Tom's Training Log

[Tom28]

Wednesday, January 24, 2018
BJJ: great class this morning taught by brown belt. (1) triangle choke - need to remember to put my right foot on the ground first, shrimp, then knee in his arm and extend; (2) butterfly guard sweep - grab his belt with left hand, post and turn with right, hook his leg with my left leg, sweep; (3) passing guard: as soon as he opens his guard jump to feet with knee between his legs and control his legs, not his lapels. Roll 2 five minutes almost had 2 guillotines. Both guys said afterwards I was so close, one I heard gurgling but he just wouldn't quit and it wasn't tight enough. The problem I have with a failed guillotine though is that when they squirm their head out, they're pretty much in mount. If I'm wrong about this, someone let me know.

I've actually been having good luck lately with guillotines from half-guard. A little trickier to finish, but if you lose it, you are still in a good spot.

Interesting. Never tried that. I'll give it a try, because the way I'm doing it now it's like an all or nothing gamble. I either finish them or lose it and get smashed.

Thursday, January 25, 2018
Run: 3 miles in 32:14 ~10:43 min/mi.

[Tom28]

Friday, January 26, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 2, Session 3/9 (75%)
Squat: 195x3x5
Bench: 170x3x5
Deadlift: 250x2x5
Then: Curls, neck harness

[Tom28]

Saturday, January 27, 2018
BJJ: Open mat. 2 easy, low effort rolls with higher belts where I was able to work on technique, then a really tough roll with a big, strong new white belt who was super aggressive. He knocked me over three times but I managed to get him in a tight half guard. I really need to work on my half guard game, both when I'm in the opponent's half guard, and when they're in my half guard. I kept trying to sweep him from half guard but he was able to stop it each time. Maybe I should have just kept squeezing his leg for dear life until time ran out, because when I failed the sweep, he got to mount.

[godjira1]

Time spent in improving HG and HG Top is imho the best bang for buck in BJJ, esp for older folk. It just comes up all the time. HGB: be aggressive and keep off your back (think 1 ear on the ground) and try to get low (head to hip).
HGT: flatten with crossface and/or far-side overhook as a first solution.

[Tom28]

Time spent in improving HG and HG Top is imho the best bang for buck in BJJ, esp for older folk. It just comes up all the time. HGB: be aggressive and keep off your back (think 1 ear on the ground) and try to get low (head to hip).
HGT: flatten with crossface and/or far-side overhook as a first solution.

Thank you godjira! I will definitely study up on both HG and HG Top. You are so right, I seem to always end up in one of the two. In fact, all three rolls yesterday involved HG. At this point, if I'm going to be on my back I automatically get them in HG without even thinking, but I don't really know what to do once I'm there. Thanks for the advice on what to do and I will learn to be good at both.

[Tom28]

Sunday, January 28, 2018
Run 3 miles in 31:25 ~10:26 min/mile

Monday, January 29, 2018
Rest

Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 2, Session 4/9 (80%)
Squat: 210x3x5
Bench: 180x3x5
WPU: +10lbs.x3x5
Then: Curls, neck harness
Notes: everything felt very heavy

[Tom28]

Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Run 3 miles

Thursday, February 1, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 2, Session 5/9 (80%)
Squat: 210x3x5
Bench: 180x3x5
WPU: +10lbs.x3x5
Then: Curls, neck harness

Friday, February 2, 2018
BJJ: good session, worked on HGT escape, was more aware of what to do on HGB, although I got flattened out. Still, there was improvement since I actually had a plan. Also, after watching the Australian Grappling Academy videos, I tried Coach Tom's pressure pass up the middle and it was effective, especially since I always control the legs and go left or right and everybody expects that from me. I think I caught people off-guard going straight up the middle and then knee slice.

Saturday, February 3, 2018
BJJ: open mat, started with standing which we almost never do. I told the young guys to take it easy on me from standing position and they did. Starting from stand up is a completely different world.

Sunday, February 4, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 2, Session 6/9 (80%)
Squat: 210x3x5
Bench: 180x3x5
Deadlift: 265x5
Then: 3 mile run

Notes: good week of training. Got 3 strength, 2 BJJ, and 2 LSD. I don't feel too beat up, and tomorrow's a day off.

[Tom28]

Monday, February 5, 2018
Rest

Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 2, Session 7/9 (85%)
Squat: 220x3x3
Bench: 190x3x3
WPU: +20lbs.x3x3

Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Rest

Thursday, February 8, 2018
BJJ: hurt my left index finger, very swollen

Friday, February 9, 2018
Rest

Saturday, February 10, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 2, Session 8/9 (85%)
Squat: 220x5x3
Bench: 190x5x3
WPU: +20lbs.x5x3
Then: curls, neck harness
Notes: felt much stronger today

Sunday, February 11, 2018
Rest

Notes: not a great week of training. Work and minor BJJ injury got in the way. My finger's feeling better, so I'll be back at it this week.

[Tom28]

Monday, February 12, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 2, Session 9/9 (90%)
Squat: 235x3x3
Bench: 200x3x3
Deadlift: 300x3x3

Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Run 3 miles @ ~10 min/mile

Wednesday, February 14, 2018
BJJ: worked knee on belly

Thursday, February 15, 2018
Off/Sick with cold

Friday, February 16, 2018
Off/Sick with cold

Saturday, February 17, 2018
Off/Sick with cold

Sunday, February 18, 2018
Off/Sick with cold

Notes: Started the week off strong with a good final operator session, a fast (for me) 3 mile run, and a good BJJ session. Then I noticed my throat felt a little sore and it was downhill from there with a cold, but no fever. It was a recovery week free from barbells anyway so no big deal.

[Tom28]

Starting new wave of Operator Black. Subbing in Clean and Press for WPU. Will still do bodyweight pull ups though.
Training maxes
Squat: 265
Bench: 227.5
BB Clean and Press: 120 (edit down from 135 to 120 because workouts were too tough)
Dead: 340

Monday, February 19, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 3, Session 1/9 (75%)
Squat: 200x3x5
Bench: 170x3x5
BB C&P: 100x3x5
PU: 3x5

Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Run 3 miles (11:30 pace)

Wednesday, February 21, 2018
BJJ

Thursday, February 22, 2018
Rest

Friday, February 23, 2018
Operator I/A, Wave 3, Session 2/9 (75%)
Squat: 200x3x5
Bench: 170x3x5
BB C&P: 100x3x5
PU: 3x5

Saturday, February 24, 2018
BJJ

Sunday, February 25, 2018
Rest

Notes: good week, felt very strong with squats.