You sir, are no Carnal Salvation...

3-31-22

JUDO
Drove my sorry ass up to NAU judo. I didn't train because of my back, but assisted with instruction. Glad I went.

Once I heal, I'm thinking of changing up my training for a couple months. I need to back up a little and get myself in shape outside of BJJ and Judo. I went in without a fitness base 3 months ago thinking I would naturally get in shape just by doing BJJ and Judo. I'm not progressing the way I want. Time to rethink some of this.
 
Whilst I'm still relatively new to Judo, I do think it's hard to replicate the type of fitness you need for it, aside from doing Judo itself.

Whilst we know Judo is massively anaerobic, it probably wouldn't hurt to increase your aerobic base anyway, certainly to see you through longer, intense sessions and also aid in recovery. On the anaerobic side of things, I know alot of the full players from my club swear by rowing intervals...I've tried it a few times - it's horrible!
 
MilkManUK said:
Whilst I'm still relatively new to Judo, I do think it's hard to replicate the type of fitness you need for it, aside from doing Judo itself.

Whilst we know Judo is massively anaerobic, it probably wouldn't hurt to increase your aerobic base anyway, certainly to see you through longer, intense sessions and also aid in recovery. On the anaerobic side of things, I know alot of the full players from my club swear by rowing intervals...I've tried it a few times - it's horrible!
Click to expand...

I appreciate your response! I think you made something click for me. Totally understand the "do Judo to get fit for Judo" approach. That's what I've been trying, but something doesn't feel right.

Upping my aerobic training and reducing the anaerobic feels like the right move at the moment. Maybe for a couple months.
Aerobic being things like longer jogs and hikes. Long slow duration. Reduction in injury and feeling less mangled while building a base.

Some weight lifting needs to be added too, but again, volume over intensity...for now. Easy does it. A couple months.

A reduction in rolling and randori, which seems counter productive, but this is temporary.

I think if I make this adjustment, in the long run I'll be stronger and more fit than if I keep going gangbusters and on the verge of a heart attack in class like I am now.
Without going into details, I was a mess three months ago in terms of health. Came out of the gate a little too hard!

tldr: less intensity, more volume

i.e. Matveyev Periodization Model
Matveyev’s+Model+of+Periodization.jpg
[/spolier]

...
 
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4-4-22

Walk / Hike
Brisk walk around the lakes here, rolling hills.
Heart rate only got up to 115 bpm, which isn't enough.
1 hour

This chest cold is still kicking my ass. Coughing up gobs of mucus.
Back feels better, maybe at 80%.
 
4-8-22
Nothing to see here.
Just here to bitch and moan. Cold worse, voice completely gone, coughing incessantly. Tired, achy. Tested twice, not covid.
I'm losing all my gainz.
If still sick Monday, going to a clinic. In the infamous words of Super Humman: FUCK.THIS.SHIT.
 
4-15-22

Quick update. Still sick but I think I'm on the back end of it. Voice starting to come around, but still hoarse, and I've got a lingering cough.
I'm eager to get back into training, but it's going to be a few days yet.
 
Bubble Boy said:
4-15-22

Quick update. Still sick but I think I'm on the back end of it. Voice starting to come around, but still hoarse, and I've got a lingering cough.
I'm eager to get back into training, but it's going to be a few days yet.
Click to expand...

Hope you're feeling better soon dude. Inopportune time to ask, but have you gained or lost weight while sick? You had me rooting for you with your weight loss goals (although I thought your timeline was aggressive).
 
ChickenBrother said:
Hope you're feeling better soon dude. Inopportune time to ask, but have you gained or lost weight while sick? You had me rooting for you with your weight loss goals (although I thought your timeline was aggressive).
Click to expand...

Hey @ChickenBrother, thanks!
My weight is 199 lbs at the moment, and has been for a couple months. I dropped 18 lbs pretty fast, then leveled out.
I agree, my initial goal was pretty aggressive (and unrealistic).
The most sustained weight loss I've ever maintained is about 1 lb a week over the first half of 2021. I went from 200 to 175 and it took about 6 months.
I followed a mostly plant based diet and fasted from about 4pm until the next morning at 8am.
So, I guess if I do the thing that worked before (which only makes sense) a realistic reassessment puts me at maybe 175 by October.
Not an inopportune time to ask at all; it's a good reminder for me to stop moping around get back on track at least with the diet.
 
Bubble Boy said:
Hey @ChickenBrother, thanks!
My weight is 199 lbs at the moment, and has been for a couple months. I dropped 18 lbs pretty fast, then leveled out.
I agree, my initial goal was pretty aggressive (and unrealistic).
The most sustained weight loss I've ever maintained is about 1 lb a week over the first half of 2021. I went from 200 to 175 and it took about 6 months.
I followed a mostly plant based diet and fasted from about 4pm until the next morning at 8am.
So, I guess if I do the thing that worked before (which only makes sense) a realistic reassessment puts me at maybe 175 by October.
Not an inopportune time to ask at all; it's a good reminder for me to stop moping around get back on track at least with the diet.
Click to expand...

You're a little older than me (I just turned 48) but we're both older guys who have trained for a long time and been around the block more than a few times. So you know what you have to do and what worked in the past. But if I can suggest one thing, it's to be less focused on weight and more on how you feel and what your body can do. This is probably a range that can change depending on lifestyle and as we age. I've been training rigorously and consistently since early teens and spent the majority of the years between age 20 and 40 at around 165 lbs. But I've ranged between 152 and 188 and been in shape everywhere in between. The 152 was when I moved into a house in the burbs with my then gf in my mid 30's. I went from eating takeout most nights in NYC to eating home cooked meals every night which were healthier and had much less sodium. So I lost about 10 lbs in the first month (doing the same consistent workouts) and stayed in the low 150's for about 6 months before going back up to mid 160's. I suspect it was a combination of my diet getting incrementally worse and my metabolism adjusting to get back to the weight it was used to.

I did the opposite in my early 20's coming out of some extreme military training involving severe sleep and food deprivation that messed up my metabolism for about 2 years. Coming out of that, I ballooned up to 180 despite doing two hard workouts/day and skipping dinner some nights to restrict calories. No matter what I did, I couldn't lose the muffin top over my belly for almost 2 years until my metabolism adjusted and I got back down to my steady state 165.

The 188 for me was at age 40 when I committed to doing Stronglifts 5x5, getting lots of sleep, cutting out cardio and forcing myself to eat everything in sight for the most prolonged caloric surplus I've ever done. I went from 162 to 188 in 3 months and could have kept getting bigger but I was sick of force feeding myself and my cardio was dogshit at that weight. Within a few months I stabilized around 172 and have been at that weight for the past 8 years.

Didn't mean to preach but wanted to share some of my experiences with weight fluctuation. Just remember that your metabolism adjusts to changes in diet and exercise and your body tries to stabilize around the weight it's used to.
 
Last edited:
ChickenBrother said:
You're a little older than me (I just turned 48) but we're both older guys who have trained for a long time and been around the block more than a few times. So you know what you have to do and what worked in the past. But if I can suggest one thing, it's to be less focused on weight and more on how you feel and what your body can do. This is probably a range that can change depending on lifestyle and as we age. I've been training rigorously and consistently since early teens and spent the majority of the years between age 20 and 40 at around 165 lbs. But I've ranged between 152 and 188 and been in shape everywhere in between. The 152 was when I moved into a house in the burbs with my then gf in my mid 30's. I went from eating takeout most nights in NYC to eating home cooked meals every night which were healthier and had much less sodium. So I lost about 10 lbs in the first month (doing the same consistent workouts) and stayed in the low 150's for about 6 months before going back up to mid 160's. I suspect it was a combination of my diet getting incrementally worse and my metabolism adjusting to get back to the weight it was used to.

I did the opposite in my early 20's coming out of some extreme military training involving severe sleep and food deprivation that messed up my metabolism for about 2 years. Coming out of that, I ballooned up to 180 despite doing two hard workouts/day and skipping dinner some nights to restrict calories. No matter what I did, I couldn't lose the muffin top over my belly for almost 2 years until my metabolism adjusted and I got back down to my steady state 165.

The 188 for me was at age 40 when I committed to doing Stronglifts 5x5, getting lots of sleep, cutting out cardio and forcing myself to eat everything in sight for the most prolonged caloric surplus I've ever done. I went from 162 to 188 in 3 months and could have kept getting bigger but I was sick of force feeding myself and my cardio was dogshit at that weight. Within a few months I stabilized around 172 and have been at that weight for the past 8 years.

Didn't mean to preach but wanted to share some of my experiences with weight fluctuation. Just remember that your metabolism adjusts to changes in diet and exercise and your body tries to stabilize around the weight it's used to.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing dude.
The memory of how light and agile my body felt at 175lbs is a definite motivation.
Like, it's a significant factor in my mobility, especially on the mat.
And really what I'm talking about is bf %. Once I nudge into the teens, I start to feel much more nimble.
I'm 5'8". 199 lbs and 29% bf looks and feels pretty gross on me, lol. 19% or less and I start to feel pretty good.
Are you on any particular diet or nutrition plan at the moment?
 
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Bubble Boy said:
Thanks for sharing dude.
The memory of how light and agile my body felt at 175lbs is a definite motivation.
Like, it's a significant factor in my mobility, especially on the mat.
And really what I'm talking about is bf %. Once I nudge into the teens, I start to feel much more nimble.
I'm 5'8". 199 lbs and 29% bf looks and feels pretty gross on me, lol. 19% or less and I start to feel pretty good.
Are you on any particular diet or nutrition plan at the moment?
Click to expand...

I'm also 5' 8" and there seems to be a lot of us in that "king of manlets" height range. I've never followed any special diet or nutrition plan but I know what makes me feel better and through trial and error typically eat the same things every day. Start every morning with regular raw oatmeal nuked in the microwave and add berries and milk. Also some greek yogurt (great for immune system). Lunch usually leftovers and some raw spinach leaves or salad, maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if there's no leftovers. Dinner usually brown rice or whole wheat pasta with meat - baked chicken, pan seared steak, baked salmon with olive oil, etc. and some kind of cooked vegetable or another salad. And for snacking throughout the day usually fruit, at least one apple for fiber, and if I'm feeling undisciplined maybe some cookies or candy. Will do ice cream or cake maybe twice/week for dessert if I feel like it because wife and kids are having some. But no special formula and I generally eat whenever I'm hungry.

Re. bf % I'm skeptical of the accuracy, but have been using a tanita scale since my early 30's for benchmarking. "Athlete" mode reads way too low. On "regular" setting, I'm currently 172 lbs at 19% and can see some ab definition but not that much. I know I could be leaner but that would require actual discipline around diet. Lowest I've been since I've had the scale was 14% when I weighed in the 150's. I hear you on feeling more nimble weighing 170ish/teens bf% and at our height that's the sweet spot for me where I'm decently strong but also reasonably fast with good cardio without getting completely bowled over by bigger guys. At 160 I'm weaker but bigger gastank. 150 or below, I'm a cardio machine but get bullied way too easily in grappling.

I think you're on the right track with the Judo, BJJ and running training. Just remember it's not just about the high intensity stuff but also sustained low intensity activity throughout the day, especially if you want to lose bf. Just getting up and walking around an incremental mile or two (or more) every day on top of regular workouts will pay dividends and create a caloric deficit if you're close, without taxing your recovery.
 
And you probably already know this, but remember that the bf% scale is around +/- 4% depending on hydration and sodium intake. It's based on electrical conductivity of your body with the premise that muscle mass has higher water content and thus conducts electricity better than fat does. But because of this, being dehydrated causes it to read higher % and having a lot of salt in your body seems to cause it to read low. At my same weight and fitness level, I've gotten it to read as low as 16% morning after eating thai or chinese takeout with tons of sodium. And after a long run when I'm dehydrated, it's read as high as 23%.
 
4-25-2022 Monday

I took a steep nose dive. Coughing, hacking, voice completely gone. Swilled various cough syrups and antihistamines. 10 days of slushy, fuzzy fever dreams.
I finally woke up today feeling ok.
Decided to get out of the house and go for a hike to test out the lungs.

Hike / Jog
Went out to the state park and hit the trail. Tested out pushing it a little up DH Hill. Better than anticipated.
FitBit says I got my heartrate up to 140 at times, and put in about 2800 steps during the hike.
I'd like to get 10,000 steps in today, so I'll probably go for a couple of neighborhood walks later.
It's a start. Hopefully finally over the crud.
 
Thanks guys.

May 1 Sunday
Went on two hikes for a total of 14,798 fitbit steps on the day. Max heart rate 130. Was huffing and puffing, but lungs appear to be working even if rusty.


May 2 Monday
Hot Yoga. Heart rate got up to 150. Was good to be back in class, patchouli stink and all.

I love fitbit, lol.
 
My cousin is a sports dietician / nutritionist who works with amateurs' and some professional athletes. I reached out to her and told her about my struggles; she is going to set up a plan for me. I filled out a detailed questionnaire with my goals, etc. She's pretty busy with this stuff. She's going to do two months just like she would an actual client (for free), with accountability emails and an initial zoom session. Then I can continue if I want at a discounted price.
I'm curious to see what she sets up. I'll start the 2 months on May 24th.
 
Bubble Boy said:
My cousin is a sports dietician / nutritionist who works with amateurs' and some professional athletes. I reached out to her and told her about my struggles; she is going to set up a plan for me. I filled out a detailed questionnaire with my goals, etc. She's pretty busy with this stuff. She's going to do two months just like she would an actual client (for free), with accountability emails and an initial zoom session. Then I can continue if I want at a discounted price.
I'm curious to see what she sets up. I'll start the 2 months on May 24th.
Click to expand...

Nice cousin. I'd charge my cousins triple for IT work.
 
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