Fight Geek

Growing a Pair: Day 24

GROWING A PAIR

5 Days until Thailand. (This is yesterday's training).

I stuck to my diet today.

In the morning I played on my Olympic rings. I practiced my false grip chin-ups, did some sets of dips and pushups, and finished with some hangs. I also did a few deadlift sets with my big rock in the backyard. In the afternoon I did some kettlebell work, handstand sets and tyre-play.

So, this is my last 'growing a pair' training day. Overall, I must admit I've been disappointed—particularly with the (amount of) time I put in. That being said, there have been a number of positives . . .

• I've really enjoyed almost every single workout session!
• I've discovered Olympic rings and kettlebells—both will become regularly used tools in future training.
• I've recognized the need for a better daily/weekly planning strategy.

I'd like to respond to a number of emails asking about my training. First up, no I haven't been tapering my training. Unfortunately, I'm not that clever. I just haven't been able to do the amount of training I wanted to.

Secondly, no, my 'normal' health issues will not stop me from training in Thailand. Massage has really helped the anxiety-related tension/tightness I get, and I plan to get a massage every day I'm there.

And finally, no, I'm not sure if I'm fit enough to really 'enjoy' six to eight hours of training a day, but I'm going to do it anyway. Is there really that much difference between pleasure and pain anyway?

Bring on that Thailand Goodness.

:)

Day Rating: 7/10

Growing a Pair: Day 23

GROWING A PAIR

7 Days until Thailand. (This is yesterday's training).

I stuck to my diet today.

In the morning I played on my Olympic rings. I practiced my false grip chin-ups, did some sets of dips and pushups, and finished with some hangs.

In the afternoon I went to my Chinese massage dude. I've been feeling tightness through my chest again, though it's been lower down. He didn't use the cups this time. He did some pressure point stuff. He seems to think that my body is getting better :)

In the evening I did some sparring and drill work with Brendan. We finished with some MMA sparring—great fun. We've nearly got a 'corner ring' set-up happening. He scored some long padding to go along the support beams. We only need a few more floor mats and a little more wall padding and we'll be all set for smackdown city :)

Day Rating: 7/10

Growing A Pair: Day 22

GROWING A PAIR

9 Days until Thailand. (This is yesterday's training).

I veered from my diet yet again! (my youngest child made a decadent apple slice—yummy).

In the morning I played on my Olympic rings and in the afternoon I went for a run down at the gorge. All good fun, but nothing super-exciting.

I've been really tired lately (not physically tired, but more mentally drained). I think I actually need the Thailand trip to clear the head a bit.

Day Rating: 7/10

Growing a Pair: Day 21

GROWING A PAIR

10 Days until Thailand.

I stuck to my diet today.

It turns out that I've stuffed up my countdown to Thailand—dammt. I was three days off! All fixed now.

In the morning  I hit the local school for a spot of Parkour with Brendan and Allan. We had a hoot. I've improved since last week.The jumps were easier and I finally got up the courage to do some rolls over rails.

In the afternoon I did some pad-work with Brendan. I mixed it up my rounds a bit with some mitt-work. I was a little tired but made it through OK.

:)

Day Rating: 8/10

Growing a Pair: Day 20

GROWING A PAIR

15 Days until Thailand. (This is yesterday's training.)

I stuck to my diet today.

In the morning I did some Olympic ring work and kettlebell swings. I've finally managed to get my handycam to spit out it's photos into my computer. Here's a pic of my training partner, Brendan, with the kettlebells he made. I love using them. I'm not sure what the traditional weights of kettlebells are, but we've been using a 15kg and 25kg set-up.

In the afternoon I went for a run.

:)

Day Rating: 7/10

Growing a Pair: Day 18

GROWING A PAIR

17 Days until Thailand. (This is yesterday's training.)

I stuck to my diet today.

In the morning I did some Olympic ring work and kettlebell swings. I've been working on my 'false grip'—I've found it really to extend my arms using the grip. The home-made rings I've got make it harder. But I think I'm getting better at it.

In the afternoon I went for a run down through the gorge. That was fun.

I've had a look at my posts for this training program and I'm not really pleased with how it's going. I just haven't had the time to put in the amount of work I wanted to. There's not much I can really do about it at the moment—other stuff keeps cutting into my training time :(

At least when I'm actually training I'm really enjoying it—that's something.

:)

Day Rating: 7/10

Growing a Pair: Day 17

GROWING A PAIR

19 Days until Thailand.

I veered off my diet today. I had an evening snack of dark chocolate and a glass of milk—delicious. I've also had a fair bit of coffee (which is unusual for me).

In the morning I did some training on my olympic rings and also did some deadlifts with my biggest rock.

In the afternoon I went down to the local school and did some parkour stuff with Brendan. I love jumping off roofs and doing the whole 'land and roll' thing—great fun. Brendan got cut somehow—so he was happy with his effort (masochist!). I think I'm going to start cross-training in this. Parkour really is quite exhilarating. I noticed before some of the jumps (and vaults) I genuinely felt afraid—it's quite an addictive feeling.

:)

Day Rating: 7/10

Growing a Pair: Day 16

GROWING A PAIR

22 Days until Thailand.

I stuck to my diet today.

I only got one training session in today—some pad-work. I've started to alternate my normal pad work with some focus mitt drills as well. I'm hoping that'll help me to get a little faster with my punches.

:)

Day Rating: 6/10

Growing a Pair: Day 15

GROWING A PAIR

22 Days until Thailand.

I stuck to my diet today.

In the morning I did a short kettlebell workout. I was too busy to do much else :(

In the afternoon I did some sparring with the two Brendan's from Muay Thai. We set up the mats and did the whole MMA thing. It was a hoot. The older Brendan won the session with three wins—not bad for a dude who does bugger-all training. We'll probably have another session next week.

:)

Day Rating: 8/10

Growing a Pair: Day 14

GROWING A PAIR

23 Days until Thailand.

Once again I veered from my my diet . . . I had a delicious dark chocolate and milk evening snack :)

In the morning I did a kettlebell workout. My training partner and I have somehow entered into a rather adolescent competition of 'who can do more kettlebell swings in a session'. I think it's going to get pretty painful for both of us if he doesn't give up soon!

In the afternoon I went for a run down at the gorge. My legs felt pretty heavy for most of the run (no doubt thanks to my kettlebell frenzy in the morning).

:)

Day Rating: 8/10