Dao Jones Anti-Aging & Miracle Elixir (Strength & Conditioning)

Goal:
Stave off the effects of aging, lose weight, improve cardio and strength, return to some form of ma/mma training.

About Me:
I started college a year ago, turned 51 in January, & have 2 sons, 9 & 18. I have a pretty decent background as far as athletic activity goes- lifting weights, running, training in various martial arts; but like most guys my age, I've done less (or nothing!) as I've aged. Most of my friends near my age have some combination of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, gout, or worse. I really don't want to join in their (lack of) health discussions, so I'm going to do what I can to restore my body to a lean, mean love machine. :icon_chee

The Plan:
I've actually begun to execute my plan. Three weeks ago I stopped drinking my usual 3-6 beers a day, started drinking lots of water, put myself on a decent diet, and started taking suppliments. I started alternate day exercising with Joe Moreira's BJJ workout & conditioning tape, Bas Rutten's audio series, and a "300" type workout. I can't even get through a complete workout yet, but I've gone from 205 lbs to 195 lbs (at 5'10"), and already feel much more energetic. I also started hitting a heavy bag a few days a week.

Today will be my first day lifting weights in over 10 years and will post it when I come back in. I've been walking and running and will start logging that here too. Open to any suggestions, hope this isn't too freakin boring.

 

Check out rosstraining.com and read the FAQ in the S&P forum if you haven't done that yet. stronglifts.com may also be of help.

 

Kept it light and easy. Did just enough to say "hello, remember me?" to my legs. I think I'll stick to machines for a bit then transition to free weights.

Incline leg press- 200/8 200/10 200/8
Leg extensions- 80/12 95/10 95/10
Leg curls- 65/15 65/12 65/10

Swam laps for 15 minutes

Takeahnase- thanks for the links, will check them out

 

In terms of diet you might want to check out John Berardi, the D&S forum stickies and maybe the keywords paleolithic diet.

 

Hi, and good luck with your plan. Just wanted to say that even if you would use machines for the begining, you could and should at least perform a few sets with just the bar to get it going again.

 

I checked it out and the diet is similar to what I'm doing. I need to tweak my diet though. Thanks again!

Much thanks for the encouragement. I really like barbells and dumbells more than machines so I'll work those in pretty quickly. Thanks again!

 

Against my better judgement I ate spaghetti with the wife last night. I know that I always feel like crap the day after and sure enough... Much better by afternoon so I went for a run.

3.3 miles- 36:37/11:06 pace Max heart rate 195, usually hovered around 170. Not bad considering I haven't run that far in about 2 years.

 

Carbs aren't evil- just a conspiracy to keep fine pasta out of the hands of the common man.




Great name Dao. Good luck on your goals.

 

51 !! I'm 42, and glad to have another 'seasoned' person on the boards. Flak, BubbleBoy, and a couple others here are 40+ too. I've been here 2 years, lifting steadily for almost a year, and so far have made decent gains. It's a good forum, lotta good guys and good info, glad to see a new person here. Welcome. I don't know much, but if there's anything I can do, just ask.

 

Do you seriously feel bad the day after eating spaghetti?

 

Hunto- Thank you for your gracious welcome to the forum. I appreciate the advice and encouragement I have and will receive.
It sounds like you have put in quite a bit of work in the past year, congratulations! Things don't get easier with age, but I have learned to pay more attention to my body and inner voice. Most of the time I know when enough is enough. Most of the time...lol... Thanks again and keep up the good work!

Ghostwipe- The day after eating spaghetti I feel awful, and have for years. My joints ache, fingers and hands swell, head feels foggy, I'm tired. I usually pass on it, but occasionally I'll have a go. I suspect that it's an allergic reaction to the tomatoes or tomato paste. I don't feel great after eating pizza either, but it's not quite as bad. I should go for allergy testing but I'm not really someone to seek medical care unless it's pretty serious. I just try to work things out myself.

 

Rained all day. I got soaked on my way to my first class and stayed wet all day. Went home tired and cold at 2pm, took a nap.
5:30pm- it's not raining, but very hot and humid. Took the wife and kids to the track at the Y. Ran 5 laps and bailed. Legs still a little sore from last run but nothing to worry about.

2.75 miles- 27:25min 9:59 pace Better time anyway. Have a 20k race in Oct I'd like to hit. It's at a forestry research plantation, should be great scenery and run through the woods and dirt roads. Also, Mini marathon late Oct. We'll see...

 

Got through the weekend and tests Monday, so time to get back to business. Was running the big secluded, outdoor track at the YMCA today, when this fat redneck who does maintenance for the Y rides up in a golf cart to tell me "You need to go put a shirt on, after all, this is the Y." Unbelievable. It's 95 degrees and near 100% humidity, women can't run or walk alone out there because of groups wanna-be-thugs that hang out on the far side of the track, there are guys playing soccer out there every day wearing no shirt, and this fucker has to ride out and tell me to put a shirt on. I went in and cancelled my membership immediately and hunted the director to explain to him why. He could care less. They are $44k in the hole so far this year, begging for donations for a $1,000,000 building project, the track is unsafe to be on alone, but I have to wear a shirt. Whatever.

So now I have to find a new gym, already have a certified 5k course to run shirtless if I want. What a fucking day.

 

I'm over yesterdays rant. People are just stupid and like to fuck with you when they don't have anything better to do.

Yesterday-
1.65 miles 15:20 min 9:18 pace
3x 2 min rounds on heavy bag

Today-
Chinups (hands facing)- 2x 10 (leg assist on last 3 first set, last 4 second set)
BB curls- 10/60 8/60
Pushups- 20/15/10
Ab portion of Joe Moriera workout tape

Current weight- 190lbs. Total loss- 15lbs

 

Still making progress, haven't been logging anything though. Definately losing fat, getting stronger, and running better. Looking for a 5k race to try in August. Finishing will be easy, I like to make a good showing though. Pine Run 20k has moved to a new location, but damn sure want to hit it in October. Bad news, my running buddy who got me through the last one moved to Dallas. Fuck it's hard to run for 2 hours with no partner.
I found out that there is a new (since I quit training anyway) bjj club about 45 minutes away. I'm thinking if I continue to progress I'll give it a shot in a couple of months.

Anywho...today's w/o

Bas All-around w/o - 20 minutes of hell.
Ab work - 5 min
Chins - 4x10 (leg assist as needed) Had NO grip when I was through. :icon_lol:

 

Wow, I'm much further along than I thought I would be at this point. Yesterday I went to the Alliance Tallahassee BJJ club for the conditioning and technique class- aka the beginners class. I really enjoyed myself! Everyone is very friendly, and the instructor was very knowledgeable.

After stretching and warming up we alternated between running, agility drills, and exercising. I'm used to running and working out in shorts and tank-top, so working out in the gi was a lot harder. I made it through the class in pretty good shape, but was getting ragged towards the end of the conditioning portion. I'm soooo glad I've been working out and running the last couple of months, otherwise I'd have had to bail.

After conditioning, the instructor would cover a technique, breaking each it down until we had a pretty fair mental picture of what we were supposed to be doing. We then paired off and worked on that technique for 5-10 minutes as he and higher ranking student circulated through the class helping us get the mechanics right. We covered three chokes, triangle, and an armbar in this manner. Before I knew it, an hour and fifteen minutes had passed and we wrapped up so the general class could start. I noticed that many people stayed over for it, and that it started with more conditioning. I think I'll have to work my way up to that!

I was very pleased with both the club, and my first attempt at a bjj class in about 8 years. I know I have lots to learn, but the biggest step has been taken and I'm hooked! :icon_lol:

 

Missed last Wednesday as I was serving jury duty. Bah!

So I went to train last night. The head instructor is back from Brazil so this was the first time I met him. Very nice guy! After filling out my paperwork I changed into my gi and the fun began. Last week's workout wasn't that bad but this week....OMG!! Non-stop exercise for 30 minutes. Very fast paced, no time to stop and catch our breath or get a drink of water. We were all dragging by the time he mercifully stopped us. After a very brief water break we paired off, covered two ways to open the guard and two passes. We drilled these over and over and over and over, with the instructor visiting each pair and fine tuning our technique.

By the time class was over I was toast. So much for me thinking I was in such great shape. I was invited to stay for the next class but there was no freakin way. Not yet anyway. I can say this, if I can stay with this long-term I'll be in unbelievable shape and should have a good grasp of bjj.

Came home, ate showered, drank some beer to take the edge off, and got a great massage from the wife. Pretty tired and sore today but that will pass. Noticed today that I've dropped to 185 lbs. Kool!!

 

In spite of still being super sore from Monday night's training, and running fever off and on (bronchitis), I decided to man up and hit the conditioning and technique class last night.

We started with the same exercise routine we went through Monday night. I don't know if we went at a little slower pace or what, but I made it through the workout better than I did Monday night. Once again we paired off to work on side control and taking the mount position. The last 10 minutes of class focused on one partner trying to escape the mount while the other tried to maintain the mount. My partner was able to get me in half guard once, and I remembered how to pass it, and did so rather quickly. Kool kool.

Of course today I'm sore as hell again, or still. I don't even know anymore. I soaked in a hot tub full of epsom salts this morning and that seems to help.

 

I ran fever for 4 days after last Wednesday's class and was weak as hell, so I missed Monday night's class. Still felt weak Wednesday, but thought I was over this enough to go back. That's what I get for thinking.
Class starts with running. Lots of running. And more running, and skipping, and more running. And shrimping from one end of the room to the other. And more running. And more various line drills followed by yet more running. Felipe knows I've been sick so he keeps asking if I'm OK. "...sure." Thought I'd black out a couple of times but just tried to keep moving.
Finally moved to throws and takedowns. We partnered up and worked our way down the floor doing two throws and double leg takedown for about 15 minutes.
Next, drilled taking back the guard position after someone has passed it, and moved to side control. Then, we learned to sweep from the guard, ending up in mount position, then worked on collar choke from the mount position.
Finally, we started with one partner in side control, take him back to guard position, sweep him, take the mount, and collar choke him. My partner decided that it would be best if he hit me in the throat with his forearm everytime he put me back into his guard. He's all elbows, knees and knuckles too. He's another new guy, so I'm sure someone who's been there a while will straighten him out. We stopped to take another look at what we supposed to be doing, and he decided to move to another partner. Suited me fine, he's the only person there that I don't like partnering with.
So I made it through, but barely. One of the blue belts winked at me with about 15 minutes to go and said "almost there buddy." I think everyone was surprised and maybe a little impressed that I was able to finish. I dunno. They might think I'm a dumb ass for coming in at less than 100%. :icon_lol: I made it though!

 

What a difference a week makes. After last weeks fiasco I tried to run a couple of times. I was sicker than I thought because not only can I NOT run 5k, I couldn't even run 1 mile. I did what I could over the weekend and Monday though. I have to get my wind back somehow.

So tonight class started with the same conditioning drills that I gassed so hard on last Wednesday. I felt much better tonight and it was soooo much easier to do. I was getting a little ragged at the end of conditioning, but nothing like last week. I actualy felt pretty good when we finished, and I noticed that a couple of guys had to go outside or to the bathroom. I'm guessing they got sick because they didn't look too good. :icon_lol:

After conditioning, we partnered up for technique drills again. We covered two collar chokes from the guard, kimura, and an armbar. I got a good partner tonite and really enjoyed myself. I was really discouraged after last week, but I left tonight pretty energized. Yay! :icon_chee