So Jeff (Jiu Jitsu instructor extraordinaire) emailed me this morning and asked if I was up for an hour long workout this afternoon before some of his private lessons. I wrote back telling him that I was and that I would meet him at 2:30.
It’s really awesome getting one on one time because I get all the focus. I like learning and doing and getting that kick a$$ cardio workout. It helps the both of us because he gets a workout too. I especially appreciate the fact that he can see if I am progressing or not. Since he is the one I am sparring with, he gets the up close view. Sometimes I feel like I am climbing a mountain and that peak is right over the next hill. This stuff is starting to come together. I think I am actually getting better.
Some of the things I am focusing on is slowing down, not using as much strength and distributing my weight properly. All of these things are very “learned.” If you compare wrestling a friend in the front yard when you were a kid to practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as an adult, I would say that they might look similar at first glance, but are quite different in practice. For one, Jiu Jitsu is a heck of a lot more fun. It isn’t pointless rolling around. There is strategy and the satisfaction of knowing that your opponent is attempting some of the same things you are. Of course, there is always that ultimate high of getting a submission. For some people, that’s the goal. For others, the goal is just to get the workout. For me, it’s both.
Anyway, we had a great session. We went over the “Clock Choke” and what to do when your opponent is in the “turtle” position. Basically, the turtle position is when he or she is curled up in the ground in a defensive posture. There are some things you can do to break them down and get some submissions. These are important things to learn because you find your opponent in the turtle position quite a bit. Here is a quick example video of the Clock Choke. There are some different variations of this choke, but this one is pretty general.
In about a month and a half, I will be at my six month mark. As I think I wrote earlier on, getting a Jiu Jitsu blue belt takes about a year. There is a curriculum that needs to be met to get the blue belt, so I think I am going to start writing about each item on the check list after I hit six months. I did this with my flight training and it helped. I think it will help here as well. If you aren’t into Jiu Jitsu and you find yourself just breezing through these types of posts, I apologize ahead of time.
I think I have been doing pretty well. For a few weeks now, I have been exercising like crazy. I like to do some sort of strength training along with cardio every day. It’s funny, because when I sit around and don’t exercise, I feel guilty. I remember that from way back when I was in shape a little more than I am now.
Just to start things off, I want to tell you that I did find a school where I could get more exercise. It’s three times a week and it’s really, really cool. I’ll talk more about that later.
So basically I am doing just a combination of things to keep me entertained. I do the workout DVDs, I use the Bowflex, I play tennis, I now go to the exercise school and I ride my bike. Oh yeah, I also jump rope. Believe it or not, I actually got up to 150 jumped ropes today and could have gone for more. I assume at some point, I will stop counting and just keep going. That’s going to be a rush.
I wanted to tell you about this really awesome workout DVD I got called “The Pit Workout.” It’s serious business for serious people and that’s what I am…serious. It’s a mixed martial arts full body workout taught by trainer John Hackleman (Chuck Liddell’s trainer). I did it for about 15 minutes yesterday when I realized that I had to get some sort of rug for downstairs. My feet were absolutely killing me from the burpies. Tile isn’t any good for the toes. I had to stop and hop on the Bowflex instead.
Here is a video of how to do burpies…
and here is a video of the Pit workout…
I do feel good because my stomach muscles have been hurting for two days. That means I gotta be doing something.
Sticking with the strategy of doing at least one cardio and one strength training activity per day, I decided to go for a bike ride this morning. Well, I decided this last night after one of those beautiful warm spring days. Unfortunately, this morning is a bit chilly and windy. It’s supposed to rain over an inch tonight. That’s okay, because I aerated the lawn again yesterday and the rain will wash all those little dirt plugs back into the ground.
Back to the bike ride. Since one of the areas I really have to work on is my legs, I thought a bike ride would fit in nicely. The legs have some large muscles in them that, if toned, can really help with overall fitness. I absolutely hate working on legs and pretty much avoid it if possible. Doing that doesn’t do me any favors though, so I try to at least do something that I don’t hate too much. That’s bike riding.
The ride I took covered about five miles. There were a good amount of uphills and downhills. Remarkably, I plowed right through all of them. The first big hill is usually the one I have to stop and walk a little on, but this time I just rode right up it. I wasn’t even that tired. I think it might have something to do with the weather though. It’s a heck of a lot easier to breath in cool weather than it is in hot, humid weather…and that was the type of weather I had to put up with the last time I tried to climb this hill.
Today’s ride was really good. I actually focused on my breathing, which helped. One of the things I always get yelled at during a tennis lesson is to “BREATH!!!” Umm, yeah, I guess oxygen would help.
The first 4 7/8 miles were on pavement and the last 1/8 of a mile was through the woods. I had to be a little careful while riding through the woods because there are those round rocks hidden under the leaves. If you go too fast, whoops.
Overall, the ride felt great. I am probably going to mix riding in with all the other cardio activities I have thought of over the past week. By the way, if you want to learn a little more about why cardio exercise is important, just click here.
Riding my Mongoose mountain bike in the middle of the road
Preparing to ride my mountain bike through a wooded trail
TYSM I read this one and decided to try it out on my ACER (See, its not always HP with the problems)...