Shotokan

On 7/18/2021 at 8:03 PM, Kishi said:

You know, I might need to take a page out of your book at this point. Since I'm going to be forced back into the office in the next month or so, it might not be bad to dig into the concept of chaos and spaced training throughout the day and see what I can accomplish. It's really encouraging to hear about the results you've been getting. I'm thankful that you've chosen to share your journey with us.

This type of workouts is different than anything I have done in the past and I wish that I would have found it 30 years ago instead of trying to only get big.  The things that I am noticing is that I don't feel that I am getting much bigger, except for my calves but my muscles seem much harder than they were only a few weeks ago.  I do notice that I am getting stronger but the bigger benefit for me is, the normal aches and pains seem to be gone.  I used to have some muscle or joint bothering me every day but those pains seem to be gone or minimal unless I really push it with lots of kicks.  My recovery is much better and the endurance is way up.  The other benefit is my resting heart rate keeps going down.  It's dropped almost 10 points since I started doing these workouts but the stress reduction from not working could be another factor.  My heart rate dropped to 43 one night while sleeping which is the lowest it has even been since I started tracking it. 

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.  I hope it works as well or better for you than it does for me.

July 19th:

Today was a busy day for me and I spent most of the day working on a project at home.  I was able to get in a decent early workout, then I moved some heavy furniture and then a really late workout to finish up the day. 

16 minutes
Normal warm up
3 katas
30 squats
30 calf raises
Static side leg raises 30 seconds each leg
Very slow front snap kicks 5 each leg
10 single leg RDL with 10 lb kettle bell on opposite side

24 minutes
2 katas
30 squats
30 calf raises
25 band flys
25 band rows
25 band crunches
60 second V-sit
25x20 db curls
25x20 db presses
25x20 hammer curl
25 glute bridges
10 band punches each side
10 band pulls each side

20x42 kettle bell deadlift

Apple watch stats:

Move: 560/350

Exercise: 32/20

Stand: 14/12

July 18th:

Today was another Zoom Karate class.  This class was two hours but only about 60 minutes of training. The training was intense and it was a great workout which was enough for today.

Apple watch stats:

Move: 732/350

Exercise: 61/20

Stand: 16/12

July 17th:

Great workout today but only one.  Today was a two hour Zoom Karate class.  It was a hard workout with many kicks and hip action but oddly, my heart rate didn't go over 119 bpm even though I was really pushing it.

Apple watch stats:

Move: 953/350

Exercise: 123/20

Stand: 12/12

July 16th:

Only two workouts today.  The adjustment from my chiropractor tired me out today.  The first workout went well but my energy was pretty drained by the time I did the second workout.  I have a two hour Zoom Karate class tomorrow so I can make up what I didn't get done today.

21 minutes
Normal warm up
30 squats
30 calf raises
10 twisting band punches each side
25 lying side leg raises
25 glute bridges

15 incline push ups
10 walking lunges each leg
25 cable crunches
20 high band pulls
15x45 bent over bb rows with fat grips

15 minutes
Normal warm up
15 squats
15 calf raises
5 stationary lunges each leg
5 Cossack squats each leg
4 katas

Apple watch stats:

Move: 640/350

Exercise: 42/20

Stand: 13/12

July 15th:

Four workouts today.  I was able to get in a good amount of training with little warm up for each one.  I went to my chiropractor today and he suggested that I start doing the regular lunges again.  He is thinking that the pain in my left leg is scar tissue from an old injury so the I plan on getting more them in over the next month before I see him again.

8 minutes
100 up minor
10 squats
10 calf raises
10 standing side leg raises each side
10 band punches each side
10 band pulls each side
20 standing cable crunches
1 kata

10 minutes
10 squats
10 calf raises
10 incline push-ups
Reverse plank 30 seconds
1 Kata

13 minutes
150 steps overhead carry 30 lbs
15x20 db curl
15x20 db press
15x20 db hammer curl
15x45 bb bent row with Fat grips
15x42 kettle bell Romanian dead-lift
V-sit 1 minute with legs moving in all directions
1 kata

10 minutes
30 Cable leg curls
5 single leg dead-lift each leg
10 regular lunges each leg
1 kata

Apple watch stats:

Move: 624/350

Exercise: 53/20

Stand: 14/12

July 14th:

Still a little drained.  I really wanted to get in some isometric work today but that didn't happen.  I did get to have some fun doing using Fatgrips.  These are rubber handles that fit over the bar to make it large in diameter when holding it. I was only using 45 pounds and it felt much heavier.  My forearms are pumped like crazy and I have to keep backspacing as I am typing because my fingers don't want to cooperate.

14 minutes
Normal warm up
30 squats
30 calf raises
5 cossack squats each leg
3 katas

27 minutes
Normal warm up
30 squats
30 calf raises
4 katas
20 side lying leg raises each leg
25 glute bridges
20 Janda crunches with band around ankles
1 minute v-sit
Paloff band hold 45 seconds each side

10x45 deadlift / clean / press with fat grips

Apple watch stats:

Move: 602/350

Exercise: 46/20

Stand: 15/12

July 13th:

Two workouts today.  I was feeling a bit drained but at least there is movement.

17 minutes
Normal warm up
25 squats
25 calf raises
4 katas
 

23 minutes
2x25 cable punches
2x25 cable pulls
2x40 sideways shuffle with 2x20 lb dumbbells
30 sandbag bent over rows 30 lbs
Sandbag upper back carry 100 steps x 30 lbs
2x20 banded front stance forward and backward
15 sandbag press 30 pounds
15x20 dumbbell curls

Apple watch stats:

Move: 533/350

Exercise: 43/20

Stand: 14/12

On 7/13/2021 at 9:57 AM, foxinthenorth said:

I like your shorter workouts spaced throughout the day! For a while I was doing micro workouts throughout the day (like really micro, 10 squats and 3 push ups, but 5-7 times a day) and I really liked it (just lost momentum and haven't been able to get back into the swing of it).

I like the micro idea.  I am going to try and building something in that I can do every couple hours and still get in the other workouts. I have been fighting to get two workouts for the last couple days.  It seems the warm up is what is holding me back. I might try skipping the warm up part and doing the lower body work to get me warmed up instead of doing the dedicated warm up.

6 hours ago, Terra said:

Good PT today but I left my list of exercises at the front desk.  Otherwise I feel like I'm just two steps behind on everything today..

At least you are one step ahead with your PT.  Those forward steps still add up.  Just keep moving forward.

July 12:

I was a little off today and not feeling too energized. I didn't get  enough sleep last night, even though my fitness trackers said I did, and I think it might have caused the lack of energy today.  i was able to get in a couple good workouts in either way but not as much as the previous days.

12 minutes
Normal warm up
20 squats
20 calf raises
100 up minor
3 katas

31 minutes
Normal warm up
20 squats
20 calf raises
30 standing band crunch
10 hamstring sliders
7 katas
20 high band curls
25 wide band rows

80 steps with 42 lb kettle-bell carry
Reverse plank 30 seconds
Plank 30 seconds
15x20 db curls
15x20 db presses
25x45 behind back wrist curl
25x45 in front wrist curl

Apple watch stats:

Move: 648/350

Exercise: 47/20

Stand: 14/12

July 11:

Great workout day today.  I had a great Zoom Karate class with a few things that I need to work on to polish up my technique execution.  We also got in 20 squats and 50 calf raises with the warm up.  The night workout was with my new toy that I received for my birthday.  It's a sandbag and it's pretty cool.  I only filled it with rubber mulch for now so it's only 30 pounds but it's a good tool to play with until I pickup some pea gravel.  These chaos type workouts are melting my bodyfat.  I was carrying around a little too much on my stomach while I was working and over the last three weeks, I lot at least an inch of my waist if not more.  I'm hovering between 198 and 200 depending on the day which is down from 204 just a few weeks ago.  My muscles are getting more defined and my arms are already growing along with my upper back and shoulders.  Most of the pain and little joint problems are all but cleared up and even though I am going to see my chiropractor this week, he might not have much to work on, hopefully.  I just wish I would have learned to train like this 35 years ago but improvement at any age is good.

50 minutes - Zoom Karate class
20 squats
50 calf raises

33 minutes
Normal warm up
100 up - high knees
30x30 sandbag bent over row
15x30 sandbag press
15x30 sandbag clean
50 steps x 30 overhead sandbag carry
100 steps x 30 sandbag carry
15x20 hammer curls
25 band cable crunch
Anti-rotation 45 seconds each side
3 rounds of split stretches

1 slow kata focusing on what I learned in class today finished it up.

Apple watch stats:

Move: 776/350

Exercise: 88/20

Stand: 14/12

July 10:

Today was a chaos type day.  I did something that I haven't done before this morning where I took two 20 lb dumbbells and walked one of the local walking paths carrying them for a third of a mile.  I was able to keep these in strict farmer carry form and I was shocked to how good my posture was afterward when I walk another mile without the dumbbells, I also did some hiit for the rest of the walk by sprinting for a short distance and walking again about 8 or 10 times.  I went a little overboard on the second workout today and I was planning on doing some more katas but I was pretty spent.  Even though the second workout was only 33 minutes, i was panting and was able to keep my heart rate up pretty high throughout.  I might break this workout up throughout the day in the near future.

23 minutes
1.27 mile walk / .33 mile carrying a 20 lbs db in each hand

33 minutes
Normal warm up and three katas
30 squats
30 Toe raises
10 slider lunges each leg
30 lying side leg raises each leg
30 glute bridges
20 crunches
15 band flys
20 band rows
10 band shoulder dislocates with pec squeeze and lat pull behind
12 back lying leg raises

15 paloff press each side
15 band straight arm pulldowns
15x20 db curls
15x20 db presses
15x42 Romanian kettlebell deadlifts

Apple watch stats:

Move: 671/350

Exercise: 58/20

Stand: 13/12

July 9th:

The short sessions before the final workout of the day are giving me more volume than I expected.  Those little workouts are enough to get something done but the also seem to give me a more energy through the day.  I am still working on the time pattern but so far I like it.  One movement that I find very interesting is the high knees but the actual movement that I am doing is called a minor 100 up. These more like an in place march done at a brisk pace but with the left / right arm and leg timed like a cross crawl. I can see these adding more power to my front kicks and they really boost my heart rate. 

11 minutes

Normal morning workout with the warm up and Karate work with three katas

10 squats
10 toe raises
 

10 minutes
15 squats
15 calf raises
15 band flys
15 band rows
15 db curls
15 db presses
100 high knees
Horse stance with 40 punches

47 minutes
Bull worker isometric full body
2x 50 steps Kettlebell 42 lbs carry held at chest
25 waiter carry 20 pounds each arm
2x50 suitcase carry 42 lbs
2x50 steps farmers walk 42 and 35 lbs
15 pallof press
15 band twists
Reverse crunch 30
Plank 30
5 katas to finish up

Apple watch stats:

Move: 738/350

Exercise: 71/20

Stand: 14/12

July 8th:

Today was a little different and I starting to take advantage of the extra time I have during the day. I split my workouts up into groups to get more training time and rest between movements.  I'm still tuning this workout and I am hoping to cover everything I need each day with my focus on Karate by doing kata each workout.

10 am - 10 minutes

Normal warm up

10 squats
10 toe raises
daily katas - 3 katas total

2 pm - 10 minutes
Some isometrics for chest and upper back with the bands
10 squats
10 calf raises
2 katas
15 db curls and db presses

8 pm - 40 minutes
Tm joint warm up
Tm activation
8 lunges each leg
30 squats
30 calf raises
15 side lying leg raises each side
15 glute bridges
15 crunches
12 back lying leg raises
12 face down leg raises
Reverse plank 30 sec
Plank 20 sec
100 high knees

3 katas

11:30 pm - 10 minutes
Light mobility
10 squats
10 calf raises
3 katas

Apple watch stats:

Move: 713/350

Exercise: 79/20

Stand: 14/12

July 6th:

Today was mobility and some band work for whole body.  I am working to get more rotation from my upper body when in a stance by doing band rotation work with anti-rotation work.  I found a couple videos on YouTube from Tommy Morrison that seem to fit my needs.  A handful of katas finished out the workout and although it wasn't intense, it was a good learning experience.

Apple watch stats:

Move: 506/350

Exercise: 40/20

Stand: 12/12

July 7th:

This workout didn't go as planned.   Some katas and ab work started it out but at the end, when I started working on the splits, my hips were stiff as boards.  I'm not sure why they were so stiff but it also bothered my left knee.

Apple watch stats:

Move: 511/350

Exercise: 31/20

Stand: 12/12

On 7/6/2021 at 10:49 AM, Kishi said:

The training looks good! What are you thinking about for upper body work? Are you thinking the classics or do you have something more exotic in mind?

For upper body, I am playing with some isometric work and band work wit a little bit of weights for arms.  I keep going back to the bands for some reason and they are working well for me.  There is so many movements that can be done with bands on all planes of motion that keep me using them. I have a recent interest in isometrics and have been digging into those. I have also found an interest in more agility based movements and exercises that I can do anywhere.  Doing pushups on a countertop or a park bench is possible along with finding spots to do pull ups outside of my home gym.  I started watching YouTube videos from a guy called The Bioneer and some of his workouts are training routines are peaking my interest.  I believe that I have adult ADHD and changing the workouts and doing new things is getting appealing to me.  The weights still are important to me because those work well for me when trying to build my arms and lower back along with carries.

My main objective to come with a chaos type workout that still covers all the primal human movements.  I am finding that doing a specific movement is not as important as doing any movement as long as it is part of the primal human movements.

July 5:

Decent workout day.  I need to add some upper body work going forward.

Tri-set:

3 x 6 Slide lunges, each leg

3 x 25 squats

3 x 25 calf raises

Superset 2:

2 x 25 side leg raises, each leg

2 x 25 glute bridges

10 side lying adductor raises, each leg

Superset 3:

2 x 20  crunches

2 x 10 back lying leg raises

15 face down leg raises

Reverse plank and plank for 30 seconds each

Only two katas today.

Stretching - splits - 3 sets

Quadruped rocking for 25 reps.

Apple watch stats:

Move: 544/350

Exercise: 45/20

Stand: 14/12

July 4:

I did an abbreviated workout but it was a workout.

Slider lunges - 10 for each leg.  This is an interesting exercise that I found on Youtube.  Holding on to something solid and upright, you put a furniture slider under what will be your back foot while holding on to the upright. From there you basically do a reverse lunge by straightening the back leg out behind while being the front leg. Regular lunges have bothered my knees for year now but this movement doesn't, I am guessing because I am holding the uprights, and it give me a good stretch in the back leg hip.

Superset 1:

25 squats

25 calf raises

Superset 2:

25 side leg raises, each leg

25 glute bridges

Superset 3:

20 crunches

10 back lying leg raises

10 face down leg raises

Some kata work ended the day to finish off short but decent workout.

Apple watch stats:

Move: 521/350

Exercise: 28/20

Stand: 13/12

July 3:

Great workout with Zoom Karate.  Lots of kics and good kata work.  The amount of calories burned in these classes is surprising to me.  After the warmup, we do about 45 minutes or less of training but the energy output is huge.  460 active calories in under an hour is a lot or I think it's a lot.

Apple watch stats:

Move: 827/350

Exercise: 69/20

Stand: 13

July 2:

I like the structured workouts like these because I can cut and paste most of it. Today was a good training day but late. I want to start doing these earlier in the day and maybe after the weekend, I can get it sorted out. 

Superset 1:

3 x 25 squats

3 x 25 calf raises

Superset 2:

2 x 25 side leg raises, each leg

2 x 25 glute bridges

10 side lying adductor raises, each leg

Superset 3:

2x 20 crunches

2 x 10 back lying leg raises

10 face down leg raises

Following that was four katas today. I am trying to bring some of the katas that I haven't done for a while back into rotation again.

Stretching - splits - 3 sets

Apple watch stats:

Move: 659/350

Exercise: 39/20

Stand: 14

July 1:

Good workout day.  I was really active today but my actual workout didn't happen until late.

It started with the same warm up that I have always done.  It gets my heart going a little and loosens up my entire body to get me ready for the next part.

Superset 1:

3 x 25 squats

3 x 25 calf raises

Superset 2:

2 x 25 side leg raises, each leg

2 x 25 glute bridges

10 side lying adductor raises, each leg

Superset 3:

1 x 20 & 1 x 15 crunches

2 x 10 back lying leg raises

10 face down leg raises

Following that was three katas which I try to do each day.

Stretching - splits - 3 sets

Apple watch stats:

Move: 1239/350

Exercise: 149/20

Stand: 15/12

I'm late to the party again but showing up is better than not showing up at all, right?

I had a big life change happen just before the new challenge started and I am currently unemployed.   It was a stressful time leading up to it and it not only impacted my time but also my health.  I was not sleeping well, my resting heart rate and blood pressure were a little elevated, my mind was all over the place and my energy was almost nonexistent.  I was able to still workout but not at the same mental or physical level as before.  The last two weeks have been incredible. I have been more active, doing things around the house and my heart rate and blood pressure are better than ever even though I turned 55 after my last day at work.  My weight has dropped about 3 pounds, and I am noticing a decrease in stress related inflammation.  I am eating better and am working toward a modified Keto diet.

For this challenge, it's time to get my training back into high gear.  I have been focusing on mobility work, lower body strength and core work, which is already progressing nicely.  Karate is still my main focus, but I am starting to branch out from structured Shotokan roots and am focusing on the feeling of the techniques instead of the perfect form at the end of the techniques.  The next part is starting my video channel of short videos that show the training techniques that I have learned over the last 17 years and offering some Shotokan Zoom classes.

1. Mobility, lower body strength and core 5 days a week.

I have a good workout in place, but I want to keep it consistent.  I will outline the workout shortly, but the goal is to do it 5 days a week.

2. Karate training 5 days a week for 20 minutes.

I do more than 20 minutes of training, but I also want to have enough energy to do the goal above.  I am starting to do kata throughout the day to focus on the feeling of the movements.

3. Create a plan for the videos and Zoom classes by challenge end.

This has been in my mind for some time now and I already have a student that I train through Zoom for some time now.

Extra credit: Dig deeper into a relaxation and flow state.

Even though I am more relaxed than I have been in many years, I want to get back to mediation and try to mix it with stretching.  I have a program that teaches flow state that I haven't started and that is something that I have wanted to do but didn't have the time until now.

This challenge is going to be a little more simple than the last.  One main goal this time around since it working pretty well for me and one secondary goal for fun.  I am finding that no matter what workout I do, as long as I keep closing my ring goals on the Apple watch, I am improving. The consistent goal is forcing me to close those rings and being consistent seems to be the key for me recently.

1. Close all three rings on my Apple watch seven times a week for the entire challenge.

Even though I missed a couple day last challenge and now I already missed two days for this challenge, the goal stays the same.

2. Give isometrics a consistent try.

I have played with isometrics in the past but I never really took them too far.  I am hoping to gain some more strength in the core and hips along with some extra strength in the end range of motion.

Day Thirty-two - April 28th:

Morning workout started the day again and then a great workout with some db circuits and lots of Karate at night.

Apple Watch Goals:

Move - 855 / 620

Exercise - 70 / 35

Stand - 16 / 12

Day Thirty-three - April 29th:

Morning workout was a little tight for some reason but the night workout got things moving again. 

Apple Watch Goals:

Move - 769 / 620

Exercise - 51 / 35

Stand - 16 / 12

Day Thirty-four - April 30th:

Morning workout was good and the night workout was all about mobility.  I had a lot to make up to hit my goals for that but once I started I kept going.

Apple Watch Goals:

Move - 1097 / 620

Exercise - 124 / 35

Stand - 17 / 12

Day Thirty-five - May 1st:

No morning workout and not much more than some list kata but it prepared me for the the next day.

Apple Watch Goals:

Move - 409 / 620

Exercise - 22 / 35

Stand - 14 / 12

The day after it all ended. May 2nd:

Leave it to me, thinking that we had another week for the challenge. Needless to say, May 2nd was my highest day ever for move calories and exercise time since I had my Apple watch.  A long outdoor walk, actually mowing the lawn at  good pace started out the day and then Karate training and more Karate training along with some mobility really got the numbers up.  My total calories burned with active and resting was over 4100 for the day and I wasn't very sore the following day.  I guess all the training is paying off.

Apple Watch Goals:

Move - 2034 / 620

Exercise - 223 / 35

Stand - 14 / 12