, 285x3, 285x3, 285x3.
+10 pounds from last time, looking good. Finished them off pretty strong and going well below parallel like I always do.

Bottom Position Squats: 185x1, 245x1, 315x1 (huge PR, +80lb!).
Last time was really too easy, so I tried 245 for the second and crushed it with no problem. At my friend Tony's urging, I tossed on three wheels and though the form was a bit shaky I still crushed it.

Military Press: 85x3, 115x3, 140x3, 140x3, 140x2. (+5lb PR)
Good shit, almost got the third but after battling it for almost 10 seconds it wasn't going anywhere.

Isometric Overhead Presses: 3 sets of 12 seconds apiece.

Plate Rows: 3 45's (135) x5, 4 45's (180)x3/3/3, then did 5 45's (225) for 1 rep, almost two.
Got a picture of me going for the 5-plate row, will post later on once I can upload it. These are fun, they're pretty rough and it mimics picking up a stone pretty well.

Hub Pinching: 45x0 both hands despite several attempts (broke the floor a few times), then did 42.5 (35 with three 2.5lb plates inside) several times each hand.
Got a pic of Dennis hub-pinching a 45 in each hand and standing, he's a maniac. Will post that one later too.

[BigAl]

Those pix as promised. The plate row picture caught me right at the end of the first rep and preparing for the second one. Dennis' face is priceless, but his hub pinch disgusts me as it's getting so good. He also did several pinches per hand with a 45 and a 2.5 inside, and managed to break a 45 with a 10 from the floor.

[Shokei Marcsui]

Do you work out at a gym specifially geared towards powerlifters? I don't see any "normal" gym goers if you know what I mean.

[BigAl]

It actually is just a regular gym, I just typically go very early in the morning when all the maniacs are there It used to be a Gold's Gym but is now privately owned, and they have the Silver Sneakers classes, yoga, Pilates, all that. They just still have the heavy-duty gear from being a Gold's before, such as squat racks. The guy doing trap-bar deadlifts behind me is a first for me as well, very few people there deadlift or squat.

[BigAl]

WORKOUT:

Went and checked out the Pittsburgh Barbell Club today, an Olympic weightlifting club in Bridgeville (about 20-25 minutes from me) that's located in the Martial Arts and Sports Complex there. The MASC is owned by former Steeler lineman Craig Wolfley and his wife Faith.

Rege was the guy I first got in touch with, so once I got there he introduced me to the other coach that was there, Alex (I'm now officially known as Alex #2). I saw a few of the other guys finish their workouts then once there was only a few of us around, Alex primarily put me to work.

He made me do some power cleans to see how those looked then a few hang power snatches with just the bar and then with 10kg on (so I think that's 30kg). Then he made me do a few snatches from the floor and was giving me pointers the whole time. (I was alternating with a big friendly guy who's an ex-powerlifter and just getting into O-lifting too). We then tossed on 10kg each side for 40kg total, then I must've did at least eight or nine snatches that way. On the last three, he had me holding them up then going down into a full overhead squat a couple times each. I lost my balance once or twice on the overhead squats until Alex showed me how to do them properly. I also did some hyperextensions, tried a few glute ham raises (ouch), jumping full squats with a barbell overhead like in overhead squats, and he even made me try pistols (got one with the right leg and almost with the left leg).

Overall, I had a blast. I'm getting my USAWL membership today and while the monthly fee is only $50 (which includes three times a week O-lifting and full access to their gym, which is really nice. Thickbars, trap bars, lots of racks, platforms, and a ton of heavy bags and a boxing ring as they also teach martial arts out of there. My kind of place!), it can be $10 a session if you don't go more than five times a month. I'll probably only be going Saturdays for right now as the other days I either work or have Kyokushin Karate.

My coaches are Regis Becker (http://www.csoonline.com/read/060105/heavylifter.html), a big white guy who put in a "light" workout today by working up to almost 100kg in the snatch and even more in the clean and jerk. He knows his stuff and seems to be a really cool guy. My other coach is Alexandre Chtanine. He was a former member of the Soviet weightlifting team CCCP in the late 70's (I think) and makes that stuff look disgustingly easy. I got a bit of an ego-stroking from him too as Alex said I have the physical skills to become a great O-lifter if I work hard at it. They both said I have really good flexibility (I could do the full squats pretty well and my shoulders aren't too stiff), good explosiveness (they said my lifts looked pretty good for the first time ever trying them), and since I have a good foundation with overhead pressing already from strongman and whatnot, plus strong legs and a strong back.

Going to write down some stuff on the snatch here so I can remember a lot of it. I'll probably practice with my bo staff just to keep getting a feel for it.

**Hand placing for me should be slightly past the little rings on the barbell.
**Feet should be about shoulder width apart and toes pointed slightly outwards.
**Back arched and chest out, leaning forward JUST slightly almost as in a good morning.
**Keep your head up!
**Keep the bar as close to your body as you can at all times.
**Arms should be locked during the initial pull until you finish shrugging then they sort of chicken-wing up and lock out to catch it on top as you squat underneath it.

I'm sure some of that doesn't make sense but it's there for me primarily I had a blast, I'm definitely going back next Saturday.

[BigAl]

Couldn't get to Kyokushin tonight due to no cash to buy gas. Ended up working out at home instead. Went and did about 15 minutes out on the heavy bag, then went downstairs and did some shadowboxing for a good 20-25 minutes. Going to work on some kata later on and do some stretching.

[Bloke]

Its good to see that just becasue you could not get to the dojo that it did not stop you from training. Kata is a great workout especialy when you dont have a training partner handy.

[BigAl]

Originally Posted by Bloke

Its good to see that just becasue you could not get to the dojo that it did not stop you from training. Kata is a great workout especialy when you dont have a training partner handy.

I'm starting to get a decent level of conditioning so I don't want to lose out, and I was pumped up to do something so I would've gone nuts if I didn't do anything I mostly worked on the Taikyokyus, Pinan Ichi, Sanchin, and Tensho.

KYOKUSHIN KARATE:
We did "ippon kumite the Kyokushin way", as Sempai Harvey called it We paired up with each other and one person would be the attacker, throwing either lead straights or reverse punches (to start), the other would be the defender and either counter or do a pre-emptive strike. After two minutes, you would switch then repeat. You would do two in a row (eight minutes of it total), then get a four-minute break as the others did it, then repeat. We did it several times and though we started off light we were going fairly hard near the end. We then did some padwork for front kicks (two minutes for lead, two minutes for rear), then did our abdominal workout, fingertip push-ups, and knuckle push-ups on bricks. To cool down, we did five minutes of Ikken then called it a night.

Stuff I learned or need to work on:
1) Lead straight counters:
**Left gedan-barai while moving to the outside, rear gedan mawashi geri. Can follow up with chudan mawashi geri or hiza geri to gut.
**Right chudan soto uke, left straight to solar plexus or near shoulder.
**Right gedan-barai while moving inside, left shita-tsuki.
**Left gedan-barai while moving to outside, left hiza geri to gut.
**Left chudan soto uke while moving to outside, right shita-tsuki or seiken to oblique.
**Left gedan-barai, left shita-tsuki (Yuki is very quick with this one).
**Left chudan uchi uke while simultaneously doing a lead gedan mawashi-geri to the inner thigh.
2) Reverse punch counters:
**Left chudan uchi uke while moving to outside, right shita-tsuki to solar plexus.
**Left chudan uchi uke while moving to outside, right hiza geri to gut.
**Left gedan-barai, left shita-tsuki.
**Left chudan soto uke, right straight to solar plexus or near shoulder. Can also be shita-tsuki.
3) When they attack with a low roundhouse kick, I need to angle my foot better for the blocks or do what I did once or twice and actually go in a circular movement around them as they kick (almost like going with the kick but not actually getting hit). I did that pretty well but never countered off of it, I need to.
4) Need to bring my knee up when doing my front kicks so I don't stub my toes like I did tonight.
5) Push-ups were weak but probably because I'm a bit burnt out today.
6) Don't square up to the opponent so much, off-center myself more.

WAR WOUNDS: Stubbed big toe on right foot, cut left foot, bloody lip (one solid punch by Yuki), and a huge lump on my right forearm from blocking a high kick.

[BigAl]

WORKOUT:
Short workout today, going to the MASC tomorrow night for O-lifting so I didn't want to crush myself.

2" Axle Deadlifts for Reps: Warmed up with some lighter weights, then did 315 for 10 reps in 60 sec.
The last 3 were the hard ones, I got 7 in the first 30 sec but then with all the time to regrip and catch my breath it took a lot longer. Once I get used to it, I should have at least 15 in the bank for these.

Zercher Squats: 145x3, 195x3, 245x0, 225x0.
My stubbed toes and sore calves from last night probably didn't help too much with these. Disappointing.

Bodyweight Dips: Repped out with 20 in one set. Pooped from all the punching the night before.

[BigAl]

WORKOUT:
Meant to hit up the MASC for some O-lifting but by the time I got finished doing some paperwork to be an Army Reserves prospect, it had already started and I wouldn't have gotten much of one in. So instead I hit up my gym and did some stuff in the back.

Hang Power Snatches: 45x3, 65x3, 85x3, 95x3, 95x3.
I was going to do full snatches but decided to do hang power ones instead so I could get a better feel for the movement and also since I was using regular plates and not bumpers. Not bad.

Overhead Squats: 45x3, 65x3, 75x3, 75x3, 85x3.
ATG. Starting to get a better feel for these. I had to focus on making sure the bar was more behind me than right above me and really keeping those heels down, but I started doing much better on these I think. I at least felt a lot more balanced on most of them.

Power Clean and Power Jerk: 95x1, 115x1, 135x1, 155x1, 175x1.
Not bad after all that intense shoulder stuff from before. My power clean sucks once it gets heavy, I use too much brute strength and not enough technique. 175 wasn't too bad, but my shoulders were fried so I decided that was good for today.

Treadmill: 20 minutes, nothing too intense, various inclines and speeds.

Plate Stacks: 2x20 each side, using five 45's.
Got this idea off of Craig Smith at KiltedThrower.net. I set up a platform behind me about waist-high then stacked five 45's on one side. Then, twisting at the sides and on the balls of my feet, I would move the stack from one side to the other, 20 times per set (so moving the stack 4 times total). These worked my obliques pretty nicely, I like them. Incredibly noisy however, as rather than crunch your fingers between the plates you have to kind of drop them on top of one another.

Medicine Ball Breakfall Throws: 6 or 8 times with a 10lb ball.
Something I used to play around with before: while on your knees you toss the medicine ball forcefully over your head and then let yourself fall forward into a breakfall. A Judo guy taught it to me, increases your upper-body explosiveness and helps your ukemi (falling skills) at the same time.

Nice little workout. Felt a lot of spring in my step after all the explosive exercises and the cardio. Weighed in at 185 before the workout (got my BF% tested too, I'm at 20.49%), 181 after workout. Gotta drop those few extra pounds so I'm 175 by Xenia (Sept 16th).

[BigAl]

WORKOUT:

Mediocre one today. Spent most of the day at the Wise and Wellness cheering on several members of this forum then finally managed to get in the gym. Shitty food (mostly all fast food today), less than optimal sleeping time, and standing out in the hot sun for several hours didn't help too much.

Trap Bar Frame Carry: 255x50ft, 305x50ft, 305x50ft, 355x0.
Grip was trashed pretty quickly, might be because of the several attempts I made at picking up the Inch Dumbbell Jedd of the Diesel Crew brought along. Who knows. These are a whole different animal than farmer's walking, if you don't grab the trap bar just right it'll be wobbling like crazy or seriously off-balance. Just not my day for these.

Power Jerks: 80x1, 110x1, 140x1, 170x1, ----.
Pooped after the 170, nothing left. Was shooting for 190 or even 200 as I'm feeling pretty good my overhead is right around there.

Plate Rows: 3 45's x3, 3 45's x3, 4 45's x3, 4 45's x3, 5 45's x1.
Learned something important about these: if they slip you'd better move your feet away quick! Almost crushed my toes.

Curls: 50x5, 60x5, 70x5, 80x5, 90x4 (5 was a partial).
Just decided to do them since I never really do them and as a supplement since my bis always feel pretty sore after working with stones. Not bad.

[BigAl]

My buddy Dan came over and we did some cross-training in the backyard, him sharing with me a lot of the new stuff he's been picking up (he's a brown belt in Budo Taijutsu, basically ninjutsu) and me sharing with him what I can from Kyokushin that would be applicable to that. Went over some combinations, joint locks, and counters then decided hey, let's do some sparring. We did it Kyokushin rules, no hand protection so no strikes to the face (well, light strikes only in this case).

Dan did pretty well for not sparring as often as I do, he does have quite a few street fights under his belt though so I know he's no sissy. He also had prior training in Hapkido I think. We went for a good 10 minutes maybe, light to medium contact. Noteworthy stuff was me popping him in the floating ribs that took his breath away (he said he was thankful we were only going somewhat light lol), him blocking some of my kicks pretty well (still dinged him with some good roundhouse kicks to the thigh though), and a spinning hook kick that would've been ugly if it connected. He got in some good shots back, a few solid front kicks and one or two shots to the gut plus one good sweep. Shins are a little beat up now but that's all.

[BigAl]

20060807 WORKOUT:
Couldn't make it to Kyokushin on time (would've been 40 minutes late by the time I got there), so I did a light workout down in my basement, working on my blocks and punches, then warmed up for kicks and did a bunch of those too. Mostly working on technique than trying to kill myself.

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
Met up with Dennis at about 0630 for a workout. Felt tired already but managed to do all right.

Back Squats: 155x3, 225x3, 290x3 (PR!), 290x3, 290x1.
Pooped on the last set, didn't have much else left. Got some video because a female powerlifter I know was saying I was pretty near full squats, but today only maybe the first one looked like it and that was because of the camera angle. Second one's about parallel and the third one's are just below parallel. I've been using a narrower stance for the last few workouts, more Olympic-style squatting than powerlifting I guess. Maybe next time I'll use the 285, the 290 might've been too heavy for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSoX1L-5scg

Military Press: 85x3, 115x3, 140x1, 135x3, 135x2.
Have to drop back down to 135 for a workout and see how that feels. The warm-up sets and the 140 were wider than I normally go, which might have something to do with it.

Plate Rows: 3 45's x3, 3 45's x3, 4 45's (+25) x3, 4 45's (+15) x3, 4 45's (+15) x3.
This time I put some additional plates on top to make it more difficult. I left the top one face-up so there'd be a shelf to put on extra plates so there wouldn't have to be as big of a jump.

Isometric Overhead Press: 12 sec from start position, 12/12 sec from midway position.

Fingertip Pull-Ups: All with bodyweight.
**All four fingers x6
**1st three fingers x6
**Index and middle x3,
**Middle finger x1 (PR!).
**Middle finger x1
Finally got that one-finger pull-up I've been wanting. Did it the second time so I could try to get some video but the guy who filmed for me didn't start the camera until AFTER, when I was getting down. I managed to snag a bad picture out of it at least, you can see it at the bottom.

Then I just did about 10 minutes of cardio to cool down and came back home so I could eat.

[BigAl]

WORKOUT:
Good Kyokushin workout tonight, just me and my sempai. We did all of the following, one of us holding the pads and the other striking, then switched. We added in some punches occasionally after the kicks and doubled up on the kick every now and then as well.

**Left lead low roundhouse kicks to the inner thigh (2 min) then right lead low roundhouse kicks to the inner thigh (2 min).
Need to pivot more on the ball of my foot for the left leads, rights aren't too bad though.

**Right rear low roundhouse kicks to the outer thigh (2 min) then left rear low roundhouse kicks to the outer thigh (2 min).
Make sure I get my knee more past the target as I strike. I'm sinking the bodyweight into it fairly well and using that downward 45 degree angle, I just need to pivot more and get that knee going.

**Left lead middle roundhouse kicks to the obliques (2 min) then right lead middle roundhouse kicks to the
obliques (2 min).
Same deal with the pivoting and the knee here, also need to work on firing it from a similar chamber to the front kick to be more deceptive with it.

**Right rear middle roundhouse kicks to the obliques (2 min) then left rear middle roundhouse kicks to the obliques (2 min).
Same deal as leads.

**Left lead front kicks to the gut (2 min) then right lead front kicks to the gut (2 min).
Good power and pushing, just need to get the knee up higher and thrust straight in more.

**Right rear front kicks to the gut (2 min) then left rear front kicks to the gut (2 min).
Same deal as leads.

**Left spinning back kicks (2 min) and right spinning back kicks (2 min).
I pretty much sucked at these at first but then got the feel for them near the end. I need to try to stay tight and not go too wide, face where I'm turning, and lean more towards the point of impact.

All totaled, it comes out to 28 minutes of padwork of me actually striking, then 28 minutes of holding the pads and getting struck (which especially with my instructor you can still feel a chunk of em). We then did some fingertip push-ups and some knuckle-pushups on bricks (focusing on the first two like always), then that same ab routine which I really like (today we did 100 crunches, 40 oblique crunches each side, 40 reverse crunches, then 25 accelerated leg raises which are buttkickers).