Training For the Zombie Apocalypse

Are you prepared?

Other than the whole “build a bunker and ration food and ammunition” thing, you can also prepare your body for the coming apocalypse. I would like to present you with some options for your zombie training:

1) Check out ZombieFit.org: it has a very heavy emphasis on parkour, which I’m not exactly down for, but it can’t hurt to learn to climb up and over difficult terrain.

2) Judo: as much as I train in Jiu Jitsu, I feel Judo provides better preparation. Depending on how you play, you can combine stamina training with explosive movements, and also importantly will make you “judo tough” i.e., how to fall without breaking anything to keep on running.

3) Bodyweight training and pull ups: Don’t fall prey to the zombie horde because you can’t hoist yourself up over a windowsill and out of harm’s way.

4) Functional Strength Training: This may fall into the same category as bodyweight training, but whatevs. You want to be strong enough to get yourself away from the zombie masses, build a barricade, with the possibility of helping a fallen comrade, especially if they have useful information vital to your survival. I know someone who can operate and repair helicopters, and another who can set  up and operate shortwave radios-I think we all know which people I’m going to make sure stay alive.

5) Cardio, and a way to subdue anyone that gets a little nutty: This is where Jiu Jitsu really comes in handy. The reasons behind the cardio are obvious.  What we all fail to anticipate is someone that just can’t take the stress of the situation, and gets a little out of hand, decides they want to go on their own, or do something else remarkably stupid. Jiu Jitsu is a perfect way to put this person out (most likely RNC) until they snap out of their little breakdown and are ready to be a part of the team again.

Anyone have any suggestions for training for the undead? Physical training, that is; I originally put “learn to shoot a gun” on this list, but I want to focus more on the physical fitness aspect. Let’s hear it!

 

Homework:

I was living on the edge yesterday: I ate peanut butter at 3pm-if you have been following along, that’s a pretty big step for me. Unfortunately I did something to the left side of my leg (the groin region) and  so I didn’t train as much as usual, but I was actually pretty level-headed for the Judo class. Hooray! You have no idea how accomplished I feel at the moment.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday, 11.9.11

I personally found this pretty interesting: for those not heavily involved in jiu jitsu and other sports it may seem a little less than interesting, but as someone involved in jiu jitsu and supplements with strength and conditioning training, I found the presentation fairly succinct and went along at a nice pace.

Also, I’m giving it an extra point for the English accent, which is adorable, if we’re being totally honest

 

I was going to try and embed the slideshow here for your viewing pleasure, but instead here is a screenshot and a link:

 

Powering Through: Strength and Conditioning Advice Slidecast

Check it out!

 

Torturing my Teammate

So a teammate, Sarah, and I come in early on Tuesdays and Thursdays to train a little extra before the posted class time. Usually we’ll do randori, but recently we’ve been just rolling and just going right through class time if we’re the only ones there, or if one or two other people join us.

Lately I have been getting back into the music of a band I like, Emery. They are ” an American four-piece post-hardcore band from… South Carolina”. Thanks, Wikipedia!

As we all know music tastes are ridiculously subjective, and so if it’s just the two of us, I think I am going to torture Sarah, i.e., make her listen to my music. She’s really into classic rock, so it may be torture, may not. Who knows?

You are more than welcome to join in her possible, projected torture:

 

Kintanon Homework:

For those scoring at home, I couldn’t bring myself to eat anything within the 2 hour mark before class. 4 hours before class though, not too shabby; not great either. I had a banana and a cup of peppermint tea. I felt pretty good through kettlebells, pretty good through the practice/drilling part of class, and only a touch tired while rolling. I was even doing pretty well during the warm up drills at the beginning of the second class. When we started to drill the move of the week in the second class I started to lose my concentration. Training things started to go downhill but it was still ok; I was more in an exploratory and experimental kind of mood and so not exactly on my “A” game. Then it was Judo and I got a little what I call “slap happy” or punch drunk, if you will, from doing so much in one evening. Giggling is almost guaranteed with me at the end of the night. I attribute a lot of this to the lack of food beforehand, which is why Kintanon’s homework intrigued me so much. I want to have the stamina, physically and mentally, to get to the end of Judo class without losing concentration or bursting into laughter at inane things (well, more than usual, if we’re being honest).

Tonight I’ll be trying peanut butter before class. The recommended size is 2 tablespoons, but to be perfectly honest I have a feeling I’ll be eating one tablespoon, but consuming it closer to class time.

I’ll let you know how that goes.

Experimenting With Food

Eating it before training, that is.

I’ve had enough unpleasant experiences before training to be extremely wary of eating before class. This may have gotten a little out of hand however, since now there is usually at least a 5 hour span between when I eat lunch and when I train, to ensure training goes smoothly.

Sometimes this backfires and I seem to run out of “gas” before training is over: or even before it begins. There have been days where I have experienced trouble concentrating on a move that is being shown before class because I didn’t eat enough during the day.

This is also the “homework” posted on JoshJitsu’s blog: keep track of what you eat and drink about 2 hours before class, and track how you feel during and after class.

Usually the only thing I’ll drink before class is water, and the occasional cup of coffee, but no food. Today I think it’s going to be a banana and a cup of Trader Joe’s Peppermint tea.

I’ll let you all know how it turns out!

Why I Never Need to Watch Horror Films

Because real life + my imagination scare me enough. While for the most part jiu jitsu keeps my anxiety at bay, there are certain situations where no amount of jiu jitsu or any sort of physical activity will keep me from being at least moderately freaked out.

For work I was asked to take photos and take notes on an empty supermarket in the suburbs. Okay, not that scary, right?

Until we get there, and find the building been broken into multiple times, so not only are all the windows boarded up, but in the few times people did get in, they took all the copper wiring and trashed the place, so the electricity was off.

Let me tell you how harrowing it is to walk into a pitch black building with no idea what is inside.

There were two people with flashlights, but of course  I did not have one, and so took lots of photos, with nothing but the flash of my camera giving me an idea of what the inside looked like. The down side to this of course is just as quickly as the flash went off, was I plunged back into the pitch black since my eyes couldn’t adjust to the drastic light change.

I took photos of all sorts of places, as my anxiety heightened after I took photo after photo and I became more and more convinced we were going to find a variety of things. A stray animal who would freak at the bright light of the flash, an altar stained with blood as kids played at being Satan-worshippers or some other macabre paraphernalia laying about, and then finally just a dead body strung up somewhere.

Nothing of the sort happened, and everything was fine, in case anyone was wondering. We left the building safe and sound, thankfully.

But in case you were ever wondering, no thank you, I do not want to see any scary movies. Like, ever.

My Honesty (And Competitiveness) Will Be the Death of Me

I think in the next few weeks bedroom floors and mat space will be strewn with grapplers who, true to their competitive spirits, got a little too much into leveling up on the site “Fitocracy”.

I have been reading some of the comments people have been posting, such as from fellow BJJ blogger Julia, about how they were done for the day, but noticed they only needed x amount of points to get to the next level, and so did some extra exercising to get to the next level.

I also thought about doing this…I was only 1188 points from leveling up again: easy….

…right?

Thankfully common sense took over. Since I’ll be working out this evening, I’ll wait to do any workout stuff until then, so I’m trying not to think of ways to work out and level up until I get to the gym (push-ups in the office bathroom-a bit much?)

What’s funny is that I’m not even competing against anyone…I’m competing against myself, like I will somehow “win” at fitness. Sadly, this is not the first time I have felt this urge: immediately after my first class of Bikram (read: shweaty) yoga, I vowed to somehow “win” at yoga. Which is also quite impossible to do, I’m pretty sure.

All that being said, if I survive my own competitive nature, I will look fantastic for a trip I am taking in January.

 

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday, 11.2.11

So, there’s an MMA fighter, Pat Barry, who posts videos of himself training, traveling and what-not. There are very few of these videos that I have not laughed to the point of tears.

Here are some examples:

 

Enjoy, and I’ll see you guys tomorrow!