Train Hard - Eat Great

 This is what I ate last night. 5 different fresh veggies.  I'm very lucky my wife is an awesome cook.

Kim always keeps us stocked up. This will not last long.

To reach your full physical potential, I am firm believer that your diet is just as important as the work-outs.  I changed my diet 18 years ago when i first started training martial arts.  Over the years I have modified, updated, & experimented with different things.  Overall the basics have stayed the same.  The more raw & natural the foods you can eat the better. Staying away from sugar & animal fats as much as possible.  I believe the way we feel(physically) day in & day out is largely due to what we eat.  Eat great - feel great.

week 7/30 - 8/5

Mon. Grappling drills. 8 x 4min matches. Finished with push-ups & abs.

Tues. a.m. 50 min on the bike followed by strength training.
p.m. bow sparring.

Wed. pad work, then strength training.

(Focus Master Training system)

This is what I use for pad work.  It's the next best thing to having someone hold pads for you.  It was the first thing I installed in our house 7 years ago.

Thurs. Nada. unexpected family matters

Fri. Biked 50 min. forms, then push-ups &  abs.

Sat. Back on the bike for 50 min. with just 3 sets of pull-ups & one legged squats after. I'm really looking forward to running the trails again. Sitting on my bike starring at the ground is not the same.

Sun. Chilled at the pool with the family then went to a classic rock concert with a good friend. Fun day.

My foot seems to be improving each week.  I'm hoping to get some boxing in next week then add some kicks into sparring in a couple of weeks. Still have 10 good weeks of training left.  I can feel my strength coming back ever so slowly.

Week 7/23 - 7/29

Mon. Sparring drills. 8 x 2min, 8 x 4 min, 7 x 1 min. Sparring rounds. Sparred straight through with a 30 sec. break between matches. Tons of fun, except for foot hurting.

Tues. a.m. biked 45 min then did 45 min strength training. No fun at all.
p.m. Forms, grappled 5 x 2 min, 1 x 3 min, 1 x 4 min, 1 x 11 min

Wed. Pad work 1 HR. Foot was killing me afterwords.

Thurs. a.m. Biked 45 min, strength training 45 min. Still not enjoying sitting on my bike in the 100 degree garage.
p.m. Adult belt test. Grappled all the jr. Black belts testing. Those kids are really good.

Fri. Forms & strength training. Kids phase three test at night.

Sat. Kids belt test. Did some good strength & conditioning training at night.

Sun. Biked 45 min with abs & push ups after.

Monday night sparring felt really good. I feel like the speed & timing is coming back. Little by little. I really paid for it afterwords. I could barley walk wed. night after the pad workout in the morning combined with sparring from mon. I have decided to take a break from most stand up sparring for a few weeks. Hopefully my left foot will some how heel up with the break. 11 weeks until test time. Not sure how the foot is going to hold up with sparring. It's hard to beat the feeling you get from setting a goal & then putting forth a plan to make it happen. The journey is the best part of achieving a goal.

Week 7/16 -7/22

Mon. Sparring drills, 6 x 3min rounds, abs, pushups

Tues. Forms, light grappling

Wed. a.m. 19 Fredrick stairs. 3 sets one legged squats
p.m. Drills, 4 x 4 min grappling. Abs & pushups

Thurs. Stipe test

Fri. Strength training

Sat. Nada

Sun. Chilled

Not really the way I wanted the week to go. Back & foot were really bothering me. Decided going up the steepest slope in the area is not helping my foot. Going to give up the hiking for the bike for a while. Sitting on a bike does not really motivate me to get out in the heat & build my cardio. Not going to Fredrick on friday & taking the weekend off seems to have helped my foot some. Still really look forward to the training. I find myself thinking about all the drills I want to do the next session.

Movie night

Karate Games, pizza, movie, & friends. We had a great time with everyone & look foward to the next one. Thanks to everyone who made it a great night.

TKD National Champ

Luke the "Duke" Simpson won his 3rd straight TKD tournament. Pretty awesome since that is not the particular style of sparring we do at World Karate. Luke traveled to Flordia last week & won the national championship in his division. While he was down there he popped into an MMA school for some sparring. Luke was complemented by the instructor on his ground sparring, not bad since we have hardly shown him any ground skills. Could Luke be the chosen one. If not, we are still really proud to have him on our team. Great Job.

Week 7/9 - 7/15

Mon. Sparring drills. 5 x 2 min. Rounds. Finished with strength & conditioning. Great turnout. Feel great & having a blast. My foot is still hurting a lot. Not sure if I should skip all sparring on my feet for a few weeks. I will probably just keep icing & whining about it.

Tues. Forms , some very light grappling.

Wed. a.m Hiked 11 stair sections @ Fredrick. Finished with 3 sets of one legged squats Super slippery & humid.
p.m take down dills, defensive kicking drill. 4 x 3 min ground matches, finished with abs & pushups.

Thurs. Hands only sparring matches. Still slow, but footwork & timing is improving.

Fri. 16 stair repeats @ Fredrick, 3 sets of one legged squats. Whoever told me one legged squats were a good idea, was wrong.

Sat. Rode bike for 45 min. No fun

Sun. Forms & strength training.

I hurt my back during Monday nights workout. Still really bothering me on wed. Took it easy so I didn't feel like I was able to push myself like I wanted to. Still some good training that I badly need. Wed. was Sean G's Birthday, I can remember when that kid was knee high, know he's above me. What a cool way to spend your birthday. Still having so much fun training with the guys.