Happy 22nd Birthday to Our Academy!

Our gym turned 22 yesterday, so of course I did what every self respecting student would do…

I developed some stomach issues, forgot my gi and ended up having to work late.

D’oh!

But, I offer my heartfelt happy anniversary to one of the first BJJ schools on the East Coast, one of the first kettlebell gyms in the country, and home to some of the toughest competitors I know and have the pleasure to train with, Maxercise!

Fit and Fat at the Gym

Hey guys, something weird is going on with the WordPress login screen, so I’m going to make this short.

Interestingly, when I was heavier I was still (sporadically) going going to the gym several times a week. There’s an article on the site Jezebel about working out when your heavier that I could certainly relate to (I’ll post the link later when WP lets me log on an actual computer). There’s a certain feeling that heavier people should hide in the background, slink in and out and barely noticed: we’re invading “fit people country” and if we wanted to stay there we should be quiet and stealthy, like chubby ninjas.

Hm, I like that imagery.

Anyway, i’m in a place where that mindset doesn’t exist thankfully, and i can see that it needs to be abolished on both sides of the fence. Fit and getting fit can live in harmony, but both sides need to be willing to take the first step.

Eating More to Weight Less

You know when people tell you to do something, and they explain it’s against natural instinct and common sense, but to do it anyway because that’s what it takes to accomplish your goal? Like when I worked at a coffee shop in high school, and figured out Italians were a bit nutty, because they decided left was the way to turn screws to tighten them, and right was the way to loosen them. At least this particular espresso machine company. It was a little maddening at first, to say the least.

All my life it’s been “eat less [calories], weigh less”. And other than my moratorium in college, I essentially worked to follow that tenant- if I ate less calories, I would weigh less, right?

But now after spending years being active and developing muscle, I’ve been introduced to a new guideline: eat more, to weigh less. Healthy stuff, obviously. And while I have been attempting to work with this new formula, it just feels counter-intuitive, even when I see successful results. My first reaction when I see the numbers on the scale climb is to cut calories and increase physical activity: which is what I think we were all taught from an early age. So, I sort of have to talk myself out of that first instinctual reaction and force myself to eat more, which actually has produced some successful results.

While I’m not suggesting to do something completely against conventional wisdom, like say run a red light or eat food in your fridge that’s obviously past due, I would say be open to a suggestion that may seem a little counter intuitive- as long as it does not cause any damage to your physical and/or emotional self, or could possibly result in incarceration.

Have fun!

 

 

Sometimes the Cup is Just Full

Yet again I promised I would make it to a Muay Thai class, and yet again I failed in sticking around. I feel like a bribe may be in order, to convince myself to stick around for the extra hour and a half, like say an acai smoothie (mmmm….delicious!)  which may totally undo all the good that is done during the actual class, but hey, it’s a bribe, it’s supposed to be delicious and decadent.

Or I could just admit that at the moment, the metaphorical cup is full. In addition to work, my schedule involves a lot of training….and working out…and more training, and maybe even more training in a different martial art isn’t exactly what I need right now. For some reason I am ridiculously prone to over-training/under-recovering, and where I am at the moment just may be exactly where I need to be.

We all do it to ourselves: we somehow come to the belief that we are not strong enough, fast enough, and we need to work harder to get there. And to be perfectly honest, more often than not we are right. We rarely push ourselves when we really need to. Bot occasionally we really do push ourselves to a point where it is just not physically possible to add anymore to the pile- to fill the cup any further. And we have to be okay with that for the moment: our bodies adapt, situations change, and we can add more on, but there does need to be a period of adjustment, and that’s ok.

…But now I really want an acai smoothie. D’oh!

 

Tenacity: I Has it.

On Wednesday night I did a bunch of kettlebell snatches (which I’ll provide a video link in just a minute) and accidentally ripped a callus off of my left hand…ew.

So what did I do today? I went back to the gym and did 100 snatches! It was baseline to see if we could do 100 repetitions in 5 minutes. I finished in four.

Take that, stupid raw spot on my hand.

…That is all.

Have a great weekend everyone!

It’s Hot, Stay Hydrated

Not very poetic or thought provoking, but here on the East Coast it’s been pretty toasty the past couple of days. Even if your gym is air conditioned, don’t tempt fate and please, just keep yourself hydrated….

That is all.

Keep It Simple

Someone mentioned an interesting article about people becoming tangled in the intricacies of dieting, and spend so much time studying different theories and approaches that they never really get started in the first place. There was one particular quote that I found particularly apt to jiu jitsu:

“Do not subordinate fundamental principles to minor details.”

We all love the flashy stuff, don’t get me wrong, but at the end of the day it is the fundamental principles of jiu jitsu that should be the main focus.

I think it is also what overwhelms white belts in the beginning, the higher belts sometimes, and hell, everyone now and again: all the details. Some things look intimidating or downright impossible, and I think part of the problem is there are a many things you are asked to take into consideration.

The trick is really just taking it one step at a time, sticking to the basics, and not getting too caught up the details in the beginning.

Now get to it!

 

 

Potato, Potah-to, Tomato, Tabata….

**I am in no way, shape or form any sort of personal trainer, or any sort of authority on physical fitness. Just wanted to point that out.**

I used to love running. Starting in highschool I would run on a 1/4 mile track by my house, and sometimes through some of the parks nearby. I would read runner’s world all the time, even though it always seemed like they ran the same 3 articles each issue.

“You need new sneakers!”

“Eat these foods!”

“Inspiring story of someone overcoming obstacles and in the process, running!”

Starting in about my senior year of highschool, I started to experience a sharp pain in my left knee. I would ignore it and continue to run. And then the pain became progressively worse, and I believe the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college I finally went to a doctor for the pain.

What can I say, I’m stubborn.

Anyway, I was diagnosed with patellar tendonitis, had some cortisone shot in my knee and was told I shouldn’t run on hard surfaces, and I should wear a knee brace.

And still, I continued to run. Even when I was at my heaviest, I insisted on running at least 2 to 3 times a week, even at a snail’s pace, I ran.

And then I started Jiu Jitsu. And Kettlebells. And Judo. And I stopped running. Which I am sure my poor knee is thankful for, but occasionally I still need to do something that is cardio intense, and something that does not require me to run. Because to be perfectly honest, I really don’t like running anymore. I can do it if required- catching the subway, making weight for a tournament, fleeing stampeding buffalo, etc. But unless it’s a gorgeous trail leading somewhere, running is no longer fun; it is a necessary function, a means to an end. And while Jiu Jitsu and Judo and Kettlebells are great, and Muay Thai is also fun, sometimes, like last night, I look for a little supplemental training- something to sweat more and get my heart rate up.

Someone on Fitocracy  mentioned the Tabata Method, and please, by all means go and read her post about it, but it reminded me it was a nice quick and dirty way to achieve what I was looking for. It is a form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which our good friend Wikipedia describes as, “an enhanced form of interval training, an exercise strategy alternating periods of short intense anaerobic exercise with less-intense recovery periods.”

So, if you feel like doing some cardio without spending a solid half of an hour (or forever and ever, like some people seem to do) on the treadmill or stationary bike, this may be something to consider.

The Wish for an Outside Mat

It’s warming up on the East Coast, which leads to wishes of being able to somehow train outside. Which anyway you look at it, probably would not work. But, it’s a nice thought anyway.

Just think of the warm sunshine…As it makes the mats blazing hot to the touch. And the nice breeze that would blow dust and dirt onto the mats as you rolled. And let’s not forget you’re outside, so there’s a chance of birds pooping on the mat (or your head), mosquitos nibbling at your exposed toes, and bees.

I really, really hate bees.

So, you could have a tent…With walls….Which kind of defeats the purpose of being outside in the first place.

Sigh.

The things we do for jiu jitsu.

 

 

Overtraining

Last week was a problem, friends and fans. I was a classic class of overtraining…itis.

What are the symptoms, mayhaps?

1) Exhaustion and irritability

2) Constant thirst

3)Hating puppies, unicorns and rainbows

Friends, when I start to hate puppies, you know things have gotten serious

when things like this do not bring joy to my heart, we have a serious problem, people.

Not only is it bad news for everyone around me, it’s counter-productive. I noticed this as I was taking Muay Thai on Saturday. It was then I decided I would take the rest of the day off and rest. Sunday I made it clear I did not want to train jiu jitsu, drill, or anything of the sort. Instead I did some cardio and bodyweight exercises, went home and relaxed, and even ate a few extra calories to get myself back to normal.

So a word of advice: push yourself, but not to the point where you hate things that normally give you joy, like puppies.

D'awwww