Entry #358
I ran without hinder. My legs felt extremely capable, with little shin discomfort. This week has been a turning point in my progress. Leg conditioning opens up a plethora of training possibilities.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Entry #357
Tonight marked another return to the tennis court. The procedure of exercise is quickly becoming accustomary. The content of events, however, is not. I found it a surprisingly difficult task of evading George's punches. There were interruptive factors, such as dim lighting in the night, but returning habits of closing my eyes and losing track of the hits were aspects for myself.
I eventually warmed~up and became more comfortable in that area, but I was fighting my legs throughout the drill. They felt like lead. It's a sign of proper utilization for movement, but I should train them to more of an extent than just heavy lifting. Nevertheless, I'm making significant improvements; there was hardly a hint of cramping, something that was somewhat of an issue last session, and a cause of ending the entire day the session before that. The fact that this proceeded those exhaustive days further substantiates that.
That was only the beginning. Immediately thereafter, we practiced stance skipping across the court and back, and moved on to an exercise of one man kicking forward, and the other countering while moving back. This was also done across the court. I had to sacrifice height for proper pivoting here.
Next, we engaged in a similar drill, only the defendant would be reacting with his hands. This was less strenuous on my legs because we chose to stay in a single spot, rather than perform it across the area.
I seem to be getting more apt at anticipating. I'm aware that this can't apply to everybody, but when it came my turn to box and for George to defend, I was able to fake him out with feints to the extent that I had to hold back on them. A very deceptive move I tried out was an upper~cut immediately followed by an over~hand, and vice~versa. The latter of the two punches made contact everytime. In an actual match, this would leave my arms out and tangled should they miss, with nothing at my guard for that instant, but it is still interesting. Being able to recognize what can and cannot directly apply seems to be becoming a more natural process.
Tonight marked another return to the tennis court. The procedure of exercise is quickly becoming accustomary. The content of events, however, is not. I found it a surprisingly difficult task of evading George's punches. There were interruptive factors, such as dim lighting in the night, but returning habits of closing my eyes and losing track of the hits were aspects for myself.
I eventually warmed~up and became more comfortable in that area, but I was fighting my legs throughout the drill. They felt like lead. It's a sign of proper utilization for movement, but I should train them to more of an extent than just heavy lifting. Nevertheless, I'm making significant improvements; there was hardly a hint of cramping, something that was somewhat of an issue last session, and a cause of ending the entire day the session before that. The fact that this proceeded those exhaustive days further substantiates that.
That was only the beginning. Immediately thereafter, we practiced stance skipping across the court and back, and moved on to an exercise of one man kicking forward, and the other countering while moving back. This was also done across the court. I had to sacrifice height for proper pivoting here.
Next, we engaged in a similar drill, only the defendant would be reacting with his hands. This was less strenuous on my legs because we chose to stay in a single spot, rather than perform it across the area.
I seem to be getting more apt at anticipating. I'm aware that this can't apply to everybody, but when it came my turn to box and for George to defend, I was able to fake him out with feints to the extent that I had to hold back on them. A very deceptive move I tried out was an upper~cut immediately followed by an over~hand, and vice~versa. The latter of the two punches made contact everytime. In an actual match, this would leave my arms out and tangled should they miss, with nothing at my guard for that instant, but it is still interesting. Being able to recognize what can and cannot directly apply seems to be becoming a more natural process.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Entry #356
I went on a run to the bookstore and back. My cardio is nothing short of impressive at this point, but more noteworthy is the fact that I had less of an issue with my shins than before, despite gaining weight regularly; indeed, it was nothing that made me stop prematurely and walk the rest of the way. I attribute this to the rise in strain I've subjected them to the past few days. I'm going to train my legs to be iron.
I went on a run to the bookstore and back. My cardio is nothing short of impressive at this point, but more noteworthy is the fact that I had less of an issue with my shins than before, despite gaining weight regularly; indeed, it was nothing that made me stop prematurely and walk the rest of the way. I attribute this to the rise in strain I've subjected them to the past few days. I'm going to train my legs to be iron.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Entry #354
George and I hiked up to Lexington and back. My shins proved painful within the first few minutes of walking (!), but I ignored it. Somewhere along the uphill terrain, the pain completely subsided. I've labeled that as "beating therapy". In retrospect, I'm satisfied with pushing through the ordeal.
George and I hiked up to Lexington and back. My shins proved painful within the first few minutes of walking (!), but I ignored it. Somewhere along the uphill terrain, the pain completely subsided. I've labeled that as "beating therapy". In retrospect, I'm satisfied with pushing through the ordeal.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Entry #352
George and I drilled techniques in a tennis court at the high school. It's actually a very adequate space to be left unbothered in. We began with defensive momentum drills that consisted of reacting and moving to the opposing direction of whatever the leader goes with. Text alone doesn't do justice to the extensiveness of what we did with this. George led with TKD in mind, but the value lies in the universal applicability of quick footwork.
Thereafter, it was my area to drill. I had him don the 16 oz. gloves and attack me at around 50% intensity. My role was to bob and weave. I've eradicated the habit of closing my eyes, but my movement is still far too sporadic. I managed to escape the first blow, only to lose track of where his fist concluded; from there, I'd dodge randomly in hopes of getting lucky, waiting for him to pull back and reset. It's in my best interest to keep his hands within peripheral vision, at the very least. On the other hand, I can safely say that my head movement is nothing short of fast.
I realized a flaw in this, however. Getting inside guard through dodging leaves an extremely vulnerable opponent. Instead of capitalization, the drill forces unnatural retreat. I would never back up in such a situation. We somewhat overcame this by limiting the combination length to no more than a few attacks, but this resulted in much predictability when the attacker stops the offensive. Next time, a more suitable approach would be enabling counter~attacks for the defensive man.
This session ended on my calves cramping out. It was, nonetheless, most efficient while it lasted
George and I drilled techniques in a tennis court at the high school. It's actually a very adequate space to be left unbothered in. We began with defensive momentum drills that consisted of reacting and moving to the opposing direction of whatever the leader goes with. Text alone doesn't do justice to the extensiveness of what we did with this. George led with TKD in mind, but the value lies in the universal applicability of quick footwork.
Thereafter, it was my area to drill. I had him don the 16 oz. gloves and attack me at around 50% intensity. My role was to bob and weave. I've eradicated the habit of closing my eyes, but my movement is still far too sporadic. I managed to escape the first blow, only to lose track of where his fist concluded; from there, I'd dodge randomly in hopes of getting lucky, waiting for him to pull back and reset. It's in my best interest to keep his hands within peripheral vision, at the very least. On the other hand, I can safely say that my head movement is nothing short of fast.
I realized a flaw in this, however. Getting inside guard through dodging leaves an extremely vulnerable opponent. Instead of capitalization, the drill forces unnatural retreat. I would never back up in such a situation. We somewhat overcame this by limiting the combination length to no more than a few attacks, but this resulted in much predictability when the attacker stops the offensive. Next time, a more suitable approach would be enabling counter~attacks for the defensive man.
This session ended on my calves cramping out. It was, nonetheless, most efficient while it lasted
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Entry #351
I practiced forms today. Prior to anything, I'm beginning with sets of dynamic stretches, taken off of trickstutorials.com. They are aiding greatly in hip flexor flexibility. Next, I set~up a few light plates on a barbell, and worked on posture for snatches. My feet seem to land at odd angles, so I'll keep drilling this before I actually encorporate it into a routine. In fact, I plan on setting aside some time for training in forms on various lifts everyday.
Another simply involved sitting on a low curb for extended periods of time in such so that squatting low becomes second~nature. I also tried doing this on flat ground with my back propped up against a wall, but it seemed to put unneeded amounts of pressure on my shins, whereas squatting that low in actuality only has weight on them for a second or two, if that.
I practiced forms today. Prior to anything, I'm beginning with sets of dynamic stretches, taken off of trickstutorials.com. They are aiding greatly in hip flexor flexibility. Next, I set~up a few light plates on a barbell, and worked on posture for snatches. My feet seem to land at odd angles, so I'll keep drilling this before I actually encorporate it into a routine. In fact, I plan on setting aside some time for training in forms on various lifts everyday.
Another simply involved sitting on a low curb for extended periods of time in such so that squatting low becomes second~nature. I also tried doing this on flat ground with my back propped up against a wall, but it seemed to put unneeded amounts of pressure on my shins, whereas squatting that low in actuality only has weight on them for a second or two, if that.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Friday, December 1, 2006
Entry #349
I lifted with a group of old school acquaintances. I went in with intent of keeping out of any socialities. One asked me if I was going to max out, and I decided that since I agreed to train with them, I should abide by what they were planning on doing. Despite having done ME day on the same area two days prior, I incrementally increased the weights until I was benching 255 lbs. My shoulders didn't hurt to the point that it hindered performance, but I was beginning to feel the price for my incompetence in doing this. Still, I felt that I was going strong, so I continued on to attempt to overhead press 75 lb. dumbbells. After struggle to even throw the load above me, I barely managed 1 repetition in a lift that I did an easy 8 of just a few days earlier. Upon that, I came to my senses and thereby decided to end the session then and there.
I had a thought~provoking walk home thereafter in the dark.
I lifted with a group of old school acquaintances. I went in with intent of keeping out of any socialities. One asked me if I was going to max out, and I decided that since I agreed to train with them, I should abide by what they were planning on doing. Despite having done ME day on the same area two days prior, I incrementally increased the weights until I was benching 255 lbs. My shoulders didn't hurt to the point that it hindered performance, but I was beginning to feel the price for my incompetence in doing this. Still, I felt that I was going strong, so I continued on to attempt to overhead press 75 lb. dumbbells. After struggle to even throw the load above me, I barely managed 1 repetition in a lift that I did an easy 8 of just a few days earlier. Upon that, I came to my senses and thereby decided to end the session then and there.
I had a thought~provoking walk home thereafter in the dark.
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