"Calling you out"

"And people do not pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins." Mark 2:22

A friend offered some constructive criticism about my MMA project today. Not content to let me exist in a happy bubble where everything I do is flawless and awesome, he pointed out that after a brief flirtation with improving my diet I have resorted to describing my diet as "eh" or "crappy" or avoiding talking about it altogether. He told me he didn't want me to fail because I never made an honest attempt to change my eating habits.

My friend is a Christian; I am not. But he dropped the verse quoted above into our conversation and pointed out that if I "pour" a new training regimen into the "old wineskin" of my established eating habits, then the both the wine and the wineskin will be ruined.

So tonight as my body recovers from last night's work my focus turns inward and I am faced with the fact that my toughest fight won't take place in a steel cage, a ring, or on a wrestling mat. It will be fought in my head and heart, in my kitchen, on my lunch breaks, in drive-thrus and grocery store aisles.

Actually...

Yeah, actually you're gonna have to wait on that monthly progress report. I worked out with the Integrated Fighting team (I guess that's what they still go by?) and it fucked me up bad. I know that I'll get in shape faster by just hanging in with them, but when I left the gym I was disoriented and I felt like I was driving drunk. It took me seemingly forever to get home, likely because I was driving 10 miles under the speed limit, drinking water and eating peanuts in an effort to not vomit and pass out (and yes, I was positive that was the one-two punch I was facing). I got home and showered and doused myself in Num Mun Muay liniment but I am still walking like an old man.

Diet Sucks. Workout schedule is the priority this week, diet next.
Conditioning Thai clinch work, knee sparring, kick sparring, 50/50 kicks, sit ups, leg raises, and Circle Jerk (everyone in a circle dropping to a knee 60 times). As per usual, my body simply failed at the end.
Skills Worked on clinch escapes at the beginning. I've got the mechanics down, and Adam was telling me not to muscle it, but I felt like I was at a strength disadvantage to the wrestlers I was trying to clinch. The clinch is absolutely devastating if your opponent isn't wise to it...shit, even when fighters know what's coming they get destroyed by fighters with a good clinch.

Busy weekend....

I'll post the second monthly progress update tomorrow.

Be the hammer, not the nail.

I begged off my Tuesday morning Velocity work out because I ended up having to work late Monday night. At this point an extra hour or two of sleep makes an incredible difference in my mood and energy level, so things are having to get pushed around in order for me to function. My lower back, glutes, hamstrings, and quads were killing me so I skipped my Tuesday night BJJ class in favor of recovery time.

Wednesday, October 3

Felt OK with walk knees, three rounds of shadow boxing, but my energy flagging towards the end of 50/50 kicks. Rolling two or three rounds (I honestly can't remember) with Pat, working mainly on positioning. Lytle offered suggestions during and after the last round, correcting my mistakes. It definitely makes a new guy feel welcome when the top fighter in a gym takes the time to demonstrate why you have to keep your head centered while in the guard, or how to position your arms to control your opponents trunk without giving up a joint lock. Did 100 skip knees after that, a round of shadow boxing with face slaps to ingrain the defensive pendulum (one fist goes out, one protects) then Thai squats and some kind of Jazzercize from hell - jogging in place, pushing our fists in the air like pistons, and then sprawling thirty times. I was nauseated and hyperventilating by the time we finished. I need to work on my breath control.

Diet Bah.
Conditioning See above.
Skills Adam Wilder told me my kicks looked stronger than they did on Monday. The definitely felt smoother. He hounded me about pivoting my feet and hips during shadowboxing and staying upright instead of in a boxer's crouch.

Thursday, October 4

I got good sleep and felt fine waking up at a quarter after 5 a.m. The Velocity workout was physically taxing but much easier mentally. I took a baby step this week with regards to mental toughness.

Diet Feedings weren't super high quality, but I mixed in a lot of fruits and vegetables and at five smallish meals.
Conditioning One hour at Velocity - dynamic stretching, ladder drills and sprints, full body lifting.

Ow

"The only thing worse than having a coach screamin' in your face is not having a coach screamin' in your face," says Chris Lytle. The gym cleared out and it's just me, Lytle, trainer Pat McPherson and Muay Thai instructor Adam Wilder talking about the importance of being motivated by someone else. Lytle jokes that when he trained himself it was too easy to cut workouts short or come up with a reason not to push himself. The mind is incredibly weak and incredibly strong at the same time. It tells us to avoid pain and discomfort at any cost, yet it can allow us to power through intense pain in the pursuit of an objective.

Wilder and McPherson worked me out for an hour. Wilder breaks each technique into the smallest mechanics and hounds me to do it correctly. McPherson provides motivation. I did a round of walking knees, three rounds of shadow boxing, ten sprawls, 50/50 kicks (50 Thai kicks with each leg while), 100 skipping knees on the bag and a lunge-walk/push-up calisthenics routine at the end. I had a hard time regulating my breathing and by the time I got into the lunges my lower back was screaming, locking up and throwing me forward in an attempt to alleviate the pain/tension. I wanted to quit real bad. I was unsteady on my feet and every movement was torture. But when I got to the last two laps I suddenly found my stride. I wasn't as weak and exhausted as I had convinced myself, I was just listening to brain too much and not letting my body do what it could.

On a side note, I was nervous all afternoon like a kid showing up to his new school halfway through the semester. It's probably friendlier than a lot of MMA gyms, but it's still weird walking in to a place where there is an established dynamic and routine - and you're not part of it.

Diet Not enough water, feedings were "eh" until after I worked out - a chicken breast and black beans sauteed in olive oil over rice with a mound of steamed vegetables.
Conditioning See above.
Skills See above.