Hitting the weights

Hey everyone!


Ok, like I said before- the plan is to put beef up our boxer here so he can be a mean machine in the ring. He is currently 140 lbs. I want him to be 5-10 pounds over the target weight (145 - 150 lbs.) in lean muscle mass. So in order for that to happen, I ordered him to eat generous portions so his body will have more than enough nutrients to grow on top of his rigorous workouts. I prefer healthy foods, but in general quantity is key.






The week of his fight, he will have to cut out the water retention foods- starchy carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice) in order to shrivel up to make weight on the official scale. Fortunately, his weigh in is the day prior to the fight. That means he will have 24-28 hours to replenish himself. This can be dangerous if not done right because his body will be starving and if he replenishes too much too quickly, that too has its side effects.





In my first no gi (grappling uniform) at Long Beach Internationals back in 2006...or was it 07? I went up against a guy who did not look no where in my weight division. He couldn't submit me however, he out pointed me by a lot. After our match I talked with him. His normal weight is 170 lbs. and here I was barely able to maintain 160 lbs! His diet consisted of some meat but mostly green vegetables (because they are low on carbs) the week prior to weigh ins. After that Friday he was off the scale, he loaded back up to his normal weight.



Back then I thought "what a cheating bastard!" Now I look at it and think "What a great idea!" Turns out this approach goes on in fights all the time. May as well learn to use it. The other thing I added to my fighter's supplements on top of his protein intake is Creatine. I recommend looking in the Wikipedia if you want the full story on this supplement. I'm going to make my story short and sweet. Creatine is used by athletes and body builders to gain muscle mass. As long our boxer keeps his hydration level up (about a gallon of water throughout the day) his muscles will be able to go longer before fatigued sets in. Ideally, he would have started creatine at least 6 weeks prior. We only have 3 weeks, but I want him to have every advantage I can think of.

Last, that Fran workout took its toll on our boxer so I kept his workout light weight and high reps. As of this posting, he claims his arms are still screaming from Monday. I'm hoping he will be at least 75% recovered before Friday's workout. He are some clips from Wednesday night. The straps you see are from the TRX Suspension Training. This fancy tool originally derived from parachute straps has its advantages.

Here we go Again

Hello World!

So I discussed with one of the other trainers on a game plan for my fighter. Before we get him to cut weight, we are going build up his strength a little more. That means we are going to hit the weights on each session. It is not possible to condition his chin or jaw, but it is definetely possible to condition his midsection! On top of that, I plan to burn his arms out some ;>)

I borrowed a classic WOD (Workout Of the Day) from the Crossfit world that is my favorite of all time! They call it "Fran". Most of the early WODs invented had female names; I don't know why but don't be fooled- these workouts are tough!

Fran consist of 2 exercises done back to back for time. They are pull-ups and thrusters (squat with a barbell and then shoulder press once you stand). You do each one for 3 rounds, decreasing the repitition on each new round. The reps go: 21-15-9.

Tonight was my fighter's first time doing this so just the barbell (45 lbs.) will be a challenge. The top guys in the Crossfit community do the thrusters with 95 lbs in under 5 minutes! Insane!!!

Then to work his midsection, we did trunk twist/ over head pulls and raising his butt off the floor (butt ups) while squeezing the ball to keep it in place. I used this in place of the traditional situps & crunches to break up the monatony.

Just as I predicted, this was a challenge as he would take 15-30
second breaks in between rounds. I try not let him rest often because part of the mental challenge is to work through the fatigue.

He is going to sleep good tonight :>)

His record for his first attempt: 8:05

And no, not eight hours and five minutes!

Another month to prepare

Hey world,



I'm going to make this short because I got to be somewhere at 9am and the time now is 12:25am. My fighter didn't get to fight tonight because no one his weight was available. This is going to be his first boxing match and I want it to be as fair as possible. Some fighters who have done this a few times will negotiate things like the surplus weight of one fighter for the extra experience of another.



I went to go watch the fights to see what my my guy will be up against. I wish he could have come also so he can see it's not as bad as he may think it is. When I discuss this topic with other fighters we all pretty much had the same feeling about our first fight: its going to hurt a lot... and we're scared! Speaking for myself, it was nowhere a bad as I imagined. I chased my guy around the ring and never gassed out (thank you Mr. Frack for pushing me so hard).



Coming back to tonight, I did meet a fighter who is most likely to be the best candidate so far. He is the same height and claims to be the same weight as my fighter. We exchanged numbers so we can stay in contact. He came off pretty confident after we had a breif discussion for Sunday, November 21st. Until I popped the question "Can I take a photo of you so my guy can see you?" He politely declined. Then his eye contact lack conviction when he said "Tell your homie to get ready for next month". Oh, he'll be ready alright ;>) Muhahahahaaaa!



To end this on a lighter manner, I was at Covina's "Blues-a-palooza" this past Sunday. I did a brief demo with my guy to promote the gym we are currently facilitating. I saw a few other guys taking photos with these ladies trying to look "cool". I decided to changed it up and show another side. Every guy at some point whether it be junior high, high school and even after can relate to this as we go through life learning to have the confidence to approach such beauty. I like to call this the "school boy pose". I'm know girls who have gone through this uncomfortable feeling as well where we want to talk, but the words sound wierd because we keep tripping over our tongue. It was funny and we all laughed about it. So I dedicate this picture to all of us growing up through such moments that make us grow. Cheers!

New place, a new life

Hey world, what's up?

I talked about leaving the nest and I did sometime ago. Finally made the time to sit and write again. I love my bro, but having my own room to be lost in my own thoughts is rejuvinating, no matter what kind of day I had. Sad to say I did not move in with Dan. I moved in with a friend I knew since the second grade. He was living the bachelor life for sometime, but now has a girlfriend so the house has been much quieter.

I still do community workouts, but lately I've put all my concentration on one person. He is the only one who asked me indirectly about competing. Boxing to be exact. I thought about it for a whole week before I gave him an answer. I accepted the personal challenge of preparing someone like I've never prepared before.

I myself have competed in martial arts a handful of times in my career. I've done wrestling matches, kickboxing and MMA and point karate style, but never just plain boxing.

Theoritcally, I think it might be the easiest of them all. The rules don't allow for too much to happen. Its only punching and it has to stay above the belt. However, since it is a full contact sport and with full contact there is always the risk of serious injury. The two main things he will need is 1)Great shape (mostly cardio) and 2)Decent handskills.

Since it is his first, I don't expect him to win; I just want him to survive with as many brain cells as he started with. Easy! ( I hope)