RenFengge's 2021 Fitness PPR

[RenFengge 1,042]

4/18/2021 Workout

MMA

 

Thoughts: Goodness... doing this activity actually makes me a little nervous. But, that's how we improve, right? Get out of the comfort zone. You'd think I'd be comfortable in this. But, I'm not. Because Jonesly is so damn... energetic. Like, I partially want him to take like a downer. Everything is fast. Everything is hard. Nothing is slow... and we haven't even ramped up the speed yet.

 

Today was about "rule of opposites"... that's how he put it. It's the thinking of if you throw a left move, your next move is a right move. Which, really.. makes sense when you think about how you set up each consecutive move.

 

So, the fun today was throwing a hook, followed by what he called a "switch kick". This was a little tricky, but super fun... because it's very close to a finishing move I used to do. The "switch" part is the footing switch without changing the position of your body. Basically, winding up your body for the kick.

 

The amount of fun and constant going at this move for both sides is pretty evident on the photo of my shins.

 

This is the first time that I am actually considering shin guards. I can't believe I'm looking into shin guards. When I was 19 and training, the only protection was my hand wraps, and that was only sometimes. For conditioning my shins, I never really thought about it. It wasn't something that hurt a lot. But, my coach in the Philippines tended to run me hard where I was more in pain from soreness, an occasional knife slash, and my bleeding knuckles that he enjoyed spraying alcohol on. My shins? Never thought about it. I will admit that I was also pretty mentally messed up, so physical pain wasn't something that terribly bothered me.

 

Anyway. Shin guards... I have to hunt for shin guards.

 

[Plumbers Crack 4,067]

You’re a tough cookie La...respect 👊

[RenFengge 1,042]

4/19/2021 Workout

Rowing Class

 

Thoughts: Again... I hate anything that resembles a spin class. But, here I am.. in a rowing class... because I know my cardio is trash, and there's no way you are going to get me to keep my heart rate elevated for longer than 15 minutes without some sort of push.

 

Shame and guilt in a class that counts a total "team's" pace and distance? Yeah.. that will do it. Especially when you realize your team's split time significantly drops when you flat out stop lol.

 

Also, did you ever experience delayed onset muscle soreness from the day before's workout really start to settle in while you're in the middle of a cardio session? I did. Did you know that could happen?? My goodness, it sucks getting old.

 

Sometimes, I wonder what it's like being a spin-type instructor. Like, how much coffee did you drink before class to be that amped for 45-ish minutes? Also, who thinks starting a 45-minute rowing class with a 90-second sprint is a good idea??? FFS.

 

Total rowing meters (for me): 8,523m (FML)

[RenFengge 1,042]

4/22/2021 Workout

10 Minute EMOM

• 4 Deadlifts @ 145lbs

 

2 Minute Rest

 

7 Minute EMOM

• 10 Power Hang Cleans @ 75lbs

 

Thoughts: Lolz. My lower back is sore today. Was not expecting that. But, just highlights how much work I need to do on my core muscles.

 

The setup rules for the deadlifts was to put on enough weight to be done with the deadlifts with 40 seconds left on the clock. So that along with my grip strength was the limiting factor on the weight. I can deadlift about 250lbs, but needing to do this 4 times in a minute or rather 40 reps, was something entirely different.

 

I was actually going to do this at 125lbs lol. But Coach Tim walked over and said "I want to see more weight on your bar."

 

To which I retorted with, "You said for women to do 95lbs."

 

Coach Tim, "Except I know what you can lift... and you're lucky I'm not making you do 175lbs."

 

Eh. So good times. At round 8, I was like, "mannnn... my lower back is on fire. This is going to hurt tomorrow."

 

Then it was the Power Hang Cleans, which was the main reason I showed up... because I want to work on my cleans. And, that also meant not going too heavy. It's also a lot of reps. Goodness. 70 reps.

 

This was supposed to be an endurance exercise lol.. and that it was. I wasn't thrilled with it. There's not much to say about power hang cleans. Except that I sort of would rather do it from the ground? Yeah, more movement... but it makes more sense in my brain.

 

Today is rest day while I try to get enough muscle recovery for tomorrow's squat clean workshop and Sunday's MMA session. Maybe a walk after work today.. maybe. It's nice out.

[RenFengge 1,042]

4/24/2021 Workout

Squat Clean Workshop

 

Hang Squat Clean Drills @ 105lbs

 

Thoughts: So, I thoroughly do not recommend doing a bunch of deadlifts and power hang cleans a day or two prior to spending 90 minutes on squat clean drills. However, silver lining, it really makes you use your legs more on the clean than attempting to muscle clean all the time.

 

Not much to say about this one.. except I needed these drills. My issue with cleans is always that transition to rack for multiple reasons. These drills allow me to work on things I need to correct.

 

I was still a bit gassed from what I am guessing is incorrect/not minding my macros the day before. I might need to seriously considering giving up a timed "weight loss" and focus more on performance nutrition if I'm going to survive the nonsense I'm doing.

[RenFengge 1,042]

4/25/2021 Workout

MMA

 

Thoughts: We worked on tweaking strikes/punches a bunch today... and some blocking.

 

For the strikes, Jonesly wanted me to work on adjusting the power and angle of hooks and uppercuts. The lightest hook, haha, he paused because he didn't know how to phrase it. Instead, he demonstrated. He said that it's not meant to be a real hit, but a bit more than a fake out to set up for the subsequent hit. He showed me, and I said, "So, you basically want me to bitch slap my opponent?"

 

He laughed so hard and said, "Yes. YES! I didn't want to say it because I didn't want to offend you."

 

I said, "I don't think there's a better term for what you just showed me. It's a bitch slap. At least that's what we have always called it in street fighting."

 

Hahahah.

 

For blocking, he had me do one that I have never done before.. Because it makes no sense on the street. It only makes sense if you have on boxing gloves. But, still good to know overall. When he switched to what he called a "hair graze" block, that I do instinctively. He just corrected my form slightly.

 

Good session today. No kicking. Going to save that for next week, I guess lol. give my shins a bit more time to heal.

[RenFengge 1,042]

4/26/2021 Workout

Rowing Class

 

Thoughts: Oh, how I despise cardio.

 

However, being that Coach Jonesly has seen an improvement in my stamina (he counts how many times I stop during 3 minutes of jumping rope), I guess I have to keep it up.

 

This is the only thing that will keep my heart rate up for an extended period of time. I've decided that I will probably finish out my class package, then sign up for the online class/video thing and just do it in my gym.

 

I was still pretty spent today, so I didn't go really hard during the session. Only hit 6,544m. Just didn't have it in me to go harder. But, I actually had the best split time so far at 1:53.

 

Sleep is climbing up on my priorities for the next two days. Tomorrow is rest day!

[GazzaGarratt 11,066]

20 hours ago, RenFengge said:

Tomorrow is rest day!

 

[RenFengge 1,042]

2 hours ago, GazzaGarratt said:

 

 

Seriously... sometimes when my schedule dictates like 3 or 4 days in a row, I cry a little on in the inside lol.

[RenFengge 1,042]

4/28/2021 Workout

15 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

 

20 box jumps

2 rounds:

6 hang cleans @ 65lbs

6 front squats @ 65lbs

 

Thoughts: Yesterday morning, I cancelled my 5am gym session. Just was tired. Wanted to go back to sleep. So I did. I seem to be starting to shift to the afternoon class. Not that I want to. I don't know the people in that class. But, I can't seem to get up in the morning anymore lol. Well, I'm up. I'm just not fully awake.

 

Thus, I signed up for 5:30PM class. Because 1) I got my new workout shoes in! I haven't had new shoes in like 7 - 8 years. Got some Kinis Pro Training Shoes! When I started this "Actually sort of focusing on healthy stuff" back in 2011, I had some Vibrams, which I loved. I could feel the ground. I could feel what I'm trying to do. After going through far too many pairs of those, I got some Nano 3.

 

I hate Nano 3.

 

I can't feel anything in them.

 

I couldn't confidently box jump because I couldn't feel where my feet landed on the box.

 

I couldn't do hard turns when sprinting.

 

I couldn't do coordination drills.

 

Like, I could do all of them, but not as well as I could in my Vibrams.

 

Anyway, I wanted to try out my new shoes.

 

2) I signed up for the 5:30PM class because I was more mentally and energy-wise ready for the gym.

 

3) I actually wanted to do this workout.

 

4) Supposedly, only 4 other people signed up for the class. We have a 9 person limit.

 

So, off I went. First person there because I need time to stretch and roll out.

 

5 minutes before class, people start trickling in. What.the.actual.fuck. We're full? Why are we full? Noooooooooo... says my anxiety.

 

But, one of the guys from my 5AM class was there.. and he would be in the box next to mine.

 

Because my gym uses big tires that double as our boxes, I had to share my tire with my 5AM partner. "No worries," I told him, "after the first round, I'll time myself to start my jumps after you. You know I like my rest anyway!"

 

Before we started on the workout, Coach James said, "You know what... let's do a 200m run to start our warm up."

 

I immediately blurted out, "Yeah. How about no?"

 

Everyone just burst out laughing. But, everyone also knows I'm not really serious about my protests... I just say what everyone else is thinking haha. Off we ran. Then, off we did our warm-up and workout.

 

This was a breather. But I guess all of them are. I enjoy anything with barbells. I focused a lot on my form for the cleans because that's what I need to focus on. The weight wasn't heavy enough for me to really perfect my form, but that's okay. I still needed to actually do them unbroken.

 

Good times. Enjoyed the shoes. Need to buy more socks for them. My super thin socks won't cut it, and I only have 1 pair of Bombas that would work well with these.

[RenFengge 1,042]

4/30/2021 Workout

Deadlifts

7 Sets of 5 Reps (3 sets at 185lbs, 3 sets at 195lbs, 1 set at 205lbs)

 

Thoughts: Hah. I made my 5AM class today.

 

Nothing complicated today. Just a nice weightlifting set.

 

Honestly, I wasn't even going to try to break 200lbs today. But, Coach James kept asking me when I was going to stop warming up, so I kept adding weights until I was like "185lbs? When did that happen?"

 

Coach James responded with, "And, you were going to stop at 145lbs. Those days are over for you."

 

Good sets. My hands hurt. Tomorrow's Squat Clean workshop is going to hurt again.. which means MMA on Sunday is going to hurt again lol.

 

But, I'm glad my deadlift numbers are getting back to what I used to do. Calculator says that based on my 205lbs, my 1 rep should be 230lbs... I probably should work on it a bit to get back to my old PR of 260lbs.

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/1/2021 Workout

Squat Clean Workshop

 

Sets:

1 hang clean, 3 front squats

 

Heavy - 1 power clean, 1 or 2 front squats

 

Thoughts: I knew I was walking into this already hurting/sore from the deadlifts. My right shoulder is additionally sore from whatever is causing it to be weird, on top of the deadlifts. My lower back is super sore to the point that bending isn't easy. I told myself, "No ego lifting. Just stay at the moderate weight."

 

That thought lasted until we got to the heavy sets. Because by the time we were done with the original sets, I was already up to 110lbs with no failures. My Squat Clean PR is 125lbs.

 

Apparently, I'm doing better on my clean. Moving faster. Opening my hands quicker.

 

But, not enough to get to my PR of 125lbs. I completed 115lbs with 2 front squats. I failed at 125lbs on holding the clean long enough to move to squat.

 

All things considered, being sore, doing around 18 total sets before failure, it was a good session. I need to be mindful of my workouts when we do the final day on June 5th.

 

After the session, I asked Coach Tim if there was another workshop after this one. He confirmed that there was, and he was building up to a snatch. The next Workshop series will be on Press. Then, Jerks. Then, Snatches. So, that's the whole year of weightlifting programming. I'm excited. I thought they were going to do a Running workshop like they had last year right before I started working out with them. Nope. Weightlifting.. and I'm here for it.

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/2/2021 Workout

MMA

 

Thoughts: I had asked Jonesly to order me the gear he thinks I should have... instead of me walking in with stuff that he would frown upon.

 

That was a bit more pricey than I anticipated. Oh well. It will last me basically forever.

 

Worked out with the protective gear... while it was nice to not feel anything... I kind of miss feeling something. I miss the pain. But, I guess I'm just so used to feeling something.

 

We focused a lot on kicking today. Apparently, it just doesn't click in my brain if I do the kicks against a heavy bag. But, when we moved to mitt work, it made so much more sense. I still want a heavy bag for home, but doing the combos when you need to react against another person, it just makes more sense. I'll go longer. I'll hit harder.

 

He's happy with my progress in 4 sessions. I'm glad someone is lol. But, he also talked about getting past my mental block. He said, "It will always suck. You will always get tired. It's just about getting used to that feeling."

 

I said, "So, you want me to work through the suck."

 

He laughed and said, "YES! I'm writing that down. Gonna put it on shirts."

 

I said, "I'm sure there's something more... elegant than that."

 

Next session is in 2 weeks. He asked me about why I was stretching and rolling out my shoulder. I told him it was because of the weird knot that I've had for a year that sometimes is more painful at times. Since he is also a physical therapist, he said that he will do an assessment on me next time... that way we can fix what's wrong and not ignore it.

 

Good times. I am debating on whether tomorrow is a rest day or a row day. If I don't take tomorrow as a rest day, then my next rest day is Wednesday. That's 5 days in a row. And, I'm not sure how I feel about that at the moment lol.

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/15/2021 Workout

Squat Clean Workshop

 

Thoughts: What was supposed to only be about a week of rest starting on 5/5, ended up being 2 weeks of rest starting on 5/3.

 

I had a super minor procedure scheduled for 5/6 that was supposed to take 10 minutes and only have like 2 days of down time. It became a 45-minute more invasive procedure with a full week of rest/not allowed to do anything per doctor's orders... and because Carl grounded me.

 

Anyway. Today was my first day back. Some weightlifting is a good way to get back into it. Nothing intense. No expectations of hitting any of the goals set in today's workshop. We were supposed to get to 90% of our 1 rep max. So, for me that meant 115lbs on my squat clean. I thought to myself, "We'll keep it light. Maybe just go to 85lbs."

 

Lolz.

 

The really cool thing about having the unexpected mass and "strings" removed from my upper back is that the tightness and knot that has been plaguing my right shoulder up to my neck is basically... gone. Slightly knotty right now, but that's because I fell dead asleep on it last night.

 

Every clean I did, I was able to do faster, better, more in-sync with what I was supposed to be doing.

 

So, what did I end up doing? I ended up actually going up to 125lbs. I failed it twice, but by then we were up to 30+ reps for the sessions. Not once did my right arm not match the height of my left arm. Not once did I not catch the bar because of the weird tightness. It was all just.. flexible.

 

125lbs, my original 1 rep max, and I'm not done healing.

 

Here's hoping that I can hit 130lb at the end of this cycle.

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/16/2021 Workout

MMA

 

Thoughts: The benefit of having your MMA coach also be a doctor and a physical therapist is that he takes injuries and muscle stuff pretty seriously. More seriously than I would, tbh. I mean. I would never do hand-to-hand with boxing gloves, but he "requires" them.

 

We talked about the procedure I had done and tailored today's workout in oh-so-fun ways.

 

I basically had to do the session as if my right arm was tied behind my back.

 

But, also, we focused more on kicks.

 

As much as I love kicks, what I really enjoyed was him showing me a move he calls "passing". It's where you parry/block to manipulate your opponent one way/to one side to set it up for a follow up punch/elbow/kick.

 

I picked this up very quickly because it's very similar to what we do in Arnis/Kali/Eskrima. You "swat" at the same time as you adjust your position, then counter.

 

Additional things we did today involved elbows and knees. Which, I also love and prefer. But, the way we started was not anything I had previously done. We will get there.

 

Some of the moves Jonesly was showing me today definitely made me go "hmm..." So, I asked him, "These are leading up to jiu jitsu and judo, aren't they?"

 

He laughed and said, "You noticed?"

 

I said, "The third move in this combo is to hit the back of the leg. You hit the back of the leg, then the person is going down. If the fight isn't over, then you're on the ground."

 

Jonesly seemed so excited that I realized this. I said, "I don't do ground fights. Remember? I do 3 power hits and run away! Far far FAR away." He laughed at that.

 

Anyway. It was a good session. It feels good to be back working out.

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/18/2021 Workout

15 minute AMRAP

• 10 Ring Rows
• 20 Box Jumps
• 25 Jack Knives
• 1 minute ring hold

Thoughts: Haven't done a 5AM session in a while. I got really used to not waking up at 4:30AM. At least there was a little crack of sunrise when I was getting to the gym... made it seem less... terrible.

 

Nice, standard HIIT session.. with one really terrible "movement"... and I use that term lightly.

 

Fun fact for those who don't know, CrossFit's foundations are gymnastics based. However, very few places actually incorporate gymnastic moves anymore. So, seeing the "1 minute ring hold" on the board.. I thought, "well, this is terrible. At least I'll be working on my grip strength, I guess."

 

Obviously, I had to scale the ring holds. The amount of stabilization needed, I just don't have. Even the newbie, who actually did gymnastics and might be from Russia(?), said that going straight to ring holds is difficult. They would start people on bars since those don't move as much.

 

It was a good session. Definitely a good choice in movements as I get back into it after 2 weeks out and after the minor surgery.

 

Going again tomorrow for some 21 minute EMOM... I'll probably cry inside lol. But, I won't cry as much as I will during Thursday's 45-minute rowing session. Yay, cardio? 😛 

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/19/2021 Workout

21 minute EMOM

• Minute 1 - Wiper Press (65lbs)
• Minute 2 - Hollow Rocks
• Minute 3 - Rest

Thoughts: If yesterday's jack knives and ring hold stabilization movements didn't give you sore abs... today's workout would! (My abs are sore from yesterday)

 

I walked in and said, "WTF is a wiper press?"

 

Coach James said, "Oh, how I have missed your enthusiasm at 4:45AM. Don't worry. We will show everyone what it is before the workout."

 

I did my stretching and warm up, then as a group, did the stretching and warm up.

 

So, Coach James started explaining the workout, then he explained what a "wiper press" was. It's the wiper movement where you are on your back on the ground, your legs are up, and you move them side to side. Fine. We know what that is. The press part is that after the "side to side", you basically do a bench press with a barbell.

 

My reaction, "Now, you are just making shit up."

 

Everyone laughed. Sally said, "Oh, we missed your snarkiness at 5AM!"

 

I said, "Is it snarkiness if I'm just saying what everyone is thinking? And, I'm too asleep to keep it in my brain?"

 

He then gave us a few minutes to add weights to the provided bars as needed. He said, "If you go light, it's more of an ab workout. If you go heavy, it's more stabilization."

 

Me? I'll just do the 35lb bar. That's enough. For a minute a round... for 7 rounds. I'm good.

 

A couple of minutes go by, and he says, "Everyone good with their weights?" Obvis.. yes. We're all good. He then says, "LA! Are you good? I don't see any weights on the bar."

 

I put the 35lb bar down... then reached for the 45lb. Gave him a thumbs up. He gave me a stare-back. I said, "I guess I'm going for 65lbs then." Slapped on the 10lb plates, then he finally started the clock. Thanks, Coach James... Thanks... Not like my abs and upper body isn't sore from yesterday's stabilization workout... 😄 

 

Got the workout down. The wiper press at the 65lbs wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but I did start failing at the 5th round. I will definitely be sore later tonight, and rowing tomorrow will be painful.

 

But, for some reason, I like being sore... so I guess everyone wins?

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/20/2021 Workout

Rowing Class

 

Thoughts: The amount of how much I did not want to do today's workout was immense. I'm tired. Sleepy. Sore. I had the realization while walking out the house at 5:30AM that my body is happy at 4x a week of workouts and not 5x.

 

But, I'm still glad I went. That only happens after the workout lol.

 

If I wasn't sore enough before the rowing class, I am now! Because rowing 6,933m hurts... with intervals of body weight movements.

 

I want to nap. Maybe I'll see about napping during lunch lol.

 

Rest day tomorrow. Finally.

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/22/2021 Workout

Squat Clean Workshop

Focus on Front Squat movement

 

Thoughts: The "Warm up" was a combination of deadlifts then squat cleans until it got to a "heavy" weight. If I wasn't so sleepy at the moment from doing Contest Raid in D2 with FG, I would probably type more. But, short of it is that front squat got up to 175lbs, with 1 fail at the supposed 175lbs because my coach didn't swap the plates correctly on one side. It was a bit of a hilarious fail. Because when I got into the "hole", I couldn't get back up. I just went, "nope." Actually said it. The guy in front of my just started cracking up because he was watching me squat. My coach just held the bar, and I crawled under and away from it.

 

No one knew it was unbalanced and heavier than expected until my partner, who was sharing the bar with me, got to it to back squat it and said, "this is unbalanced."

 

Hah. HAHAHAHA.

 

So, we fixed it. She back squatted it, I had to front squat... 

 

Good session.. I rushed to the store then home to get ready for the raid. 😄 

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/25/2021 Workout

15 minute EMOM (every minute on the minute)

• Minute 1 - 10 heavy deadlifts (175lbs)
• Minute 2 - 15 weighted hand-release push ups (10lb weight, yet still scaled on knees.. dunno)
• Minute 3 - 20 weighted sit-ups (25lbs)

Thoughts: I don't know why, but going to a 5AM gym session just seems foreign to me at the moment. However, with summer coming, I'll take the much cooler morning temperatures than the steamy, hot, disgusting temperatures at 5:30PM or 6:30PM. CrossFit gyms and those types have this thing about never turning on the AC... and rarely turning on the heat. And, I'm really okay with never turning on the heat lol. It's just the lack of AC. I get it... I GET it. Especially with our Hero WODs being to honor fallen soldiers... but, I hate the heat. I hate humidity. It's just.. gross.

 

Anyway. This wasn't terrible. I love deadlifts. I just never really want to go heavy on them during a workout if I can't absolutely focus on my form. I originally had on only 125lbs, but got some looks on it.. so I slapped on the 25lbs plates lol. 175lbs it is. It's not that I can't deadlift them. I obviously can do 10 reps of it, and I need to improve my grip strength. I just like rest time between movements lol.

 

My issue has always been the push-ups. I alternated between doing the weighted push ups scaled on my knees but with a 10lb plate, and doing strict, no scale push ups with no weight. I'm finding that the hand release is making me want to stay laying on the floor and not do anything lolol.

 

Sit ups are good. These aren't an issue, but I really need to work on my obliques more.

 

All in all. Good session. I enjoyed quite a delicious nap after the workout lol. Naps after workouts are so underrated. 

[Baabcat 1,646]

Blimey La!! I make that 50  80kg deadlifts, that’s pretty good going I would say!

[RenFengge 1,042]

2 hours ago, Baabcat said:

Blimey La!! I make that 50  80kg deadlifts, that’s pretty good going I would say!

 

Thanks! my 1 rep max for a deadlift, currently, is 225lbs (102 kg) about.. Original PR is 260lbs, I need to work on my deadlifts to get there again!

 

Yeah, I'm moderately sore today. I skipped my gym session this morning. There's no way I would have been able to do a god awful amount of toes-to-bar, walls balls, and burpees lol.

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/27/2021 Workout

Rowing

 

Thoughts: I absolutely despise cardio. I hate spin class things. Every time I do these endurance things, it's just a reminder that I'm built for strength and not endurance lol. I also learned today that the rowing instructor also does SoulCycle. Makes sense.

 

I've changed my strategy on dealing with this. I'm here for rowing. Not for anything else. So, when it's time to do the bodyweight movements... I'll do maybe 3 reps then continue using the time as rest before the next 12 minute rowing clip.

 

Nope. I absolutely do not care that I look like a slacker. I'm sorry... not sorry. The dumbbells provided go up to 8lbs. What am I supposed to do with 8lb dumbbells when we do thrusters and renegade rows? My thrusters are usually at 75lbs, and renegade rows are at 45lbs lol. So, yeah. I'll take it as a rest time hah.

 

I will say that I have been able to do all three rowing segments without pausing... even the damn sprints. Best split time is still 1:53. To be fair, I never though I would ever get it under 2:15. Today's best split was 1:55.

 

While I absolutely loathe this class, I just tell myself that it's strengthening my will power as well. Because I want to stop usually 5 minutes in and run away lol. If I survive a 45-minute endurance class, maybe I'm just getting slightly better.

 

Total meters rowed: 7,451m

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/29/2021 Workout

Squat Clean Workshop

 

Thoughts: I walked in completely unsure on how heavy I was going to be able to go for this since Carl and I got our second dose of Pfizer on 5/28 and my arm was sore enough where I couldn't lift it all the way up.

 

We started with complexes to make sure we were getting the form as good as possible. I've corrected the hang pull that I tend to have. Next will be the grip.

 

Color me shocked when actually pulling 125lbs (my current PR for squat cleans) wasn't too much of an issue. I still need to fix my grip when I catch the bar. I have a fear of the weight just breaking my fingers, so I tend to close grip when it gets heavy.

 

Got completely psyched out when I went to go for 130lbs. 5lbs shouldn't make a difference, but it does lol. We all were also probably tired after doing at least 30 reps of complexes before getting to our PRs. 

 

Next week will be the retest of our squat cleans. I'm aiming for 130lbs. Until I fix my form enough, I'll be happy with just a 5lb improvement.

[RenFengge 1,042]

5/30/2021 Workout

MMA

 

Thoughts: Coach Jonesly warned me that he was going to increase the intensity of our sessions. I was not expecting it to be 3-minute rounds, followed with 10 non-scaled push ups, then 1-minute rests after each round.. and just going until the end of the session.

 

He's also focusing on tweaking my form. So, bad habits I picked up when working with boxing instructors aren't going to fly with him. I get to unlearn everything I fought against when I came back to the US, and re-learn everything I used to do when I was originally combat training. Fantastic. Slips I learned in Eskrima are back as opposed to the slips I learned in boxing.

 

Part of me hates the fact that I've improved a lot of my fitness in just 5 sessions with him. Part of me loves it and says, "This is why we're here." Because even though I enjoy my previous boxing sessions, I can't say I improved as much in 30 sessions there as I have in 5 sessions with Jonesly.

 

I have always believed in varied fitness. It's part of the reason why I like to have things on rotation outside of my HIIT workouts as a base. I can't honestly say I'll go back to strict boxing after these sessions are up. I'll probably switch to wall-climbing for maybe a month or two, then I'll go back to Jonesly. I think this will depend on my conversation with Jonesly at the end of our sessions.

 

Rest day tomorrow. No way am I doing Murph since I didn't even train for the 1-mile run. I think it's going to be another Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday week for workouts.. wrapping up with the Saturday Squat Workshop.

 

Side note - I've come to terms with where my body is naturally. It just wants to be in this overall shape. My constant war on it is at a lull. I'm not saying I won't tweak it, oh, I will. But, I'll stop hating it so much. I'm back in most of my clothes from my hedge fund days. My smallest stuff when I started at the hedge fund will be a challenge. But, fitting into clothes I wore when I was 26 isn't completely realistic as I was not strength training then. I'll take my muscular tree-trunk thighs over not being able to fireman carry an average person.

 

Now, if I could only easily lift my 110lb fatty labrador... she's just so damn awkward.