My Next Big Goal

 
I dont want to take a ton of time away from my Sunday evening, but I have some BIG news.  After taking an extended break following my completion of Pavel's Beast Tamer Challenge, I have decided to set my next goal.

My next goal is as follows:  Compete in the IBJJF No-Gi World Championships in Long Beach, California.

  This tourney is the Mac Daddy of all BJJ/Grappling competitions.  There is no bigger or more prestigious event in the world.

A couple challenges associated with this decision:

1)  I havent competed in over a year.

2)  I only have 7 weeks until the competition.

3)  I dont know how I am getting to California.

4)  I have never competed at Brown Belt Level.

  So, why am I throwing myself to the wolves?  In short, because I THRIVE under pressure.  I have won or placed top 3 in all the advanced divisions of the NAGAs and Grappler's Quest on the east coast.  I have competed all my life.  The only way I am going to motivate myself to live up to my potential is to step into the most challenging conditions I can find. 

At this point, I need to be the underdog, the competitor that has nothing to lose.  I dont want to show up to a tourney where I am EXPECTED to win.

Here's what I have on my side:

-I have some of the best grappling coaches in the country at MMA Institute (Rick McCoy, Jake Young, Mark Strickland)

-I have competed at high level competition before and beaten competitors that were better than me on paper

-I am strong, injury free, and have been training semi-consistently.

-My body responds very rapidly to training stress

  So, I will be posting about my training with the hopes of holding myself accountable and helping fellow competitors understand how I prepare for high level competition.  Lets get this thing going...looking forward to training tomorrow, bright and early!  Let the training begin!

The Beast Tamer Challenge: I Owned It!

  Recently, I added myself to a very prestigous list of names (less than 20 in the world!) by completing the RKC Beast Tamer Challenge.  For those of you that are reading my blog for the first time, please reference this post to understand what the Beast Tamer Challenge is.  I decided I was going to accomplish this goal over five years ago, back when I first started training with kettlebells. 

  You can see the video by going here: 

  Accomplishing this challenge in front of so many enthusiastic peers was such a great experience.  I can only express gratitude and thanks to the entire RKC community for bringing so many  like-minded, awesome people together for these certifications.  It has also been such a privledge to learn from the best minds in the strength industry and utilize that knowledge to accomplish such an awesome feat of full body strength.  In this way, Hard-Style training has literally transformed my life.
 

Beast Tamer Prep - 2 months to go!

So, its official!  I have been asked to be an assistant instructor at the upcoming RKC certification in Vienna, VA on the weekend of May 16th.  This puts me about 9 weeks away from my opportunity to complete the Beast Tamer Challenge.

Here is where I am at to date:

Military Press:  This has always been my weakest lift of the three.  Last time I attempted this challenge I failed the press.  Right now I can confidently press 97 lbs. KB but its not exactly gliding up through my sticking point as easily as I would like.  I am WAY stronger than I was 2 months out from my last attempt at this challenge so I am feeling pretty confident.  Even still, this is the lift I need to focus on the most.

Pistol:  Havent worked any heavy pistols in a while.  I am still grooving the body weight pistol and gaining back the range of motion I need to safely perform this lift.  Currently barbell front squatting in the 225-315 lbs. range for reps (wide stance) and 150-225 lb.s range (narrrow stance) to get my legs plenty strong.  I completed this lift with ease last time, so I am trying to work well beyond 106 lbs (maybe 212 lbs??)

Pullup: I maxed out with body weight + 135 lbs. about a month ago.  I have been focusing more on 1-arm pullups recently to change things up, but I will definitely not have a problem with the 106lbs. pullup.  Would love to work toward a double beast (212 lbs.) pullup as well.  I would like to get some fat gripz because I believe my grip is one of my limiting factors right now. 

So that is where I am at.  I am currently on a "special" training program to focus on improving all these lifts.  I will post about this program within the next few days.  Stay tuned!

Results from Cleaner Carbs

Last week I reduced my carbohydrate intake slightly and vowed to eat "cleaner" carbohydrate sources to see how I would respond.  I also wanted to see if adding fruit to my meals throughout the day (vs. only with breakfast) would impact my results.  Needless to say, this was not a great experiment because I manipulated more than one variable (cleaner carbs + less carbs + added more fruit). 

Here are the results:

Weight (2/27/12): 211.0    Weight (3/3/2012): 208.0    Change: -3.0 lbs.

Body Fat % (2/27): 7.64%   BF% (3/3):  6.05%   Change: - 1.59%

Lean Mass (2/27):  194.89 lbs.    Lean Mass (3/3):  195.41 lbs.   Change:  +.52 lbs.

Fat Mass (2/27):  16.11 lbs.    Fat Mass (3/3): 12.59 lbs.   Change:  - 3.52 lb

Eating Clean...er

After a weekend of traveling and eating junk I decided to step on the scale and check up on my body fat percentage.  To my dismay, I had gained 3.96 lbs. of fat and gained only .5 lbs. of  muscle since the last time I checked a month and a half ago.  Was the 1/2 pound of muscle gain worth almost 4 lbs. of fat gain?  No way.

Negatives for Beating Strength Plateaus

As I try to increase my overhead press and weighted pullup strength, I have found it absolutely essential to mix up my strategies in order to prevent a plateau in my strength gains.

Before I outline the strategy I used in last weeks workout, let me emphasize an important point:

"To press alot, you have to press alot."
- Pavel

2/16/2012 Workout - Adding Work Capacity

Workouts have been solid the past two weeks, but the intensity and drive on heavier days has been lower.  I think this is mostly mental, as I am starting to think about my conditioning for BJJ now that my tooth is repaired and I can participate in classes at MMA Institute again.

I have been adding in more cardio and circuits to my workouts in order to increase my work capacity.

What is work capacity?