Today I did a weight lifting workout that my trainer for Muay Thai gave me and my team mates.
I was very taxing and he said it was going to make me sore for a few days and laughed. I accepted the challenge and did it. I also filmed it so that I could keep record of my progress.
Using weights that make it hard for you to complete 8 to 9 reps. You want to do 40 reps total for each weight.
Weight Lifting Workout: 60 second rest between each different exercise
Barbell back squats 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 seconds rest between each 8 to 9
Barbell bench press 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 seconds rest between.
Barbell row 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 second rest between
Kettle Bell swing 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 second rest between
It was hard to get a picture of me today, I felt like I looked terrible in all of them.
If I can work on my fitness, any of you can do it too. I am not the normal fitness model. I am as far from it as one could get. I just try to do my best. That is why if I can do it I truly believe you all can do it too.
Keep working on make yourself the best you that you can be. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a great day.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! If you are from the U.S. or live in the U.S. there is a small holiday called Thanksgiving. (pssstt… its not small, its a huge food and family holiday for us) Where we use it as an excuse to get together with family and friends and give thanks for what we have. We cook gigantic birds called turkeys, and share food. It stems from, we are told as young Americans, the first meal shared by the colonists and the Native Americans who were here before them.
These things are good to keep in mind for any holiday, anywhere.
Just so you know this is an opinion piece. I have read so many differing opinions. TLDR -If you don’t have time to read the whys… here is the gist of my post. Do what is good for you. But there are some pros and cons for different approaches depending on where you are in your journey.
Part of me wants to just say, have fun eat what you want in the holidays. Time with your family is not infinite live it up. But that is not necessarily the case.
What everyone should do no matter where they are on their fitness journey:
Keep working out…Even if you are traveling and away from home. Find ways to get your workout in. Make it an adventure. If you love running, take your running shoes and some gym clothes with you and run around where ever you land. Its a great way to learn about the place you have to spend your holiday.
Learn simple exercises that you can do without a lot of equipment. Stick to things like squats, sit ups, planks, lunges, jumping jacks, push ups, bear crawling, etc.
Write these down on a piece of paper and pack that with you so that you have something you can look at and perform in a hotel room, or even your sister in laws brother house that you have to be at for the family gathering.
Make a holiday game plan, and stick to it. Or lets be honest stick to it as best you can. If you had one extra piece of chocolate don’t let it derail your entire holiday game plan.
Check out the local gym if you need weights. They sometimes have day pass you can purchase, and some gyms will let you try out the gym for free if you ask. You can also purchase month to month memberships at gyms.
Keep drinking your water
Buy your own snacks, and monitor your snacking
If you are new to this journey:
If you are new to the fitness journey then I would say being strict about your routine, and food intake is super important. You are still learning how your body works, and reacts to exercise and food. It takes about 21 days to form a habit, and if you are in the middle of that 21 days, or just a few months into your journey, now is a critical time to stick to the plan.
Stick to your routine as close as possible. If you cannot do your workout, make sure to stick working out at the same time of day, and same days.
Keep counting your Macros. If you are counting your macros and calories, keep doing so. Think ahead of time, and figure out what amount of Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and green beans you can have.
Keep making good decisions and aiming to add new habits that are conducive to you fitness goals. Remember this is a journey not a race.
Avoid that extra cookie, or that piece of pie, choose fruit or naturally sweet items instead.
Avoid sweetened drinks (there are a lot of hidden calories in those, like juice, and eggnog)
Avoid alcohol if you can
Avoid sauces (there are a lot of hidden calories)
Choose lean cuts of meat
Chose veggies that are not covered in sauce
Chose to snack on raw veggies instead of the pretzels, chips or other appetizers.
Don’t let other people make you feel bad, don’t let your family make you feel bad for your decisions. You are doing this for you, not for them. You are trying to make yourself better.
Plan to get back to your normal schedule when you get back home, or after the holidays. Stick to your plan.
If you are established in your fitness routine:
If you are seasoned and established in your fitness routine I feel you know your body better. You know how it responds to exercise, and you know it responds to different kinds of food. You have been counting calories/macros for a while. You have been practicing intermittent fasting for a while. You know what you have been doing. You have your routine.
First of all taking a few days of will not set you back. You know how to get back to it and you will. You don’t have to be as strict. You know what you have done, and how to do it.
Keep in mind what your body needs to function. You understand portion control. You know what your plate looks like.
Keep up your workout. However, it does not hurt to change it up. As a matter of fact it is good for you and your body. Your body gets used to a type of physical exertion so the holidays are a good way to change it up for a short time to get out of the rut.
Look up cool need things to do in the area you are going to be at. If going to an area that has snow. Take the time to go skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, and sledding. If you are going some where there is sand and water, swim, run on the sand, wake board, and try surfing.
Don’t let one meal or one mistake derail your entire holiday.
Get back on track after the holiday. You have to make sure you get back to it. Most likely if you are like me. You will feel like something is missing because you it is such a part of your life. You will want to get back to it as soon as possible.
The holidays are a tricky course to run. Spend time with your family. Enjoy the company. Enjoy the food sensibly. You can over indulge and that might set you back, but if you keep nutrition and exercise in mind you should be alright. Do what is right for you, and don’t let anyone guilt you into eating or doing anything you don’t want to do. Remember you are working to make yourself better. Keep working to make the best you that you can be. You do you… everyone else will see your dedication and hard work.
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment.
This particular picture popped up in my FB feed today. I felt it was appropriate. This is a core belief of mine. Even on the days I don’t feel like getting in there. I do it because it is good for me.
This week we have a shorter training time. Our gym is running a seminar weekend and so we don’t have class on Friday and Saturday.
The extra rest may be a blessing. We will see. I may just train on my own just to keep working on things.
Tuesday 11/19/2019 – 2.5 hours… Muay Thaiand Kali
It was so much fun tonight. I got to work with a brand new student who is 6 feet tall and named Steve. In Muay Thai we worked on distance management. And in Kali we worked on sword and shield, high box, full box, and Saint Chameel. Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for the great class.
After class snack/meal. Yup I am weird but it tastes so good. I egg and 3 egg whites, radishes, and a baby cucumber!
Tuesday 11/19/2019 – 1 hour and 45 minutes… Kettle Bell and Muay Thai
I did it again. I made a kettle bell workout for myself, friend, and husband again. You can read about it here.
Conditioning: 45 seconds to do the exercise 15 seconds rest between them
Coach Tony gave us a fantastic conditioning class. Thank you! Lots of explosive movements and functional movements. Whew I am exhausted. Did I say that yet? I will probably say it a few more times.
bear crawls x 45 seconds
half burpees
side to side bear crawl
step ups
crab walk
ninja jumps
sit through
side to side burpees
After my workout, and then three rounds of this.
We worked on double kick to knees and then elbows.
Tony then had us working on our core muscles. Whew… At this point in the night while I am writing this. I am exhausted. I may not remember all the exercises he had us do but you get the picture. My husband does not remember and is about to pass out. So that is of no help to me. =) I guess I am on my own, and with my own recollection.
crunch up to touch ankles
pike crunches
bicycles
???
knee to elbow in plank position
plank elbow to hand raises
???
30 second planks with a weight on our back. I ended up doing 4 30 second planks, while everyone else did 2. Cause coach told me to, so I did.
But you get the gist of what happened to us. I am exhausted. I am in need of a shower, and I have to get up really early… I commonly say “at the ass crack of dawn”, but I digress. 4 am is coming soon, so that is it for this day.
We intended on going to the gym and training on Thursday, but life got in the way. Husband had a work emergency and had to take the car to deal with it. So this week I only did 4 hours 15 minutes of training. That is a huge deviation from our usual 8 to 10 hour training weeks. But When I first started my fitness journey I would have been so happy with that amount. It is amazing to think about how things have changed.
I can say my body has needed the break. And while I would have liked to train more. It is nice to have a break. As I said any time in the gym is good time. Try to stay positive and do what you can. Life will rear it ugly head sometimes, so just roll with it.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day. Keep working to be the best you that you can be. Like, comment, and share if you feel inspired to.
My friend and husband wanted to do a workout again before our Muay Thai class. This kettle bell workout took about 45 minutes to complete. We did it in a superset format. Doing a super set is great for your body and muscles. Supersets increases the intensity and overloads your muscle so that makes it work harder. Supersets have been found to give you better results for muscle growth because it helps you get into hypertrophy.
Hypertrophy: Is an increase in muscle mass and volume. You reach hypertrophy when you damage your muscles mechanically and get your muscles to metabolic fatigue.
Kettle Bell workout ( Superset each set of exercises done back to back, no rest till both exercises are done. We rested 30 seconds between on set of exercises. Then repeat exercise set 3 times.)
Note: use weights that work for you. I did all of these with 25 and 20 lbs. But use the weights that you can safely wield.
KB swings x 30 for 3 reps
KB Goblet squats x 20 for 3 reps
KB Halos x 10 for 3 reps
KB Bulgarian Split Squat x 10 for 3 reps
KB single leg Romanian dead lift x 10 for 3 reps
Sit up and press x 30 for 3 reps
KB bent over rows x 10/15 for 3 reps
Leg raise circles x 10 rotating left, 10
rotating right for 3 reps
I had shown my KB workout to my trainer, Tony. He said oohh good that will be a good warm up to my workout. Then he procceded to kick our butts. But that will be put in my later weekly blog about my martial arts training.
I hope you get a chance to try this out. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you get to try it out. Have a great night. Thank you for reading.
When your friends ask you to put together a workout. That is what you do.
Since we are training conditioning to get ready for our level 1 test. I was asked to help make some weight lifting classes we could do this week I did a kettle bell session.
At the same time one of my trainers has upped our conditioning. At one point in the week I… lets say it hurt to do my daily activities. I hope to get stronger, get toned, lose more weight, and just get better over all in my martial arts.
I have the discipline to get into the gym and work myself up to 100%, however, I noticed I need the coaches to push me up and over my 100%. To get me to get past my top level to 110%. To pull one more set out, one more rep out. It is great to know your limitations and what you need to success.
Tuesday 11/12/2019 – 1.5 hours… Muay Thai
Guess who has two thumbs and 2 months about to get ready for her next test. Yep that is me.
Tony said, “strong arms gives strong clench, strong claves helps you move more.” What he means is this conditioning we do when we make our muscles stronger we can hold on better, and the better we work our calf muscles the better we will be at being light on our feet. Being light on our feet is necessary to be able to move around and get out and away from a strike.
Below is the training we did today.
2 x 3 minute knees 188, 221
Plank for 30 seconds between each round
2 x 3 minute jump rope
Squat and hold for 30 seconds between each round
2 x 3 minute rounds of 10 kicks on each side continuously
Jumping Jacks between each round 30 seconds
2 x 3 minute rounds of Knees
2 x 3 minute rounds of 4 knees then 4 kicks
Stretching.
Wednesday 11/13/2019 – 1.5 hours… Muay Thai, and Kettlebells
Whew what a workout today. I am going to be feeling it tomorrow. I put up the kettlebell workout I had myself and the guys do today before class.
My friend, husband, and I want to get more weight lifting in, and I am the one they turned to. So I made the above workout for us. Then Tony my instructor kicked out butts with this conditioning workout below. I am a dead girl as I type this. Here is hoping my recovery drink will help me shake off most of the D.O.M.S. tomorrow.
10 exercies for 45 seconds with 10 seconds rest between them
Star burpees
pushup and arm raises
rotating squats
lunge back and kick
single leg hip raises
squat on ball of feet
star push ups
sit up grab knees
Ali – foot shuffle
Bear crawls
Pushing knees across the mat 4 minutes
3 minute kick bag 5 times, switch with partner, then kick other leg 5 times and switch with partner.
Then he had us do abductors/core workout: Whew!
crunches
flutter kicks
crunches
single leg pike
horizontal sissor kick
single leg pike
flutter kicks
Thursday 11/14/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai
Today was one of those days where I am exhausted. I am hurting because of delayed onset muscle soreness, and I am just done with the day. We did technique training today
In Muay Thai we worked on elbows, entries to elbows, countering elbows and combos with elbows.
We worked on a kick called the bicycle kick. It was very Capoeira-esc. I kicked the pad two times, but all the other times I looked silly.
Kali –
In Kali we worked on sword and shield. It was cool cause we got to do the shield and responses. This is different than the high box, and full box we have been doing. We did that as well, but it was nice to do a shield a hit and respond.
I am exhausted, I am kinda cranky, and my muscles hurt. Today was a great active rest day for me. I was running out of juice quickly toward the end of Kali, and just did not want to be there any more. But I made it in, and I put the mat time in.
When I am having this kind of day I know it is normal to have once in a while. I just don’t like it. Its important to just rep the skills out even if you are not having the best time.
Friday 11/15/2019 – 1+? hours… Muay Thai
Today was a better day. I thought about not going cause I was hurting a great deal from D.O.M.S. But I kicked my own butt in gear and went in.
1 hour or more of workout! It may be more cause our trainer Tony kicked our buts again. He kicked our butts so hard that we lost rack of time. It was a fantastic class. I went in hurting you know the good kind. Like it hurts to sneeze, it hurts to walk up your three story town home stairs, and it hurts to lower your butt to the toilet cause your muscles are dead. I don’t hurt now cause I stretched and my body is warm but it will hurt tomorrow.
Thank you so much Tony that was awesome class of conditioning, fast feet and core workout!
Conditioning
100 kettle bell swings
100 push ups
50 mountain climbers
100 rear lunges
body weight squats
50 clean and press kettle bell
Burpees – 20 seconds as many as you can. 10 seconds rest, 8 sets of 20 seconds.
Agility/Fast feet
Agility ladder x 5 rounds, at end of ladder either kick, knee, or kick and knee as instructor decided.
run around the gym then back to the agility ladder
CoreStations
Ball pike
stir the pot
medicine ball sit up and press up
Russian twists
ab roll wheel
stir the pot
bosu ball plank kicks
ball pike
Even though I was tired and my muscles hurt. I am glad I went in. I worked hard and over came my pain for now. Now I am exhausted and need sleep.
Saturday 11/16/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai
2 hours of training. Kali and Muay Thai training was awesome. Thank you Khun Kru Krysta it was awesome.
We worked on the running Saints, Saint Chameel and the Saint Villabrille in Kali. Then we worked on countering the jabs in and controlling the opponents arm/body in Muay Thai.
It was a great day. I got to work with my team mates and friends. I got to work on my skill, and technique.
Our training has just metamorphosed this way, or maybe it is a product of our increased level and training needs (getting ready for our level 1 test). However, our Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday classes tend to be technique and our Wednesday, Friday classes are our conditioning days. It is probably both.
My husband and I were talking about how our classes, just our technique classes would kick our butts. However, it is not the case any more. We have to do conditioning-centric classes to get our conditioning in.
It has been a great week of training. I may not have wanted to go every day, but I went in and got my training time in. I was insanely sore after Wednesday, then kept going. Training conditioning on Friday seemed to help with the soreness. I am sore now, tight and just need to rest.
Thanks for reading. I hope you are having a great weekend. Feel free to ask questions.
We are working on conditioning getting ready for a level 1 test at my gym. My husband and friend wanted to get more strength training in and asked me to come up with something we could do at the gym. They have kettlebells and very few weights. So I put together something that we could do there with little problem.
I personally love kettlebells for several reasons:
It helps you work multiple muscles at one timesaving you time. This makes your workout time shorter by half or more. When you work multiple muscles at once you don’t have to do as many isolation moves which takes a long time.
Swinging the kettlebell requires strength and power to generate force. You also have to focus on your dexterity to keep from dropping or throwing the kettlebell away from you.
It is a full body workout. You use your legs, hips, back, and arms to control, throw and keep from dropping that kettle bell.
Easy to learn and execute if you just focus on form.
These two have never done a kettle bell workout before. So I wanted to make it easy. =)
The thing they hated the most was the bulgarian split squats the most. Then our awesome teacher Tony for Muay Thai killed us in conditioning. It was a good killing. It was hard, and I needed him to push me past my own original workout, cause I was done. So Yay!
Kettle bell workout: Use the kettle bell weight you can swing around and control but still taxes your muscles. This is a Super Set no rest between two exercises, one set is two exercises, repeat for three sets, 30 second rest between each set
Bulgarian Split squats 10 reps Lunge and curl 10 to 12 reps
Bent over row 10 reps each arm Squat and press 10 reps each arm
Around the World 1 minute 30 seconds one way 30 seconds the other way Figure 8s 1 minute 30 seconds one way 30 seconds the other way
Kettle bell swings as many as you can do for 1 minute
I thought you guys would want to see it. So here it is. Let me know what you think. I hope you get a chance to try it.
This week starts with a really cool experience. I got to work with a girl whose first time in Muay Thai class was this day. I hope she comes back. She is shorter than I am which is amazing, because I am 5 foot nothing, and easily the shortest in the class. She had the same look on her face as I am sure I had on mine when I first started. The look of amazement, fear, and determination. I really hope she comes back.
I have mentioned it before, but working with brand new people, or just people that are not as far along as you can really highlight just how much you know compared to the average bear… Sorry that is an American colloquialism. The phrase is, “smarter than the average bear” A cartoon character called Yogi Bear claimed he was, smarter than your average bear. He would say this when he did something smart. I digress because I know I have some international readers, and some of my turns of phrase may not be universally understood. =)
Back to the topic at hand… yes working with new people is not only good for the community/Muay Thai family, but it is great to help you see maybe just how far you have come. Little did I know that Thursday was going to hold a surprise for me.
Tuesday 11/05/2019 – 2.5 hours… Muay Thai, and Kali
H and I worked on sword and shield all by ourselves for 30 minutes. We wanted to work it more cause we just learned it. And practice makes us a little better than we were before. =)
I am tired so I just wrote down what we did. Here it is.
Muay Thai-
Elbows 1 -3
lead horizontal, rear downward diagonal, rear knee, lead teep
lead upward diagonal, rear downward diagonal, rear knee, rear kick
lead horizontal, rear horizontal, spinning left elbow, knee, kick, teep
plus sign foot work, horizontal elbow, horizontal elbow, your opponent keeps up pillar block
Kali –
Sword and shield, high box Strikes 15, 1, 2
Sword and shield, full box Strikes 15, 1, 4, 3, 2
Thursday 11/07/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai, and Kali – Surprise Test
Today started out like most other Thursdays. I am extremely exhausted cause I had to get up at the crack of dawn, hell before the crack of dawn to get H to the metro and my butt into the bakery to work. I was up at 4:20 am and have been up ever since.
Needless to say by the time Muay Thai and Kali class rolled around at 7 pm. I am tired. I could take a nap that would turn in to a sleep all night. That is about 14 hours non stop.
I come to find out that we are doing a surprise testing in Muay Thai. What? I would normally know its coming and make sure I know my stuff. I would also be slightly worried I would not be ready, so I would go over terms, and moves, and anything I could. Because that is how a Tanya like me do.
Nope I did not have that time to prepare/worry. It was a testing day today and I had to not think but do.
So we tested:
technique demo – where we all line up in lines and show our instructors what a #1 elbow is (by the way that is a horizontal elbow), what a number two skip knee is (that is a one foot on the ground only skip knee), etc.
Boxing 20
4 counts, and advanced 4 counts
Muay Thai 15 count
I did it all. I passed my test. I was promoted three ranks, because we had our last test months ago.
I went from blue to purple white! That is being promoted past two whole ranks!!! It’s been a while since we had a test. Squee!!! I can’t believe it yet. When I started Muay Thai the level 1 test was so far away. I just wanted to try to remember how to kick right. Now the level 1 test is right around the corner.
Thank you Khun Kru Krysta for the test and class. Respects 🙏
I added our rank progression so you can see where blue is and where purple white is. Red we call Rank 1 but on the chart it is Rank 2. I believe after Rank one you can fight in the ring.
Kali – we did sword and shield again.
With sword and shield it is learning how to use the shield to deflect the blows, using the stick/sword to return blows, and the shield is completely different than a stick or other weapon. I have to move my body in a way that will make it possible for me to move the shield up in time. This movement is different than the other weapons we use.
In all it is super awesome to practice sword and shield. I have only done it 3 times so far and it is one of my favorite Kali forms. Also Kabri Kabrong the precursor to Muay Thai used sword and shield.
Friday 11/08/2019 – 1.5 hours… Muay Thai
Tony is a fantastic teacher, and he knows that some of us are going to go to a Ajarn Chai seminar tomorrow. That is a 5 hours of training. So he wanted to do a lighter training day. Well let me tell you it was not as light as he might think. But it was fantastic. He had us work on hit then respond right away.
3 x 2 minute rounds of Jump rope
1 x 3 minute round knees on bag
1 x 3 minute round of lead kick on bag
1 x 3 minute round of rear kick on bag
3 x 3 minute round shadowboxing with jumping jacks in the middle
4 x 3 minute rounds Hit for hit drill … (you hit one, opponent hits one/you hit 2 opponent hits 2/ you hit 3 opponent hits 3/ up to 5) The object was to respond right away, hit back after being hit. Because in Muay Thai the person that get the last hit in get the point.
2 x 3 minute round Thai slide in side teep, with a hop knee
5 minute round where ever 30 seconds we switched form rapid jab cross, to skip knees
It was fantastic. I am tired though now.
Saturday 11/09/2019 – 5 hours… Muay Thai Seminar
OSMA Muay Thai group with Ajarn Chai
Kevin and I photo credit Kevin
First time in a ring.
photo credit Khun Kru Krysta
Today was an exciting day. I got the wonderful opportunity to go to a Muay Thai seminar with the legend Ajarn Chai himself. I am home now. Husband has fed me and I am exhausted. I am over the moon I got to see him again. He remembered me from Thai Camp and gave me hugs. I am shocked and honored that he remembered me. Not because he could not remember me, but because I don’t think I am all that memorable, or there is anything to remember about me. =)
We worked on the basics. Khun Kru Caro said, “if you don’t have a solid base/stance you don’t have anything, and you will lose your balance.”
We went through the elbows 1 -8. We worked on left and right kicks. It was fantastic.
Combo #1:
right cross
left hook
right overhand
Combo #2:
Opponent does a Thai lean, you scoop the lean out
#3 elbow/Downward Diagonal
Opponent throws a overhand punch
You block the bicep and tie up with other hand
You cock the shoulder and deliver a #6 elbow/ side in
Tie up, #3 knee/side in knee
Then skip knee #2
We worked on a counter to an elbow. A way to stop an elbow coming in hard, and basically shut that elbow down.
Combo #3:
Opponent throws a cross you scoop it inside out
You throw elbow #4
Tie up
Run skip knee #2
Thai lean to teep
Today was an awesome day! I am so lucky to have been able to make it to this seminar. I got to see familiar faces, people I love and love to train with. People from the Thai Camp I got to see again.
I got to see Ajarn Chai’s famous paper trick. His whole point for this paper trick, is relax and you will hit better, and don’t think about getting hit or stabbed because that will make you tighten up. If you are relaxed you are faster. Your muscles are not taut and your reflexes are far faster than you think they are. If you employ this thinking in your fighting you will loosen up, and you will hit faster.
I was able to get it on video. Part 1 and Part 2. Ajarn Chai wanted my phone to be in the middle so that you could see what he was doing for part 2. This was a great video, and an honor to see this demonstration. I have heard about it from my instructors, but never gotten a chance to see it.
Part 1:
This is the first part of the Paper demonstration with Ajarn Chai.
Part 2:
This is Ajarn Chai doing the paper demonstration, with 6 guys with training knives. His object is to take the paper before they can touch his hand with a knife. These are training knives. Do not try this at home with real knives.
I may have missed a combo in there. If I did and I get it from my friends. I will edit and post it to this blog post.
It was a fantastic day. I am happily coming down off the excitement. I am tired, and going to go pass out soon. I learned so much. I worked on my form, an when form is great, your power an speed will come as Ajarn Chai says. I was complimented on my form and I was honored.
Thank you for reading my blog. I had an amazing week for martial arts training. I completed 10 hours of training. Getting to see the great legend Ajarn Chai, and having the honor to train with him. I had a surprise test and was awarded the purple white Pra Jiad/armband.
I am amazed you all read my blog. Let me know if you have any questions. As always keep working to be the best you that you can be. My respects to you and yours.
