I switched teaching days at Taekwondo this week, so I went in to teach twice. I could have waited and started next wednesday instead, but I didn’t really have anything to do, so I went. I’m not sure if that was a good call or not, though, as my foot was not happy with me. I don’t really understand why – it’s been sore this week, yes, but Taekwondo on monday went ok (not great, but not that bad), and it felt pretty good Tuesday and during the day on Wednesday. After all that, I wasn’t expecting teaching to flare it up so much that night, but it did. Ah well, not much to do about it but more ice and stretching.

Thursday I took as pretty much a day off – it’s spring break next week, so I don’t have any homework hanging over my head, and the weather is beautiful, so why not enjoy it? I teach on Thursday afternoons at the Krav Maga class my instructor has at the university, so I did do that, but oddly enough that didn’t bug my foot. Not that I’m complaining, mind you! I got a pretty good workout from that class too: we had odd numbers, so I partnered off with one of the girls for pad work and drills. Yay sweat! I actually like it when that happens, it’s a little selfish but I like getting the workout. I had been afraid to go to Krav that morning for the sake of my foot, knowing I would have to teach in the afternoon, so it worked out pretty well. I got my workout, my foot didn’t get stressed too much.

And Friday? Dog park, errands, sitting around, playing Fallout. So…not much of anything. I did put in a hard lifting workout tonight, though. During The Ultimate Fighter again. Nothing like watching highly athletic people to get me in the mood to sweat. I just started on Wendler’s 5/3/1 lifting program, and I’m really liking it so far. It gives me some focus and direction, instead of just lifting in a semi-consistent way and hoping it eventually shows results. The breakdowns really help me focus and feel like I’m doing something productive that’s going to give me strength gains, and the weight calculations mean I’m not burning out before hitting my heavy sets. A detailed breakdown can be found here, and a calculator (based on your current lifts) is here. Don’t get discouraged if you’re like me and see your lifts down on the ‘untrained’ side of the scale (Well, you can hate it. I hate it. I hate it SO MUCH. It’s great motivation – use it as such, not as a reason not to lift).

The Wendler system is one of many things I’ve picked up from people on Fitocracy – seriously, the amount of knowledge floating around on that site is ridiculous. I learn just from reading other people’s workouts and posts, without even trying to go in and say ‘I need to figure out a better lifting program.’ It’s just happened naturally as I’ve gotten engaged with the people there. Heck, the fact that I’m consistently lifting AT ALL is because of the same thing – I started with the simple competitive desire to get more points and badges (arbitrary rewards? Yes please), and it has quickly evolved into a serious part of my fitness routine.

And finally a couple videos, just for fun and inspiration.

“But I can’t lift heavy! I just want to ‘tone,’ I don’t want to get bulky!” Dear every girl who has ever said this: This lady is the WORLD RECORD HOLDER for female raw powerlifting. Your argument is nonsensical, false, and in-fricking-valid.

And this, which is just beautiful. I want to be her, but with more hitting things.

Enjoy, and happy weekend! Wear green, be merry, have a happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Workouts:

-Ok, I was being a little thick and didn’t realize that linking to Fitocracy workouts is kind of pointless if people aren’t already on Fitocracy. I wasn’t posting them here because they can get pretty long, but I think I will go ahead and do it for now. If it bugs you, let me know.

Wednesday:

- Taekwondo:

• 3:00:00 || just for fun (+1200 pts)

Thursday:

- Krav Maga:

• 1:00:00 || practice (+529 pts)

Thursday:

- Krav Maga:

• 1:00:00 || practice

Friday:

• Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadlift:
  • 25 lb x 5 reps (+82 pts)
  • 35 lb x 5 reps (+87 pts)
  • 40 lb x 5 reps (+90 pts)
  • 45 lb x 5 reps (+93 pts)
  • 50 lb x 5 reps (+97 pts)
  • 50 lb x 5 reps (+97 pts)
  • 35 lb x 10 reps (+100 pts)
  • 35 lb x 10 reps (+100 pts)
  • 35 lb x 10 reps (+100 pts)
  • 35 lb x 10 reps (+100 pts)
  • 35 lb x 10 reps (+100 pts)
  • Sigh…I’ve run up against my home-gym limitations again. I might have to (gasp) go to a gym, during the (gasp) daytime.
• Flat Straight Leg Raise:
  • 10 reps (+5 pts)
  • 10 reps (+5 pts)
  • 10 reps (+5 pts)
  • 10 reps (+5 pts)
  • 10 reps (+5 pts)
• Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press:
  • 15 lb x 5 reps (+31 pts)
  • 20 lb x 5 reps (+34 pts)
  • 20 lb x 5 reps (+34 pts)
  • 25 lb x 5 reps (+36 pts)
  • 30 lb x 5 reps (+39 pts)
  • 20 lb x 10 reps (+44 pts)
  • 20 lb x 10 reps (+44 pts)
  • 20 lb x 10 reps (+44 pts)
  • 20 lb x 10 reps (+44 pts)
  • 20 lb x 10 reps (+44 pts)
• One-Arm Dumbbell Row:
  • 25 lb x 10 reps (+45 pts)
  • 25 lb x 10 reps (+45 pts)
  • 25 lb x 10 reps (+45 pts)
  • 25 lb x 10 reps (+45 pts)
  • 25 lb x 10 reps (+45 pts)

Current Tune: Skrillex – The Devil’s Den

Kaizen Taekwondo

Outer (skin) view:

Outer Muscle view:

Zoomed-in, shoulder view at tendon level. Look, it’s the tendons I messed up!

Kaizen Taekwondo

I’m a little bummed, my foot is still a little sore from last week. But it’s better every day, so it’s once again a patience game. And as I said, it’s still worlds away from where it was. Teaching Taekwondo last night felt a little rough, but I got to the last class before feeling like sitting for a minute. Considering I started out sitting whenever I possibly could, even during the first half hour, because I was so sore, I figure I’m not doing too badly.

This cake is a lie. Because it's not my cake. But it should be.

Ok, momentary interlude: it is, as of this minute, my birthday (it’s my blog, I can plug my birthday if I want!). :)

The nice thing about being only slightly sore and much more motivated than I was a few months back is that I can still lift. I have avoided squats for the sake of my foot…and more than possibly because I really don’t like squats…but otherwise I’ve gotten good lifting sessions in. Feeling sore muscles again after so long is a really nice feeling.

And with that, I leave you, slightly older than when I began. Seriously, when did I get this close to 30?

Latest Workout:

- Yesterday: Teaching Taekwondo, 5:30 – 8:30
- Tonight: Bench, Curl, Skullcrusher, Row, Abs

Full workout on Fitocracy

Current Tune: Emeli Sandé – Next To Me. On friggin repeat.

Kaizen Taekwondo

Hint: It did not look like this.

But apparently one of the hoses came out of the hoses came out of the bucket, and as he was gone and I was sequestered in my room to lift (door closed to keep the dog and cat out from under my feet), it ran onto the floor for quite a while. All I can say is thank goodness it was the basement, and that the basement has concrete floors. In the end I just got an extra forearm workout from wringing out every bath towel we own, and I don’t think anything was damaged. I’m a little worried about what’s going on under the bathroom sink, though, since the water went under the laundry room wall, under the vanity, and out onto the bathroom floor. I can’t get under the vanity, so I’m not sure what we’ll do about that.

Ah, the adventures of my life. Exciting, eh? Anyway, other than the water adventure, lifting went better tonight than it has the last couple times. I’m not sure if it was the sinus infection still sapping my energy or what, but I seem better now. My foot is still sore (grr), so I’m trying to give it some love – no at-home taekwondo practice, no squats, etc.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I spent some time this weekend sprucing up around the blog, and I designed a new logo. I’m pretty pleased with it, it’s a little vintage-fight-poster inspired, and much more ‘me’ than the default logo text, but still plays well with the current background. You like?

Latest Workout:

- Lifting: Arms, Chest, Back, Abs

- Full workout on Fitocracy

Current tune: Dixie Chicks – Lubbock or Leave it

Kaizen Taekwondo

The pitch this year is that it’s “live,” which was the main reason I was interested. Not because I actually care in the slightest about fights being live, but because it might cut down on the amount of inane “human drama” they force viewers to watch before fights. Probably they’ll still manage to cram in plenty of pointless between-training stuff, but I’ll give it a shot. Notable moment: the guy who got a completely broken big toe (like, flopping around in strange directions broken) and kept fighting for the rest of the round, not even a wince. Even threw some kicks with that foot, used it in submission attempts – Hard freakin’ core. And then he lost (meaning he doesn’t get to be on the show)…ouch.

Anyway, I got a workout in. I was pretty beat, and I’m not sure why my energy level was so low, but it could have been worse. Watching something while I lift seems to keep it from getting too terribly tedious. I wanted to work through some tkd stuff, but my foot is still pretty sore from the last few days, so I decided to give it some rest. The good news is that ‘pretty sore’ now means something pretty insignificant compared to what ‘pretty sore’ meant a few months ago.

Latest Workout:

- Tonight: Bench, Row, Fly, Deadlift

http://www.fitocracy.com/view_workout/5186202/

Current Tuneage: Kap Slap – E.T. Feels Starry Eyed (Club Mix)

Kaizen Taekwondo

I said the test for my foot would be the day after I went to practice and that proved itself true, but not in the way I expected. I actually felt good, and was pretty excited about it. Unfortunately that was in the morning, and I had volunteered to spend the afternoon helping out with a conference as part of my graduate assistantship. The trick was that I had on dress shoes, and I spent a lot more time standing and walking than I had expected.

The worst part is that I didn’t even need to dress up, I just happened to be dressed up from volunteering that morning, and I didn’t want to take the time to go home and change. So I punished my foot for no good reason. I hadn’t realized that there was NO plan for getting all the tech equipment that the conference used back across campus at the end of the day – we ended up packing it all into one of the other student’s cars, and then the rest of us walked across campus to help unload. After that and the trek back to my car, neither of my feet were happy.

Ah well, worse things have happened. My foot was sore today, but not horrible. I still went to teach in the afternoon, and then to practice tonight, and it survived. I’m glad I have the weekend to recover, but it’s not horrible.

Speaking of class:

There’s a woman in one of my classes who is a nice, quiet middle aged PhD student in statistics. She was attacked coming out of a night class a few years ago (when she went to a different school) by two women who grabbed her by the hair and started to drag her away. Fortunately, a couple people happened by and saw, and that was enough to scare her attackers off. A girl in the Krav class I teach found out that a guy she used to RA for was stabbed to death last week. In his home, by his roommate.

One thing I feel really strongly about is this: everyone needs to know how to fight. I don’t care if you work a desk job, or live in some blissful suburbia, or aren’t an aggressive person. Most people don’t pick fights, fights pick them – and if you’re in one, being prepared can quite literally be the difference between life and death. I heard both of the stories above this week, and it pounded home how strongly I feel, and why. Learning how to defend yourself should be as basic as wearing a seat belt or learning to swim – everyone should do it. And defending yourself doesn’t always mean throwing a punch – sometimes it’s as simple as awareness, being willing to give up your money and the keys to your car, or knowing how to defuse a situation. But sometimes that’s not enough.

This is why I get frustrated with the Krav students when they don’t do drills with intensity. This is why it bothers me when some girls like they’ll break if they try to punch something hard. This is why I want the ‘bad guy’ in the drill to fight back. Because at the end of the day, I want them to leave with the knowledge that they know how to fight, at least a little. And I want them to be RIGHT.

All of this is to say, I had a hard time being patient when I was teaching the newer students today. I know it takes time and repetition, and I stand back and let them learn, but some days it’s hard, and sometimes I am all too aware of why they need to know this stuff.

Yesterday’s workout:

- I spent most of last night curled in a ball, moving as little as humanly possible. That headache was no joke.

Current tuneage: Yeasayer – 2080

Kaizen Taekwondo

WARNING: This armbar is no joke, if you don’t like seeing body parts bent in all the wrong directions (or at least appreciate the talent that went into it happening), then this vid is not for you. You’ve been warned.

For a more technical view, someone linked this great breakdown by the Gracie Academy guys – hello, new youtube channel subscription. BJJ was one of my favorite parts of mma, should get back into it.

Kaizen Taekwondo

Oh yeah, and you can subscribe with this here handy link! Also now in the sidebar.

Kaizen Taekwondo

Today was almost as bad, got up and studied for a midterm, hit campus, led discussion in one class, midterm in the other. But this time I made the choice to come home and grab my stuff and leave again. I had intended to go to the morning Krav class, but studying got in the way. So I made up for it by doing Taekwondo class…and I went barefoot for the first time since I hurt my foot. And I sparred for the first time in around 2 years. Because if you’re going to do something crazy, why go halfway?

It actually went well. I think I was right in thinking that being sick actually gave my foot a little extra chance to heal and it’s made progress. I won’t say that I wasn’t sore by the end of class – I’m actually still a little sore now – but it was nothing compared to when I tried class a few weeks back. The worst part was sparring only left-foot forward, with only left-foot kicks (instructor’s orders). It keeps me from planting on my bad foot, which is good, but it’s infuriating to my brain…It was something like trying to write left-handed. It really limited my options, and me no likey.

My instructor, incidentally, thought I had lost my mind a little, but like I told him – I’ll never know what I can do if I don’t try. He might be right yet, but I do feel better and I wanted to see where I stand. The real test will be how I feel tomorrow, but so far so good. Plus I’m so freaking tired of being overweight and out of shape, it has to stop! I have a taste of being back to my old self, and I want more.

Yesterday’s Workout

- Three hours of teaching was enough for me.

Currently listening: Snow Patrol – Engines

Kaizen Taekwondo

I did teach on Monday (since I was doctor-certified non-contagious, and didn’t want to miss two weeks in a row). That…may not have been the greatest idea, but I survived. I didn’t feel that bad going in, but it turned out that having to speak loud enough for 30ish kids to hear you (aka yell) for three hours was a little hard on my already-unhappy throat. Suffice to say that my contributions to my Tuesday classes were squeaky at best.

Last night I was finally able to work out again, and I did it with my brand-new 50-lb adjustable dumbbells. This significantly expands my dumbbell capacity beyond the pair of 20s I own and the pair of 15s I more or less permanently borrowed from one of my roommates. So hooray for that! On the downside, I discovered that although I can most likely bench a pair of 40′s, I utterly fail at getting them in position to do so in a safe manner. Next time I will have to try that earlier on, not halfway through. But at any rate, it’s nice to have some actual weight to throw around – even if it highlights how much strength I need to regain.

I also spent a good chunk of time reviewing forms – two years off has made me plenty rusty on my own form, let alone everyone else’s. Even with a simplified block system, it’s a lot of material to brush up on. We teach four of the nine Songham color belt forms at a time (low belts do one, high belts do another, brown and red do their own), plus first, second and third degree black belt forms, plus two single and two double weapons forms for color belts, two single weapons forms for first degrees, three doubles forms for second degrees…you get the idea. The good news is that they all comes back fairly easily once I run through them a couple times. And youTube is a godsend for checking on the things I’m not sure about…interpreting forms from written descriptions is a little tricky sometimes (protip: Songham form directions are given in compass directions, but if you forget that they assume you start facing EAST, you’re going to be really confused).

Yesterday’s Workout

- Lifting: Chest, Arms, Back, …Everything? (gogo deadlift gadget!).
Workouts logged on Fitocracy: http://www.fitocracy.com/profile/Bethanyn.

-I would put up a Fitocracy widget, if there was one. I will probably wax poetic about how much fun Fitocracy is in some future post. It’s still in beta, so if you want an invite, lemme know!

Currently listening: The Piano Guys – Moonlight

Kaizen Taekwondo