6'6" and just starting out in MMA

huddlestonalex · 10-30-2009, 05:50 PM

Hey guys, been a member in here for a while and I tried to get my old journal moved over into this section but got a lil messed up lol. So I'll just start a new one. I was real small, got into lifting 2 years ago and then my gym expanded and started a shingitai jitz program. A few months later a local fight team, First Blood, moved into our facility. I have been their S&C coach for a while now and they finally talked me into trying it out. F'ing loved it and that was last month, so Im flat-out beginner. Current stats:

6'6.5"
264lbs
Lifting: Just finished 531 and moved back into a highvolume routine
Mon: Legs
Tues: Chest
Wed: OFF
Thurs: Shoulders
Fri: Back
Sat: Arms

Training:
Mon: Stand up
Tues: Judo/Jitz
Wed: Stand up
Thurs: Judo/Jitz
Fri: Stand Up
Sat: Jitz

So Im beginner and totally open to any and all tips, training programs etc, especially for HW's. Im doing first small judo/jitz gi tourney Nov 28th so Ill def get vids of it up for critiquing.

huddlestonalex · 10-30-2009, 05:52 PM

So here is link to old journal that I just ended today.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post404032901

huddlestonalex · 10-31-2009, 05:29 PM

Deload

Arm Day

Alternating DB curls
35 x 12
40 x 12
45 x 12
50 x 12

-------------superset with--------------

OH Tri ext with EZ bar
65 x 15
65 x 15
65 x 15
65 x 15

Cable curl
100 x 12
130 x 12
145 x 12
170 x 9

---------------superset with----------------

Vbar pressdown
70 x 12
100 x 12
130 x 12
175 x 12

Hammer Strength curl machine
2plts x 12
2pts x 12
2plts x 12
2plts + 25 x 9

-----------superset with--------------

Rope Pressdowns
145 x 12
160 x 12
160 x 12
160 x 12

Lifting notes..........
-----------First arm day in forever!! Felt good though for sure. Pretty easy day

MMA Notes
------Jitz practice. Worked passing guard into side control and from there, working into kimora and arm bar. Then falling into kimora from the side into an arm lock into americana. Was a really interesting today as personaly, I end up in side control on my opponents quite a bit so today was really realy useful.
-------We then rolled for 4 five minutes rounds. I was submitted first round by a nasty RNC. Only happened cuz dude put me in a body triangle that punished me everytime I breathed lol. Like I said, im pretty newb and didnt know how to get out. After I tapped he showed me what I should have done and I will never make that mistake again. Next round I submitted a guy with a north south choke. First time I have ever pulled one of those so that was cool. Next round I got submitted by a peruvian necktie. I was a lil thrown by it cuz I knew i was in a bad spot and I knew better than to reach for his leg. So i started to work out and dude jumped into it. First time I ever had anyone do that to me so i kinda freaked and tried to musche out which only made it worse lol. Next round neither of us got anything. Since we are aslo a sport judo/jujitsu club, when I roll with a Welcome Mat guy, we will also end rounds end a pin. When i roll with first blood fight team guys like today, only end things in submissions. Overall a really good learning day for me.

illilian · 10-31-2009, 07:11 PM

checking in!

huddlestonalex · 11-01-2009, 01:34 PM

Thks for stopping in broski! U end up doing that comp?

illilian · 11-01-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huddlestonalex

Thks for stopping in broski! U end up doing that comp?

Man, i wanted to so bad... but i backed out at the beginning of Oct for a few reasons. The biggest reason was I down to 210 and still needed to loose more weight. Way way way to skrawny for 6'5" imo. I need to build a bit more thickness, then i'll feel more comfortable in a posing suit on stage. :/ Then what sealed my decision was being layed off from work the very next day i decided that. So, no income = not being able to pay to enter.

It's all good. I've slowed way down in the gym, meaning, not nearly as much cardio incorped with my lifting. Also, i'm building my photography business as well. That's taking off slowly.. but i'm hoping it'll pick up.

huddlestonalex · 11-02-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illilian

Man, i wanted to so bad... but i backed out at the beginning of Oct for a few reasons. The biggest reason was I down to 210 and still needed to loose more weight. Way way way to skrawny for 6'5" imo. I need to build a bit more thickness, then i'll feel more comfortable in a posing suit on stage. :/ Then what sealed my decision was being layed off from work the very next day i decided that. So, no income = not being able to pay to enter.

It's all good. I've slowed way down in the gym, meaning, not nearly as much cardio incorped with my lifting. Also, i'm building my photography business as well. That's taking off slowly.. but i'm hoping it'll pick up.

Sorry to hear that man but for sure, real life is more important and with a hobby like BB, no point of doing it until your truly ready to do it. Its all for you anyway!

huddlestonalex · 11-02-2009, 08:26 PM

11/02/2009

Leg Day

Front Squat with 30sec rest tween sets
bar x 20
bar x 20
95 x 10
135 x 6
155 x 6
155 x 6
155 x 6
155 x 6
155 x 6

Lunges
(1 lap is the lap around the weights at my gym, averages out to about 30 lunges total, give or take 3or4)
1plt+twist x 1 lap
2plts x 1 lap
bw x 1 lap
1plt+twist x 1 lap
2plts x 1 lap
bw x 1 lap

DB RDLs
70's x 12
75's x 12
80's x 12

---------tri-set with--------

Leg Ext
160 x 18
160 x 18
160 x 18

---------tri-set with--------

Smith Calf Raises
3plts each side x 18
3plts each side x 18
3plts each side x 18

Notes.....
------Damn, been a while since I have done any of these exercises except RDLs so today was a bit of an adjustment. Just dont really stuff I have done on 531, especially the higher reps. Good day though, felt my legs doing work the whole time.
------Muscle endurance has to get better, simple as that.

MMA
------Went over front kick with either leg and then front kick right into shin kick. My right leg (dominant leg) is crazy strong, I feel really confident in it. My left leg (front leg) has a problem in terms of hip flexibility. I have plenty of ROM in the front kick on that side, but the shin kick would nto get higher than maybe mid thigh level. So instructor started me over had me switch kick as fast as I could, 2 sets of 30. It was crazy hard on my heart lol but during second set my hip really started to loosen up and when we went into switch front kick and then the shin kick, my ROM was great. I could kick top of bag if I wanted to so I stoked about that. Looks like a proper warm up is gonna be really important for my left hip and I am gonna start stretching even more than I was.
------still waiting for entry form to do the freestyle judo/jitz tourny in KC on Nov 28th

rednecksamurai · 11-03-2009, 05:04 AM

you plan on fighting in a mma event?
What kind of standup are you working.

huddlestonalex · 11-03-2009, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rednecksamurai

you plan on fighting in a mma event?
What kind of standup are you working.

O ya for sure. Its why I got into this. I am doing first jitz tourny Nov 28th for experience but as for my first fight, idk when. The coach and promoter decide that. Our stand up is modified boxing and muay thai.

huddlestonalex · 11-03-2009, 11:16 AM

Chest

Incline BB 60sec rest periods
bar x 20
bar x 20
135 x 10
135 x 10
165 x 10
185 x 10

Flat DB 60sec rest
85 x 8
85 x 8
85 x 8

Hammer Strength Incline Press 60sec rest
1plt es x 15
1plt + 25 es x 15
1plt + 25 es x 12
1plt + 25 es x 12
1plt + 25 es x 8

Cable Crossover 30sec rest
60 x 12
60 x 12
50 x 12
50 x 12
40 x 12
40 x 12
40 x 12

Lifting notes...
------So getting a lil pissy now. 531 got my main lifts, B/S/D, stronger but all my other lifts are down. Bad. So gonna be a lil bit to just get back where I was on them which irritates me. Feel like I took a step backward on those. IDK ill get over, just whining lol.
------7 sets of 12 are amazing. If you havent tried taht yet, give it a shot. The 30sec breaks keep the intensity up high and by the 7th set, you feel like your gonna pop. Its the **** lol.

MMA
----Jitz class is tonight. I'll post once we are done.

huddlestonalex · 11-03-2009, 08:08 PM

Jitz class
-----good class. Went over arm bar, belt Nelson, pulling Kimora on some one who is using chiken Judo and the wrapping em up the flipping em over. Then went over heel hooks and knee bars.
-----Then free rolled forever lol in 3 minute rounds. First guy submitted in rear naked. Second guy I submitted in north south choke. Third guy was a draw. 4th guy rolled eith him twice and submitted both time with head and arm chokes. Getting way better about using technique before strength so when I do explode with my power advantage, it's that much more effective.

huddlestonalex · 11-04-2009, 10:51 AM

Off day from lifting.

MMA
----shadowed a few rounds then I rolled with the instructor. He is 7-2 as a pro and in contract negotations with Strikeforce. It was 3 rounds for 3 minutes.
-----round 1: just feeling him out, I had never rolled with him yet. First though that ran through my mind? "holy ****!!! He's fast lol". It didn't take him long to take my back and sumbit me with rear naked choke. Submitted me with a weird guilitine lol. 2 submissions in round 2 and I never even attempted one on him.
-----round 2: I attempted a weak add anaconda that he walked out of pretty easy. Then he rear naked choked me again lol. My chin was in but damn he squeezed to fing hard I had to tap cuz I still couldn't breath. I almost caught him in a northsouth choke but honestly, he never stayed in one place for long and right now my technique is to slow to really catch him in anything. He caught me in an arm bar quite a few times but I'm to strong for him to finish the move on me.
-----round 3: I tried going into guard and working from there but it was even worse lol. I couldn't hold onto him to save my life lol. Finished me in a go-go whch I have not even been taught yet lol.
-----overall thoughts: he beat me. Thoroughly. He walks around at 165-70 so I could of pulled a lesnar and just squeezed/laid on him and stalled out the rounds. But I wanted to learn and I wanna get good, so I'm ok with losing to a more skilled guy who is lighter than me. In a real match, if worse comes to worse I can resort to using my size advantage lol.

beaucephus · 11-04-2009, 02:02 PM

Are you training gi or no gi?

I would strongly sug-gest gi training for the jitz, it's going to take away most of your strength advantage and make you focus much more on form.

Also, I don't see it in your journal, so if you aren't running every day or EOD, start now. Run like forrest gump my brother! If you aren't, you will understand why I say this after your jitz tourney this month.

final note, don't be afraid of not getting ripped right away. Don't "diet", just eat like you normally would and put in 100gms carbs before each 1hr training session. That's only 400 calories, but will save your muscle that you've built up. also, you might want to stick to strength training in the weight room, wrestling around is going to give you muscle endurance and running will give you all around physical endurance. The weight room should be for increasing raw strength.

These are the biggest points that I can think of for guys our size getting good at MMA.

huddlestonalex · 11-04-2009, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaucephus

Are you training gi or no gi?

I would strongly sug-gest gi training for the jitz, it's going to take away most of your strength advantage and make you focus much more on form.

Also, I don't see it in your journal, so if you aren't running every day or EOD, start now. Run like forrest gump my brother! If you aren't, you will understand why I say this after your jitz tourney this month.

final note, don't be afraid of not getting ripped right away. Don't "diet", just eat like you normally would and put in 100gms carbs before each 1hr training session. That's only 400 calories, but will save your muscle that you've built up. also, you might want to stick to strength training in the weight room, wrestling around is going to give you muscle endurance and running will give you all around physical endurance. The weight room should be for increasing raw strength.

These are the biggest points that I can think of for guys our size getting good at MMA.

Thanks for the pointers man, really appreciate it. We do gi on tues and thurs then wed and sat are no gi. Ur right for sure, the gi kills my strength adv. and makes it much harder for me simply to move lol. That thing is tough. Appreciate your help bro, so you in mma then? Cool to see another big guy

huddlestonalex · 11-04-2009, 05:10 PM

Forgot to mention, the gym I train at is putting on fights this Friday and Wanderlei Silva is gonna be our guest. The next day he is putting on a seminar at the gym so I signed up for that today. Ill def recap how that goes and get the pics we take put up on here.

beaucephus · 11-05-2009, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huddlestonalex

Thanks for the pointers man, really appreciate it. We do gi on tues and thurs then wed and sat are no gi. Ur right for sure, the gi kills my strength adv. and makes it much harder for me simply to move lol. That thing is tough. Appreciate your help bro, so you in mma then? Cool to see another big guy

Yeah, been into fighting for a long time but only recently started to get technical with it. I boxed a lot growing up and took Judo, but that was back when the biggest event was a local tuffman comp or king of the cage comp. You're starting at a real good age, don't be in a rush. I'm 30 now and wish I'd of been technical training for the last 5yrs, much less 7yrs. 30 is still young for HW's, we tend to have a longer shelf life than the lighter guys for some reason. That's a good mixup on gi and no gi training. Don't get discouraged either if you feel like you're not improving, in fact, find a buddy who has no training and ask to roll around with him in a few months if you start to feel this way. You'll realize how far you've come.

huddlestonalex · 11-09-2009, 01:24 PM

Sorry for not posting this weekend, we were crazy busy with the fights and having Wanderlei Silva at the gym. He is by far the coolest famous athlete I have ever been around, bar none. My favorite fighter now just because of his personality. Some vids

Was really cool for sure. His seminar the next day was really fun just to hang out, but not the most informative lol. There was so many very-new people there for Silva that basically all I got to do was help show 1-2's and passing guard lol. Still had a blast, one of the nicest guys I have ever met.

huddlestonalex · 11-09-2009, 01:34 PM

Chest Day

Flat Bench 90sec rest
bar x 20
bar x 20
85 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10
275 x 3
185 x 13
drop
135 x 9

Incline DB 60sec rest
65 x 12
65 x 12
65 x 10
65 x 10

Upright Cable Press
42.5 x 12
42.5 x 12
42.5 x 12
42.5 x 12

---------superset----------

DB Fly
35 x 12
30 x 12
30 x 12
30 x 12

Weightlifting notes....
----------Still trying to adjust to the volume and pace. With 531, we took a lot time tween sets and pushed with full effort on every lift which of course takes some time to catch your breath. My endurance will get better, anyone from my old journal knows that I love high volume. I grow size-wise best from higher volume so im excited to be back in it
--------Had to back off the flys, I could do 35 but it was one of the sets hwere Im moving the weight but not feeling the muscle work. Im experienced enough now after 2 years to know thats kind of a waste of time lol.

MMA Notes...
-------Worked clench. Then worked knees on both sides, lower knees to the leg and higher knees to ribs/if opponents head is lol. Practiced footwork for switching knees and using clench to create space and control their movement. Then used varying combos and finished them with a knee. Had a bit of a problem with that.
--------I thought I had a good grasp of my combos but apperantly not because adding in the knees messed them up lol. I was back to thinking about things to much. Looks like its more mirror time for me lol.

illilian · 11-09-2009, 05:45 PM

dude, the vids at the wanderlei seminar are awesome! that must've been alot of fun.

huddlestonalex · 11-09-2009, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by illilian

dude, the vids at the wanderlei seminar are awesome! that must've been alot of fun.

Ya dude, he is kickass dude. He even rolled with all of us. Very cool guy for sure. Ill pay to watch him any day now.

huddlestonalex · 11-12-2009, 01:28 PM

Alright, so arm day was tuesday, it was solid but no point in posting a arm day lol. Curlz for the girlz even if I am engaged haha.

MMA training...
-----Tuesday nights is Gi shingitai jujitsu. It was really good. Worked on different ways to handle a single leg shoot, my favorite was the really simple pivot holding whichever arm in between your legs which leaves their neck wide open for choke. Pretty much figured out with my long arms and strength, if I even get close to sinking a choke I can almost always submit guys.
-----Then went over mount defense, bumping in time with their punches(its a jitz class but with so many guys in it who do mma, some stuff gets mixed in lol. Then trapping and bridging until you end up in side control. Very cool jazz haha.
-----Worked on judo throws, which are hard for me. I hate using excuses and im really not trying to cuz I know I will get it, but with my height, Im having a bit of trouble loading shorter guys up on my hips. Gotta practice getting low.
-----Free rolling for 20 minutes. Submitted first guy with rear naked then second guy with north south choke. Then got submitted by a collar choke. Last guy ended in a draw but gonna go ahead and say he submitted me. He caught me in a real good Z arm bar but simply wasnt strong enough to finish it. If he woulda been a guy in my weightclass, woulda submitted me with ease.
-----Last guy I rolled with was actually my boss lol. He is 5'7" and about 230 with an 8pack lol. Former teen national 5th place, multi weight class winner in heavy/superheavy bbin shows. So dude is jacked, even if short haha. Anyway, he is really freaking good, a level 1 brown belt. I know BJJ and Shing are diff in jitz, so for us, there are 3 levels of brown belt then black belt. So he is almost there. At first he just kinda stopped everything I tried then as I was trying to sweep it failed but I thought I could stand up which of course is what he wanted lol and caught me in a nasty knee bar.
----O ya, he always broke my middle finger on my left hand. Sucky haha

huddlestonalex · 11-12-2009, 01:34 PM

Wednesday, shoulda been leg day but finger was throbbing pretty bad to the point I couldnt pick anything up.
MMA Notes...
----I taped it up hardcore and still did am and pm class.
----Am was punching combos with knees. This was very cool.
----Added front kick in with combos and knees.
----Then finished with punching combos, alternating knee and front kick finishing with regular leg kick. Practiced this for rest of hour lol. Need better flow for sure
PM Class
-----Started off with 9 stations for conditiong, kicking heavy bag, hammer fist, knees on ground, ground pound with straight punches and another with hooks. Some plyo stations and two stations around sprawling.
-----Then practiced moving side to side adn front to back footwork. For some reason reminded me of defensive slide drill from ball lol.
-----Finished up doing drills involving walking with punches. Im feeling really comfortable with moving around while I throw, almost to the point where I am not thinking about my feet anymore. Also threw in a sprawl between jabs and that was that.
------ Everyone in school fights 170 or lower so me at 270 always challenging me to keep up with their pace. Helps me though, I dont want cardio like those cats on hw TUF lol.

Bretmma · 11-12-2009, 02:49 PM

Looking forward to seeing your progress, keep up the good work. I'll be checking in frequently !

Patrick999 · 11-22-2009, 03:27 PM

Just popping by brother good to see you are still going strong!!!

I've been slacking myself for hte past month or so, feel like i've lost it a bit although now am focused fully on getting bigger, if I can be anywhere near your size/physique in a year or so I will be extremely delighted.

Keep up the work bro

huddlestonalex · 11-23-2009, 04:25 PM

Damn, I apologize guys, I totally forgot about this lol. LIfting is going good, jitz is going really well and MMA, well, its pretty much the hardest thing I have ever done in my life lol.

This week:
Lifting is light, judo/jitz tourny is sat!!!

Incline BB 60sec rest
bar x 20
bar x 20
135 x 12
155 x 12
155 x 12
155 x 12

Flat DB press 45sec rest
80s x 10
80s x 10
90s x 7
95s x 6
95s x 6---Last rep was kinda ugly

Cable Crossovers 30sec rest
60 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 12

Lifting notes.....
--------Lifting on such short rest is crazy different for me adn makes me feel like a pud lol. Im so used to taking as much time as I need in between sets, this timed stuff kills me.
--------Short day, will be like that all week

MMA notes
--------Been working on putting multiple blocks and kick checks together. It took me a long time to get used to coordinating my footwork/checks with blocking punches lol. I was all-district 3sport high school athlete who made it to D3 NCAA school on basketball and I swear to god, this is the hardest sport I have ever attempted in my life!!
---------Catch 1, block 2 and 3 check back leg, fire back lol. ALL I EVER HEAR IN MY HEAD from today lol.

First Judo/Jitz tourney is this Saturday. Stupid excited about it for sure. Honest eval about myself: I am gettin really comfortable on the ground. As I get a better grasp on technique, I learn how to use my weight/strength better, Lesnar style lol. My judo sucks. This is by far the hardest thing for me to pick up so far. So for this tourney, I will be using a lot of chair throws lol. Really small tourney though, so instructor say may not be anyone even in my weight class lol, 235+

huddlestonalex · 11-24-2009, 09:09 AM

just thought I would throw a pic up, 2yr 5th month of starting lifting and 2nd month of mma.

huddlestonalex · 11-29-2009, 04:41 PM

Hey guys, my tourny was the weekend, AAU Judo Freestyle Nationals!! Weighed in at 262.5 at around 8:15am. First match was until around 11:15 lol!! Won my matches with a naked choke, by points and by an Ippon. Actually won my weight class with an Ippon. So Im the AAU judo freestyle 235+ gi weightclass champ!! Was sweet. I went on to do no gi and won won by points then tapped out to a rear naked and he had me caught in a body triangle. He was a much better than me lol and he went on to win the open no gi class as well. I got second though anyway lol. Not bad for just starting out right?

illilian · 11-29-2009, 05:13 PM

Nice!

Gratz on the wins! That's awesome!