The monkey on the left was allowed to eat as it pleased. The monkey on the right was given a 30% reduced calorie diet.

Full article.

• Fitness, health and fighting book reviews.
• And DVD reviews too.
• Ashtanga yoga info and how it affects fighting ability and general fitness.
• Koryu/Kobudo experiences.
• Ju Jutsu experiences.
• Suggested training routines for different people, different sports and outcomes.
• Training routines of the rich and famous.
• Specific exercise tips.
• Science Summaries: Summarise wordy science into bite-size chunks that can be read in less than a minute!

Any thoughts?

On the 9th (Friday) I did a 13min conditioning workout which had a “training effect” of 3.5/5 (according to my Suunto T6).

At the weekend I did Yoga on both days for 1:30.  this is doing my flexibility and balance wonders but I need to cut down the time to complete it otherwise it’s not going to be practical.

Tuesday 13th was my first day Tuesday back for ju jutsu training. It was a great lesson and it not only made me realise a lot about the art but also my fitness – more to come (subscribe to make sure you don’t miss it!).

So what am I planning after this weekend???

• A brand new 70 day programme.
• A Google Calendar feed available with workout and training schedule – follow along!
• New goals.
• New tracking of results using funky interactive graphs and stats.
• More ju jutsu info.
• More training info and insights.

Finally my some stats are:

• Pull Ups: 5
• Chin Ups: 6
• Weight: 66Kg (10.5 st | 147lbs)

So keep connected and subscribe to see what happens next week.

Skills

• Learn fencing – Booked and starting on the 8th January.
• Ju Jutsu – Attain green belt by December.
• Iai & Ken Jutsu – Continue practice throughout the year.
• Yoga – head stand (forget the proper name).
• Yoga – A proper “Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana” (see pic)

Strength

• 5 Pull Ups – By February.
• 10 Pull Ups – By March.
• 15 Pull Ups – By July.
• 1 Handstand Push Up – By December.
• Single Leg Squat – By March

Endurance

• 50 Push Ups – By February.
• 100 Push Ups – By October.
• 100 Burpee Challenge – By July

Events

• Action Heart 5 mile run – A simple, but hilly, road run in the West Midlands of the UK.
• Running – At least 2 other 5 mile runs
• NJJC Kumite Competition – My clubs kumite competitions.  I think these happen in spring.
• Grappling Competition – October I think.
• Fencing – One fencing competition!

I’m sure I’ve forgotten loads – I’ll be updating this tomorrow so stay tuned and subscribe to the blog!!

So what are your goals for 2009?

After this I’ll be taking up the new programme I made after learning loads over this first period.

I’m also trying to integrate more exercises and activity into my daily routine as well as some general tweaks to my lifestyle such as breaks away from the computer and better food.