SimonAdd's Jiu Jitsu and Lifting Log
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Cool. Good to see someone else into BJJ. Ive been training about 15 months, about halfway to blue belt (dont tell my coach i said that!). Claim to fame is that Tana Umaga, who trains at an affiliated club in Auckland, occasionally pops in to roll. Hes never dropped anyone on their head yet.<br />
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I take it you're basing your weight goals on current lifts? They seem a bit out of whack to me. I could deadlift 180 and bench 110 probably (both right on my limit) but 130 squat seems too easy and 85kg overhead way too much. Everyones different i guess.<br />
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Reading you post again im a little worried. You train the same as me (BJJ and weights), same core exercises as me and about the same height and weight (im 182/85kg) as me. Are you stalking me?<br />
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Let us know how you get on at your tournament. Pics or even video would be cool! -
Welcome mate.<br />
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Good to see someone doing something a bit different in here too.<br />
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Good luck on the lifts too. How far away are you on the overhead press? Its a decent lift.<br />
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Interesting your comments on the lifts V-Diddy. I'm there on the squat and the deadlift of your goals but no where near either of the presses! Yep we are all different alright. -
Well it'd be pretty difficult to stalk you from London!<br />
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Yeah, my lifts are a little odd. My squat sucks in comparison to my deadlift, especially considering I have a long torso and short limbs which would usually favour the opposite. I have a problem with letting the bar drift forward on the squat though, which turns my back length against me. I'm trying to correct this. I'm a decent presser however, and being able to press my bodyweight overhead has been a goal of mine since I started lifting.<br />
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I'll definitely give updates from the tournament. My biggest fear currently is putting all the effort in to make the weight then either just missing it or getting choked out in 30 seconds.<br />
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Also, this made me laugh:<br />
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[quote name='V-Diddy' timestamp='1346666026' post='308650']<br />
Claim to fame is that Tana Umaga, who trains at an affiliated club in Auckland, occasionally pops in to roll. Hes never dropped anyone on their head yet.<br />
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[quote name='JK' timestamp='1346666876' post='308653']<br />
Welcome mate.<br />
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Good to see someone doing something a bit different in here too.<br />
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Good luck on the lifts too. How far away are you on the overhead press? Its a decent lift.<br />
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Interesting your comments on the lifts V-Diddy. I'm there on the squat and the deadlift of your goals but no where near either of the presses! Yep we are all different alright.<br />
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Thanks!<br />
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It's hard to say, as I haven't actually tested my maxes in a long time - I'll be doing that in a couple of weeks. I think I'm probably good for ~75kg 1RM right now. 10kg improvement in 4 months might be a bit ambitious, but there's nothing wrong with setting difficult goals. -
Yeah i think my 1RM's at the moment would be around 180 deadlift, 110 bench, 150 squat and maybe 75 overhead. Overhead definitely the toughest to increase. I reckon i could add 30kg to my squat easier than 10kg to overhead!<br />
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Without knowing too much about your technique on the squat, have you tried carrying the bar a little lower on your back? i used to carry it up around my neck, which gave me a tendency to "bow" forward, possibly what is happening to you?<br />
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I understand your fear competing in BJJ. There was recently a comp in my town, first one ever, which would have been a great chance for me to get a start, but weighing 86kg at the time (no gi) and the weight classes being 83kg and 92kg, i was faced with either a big weight cut quickly or fighting guys much bigger than me. I took the cowards way out and didnt enter. Easy for an outsider but im gonna say dont let it faze you, just do it and if you get choked out in 30 seconds well thats 30 seconds longer than i managed! <br />
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On a side note, Tana competed at that tournament. His first fight:<br />
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[url=" -
Nice Simon - thanks for explaining BJJ too (Blow Job Junkie didn't seem to fit you that well).<br />
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I'm doing Karate and have a good school. More about spending time with the boy at first, but I'm really liking the exercise and discipline side of it and the self-defense that one of the instructors teaches (he's about 5'6", built like a bulldog, and works as a bouncer occasionally - he's on my list of "people not to fuck with").<br />
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Good luck with the lifts! Hearing all this stuff is making me want to go back to the gym again, but maybe not until summer... -
[quote name='V-Diddy' timestamp='1346667664' post='308657']<br />
Without knowing too much about your technique on the squat, have you tried carrying the bar a little lower on your back? i used to carry it up around my neck, which gave me a tendency to "bow" forward, possibly what is happening to you?[/quote]<br />
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No, I squat "low-bar", but I've actually been told that going high-bar can be a good thing for long-torsoed lifters as it promotes a more upright back position:<br />
[img]http://nicktumminello.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/squat-variants-e1337190816213.jpg[/img]<br />
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But it seems to me that it's a trade-off between a more upright position versus a longer lever length, and I seem to be improving on low-bar so I'll be stick with that for now.<br />
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[quote]On a side note, Tana competed at that tournament. His first fight:<br />
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Awesome, thanks for sharing. I feel for his opponent though, imagine turning up to the white belt division of a tourny and it's Tana bloody Umaga standing across from you! He might only be a white belt too but you know he'd be strong and fast as f*ck and he's not going to slow down over a 5- or 10-minute round.<br />
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[quote name='NTA' timestamp='1346670688' post='308660']<br />
Nice Simon - thanks for explaining BJJ too (Blow Job Junkie didn't seem to fit you that well).<br />
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Damn, I'm going to have to work harder to express that vibe in my online persona. <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/rugby/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':biggrin:' /> -
Welcome aboard mate!!<br />
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Re squats its about leading with your butt and keeping your heels down. If you are comfortable with the bar position then stick with that. Kind of like any range of motion in that you want to get aspects of it 'locked' down so you can concentrate on other parts. Ass first and heels down gives you some specific focuses and often the rest just lines up nicely. No doubt your core strength will be good with your martial arts training. But for a longer torso (or anyone really) having decent core strength is vital to a solid squat. Once you start hitting your limits weight-wise it might be your core that causes you to bend?<br />
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Depending on how deep you are squatting keeping your hammies 'active' is also really important. Box squats are a great way to test that. If your butt drops the last 5-10cm to the box then you know it wasn't a controlled descent. By adding plates to the box you can work on that and make sure you are in control of the descent.<br />
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I'm a huge fan of squatting barefoot or in socks. Last thing you want, particularly if you tend to fall forward, is anything lifting your heel. Perhaps give that a crack if you squat in shoes??<br />
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We've got pretty active bunch in the forum at the moment - plenty of advice and shit-talking!! lots of different sorts of programmes and training goals too so that makes for some interesting reading. -
Thanks, Paekakboyz. Core strength might well be an issue, the belt seems to help this as it gives me something to push out against as I'm decending. On the way up, I've started using the mental cues 'chest up, head back, knees out'. I used to think about driving my arse up (as Rippetoe teaches it) but it just led to my hips rising faster than my shoulders and me having to 'goodmorning' the weight up.
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BJJ tonight. I usually give myself some goals for sparring in each class: nothing results-based, just moves I want to try to hit at some point during the session against a resisting opponent. But I've never been in the habit of writing these down, so I often forget them.<br />
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For today, I want to hit a kimura or kimura sweep from guard, a tozi pass from my opponent's guard, and a kimura/keylock from side control.<br />
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Apologies to those who have no idea what I'm talking about! -
Standing Kimura can be hit when an opponent uses an underhook to try and go to your back (or a failed standing guillotine). As he goes under your arm (say your left) you grab his left wrist with your right hand, then slide your left arm over his upper arm and take your kimura grip. As he goes round to your back you whip his arm up his back and force him to the ground. Makes sense in my head anyway.
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[quote name='SimonAdd' timestamp='1346745060' post='308765']<br />
Thanks, Paekakboyz. Core strength might well be an issue, the belt seems to help this as it gives me something to push out against as I'm decending. On the way up, I've started using the mental cues 'chest up, head back, knees out'. I used to think about driving my arse up (as Rippetoe teaches it) but it just led to my hips rising faster than my shoulders and me having to 'goodmorning' the weight up.<br />
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Hmm I'd suggest focusing on your hips/arse snapping forward rather than moving up. That way the power is tracking through your hips as you straighten rather than your arse getting higher while you fold over. As long as you have your knees/feet lined up they will track fine. I wonder if you are focusing more on your upper body (head/back) rather than where the power is coming from? Could try Kettlebell swings as they really get you into that hip firing motion - not upward but forward. Like the pelvic thrust from the TimeWarp dance lol!<br />
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There is also a chance that the belt is counter productive, it might let you relax and let the belt do the work rather than staying tight through your core?? could try a lighter weight with and without it and see if you can feel a difference in technique.<br />
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Improving form on the bigger lifts like squats, DL's, clean and press is endless, you can always get better! -
[quote name='SimonAdd' timestamp='1346755762' post='308787']<br />
I don't think the belt can be causing the problem, I've only used it twice while squatting!<br />
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I like the 'hips forward' cue though, I'll give that a shot next time I squat.<br />
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lol, you might be on to something there! Unless you have a pre-existing back injury/problem I reckon (imo of course) that going without a belt is better. I'm sure a belt is a huge help once you really start pushing heavy weights etc or are dealing with instability/injuries.<br />
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Let us know how you get on.<br />
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When you talk about layback on your presses... is that curling your back? If so I get that as well when I'm on the last rep or two - going to a seated press can help if you aren't happy with your form in the standing position. -
Jiu Jistu last night - didn't get round to logging this.<br />
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1.5 hours, worked on a single-under guard pass then sparring. Got the tozi pass and the kimura from side control, but no kimura from guard. Not too disappointed though as I did hit several nice sweeps.<br />
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Weight this morning was 88.4kg without a gi. The gi adds just under 2kg so I've lost a kilo since the weekend and 1/2kg since this time last week (I always seem to weigh heavier at the weekend, I think it's the food & drink). -
[quote name='Paekakboyz' timestamp='1346794479' post='308828']<br />
When you talk about layback on your presses... is that curling your back? If so I get that as well when I'm on the last rep or two - going to a seated press can help if you aren't happy with your form in the standing position.<br />
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Yeah, by layback I mean my head leaning backwards till I'm almost turning it into a standing bench press. Not good for the back, and it takes the emphasis off the shoulders.
