Iron Sharpens Iron...

This morning in the gym was a great session.

Both training partners (Tom/Jimmy) PB'd on there bench press (122.5/110 respectively). I also had a good day getting 10x 100kgs, another step towards my goal of 15-20reps, and closing in again on my PB (130). I think when we all got there we had felt it abit after a hard week of pushing it but when one person gets going the rest seem to follow suit....

Which leads me to the point of 'Iron Sharpens Iron'. Simply put surround yourself with winners and you will be one as well...

I've been fortunate with my training partners over the last 3years but they've all had one thing in common and that is a drive. While we've all been training for different things then attitude/mental toughness in the gym doesn't change. So while we train out of a very humble gym we're in there pushing ourselves and challenging each other on a daily basis.

It's the same with my Judo club. 90% of my guys have only been training inside of 3years but because of there attitude, commitment and competative edge they've made huge gains in that short time and often beaten/come close to knocking over guys that have years on them in terms of experience.. It's been amazing training with these guys and seeing them as the fighters they are but on the same note I'm looking forward to going to Paris to see what I will become..

So I guess the take home point is one that I heard from Charles Poliquin but was originally said by motivational speaker Jim Rohin which is

'you are the average of the 5 people you hang out with the most'

I know who they are for me and it's no secret why I'm always striving to be better.

Till next time

Stairs, Christenings, Gym

Well it's been a few days since I've 'blogged up' but I had a busy couple of days so thats my excuse!

Training has still been going well, very much reaching the threshold of 'over reaching' so after tomorrow will be having a deload on thursday till sunday.

Stairs Training aka Hell..

Gym/Graduation/Judo

So today was another action packed one!

Sam decided we needed to get up at 4am again today he must think I'm slacking!

Gym workout was as follows:

Paretos Principle 80:20 Rule

So todays a rest day but on the advice of someone I respect very highly I'm going to start blogging abit more about the goings on outside of training.

It's quiet an amazing Journey with A LOT of sacrifice I'm about to go on so on Thursday from now on I'll be posting a bit about other things in life other than the training... So today I'm going to talk about Pareto Principle and how it has shaped my training/life since discovering it.

Pareto's Principle is simple. In life we get 80% of our results from 20% of our effort. Conversely we get 20% of our result from 80% of our actions.. So looking at it further:

Long Long Day!

Great start to the day today.

My boy Sam (12weeks old) normally wakes up at 5am. Which is perfect because I get to feed him and spend some time with him before I hit the gym..

So this morning I wake up, thinking I've got up before him so I'll get some stuff done. Check Emails, Green Tea etc... after about 10mins of this I check the time.. .4am! Good one!!!

So up an hour earlier than normal but gave me a chance to watch Ricky Gervais' new stand up so not a complete loss...

Finally got to the gym and did the following lower body workout.

A. Deadlifts WT5: Got out 4x 150kg then lost the grip, coming up gradually so will be happy if I'm back pulling 170-180 in a couple of weeks

B. DB Stepups 3x 12 keep my knees healthy!

C1. Standing Leg Curls 3x 8
C2. Leg Press 3x 25 + a 50rep set at the end (I'm not allowed to squat because of my meniscus so I leg press just to keep the quads working)

D. Incline Bench Eccentric Crunches 3x 10 ... forgot how sore these are!!

So after this great workout it was off to NZIS for my absolute/super/definite last day! Got all my marking done and ended up killing time walking around town waiting for Cushla to pick me up.

4pm: No Gi Grappling

This class is a GREAT one for me to develop my ground game without the safety of holding onto Gi. I'm fortunate to roll with some really really good grapplers here and its great for me to try stuff out and then if I stuff it up I get tapped out very quickly!

I always have absolutely no ego when I roll so it's really good for me to learn through 'reinforcement' here. At the end of the day it's another tool into my toolbox and will help me become a better Judoka.. on top of that its awesome fun!

After training the guys went for a beer so I headed down to hang out for abit then had the mad rush to get to Judo..


JUDO 7pm

Tonight was basically just a randori session, we drilled some newaza turn overs to warm up with then did some moving uchikomi then it was into 10rounds of 3mins fighting (doing 2 on 1 off or doing every 2nd round).

It was also Taka, our japanese 2nd Dans, last night with us so we made sure he got the bash! We also finished in the traditional way for leavers which is to walk the gauntlet and get smacked with Judo Belts (not looking forward to this when I leave!!)

Anyway tomorrow is a much needed rest day! But I will update with 'thursdays thoughts' and discus the concept of Pareto's law and how I apply it to training

Till then!

Monday 29th Sessions

6:30am

A.Inc. Bench: WT5 Reps got 5 @ 90kgs so it's coming back up!

B. Chins: 10,4,6 to complete the 20reps

C1. DB Pronated Row 3x 8
C2. DB Incline Key Press 3x 8

D1. Reverse Grip Pushdowns 2x 25
D2. Reverse Curls 2x 15

E. Lat Pulldown Dropset to Finish

Workout was good! We were all a little 'flat' heading in but the great thing about training with others is that you all end up 'picking up the slack' and pushing each other a little harder!

 3pm Session 2

Conditioning/Judo/Learning French

Has been a busy couple of days, Friday was a long slog after the gym marking assignments & chasing up kids that we're battling to get things done. Was very tedious day! And I left feeling 'less than ideal'

However things picked up once I got on the mat...

26/11/10: Interesting Day Ahead...

Just finished my morning workout.. Dang it was a goodie!

A: Bench Press - Worked up to Max Reps @ 100kgs, got out a set of 6 then a set of 3 (down about 6reps from normal)

B1: J-Pulldowns 3x 12
B2: Cuban Press 3x 8-10

C1: BB Bent Over Row 3x 20
C2: DB Side Raise 3x 8-10

D: Bench Press - Drop Set/Max Reps at 60, 40, 20

Worked out this morning with Tom and Jimmy, was good because these guys bring a good intensity to the gym. Was talking about how with people that train hard the brain defies logic, you safely can do 10reps but your mind is saying 'do 20!' even though it knows its causing harm!

Today is also my last day working at NZIS, I've been there for smack on 2years now and have mixed feelings about leaving but thats another blog...

Tonight at Judo we'll be doing gradings for a few of the white belts, grading for white belt (under my 'system') consists of demostrating the 6 throws required then 20minutes of non-stop randori (fighting). This is to see the 'heart' of the guys grading...

Anyway work time now. Thanks to everyone who's been reading this, will start posting up more videos, pictures etc.. as I have more time free. Tomorrow we're doing strongman conditioning so I'll aim to get some video up of that

Ciao

Day 3 & 4: My everything hurts!

Day 3:

Today was a pretty low key training day, only did Ju Jitsu in the evening at strikeforce.. Was good to get back on the mat there as I haven't rolled with the guys in about 4months with being so busy with Judo. Was a good feeling to drill & have a laugh with the boys again though. I really respect Karls coaching and his continual upskilling, one of the reasons Strikeforce is such a successful MMA/Grappling club.

Day 4:

This morning started with my first leg workout in ages...

Now, anyone that knows anything about gym training will tell you that training legs after a layoff is never fun! I had instant soreness from most exercises and tomorrows going to be a fun day!

Gym: Day 1

6:30am start in the gym today with Tom and did the following workout, first one in the gym in about 3months so was a little 'weak' to say the least!

A: Incline Bench Press: Worked to 5RM(WT5) got out a set at 85kgs.. down about 15kgs from normal

B: Chinups 20reps total (did it 4x 5reps)

C1. Seated Row 3x 8
C2. Curl- Press 3x 12

D1. Elbows out extension 3x 15
D2. Reverse Curls 3x 15

E. Bar Pushups 50rep drop set to finish

Training with Tom so all exercises (other than A & B) were done on a I go, you go tempo..

Felt a little naesous at the end of it all but was good to get back in there!

Tonight will be 20sets of push & 20 sets of pull in the gym, just more of a 'pump' at this stage will start structured work next week.

Day 1: 8 Weeks Till Take Off

Training starts today... Strength testing.

In 8weeks time I leave to Paris for what will be the hardest training year of my life, last week I was awarded a scholarship to train full time with the French Olympic team, a squad of World and Olympic Champions. The best way to think of it is I'm going to train fulltime with the All Blacks of Judo x 1,000.

The opportunity that I have is amazing, not only will it bring my Judo up to a level it's never been before, but it will also let me experience Europe, learn a new language and knock a few things off my bucketlist.