Four events means a lot of hard work…

In honor of the Olympics, Sensei Gatch held our own Karate Olympics.  This was an hour of all out conditioning that put Karate student against Karate student.

Three sets of timed push ups to failure…

We started with push ups.  For the first part of this three part event, Sensei had us do as many push ups and we could for 30 seconds.  I ended up with 34, the most in the group, in the first 30 seconds.  On the second 30 second test, I was able to do 22 push ups, which was the most in my group again.  For the third part of the event, I was only able to do 13 push ups.  One of the other students beat me on the third part by doing 16 push ups but my total of 69 beat his total of 67.  My arms and front deltoids were pretty much useless after the push ups.

V-sit and hold forever…

For the next event we got on to the floor and had to hold our legs up in the v-situp position for as long as possible.  I ended up winning this event by holding the position for longer than anyone else and over five minutes.  My abdominals never gave out buy my hip flexors felt like they were beaten with stick.

Wall sit or the dreaded invisible chair…

For this event we had to sit with our backs against the wall and hold for as long as possible.  Because my hip flexors already spent, I was only able to hold the position for about two minutes and 30 seconds.  I had to 50 squats because of the length of time that I held myself up.

Sprint or go home…

The last event was a good ole fashioned foot race.  Sensei Gatch put some pads as a finish line about three quarters of way across the gym.  We had to run agaist each other and the people who lost had to go to the other side of the gym and do low walks until everyone was done running the races.  I ended up losing to a young girl who is about 26 years younger than me but only by a couple of inches.

Kata…

After all the events we had to do a single kata.  Without much energy left, we all did Heian Shodan and even though I was really tired, it felt really smooth and relaxed.  Maybe I need to tire myself out for the next tournament or exam so that I can be so relaxed for kata?

Good workout again. I had a little trouble with the lat pulldowns for some reason. The weight stack goes up in 20 pound increments after 150 pounds so moving to 170 was tough. The bench presses felt light again but I am trying to move up in weight steady and slow.

Barbell Row – 155 x 4, 155 x 4, 115 x 8, 95 x 12
Bench press – 180 x 4, 180 x 4, 150 x 8, 120 x 12
Lat pulldown – 170 x 4, 170 x 4, 120 x 12 (Reverse Grip)
Dumbbell Press – 45 x 4, 45 x 4, 30 x 12
Side Crunch – 2 x 10

Very hard workout.  I used a lot of weight for my deadlifts.  I have never been particularly good at deadlifts but I felt really strong today.  The Bulgarian split squats were hard since I have never done them before and the bench that at the for hyperextensions is not the best size for someone like me with short legs.

Deadlift – 230 x 4, 230 x 4, 230 x 4, 160 x 12
Rack Deadlift – 315 x 335 x 6, 335 x 11
Bulgarian Split Squat – 2 x 10 x 35
Hyperextension – 2 x 10

Strong workout today. The weights felt fairly light and the barbell presses and incline dumbbell presses were very easy.

Barbell Press – 120 x 4, 120 x 4, 100 x 7, 80 x 12
Lat Pulldown – 150 x 4, 150 x 4, 120 x 12
Dumbbell Incline Bench Press – 70 x 4, 70 x 4, 50 x 12
Low Cable Row – 170 x 4, 170 x 4, 130 x 12
Leg Raise – 2 x 10

Because my hips are so inflexible, the squats and quarter squats were tough.  The weight didn’t feel too heavy but getting down low enough is very hard for me.  I did notice that with each set I was able get a lower.

Squats – 250 x 4, 250 x 4, 250 x4, 195 x 12
Quarter Squats – 3 x 315 x 3
Good Morning – 2 x 70 x 10
Leg Curl – 2 x 40 x 10
Roman Chair – 2 x 10

This is my first real weight workout in some time. I just couldn’t get back in to the groove for some reason but I know that I need to get stronger if I want my Karate to improve. I am using the heavier weights and lower reps to try and train my central nervous system. I have always felt that my CNS was lacking and holding back my gains in strength.

The barbell rows were fairly easy but the bench presses felt like almost nothing. All of the pushups in Karate class has kept up my bench press strength. The dumbbell press were very light too. The side crunches were very hard but I couldn’t even do them the last time I tried many months ago.

I am also holding back on some of my weights since my training partner isn’t as strong in all the movements like I am.  This is good for me since I want to move up slow and steady with the weights that I am lifting.

Barbell Rows – 155 x 4, 155 x 4, 115 x 8, 95 x 12
Bench Press – 175 x 4, 175 x 4, 145 x 8, 115 x 12
Lat Pulldown – 150 x 4, 150 x 4, 115 x 12 (Reverse Grip)
Dumbbell Press – 45 x 4, 45 x 4, 30 x 12
Side Crunch – 2 x 10