Time to get Fit thread

[Climber]

This periodization is difficult in the martial arts because you are are also getting beat on by a sparring partner who is also getting prepared for a fight. It's just hard to go "light", especially with the killers I train with.

When I was in competitive body building in the early 90's, this periodization was super important and fairly easy to achieve. Same thing when I raced cyclocross and mountain bikes. Nobody was punching me in the head or taking my legs from under me and wrestling me to the ground. Last time I fought competitively was in my teens.

I am going to train no gi jiujitsu tonight and see how to alter my training for this recovery. I feel a lot better and the sciatica is subsiding. I taught yesterday and it wasn't bad demonstrating. I probably wont spar tonight, though.

Sleep, bleep. My wife and I sleep like 9 hours a night, although my cats wake me up all the time. They have zero respect toward their sensei.

I understand the issues, we have something similar with our track schedules, the two biggest meet are 7 weeks apart so that doesn't lend itself into 4-6 week blocks so I have to get very creative with their development throughout the season. Also, some of the athletes won't get to state, so they will want to peak 2 weeks earlier than the ones who will get to state, so I have to split out their development and push some harder, earlier than others.

The most important part is understanding the need for giving the body a chance to recover so that you aren't going into a state of over-training that is a downward spiral that you can't train out of.

In the track world, we have a saying that less is better, that's it's better to err on the side of under-training than err on the side of over-training because the latter will impact performances significantly.

In your world, you want to get as close to max training as you can get without going over, but the cost of over-training isn't the major hit that you get in the track world even if it's not a good thing.

I would say that in addition to fight training you can add in other forms that give your body time to recover while still increasing your anaerobic capacity and strength and your lactacid capacity and strength. Swimming is a good alternative as would 5-10 minute bike sprints (with proper recovery times between reps and sets) which would keep improving your conditioning without beating up your body.

If MMA is like wrestling, conditioning will almost always decide the winner if it goes full length. Who still has gas in the tank when the other runs out.

 

[Brokenlink]

Had my last tennis class (8 of 8) last night, and my friend and I are definitely the best in the class. We played King of the court and I didn't rotate out for like 15 minutes lol.

Tennis is such good exercise I get my heart rate going and move a lot.

----

I think it's important to have a lifestyle that encourages activities and moving. I sit in a chair all day so when I'm done I like to be active, and I ride an Ebike everywhere which is not as good as a road bike but it gets you moving a bit and I ride it almost everyday for errands or social events (not for exercise).

My weight has been pretty stable but I note in a given week I could be as much as 5-7 lbs heavier than my base but it must just be the food or water in my system at that moment because a few days later I'll be back at the same weight.

It also helps to have a massively active friend group who invite you to cycle, hike, tennis on a regular basis. Some of my friends I would classify as straight up athletes...one friend just came in 2nd in a cycle race on Saturday.

Right on. You've been to my house. It's hard to be active after work. It's dark, we don't have safe roads to ride a bike on, there are no sidewalks or streetlights, and it's a drive to get anywhere like a gym. I was much more active when I lived in the bay, but mentally not as fit.

 

[HappyHighwayman]

At least you get the chores which appear to be physically demanding but I totally agree Will be easier as the sun sets later.

 

[Sharxfan]

I'm trying to change a few bad habits. Since moving up here, I don't really exercise other than manual labor on the ranch. I've gained a few pounds, although I am not fat. But I've decided to start fairly slow. Instead of waking up and drinking coffee in front of the computer, I got up and fed the horses with my coffee, then did a little work and hit the punching bag for a bit. Not much, but I need to start somewhere.

I'm also going to eat better. More fruits and veggies, less beef.

Chicken and pork are a go to for me but damn if I still don't do a nice ribeye every other week or so when I get a craving. A high quality protein powder can help also if you feel you need more protein.

Right on. You've been to my house. It's hard to be active after work. It's dark, we don't have safe roads to ride a bike on, there are no sidewalks or streetlights, and it's a drive to get anywhere like a gym. I was much more active when I lived in the bay, but mentally not as fit.

I am in the same boat you are I really don't like riding a bike on the street here or even walking/jogging. I had a home gym but it was hard for me to be motivated so I switched to going to a gym and it seems to work better for me I go more consistently and they have everything i need there. It is about a 15 minute trip one way so I do plan out my workouts.

Seeing as you have horses do you have enough land to maybe do a nice walking circuit?

On a side note really starting to push on the weightlifting so that I can get my weight per rep up. Really starting to get higher with my bench and am starting to do a real push on shoulders and arms. One thing I miss is having a lifting partner so that I can really push it but for now I have to know my limits and make sure I can make it to the top for that last rep.

 

[HappyHighwayman]

I've only been consistently lifting on Fridays for 2 years and I'm amazed at the strength gains.

 

[Holeshot]

I'm trying to change a few bad habits. Since moving up here, I don't really exercise other than manual labor on the ranch. I've gained a few pounds, although I am not fat. But I've decided to start fairly slow. Instead of waking up and drinking coffee in front of the computer, I got up and fed the horses with my coffee, then did a little work and hit the punching bag for a bit. Not much, but I need to start somewhere.

I'm also going to eat better. More fruits and veggies, less beef.

Mike, one thing that worked for was inadvertently eating fruit late and night and skipping the graham crackers. Sounds small, but it was pretty noticeable. YMMV...and that totally might not apply to you at all.

Fuck yeah Mike! "Something is better than nothing" is my mantra when I'm low on motivation or trying something new. Starting slow is THE way to go. Especially since we are in our 40's not our 20's. Avoiding injury and being consistent is the only way to long term change. Keep at it man.

Hold on...HOLLLLD ON: we're TWO 20 year olds bundled. Inside each of us. Right?

I'm 59 and I 'used' to be in amazing shape, but in the past 10 years, I have really embraced the more sedentary lifestyle and I'm now 25 lbs overweight. I do a fair amount of hiking and I started lifting weights again, but I drink too much beer and I love Carbs.

I had a wakeup call over the weekend when I visited my Brother. The guy is 5 years older than me, but he has declined extremely rapidly in the last 2 years. He was a druggie and doesn't have a Drivers License, so he used to ride a bicycle everywhere, now he can barely walk.

I know that our lifestyles are radically different, but I do not want that to my future. It was straight up depressing.

Ed, previous to Covid I was taking a general multi vite. the 4 pills thing plus Omega. I hated it...pills suck and I was already doing a self made protein (and a bunch of other shit) shake, so I went searching for the best powder multi vite I could find. I ended up at LifeExtensions and tried the Extension mix. For me, it's been noticeable the differences in how I feel. it's $45 when on subscription. Also take a look at NAD if you get a chance. May be a crock, or may work, but by the time you figure it out, you've spent plenty of money. I'm doing just that now, but what the hell...it's not like we can use it on the other side. @ 46 I can't say if I've ever felt better than I do now, regarding my asthma and allergies as well as energy levels. Something must be working...

https://www.lifeextension.com/vitamins-supplements/item02356/life-extension-mix-powder

Right on. You've been to my house. It's hard to be active after work. It's dark, we don't have safe roads to ride a bike on, there are no sidewalks or streetlights, and it's a drive to get anywhere like a gym. I was much more active when I lived in the bay, but mentally not as fit.

I have one of these I'm getting ready to sell. It's brand new (showroom model) and I never put in into place as I switched up the mix for the place I was going to put it. I have lots of MuscleD Fitness stuff and it's great...pretty much, copies of Life Fitness and Hammer Strength at a much cheaper price point. I'm in this thing around $1100 or so. For that money, it's excellent, if interested Mike.

https://muscledfitness.com/multi-stations/compact-single-stack-gym

 

[SVsick50]

Rolled Gi Jiujitsu for an hour and a half, then boxing for an hour.

Super nervous about my back, and the test is always waking up the next day. I looked at the wife and was like "Here we go..." and got out of bed with minimal pain.

I do ice my back at night, so I think that helps. Taking a couple days off to heal, then back to training on Saturday.

For Catholics, this is Lenten season so I will be fasting on certain days, which I did anyway - just a little more strict. I am abstaining from deserts (and online purchases).

 

[Sharxfan]

You know what has changed my life lately is those percussion massagers. I have issues with calf cramps and even stretching them wasn't helping as much but I bought a mid-range one from wall world and use it every night and since then no cramps. It might help you out at least with muscle soreness.

 

[mikev]

figure I'd throw it out here just in case.

anyone have a Rogue Echo Assault Bike they got during the pandemic and don't want/need anymore, hit me up

 

[stangmx13]

Im almost to 10k miles on my bike!! It only took since 2013 . My long years are ~1700mi and my short ones are ~600mi. Looks like all this training for my race at the end of April is going to make 2022 a long year for me.

 

[lizard]

You know what has changed my life lately is those percussion massagers. I have issues with calf cramps and even stretching them wasn't helping as much but I bought a mid-range one from wall world and use it every night and since then no cramps. It might help you out at least with muscle soreness.

Good to know as I’ve also have calf cramping. That gastroc is one tough baby to stretch out. Takes about 20-30 minutes for me. What brand massager did you purchase?

 

[Sharxfan]

Good to know as I’ve also have calf cramping. That gastroc is one tough baby to stretch out. Takes about 20-30 minutes for me. What brand massager did you purchase?

I bought a FitRx from Walmart as that is what they had in stock. I got a mid range one at about $50 to try out and if it works well I will probably do some more research and get a better one. So far so good, I use it about for about 5-7 minutes alternating calf muscles. I use it at the lowest setting with the normal round foam head. I have used it for about 8 days now and haven't had to recharge it but think I may need to as it seems to be slowing down a little bit.

They had a more expensive one where you can move the power head around to get at different muscles but that was about $80 and didn't want to experiment at that price range although with Walmart's return policy I could have taken a chance but just figured it was a guinea pig level purchase at the time.

 

[lizard]

I bought a FitRx from Walmart as that is what they had in stock. I got a mid range one at about $50 to try out and if it works well I will probably do some more research and get a better one. So far so good, I use it about for about 5-7 minutes alternating calf muscles. I use it at the lowest setting with the normal round foam head. I have used it for about 8 days now and haven't had to recharge it but think I may need to as it seems to be slowing down a little bit.

They had a more expensive one where you can move the power head around to get at different muscles but that was about $80 and didn't want to experiment at that price range although with Walmart's return policy I could have taken a chance but just figured it was a guinea pig level purchase at the time.

Thanks for the quick reply! $50 sounds reasonable to check out before splurging. My sister has that fancy one that is all over the internet. Forgot the name but I think its $200-300? Anyhoo, I will check out the one you recommended.

 

[HappyHighwayman]

Hmmm I also get 10% off as a Walmart employee I might order this

 

[Sharxfan]

Yeah they had some more expensive ones at Sam's club and Costco but figured spend less and when it breaks buy better if it works.

Awesome score for HH at least it will pay for sales tax. My stepdaughter quit Walmart so I lost my 10% discount.

 

[mlm]

I splurged and got the HyperVolt. Can't comment on cost effective vs the cheaper options but I'm very happy with it and would recommend. Running problem free since Nov 2020
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F2Q4DNQ

Prior to that had (and still have) this which is great for reaching your back
https://smile.amazon.com/Thumper-E501NA-Sport-Percussive-Massager/dp/B009GEQNJS

 

[Holeshot]

Im almost to 10k miles on my bike!! It only took since 2013 . My long years are ~1700mi and my short ones are ~600mi. Looks like all this training for my race at the end of April is going to make 2022 a long year for me.

What are the deets on the race? Cycle, correct?

 

[stangmx13]

What are the deets on the race? Cycle, correct?

Ya, its San Diego's biggest gravel bicycle race called 'Belgian Waffle Ride'. It's on Apr 30th. The route is ~130mi with ~60mi off-road. It took me just under 10hrs in 2019. But they added more gravel this year so I might struggle to do it that fast again. The race does start and end at a brewery though!

Here was the 2019 route

And here is my ride from yesterday. I set a few PRs on segments in the last 10mi of that ride. So I'm feeling pretty good on the bike these days. The SO says it looks like a jackalope standing on a log

I may race with WERA on Mar 20th at Autoclub. A buddy is doing his NRS that Sat and I'm doing the trackday, so it'll be a fun weekend anyway. Im 50/50 on whether or not I want to race. At least all the fast people will be at AFM BW .

 

[Mike95060]

Damn Robert!!!

 

[stangmx13]

I think 2 things are dramatically helping my cycling that might benefit other people:

1. More consistent riding. Im doing at least 2 good efforts a week, Wed and Sat or Sun. Once a week didn't seem like enough time on the bike to see noticeable gains, no matter how hard I tried. Adding a 2-4hr effort on Wed has been noticeably better.

2. I've upped my recovery game. Here's my route after each ride. I do it all as soon as I can when I'm off the bike:
- Vegan protein shake, ~150cal. This is helping calorie deficiency and prevents going catabolic
- 10-15min "ice" bath. I take a cold shower, then fill the tub enough to cover my legs and throw in a few ice packs. Its not super cold, but it still helps. This helps with recovery and next-day performance. It also helps me sleep a lot better than night. My legs are usually boiling hot in bed which keeps me awake. This reduces that a ton.
- Eat a full meal, sometimes 2 . This fixes the rest of calorie deficiency. Most of my rides are 1500-2500Cal expended, so I gotta eat.