Consistently Inconsistent

[UnderRatedGroundGame]

About Me​

So I'll begin with a little section focused on me and why I am starting this log. I am 22 from England and have always had passion for martial arts and fitness that started aged 8 when I joined a Tae Kwon Do school. Unfortunately that only lasted about a year but I picked up the things I learned quite quickly. From there I attended a few boxing classes aged 11 and then back to TKD at aged 12, again short-lived. Aged 17 I attended MMA lessons until the place closed down and moved town. I still practiced on my own with my gym's heavy bag and with a friend who held pads. That continued until about a year ago when I became ill and had to stop. Now I am looking to return back to training (both S&C and Martial Arts) gradually. Still suffering from the illness but I have good days which I take full advantage of and get myself to the gym.

Goal​

To get back into training and return to my previous level of training in both kickboxing and fitness. I eventually would like to fight at least at an amateur level and see where it takes me (if anywhere).

Current Training ​

As I mentioned earlier my training routine is all over the place. Due to illness I cant consistently go to the gym to follow a routine and so the S&C aspect of my training is a little.... all over the place. I can still shadow box and drill at home so the technical side of my training isn't as lacking as my fitness. I try to manage to get myself to the gym at least once a week so hopefully i'll build on that. Here are my current numbers (beware they suck)

Incline DB bench 5x5 : 26s-28s
Military Press: 5x5 : 20 + Bar
Squat : 5x5 : N/A been a while since I did squats, will update when I do them
Low-Row 5x5 : 25+Bar (always lagged)
DeadLift 5x5 : Again been a while

I'll now add in some recent days training. I know this is the S&C forum by my main focus is Kickboxing so i'll go into far more detail with that than I will the S&C side.

 

[MilkManUK]

Welcome, good luck. What's the illness if you don't mind me asking?

 

[UnderRatedGroundGame]

30/05/17​

Not my first time back at the gym but the most recent one that I can remember exactly what I did. I decided to do a full upper body workout before moving onto the heavy bag to work on technique and cardio. I will post a breakdown of each exercise and how I felt, problems etc so it might get a little boring.

Incline DB bench:
Me and my friend have always done incline, no idea why, but I'm more comfortable doing incline than flat so it will have to do. I remember feeling kind of weak on the 30th. A few days prior I managed to use the 28s but today the 26s felt really heavy, still managed to bang out the full 5x5 though.

Explosive Military Press:
Felt like doing a bit of explosive work and so I dropped the weight down to a more comfortable level. Used a smaller bar and loaded it with 5s. Despite that it felt really good. I think I got to 6-7 reps before they began to stop being explosive and just normal reps.

Chin ups:
My back has always been a weak point for me. Before I became ill I could do 3/4x10 of these but obviously with my time off this has dropped. I struggled with these and only managed 3x5.

Finished off with some bicep plate curls.

Bagwork:
First time on a heavy bag in quite a long time. I've done a bit of sparring, shadowboxing and padwork but no heavybag in about 5 months so it was refreshing to get back on it. Started off light to warm up, 1-2 pause and repeat. Then 1-2-1-2. Then started adding hooks and uppercuts. Once I was warm I began working angles. I have always found going right awkward and so I put more focus on that. Dominick Cruz put out a few instructional vids about getting into positions from the jab cross (will link at bottom) and so ive been working on that.

Next I began practiced darting in and out. I'm not as fast as I would like to be and have been caught a few times in sparring on the exit. I've looked at a few karate vids to help with this as they seem to have mastered it.

After that I began incorporating kicks into my combinations. Didn't feel as smooth as I would like but the power in my right leg is still there so that's something. Also need to work on my flexibility as that has degraded significantly.

I have a recording toward the end of the session but I don't know if I'm going to put it up yet.

EDIT: Sorry was looking for this video

 

[UnderRatedGroundGame]

Welcome, good luck. What's the illness if you don't mind me asking?

Thank you for the welcome and the interest. I don't want to give that out at the moment, sorry I hope you understand.

 

[UnderRatedGroundGame]

03/06/17​

Didn't do any Weight training today as both me and my friend decided to stay up late on the Friday like idiots. Instead we did Sparring

Sparring:
We both warmed up with some rotator cuff exercises, which I have had some trouble with before. After that I moved on to a quick 5 minutes on the heavy bag to get loose before we sparred. Felt a bit sluggish, especially in my legs, due to lack of sleep but otherwise okay. We did pure boxing as my friend doesn't have shin pads yet. We decided to aim for 12-3minute rounds with 1 minute rest but in the end we only managed 9, the late night of drinking perhaps didn't help much. Oh and we went Light-Mid intensity/power.

My style takes advantage of my height and reach (6ft 3 and 84kg). I usually fight on the outside leading with Jabs, Straights and 1-2s to bait my opponent into throwing. I fight quite long so usually my partner has to use straight punches to reach me, which I pull and counter.

Cardio felt amazing considering the lack of intense cardio in the past few months, much better than I expected at least. We have sparred for the past couple of weeks so maybe its starting to pay off in the cardio department. First 3 rounds were a doddle but in the 4th I opened up a lot more than I should after I landed a body shot that made my sparring partner shell up a little, this zapped my gas tank quite a lot.

Rounds 5 and 6 I decided to go into active recovery. I used my movement, pulls, range and long guard to evade as I recovered and only returned fire when I knew the counter would definitely land. Went quite well until he pushed me into a corner and blitzed me a couple of times. Managed to evade and block a lot but he landed a few good hits, one to the liver that sucked even if it was light lol. Found myself in a phily shell at one point, which was strange because I've never used it before.

After my energy had returned, the next 3 rounds went my way. I got him back with a liver shot of my own and I think that took his remaining energy because I started landing shots that were only meant for bait. I hit him with an uppercut and right straight in the 9th and I think that was when he decided to call time.

Overall I think this went very well. Fluidity certainly has come on a lot since I started again, punches definitely feel smoother. Cardio also has come on as mentioned earlier. Head movement and reaction time has improved significantly. Still struggling with creating angles which is going to be my main focus for the next few weeks. Also need to work on my blocking as I am so used to evading with slips and pulls.

Really happy with my performance today. Thanks for reading.

 

[UnderRatedGroundGame]

06/06/2017​

Managed to get back to the gym but didn't have time to post on here. Felt okay, again recorded some bagwork footage and things are looking a bit better. Did back and shoulders but I should really do some legs next time.

Pullups 5x5
These felt a little easier than last time I did them, I don't quite know why. After warming up with the a textbook school P.E routine of arm circles and hip circles I moved onto pullups. Managed to get the desired set and reps so that's good. On the last rep I held the contraction to 'burn out' a little more.

Landmine Press: 3x6-8
Decided to move onto some landmine presses. Tried a 10kg weight but it didn't move as smoothly or as explosive as i'd like so i just dropped it down to 5kg and focused on the movement. I noticed my right side isn't as strong as my left (dominant) so hopefully it will correct itself once i start properly.

Kettlebell Swings: 4x8-12
Next up was kettlebell swings. Started off with 16kg but that was too easy so i went to 20kg. Overall pretty good. Form was good with no shoulder activation and I really felt it in my core. I'm starting to think my loss of strength is more so due to me ceasing to do the movements everyday, rather than actual strength loss.

Bagwork:
Not going to lie after the Swings my abs were burnt out quite a lot so i think this retracted from my overall performance (Que GSP). I still threw a few power shots here and there but I thought it was probably best to just work on footwork and combination drilling. Footwork is definitely improving, I find it way easier to slip and angle right than I did a few weeks ago.

Still searching online for some decent combo's as I don't go to a MMA or Kickboxing gym so everything I do is pretty much from video tutorials. Currently working on Left hook, Low kick, Left hook. Sways are getting pretty good now and feel a little less clunky. Jab seems to be lagging for some reason, even though I fight ortho but left hand dominant. Will work on this.

Thanks for Reading.

 

[UnderRatedGroundGame]

23/06/17
​

Bought my own kettlebells to go full Joe Rogan.

One Armed Standing Press 5x5-16kg Kettlebell
Really focused on form and targeting the shoulders with this. Its the first time I've used Kettlebells, for shoulders at least, went quite well. Not really used to the twisting motion but I can really feel it in my shoulders.

Press Ups on Kettlebells 4x10
Not really much to say here.

Standing Bent Over Rows 4x10 16kg
Back is still weak but I can feel improvement. I have never done single armed rows either but I soon got my form right.

Kettlebell Swings 1x10 16kg 3x10 20kg
I added these into my routine just before I had my hiatus from the gym and I really enjoyed them. Started off with an 8kg to warm up and then 16kg working set but It felt really light so I moved up to 20kg.

In the after I went to the gym to do some technique work. I had a small hand injury, nothing much but I didnt want to aggravate it so I focused on Kicks. My left leg is lagging badly and so that was my main focus. I feel my left leg is coming on okay, my switch needs work as I think I'm stepping too far with both legs.