Weekly Q & A and a request

Ok just a couple of requests for this Q & A

If you have a question leave a name.

Second, I know a lot of guys have questions about training.  Do me a favor and save it for the blog.  If you have a question about a consultation you can use my e-mail.

Thanks guys and gals.

With that said...........3......2...........1............go

Thoughts about life, training, crap and stuff

Really looking forward to preparing for this meet.  The last cycle I could never get things dialed in.  Even squatting felt awkward.  But right now I feel pain free in my elbows and my conditioning is good.  I'm not 100% positive but more than likely this is going to be my routine starting as of Tuesday...

Tuesday - Deads
Deads - cycle work
Hamstring Movement - 1x12-15
Upper-Back Movement - 1x12-15

Thursday - Bench
Close Grip Bench - cycle work
Incline Barbell or Incline Db Press - 1x12-15
Rear Delts - 1x12-15

Saturday - Squats
Hip and Ass Machine - warm up
Squats - cycle work
Pause Squats - 1x5

That's pretty much it.  I may not even do the assistance work listed and may bench every other week like I normally do, but since my elbows feel ok I will try benching every week to start.  635/425/640 on my second attempts is the plan.  No belt, no knee wraps @ 242.

My bicep is back to 100% I think.  I did some chins messing around the other night.  Although I admit I was hesitant.  That's the biggest factor in coming back from injuries.  Getting over the mental aspect.  Your body may be ready but you still lack confidence.  Even after 20+ years of this shit I still go through that.

I have a feeling I am going to struggle to stay in the 242 weight class from here on out if I want to keep competing.  Truth is at 5'11" I am more suited to the 275 weight class but I don't want to weigh anywhere close to that.  If I could walk around at 260 lean?  Yeah.  But I do ok at 240 now where my bodyfat hovers around 9% or so.  I do like to eat though and every winter I end up at 265-270 without thinking much about it.  I never feel good at that weight however, and I am going to try and avoid it this winter.  I may push my weight up a little bit however.  Just not 270 or more.

Watched Clash of the Titans last weekend with the kids.  I didn't think it was all that terrible and it got blasted in the reviews.  Maybe it's because I just enjoyed that time with the family more than anything.  My youngest had a ton of funny comments about everything that happened.

Speaking of my youngest, at the gym a few weeks ago she was in the kids area and one of the care takers there came up to talk to her.......

"Are you married?" my youngest asked.
"No, I'm not married." the lady said.
"Ohhh.  So you're lonely." my youngest said
"I'm not lonely!"
"Oooook, whatever you say."

Awesome.

For those who asked about training I have revamped things a bit via the request of a few people.  Hit me up on my g-mail if you want the specifics.  plcj58@gmail.com

Someone asked me about music the other day so here are the songs I never do without on my mp3 player for lifting.........

Into the Mouth of Hell We March - Trivium
Hope Is - Killswitch Engage
Clean My Wounds - CoC
Lose It - Atreyu
Black - Sevendust
Only - Anthrax
Confined - As I Lay Dying
This Calling - All That Remains

That's pretty much the staple.  I mix in some other stuff but somewhere amongst my songs those will be in there.  I have a lot of mellow stuff I throw in there as well because after lifting if I go for a long walk or whatever I like something to take the edge off.  Mellow as in Alice in Chains and their stuff off of Jar of Flys.

I am currently helping some powerlifters get ready for meets and I expect them to blow some shit out of the water.  One guy is well known and the other is not.  If they both suck at their meets I will come back and delete this part of the post.  In all seriousness I think they both will do well.  One guy just pulled 485x4.  A weight he couldn't get off the floor at his last meet.  He's also hit two bench PR's in the last couple of weeks.  So I am expecting good things for him at his meet in a few weeks.

Ever notice that people who are jealous of shit you have say the reason you have that is to make up for something you are lacking in?  And it's always your junk.  Why?  Why did my junk shrink when I bought that Viper?  Or that Cigarette boat?  If I bought a Prius and a row boat instead would my junk have grown?  If that were the case then the interstate would be filled from top to bottom with Prius' pulling row boats everyday at rush hour.  Get what makes you happy.  Haters are gonna hate, that is their job.  BTW I don't have a Viper or Cig boat.  I need what little junk I have!

I hate winter.  Holy dog shit I hate winter.  I don't get to do all of the conditioning I love so much and I hate getting into a cold car in the morning.  I hate the snow and the ice.  I hate it hate it!  I gotta move soon.

For any of you dieting, esp on low carb, don't train without SOME carbs.  One good thing to do is to buy one of those creatine loaders that has simple carbs built in and drink some before you lift.  You're not going to get fatter and it is not going to interfere with the fat burning process, plus it will help a bit with giving you enough energy to lift.  Don't fret over 35-50 grams of carbs.  The low carb shit is getting out of hand I think.  All it is, is a convenient way to cut calories.

There isn't anything super special about low carb.  Losing fat is still about calories in vs out.  If you figure out the number of calories you need to lose fat, then figure in 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, then the rest can come from a mix of carbs and fat.  So if you need to eat 2500 calories a day to lose fat and you weigh 230 then 230*4 = 920.  So 920 calories will come from protein.  You have 1580 calories that can come from carbs and fat.  1.5 to 2 pounds a week is a solid fat loss plan.  One pound of fat is 3500 calories, so 3500x2 =  7000.  So you need about a 1000 calorie deficit per day to hit that.  That's all the dieting information you ever really need to know at a basic level.

Prohormones over the counter, are the real deal now.  I wonder how much longer supp companies are going to get away with it?  And if you are 18-21 and weigh 180 or whatever and are talking about taking them, please pay someone to kick your ass.

Can't wait for Call of Duty Black Ops.  I am a total Modern Warfare/CoD freak.

Maybe it's time to actually put up a real website?

Training

Machine Bench - up to the stack x 10

Pulldowns - stack x 10

Incline Press - 225 x 3 sets of 10

Low Cable Rows - stack x 3 sets of 8

Upright Rows - 95 x 3 sets of 15

Notes - Still just playing around and having fun.  Joints feel pretty good so I think I should be in good shape to start meet prep next week.

Training

Hip and Ass Machine - 2 directions x 50 reps for each set

Squats - warm up to 315 x 5 sets of 5.  Adductor is still sore.

Deadlifts - 315 x 5 sets of 5.  Felt fine on the bicep.

Pulldowns - 4 sets
Adductor Machine - 4 sets

Timed Holds - 120 pound db's for 55 seconds.

I know the timed hold is worse than what a 10 year old girl can do, however I haven't held anything heavy for almost 10 weeks now so I expect some rapid improvement in that area.

Strength Training for MMA

This one is another request but I had actually started on this article a while back and let it sit on the back burner. After the request I decided to dust it off, especially since I am going to wait before I publish my article on strength peaking.

Obviously MMA has exploded over the last few years and I feel fortunate enough to have followed UFC and MMA since UFC1.  Fighters have evolved and training has evolved as well, just like any sport.  The majority of guys you see at the top of the fighting heap are in shape and look like fighters.  This comes back to my mantra about your function creating your form.  If you want to be a complete fighter then your strength and conditioning program is paramount.  As much as people love to cheer for Roy Nelson, he's never going to challenge for a championship fight until he gets his fat ass in shape.

For this article I'm going to cover the strength training aspect of MMA, and what a fighter can do to get stronger.

Train for Strength AND Power -

These terms get mixed up sometimes.  Strength is referring to absolute strength.  How much weight you can move maximally.  Power is about the rate of force, i.e. strength x speed.  A mixed martial artist should train for both.

Train Movement Patterns -

An athlete is always better off training for strength and power in the movement patterns closest related to his skill.  This is why, for example, that the incline press and front squat are really better lifts for football than the bench and back squat.  So picking movement patterns that relate to your skill will always pay bigger dividends.

Train Hard and Fast -

Always train like you play/fight.  If your sport calls you to go fast and hard, train fast and hard.  Everything should be applied to your goal of being a stronger/better fighter.  Make sure you are aware of your time between sets, and constantly push to reduce that.

Limit Strength Training Days -

Your goal should be to get stronger, not be worlds strongest man.  Think about that.  It doesn't take a lot to get a little bit stronger.  Unless you're already at world class level.  It's far more important to be on the mat, in the ring, and practicing your craft than in the gym lifting weights.  When I am focused on MMA training I never lift more than twice a week.  Also, this is not training for size.  This is training for strength and power in certain movement patterns.  You don't want a lot of volume.  Again, this isn't powerlifting or bodybuilding.  Just simple strength training.  Doing 20 sets of squats or deadlifts doesn't really have a place here.

Train your whole body -

You don't fight with bodyparts, you fight with your whole body.  So train your whole body each time you strength train.

Get rid of advantages -

Get rid of belts, wraps, and straps and the excuses why you need them.  You don't fight with a damn weight belt on do you?  Then why are you training with one on?  You don't fight with straps do you?  Then why are you doing deadlifts with them?  Save me the bullshit excuses.  Train like you fight.

Do single limb work -

This one should be obvious.  You need to train each limb to work independently of the other as well.  Not only to even out strength imbalances but to simulate having to push off the mat with 1 arm, crab out from being mounted, so forth and so on.

The Program - 

Here is the kind of program that an MMA trainee could do well with to increase power and strength, flexibility and conditioning.

Day 1 -
General Warm Up - 10 minutes
Static Stretching with hip and shoulder mobility work
Pause Squats - 10/8/5/4 - 3  Work up to a top triple that moves fast.  Explode out of the hole as fast as possible.  Hold for 3 seconds in the bottom.  And "bottom" means basement.  You should have no doubt that every rep is below parallel.  God I hate high/parallel squatters.
Alternating Dumbbell Floor Press - 12/10/8/6 - 5 Work up to a top set of 5 alternating arms on the press.
Sandbag Turkish Get Up - If you don't have a sandbag, use a dumbbell and do the traditional get up, but the sandbag is better for MMA.  Do 3 sets of 5 reps per side.
Weighted Chins - warm up, then 3 sets of 3 reps.  Vary your grip from workout to workout.

Day 2 -

General Warm Up - 10 minutes

Static Stretching with hip and shoulder mobility work

Deadlift - 10/8/6/5 - 3 sets of 3 static weight.  Pick a weight that you can move explosively.  Rest only 60 seconds between sets.

Clean and Press - 5/4/3/2 - 1,1,1 with a static weight.  Do three singles.  Clean the weight from the floor and press overhead.  Rest 60 seconds between singles.  

Full Contact Twist - 4 sets of 10 reps.  Don't go super heavy here, make sure you move the weight explosively.  

Db Rows - 2 sets of 8 reps.  Pick a heavy weight that you can pull explosively.  

Notes - 

If you don't know how to do any of these, youtube is your friend.  

Worry about speed and strength.  You don't want to move up in strength so fast that your speed slows considerably.  Remember you want to be able to move a heavy weight fast, not just move it for the sake of moving it.  

You should be sweating like a freight train at the end of these training sessions.  Move as fast as possible and track your time between sets, and how long the session took.  If you can push your strength up while keeping the rep speed fast AND reduce time between sets, you are on the right track.  

You should not be very sore after these.  This is be design.  Soreness may be ok in lifting, but I have found when my muscles were sore and I was doing martial arts I always ended up hurting something else.  Minor soreness is fine, major soreness is bad.  Adjust the training based on that.

Note:  You sherdog faggots that bench 2 plates and squat 3 plates need to learn how to read and remove your head from your ass.  You know about as much about strength training in regards to MMA as you do about quantum physics.  

Training

Fun Stuff -

Strive Overhead Press - up to 190 x 8 with most resistance at starting point

Side Laterals - 30's x 20 x 20 x 20 x 20

Upright Rows - 95 x 12 x 15 x 15 x 15

Pushdowns and Curls - about 4 rounds

With less than two weeks before the meet work starts I like to take a break from squat/bench/dead and do fun stuff and let my joints get a break.  Plus I am super low calorie right now because my weight is too high.  I like to eat up to a meet and I'm still walking around at 239 sub 10% bodyfat.  I am going to take off a few pounds in the next 10 days then slowly increase cals.

Training

Light Day -

Squats -
135 x 10
225 x 5
315 x 5

365 x 5 sets of 5, 60 seconds between

Db Bench Press -

40's x 12
80' x 15
100's x 20 x 20

T-bars - 3 plates x 3 sets of 20

Bicep is almost completely back to normal.  Feeling lots better.  Less than two weeks before I start meet prep.