Strength Training for Martial Arts

[Gwyn Brookes]

thanks Leah!

[Gwyn Brookes]

4/12/15
Bench
45x10
75x5
105x3
115x2
127.5x2
137.5x1
142.5x1x3 PR
137.5x1
Squat
up to 172x3x3
Press
up to 75x5x5

[Gwyn Brookes]

4/14/15

Squat
45x5x2
95x5
135x3
155x2
172.5x2
182.5x3
192.5x3
202.5x3
192.5x3
182.5x3

Bench
up to
130x1x5

Deadlift
up to
245x5

[Gwyn Brookes]

4/16/15

Squat
up to
175x3x3

Press
45x5x2
55x5
65x3
75x2
80x5x3

Pin Press (hairline level)
85x2
90x1
95x1
100x2

Today was one of those days where shit hurt, and instead of getting better as I warmed up, it all got worse. Especially left side serratus anterior, which is a bummer because it was doing so well recently. I cut the pressing short because of it. Luckily this doesn't usually happen (shit usually hurts - but gets better as I get warmer), so I'm just writing it off as a bad day and moving on. My programming's going to change for the next two weeks anyway, because I'm lifting at Tom's meet May 3rd.

[Gwyn Brookes]

4/18/15

This morning I finally completed the cutting portion of my sandan (3rd degree black) belt test in Toyama Ryu Battodo. The test was back in November 2014! Due to many events, like the flu, I had just not been able to cut with the group. Cutting targets is an interesting blend of power, focus and precision. For most people, as you begin cutting, your adrenaline level skyrockets. You start getting fast and sloppy, and often start hitting the target instead of cutting through. I usually try different tactics to decrease the adrenaline dump, but today I tried something different. I just accepted the fact that the adrenaline dump was going to happen, and focused on cutting correctly regardless of the tunnel vision, shaky hands and burgeoning desire to beat the shit out of the target.

It was the best cutting day I've ever had.

Adrenaline management is key in any conflict, and being able to safely create an adrenaline dump and figure out how to train with it is incredibly useful. Under an adrenaline dump, you fight like you train - only if you train stupid, blind, deaf and clumsy. But over time, you can get used to it, and if you can begin to figure out how to think and move regardless of the effects of adrenaline, you have a huge advantage. Now, creating that state can be tricky, especially because you can end up injured pretty easily, or your training partner can end up injured. When I teach a self defense class, the final day culminates in a padder attacker scenario, which does create that state in the students. I no longer become adrenalized in that type of scenario, simply because I've done it so many times over the years. I just don't get adrenalized in the same way. But, for now, target cutting does produce that state for me, and so it is especially interesting to work with it.

[Gwyn Brookes]

4/19/15

Slightly different programming for the next 2 weeks.

Deadlift
95x5
135x5
185x5
225x3
255x2
275x1 @ 7
285x1 @ 8
295x1 @ 9.5
255x2 @ 7
270x2 @ 8
285x2 @ 9 (finally felt warmed up here - not sure why it took me so long)
270x2 @ 8
270x2 @ 9 w/10 sec hold

Bench
45x10
Comp Bench
75x5
103x3 @ 7
115x5 @ 8
120x5 @ 9
115x5 @ 8
115x5 @ 8 - this was not going to go to 9, as I got more used to the pause my RPE went down instead of up. Needed to keep moving, so I just went on to

Squat (kept my own programming for squat)
45x5x2
95x5
135x3
150x2
165x5x3 (these were all @ 8)

[Gwyn Brookes]

4/21/15

So, Sunday was way too much volume. I had a really difficult and painful training night last night and then did not really sleep. The anti inflammatories kicked in at around 3 am. This morning I had a trainee early, then my own training was scheduled, but another trainee who had rescheduled with me showed up, planning to work on her own, but I really want her to stick with it so I coached her in between my own sets. The end result was that I will be going back this evening for bench, but the slower pace this morning was ideal and I actually feel pretty decent now.

Press
45x5x2
55x5
65x3
75x2
85x1 @ 7
90x1 @ 8 (and 1/2)
100x0 - I put an extra 2.5 pound plate on the left hand side. Managed to get it up to about forehead level though.
85x1 @ 8
95x1 @ 9 (and 1/2)
97.5x1 @ 10 - all time PR - wasn't supposed to go there, but I did anyway :-)
75x2 @ 7
82.5x2 @ 8
90x2 @ 9

Squat
up to
175x3x3

will bench tonight

later -
Bench
45x10
Comp Bench
75x5
105x3
115x2
120x3x5, all 8's

[Mark E. Hurling]

I'm a (sometimes) recovering adrenaline junkie, and my name is Mark. (Hi Mark!)

I had it bad from football, judo, whitewater canoeing, and the occasional rappelling I did from high school through my mid 20's. Along with the thrills and chills of street life in the black and white. I gradually habituated to it, but in my case, each kind of rush (or dump) had to habituate on it's own track. i.e., habituating to each actitivity did not seem to have a generalized effect on the others. It was like charting individual biorythms.

The worst dumps were on the job. I can remember my hands freezing up on the steering wheel getting back in the cruiser or managing to control my voice raidioing back in my status but having that effort of control cost me having my mike hand trembling like a leaf. The worst effects were on judgement and fine motor skills. The latter were generally not all that necessary in a tussle, but I did push my threat/risk envelope way out over the edge because the macho cop culture would not permit anything like an even marginal retreat. Hence an even worse effect on judgement.

It sounds like you have a good handle on it already, but I think everyone gets better at dealing with it through habituation.

[Gwyn Brookes]

I'm a (sometimes) recovering adrenaline junkie, and my name is Mark. (Hi Mark!)

I had it bad from football, judo, whitewater canoeing, and the occasional rappelling I did from high school through my mid 20's. Along with the thrills and chills of street life in the black and white. I gradually habituated to it, but in my case, each kind of rush (or dump) had to habituate on it's own track. i.e., habituating to each actitivity did not seem to have a generalized effect on the others. It was like charting individual biorythms.

The worst dumps were on the job. I can remember my hands freezing up on the steering wheel getting back in the cruiser or managing to control my voice raidioing back in my status but having that effort of control cost me having my mike hand trembling like a leaf. The worst effects were on judgement and fine motor skills. The latter were generally not all that necessary in a tussle, but I did push my threat/risk envelope way out over the edge because the macho cop culture would not permit anything like an even marginal retreat. Hence an even worse effect on judgement.

It sounds like you have a good handle on it already, but I think everyone gets better at dealing with it through habituation.

Hi Mark. :-)

I agree that the type of situation is important in terms of habituation. However, I think habituation also means less adrenaline to manage. I think there's something to learn from working with the adrenalized state itself. It's also interesting to note from your accounts that the worst dumps were on the job - but it sounds like they were after whatever events took place that led to them, right? That has been my own experience with conflict situations. For some reason, my adrenaline dump has always waited until the thing was over to manifest fully. I am grateful for this in retrospect but don't believe I can always count on that happening for me.

[Mark E. Hurling]

It's also interesting to note from your accounts that the worst dumps were on the job - but it sounds like they were after whatever events took place that led to them, right? That has been my own experience with conflict situations. For some reason, my adrenaline dump has always waited until the thing was over to manifest fully. I am grateful for this in retrospect but don't believe I can always count on that happening for me.

Mostly but not always. Some of them ramped up on me during a fight and then would flood over even worse later after the situation was resolved. It sometimes took a couple hours to metabolize off and it made for some really terrible sleep later. Lots of twitches, spasms, kicks, and punches. Which had me sleeping on my opposite side after DB and I moved in together before benefit of clergy. She didn't like getting hit in her sleep by me in my sleep.

The worst episode was three months on the job when a guy either tried to run me over during a vehicle stop, or maybe was just so damn drunk he didn't know I was there. I dodged, drew, and fired at his car. After I pulled the trigger I realized it was a bad shoot because he was already past me and no danger to me at that point. But I got flooded, my self preservation mechanism engaged, my judgment went out the window, and I couldn't derail my last semi-lucid train of thought. Which was, "Shoot this guy, he's trying run me over!"

The other stuff I did was far easier because there were fewer unknowable or uncontrollable variables. There are rules and refs in football and judo. I never attempted more than Class III-IV rapids and so developed a good eye for finding a line through them, and gravity and a good carabiner and some rope were easy to play off against each other compared to unpredictable human interactions that could turn sour all too unexpectedly.