So the idea is that whenever possible, I need to start class at least a little fatigued and with a pretty good sweat already started. Tonight I was "the idea" in spades, making up missing both cardio and training sessions planned for earlier in the week with some extended warmups (3-step seionage, 2-step double leg, open guard and half guard leg drills, side control escapes against the wall) and then three rounds of threshold training with matwork (1/4 HR 39/26, 40/28, 39/27 w/3 min rests). With still about 25 minutes to go before class started, I did some mini-sprints to keep my HR up (about as much sprinting as a gymnast does en route to the vault).
And while I don't consider myself to be in above-average cardio (at least among the amateur athlete/weekend warrior cohort), I was in fine shape for the class. The wall sits were brutal. But that's more a matter of local muscle endurance than cardiovascular conditioning, per se. Not to say that LME isn't a major area for improvement. But it is very nice to see that all that pre-class conditioning didn't take anything from my in-class performance.
And all the more so with Prof Carlos running a very conditioning-oriented class. He wanted to emphasize the "playful" aspect of jiu-jitsu. So after a very aggressive warmup, we did a lot of no-hands drilling, triangles and armbars from the guard as we focused mostly on the legs. This was another case of cardio being no help for poor LME. But the LME work of a lot of what we did in class was a good compliment to the cardio I did beforehand.
One of my favorite quotes for a long time was Dan Inosanto's line on fatigue that ends "when you're tired, you're not even smart." I'm not about to challenge that. But I've found that training when fatigued tends to settle me down and makes it easier to access techniques that a more "aware" or more "conscious" version of myself tends to overlook. Tonight during sparring for example, I was making great use of the figure-four grip break, something I've never done before but have been watching Marcelo Garcia do for months. In October, I took the back more times in one month than I think I have in years - no exaggeration. More armbars than I have in years, as well.
So maybe fatigue, in the right doses, may be one way to help set my jiu-jitsu free. At least when it comes to training and getting past the mental gatekeepers.
Just one round of Live Training. Nothing impressive (beyond figure-four grip break mentioned above). Most critically, I didn't really work any of the 2.0 game like I should. But I'm giving myself a little of a break with the two days off and the rhinovirus. We finished off the regular class with a mount King of the Hill specific and I got plenty of opportunity to work mount escapes and train at a sparring pace. So I'm feeling fairly okay overall. Friday and Saturday training will tell more of the story.
157.6 on the scale post train. No weight issues at all.
