Being flexible in training is key to successful training, and I don’t just mean flexibility in getting your kicks higher. So I have learned that through my years of training that my schedule as much as I may try to stick to it will have to be flexible. Family, friends, people getting sick, cars breaking down, and life in general just gets in the way.
Try as I might this last week I did not get all of my weight lifting sessions in. I however, did not let it derail me entirely.
Many many moons ago when I first started this adventure. If I ran into a bump, or a interruption of my schedule I would think, “well there goes my week. I am going to have to start over.” Well that is flawed thinking. Because even if you miss one workout or two, you can still get some in. You can squeeze it in maybe another day. Maybe you even just miss it.
You do want to stick to a schedule but scrapping your workout, and all your progress just because you missed a workout is like shooting yourself in the foot.
Consistency is important, but I argue consistency over time is more important.
Say your goal is five days a week of working out. If you only get three workouts in a week for a month because your schedule is just too crazy. That is far better than missing workouts one week so you decide to scrap that week, and try again. Only to find that your schedule is messed up again, and you have to start over again. Lather rinse and repeat. A few months down the line you are still starting over and you did not make any progress. If you stuck to the three days a week and did what you could during that time. You might very well see progress.
So what I am saying is… when you are getting started don’t get yourself bogged down and bum yourself out if you have missed a workout.
I say this with years under my belt, and I have been doing an 8 week weight lifting program. Where the last few weeks were rough for me. I missed two workouts every week. I got 4 others in but still. I contemplated just restarting the whole 8 week program. But I told myself to just stick it out. If I have to do it again I will. But doing what I can now is better than starting over.
Have you started over often? Try not to in the future. Just keep going.
Schedule: I got what I could in. I missed one day of weight lifting because
Monday 6/28/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour
Tuesday 6/29/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour, Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Wednesday 6/30/2021: scheduled rest day
Thursday 7/01/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Friday 7/02/2021: scheduled rest day
Saturday 7/03/2021: 1 hour of weight lifting, 2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training
Sunday 7/04/2021: Muay Thai 2 hours of training
My Martial Art Focus:
We are working on footwork, distance management, counter attacks and 4 count drills
In kali we worked on Espada y Daga, and footwork
Drills for this week:
Muay Thai: 1) jump rope 2) mirror Teep drill I lead 3) mirror Teep drill opponent leads
4) scoop the Teep, rear kick, lead kick, cross, hook, rear kick 5) held pads for H
6) incoming rear kick, return cut kick, rear kick, lead kick, cross, hook, lead kick 7) held pads for H
8 ) parry abs split the incoming cross, cross, hook, rear elbow, rear knee, rear kick 9) held pads for H
10) 4 count pop the leather 11) 4 count pop the leather 12) 4 count pop the leather
Kali: we focused on high box, with snake, bridge up, bridge down and plus sign block.
From there we did: 1) upper right quadrant, trap, stab with knife, and stab with sword or stick, low/high, high/low, abs high/high 2) lower right quadrant, trap, bite opponent hand with arm, slide stick up knife like a pool que. 3) snake to redirect opponents knife thrust with your punyo, trap both of opponents arms with your punyo, and theirs, stab them.
Weight Lifting
Focus on for this 4th week of 8 weeks is still strength and form.
This week like I said was difficult. So I decided to switch to maintenance. I have been just making sure I get food into me. But have not been pushing the protein.
I did eat a bunch of carbs though… lol
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
97
124
167
143
102
95
81
115.571429
190
74.42857143
Carbs
184
302
199
232
183
391
164
236.428571
160
-76.42857143
Fat
76
46
121
70
90
90
117
87.1428571
67
-20.14285714
Calories
1808
2118
2553
2130
1950
2754
2033
2192.28571
2003
-189.2857143
7/05/2021 – 7/12/2021
Don’t let things that pop up in your life get in the way of your goals. The key is long term. There will be things that mess us up. But we just need to push through.
Thank you for reading. If you liked it please hit the like button. If you want to chat please feel free to comment. If you want to keep following my crazy adventures, and some weeks less crazy… subscribe. For day to day things you can find me on instagram @sharpcupcake.
As always please remember, Don’t Photo Edit, Just Go Get It!
Hello everybody, this is a day late, because I focused my time on the family this weekend. Yay! We had a holiday here in the U.S.A. It was 4th of July or our independence day. Anyway back to the regularly scheduled program.
pushing knee
Getting a breakthrough after a plateau in training. You can get these breakthroughs in anything you are doing. Weight lifting, you notice after a while you are not progressing, you try to add more weights and just not strong enough to pull those. However, one day you will find that the normal weights you did are not taxing you as much so you can push through that weight barrier.
You get breakthroughs in running. You have you pace, you have your pushing yourself in a sprint pace and will literally die if you try to keep running that fast. Then one day you are running and you just out paced yourself and shaved 30 seconds off your time not even trying.
In martial arts it looks a little different. Well it looks a little different for me. Clearly, I have only experienced my plateaus. I have heard about training from others but let me just speak from my experience with my own training.
So in Muay Thai training we put hours on the mat. Sometimes just drilling and drilling specific skills. And oftentimes you will hear what you have to do to fix things, to make your strikes better. You are cognizant of the fact you have to fix them. But try as you might, drilling, and training, it may not click entirely. It may be that the biomechanics just don’t make that much sense to you. But you keep working it, and try to fix it.
Sometimes you don’t feel like you are getting anywhere. Sometimes it just feels like grinding. Most of the time it is just grinding. However, you are working and working muscle memory. What I have found and what has happened in the past 3 weeks is for me is I made strides and positive improvements.
I noticed my clench game has been on point these last few weeks. It is just easier for me. There is no other way to describe it. Before in clench I would try to muscle it. I would fight and try to do the moves as intended but I would muscle it making it much harder.
The things I have learned and the information I have been given just clicked. I could see where I was making mistakes and fix it. It happened again this week. Our focus on Muay Thai is knees.
Pushing knees to create space
Upward knees to strike your opponent
Side in Knees to get over guards and to cause damage
I had an epiphany. I realized what I was doing wrong and how I was bleeding off my power when hitting knees. I realized my foot work needed to change in a certain way (namely my shuffle in). I changed it, and low and behold it freaking worked. All those tips and training days just clicked. I figured out the body mechanics and it felt good. It felt more effortless than before. I was getting power into my knees, and I was getting my flying knees in too.
Am I saying I am perfect? Nope, but it just clicked for me today, and for the past couple of weeks.
Will it return to my grinding through the next phase? Yea I am sure it will. But I will keep putting time in on the mat. Because that is how we improve our skills.
The main goal is to keep putting time in. Even if you feel like you are not making any more progress you are, and you will.
There are many ways and suggestions to get over a plateau. Many people have many ideas some of which are:
Change up your training –
train more
train less
mix up your training, adding eccentric movements (or what is often referred to as negative movement)
supersets
add HIIT training
Be patient – sometimes it is just putting the time in on the mat, in the gym, under the weights
Get more sleep – in the US at least there is a culture of look how busy I am, and look at all the things I am doing, with emphasis on I am tired but so productive. Other countries their emphasis is family, rest, and relaxation.
Look at your diet –
are you eating enough
are you eating to much
are you hydrated
Focus on a different aspect of what you are training – For instance if you are having a hard time learning how to kick or learning that small tweak to make your kicks better. Switch up to elbows, train elbows. Give your body and your brain a break from kicks. Then come back to kicks and see if any of the tweaks from before have settled in to your understanding.
Go to a training seminar, class, week, camp – this has helped me make strides in the right direction.
Keep in mind there are a lot of websites out there to help you through them. Here are some websites to go take a look at that might help if you hit a plateau:
In my case with the martial arts… I just needed to be patient put the mat time in. My body needed to discover the body mechanics on its own.
I have also noticed huge strides and advances when I go to seminars, and special training day/weeks. I am mentally more open, like a sponge because it is a different gym, different teacher, or different training style.
Upward striking knee
Schedule: This week I was all over the place. I go only one day of weight lifting in. But I did get my Muay Thai training in.
Monday 6/28/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour
Tuesday 6/29/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Wednesday 6/30/2021: scheduled rest day
Thursday 7/01/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Friday 7/02/2021: scheduled rest day
Saturday 7/03/2021: 2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training
Sunday 7/04/2021: holiday with family
My Martial Art Focus:This week we focused:
We worked Knees, pushing knees, striking knees, flying knees, and side in knees
We worked clenching, off balance, offence to entry into clench
In kali we worked on Espada y Daga, and footwork
Drills for this week:
Muay Thai: 1) jump rope 2) mirror knee drill – plus sign foot work then knee
3) jab, cross, pushing knee 4) held pads for H
5) jab, cross, elbow, upright knee, or flying knee 6) held pads for H
7) defend jab, cross, hook, tie up, three skip knees, off balance and throw partner, follow with kick 8 ) held pads for H
9) clench spar with curved
Areas I need to work on:
I need to work on my break falls, namely my side break falls
Tighten up my footwork with clenching.
Shift in, and work on footwork to produce power in the knees Problems/solutions:
Practice break falls on the bed at home, or on the matts at the gym
Hip in for knees
Push off ground with foot of leg that is kneeing
Training focus: Weight Lifting and Running
This week is week 3 of an 8 week program. 4 day split, 2 upper body, 2 lower body.
Knee on belly, after throwing my partner
barbell hip thrust – first two sets warm up- reps – 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
dumbbell Bulgarian split squats- reps each side- 8, 8, 8, 8
dumbell sumo squats – reps – 12, 12, 12, 12
standing leg extensions with resistance bands- reps each side – 12, 12, 12, 12
plank stands one minute – reps – 1 m, 1 m, 1 m, 1 m
Nutrition:
Although this week was not scheduled to be this way, I just let it evolve to a maintenance week.
There are times where tracking and trying to meet your Macro goals is tedious, and you need a break. I sure did.
No worries I will be back on track.
What it looks like on my averages and goals, is I did not get enough protein in. I was a little over on carbs, and a little over on fats. I was not eating enough to meet even my normal cut even though I did not follow my food goals. Onwards and upwards.
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
85
99
79
121
98
65
73
88.5714286
190
101.4285714
Carbs
173
198
199
164
113
202
198
178.142857
160
-18.14285714
Fat
85
101
92
103
49
79
66
82.1428571
67
-15.14285714
Calories
1797
2097
1940
2067
1285
1779
1678
1806.14286
2003
196.8571429
6/28/2021 to 7/4/2021
How have you gotten past plateaus?
If you have not, have you tried any of these tweaks to help you?
I wanted to say thank you all for reading my blog. I started this as a way to just keep track of my journey/adventures/ you name it. But I enjoy hearing from you, so please feel free to comment. If you liked this please hit the like button so I know. If you want to follow my adventures day to day I am on instagram @sharpcupcake.
My primary martial art I practice is Muay Thai. A major component of Muay Thai is the clench work, or clenching. I have heard some people call it standing grappling.
I will say that is one area I am not great in. However, I feel like I have made huge strides for the better in this area.
I have scoliosis and clenching is hard on your neck shoulders and back. However, I have been working on strengthening my neck, shoulders, and back. Not only that I have been working on getting my footwork correct, and trying to execute the moves as intended. When you study Muay Thai, you will realize that this art form uses body mechanics in everything you do. I mention this because when you perform the movements correctly it can almost become effortless in some cases.
Now don’t get me wrong… there is a lot of effort in clech work. In some cases the tired I get from clech work is the kind that seeps into your bones and you feel like you could sleep for days. But when you execute an off balance just right, or you swim out of a clench and get the clench on some one else it can seem effortless.
Now what do I mean by clench work is feeling your opponent?
If you have done any grappling. You will note/remember/understand that most of the time you are protecting your head, and keeping it close to the body of your opponent. This happens in BJJ, this happens in Muay Thai. When you keep you head close to the body of your opponent in grappling you cannot see what they are doing.
You have to feel. You have to feel what your opponent is doing. You have to feel the moment they lift their leg, so you can off balance them. You have to feel for when they try to spin you off balance, so you can use their momentum against them.
Everything is by feel. The slightest movement and that can me you dump your opponent. Most of the time you cannot see where their head is, you know that it is at the top of their bodies, but you have to feel for it and push their heads away to get out of clench.
It is small nuances the we learn in the way the opponent cants their bodies as if they are trying to elbow you.
With clench work, we often off balance and throw our opponent. Which is to say we end up on the floor often… I was really happy that when we did, I remembered my little bit of BJJ and based. Denying my opponent the ability to roll me over and be in control. This too was done by feel, where he moved I moved so that he could not get an opening.
I really love the nuances of Muay Thai, it is also one of the reasons it is so frustrating at times. Just the small little things to clean up your form, to make it so that it seems/feels effortless. Watch great practitioners of Muay Thai and watch them closely, they look like it is not hard. It is but they have learned to work their bodies, and with their opponents bodies.
Every martial art I have had the pleasure of working and learning, Muay Thai, Kali, JKD, Weng Chun, and especially BJJ all have a component of feeling where your opponent is. You either go with their force or meet their force. You feel their movements often times before you see it. That is when you are supposed to respond. Of course easier said then done, it takes years of practice to notice small movements and then know what to do when you notice them.
Schedule: This week I was on target and got everything done. Yay! I stayed on schedule even if it was hard. Well mostly, I missed one day of Muay Thai training because of work.
Monday 6/21/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour
Tuesday 6/22/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Wednesday 6/23/2021: scheduled rest day
Thursday 6/24/2021: 1 hour of Weight Lifting, Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Friday 6/25/2021 : scheduled rest day
Saturday 6/26/2021: 2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training, Weight Lifting 1 hour
Sunday 6/27/2021: Weight Lifting 1 hour
My Martial Art Focus:
clench with knee
This week we focused:
We worked gunting (scissor or destruction) of incoming attacks.
We worked clenching, off balance, offence to entry into clench, and defence to entry into clench, defending against clench.
I was able to get closer to my carb and fats goals but was complete trash on my protein goals. I did not meet those by half. Ok gonna need to focus on protein this coming week.
Have I mentioned I am a carbasaur. Love carbs… not so much love for the meat.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
76
136
79
128
97
108
104
104
190
86
142
156
220
176
135
260
217
186.571429
160
-26.57142857
47
77
46
92
81
106
89
76.8571429
67
-9.857142857
1295
1861
1610
2044
1657
2426
2085
1854
2003
149
06/21/2021- 06/27/2021
Anyway that is the training post for this last week. I stuck to my schedule except when work got in the way on Sunday. But I got all of my weight lifting days in. I am feeling it today.
What martial art do you practice? Did you notice in your martial art that feeling your opponents movements are as important or more so when you are grappling, or in contact bodily with them?
Thank you for reading. If you want to talk to me please feel free to comment. Like this post if you liked it, and please subscribe if you want to see more of my adventures. My day to day stuff is on instagram @sharpcupcake.
In Muay Thai we generally tell ourselves and our students to beloose, and to be relaxed. While we also tell them to keep your guard up, cover your face, and be ready to counter attack.
Often times it feels like they are telling you to do opposing things at the same time. Like hold your breath and breathe at the same time.
However, there is merit to what they are saying. You should aim to be loose, relaxed, not tight and coiled like a spring. If you are tight, your strikes will be tight not flowing and not fast. You tend to telegraph your movements as well.
Staying loose and relaxed helps with:
Helps with flow – You are smooth, your strikes are chained together and that makes you faster. You are then better able to land strikes on your opponent.
Helps with reaction time – You are relaxed so you can react better, faster, and without having to uncoil
Conserves energy – You don’t know how long the fight will go. Well out in the real world you don’t know how long the fight will go. If you are in the ring you know it will be on average 3 minutes. You want to only exert energy when you are trying to defend or attack. Staying tense the entire time is just going to tire you out. That is good for your opponent or your attacker.
You want to be relaxed when falling – If you take a fall, are off balanced, and or thrown you want to be relaxed. If you are tight and try to brace your fall you might break something. You want to practice your break fall, slapping the ground to stop your momentum, while aiming to fall on the meatiest parts of you, butt/shoulder area. The only thing you want to keep tight when falling is your chin to chest to stop you hitting your head.
Try it out for yourself.
Tighten your fists into a ball, tighten your arms and your biceps and cover your face, now try to punch. You can certainly punch but it feels forced. This is because your mind is telling your body to keep it tight, be ready, stay clenched. If a strike is coming toward you or you want to strike, your brain has to tell your body to let the muscle loosen and strike. This takes seconds, does not seem long, but it is, it is the time it takes some one to strike you 3 or 4 times.
Now if you have your hands up to your face your hands are not clenched and you are not tight through your arms, and shoulders. If some one were to strike at your face you can deflect, defend and or counter strike much easier, because you don’t have to unclench. Your body flows in a more natural way.
I have seen this very phenomenon in brand new students. They are tight waiting for that strike, worried they will get hit, want to counter and attack. But their tightness is a detriment and slows them down so that they do get hit. In brand new students you can see their strikes coming because their body is uncoiling.
It takes a long time to learn to be loose. I still tighten up when I get into my own head, and worry about my performance.
In a striking martial art you will get hit. It is inevitable. It is necessary. It is part of the training.
So we try to stay relaxed in Muay Thai because we want to flow, react in time so as not to get hit, or injured, and to conserve our energy.
We were practicing Wing Chun and JKD on Saturday during our Kali class. We worked on trapping, passing, and striking. Wing Chun and JKD use firm/unyielding in opposition or in compliment to pliant/yielding strikes, or hard and soft techniques. The goal is being relaxed and then going into unyielding. You can use your opponents energy against them. You see similar themes in Muay Thai in the parry strike combos, and in the clench off balance drills we train.
How do you train? In your martial art do you try stay relaxed?
Schedule: This week, I unfortunately missed two days of weight lifting. As much as I tried, I had kids doctor appointments, and work got in the way. I wedged in what I could and then moved on. Next week should be similar, just making sure to get my weight lifting days in.
Monday 6/14/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour
Tuesday 6/15/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Wednesday 6/16/2021: scheduled rest day
Thursday 6/17/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Friday 6/18/2021 : scheduled rest day
Saturday 6/19/2021: 2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training, Weight Lifting 1 hour
Sunday 6/20/2021: Fathers Day in the U.S. we ran around and played soccer
My Martial Art Focus:
This week we focused:
We worked clenching, off balance, offence to entry into clench, and defence to entry into clench, defending against clench.
In kali we worked on Espada y Daga, and footwork, block pass and trapping, wing chun
Drills for this week:
Knee/Tang
Muay Thai: 1) jump rope
2) jab, cross, lead elbow, tie up 3) held pads for A
4) 50/50 clench, cross off balance 5) was clench dummy for A
6) jab, cross, lead elbow, knee, tie up, run skip knees, spin off, round house kick 7) held pads for A
8 ) defend the incoming jab, and cross, then tie up 9) held pads for A
10) escaping the full plum tie up, pushing face swimming, or posture up push elbows 11) was clench dummy for A
12) break fall practice
Horizontal elbow
Areas I need to work on:
I need to work on my break falls, namely my side break falls
Tighten up my footwork with clenching.
I need to work on my entries in sparring. I am short and will forever be out of range if I don’t work my entries
I need to work on my tells. I have a tell where I cock my shoulder back before I jab.
Still need to keep working bringing hands back to my face after a strike.
Problems/solutions:
Practice break falls on the bed at home, or on the matts at the gym
more practice with clench
makes sure I have better head control of my opponent
Training focus: Weight Lifting and Running
This week started a new 8 week program. 4 day split, 2 upper body, 2 lower body.
First 4 weeks are time and attention focus, second 4 weeks are HIIT
This week was a cut week. I redid my numbers, and changed up my macro numbers. I did much better getting my protein in. I also made timers for me. This seems to be helping. I am meal planning, taking my meals with me and when a timer goes off I have my food there for me to eat. I am am generally only at most an hour behind my timer.
I averaged 130 g of protein, woot! Need to adjust down my carbs, and fats, but overall I did well with these new numbers. Yay!
Next week will be even better.
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
142
185
143
116
80
155
92
130.428571
190
59.57142857
Carbs
167
145
273
168
246
148
212
194.142857
160
-34.14285714
Fat
84
71
48
105
78
141
90
88.1428571
67
-21.14285714
Calories
1992
1959
2096
2081
2006
2481
2026
2091.57143
2003
-88.57142857
6/14/2021 – 6/20/2021
Well that is it for this week. June is a busy month for me. I know each of us have that month in the year where everything seems to converge. June is one of these months for me.
I can only strive to be better, do better every week.
Thank you for reading. If you liked this post please hit the like button so I know. If you want to follow my shenanigans and adventures please subscribe. If you want to chat comment below. For day to day stuff, you can find me on instagram @sharpcupcake.
Wanted to talk about two things in this blog post this week. De-loading, and Application of Training in Sparring. Namely the difficulty in applying what you are learning in sparring.
Note: I noticed my dates were off on my last training post. Because I thought I was a month ahead. Hah! I fixed it retroactively
De-Loading:
This week was a De-loading week. Experts far smarter than I am have suggested that after you finish a weight lifting program you give your body a week where you let it rest from that particular training. So that is what I have done.
What is deloading? A de -loading week is not taking a week off of any activity, it is simply shifting focus on your training. Or reducing the amount you are. It is a chance to focus on rest, recuperation in the form of sleep and nutrition.
How I chose to de-load. I decided to give my body a week off of weight lifting, because I also train martial arts 4 days a week. I am eating to hit my macros, and I am trying to get enough sleep in.
What I noticed:
I was getting better sleep over all
My body did not hurt.
My body was not in the perpetual D.O.M.S. (Delayed onset muscle soreness) cyle. Train –> Sore –> Train different area –> sore etc.
I did not lack energy in my martial arts
I noticed I was not getting enough rest between, working, training, and my martial arts
The scale went down a little bit
I don’t know if it was water weight, I don’t know if it was a little bit of muscle loss. I don’t think so.
I feel good, still getting some training in
I finished an 8 week weight lifting session. I got great results and wanted to start in on my second 8 week training session. However, I was smart and waited like the experts say to. So when you read this I will have started on my next 8 week training session. I am focused for the next 8 weeks on shredding, instead of bulking.
To be honest, I feel a little silly talking about shredding and bulking because I am not going to be an IFBB (International Federation of Body Building and Fitness) pro, or even compete. But shredding and bulking is what I am doing. I am following programs to help me “Bulk” or put on muscle mass, and to “shred” or lose fat and keep muscle. It is the same or similar process that these pros follow, and even if I don’t plan on competing I love to train and have goals I have set for myself.
Applying My Training Fixes in Sparring:
Can we take a minute to just sit and realize how hard it is in sparring to remember what you just were working on. When the adrenaline drops and you are facing your opponent… well everything goes out of your brain. You forget how to even practice Muay Thai. At least that is the case when you first start.
When you have been sparring for a while though, and practicing Muay Thai for a while though, you start to remember your form when you spar. Let me say though, your bad habits will show in sparring. Part of your brain will be screaming don’t get hit, and the other part will be saying focus on your skills. Or at least so far after 3 years of training and sparring time, my brain still does this.
Now try to throw in any of the things you have been working on. For me lets say it is remembering right now not to telegraph my jab to my opponent. It is near impossible. That goes straight out of the brain, and all I can think of is stay out of range to your opponent, then get in with an entry you know you have trained, what they see that jab coming. Hey how do I get my entry into the pocket when they see me coming? (You know what brain, we just worked on that in pad work, if you just…then I get smacked in the face. Then the brain goes crap crap punched in the face… don’t let that happen again.)
Lets say it is hard. I know I am not the only one that feel that way. Another girl that is brand new to sparring, has had the same problem. We have been told often by our trainers that this is a problem and the goal is to relay on our training and not think so much. Easier said than done. So we continue to practice.
Schedule: This was last weeks schedule while I was doing a de-loading week. No weight lifting
Monday 6/7/2021: No training
Tuesday 6/8/2021: No training
Wednesday 6/9/2021: scheduled rest day
Thursday 6/10/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Friday 6/11/2021: scheduled rest day
Saturday 6/12/2021: Muay Thai and Kali 2 hours
Sunday 6/13/2021: Muay Thai training 2 hours
This will be my new schedule going forward for the next 8 weeks. I am going to try it out and unless I run up against any major problems I will keep it. I am starting a new weight lifting program for 8 weeks.
Monday 6/14/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour
We worked on footwork for getting into the pocket and getting out after the close range elbows.
In kali we worked on Espada y Daga, and footwork, and gunting.
Drills for this week:
Muay Thai: 1) jump rope
2) jab, cross, lead elbow 3) held pads for H
4) cross, hook, rear elbow 5) held pads for H
6) jab, cross, hook, lead elbow 7) held pads for H
8 ) jab, cross, lead elbow, rear elbow, rear knee 9) held pads for H
10) jab, cross, hook, spinning back rear elbow 11) held pads for H
12) jab, cross, hook, spinning back rear elbows, spinning back lead elbow, rear elbow, rear knee 13) held pads for H
We then worked in Kali on, gunting 6 ways: 1) The in and out avoiding blows 2) The meet the force 3) The following the force 3.5 ) gunting left hand follow the force 4) gunting, then return shot with left hand or knife hand 5) gunting, then return shot with stick or right hand 6) gunting, then return stick and knife shot
Areas I need to work on:
I need to work on my short range hooks. Bringing the hand tight and using body for power.
I need to work on my entries in sparring. I am short and will forever be out of range if I don’t work my entries
I need to work on my tells. I have a tell where I cock my shoulder back before I jab.
Still need to keep working bringing hands back to my face after a strike.
Problems/solutions:
I am going to work on footwork drills 2 minutes before every run, and 2 minutes after every run. Per my Kru’s suggestion.
Repetition of the above short range hooks, no tells, returning hand to face, and entries.
Training focus: Weight Lifting and Running
This week was a de-loading week. So I did not weight lift or run. Because I still had martial arts training.
Nutrition:
Hey this week I have gotten so close to meeting my protein requirements. This is the closest I have gotten 120 grams average is great.
The alarm system has been great for helping me get my meals in. During work my phone will go off and I did my best to take my break soon after. I averaged about 1 hour after the alarm but better than forgetting to eat so that is a positive move in the right direction.
I am going to redo my numbers and tweak my macros again.
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
159
146
119
92
108
120
101
120.714286
173
52.28571429
Carbs
188
184
106
146
199
283
250
193.714286
201
7.285714286
Fat
63
78
112
145
94
80
131
100.428571
90
-10.42857143
Calories
1955
2022
1908
2257
2074
2332
2583
2161.57143
2306
144.4285714
6/7/2021- 6/13/2021
Have you tried a de-loading week?
Have you had that adrenaline drop in the ring and forgotten how to do anything?
That is it for my past week. It was a welcome time off to recuperate. Now back to working to improve my fitness, and martial arts.
Thank you for reading. If you liked this post please hit the like button. If you want to follow please subscribe, and if you want to see day to day stuff, check out my Instagram @sharpcupcake.
I know I don’t represent everyone, but I know I am also not alone. For some people when life gets busy, the first thing that goes is their activity/workouts. When I am stressed, life gets in the way, or just upset the first thing that falls apart for me is nutrition. I can eat later right? Wrong… I run out of time, train my body not to be hungry. Its no good.
It looks a little like this for me: When I get stressed, busy, upset… I forget to eat. I put it off till I have, what I think is time to eat. This leaves me in a pickle. Because then when I surface for air, I realize I am hungry and if I have not planned I can make terrible decisions. I also find myself at the end of the day having not hit my macros.
Let me restate this about macros: I use macros as a tool. They are a tool to help me reach the nutritional numbers my body needs. Macros are a tool, but not to be focused on to much to be a detriment. Also your body works on averages. So if you did not eat enough protein in one day, if you make sure to eat enough the next day it will average out. That is why I focus on the averages.
I tend to default to carbs…they are easy and tasty!
So to combat this I am taking today to work on my eating schedule. Hopefully if I schedule it out it will happen more often.
This last week I was supposed to do just that, schedule out my food and keep to the schedule as best as I could. This last week I got busy… super busy, kids, work, workout/training… you name it. I did not make the schedule.
My schedule when I wake up alternates. So I don’t wake up the same time each day. That is my biggest problem. On days I work I get up at 4:30 am and tend not to eat till 9 or 10 am when I have a break in the day at work. I need to schedule eating my meals and snacks not at certain times, but at regular intervals that change based on when I get up, rise like the dead out of my bed.
So I am going to plan to do this:
wake up (4:30 am or 7:30 am)
Eat first meal: by 1 hour after waking 5:30 am or 8:30 am
Eat a snack: try 3 hours later 8:30 am or 11:30 am
Eat second meal: 3 hours later 11:30 am or 2:30 pm
Eat a snack: try 3 hours later 2:30 pm or 5:30 pm
Eat last meal: 3 hours later 5:30 pm or 8:30 pm
Hopefully this will work for me. I have made up meal plans, but it does me no good if it sits there and I don’t eat it. I have to do this for me. I have to break this cycle and make it a priority. This is the next step in my fitness journey. I have the training. Now is the time to hone in on my nutrition.
Schedule: This is a pretty typical week of training at least for the last 8 weeks (although now I am changing up my weight lifting program going forward because I just finished an 8 week program)
Monday 5/31/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour
Tuesday 6/01/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Wednesday 6/02/2021: scheduled rest day
Thursday 6/03/2021: Muay Thai Training 1 hour
Friday 6/04/2021 : scheduled rest day
Saturday 6/05/2021: 2 hours of Muay Thai and Kali training, Weight Lifting 55 minutes
On foot movement. Not only in our drills, but when I was sparring on Sunday I was getting lazy and crossing my feet when backing up. That is a no no. Will cause me to off balance and or fall.
On Teeping and knees to create distance. Using the right tool for the right time. Trying to teep when you are to close for instance is hard to pull off, but kneeing would might be better.
Drills for this week:
Knee
Muay Thai Training: class focus is on keeping our feet moving, and cover/block, and return strikes 1) jump rope
2) jab, cross, parry
3) jab, cross, hook, catch, parry, cover
4) cross, hook, cross, slip, bob and weave, parry
5) high hook to your left, high elbow cover, uppercut, hook, cross, High hook to your right, high elbow cover, uppercut, cross
6) incoming body hook to left, uppercut, hook, cross Incoming body hook to eight, uppercut, cross
7) feeder choice, hook to head or body
Teep
Muay Thai training: Knees and teeps
1) jump rope
2) jab, cross, Teep 3) held pads for H
4) jab, cross, knee 5) held pads for H
6) Teep, rear kick, hook, cross, rear kick 7) held pads for H
8 ) scoop Teep, kick leg, hook, cross, rear kick 9) held pads for H
10) lead kick, cross, hook, lead kick, lead teep 11) held pads for H
Kali- We worked on meeting the force in the strikes 1 – 12 We worked on going with the force in strikes 1 – 12 We worked witic to umbrella We worked half T We worked Full T
We also had cicadas that were super interested in Kali class too.
Areas I need to work on:
I need to work on my entries in sparring. I am short and will forever be out of range if I don’t work my entries
I need to work on my tells. I have a tell where I cock my shoulder back before I jab.
Problems/solutions:
I am going to work on footwork drills 2 minutes before every run, and 2 minutes after every run. Per my Kru’s suggestion.
Training focus: Weight Lifting and Running
Currently for running I am just using it as my cardio. Gonna add in some footwork for my martial arts before and after.
Weight Lifting, I have been on an 8 week training program. 3 day split. This was the end of week 8. So now:
I have chosen my next 8 week program, a shred weight lifting program
This coming week will be a de-loading week for me.
Nutrition:
This week because of how busy I was I went a little over on carbs. Its easy to pick up a carb full snack when you go to the store. This week I got much closer to my protein needs. Next week is a new week and I will keep trying.
I have notice that my recovery time has decreased since eating more of what my body needs. When D.O.M.S. (delayed onset muscle soreness) sets in I noticed it last for less time, and I recover faster.
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
124
108
105
202
104
128
116
126.714286
173
46.28571429
Carbs
284
210
213
245
212
220
282
238
201
-37
Fat
77
105
96
155
109
89
74
100.714286
90
-10.71428571
Calories
2325
2217
2136
3183
2245
2193
2258
2365.28571
2306
-59.28571429
06/31/2021 – 07/06/2021
Well that is it for my last week. I finished up my 8 week weight lifting program. I am proud of finishing up. I have gained muscle , toned up, and have improved on my Muay Thai and Kali practices. All around it has been a good week
I have noted where I have a problem with my nutrition intake, and I am actively working to fix it.
What is the first thing that goes when you are stressed out, busy, or just don’t have time?
Thank you for reading. I have had positive feedback from my blog changes. If you liked this please hit the like button. If you want to comment please feel free to drop me a line. If you want to follow along on my adventures and musings, please subscribe.
You can catch my daily shenanigans on instagram @sharpcupcake. More photos, more just day to day stuff.
As always remember, Don’t Photo Edit, Just Go Get It!
I got busy with family and forgot to write up my post yesterday. I was thinking as I lay there in my bed willing myself to sleep because I had an early 4 am morning work day to get to. It is time to change up my blog.
As martial artists we look to better ourselves and change. I am constantly changing and learning in my art, in my training, and in my fitness. So too this blog is changing.
I have many readers. Some readers come for the healthy recipes I post. (Hey recipe lovers there is another recipe post coming soon. I promise!) Some readers are here for my martial arts posts. Some readers read my posts for the workouts. I don’t know what you like, but my training has significantly changed such that Muay Thai is consistent. It does not have tons of new drills. I am making minor tweaks, that I work on for days/weeks/months. So my training is looking similar day to day, week to week.
So… I will put my main focus for the week here in the blog. I won’t have the nitty gritty day to day stuff here. If you want to see that you can always go to my Instagram account @sharpcupcake. Along with what I am focusing on, will be the drills we used to focus on that for that week.
Outline of what my blog posts will look like maybe: (I reserve the right to change it cause I am mercurial like that)
Schedule: (for those who would like to see how I plan my training)
List of days and workouts/training done.
My Martial Art Focus:
Any drills I did that week to work on that focus (if repetitive over multiple days I will only post the drill once here per week)
Areas I need to work on
Problems/solutions I found
My Training Focus:
Weight lifting
Running
Rowing
What ever I am doing at that point in my workout adventure
Nutrition:
Macros
What ever I am trying out now
I started out this blog posting ever time I was working out. That was nearly every day, and that got tedious real fast. Then I switched to this current format.
Now I switch again. I am hoping this will be more streamlined, and helpful to you my readers. You can just skip to the parts you like or want to read.
On with the blog…
Schedule:
Monday 6/24/2021: Mile Run, and Weight Lifting 1 hour
Sunday 6/30/2021: extra rest day because inertia got ahold of me after my work meeting
This was a pretty light schedule for me. There are two days of Muay Thai that did not happen due to holiday, that is 3 hours missing, 1 hour of Kali missing no class, and I was lazy on Sunday so no run or weight lifting.
Martial Art Focus:
This last couple of weeks I have been focusing on keeping my hands up, not flaring my elbows, and punching from my face. The last focus I mean not dropping my hands down to my chest for example before I hit the cross.
Hard part of all this is… remembering all of that when sparring, and trying to avoid being hit. Focusing on this during drills when you are tired is hard, not letting all of that fly out the window when sparring is so much harder.
Currently I only remember these things I am focusing on at most half the time. Which is an improvement to when I started sparring and everything I learned just flew the coop. Hahah
Muay ThaiTraining: 1) jump rope 2) jab, cross, rear kick to leg 3) jab, cross, rear kick to body
4) cross, body hook, cross, lead kick 5) he’d pads for H
6) (high) rear elbow cover, uppercut, cross (High) lead elbow cover, uppercut, hook, cross 7) held pads for H
8 ) (low) rear body cover, uppercut, cross (low) lead body cover, uppercut, hook, cross 9) held pads for H
10) feeders choice ( we did random order) 11) held pads for H
Training focus: Weight Lifting and Running
Currently for running I am just using it as my cardio. I am not training for a marathon, however I have noticed my times have been slowly improving.
Weight Lifting, I have been on an 8 week training program. 3 day split. This week was upper body, lower body, lower body. This week was week 7.
My partner has noticed and commented that I have toned up
I Have upped my weights that I can lift by 10 lbs for both dumbbells and barbells
3 supersets below: do all exercises in a set before taking a break
Superset 1: do this set x4 1) standing dumbbell upright row- 12, 12, 12, 12 2) dumbbell back fly – 12, 12, 12, 12
Superset 2: do this set x3 1) seated tricep overhead extensions – 12, 12, 12 2) overhead resistance band tricep extensions – 12, 12, 12
Superset 3: do this set x3 1) crunch into side to side crunches – 20, 20, 20 2) sit ups into twists – 20, 20, 20 3) upper crunches – 20, 20, 20
Weightlifting: lower body quads and glutes
1) dumbbell squat – reps- 20, 20, 20, 20
2) standing leg extensions- reps each leg- 12, 12, 12,
Superset: do all exercises once before rest 1) barbell hip thrust – reps – 12, 12, 12, 12 2) floor glute bridges with weight plate on hips – reps- 12, 12, 12, 12
Superset: do all exercises once before resting 1) resistance band abductor – reps- 15, 15, 15 2) dumbbell sumo squats – reps – 15, 15, 15
Nutrition:
Macros for the week of 6/24/2021
Ok sooo this week… was first week back on cut, cutting week, but I was not able to keep up the protein. I think I am going to have to start timing food and planning better, shakes etc to make sure I eat on time.
OH but carbs are my go to when I have not planned properly. Carbs are not bad just not an all the time food. lol
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
115
157
131
142
79
102
89
116.428571
173
56.57142857
Carbs
207
223
162
296
151
273
259
224.428571
201
-23.42857143
Fat
56
103
126
106
124
71
94
97.1428571
90
-7.142857143
Calories
1792
2447
2306
2706
2036
2139
2238
2237.71429
2306
68.28571429
6/24/2021 – 6/31/2021
Well there you have it. The new format. Let me know what you think.
Here is your chance to chime in. Tell me what you like to see, what would be helpful in this blog. I of course will take these things into consideration.
Thank you all for reading. Please hit the like button if you liked this post. Subscribe if you want to see my posts as they come out.
What am I working on right now? What am I tweaking to be just that much better at Muay Thai?
I have gotten used to the boxing gloves, and the Thai pads. Both of which are large, bulky, and fluffy. You may be thinking what boxing gloves are large? Well yes they are, we use 12 oz to 16 oz boxing gloves to train with. If you have ever had boxing gloves on you will know that they look like balloons on your hands. When you put on a pair of MMA gloves, whoo boy your hands profile gets a lot smaller.
What happens when your hands profile gets a lot smaller?
Your guard area is smaller, the bulky gloves protect a lot of your face. Not so with MMA gloves. You have to remember to move, parry, catch, slip, and bob and weave. Boxing gloves you can pillar up and it will save help you out.
Your elbows can flare out with boxing gloves leaving a channel up your body for a great upper cut from your opponent. So when our hands profile gets smaller you elbows can come down and you have a tighter profile.
Your hands are less protected so you can’t be lazy about your hooks. When you get lazy with less protection, you can break your hands, or your wrists and that is no fun.
Your hands are smaller, so they can split the gloves, or your opponents guard much easier.
The major minor fixes that I am working on lately are:
Using smaller gloves, to work making my guard tighter
Using smaller gloves reminds me of my real area/distance for attack and defend
Using smaller gloves, to work on me turning my hand raising my elbow so I hit the hook correctly.
when you use MMA gloves you feel it, and you know if you hit right
Punching from guard at my face, instead of dropping my hand, and cocking back to punch.
when I drop my hand even a little bit and cock back,
I am giving a tell to my opponent I am about to hit – they will then hit me
I am losing seconds to hit.
I am losing the surprise
Remembering to bring my hand back to my face instead of back to chest level.
when I bring it back to chest level I am
losing time (seconds really but it maters)
I am leaving my guard open till I get my hand back to my face
Those are the minor things I have been working on fixing. What did I work on before. My foot work, or getting off the line. Will I have to tweak those again? Yeah I am sure I will. This art takes a lifetime of learning, I will always have something else I can make better. But right now this is what I am doing, time in training, and drilling will make me better.
At this point in my training, the drills are not new, the moves are things I have done a thousand thousand times.
I am making those minor tweaks. Just like in swimming, to take off seconds in timing. Those tiny tells/things that give away my intentions to strike.
Just like training for nationals in swim team, shaving off seconds in my 500 freestyle time took months of work. Months of tweaking:
when I breath
just how I turned
my jump start
how much water I pulled
breath management
Muay Thai is no different in that regard. Fixing minor things, helped with my overall performance. Well there is one thing that is greatly you get punched and kicked a lot more in Muay Thai then at swim team. lol
Cutting Macros for the Week
Lets see… I did get closer to my protein levels on average. I have made sure to get my protein shakes in, and protein bars when I could not eat lunch at work right away. I can cut carbs and fat, ay
Went over on my carbs and my fats a little this week. But over all felt good. My training was good, and I am getting closer to being on point with my protein intake.
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
123
120
91
154
89
145
108
118.571429
173
54.42857143
Carbs
290
165
193
276
180
203
257
223.428571
201
-22.42857143
Fat
95
83
92
125
71
117
174
108.142857
90
-18.14285714
Calories
2507
1887
1964
2845
1715
2445
3026
2341.28571
2306
-35.28571429
Training Monday 5/17/2021: 45 minute run and weight lifting leg day
Today started out with a walk with my partner.
Then I went for a mile run after digesting breakfast.
Then it was on to first day of this weeks weight lifting workout. Which happens to be leg day again. Weee!
We can do anything we put our minds to. Anyone telling us we can’t are just showing us their limitations not yours!
Leg day with an emphasis on Quads and Glutes: 1) dumbbell squat – reps – 20, 20, 20, 20 2) standing leg extensions- reps – 12, 12, 12
Superset: do all exercises once through before rest 1) barbell hip thrust -reps – 12, 12, 12, 12 2) body weight floor glute bridges -reps – 12, 12, 12, 12
Superset: do all exercises once through before rest 1) resistance band abductor -reps- 15, 15, 15 2) dumbbell sumo squats -reps- 15, 15, 15
Training Tuesday 5/18/2021: 1 hour of Muay Thai
Some days you eat the kick to the ribs because you missed the subtle change in you opponents movement and then since they were nice enough to put their leg up there on your ribs you catch it to off balance them. Making lemonade out of lemons is helpful in my training.
Look I am not… I am still learning and have a lot to learn. But I have been noticing subtle changes in how I perceive my opponent.
I frankly see more now. Reaction time I am working on. 😂 lol
5) respond to the jab cross hook, return a hook, cross, lead kick 6) fed pads for H
7) respond to jab cross hook, high elbow cover and return a jab/strike, cross, hook, rear kick 8 ) fed pads for H
9) respond to jab cross hook, you bob and weave on the hook, return a hook to torso, cross, lead knee 10) fed pads for H
11) pop the leather where we responded to the jab cross hook 12) same as previous round
Training Thursday 5/20/2021: 1 hour of Muay Thai
Who has two thumbs and had a long day at work? Yup that’s me. But I powered through my training. I did for a little bit contemplate just resting today, but I threw on my Beast Mode shirt and trained.
It was a balmy 97 degrees F in my gym today. Whew! When you are tired the heat can suck more energy out of you.
I am glad I went in. I am glad I trained.
Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for a great class again!
What did I focus on while I was so tired? Keeping my hands up, bringing them back to my face, getting out of the pocket after I completed the drill! Yay!
Training Saturday 5/22/2021:1 hour- 1 mile run, and weightlifting upper body
We took the morning and spent it with the kiddos. They needed time with mom and dad. Ordered breakfast out, and had a family picnic.
But I still had to get my run and weightlifting in. I have a schedule to keep. I waited till the kids had to do their daily chores to get away. So a little later in the day than I like to but it’s done woot!
1 mile run, with new better run time in steady state run. Woot!
Weightlifting: upper body – chest, back, biceps
Superset: do all exercises once through no rest till all are done in one set. 1) push ups- reps- 10, 10, 10 2) dumbbell chest fly – reps- 10, 10, 10
1) standing barbell row – reps- 10, 10, 10, 10
2) lay pull down wide grip- reps- used resistance bands- 15, 15, 15, 15
Superset: do all exercises once through no rest till all are done in one set. 1) resistance band chest flys – reps- 15, 15, 15, 15 2) dumbbell standing double arm bicep curls -reps- 12, 12, 12, 12
Training Sunday 5/23/2021: 2.5 hours- 1.5 hours of Muay Thai, and 1 hour of upper body weight lifting back, shoulders and abs
Today was a great day of training. I got to work with my training pod. We worked on pads and sparring.
I focused on keeping my tools in the box, keeping my arms, elbows, and punches tight.
I worked on making sure I don’t drop my hands from my face/guard then punching. When I do that it takes longer for my punches to come, and I send a huge signal that I am punching. A tell. When I say longer I mean a few seconds but those few seconds allows some one else to get a punch in when my guard is down. Really it’s a game of milliseconds and millimeters. You give one you get punched.
Thank you Khun Kru Krysta, Amanda Benson Early, and H for helping me tighten my game.
Then after lunch was eaten it was on to my weightlifting.
3) bent over barbell high row- reps- 12, 12, 12, 12
4) Superset: do all exercises one after another in a set before rest 1) barbell front raise -reps – 12, 12, 12, 12 2) barbell upright row -reps – 12, 12, 12, 12
5) leaning one armed dumbbell lateral raises- reps each side- 12, 12, 12,
6) Superset: do all exercises one after another in a set before rest 1) laying leg raises – reps – 20 2) crunch to side tap -reps – 20 3) standing crunches – reps – 20
7) Superset: do all exercises one after another in a set before rest 1) laying leg raises – reps – 20 2) crunch to side tap -reps – 20 3) standing crunches – reps – 20 4) laying leg raises – reps – 20 5) crunch to side tap -reps – 20 6) standing crunches – reps – 20
What small things are you trying to tweak in your training?
I hope you are all happy and healthy. Thank you for reading my blog/s. If you liked this one, please hit the like button. If you want to follow my adventures feel free to subscribe. As always if you have a comment please feel free to chat. For day to day stuff you can find me @sharpcupcake on instagram.
Yup I am going to go there… This topic is very divisive. I have seen people tow the line for supplements, and I have seen people poo poo supplements. So I am going to talk about the supplements I take and why.
I am not affiliated with any supplement company and all views on supplements I take are just my honest views. I just think this might help someone out there navigate the multibillion dollar mess and quagmire you can get lost in when looking into taking supplements.
I have often noticed that the people who push the supplements the most have the most to gain from you following their lead. They are often affiliated with that supplement company.
I have read people dismissing all supplements and in some cases demonizing them. All you have to do is type in to google ‘why are supplements bad for you?’, and you will have a plethora of people telling you why they are bad and some will have horror stories about bad things that happen. I think it is important to read those too. Just understand what you are reading, and what their motivation is for writing.
I am not here to judge either extreme. I will say though that you should take everything you read and hear with a grain of salt. See if you can find a reason for person A disregarding a product (for instance, they may have had a bad reaction, or may have been ripped off). Alternately if a person B is promoting a product, why are they promoting it? Maybe it has helped them, and maybe they get a kick back from the company.
In any case read everything, study and learn what you can. You and your body are different and what works for me may not work for you.
Some Websites That Are Worth Reading On Supplements
In this case a Dietary Supplement is a just that a capsule, powder, gummy, tablet, energy drink, and energy bar. It is any one of those things you ingest to supplement your diet. They contain vitamins, minerals, and nutrients you normally get from food. Some popular supplements contain vitamin D, B12, minerals like calcium and iron, probiotics, stimulants like caffeine, herbs like garlic and tumeric, and collagen. Just to name some of them.
Some companies add more to their products, extra dyes, sugars, preservatives, etc.
Almost every person uses at least one supplement a day. (Daily vitamin, Caffeine in the form of your favorite beverage, etc)
Why use a supplement?
Supplements are used to add your diet and supplement your diet if you are not eating a full and nutritious diet.
Lets face it most of us are not eating like we should. We know we should eat a more nutritious meal on time, but our fast paced life gets in the way, and you may be shoving a granola bar into your mouth between meetings. Sometimes we don’t eat as nutritious and complete a meal because we have dietary restrictions like Lactose intolerance, allergies, or we are vegetarian.
Whether we have health restrictions or ones of our own making they still limit the nutrients that we can get in. This is a good time to supplement.
Doctors often prescribe supplements, like mind prescribed vitamin D for me.
What to be wary of?
If the supplement is promising anything… but mainly, weight loss, detox, and laxatives.
Supplements are not going to cure an sickness or ailment. If it promises to do that run far far away.
How do I know I am getting quality supplements?
That is a good question and you can verify that the supplement you are looking into has been tested and verified by these independent organizations:
NSF international
U.S. Farmacopia
ConsumerLab.com
These independent organizations above test the products to makes sure that they, properly manufactured, are made with the ingredients printed on the label, that they contain the amounts printed on the label, and that they do not contain harmful levels of contaminants.
Ok… don’t just take my word for it, read for yourself, learn what you can and what the different supplements can do for you.
Here is what I use and why. It has changed over time and will continue to change as I learn more, and my activity changes.
Coffee/Tea every morning – I enjoy the act of sitting and waking up with a cup of coffee or tea, caffeine gives me a pick me up
Daily Vitamin I Take:
Vitamin D – Doctor prescribed because I was dangerously low. I do try to get out in the sun daily thought to make it naturally
Fish oil – Omega 3 fatty acids, helps reduce inflammation, heart health, eye health, and skin. (it helps more than that but those are the reasons I take it)
Turmeric – Anti inflammatory, antioxidant
Glucosamine and Chondroitin – for joint care – commonly found in cartilage, and I don’t chew the cartilage like my Japanese grandparents do. I find the mouth feel unpleasant.
L- Lysine – this is an amino acid that the body cannot make, I use it for athletic performance
Performance Supplements: I take as needed, 3 to 4 days a week.
BCAA – ON (Optimum Nutrition) Amino Energy – Also known as Branch Chain Amino Acids. Of the 9 essential amino acids your body needs for muscle building and proper function, 3 of them are BCAA’s. Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine. You can get these from protein rich foods. I have a hard time eating enough protein. I was a vegetarian for a long time. So this helps me get them in.
Helps with muscle growth
Decreased muscle soreness
Reduce muscle fatigue
Prevent Muscle wasting (or when your body cannibalizes your muscles during a workout due to lack of energy.)
ON Whey Protein Isolate/Concentrate Powder – I use it to supplement my protein intake. I don’t eat enough protein, I cannot sit down to a huge steak and sit and eat it. I am lactose intolerant and this is the only Whey that does not kill my stomach. Whey Protein Isolates have only up to 1 gram of lactose, so I can consume this with little to no negative effects.
ON Collagen – major component of your tendons, joints and connective tissue. Again not really a meat eater, and hate chewing on connective tissue, so this helps me get that in.
helps with hair and nails
skin
joint mobility
ON Creatine – You can get this from meat and animal protein. I use this cause I don’t eat a lot of meat and I am lactose intolerant so I don’t drink milk.
helps build lean muscle
increase high intensity exercise capacity
increase bone mass
increase muscle strength
helps speed recovery
has been proven to increase athletic performance.
ON Beta Alanine – increases muscle performance by increasing exercise capacity and decreasing muscle fatigue.
exercise capacity
reduce muscle fatigue
anti aging
immune enhancing
antioxidant
L – Carnatine – helps the body turn fat in to energy. I use this sparingly.
Do I use these performance supplements every day? Nope, I often use them on days where I have been active all day. Or I have a very heavy workout day ahead of me. For instance. I have 3 solid hours of working out I do on Saturday and Sunday, (Muay Thai, Kali, and weight lifting). On days like today I just ran and did my weight lifting workout. I only used the BCAA mix, for decrease muscle soreness, decrease muscle fatigue, and preventing muscle wasting. On days I don’t workout at all I don’t take these workout supplements.
Do I recommend that every person needs to use these? Oh heck no. When I was first working out only half an hour to an hour a day… nah I did not need it. I did not use supplements then.
If you are starting out (working out) and just getting going, chances are you are not going to need this. These are supplements, things to help you keep your performance at a level where you are progressing. Chances are if you are upping your workout program you will notice when your body needs help.
If you can eat all the protein, vegetables, and dairy you need, you won’t need as much supplementation.
Also talk to your doctor about supplements before taking any. Some can mess with your blood sugar levels and you just may not need them.
Did I decide to take every single one of these all at once? That would be a negative again, when I started to increase my workouts, I just used BCAA’s for a year. Then I realized after research that creatine was not the big scary supplement I thought it was. It was not going to make me look like some male body builder. So I added that. This year I added whey protein powder to try to help increase my protein intake.
What I am saying is my adaptation to supplements has grown organically. I notice a decrease in my ability, or I am healing slower due to an increase in muscle damage I am doing. I evaluate my nutrition, and supplement intake and I adjust.
This is an ever changing, adapting, sometimes increasing, sometimes removing a supplement part of my training.
Supplement is not the big bad word at all. We all take something, even if it is in the form of a multivitamin or you favorite cup of Java in the morning.
Maintenance Eating Week? I think 5th week.
OK so this week I will just say my protein intake has been terrible. I only averaged about half of what I needed to do this week every day. Sunday I got close to what I needed, and that was with me adding two protein shakes, and eating three extra eggs.
So goals for next week is to meet protein needs. I am doing well with carbs and fats… just need to keep pushing the protein. Especially with the way I have been weight training. Protein focus is what I need to do. I love veggies so much though.
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
89
110
81
85
113
149
154
111.571429
210
98.42857143
Carbs
324
263
233
210
127
157
255
224.142857
245
20.85714286
Fat
113
85
93
86
99
112
102
98.5714286
109
10.42857143
Calories
2669
2257
2093
1954
1851
2232
2554
2230
2801
571
Training 5/10/2021: 1 hour – 1 mile run, Upper body Weight lifting
So back at it again. Today’s was upper body weight lifting day. Specifically back, shoulders, triceps, and abs.
I got my mile run in.
Woo this upper body workout was tough on my shoulders. But it was a good burn today. So one day I will be buff.
I am not good at chin ups, so I am doing them inclined so I am on my heels with a flat plank body while pull up.
Did my core stuff, it was a little twinge on my back but I made sure to stabilize my back during it.
3 supersets below: do all exercises in a set before taking a break
Superset 1: do this set x4 1) standing dumbbell upright row- 12, 12, 12, 12 2) dumbbell back fly – 12, 12, 12, 12
Superset 2: do this set x3 1) seated tricep overhead extensions – 12, 12, 12 2) overhead resistance band tricep extensions – 12, 12, 12
Superset 3: do this set x3 1) crunch into side to side crunches – 20, 20, 20 2) sit ups into twists – 20, 20, 20 3) upper crunches – 20, 20, 20
Training 5/11/2021: 1 hour of Muay Thai
Today was a good day of training. It was good because it was a test of my endurance. I work a job where I am on my feet. I was at work till about an hour and a half before my Muay Thai class. I was up at 4:30 am, and did not get home till 3 pm.
Man I was pooped. But I did it…I worked on my form, and tried to remember to keep my hands up.
I also got a chance to talk to Professor Pedro Sauer. He is an amazingly sweet man and takes the time to speak to all of his students. He gave me pointers about training and I am so great full.
I am a lucky woman, I have been able to learn, bump elbows, and train with living legends in the martial arts world.
Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for a great class.
Training 5/15/2021 Workout: 2 hours and 45 minutes, Muay Thai, Kali, abs weight lifting lower body
Today was a great day of training. I ended up taking 3 days off of training. I did not realize how much I needed the rest.
5) respond to the jab cross hook, return a hook, cross, lead kick 6) fed pads for H
7) respond to jab cross hook, high elbow cover and return a jab/strike, cross, hook, rear kick 8 ) fed pads for H
9) respond to jab cross hook, you bob and weave on the hook, return a hook to torso, cross, lead knee 10) fed pads for H
11) pop the leather where we responded to the jab cross hook 12) same as previous round
Kali:
We worked the Running Saint Rafael. Broke it down into three parts, abisadario 3, triple ordabise, umbrella 3
Weight lifting: Lower Body Quads and Glutes
1) dumbbell squats – reps – 20, 20, 20, 20 2) standing leg extensions- reps each side – 12, 12, 12
Superset: do each full set before taking a break 1) barbell hip thrust – reps – 12, 12, 12, 12 2) floor glute bridges with a plate – reps- 12, 12, 12, 12
Superset: do each full set before taking a rest 1) abductor with resistance band – reps- 15, 15, 15 2) dumbbell sumo squats – reps – 15, 15, 15
Training 5/16/2021 Workout: 2.5 hours – Muay Thai practice and lower body weight lifting
Today I found out one of the instructors I had the honor to learn from in seminars died. It is a great loss to the Muay Thai community and family. We are all so very saddened by this news.
He has touched so many of us, and his love for the art of Muay Thai transferred to all around him.
I can’t think of a better way to honor his memory in but to practice and work on the art he so loved and dedicated his life to.
Khun Kru Krysta also gave us a gift and demonstrated and taught us Ajarn Sangtiennoi’s Wai Kru. He taught her when she was in Thailand.
May his memory soar and continue in history. Those that love him will remember forever in their hearts.
In honor of Sangtiennoi Muay Thai training: 1.5 hours
Pad work and Sparring practice 1) I am working on bringing my hands back to my face. 2) tightening my high elbow cover 3) keeping my head moving 4) changing up my strategy in sparring, not aggress all the time, let them come to me. Range management, staying just outside of range and then getting in for strikes.
Weight lifting: glutes and hamstrings focus
Let me tell you getting kicked a lot makes this leg day hard to get through. Lol
1) barbell Romanian Dead Lifts – reps – 10, 10, 10, 10 2) barbell alternating reverse lunges- reps each side – 20, 20, 20, 20 3) dumbbell Bulgarian split squats – reps each side- 12, 12, 12, 12 4) kneeling resistance band pull through – reps – 15, 15, 15
Do you use supplements? Have you been afraid to use them? Are you going to try some in the future?
I sometimes eat these protein bars as well. Again to get the protein in I need to meet my macros.
Thank you all for reading, I hope it helped at least a little. Let me know what you think in comments, please like, and subscribe if you want to see more. I post more often on my instagram page @sharpcupcake
Sometimes taking off the gloves is all you need to tweak your training. I write about my adventures and what I am learning in my blogs, and it is amazing how much I still learn every day. Sometimes I can’t see it right away, sometimes it takes days like this where I sit down and reflect on my week of training.
So today I am thinking about my training, and remember back to a day in the week where my instructor is telling me for probably the 100,000,000th time, probably more, to not flare my elbows and keep my guard tight when I have my hands up covering my face.
Often times I hear the advice, and internalize it, and try to fix it right away. If I don’t understand I stop and ask. However, for this I tighten my arms I think, and keep going.
Then she says, “stop, next round I want you to use my MMA gloves.”
The difference between the MMA gloves and boxing gloves is:
The weight – (boxing gloves tend to be 12 oz to 16 oz), the weight slows down your punches, and helps your body work more
The size – think big balloons on your hand verses slightly padded leather gloves
The protection for your hands and your opponents face – With less padding on the hands, if I am lazy and hit wrong with the MMA gloves I can break my hand, I can also do a lot more damage to my opponent because there is less padding to dissipate my blows.
Mostly she is using it for its size. The profile is much different on the MMA they have less surface area and the tactile difference when I put them on my temples for my guard is completely different.
It was a moment of genius she had when recommending them. I clearly was struggling to do what she asked and she thought of a different way to get my body to ingrain that muscle memory.
What I learned was the boxing gloves are huge in comparison… Duh right, but hear me out. We use boxing gloves for everything, they are usually 12 oz to 16 oz depending on the gloves. They are great for weight, and they soften the blow when you punch your opponent. They protect your hands from breaking on your opponent.
They are also huge. So when I was told to bring my elbows in, I was not understanding because I was keeping them on my face and rotating them in, but the gloves were so big I could not feel it. Just switching up my training with the MMA gloves has helped me not only see what she was talking about but adjust my boxing gloves to mimic the same feeling with them on.
The dangerous part was I had to be very careful about knuckle placement so I did not break the little bones in my hand with the MMA gloves, I also had to be careful with my training partner, because they are not padded like the boxing gloves. One well placed hit and he would have been knocked out.
So we trained slow and deliberate, working on form and flow. I took the power out of my strikes.
I literally took my gloves off, so I could train in a different way. So I could physically feel the changes my instructor wanted me to do.
I love that the little tweaks we are doing is what is going to make my form and flow better and better. I don’t always see it, but every day on the mat, is a day I am improving even if by fractions.
Maintenance week 4
This week went off the rails for me. I was going to just do another maintenance but ended up letting myself indulge a little more than normal. It was a week where I had to take a few days off to let my back heal up. I have scoliosis and have days weeks where things get out of whack.
For the last three days I did not focus on getting the protein in, or even hitting my macros. It was Mother’s Day weekend and I just kinda let myself have a break.
I noticed I did not even come close to my protein intake, I did better on my carbs intake, and my fat intake was on average low.
What this means to me when I try to intuitively eat, or just eat the way I want to, I lean more toward carbs, eat lower fats, and little protein.
MACRO AVERAGES
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Average
Goal
Difference
Protein
105
117
148
200
98
78
116
123.142857
210
86.85714286
Carbs
178
242
234
290
219
158
257
225.428571
245
19.57142857
Fat
97
63
114
107
50
46
70
78.1428571
109
30.85714286
Calories
2005
2003
2554
2923
1718
1358
2122
2097.57143
2801
703.4285714
Maintenance Week 4 – 5/3/2021 -5/9/2021
Monday 05/03/2021 Workout: 1 hour run and upper body weight lifting
This post is for the people who have reached out to me. Saying I have helped them in some way. I am so happy to have been able to help them.
I am no where near perfect. I have days where I don’t want to do my workout. I hate pictures of me, I see every flaw. I see stretch marks, from the time my body grew and cared for my babies. I have fat cause I like eating bad for me things like cookies, and pastries.
I am working every day to be the best person I can be. I am working every day to try not to compare myself to everyone else. There is no one else like me. I am genetically diverse. I am half Japanese, other half is Irish and Cherokee.
I am never going to look pretty when working out. I get red when my body is working hard.
But I am working, I am trying, and I am dedicated.
I am not perfect, but I am constant trying to be the best me. I am going to celebrate my 42nd revolution around the sun this year. So I am not a youngster. I am flawed and imperfect but I am trying.
Thank you all for the kind words, the awesome stories you have told me. Thank you for letting me know that/if I am an inspiration to you.
Know when I say if I can do it, I truly believe you can do it too. Just keep trying. You are going to fall down, the important part is getting back up!
Workout: 1 mile run
Upper Body : Chest, Back, Triceps 1) dumbbell one armed bench row – each side reps- 8, 8, 8, 8, 6, 6
2) barbell dead lift – reps – 8, 8, 8, 8, 8
3) resistance band narrow grip pull down – reps – 8, 8, 8, 8
We worked the same drills as Thursday. However, I am at a level where we have to make small adjustments. Where I literally have to tighten my slip so my opponent can’t throw an overhand into my head.
It’s repetitive but necessary. Toward the end of three solid minutes of slipping the cross. I was keeping it tight. I was not throwing my head to the side.
When the gloves come off (quite literally) it gets me hyper focused. Practicing slipping the cross when you training partner does not have gloves on and if they make contact will give you a shiner, gets me paying attention.
Parry the cross slip tight
Same for kicks with intent those will get you to lateral quickly. Don’t want to go home with a limp. Not being there when a strike comes in is a great defense.
Thank you Khun kru Krysta!
Thursday 05/06/2021 Training: 1 hour of Muay Thai training
So like I have mentioned before, unless it’s a new drill ( strikes strung together in a different way) myself and a couple of other students know the drills. We know the basic rules, and if called upon to throw any number of strike we can.
However, and this is a big ‘however’ there is always room for improvement. I am always going to be working on flowing, polishing my form, and working defense with counter strikes.
1) Today was the day I was working keeping my guard tight together, but loose at the same time.
2) today I worked on turning over my hook, snatching it back, and keeping it on my face till the the next bunches of punches.
Khun Kru Krysta had an ingenious idea. To have me wear mma gloves or bag gives. They have a smaller profile, so it helps with my muscle memory.
We worked slow because not only can the mma gloves help knock a person out ( less padding), but because the can also damage your hand. If you don’t throw the punch correctly. You hit the outer Knuckles and you run the risk damaging or breaking your hand.
The gloves helped me keep my hands and arms tighter in my guard, helped me to understand where my fist were. Because the 12 oz gloves have so much ch padding you loose sense of where your hands are in relation to your face. Which I need to work on.
Thank you khun kru Krysta!
Slow and deliberate was the way to drill. to fix my form. I need to raise my elbow and make sure I am punching with my first two knuckles. We will speed up when my form is looking better.
Saturday 05/08/2021 Muay Thai : 1 hour of Muay Thai Practice
Went to train. I had to take it slow. My back was hurting went to chiropractor yesterday.
Hip and lower back not happy with me. So I took it slow and worked the forms. My hip is joint was pinching my sciatic nerve which messed up my back a little with my scoliosis.
Gonna not skip weight lifting today and tomorrow let my back rest. Then I will be back at it.
Do what you can, work around your injuries. Life is gonna happen and you gotta pick yourself back up. Keep going.
And that is it for the past week. I took three days off of training because my scoliosis and hip was pinching my sciatic nerve. I let myself take a break from trying to meet macros. I let myself have a good mothers day.
I am back at it today.
I hope you have a great week. If you liked this blog post please let me know and hit the like button. If you want to keep up with my adventures subscribe. As always feel free to comment. For more day to day stuff you can find me at Sharpcupcake on instagram.
Thinks with Spinks 