So it’s about time I got back into the groove. Start putting down my workouts, diet, etc. Holding myself accountable as before. I’ve never been so fit as when documenting it on here. Main reason I stopped was the lack of readers but I’m not gonna let that stop me this time.

Today is Day 1 of a new 70 day programme. I’ll go into the details of it when I get back from JJ later tonight.

But I will say I used this video with a bit extra:

First Day: HIIT ~16mins

The Video:

• 8 Rounds of Tabata protocol burpees
• Countdown sets of pushups & knee jumps

Plus:

2x 3-min rounds of shadow sparring (Bas Rutten Thai Boxing workout)

• Monday: Conditioning (MMA workout, ICT, EIT, etc)
• Tuesday: Ju Jutsu (dojo) + Strength
• Wednesday: Koryu/Kobudo + Yoga
• Thursday: Conditioning (MMA workout, ICT, EIT, etc)
• Friday: Ju Jutsu (dojo) + Strength
• Saturday: Conditioning (MMA workout, ICT, EIT, etc) + Ashtanga Yoga + Koryu/Kobudo practice
• Sunday: Conditioning (MMA workout, ICT, EIT, etc) + Ashtanga Yoga+ Koryu/Kobudo practice

Some notes:

• No core – This is because I’ve had the biggest core strength benefits from my Ashtanga yoga. The vinyasas alone really work the abs and back.
• Conditioning 4x a week on top of ju jutsu sessions. I’m a big fan of conditioning and I started this thinking it was all about strength. I couldn’t bring myself to accept Ross’ belief that “conditioning is king”. Now I know form personal experience its 100% true!
• Ju Jutsu – This normally has a 5 minute warm up beforehand and then 1:15min of practice which often ends in grappling or kumite bouts at the end for about 10 mins.
• Yoga – I want to do more and so I’ll be greasing the groove plenty with mini yoga workouts throughout the week.
• My weekends are the only time I get a decent amount of time to myself so its pretty crammed with stuff but it’ll be spread throughout the day to allow for recovery.
• No more diary – I won’t be posting every single days activities anymore. I don’t see the point and I wanna concentrate more on posting things that are useful to people.

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.

Oh how I hurt.  I used to think Ashtanga made you sweat and heave a lot but it wasn’t much of a workout as such.  Certainly not as intense as say a ‘proper’ strength or conditioning workout.

Put simply: I was wrong!

In the past I struggled to do the first 10 sun salutations but this time I managed them with relative ease.  So I went further into the programme and it got more and more difficult.  For the core its full of bridges, L-Sits, V-Sits, downward dogs, etc etc.  It also works the shoulders, forearms and arms a lot too as my arms were like lead afterwards.

It was the most incredible workout though and I’m definately doing it more often.  I just wish my area had a teacher but for now I’ll have to make do with the DVD – its a great DVD, but I want feedback on how I’m doing.

Oh – and I had a shoulder stand for a few seconds too.  I almost got it!!

Read about Ashtanga Yoga at Wikipedia.

Strength

• Band Bicep Curls: 10 x 3 sets.
• Decline Push Ups: 10 x 3 sets.
• Sit Ups: 10

Conditioning

• 4 x 3 min rounds 16mins of Bas Rutten All Round Fighting audio

Strength Circuit (Sat)

(2 minutes rest between each set)

• Pull Ups: 3 x 2 sets
• Calf Raises (dumb bell and bucket): 10 x 3 sets
• Decline Push Ups: 10 x 3 sets
• Chin Ups: 3 (just for the hell of it!)
• Core…
  • Sit Ups: 10 (5 sec hold)
  • Plank: 1:30

Strength Circuit (Sun Morning/Afternoon)

• Forearms…
  • Dumb Bell Wrist Curl: 10 x 3 sets
  • Wrist Roller: 2 x 3 sets
  • Wrist Twists (sledge): 8 x 3 sets
• 1-Legged Squat (to table): 5 x 3 sets
• Chin Ups: 3 x 3 sets
• Wide Grip Pull Ups: 1

Core Workout (Sun Evening)

• Core Workout…
  • Sit Ups: 10 x 3 sets (3 sec hold)
  • Hanging Leg Raises: 5 x 3 sets (3 sec hold)
  • Side Bends (Sand Bucket): 10 x 3 sets
• Core Circuit…
  • Side Plank (Right): 30 secs
  • Side Plank (Left): 30 secs
  • Plank: 1 min
  • …2 min rest…
  • Side Plank (Right): 30 secs
  • Side Plank (Left): 30 secs
  • Plank: 30 secs

Conditioning Circuit (Sun Evening)

• 15 Burpees
• 3 x 3 minute rounds of the All Round Fighting Audio.
• 15 Burpees
• 20 Chinnies

No ju jutsu either.

But I’m making Wednesday another conditioning day.  So that’s 3 total in the 7 day week.

I’ll put up an updated programme tomorrow but in summary…

• Monday: Maximal Strength
• Tuesday: Conditioning
• Wednesday: Conditioning
• Thursday: Plyometric Strength
• Friday: Conditioning
• Saturday: Maximal Strength
• Sunday: Active Rest

My numbers on the heart rate monitor are getting better and I’m noticing my heart rate takes longer to rise.  I dunno why but this happened when I got better at running earlier in the year.  My heart took longer to beat faster so I could run for a good few minutes before it hit the 170 area.

Normally I’d hit 170 in about 10 seconds!!

My max is about 182-5.

Today’s conditioning I did 15 minutes of the following:

• 50 Burpees.
• Tabata Squats
• Tabata Push Ups
• Bas Knee Jump Finisher

Strength

Still hurting from Sunday’s strength workout.

• Pull Ups: 2 + 2 + 1
• Wide Grip Pull Up: 1
• Calf Raise: 10 x 3 sets
• Decline Push Ups: 10 x 3 sets

Core

• Ab Wheel from knees: 10 x 3 sets
• Sit Ups: 5 (5 sec hold)
• Sand Bucket Side Bends: 10 x 2 sets
• Back Extensions: 10 x 3 sets

Was ju jutsu today and had to do 20 burpees at one point.  I got to ten and started flagging.  So I’m going to add a new conditioning day to the week.  Stay tuned…or subscribe to the RSS.

Nothing complicated – 30 mins of Bas Ruttens MMA audio.  Specifically 8 x 3 min rounds of all round fighting.  Shadow sparring with push ups on occassion.

Ended with one of my favourite finishers: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 …. + 10 knee jumps.  Killer.