Martial Strength

[Legolas "Cap" Greenleaf]

Battle log to track progress on a more strength focused training plan with martial arts goals also.

 

Short history -- 

• Strength training for years, but often sporadic without long-term programming in mind. More "exercise" less "training".
• Decent distance / mid-distance running. Last couple years had focused on a 3 hour marathon and a Boston qualifier.... but man that distance running can get boring. Even training for a decent 10K is a lot of time pounding pavement.
• Martial artist... ~3 years training ITF Taekwondo ~1.5 year of Japanese JiuJitsu.... Goal to test for 1st degree in TKD December 2024
• Off and on slight injuries last few months caused me to re-examine training. Picked back up Rippetoe's Starting  Strength and Practical Programming.

 

Goal -- 

• Focus on programming a strength training plan instead of just strength exercise.... Focus on primary compound movements
  • Squats, Deadlifts, Press, Bench Press, Power Clean, and Front Squats (eventually) the focus of training
• Don't "get greedy". Recovery matters. Ensure the days between major lifts don't include significant strength training. 
  • Focus on lighter body weight movement, martial arts training, perhaps some light (and relatively speaking short) cardio
• Improve martial movements
  • Focus improvement in movement patterns and flexibility. Hard to quantify so consistency in training will be the main tracker. 
• Eat decent. 
  • Main focus on ensuring enough protein intake. Min of 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight
• Document results
  • Hold self accountable to plan. My issue isn't not doing the work.... it's doing too much extra activity and not allowing recover adaptations to happen. 

 

Starting stats:

• Weight: 180.2
• Height: 6'5"
• Age:... Closer to 40 than I used to be
• Lifts:
  • Squat: 3x5x150
  • Deadlift: 3x5x210
  • Press: 3x5x95
  • Bench Press: 3x5x185
  • Power Clean: 3x5x135
  • Front Squat:  3x95

 

Some of these are going to need to evolve with better programming. We'll see how they go over time. Major focus early on will be squats, deadlifts, bench press, and overhead press. Let's get it. 

 

 

[Legolas "Cap" Greenleaf]

Week 1 lifts complete. 

 

Workout 1 worksets: 

Back Squat - 3x5x150

Bench Press - 3x5-190

Deadlift - 1x5x215

 

Workout 2 worksets: 

Back Squat - 3x5x155

Overhead Press - 3x5-100

Deadlift - 1x5x225

 

Workout 3 worksets: 

Back Squat - 3x5x160

Bench Press - 3x5-195

Deadlift - 1x5x230

 

Tall lanky ninja slowly adding a little weight to the bar. My squat has always been my weakest lift. It's always been odd to me that I can bench more than I can squat, but I'm sure that it is because I've spent much more time with a barbell pressing than squatting. You get what you put your time into! 

 

Taekwondo training continue to evolve.  Getting the time in this week, training martial specific activities at least 4 hours.

 

Goal of all this? See what happens when I program with Starting Strength and stick to it relatively consistently. It is a bit odd training less in some ways but certainly feeling the impact of it more. Progressive overload certainly is the magic sauce to those wanting to get stronger. Will be interesting to see if I can actually add a bit more lean muscle as well. 

 

 

[Legolas "Cap" Greenleaf]

Been a couple weeks since I checked in. Week “2” I was sick for about 4 days. Terrible.  0/10 would not recommend. Week 3 I had to travel for work so had to make do with only one planned workout and then whatever I could do in a Los Angeles Hilton. Yay.

 

Some random stats.

 

Week 2

Weight 182.8

lift 1 work sets

SQT 3x5x165

DL 1x5x235

Press 3x5x105

 

lift 2 work sets

SQT 3x5x170

DL 1x5x240

Bench Press 3x5x200

 

Week 3

Weight 184.4

SQT 3x5x170

DL 1x5x245

Bench Press 3x5x205

Press 3x5x110

 

Week 4 I’ll start out with the end of last weeks workout so I don’t press too far given how little lifting I did week 3.

 

Week 5 will be a big martial test, as I’ll be testing for my probationary black belt in Taekwondo. That’ll give me the right to test for black belt as soon as December. If I don’t pass I’ll have to wait until June. So we’ll be focused heavily there!

 

 

 

[Elastigirl]

Way to get  back to it after you were away!

[Legolas "Cap" Greenleaf]

On 9/17/2024 at 10:40 PM, Elastigirl said:

Way to get  back to it after you were away!

Thanks Elastigirl!

[Legolas "Cap" Greenleaf]

Week 4

Weight 184.8

 

Lift 1 work sets

SQT 3x5x170

DL 1x5x250

Bench Press 3x5x205

 

Lift 2 work sets

SQT 3x5x175

DL 1x5x255

Press 3x5x115 <- Only was able to do 4 reps on set 2 so dropped to 95 lbs for set 3. will redo this weight next week. 

 

Lift 3 work sets

SQT 3x5x180

DL 1x5x265

Bench Press 3x5x210 <- Last rep of last set was on the edge so pulled up at 4 out of 5. rested for 30 seconds then hit the last rep. 

 

Feeling good. Never have been a heavy squatter. Long limbs and just never built up. But feeling good with the progress there. Deadlifts are always fun and getting back into them has been good. I know they stress the system so good. Bench I may be near where I'm going to be for a while. Always been a bit stronger in the bench press than the lower body lifts (typical right?) so will need to work on how to progressive overload this without pushing too far. 

 

Upcoming Thursday is my next belt test. Let's do it. 

[Legolas "Cap" Greenleaf]

Week 5

Weight 187

 

Lift 1 work sets

SQT 3x5x80

DL 1x5x270

Press 3x5x115 <- First time hitting 3x5 on this. Expect smaller jumps here for a while.

 

Lift 2 work sets

SQT 3x5x165

DL 1x5x225

Bench Press 3x5x190

Was anticipating Taekwondo testing two days after this... was canceled for unforeseen reasons and is rescheduled until next week. Lift 1 next week will be a bit lighter for a taper prior to testing again. Don't like to overly stress recovery leading up to something like that. 

 

Lift 3 work sets

SQT 3x5x185

DL 1x5x285

Bench Press 3x5x210 <--All clean. could have gone heavier this round. Improvement from last week. 

Also did some unplanned press work starting at 117.5 since I had time to try to break through there. 

 

Solid week. Next week coming up hoping to actually test for martial level in Taekwondo. A bit tweaked from Jiu-Jitsu last weekend and hoping that doesn't get in the way. But perseverance is a key tenet so we'll push though.