Sunday Study: Single X and Goose Guard

30 Days Down, 150 to Go

I'm one month into the T-Nation Transformation Challenge. Starting on January 1st, the goal of the Challenge is simply to spend the subsequent six months building the body you've always wanted. I'm still on this big fat #50isthenew30 bandwagon, and figured that this would be a "fun" way to finish off my Year of Living Agelessly.

So feel free to visit my Transformation Challenge page if you're into that sort of thing (i.e., workout logs, resistance training grousing, semi-nude "progress report" selfies, etc.). I'll be sharing the final results on May 31st, on the eve of my 51st birthday.

Cardio!

10 x 6 dips EMOM

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LSD

7.87 cal/min for 47:30 minutes

Training Day: Thursday

Collar grip to single leg / Hipscape to single leg counter to knee on belly /  Hipscape to single leg counter to knee on belly to armtrap collar grip to takedown to armbar

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20  minutes Live Training

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BJJ Circuit*

* Due to injury to left elbow, swapping out chins for ergo rows

Cardio!

LSD

7.20 cal/min for 47:20 minutes

Duck Season: Cycle 1, Day 6

5/3/1  "Jack Shit Protocol"

OHP (max set/rep) 90 x 10

deadlift (max set/rep) 215 x 10

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4 x 500m row sprints

2:08, 2:14, 2:09, 2:09

Training Day: Tuesday

Hip throw counter to front bear hug over the arms / Scoop toss counter to rear bear hug over the arms / Mount escape bridge and roll / Mount escape - recover guard (T)

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12 minutes Live Training

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BJJ Circuit

Cardio!

LSD

7.22 cal/min for 47:30 minutes

Rabbit Season: Cycle 1, Day 5

5/3/1 "Jack Shit Protocol"

squat (max set/rep) 190 x 10

bench (max set/rep) 125 x 15

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4 x 500m row sprints
2:12, 2:06, 2:06, 2:09

All About Adam

Cardio!

10 x 6 EMOM dips

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LSD

8.82 cal/min for 47.5 minutes

The Euros Are Here!

Just a reminder that the first of the Big Four Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, the IBJJF European Championship, got underway earlier this week. That means this weekend will feature the black belt divisions, including the Absolute on Sunday.

Flograppling has you covered for all the action live from Lisbon, Portugal. Here's a primer on the event, with a focus on the black belt divisions. Note that since that primer was posted, Leandro Lo has withdrawn from the medium-heavy / meio-pesado division.

I always like to take a look at the division I'd compete in if I were eligible (as if that were the only barrier!).

It almost makes me think that it's my destiny (if I choose it) to one day get the chance to square off against the legendary Wellington Dias. 

Training Day: Thursday

See Training Day: Tuesday for Today's Lesson 

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0 minutes Live Training (TA)

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BJJ Circuit

Cardio!

LSD

7.19 cal/min for 46 minutes

Joe Rogan Interviews John Danaher

Duck Season: Cycle 1, Day 4

5/3/1  "Jack Shit Protocol"

OHP (max set/rep) 85 x 10

deadlift (max set/rep) 205 x 10

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4 x 500m row sprints

2:15, 2:18, 2:13, 2:15

Training Day: Tuesday

Pull Cobra Guard to collar drag takedown / Knee cross pass vs half guard / Backstep pass vs half guard / Backstep pass vs half guard with wedge finish

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24 minutes Live Training

Cardio!

LSD

7.17 cal/min for 46 minutes (incline focus)

Rabbit Season: Cycle 1, Day 3

5/3/1 w/FSL 5 x 10

squat (max set/rep) 180 x 13

bench (max set/rep) 120 x 12

Soul Train Pass

Courtesy of my other favorite Cornelius. First noticed Xande using this guard pass during the IBJJF Masters in 2017. So many entries. I am passing all the guards this way in 2018.

The Trouble with Night Training

The problem and a few potential solutions.

"What's the Best Time to Train?" - Christian Thibaudeau

Cardio!

LSD

8.6 cal/min for 45 minutes (incline focus)

FSL for 5/3/1 for Jiu-JItsu

Here are the accessory lifts for my 5/3/1/ for Jiu-jitsu variation. 

I'm emphasizing relatively high horizontal pressing and rowing to boost upper pec hypertrophy and shoulder mobility/health. RDLs to complement the deadlifts. And while I'm thinking about front squats for the squat FSL at some point, I'm going to stick with just doing more back squats for now.

Rabbit Season

(more) squats 5 x 10

guillotine press 5 x10

Duck Season

face pulls 5 x 10

RDLs 5 x 10

Training Day: Thursday

See Training Day: Tuesday for Today's Lesson (T)

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4 x 2:20 min row sprints Post-Training Conditioning

Duck Season: Cycle 1, Day 2

5/3/1 w/FSL 5 x 10

OHP (max set/rep) 80 x 12

deadlift (max set/rep) 195 x 10

Training Day: Tuesday

Reverse takedown counter to standing headlock after defending front bear hug (over the arms) with sprawl  / Side control escape (frame, hipscape) / Side control escape (underhook to dogfight or recover guard

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28 minutes Live Training

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15 minutes Post-Training Conditioning

Rabbit Season: Cycle 1, Day 1

5/3/1 w/FSL 5 x 10

squat (max set/rep) 170 x 15

bench (max set/rep) 115 x 12

Bret Contreras' Inside the Muscles Series

Since I'm always looking for them - and on the eve of the second half of my strength phase - here are the five articles in Bret Contreras' excellent, quantified guide to which exercises produce the most peak and mean muscle activation in one easy to reference location.

Chest and Triceps

Abs

Leg, Glute, Calf

Back and Biceps

Shoulders and Traps

Strength Training: 5/3/1/ for Jiu-Jitsu

Starting in 2018, I'm going to leverage the 5/3/1 protocol from Jim Wendler for my strength training. As I'm nearing "advanced beginner/intermediate" level strength thanks to StrongLifts, I want to dial back the volume a bit. At the same time, since I'll still only do resistance training twice a week, I won't have to spend a week deloading. So rather than a daily progression with StrongLifts or a 4-week/monthly progression with regular 5/3/1 4x/week training, I'll have a three-week cycle before bumping up the weight.

I'll still follow the Duck Season/Rabbit Season template: OHP and deadlift on Monday Wednesday, squat and bench on Wednesday Monday, with Friday reserved as a makeup day. Not going to miss the bent over rows one bit.

I'm doing the FSL 5x10 for the first half of the assistance work - something I really like about 5/3/1. For the second half, I'm doing a metabolic finisher of four 500m row sprints on the ergometer, trying to average less than 2:15 min per sprint (1:1 work/rest ratio). In addition to giving me a little extra conditioning work, it will also help increase the amount of horizontal pulling I do relative to vertical pulling. Update: 1/8: In the interest of keeping the workout to 45 minutes, I'm keeping the FSL but no row sprints, which would add another 15 minutes to the workout. 

My goal is to make 5/3/1 my regular year-around program for strength training. I think it strikes a good balance between training modalities - focus on a minimal possible number of movements, a heavy weight/max rep element, and a high-rep muscle endurance component - that I believe will serve me well as someone whose primary interest in being stronger is to support athletic output. It also seems to fold in well with my jiu-jitsu schedule when modified as a 2x/week instead of a 4x/week program.

Conditioning in a Time of Strength-Building

I've been lifting weights twice a week since the beginning of September - Rabbit Season on Mondays and Duck Season on Wednesdays. And while I've certainly gotten stronger, am getting back to where I was at my strongest this spring, and am on track toward my goal of reaching "good" levels of strength by April 1st, it's worth noting that there has been no beneficial transfer over to my jiu-jitsu that I can identify.

Mostly that's because getting stronger is taking the place of improving conditioning. While it is true that it is preferable to get your conditioning on the mat if your primary activity is jiu-jitsu, it is also true that if you aren't getting to the academy as frequently as you'd prefer (i.e., 3-4 times a week), then relying on training to improve your conditioning is a recipe for frustration and failure.

The wife of one of my teammates - the rare teammate who is older, smaller, and senior in rank to me - once gave me a great piece of advice I've been resisting ever since. She said, essentially, that at our age (meaning my age and her husband's) we need to train for jiu-jitsu, instead of treating jiu-jitsu as training.

This means, without making too much of it, we need to treat everyday training with a mindset - and skillset and bodyset - not too unlike that of a competitor.  At least if we're planning on jumping in the "everybody grab a partner" deep water of 30+ minute Live Training or Open Mat. Again, I don't want to overstate it. But I do want to focus on what works for those in a situation that may be similar to mine: a sea turtle swimming with the tiger sharks.

More on what this means later. For now, I'm adding a post-training conditioning routine that's served me well in the past. I'm trying to work up to the equivalent of at least 120 minutes of cardio spread out over three or four days each week in addition to the strength training (live jiu-jitsu will count here BTW). This is what Joel Jamieson of 8 Weeks Out categorizes as the minimum for high-level maintenance conditioning when trying to improve strength. This post-training conditioning routine, plus 90-minutes of LSD/treadmill work at my gym down the street, should do the trick.

So here's the program. Repeat as a circuit three to five times after Live Training/Open Mat.

20 hipscapes

5 pullups

10 weighted hip thrusts

10 tempo pushups

5 weighted jump squats