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training to support bjj

PTTP #30
  • press 85x5, 75x5
  • back squat 135x5, 120x5
  • curl 65x4, 55x5
had the idea that some kind of compression might be a good idea for my knees, especially this time of year (33 degrees F in my garage today). Don't have any knee sleeves but do have some compression tights I use for sports, gave them a shot, and the squats felt really solid. Probably time to invest in knee sleeves.

I'd like to find my 5RM on the squat soon, so for the next few sessions I'm planning 10# increases to get in that range sooner. May just take a session and find the 5RM, depending on how things are progressing.
 
PTTP #32
  • press 95x3, 85x5. Done with this cycle. Will switch to floor presses.
  • back squat 155x5, 140x5
  • curl 60x5, 55x5. misloaded the bar 5# lighter than intended, oh well.
Forgot to do any goblet squats beforehand, and felt some strain on the kneecap. Felt fine after squatting.
 
PTTP #33
  • floor press 115x5, 105x5.
  • back squat 165x5, 150x5
  • curl 65x5, 55x5. finally got that 5th rep at 65#.
Remembered to do goblets beforehand. For some reason I was inspired to go heavier than I had been (44# vs. 20#). Those felt fine at the time, then the knee was a bit off just moving the plates and bar around. Felt OK on the squats, so I dunno. Still fighting off a lingering cold, I should probably take a few easier days / days off & reassess. Also curious to see how the knee sleeves I ordered affect things once they get here.

Knee issues notwithstanding, it's nice to be creeping back to squats that used to feel heavy when I was training them regularly. Never tried squatting more than 185#, though I did get I think 17 reps at that weight following Dan John's MMS program.
 
before I got onto this run of PTTP, I'd been trying to do a run at S&S.

Well, I've received my copy of S&S 2.0, and identified a bunch of things that probably had been holding me back in previous attempts. Spending a month without going heavier that 16kg never occurred to me, for one thing.

So I'm curious if the 2.0 revisions will allow me to be successful with S&S. Tried my first practice session yesterday. 16kg two handed swings, with attention to detail and max power production, felt more useful than I would have thought. And working through the first few parts of the TGU unloaded, again focusing on all the details, was surprisingly tiring.

Will do some more practice sessions, re learning the movements, and will evaluate whether this is the direction I want to steer things.
 
Have been sticking with the S&S practice sessions, aiming to easy my way into it without aggravating any lingering issues. A few twinges from the usual knee & shoulder, but less each session. Did a few H2H swing sets today, and 3 full TGUs with the 16kg, so as long as I don't hit any delayed problems, should be in position to start mixing in some one arm swings soon.
 
OK, have been practicing the swing & TGU pretty consistently, and they're feeling good. Straight sets of 10 1 hand swings are feeling easier than the H2H, frankly. About ready to fire up 10x10 / 5x1.
 
S&S #1&2

Had a few days off over thanksgiving, figured I'd dive right into a full S&S session, one arm swings and everything.
Turned out to be too much for my shoulder. Made it through the 3rd set of one arm swings on the left and decided to switch back to 2 hand. Got through all the TGUs, remembering halfway through that crushing the grip seems to help stabilize the shoulder. The shoulder was sore the rest of that night, better the next day. So I figured I'd give a session with just 2 hand swings a try. Got 6 sets in, wasn't feeling great, and pulled the plug.

Planning to take a day or two off, see if I can pull off a session with just 2 hand swings, and then ease into the 1 hand swings. At least I know from all the practice sessions that I should be able to handle this kind of workload with a more gradual approach.
 
Well, December was not a great training month.

A few days after my last update, I woke up in the middle of the night with chest pain, nausea, and chills. Drove myself to urgent care, and they sent me to the ER in an ambulance (lesson learned: just go to the ER if something might seem serious to you or to the doc on call). Turned out I was fine, just an inflamed pericardium. Apparently this is a relatively uncommon condition, and the symptoms overlap with heart attack. Drove myself home with instructions to take ibuprofin for a week.

My chest felt fine the next day, but I was sick as a dog, and the illness has continued to drag itself out to now, though today I'm probably 90% better. Tried some 2 hand KB swings a few days ago, and it reaggravated my bad shoulder. It's been 6 months of this now, so I finally broke down and made an appointment with a chiro/ART guy who has been helpful in the past.

The shoulder is enough recovered that I tried my first barbell session in 6 weeks today. 3 sets of 5 with zerchers, press, deadlift, row, and curls. Everything pretty light. Felt good to get back to training finally. Thinking that I'll stick with this while getting the shoulder rehabbed, then assess my options.
 
Turned out I was fine, just an inflamed pericardium.

I had a bout of that many years ago - it sucks! For me, was about the worse pain I've ever felt. Couldn't lie down, couldn't stand up straight, couldn't take normal breaths. Totally thought I was having a heart attack. I think it took a week to feel completely normal again.

Hope you're back in working order.
 
I had a bout of that many years ago - it sucks! For me, was about the worse pain I've ever felt. Couldn't lie down, couldn't stand up straight, couldn't take normal breaths. Totally thought I was having a heart attack. I think it took a week to feel completely normal again.

Hope you're back in working order.

At its worst that's what it felt like for me, but thankfully it faded pretty quickly, I think I was back to normal in a few days. Glad that's over!
 
Finally 100% over the sickness, and now 90% over tweaking my back on some over-ambitious overhead pressing a few weeks back.

I've been doing the 3-5 routine from beyond bodybuilding, with inspiration from strength shortcuts. So I've got 3 clusters, each of which I fit in every 3-5 days:
  • floor press and curl
  • zercher and row
  • rack pulls
I also took some inspiration from Q&D and have been randomizing each session. Roll a dice once for sets, once for reps.
Today was rack pulls, 5 sets of 4 reps: 165, 165, 165, 175, 175. Only the most minor of twinges from my back, which is great progress, as a couple sessions back, 115# felt about right.

I'd had an appointment set up with a chiro I've seen in the past to look at my shoulder, but he had to cancel, so I reassessed and decided to give indian clubs a try instead. Have been working through Brett & Gray's FMS intro video. So far, the clubs seem to challenge the shoulder without leaving it sore all day, so I'm hopeful that the clubs will be helpful.
 
Continuing to get in a session most days. Since last time:

thick bar curl 4x3 65#
floor press 3x4 115, 125, 125#
Keeping the progression on these gradual. No complaints from my shoulder so far.

zercher 5x3 105, 115, 115, 105, 105#
row 3x5 95#
Have been alternating these, which involves a clean to get the bar back on the rack before the squats. How I do cleans seems to irritate my knee, so I'm thinking I'll sacrifice the minute or two saved by alternating, and just do all squats before all rows.

rack pulls 5x3 175, 185, 195, 195, 195#
Having to hold myself back on adding weight, as I can feel that something in the lower back is still recovering. So far I think I've been hitting a reasonable level, as I'll feel a little sore that evening and the next morning, but then fine.

Really continuing to enjoy the random selection of sets & reps
 
I got myself an HRV monitor over the holidays, and have been noticing a trend that my HRV seems to tank for a day or two after strength sessions, even these brief ones I've been doing. In the name of science, for the last few weeks I've been dialing it back further to just rack pulls, floor press, and rows.

Overdid the rack pulls a few weeks back, just enough to have a sore back for a few days. Last session was 3x3 @ 215#, and that felt fine.
Last floor press was 4x3 @ 145#.
Last rows, 4x5 @ 115#.

Typically going the full 4 days between these sessions. Too soon to tell if this is enough training stimulus to make any progress. Hadn't really planned on keeping with this scheme for that long, probably will keep at it for a few more weeks and then shift gears to either S&S or the tactical barbell mass protocol.
 
Continuing on.

One change: I've decided that I'll at least give the 6 week Base Building from Tactical Barbell Mass Protocol a try, so I'm swapping rows for back squats, which I haven't done since mid November. Ended the first session at 5x115#, and was amazingly sore the next few days. All joints feeling good.

Rolled 5 sets of 3 on the rack pulls today, worked up to 245#. Back has come a long way since January.
 
Having the kids home from school is not leaving me as much free time for structured training, so I've put the Mass Protocol plans on the shelf.

Still doing 3 to 5 with back squats and rack pulls, and have been gradually putting more pounds on the bar.

Switched the floor press to overhead press, so that I can start working on Plans for Building Powerful Pushups | StrongFirst.

Pavel's post about the importance of cardio in these times has me working in easy rucks, bike rides, and longer sets of swings when I can.
 
Rolled 3 sets of 3 for the back squat yesterday, and made it up to 175#, which was a little much for keeping perfect form. Still, the needle's moving in the right direction. This is the first time I've done any regular back squats without following a linear progression or similar program, and it's nice to just let the movement gradually improve on its own schedule.

My setup isn't ideal for rack pulls, so switched to conventional deadlifts. Worked up to 3 reps @ 215#, and no back issues, so happy with that as well.
 
In the hopes that club swinging & time off have brought my shoulder along to the point where I can manage S&S again, I've been gradually working on the S&S skills.

First complete session with 10 sets of each a couple days ago, using the 16kg. Have worked my way up to 6 sets of one-arm swings, doing the rest 2 handed.

Feeling some general tightness / soreness in the trick shoulder area, but not clear that it's actually related to the swings or getups. It doesn't feel any worse after a training session, unlike in the past. Hoping this is more a case of working through a problem area, than of making a problem worse.
 
Up to full sets of 10 one arm swings now, and it's feeling fine. Some shoulder soreness coming and going, but overall improving.

Still haven't decided if I want to start working the 20kg in a week from now, or to hold out the full month and jump right to the 24kg.
 
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