SPRINGing into action

[David Nicol]

I'm in a rush today but will briefly summerise my plans for the next few months. Most of my training since finishing my last THP has been metabolic - roughly 2 metabolic sessions for every 1 strength session. My schedule is likely to be all over the place for the next few months so as an experiment I'm going to try mixing things up to some extent. This is a personal experiment which I as a CST instructor, in no way endorse copying. Its for personal research only.

I'm not focusing on hypertrophy for this THP - just increased functional strength, core strength and improved conditioning which should have some crossover to my muay thai.

Functional strength shall primarily be worked on with exercises such as:
- deadlift
- squat
- thruster
- chins etc.

Metabolic conditioning:

- pressup varients
- burpees
- kettlebell swings
- FlowFit®
- bruiser swipes etc.

Core strength shall be emphasised in all workouts.

I'm trying to use a broad and diverse range of tools to gain functionality through the 6 degrees, and improve metabolic performance. In addition each workout shall finish with a prasara cooldown.

[David Nicol]

Schedule for coming months

- April and May: Junior Honours Law Exams
- June: Law placement
- July 4th - 19th holiday blowout (This THP ends)
- July 20th - fight prep begins (New THP begins)
- Early September - first thai fight

This is a rough estimate of the coming months. My Thai has improved in skill at a consistent level for the past few months and feel I will be more than ready for my first fight in September. Want to put in a good show though!

Friday
- 1 hour private thai lesson w/james
- 5 mins krypton factor core conditioning

Saturday

- 10 mins flowmowtion
- 5 rounds of:
* 12/12 one handed bullwhip w/20lb club
* 6/6 seesaw w/15lb club
* 10 - 20 pressup variant
- 5min upperbody prasara

Sunday
- did 3x2min rounds pads with a friend for fun

Today

- 10 mins flowmotion
- 5 sets of (1 min rest between sets):
* 8/8 bruiser swipes
* 1 min plank hold
- 10 min jog
- 8 sets of:
* 10 - 20 metabolic bodyweight exercise
* Sprint up 65 big rocky style granite steps
* Walk back down and go again
- 5 min lower body stretch

Notes:

Rested for 1 minute after set 5 stair sprints. Exercise selection:
1)Burpees
2)Mountain climber
3)Pressup
4)T pressup
5)Double leg mountain climber
6)Plyo pressups
7)Burpees
8)Mountain climber

Whew!

[Coach Tran]

David,

Kick arse and take names. What is the weight of your KB and CB, bro?

[David Nicol]

Today
1 hour snowboarding

Bao,

Clubs I'm using is mainly the bruiser - and the 20lb for standard one handed moves. Unsure about the kettlebell weight as its just one I use at the thai boxing school, its pretty light though...

Your blog continues to be a joy to read!

Dave

[David Nicol]

Today

• 10 mins flowmotion
• 10 mins FlowFit® level 4

4 sets of:

• 5 shoulder cast to flag press w/bruiser
• 10 rollouts on ab wheel

Dave

[Soheil John Ward]

Dude, you're getting strong! What are you weighing in at? Last time I saw you, you were probably weighing in at about 10 stone. You were still pretty wirey and strong but you've really kicked it up a notch or 10.

Good luck with all you have on your plate man, and I hope you can fight your potential Muay Thai bout as prepared as you want to be!

[David Nicol]

Thanks Soheil,

Yeah I looked back at pictures of Iota and I was built like a stick insect! My weight varies just now - I max out around 175pounds but when I'm doing a lot of thai (like just now) I'm sitting at 167. I think the coaches almost fell over when they saw the muscle I'd put on when they saw me in November ha!

Good to see you blogging again man - I'm interested in those bruiser mills you were talking about last summer... ouch.

Dave

[Coach Tran]

I remembered David posting a pic in the CST cadre forum. My boy was jacked! David, you better slow down and do not get too big. Don't make me look bad in Bellingham, bro. Seriously, it is great watching CSTs growing and evolving.

[Soheil John Ward]

Thanks Soheil,

Good to see you blogging again man - I'm interested in those bruiser mills you were talking about last summer... ouch.

Dave

Thanks man it's good to be back.

Not ouch, bruiser mills may not be as far away as you think. The key is to really groove the back swing of the shield cast portion. Any hitches there could be seriously harmful to your connective tissue (tennis elbow? hell try Bruiser elbow). The best way to do that? Break it down into its components. Try penduluming the b**** (ahem), I mean beast behind the back like you would during the middle portion of the shield cast. Work on one handed inward and outward pendulums while you work on grokking the rear swinging motion. This should prepare you psychologically and physiologically to handle the heavy weight. When you are ready (maybe a couple of weeks) try singles of one handed shield casts. Gradually increase reps and make sure movement is smooth, thats the most important part. After a few weeks give the Mill a shot. I think you'll find once you've gotten the form down the hardest part is holding on.

Looks like you've got a lot going on already, but in case you get a wild hare...

Keep reaching brother

[David Nicol]

Yesterday

• 2.5 hours soccer - RPE 5

Today

• 5 mins mobility
• max pushups in 2 mins = 65
• max situps (full ROM) in 2 mins = 76
• timed swipe century = 4 - 5 mins
  

Notes:

I like to mix things up every now and then and hit in a "military style" fitness test to see how I compare without specifically practicing for it. Todays numbers were okay. Swipes (with 15's) felt quite good - reason the time is 4 - 5 mins is my time was 4:00 min dead on but I think I may have lost count around 30 and missed out 10 of the swipes, 4min seems almost too fast.

Soheil,

Thanks for the awesome advice on bruiser mills I'll try and fit some into my schedule!

Dave