Does anyone else have real trouble with being upside down?

Usually during our warm ups we’ll do sets of breakfalls, shrimping, etc. But sometimes we’ll do some forwards and backwards rolls, and I end up getting what feels like travel sick (dizzy, disoriented, nauseous). We had a big training session on Thursday which started this way, and I was useless for the next couple of hours…

on the plus side at a mighty 70 kilos i can submit bodybuilders that are nearly twice my weight

I wouldn’t have believed it before, but I definitely do now. I was still in my first month when I got rolling with a brown belt. I ended up tapping out to purely mount pressure.
I’m 95kg, and he’s 65kg. I can squat 150+kg, but that makes exactly zero difference. He grapevined me and I just couldn’t take it.

I’m getting better at coping with top pressure, but it’s still my biggest challenge. That, and constantly putting my arms across the centerline.

I train under the banner of Roger Gracie Academy in Aylesbury. I’ve been training since the beginning of September, and I’m starting to understand the basics now I’d say. I can usually understand what I’m supposed to be working for; whether or not I can achieve that is another question!

The last few weeks I’ve been concentrating on sllloooowwwing myself down, and trying to remember my breathing. I think that’s really helped. I’m getting much less of the whitebelt panic / rage that I got initially.

Right, decision made; we’re signing up with a local guy who runs TAGB Tae Kwon Do classes not far from home.  The boy is really keen, but the girl isn’t interested (which i’m really disappointed about).

Hopefully the boy will enjoy himself.

Started a periodised 12 week powerlifting programme this week, courtesy of MegSquats and her #strongstrongfriends. Fairly hard work but perversely enjoyable! Might not make me any faster on the bike but what the hell, I like a challenge!

Good results?

Didn’t he used to be in Take That?

No, no.  The guy from the Halifax adverts.

Saw them on Friday at the o2; what an unbelievable experience.

Chuffed to bits that Killswitch Engage are supporting too, not seen them for years, and not since Jesse Leach rejoined.

They were good to watch, especially when they were joined on stage by Howard Jones for Rose of Sharyn.  Well chuffed about that.

There are also two factions to Tae Kwon Do – ITF (tagb in Britain) and WTF.

TAGB is what the place we went to yesterday practice.  Everyone there seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The quality of what they teach [at Matt Fiddes] is variable but given the chain exists to maximise profit above everything else, don’t expect much.

We had a really enjoyable session, and there were plenty of people there so seemed to be enjoying themselves.  The staff seemed lovely, although I did raise an eyebrow when the 16ish year old lad who was a black belt there started telling I can open my own franchise… Just to be clear, I’ve never studied any martial art before.  That said, really good session, and very professional.

The kids went to their first Tae Kwon Do taster session this evening.  As expected, it was a much more rustic affair.  There were much fewer people there, although this did mean that the instructors spent more time actually coaching individual techniques.  They had more time to dedicate to each individual.  Lovely people again.

No Cobra Kai?

Qué?

I had a peugeot 307 from almost new on a 54 plate. Never any electrical faults at all. Only a catastrophic gearbox failure, two days after the manufacturers warranty ran out.

It got replaced by VAG, and I’ve never gone back. Other opinions are available, but i wont be having another. Excpet for a 205 GTI perhaps. Or a 306 GTI6. Or maybe a 405 MI16…

Are you following a specific programme? Or are you freestyling? If it’s the former, you’ll probably find loads of people have made .xls spreadsheets to track those programmes (often including formulae to calculate percentages at cetera).

I spent a long time using the Stronglifts 5×5 app (which is really great, if you want to follow the Stronglifts 5×5 programme). I’ve since moved onto a different programme, and I downloaded a corresponding spreadsheet, as above.

I was working overseas with a load of Australians while the Cricket World Cup was on last. It’s huge to them.

I enjoy it in small doses, but don’t go out of my way to watch / listen to it. Never really played it at school (Midlands comprehensive).

Just watching a bit of World’s Strongest Man; I wonder how many of those guys are clean from drugs… I gather they’re not tested.

Got some great games over christmas; Exploding Kittens is brilliant (We have the ‘safe’ version so the kids can play) and we got the boy a copy of Rhino Hero which is a really fun quick tower building game.

Anyone else have any new ones?

Where did you get to on bench and overhead press?

Terrible, I’m afraid. A long way behind where I am with the other lifts. 70kg ish on the bench, and 50 on the OHP.

No excuses here, just poor discipline; these are always the first to get skipped (bench more so than OHP) if I’m short of time, or if the gym is busy and I can’t get a bench. Consequently I struggle on them, fail to make progress, and don’t enjoy them. So I’ve had a bit of a negative feedback loop going on. It’s something I’m going to look to work on more next year.

I’ve never heard of Feirce Five; let us know how you get on!

Thanks for the encouragement! Funny you should mention Cornwall; I suspect it’ll be Newquay we’ll be going to. Don’t think I’ve ever been down that (certainly not since I was a kid, anyway).

Veg oiled. Thanks!

Survival of the fittest by Mike Stroud is a good book. Its not purely about ultra running but is about endurance fitness and has plenty of running relevant things.

My favourite ever book ever.

So to those who mentioned Arch Enemy; what’s your opinion on Angela vs Alissa?

Alissa has got such a beautiful clean voice, which is never used in Arch Enemy, which seems a shame.

Thanks!

I should clarify; I was on the programme for just over a year. I was also not very well disciplined (work or life often gets in the way) so it’s not unusual for me to miss a week. I also didn’t necessarily follow the progress/stall/deload process as strictly as I might.

That said, I’m pretty pleased with my progress. I’d never really weight trained before, although I’ve been running and singlespeeding for years, so at least had some base level of fitness.

Right, I’m finished on Stronglifts (for now, at least). At around 90kg bodyweight, I’ve gone from zero up to a 135kg squat (5RM) and a 170kg deadlift (1RM). Having never lifted weights before, I’m really pleased with the progress I’ve made. Upper body is miles behind though.

I’ve switched onto the Madcow programme; monday is volume day, wednesday is a recovery day (albeit with 4×5 on deadlifts), and friday is intensity day. It’s a much reduced volume when compared to Stronglifts, and I’m a bit worried I’m going to take a backwards step. But I’ll stick with it for now and see where i end up.

Definitely second the recommendations for Tobie Norris and Cosy Club.

If you’re planning on heading to the George, make sure everyone is dressed up. You’ll be thrown out if you don’t meet the dress code.

Didn’t expect that.. hilarious!

I did warn you! :D

beautiful clean vocals (and some nice dirty vocals too)

Reminds me of Opeth.

Bloody love Opeth; I also thought that the last minute of that Jinjer song wouldn’t be out of place on an Opeth album.

I’m actually in love with Hayley Williams from Paramore.

Agreed. Although, the last couple of albums have been pretty toss, in my opinion.

How heavy are we going? I’ve recently discovered a Ukranian band called Jinjer who are great to listen to; beautiful clean vocals (and some nice dirty vocals too), and some really intricate rhythm parts:

Tai Tee – or Big Two.

That’s another which gets played at home quite often.

[Quote] That’s why this country has gone down the shitter. [/quote]

I should clarify; I am a professional playing card tester.

People seem to be crossing over betwixt high/low bar squats.

A high bar (in which the bar is resting on your traps) will necessitate a more upright body position; looking ahead. This hits your quads more.

A low bar (with the bar behind your shoulders) will force a more bent-over posture; looking down. This will use your hips more. The people who lift really heavy will often use this method, as it shortens the lever by a couple of inches.

I just pictured everyone upping the weights everytime and just breezing through it, getting huge and getting all the girls.

If by this you mean ‘slumped over a barbell, trying not to vomit, and fighting back the tears’, then you’re exactly right.

I’ve just looked back through my training diary; at 6 weeks in I was at 97.5kg squat and 105kg deadlift (90kg bodyweight).

I’d say you’re doing alright. It’s supposed to be tough!

Singlespeeders. They never bloody shut up about it.

And the ‘steel is real’ crowd.

I’m also on 5×5. It only takes an hour thrice weekly. Within a few months you’ll be strong like bull, and it’s a real functional strength that’ll carry over into every other part of life, such as work or biking.

Well recommended, properly simple to follow, and the free app is excellent.

Much as it will never win anything, Gabriel is a really clever bit of lateral design thinking.

Agreed. It looks like a joke entry, but it’s a properly clever and tough machine.

Sat watching this week’s episode with my boy again:

“I think I’d like to be an engineer when I grow up…”

Thanks BBC. That alone is worth this year’s licence fee.

Within spitting distance of my 1.5xBW squat target! Managed 3×5 yesterday, so plenty of rest this weekend and I’ll have another stab next week.

Still 15 kg short of my 2xBW deadlift target, but moving in the right direction.

I start with a set of 5 on an empty bar, and move up in 20kg increments. So by the time ibe reached my working weight, I’ve already done 6 sets of 5. Then I’ll do my 5×5 at working weight.

I’m not an expert, but 55 reps feels like plenty of volume for me!

When squatting I find the deeper I squat the easier it is to come back up, this I usually squat as deep as I can go, way past parallel. Anyone else find this?

I find to do a half-rep, you need to decelerate the weight on the way down, before trying to accelerate it back up again. With a full rep, you almost ‘bounce’ out of the bottom. My opinion, obviously.

I use the app, and find it brilliant. It’ll tell you what weight you’re on, how long to rest, at cetera.

It will start conservative, but you can change the weight manually if you’d rather. I started at 50kg, and jumped up in the first couple of weeks to 80kg.

Behemoth was always one of my favourites. Love winding my 10 year old boy up, who always wants the spinners to win!

Wasn’t long ago that I was the 10 year old, watching Robot Wars…