Getting Strong First for Jiu Jitsu

[Stephen B.]

Thursday: 5/3/1 W1 Press
5x55lbs, 5x65lbs, 11x75lbs MP max set.

3x6 leg tucked dragon flags,
Superset with 3x10x55lbs klokov press (with some extra sets feeling out the right load)
3x10 wide grip pushups superset with 3x10 ab wheel (pushups were trash. Tired.)
3x10 close grip curls, 3x10 25lbs overhead extensions. Curls were so slooow. Slow, grindy curls. Basically a pump workout.

 

[Stephen B.]

Saturday: Hotel workout at cable machine:
Standing chest press: up to 70lbs for 12 reps per arm. Weight is probably too high.
70lbs curl for 3x10, superset with 70lbs tricep pushdown 3x10
3x10 70lbs straight arm pulldown.

 

[Stephen B.]

Monday: Conditioning:
5 minute jog, 5 sprints with 1 minute rest,
8 minutes jogging, 2 sprints with 1 minute rest
25 minutes jogging.
20 rope pullups
20x2 chinups OTM superset with 20x5 explosive pushups
Tuesday: 5/3/1 W1 squat day:
5x105lbs cyclist front squat-- heels on 2x4 board.
5x125lbs
10x135lbs max set cyclist front squat on 2x4
3x10x95lbs forward lunge (Make my posterior chain suffer lol),
superset with 3x10 ab wheel.
3x 1 minute sets of deadbugs

Brief stretch after, because my quads and hips felt tight.

 

[Stephen B.]

Wednesday, 12/21/2022:
Some moderately tough air-biking during practice- Quads super sore
5x5 pullups, 5x(2,3) chinups (Thats being generous, failed some sets)
531 press W1-2
5x55lbs BB Military Press, 5x65lbs, 12x75lbs barbell military press (1 rep pr, especially considering all the air-bike work before.)

3x6x75lbs Klokov press
3x6 1L tucked dragon flag

3x circuit:
Pushups to technical failure (23, 20, 13)
10x ab wheel
10x curls with empty bar.

 

[Stephen B.]

Overall schedule: Main Exercise Bolded

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
EZ Jog				EZ Bike
Clean Pulls, Squat + Jumps Zercher Carries Lunges, V-ups KB Snatch work	Push Press Press/Chins Ab wheel, Klokov Press Grip work, Armbar	Rest	Heavy Cleans Lift-N-Sprints Plyometric Workout Landmine Rotations Kettlebell Snatching	Plyo Pushup Bench/Row Dips, Towel Rows Dragon Flag, Getups,	Clean Practice Good Mornings + Jumps Neck Bridges SL-RDL, Suitcase Carry KB Snatch work

I'll probably stay on 5/3/1 for a while, until it's time to start Bott's Offseason Program again.

 

[Stephen B.]

Thursday:
4 sets of 6 seconds max bike sprints with 2 mins rest
3x 20sec bike sprints in the next hour (was supposed to do 8, but various things got in my way. Mostly not wanting to be so loud that my teammates can't hear the coaches.)

2 hours later, I finished the bike workout
5 minute warmup of easy biking mixed with 2x6sec all out sprints.
5 sets of 20 seconds all out bike sprints, with 3 minutes easy biking in between. Oh my word, I can barely walk. That was really hard.

 

[Stephen B.]

Friday: 5/3/1 W1 Hinge
Power cleans: Warmup reps up to 115lbs
135lbs for 4 (focusing on pauses, slow, bar patch, technique.)
145lbs for 2 (First rep slow, second one fairly fast. My catch and my pull are way better now.)
155lbs for 2 (I attempted a slow rep at first, didn't happen. Could've made it but lacked confidence. So two medium speed reps. Not gunning it yet.)
165lbs- got one good rep fairly fast, failed the next one- didn't have the confidence to get under it. Didn't bother going again, though I could have. I'm catching all my reps fairly high, need to work on getting under lower ones. Maybe it's not important.

Superset 3x5 two-leg bounds with Good Mornings.
5x75lbs good mornings, 5x95lbs good mornings, 10x115lbs good mornings. I might have squeezed out more, but the suck as enough that I had already wanted to quit at 5 reps. Basically one set of bounds before every set of good mornings.

3x5 landmine rotations with 25lbs with Straight Arms for the first time-- Using rotation to move the bar rather than pressing it through. Made it super weird, engaged my trunk alot. Maybe should research this technique more.
Superset with 3 sets of 1 minute neck bridge holds per side

3x circuit:
5,6,8 x25lbs shovel lift. Found that grip placement determines the difficulty. Holding all the way at the end is super hard (Even on the grip), one hand near the middle is much easier. I think I'd like to do them from the far end in the future. This is a serious trunk exercise.
3x10x15lbs neck rotations-- biting a cord attached to the weight. These went well. I think I might need warmup sets, first few reps were awkward.
4,6,8x50lbs SL RDL. Found that keeping the KB close to the working foot makes balance far easier. Maybe not the best thing for the exercise though.

10 sets of 5 35lbs KB snatches OTM for 10 minutes. (Focusing on doing every rep like it's 70 pounds. I think my groove is developing well.)

 

[Stephen B.]

Saturday: 12/24/2022
5-3-1 W1 Bench
Bench Press:
95lbsx5, 115lbsx5, 125lbs max set- 7 reps. 1rm not super accurate, plus my "bench" is the most bootleg setup ever.

Pendlay rows- 95lbs for 2x5, 115lbs x5, or so. Stopped when I realized my shoulderblades weren't pinching at all. I want to initiate these rows with a retraction of my shoulderblades, but sets of Meadows Swings with 5-10lbs and some unweighted practice showed that my upper back is weak AF. I did some retraction exercises, but it's gonna be a while until I'm back to rows. I also had a hard time reaching a good start position. Back would end up rounding often.

3x8 PB "chest" dips, superset with 3x10 inverted towel rows (retracting the scapula to start each rep. Worked very well here, just not in Pendlay Rows.)

5x50lbs getups per side without rest. Fantastic shoulder pump.
6,6,8 leg tucked dragon flags. Those were clean. Would love to start adding reps to these, then doing the full version.

 

[Stephen B.]

Monday Dec. 26, 2022
AM: 27 minute run.
Flatish road, light snow. Started slow, got up to a great pace at the end. Almost doubled in speed by the end, using Tim Ferris’s running tips- about 3 steps/minute, falling like a tree, and relaxing. I like this. Knees gave very little trouble.

PM: 531 Squat W2
Warmup: 30ish second goblet squat, 30ish second hollow hang. Forgot to add Pipe Walks back in.
Clean Pulls (starting slow, going up to toes and rowing the bar up on the jump. Keeping the bar tight, rather than bouncing it, as i did for a while. ) 95lbsx5, 115x5, 135lbs for 2x5, 155lbsx5. Last rep with 155lbs was trash. Probably should hook grip, but I hate it.
Cyclist squat: 115lbsx5 (was supposed to do 3, forgot), 135lbsx3, 145lbsx8 (last two reps my hips went backwards-- a bit of hitch rather than pure front squat.)
Zercher Carries: Reps of 10ish feet backwards and forwards due to space. 95lbsx5ish, 135lbsx5ish. Tough on the abs/stability. I definitely don't like doing these backwards, or in a cramped space.
Forward lunges: 3x10 per side, alternating sides continueously, with 95lbs. The suck is real.
OTM: 2x5x35lbs snatches, 8x5x50lbs OA Swings (Focusing on hinge/plank. Going well, I think.)
3x12 V-ups. The first two sets were trash because I didn't look at a technique guide. Found a video for the last one (bring feet/hands together directly above hips, up on your butt), and it was a real pump. Was good.
Only took about an hour.

 

[Stephen B.]

Tuesday:

Still can't wrestle because of skin disease

AM:
A lot of "Walruses" in my socks in the concrete locker room floor. Pulling myself with my lats in a pushup plank.
2 sets of 5 minutes of walking forwards in my stance, alternating left and right foot. Back got reaal tired.
20 minutes of Tempo Intervals, a la Joel Jamison: 10 seconds at a "70%" run, 60 seconds easy jog (rest). Should be recovery heartrate basically the whole time, but I think I probably got a little higher.

PM: 531 W2 press
Behind the neck Push press: 95lbsx3x3
BB MP: 61lbsx3, 71lbsx3, 81lbsx10 (Added a pair of 3lbs dumbells to the bar w/ wires to get the weight change. Training off a 90lbs 1rm is hard lmao. Got a good final set though.)
Chinups: 1,2,3, at 167lbs bodyweight, 10x13lbs. Great pump, great set. Doing a ladder for the warmup sets seems like a really good way to do these.

Klokov Press: 45lbsx8, 55lbsx8, 65lbsx2x8 (sweet spot- good pump at 8 reps, but also a strength stimulus.)
Ab Wheel: 3x10 Slooooow. Slow Ab wheel rollouts just about killed my abs. Took a reminder from Dan John to make me slow down.

Plate pinch suitcase carries: two 10lbs plates pinched together, across the basement, swap hands and walk back, repeat 3 times.
KB Armbar: 35lbs for 3 sets. Didn't use a timer, went by feel. Left arm far less stable, which might be because people wrench that shoulder trying to turn me. Need to add stability there.

 

[Stephen B.]

Wednesday off

Thursday:
AM: Hard conditioning practice. Back to wrestling, but I have to suffer in sweats and a hoodie.

PM: Athlete/Impulse/Power day. Kinda lumped a bunch of elements together here.
Warmup: 20 second hollow hang, 20 second goblet squat hold, 3x short pvc pipe walks back/forward. Then, did 5 power cleans with an empty bar with my new Oly shoes, 4x95lbs, 2x115lbs power cleans.

5/3/2 workout: 5x135lbs Power Cleans (that's cardio!), 3x145lbs (solid), 2x155lbs (got the double, didn't have to fast-deadlift it either, but I also didn't go super slow. My catch isn't great, need to get just an inch or two lower to get the elbows up in the catch. Getting good at going up slow, then getting the knees under and exploding.

Litvi-sprints: 3 sets of 8 70lbs goblet squats, throw the bell to the side and sprint about 40 meters. Wow, these are difficult. It's an athleticism thing, I feel super slow in the sprints. I only got remotely fast on the third set. Also left some craters on the grass-- might need something else to drop them on.

Plyo Workout: Week 1 Day 1 of Physical Wrestler Pre-Season Plyometrics. Will stay at 2-3 sets for most movements. Ommitted SL Hops and Alternating Leg Hops after failed attempts. Reacted well off the ground. The AL hops pulled my right calve a little, couldn't jump rope without some pain (also tired calves in general).

5x5x70lbs 2H swings. 5 solid, explosive swings. I think my technique is still good here, and I haven't slowed down. Just a 5-10 minute minimalist workout. One hour and 10 minutes total workout.

New lifting shoes:

 

[Stephen B.]

Friday: 5/3/1 W2 Bench day
About 1 hour after mornign wrestling practice. Not too arm-intensive, and I'd rather have more time to recover before tomorrow morning's practice.

Warmup: 3 complexes, 8 reps per movement with an empty BB: Power snatch, overhead squat, klokov press, Good morning, Military Press, bent over row. Follow with a 10 second hollow hang.
3 sets of 3 hands elevated clapping pushups. Used the BB and my squat rack this time, going to decrease that height over time.

Bench press: 3x105lbs, 3x115lbs, 6x131lbs (taped the two 3lbs dumbells back on. 5th rep was a struggle, and like every teenager ever I lowered the bar again and squeezed out one more rep. Good stuff.)
Bent over BB rows (basically Bat-Wings): Used the empty 45lbs bar. Did 5x5 reps, with a 2-5 second hard squeeze at the top, shoulder blades fully pinched together at the top, basically neutral in the middle/lower portion.

8,8,7 dips with 1 minute rest. Maybe should rest 2 minutes. Not sure. (Noticed I bent the bars I used for dips with the saw-horses, so I just used the sawhorses as bars-- about as un-ergonomic as possible. Will decide to either keep using those bars and let them bend, or get some real metal bars or even PBs. Or a suspension trainer.)
10,10,10 towel inverted rows with 1 minute rest (my forarms, bis, lats, and rhomboids all felt these.)

About an hour and 10 minutes today.

Pm: 25 minute recovery bike. Holding 50rpms. My HR app disagrees with Spotify, so I ditched the moniter and went by experience and feel.

 

[Stephen B.]

Saturday:
Am: fairly intense practice.

PM: W2 5/3/1 Hinge Day
Power cleans: up to 135 for a comfortable 3x3, focusing on slowly getting into position from floor, then exploding.
Good Mornings: 3x95lbs, 3x115lbs, 7x125lbs (Definitely should have taken videos. Technique/Depth are in question, especially as to whether I'm pushing my knees under on the concentric. It might be smart to swap to snatch grip deadlifts and have good mornings as a 3x8 accessory lift. But my mind burns with the possibilities of Good Mornings. Like the snatch grip dead, relatively untested in S&C.)

3x 1 minute neck bridge holds per side. 15 seconds rest between sets this time (alternating sides.)

6,6,8x50lbs SL-RDLS. First two sets I limited hip extension because the bell was in the way of my leg. last set, I pushed the hip through every time, moving the bell outwards to make room-- harder on the glutes. Not easy on the balance.
Superset with 3 sets of 70lbs suitcase carries, keeping the bell off my legs. Still brushes, but weight is not on legs. Good trunk workout. Was supposed to do the shovel lift, but I hate them so I dropped them.

10x5 OA 50lbs swings. gonna titrate up the volume here. Staying on this drill/weight until I can hit 100 reps 2-3x per week.

My knee hurts to bend. Burning sensation just under the skin when I bend, but body adapts and pain disappears if I hold the knee in bent position. Showed up during stance-in-motion first day back wrestling. Iced it, still here Sunday. Hopefully it's a short term.

 

[Stephen B.]

2022: (16-17)
Got my driver's license
Got my blue belt
Got an ACT score of 33
Competed as a senior wrestler (165lbs Varsity starter)

Strength:
175lbs squat for 5x6, 185lbsx4 (and I'm stronger now)
160lbs bench press (following pushup program)
Cleaned 175lbs- multiple close fails with 185lbs. Getting stronger now.
Pullups- 45lbs for 2 at 170lbs(ish)
12 minute 1.5 mile run
Flexibility: still good.
Everything else: little or no progress.

The good:
-Following the pushup program increased my bench (and my pushups)
-Squat is in the ballpark of bodyweight for 10 reps, thanks Carmen Bott! The 5x6 progression works very well.
-Clean: Basically Bodyweight. Bott's clean pulls helped some, but I found that switching completely to powers caused by pull strength to go down... I think. Need both in the same training week. Also found the need for continual technique work/review.
-Simple LISS works wonders for endurance. I also dabbled in recovery intervals (10:60 W/AR), like the feel alot. A+A preseason work was a little too advanced for me, but maybe that was the point, to dip into glycolosis.)
-Learned how to actually program for sports-- Thanks Bott! 97 dollars well spent.
-Bodyweight went down and I got leaner. I actually look like an athlete now lol-- and it had a huge impact on the mat.

The Bad:
-Beat up my knees really bad in pre-season and had to stop squatting. Too much running and near-max squats at once.
-My calves were continually sore in preseason, because my machine rowing did nothing to condition them for the plyometrics and recovery jogging in pre-season programming. I at least need jump rope in addition to bike/rower, preferably running+biking.
-Caught Molloscum Contagiosum, a mild skin virus. Need to be very vigilant with skin and with antifungal soap, do more solo research rather than simply taking the word of the doctor.
-Made little progress in pullups.... Need higher volume to make up for lower systemic stress during reps. IC or high rep sets.
-Need intelligent program design for progress, and everything needs it's proper place. Getups and swings should have been trained more, for instance.

Lessons:
-Beware impact on joints and prepare the body for plyometrics.
-Beware skin disease
-Program what's important, throw out the unnecessary. Expect to get strong. (How many times do I have to learn this lol)
-Easy cardio is king.
-Stay lean
-Stretch Weekly

2023 Goals: (17-18)

Life:
-Go to college
-Compete at an IBJJF BJJ tournament
-Qualify for state in wrestling
-Wrestle in college

Strength:
-Power clean 1.5x body weight (250lbs)
- Squat 2x bodyweight (330lbs)
-Bench 1.5x bodyweight (250lbs)
-Get good at rope climbs (Might just do rope pullups, but yeah.)
-70lbs weighted pullup (Watch me!)
-9:00 1.5 mile time (That would be a solid >51 VO2 max, and 75% of my previous score!)
-SFG snatch test

Secondary:
-Military Press bodyweight (165lbs)
-Klokov Press 135 (why not?)
-Good morning my best squat (185 for reps? Want to see where this Good Morning thing goes.)
-Front Squat 1.5x Bodyweight
-Overhead Squat Bodyweight
-Some loaded carry standard.
-Full Dragon Flags
-5x70lbs continuous getups
-Enduring Dips/pushups/pullups/rows
-Tabata front squats?

This year I’m looking at a short (for me) list of big goals. This year I had very divided attention, and made things more complicated than they needed to be. This year I’m taking the most direct, simple path I can.

Note: Current program lacks in terms of squats. Will think about this more.

 

[Stephen B.]

Monday:
Can't fully bend my right knee anymore. Pain got worse. Icing it. Out of wrestling again due to this and the skin thing. Skipped squat day obviously.
Tuesday: 5/3/1 W3 press: Feeling a little better. Getting an MRI soon.
1x65lbs, 1x75lbs, 7x85lbs Military Press
1,2,3x bodyweight chinups, 7x20lbs chinups
Supersetted these with 7x5 pistols on my left leg only.

3x8 dips with about1 minute rest (more upright because I can't bend my knees. Really hard on the delts, upper back, tris.
3x10 slow ab wheel rollouts (abs gonna die.)
8,8,7+1x65lbs Klokov press (too much fatigue to make all reps-- accidentally did Dips when not supposed to.)
Thick Towel hangs: 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec
Vups: 3x15 (got into the groove (and the burn) on the last set.)
Slosh Pipe Carry: Started off at roughly 2/3 full, weighed 45 pounds. Literally couldn't hold it lol. Decreased to less than half full, still couldn't hold it. All attempts were zercher carries, might actually do better in a back squat position, then I can stabilise laterally with my lats.

 

[Stephen B.]

Wednesday:
Sore in the abs, shoulders, pecs, lats.
15, 15, 10+5 pushups. Playing with light training after heavy training. These were probably too hard, even though I didn't go to limit.
A bunch of reverse sled pulls with 70lbs KB. Took a long while to get a pump.
Tried to bike-- decided not to when it slightly irritated my knee. Definitely not running,
20 minute heavy hands with 5 pound plates. Sucked. My left bicep got super tired but not my right, Hr basically stayed below 125. Curling messed up my walking stride. Nope.

Found what I need: 12 minutes of walking up and down stairs, 5 minutes walking up and down stairs backwards. Heart rate stayed in recover zone, but that didn't stop me from feeling the conditioning affect a little.

 

[Stephen B.]

Thursday:
Lift with the wrestlers:
5x5 medball slams
5x5 bench press with 2x20lbs dumbells
5x5 bent over row with an empty bar, focusing on the squeeze. (Probably ready to add weight again. Not going explosive though.)
8,6,4 pullups (last set was easy.)

Knee is better, not quite ready to bike. Doctor appointment tomorrow for the skin stuff.

 

[Stephen B.]

Friday:
Visited the Doc. She said that I should do no leg exercise, no stairs, no nothing. Sucks. I'm going to the Dermatologist on Tuesday-- Doc knew of a newly opened office with a short line.

3 minutes of continuous 70lbs suitcase carries
1 minute of continuous 70lbs suitcase carries, holding the bell away from my legs.

5 sets of wrestling with the slosh pipe (still <half full)
1 set in back-rack -stressed my shoulders more than my core.
2 sets zercher hold (tough)
2 sets zercher carry forward and backward (tough-- though being able to wobble with the force of the water probably helped some.)

3x20 V-ups (very tough).

5x10x70lbs RDLS w/ a KB.

 

[John K]

Did doc say what was wrong with the knee?

 

[Stephen B.]

Did doc say what was wrong with the knee?

My PT said is was likely a Quad issue, doctor said a similar thing. Basically, they think I overworked my knee and that's why it's angry, which makes sense, as this happened during my brief return to wrestling practice, and I didn't have a singular moment where something snapped or popped and that's when the pain started, it was more gradual. I'm supposed to rest until it stops hurting, then I presumably ease back into training.