The Life Plan Continues (Path to the Brown Belt) 2011

[BJJ in Chicago]

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Jiu-Jitsu
I spent some time working with Andre on why when I do the heel-to-butt pass, I get swept a lot (happened once at New Breed and twice at Valko) and he went over a few specifics of when to abandon the pass, where to put my weight, and what grips I can let them have and what I can't.


Rolling
Rolled a good 6 rounds in about 35 minutes so great training overall.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

Week 4 Upper 1

Simple 6 warmup

1. Bench Press: 205 x 5, 215 x 3, 240 x 4

2. Bench Press: 2 x 20 x 135.. kept it easy on these

3a. Bent-over 1-Arm DB Rows: 4x8
3b. Skullcrushers: 4x8

4a. BB Shrugs (2 Sec Holds): 3x8
4b. Rear Delt Flyes: 3x10

5. Bought a spin bike for ma birfday and promptly broke it because I am fat and stupid. Getting it fixed soon. Got a good 6 sprints in on it before I broke it.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Sunday, April 24th, 2011

Week 4 Lower

no warmup.. dumb

1. Squat: 275 x 5, 295 x 3, 325 x 1

2. Bulgarian Split Squat Jumps: 5x5, holding 5lb. DB’s

3a. Stability Ball Hamstring Curls (keep hips up): 1x15 .. looks silly, super effective
3b. Weighted Spread Eagle Sit-ups: 1x15 .. ouch on the hip left hip flexor

5. Timed one-mile run – Time 8:53.. slower because I'm fatter.. Weighing a solid 220 now. yuck.

 

[XTrainer]

Happy birthday What program are you doing?

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Im doing defranco's built like a badass program right now. its definitely different than what i was doing on 5/3/1 but its fun for a change.

i dont have any aspirations of lifting as a sport in itself, so i think its alright. with bjj as my main goal, lifting is just gpp anyways.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Monday, April 25th, 2011

AM

Week 4 upper 2

Simple 6 warmup

2a. BB Rows (Neutral Grip): 2 x 20 x 115
2b. Pushups: 30, 20.. wrecked my left tricep on the first set
3. Rear Delt Flyes: 4x10
4. “Run the rack” BB curls, palms up – 1 set (8 x 95, 85, 75, 65, 55, 45)

 

[WildCard]

Squat 8 x 265, 6 x 285, 2 x 310

I was blowing chunks out of my nose and hacking up brown chunks every time i coughed by this point. Called it quits. No assistance and no mile run.

haha this is terrible, squats and choking back puke.

Cool switch to the built like a badass, how is it so far? Good luck towards the brown belt!

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

haha this is terrible, squats and choking back puke.

Cool switch to the built like a badass, how is it so far? Good luck towards the brown belt!

Thanks for reading! Hopefully it's still a few years to brown. I look at where the world class purple belts are and want to be that good before i'm even considered for brown. I'm hoping I can stay at purple for another 2-3 years.

DeFranco's program is going well. Kinda forces me to work in the uppe ranges of my lifts. It really scaled back the lower body work compared to what I was doing. Also, it's just nice to have a change of pace. I had my mind on too many other things to program ab work, assistance work, and conditioning effectively into 5/3/1 and this just lays it out for you and also adds in variety. This could all be done on your own with 5/3/1, but, like i said, i was just too busy/stupid to do it.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

2nd half of Week 4 Upper 2

5. Core Circuit: x2 , rest 60 sec. b/t sets
A) Sprinter Sit-ups x 20
B) V-ups x 15
C) Toe touches x 20
D) Hip-ups x 15

6. Bodyweight Complex – 3x through, rest 60 sec. b/t sets
A) Mountain Climbers x 30
B) Push-ups x 20
C) Groiners x 10
D) Burpees x 5

7. Bike Sprints
9 x 10w/20r
1x 30w

Jiu-Jitsu (gi)
Worked the sleeve grip to arm wrap from guard. Worked straight armbar, reverse triangle, triangle, omoplata from there. Good drilling tonight. Not something I use a lot, but not bad. I really want to find more time to drill my dlr sweeps.

Rolling (gi)
Rolled 4x5min. rounds. Had a great round with Albie working my balance and he really worked his dlr and other sweeps from the bottom. Also had an excellent round with John (a lightweight blue belt) who did an awesome job working to pass my half guard and mounted me. Felt good to be put in a bad position because I got to work my hitchiker escape and had to defend a lot of submissions. Also rolled with two other guys who let me work my DLR a LOT and almost hit the berimbolo on both of them. I have the roll down, just have trouble pulling them into the back take. Definitely got 1% better tonight.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

It's showing glaring weaknesses. The core ciruit and bodyweight circuit this morning are evidence of that. The fact that I've gained 15lbs. of mostly fat in the last month has been causing me to sleep like crap and have headaches a lot (at least thats what i attribute it to).

Moving my bodyweight around at 220 is an issue. I feel strong and stuff but my body comp and ability to move goes to crap.

Thanks for continuing to read foz.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Spent too much time looking at:
FightStyle.net – MMA Gear Giveaways and The Latest in MMA Clothing
DSTRYRsg: Destroyer Submission Grappling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
BJJ Globetrotter
Lapel Choke - Protect Your Neck
The Jiu Jitsu Laboratory

And only had about 30min. to train this am. more in the pm

Week 6 Upper 1

AM
1. Bench Press: 185 x 8, 195 x 6, 210 x 4.. kept it easy
2. Off-set, Alternate Med Ball Push-ups: 2 x max reps (16, 16)
4a. Band Face Pull (2 second hold): 3x12
4b. DB Curls: 3x12

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Friday, April 29th, 2011

Week 6 Upper 1.5

Simple 6 warmup

3a.Blast Strap Rows: 3x12
3b. Skullcrushers: 3x12
6. Bike Sprints 10 x 10w/20r

Skipped db complex due to time. And i'm being a sissy.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Friday, May 6th, 2011

Week 6 Upper 2

Weight 211 this morning (+3lb. for hoosier open; no way am i making 194 right before i step on the mat only 5 weeks out)

AM
2. Rest-Pause, 3-Second Eccentric Front Lat Pulldowns (Wide, , Fat Grip, overhand): x1
3. Dips: 3x10x25
4. Blackburns: 4 Positions, 15 Seconds each x 2 sets
5. EZ Curls: 3x15

Found a way to rig up a lat pulldown with bands and a ez curl bar in my basement. it's so ignorant. but it works. I hold the olympic sleeves to make the grip more difficult as well.

I also had to use the 2.5lbs on blackburns. I'm so weak. I really need to keep these in the program.

PM

1. Chin-ups (total reps) = 16 total reps (10, 4, 2)
3. Standing DB “Modified Arnold Press”: 3x10x40
4. Blackburns: 4 Positions, 15 Seconds each x 2 sets
5. EZ Curls: 2x10

Did a few things twice to make up for taking a week off. Gotta get myself back in gear. I realize that physically, this is the opposite of what I should do (especially since I will be lifting saturday and sunday as well), but mentally, I feel like I need this to get back.

6. Core Circuit: x 2
A) V-ups x 20
B) Hip-ups x 20
C) Alternating Toe Touch (i.e. Right hand to Left Foot, etc) x 15ea side

7. Bodyweight Complex: 4x through, rest 60 sec. b/t sets
A) Mountain Climbers x 30
B) Push-ups x 20
C) Groiners x 10
D) Burpees x 5

8. Bike Sprints 10 x 10w / 20r

 

[DrBdan]

I just spent a bit of time reading some of your blog posts, pretty cool. It's cool that the gyms are so open to visitors coming and checking themout, the BJJ community in general seems very friendly.

Good training too. Do you have any fights or tournaments planned for the near future?

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Hoosier Open on June 11th. IBJJF Summer Open on August 20th.

There were 3 tournaments in April and I competed in a whole none of them. I've never done the hoosier open but weigh ins are done ibjjf style (right before you get on the mat) and it's double elimination. So I'll have a good time.

You can be honest in here though.. my training sucks.

but I REALLY appreciate you checking out the blog. I'm hoping that thing become a go-to resource for the Chicago area.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Saturday, May 7th, 2011

Week 6 Lower

1. Kneeling Jumps: 4x5x10, 25, 45, 65
2. Squat: 255 x 8, 265 x 6, 285 x 10.. parallel box
3a. Supine Hip Thrust (shoulders & feet elevated): 3x12
3b. Stability Ball Plank (Ball Under Arms, Feet On Bench): 3x30 seconds
4. DB Reverse Lunge, front foot elevated: 2x10 ea leg
5. Bike Sprints 10x10w/20r heavier resistance than normal.. wanted 20 but ran out of time

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Week 7 Upper 1


1. Bench Press: 190 x 7, 205 x 5, 215 x 8
2. Off-set, Alternate Med Ball Push-ups: 2 x max reps (16, 20)

Spent the morning typing up a final exam and ran out of time. Assistance and conditioning tomorrow morning.

 

[DrBdan]

Hoosier Open on June 11th. IBJJF Summer Open on August 20th.

There were 3 tournaments in April and I competed in a whole none of them. I've never done the hoosier open but weigh ins are done ibjjf style (right before you get on the mat) and it's double elimination. So I'll have a good time.

You can be honest in here though.. my training sucks.

but I REALLY appreciate you checking out the blog. I'm hoping that thing become a go-to resource for the Chicago area.

You're training seems to be really consistent and that's half the battle. Plus, squatting 285x10 and benching 215x8 is solid.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

I taped my squatting and I just totally abuse the weight. I don't keep an arch in my upper back past the first rep. I round back squat the whole time. I've also hit 315x10 before so the 285 isn't too bad considering I just wanted 10 and cut it off there.

Thanks for reading and please comment if you see anything of note.

 

[BJJ in Chicago]

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

No grad school so I got in early tonight

Jiu-Jitsu (nogi)
Worked on breaking the guard and then stack passing

Rolling (nogi)
Had a good roll with a black belt named Marcus. Also rolled for a long time with Hector and Nick (blue and white respectively). Worked on staying calm and flowing to positions against marcus and nick and really worked attacking against hector.

Jiu-Jitsu (gi)
Attacking the turtle
penny choke barrel roll
underhook cross choke and sit back to guard

Rolling (gi)
Was asked to roll with Marcus again who I swept with the berimbolo (yes!) but couldn't take the back. He them immediately swept back and proceeded to mount me and pass my guard like 20 times. Great learning experience against a black belt who is my size and strength. Then rolled with some tough blue belts. I need to be more confident in my peruvian necktie. I hit it with great consistency but am afraid to lose position often to go for it. Just like footlocks. Galvao said not to be afraid at his seminar. Good thing to keep in mind.

Also felt amazing to be back.