 |
| Bearded Awesomeness |
Two weeks post International Tournament of Chivalry and things are really ramping up. I have started to move my training from body weight focused back to getting under the bar. I haven't done any power-lifting for several months during this training cycle. Getting back under the bar this week, I was still able to hit 545 pounds for two reps on my squat. To me, there is nothing better than throwing iron around and meeting the challenge of making gains. While strength isn't everything in Knight Fights, for guys my size who won't be as fast or mobile in the list, it does allow us to the ability to hit hard and stand our ground. One of the big take aways from ITOC was that grappling is important, but furious striking combined with focused areas to strike gave the Russian team and other top teams and advantage.
For the last two training weekends, we have combined the training concepts shared by the Iron Phoenix team, with the some of the ideas being shared at the Knights Hall and the Palmetto Knights. What we are finding is that we need to up our conditioning as a team, learn to fight smart, and really just practice the basics. Learning to check rather than push, when to grapple versus strike, how to take advantage of a two on one situation, and just striking correctly.
One of the key things that I am bringing to this training from my death race and other events endurance training is to be comfortable with your heart working hard. What I mean is that when you start running, your body hurts, your heart races to a point you are uncomfortable with and you slow down and start walking. Over time, you condition your body to take on more duress and able to handle the pains and strains it puts on your body. So, what I do is I don't allow my heart to totally slow down. I try to keep it working hard for as long as I can.
For example, we still do a lot of grappling. It is a big component of what we do when we fight. The drills we do are physical and force your heart and lungs to work hard to keep up with the demands. So, I will grapple with someone and not give in to taking a break to catch my breath. I try to find another taxing exercise or opponent to keep my heart pumping hard. One reason for this was how to handle the adrenalin that pumps through your system before a fight. Even before the fight starts your heart might be pumping pretty hard and you might be breathing fast. Being able to handle the elevated heart rate and then performing without exhausting yourself too quickly is key to being able to stay in the fight longer. It prepares you not just for the adrenalin, but also for when you have to go multiple rounds fighting hard back to back.
In order to get my mind ready for fighting the Russians in the near future, it was time to start feeding myself like a Russian. Off to the store to purchase a keg of Russian Imperial Stout. I absolutely love the stuff. The same cannot be said for my fellow knights who came by the house yesterday. They about gagged after taking a few sips. Oh well, maybe they just need more facial hair?
One of the things I wanted to do was to make sure that I am healthy to fight. I did the death race last year (youmaydie.com) , and since then my life has changed dramatically. I am not running ultra marathons or half marathons anymore. I am more focused on keeping my cardio in the two to three mile range, do heavy rucks (www.GoRuck.com), and lifting heavy. Post Death Race, I went back heavy into strongman training and power lifting and gained a lot of size and strength. That was not without setbacks. I had two injuries in the past year that sidelined my training. Without great coaches in my life, I would have not turned out so well. I also couldn't have done it without my endurance athlete team (www.IlluminatiRacing.org). They are a supportive bunch of individuals who have had my back for all the different crazy events that I do. This is because they are just as crazy as I am!
Having lost my dad to heart disease, and recently lost someone I looked up to in the endurance community due to his physical ability, training, and absolute grit, I decided that it was time for me to get my heart checked out. I wasn't experiencing any problems, but turning 40, being male, having family history of heart disease; It was time for Jeff to make sure his heart was still up to doing the crazy things I do.
Low and behold, everything is really good. They were happy with my heart's performance, and my endurance for being such a large guy. I ran on a treadmill for about ten minutes until they got my heart up to 180. At that point, they stopped the treadmill, got me to lay on my side, and checked out my heart. Everything seems to be great. I still have to wait for the final results from a cardiologist, but talking with the techs performing the examination, I knew I was good to go.
Comments
Post a Comment