05.19.08

More BJJ lifting fun

Posted in Workouts tagged , , , , , , , at 9:00 am by leslie

Last week during warmups at BJJ, we added two body lifts. In the first, your partner sits in front of you, back to you; you squat down, lock your arms under his arms/around his chest, and squat up. Lift him up 5x, then lock your arms around his waist, and carry him down the mat; set him down; repeat. In the second, your partner faces you; grab one wrist and the same-side leg and lift him on your shoulder (fireman carry). Lift 5x; on the 5th, carry him down the mat; set down; repeat.

The first night I did them, I got stuck with a ~190-lb guy. He had no problem with me. I could barely get him off the floor! For the carrying part, I had to switch with someone else because I couldn’t lift the first guy’s feet off the ground. In the fireman carry, I grabbed a slightly lighter guy. (But only slightly! He’s dense…)

I was trying more for speed that first night, to keep up with the guys. I sacrificed a bit of form, which was bad–all week my back has hurt a lot. It’s been a week of stretching, warm showers, ibuprofen, and pain. And BJJ around all of that. Yes, I’m nuts, I’m sure.

The second night, our coach felt bad for me, I think, having to try to lift the really big guys, so he put me with the smallest guy on the team, ~145lbs. That was almost doable =P. We only did the first lift, but I really really focused on my form. The next morning, my back didn’t hurt any more than it already did, so that’s a good sign.

The carry part of that first lift really hits your glutes and hamstrings. (The second night, my glutes and hammies were seriously close to cramping. They be working hard.) Push your hips out in front so that the majority of the weight is resting on your hips/abs and down. You don’t want that weight on your back. Your arms and back should just be along to stabilize your partner against your body. Pull your shoulder blades back and in to keep your back from rounding. (Do the same on the fireman carry, too.)

If you don’t have a willing partner of liftable weight, you can always make one: sandbags (here or here), weighted to order. Have some fun with your lifting.

01.31.08

Partial or Full

Posted in Workouts tagged , , at 9:00 am by leslie

Squats. Good for you. Do them.

You might hear about the “partial vs. full” debate, that is, whether should you stop halfway down at parallel or continue until your butt hits the floor. I’m in the “full” camp; my dad, who I work out with, is in the “partial” camp. (Funny, though: after watching the Squat Rx series (see the end of this post for a link), my dad does quarter squats. So he doesn’t even do what he says I should do.) NROLFW shows “partial” squats. A lot of reputable internet sites show “full”.

Argh.

From what I’ve read, though, the main reason for listing partial squats is that most people can’t start with a full squat. Full squats require more hip, ankle, and hamstring flexibility and strength; more balance; and more lower back strength. So everyone starts with partials.

My dad claims that partial squats will hurt my knees. (Which is, of course, why I have fewer knee problems than he… Wait, huh? Yeah.) I try to show him information that says the opposite Krista on Stumptuous lists the myths of squatting; #1 is “Squatting must not be done with a full range of motion or you will hurt your knees”, but he doesn’t listen, not even when it’s information from Dave Draper’s forums (and my dad loves Dave Draper). He’s been doing partial squats for 20+ years, so he thinks that’s the only way to do things.

The conclusion I’ve reached is that full squats are better, but partials are all right if you can’t do full squats. But if you’re doing partials, start training to do fulls. Besides, if I’m training for real life function, far more things have to be picked up from the floor than from knee level.

Articles on squatting at Stumptuous:

Video squat series: post at JP Fitness.

01.24.08

NROLF, Day 5: Power Rack!

Posted in Nutrition, Supplements, Training Log tagged , , , , , , , , , , , at 9:00 am by leslie

Technically, it was last night, but I bought my power rack! It’s still in boxes in the garage, but perhaps tonight or Saturday night my dad and I can put it together. I bought a pulley system with it, too, with a high and a low pulley so now I can do Lat Pulldowns and Seated Rows. (And if I can borrow a digital camera, I’ll put up pictures!)

I’ve been tracking my calories and macronutrients at SparkPeople. I’m hitting the total calorie mark for each day, and I’m getting at least my protein minimum. But I think I’m too high on the carbs (over 50% most days) and too low on the fat. There’s the problem with everything being “low fat”: I can’t get enough fat!

I stopped by Max Muscle last night, too, and picked up more glutamine (both the powder and some chewables) and some EFA capsules. So now my supplements look like this:

  • Max High5 protein (Mocha Cappuccino!), 2x/non-workout, 3x/workout day
  • Glutamine powder, with protein
  • EFA, 2 capsules 2x/day, morning & evening
  • Syner-B12, 1 tablet 1x/day, morning
  • Vitacell, 2 tbsp 1x/day, morning
  • Glutamine Chewables (orange), 2 wafers, evening, every day; 2 wafers, morning, non-workout days

Only the EFA capsules have to be swallowed, which is good because I hate swallowing anything. I have to hold my nose until I have no choice but to swallow. Ugh.

My hamstrings are still letting me know they’re here, and other muscles were cranky when I woke up. They’re loose now, but with enough twinges to remind me that they have done work.