Phase 2 Program Design

The RKC certification in Vienna, VA is on May 18th, so I have 16 weeks to be prepared to meet my first personal goal of completing the "Beast Tamer Challenge"

Phase 2 of my program will be about 8 weeks and will focus less on GPP (general physical preparedness) and more on specific goals to help me have the strength and power to accomplish the "Beast Tamer Challenge" as well as the endurance to complete the RKC snatch test (a requirement for re-certification). The increased power and endurance will also help me with my longer term goal of winning the no-gi pan american games for my sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Phase 2 - Becoming the Beast Tamer

In my first phase of training, I spent 8 weeks working on re-acclimation to heavier barbell training and increasing my 1RM in fundamental movements such as squats, rows, pressing, a deadlifting. I ended up with a 50 lbs. increase in my squat max and a 30 lbs. increase in my bench max compared to my strongest days as a college wrestler. All the other lifts went up dramatically, but I did not measure a 1 RM in all of them. In this next phase of training, I will switch over to a style of training that will build off the baseline strength increases of the last phase and progress toward absolute maximum strength in 3 specific lifts, plus tremendous hip power. This new phase will help me achieve the specific strength goal of completing the "Beast Tamer Challenge"

But first..."What is the beast tamer challenge??"

Body Composition Changes

Click on the image above to see my progress since I started focusing on tightening up my nutrition plan. Previous to becoming a certified fitness nutrition specialist, I was having trouble maintaining my weight. Over the course of 3 years or so, I lost about 15-20 lbs even though I was consistently strength training. I tried tons of fad diets that had me doing ridiculous stuff, all to lead me further from my goals. While I know many people would kill to have a weight loss problem, it was a major problem for me since this weight decrease was clearly muscle. As I got skinnier, my strength plummeted and my explosive power I relied on in the martial arts also began to deteriorate. Whether you care about strength and power or not, big decreases in muscle mass are problematic for two main reasons:

Phase 1- Re-acclimation and Strength Focus

To kick off my training I began with a 8 week strength phase. For the past few years the majority of my training has centered around kettlebells, so I figured I would shock my body and spend a few weeks exclusively training with barbells and dumbbells. The results speak for themselves...