#Cutting weight Day 1 Monday 28th December 2015
Hi guys, I am daddy icon BJJ Brown belt and Personal Trainer at Train For Life Fitness and Nutrition located in Norwich UK.I want to share with you my journey to the European BJJ Championship 2016 which will take place in Lisbon Portugal.
My tale will consist on sharing with you my personal experiences to cut weight without losing muscles, to remain strong and BJJ focused.
The goal is to be 85kg to compete or to lose 4kg in 25 daysThe experiment will be a diary divided as follow:
Planned workouts:Effective workouts
Nutrition:TipsCommentsDay conclusions
To start with you need to make some measurements, in our case we need to know our starting weight.I normally sit around 87kg all year round, so I just need 2-3 days to make the weight when I compete (medium heavy, -88.3kg with Gi), so to get on the scale right after Xmas wasn't something I was looking forward to. Check my face on the video, I couldn't believe what I saw😱I almost wanted to 😭.
I First weighed 91.1kg no GiThen 92.8kg with Gi Weighed, I weighed myself twice and realise that it was not possible as my Gi weighs 2.5kg.I weighed myself again twice at 89.9kg no Gi. Not good but better than 91kg😰
Day 1: Planned workouts: 5-6.30am BJJ drills and 3.30-5.30pm BJJ drills and sparring.
Effective workouts: 5-6am light conditioning as my training partner realized that he was still celebrating Xmas at his mum...the afternoon session was also cancelled as my other training partner forgot that he had to got watch STAR WARS with his family...✌🏿️
My conditioning session consisted of: 4 sets of 10 4010 (tempo) 60kg squat alternated with 10 4010 40g machine arm row
10 sets 5 70kg deadlift alternated with 3 40kg narrow grip lat pull down and 3 10 15kg lift plate.
5' on bike resistance 10, 2.73km
Recommendations: all the exercise performed are compound and have a direct application to BJJ, I mainly focus on pull exercises such as arm row (break posture, arm drag, leg drag) and leg exercises such as deadlift and squat (stand from closed guard).My first week of training the weight is light and the tempo is slow, it will get more explosive as I get in gear.
Nutrition:Breakfast: 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1 handful of cranberries and 1 handful of almonds.Lunch: 300-400g if turkey (Xmas Left Over), 200g of lettuce, 4 cherry tomatoes, 10 almonds and a tablespoon of olive oil.
Snack: 3 slices of wholemeal bread with butter. MY FAILURE, I have 2 boys of 3 yo and 1 and 1/2yo, they were having lunch but didn't finish their toasts. I HATE THROWING FOOD SO...
Dinner: chili con carne and 30g of riceDaily drinks: 2 black coffees, 2 green teas and 2.5 liters of water
Tips: Eat really slowly, put your spoon down after each mouthful and chew, over and overDrink a lot of water during the day 2-3 litersComments: I didn't feel hungry at all and have the feeling that I was shrinking, losing weight already. I am a fast eater, so one of the hardest thing for me is to eat slow, but I have to admit that when you eat slow, you get bored of eating and you are not hungry.I dislike water and tea, I drank approx 2.5 liters, I spent the day in and out the toilets.the water does really flush your body, it kind of cleanse you from inside, surprisingly you feel as if you were losing some invisible weight.
Day Conclusion:
Day 1 was a success, the 2 cancelled BJJ sessions were a blessing in disguise as it aloud me to ease myself back into shape at a slow and controlled pace.The Nutrition was easier than expected, I thought I would be hungry, but I never felt hungry at all. The water consumption annoyed me as I had to frequent the we too often for my taste. Nevertheless, I can confirm that it was worth it AS I LOST ... KG IN 24 hours.Follow my journey to know how much weight I lost and how the training is coming along, I will be back tomorrow.
#Cutting weight day 2, Tuesday 29th Decmber 2015
RISE AND SHINE 4.30am
Planned workouts:
5-7.30am BJJ drills and 4.30-6pm BJJ drills and sparring
Effective workouts:
5-6am BJJ
6-7am conditioning:
4 10 3" bottom 60kg squat/4 10 50kg lunges
10 10 6 70kg deadlift/4 10 15kg lift plate (1extra deadlift in each set)
5' on bike resistance 10 2.84km (managed 120m more after training one hour more
than yesterday)
4.30-5.30pm BJJ drills and sparring:
@joshkennedybjj came over, we worked on the leg weave and sparred. The guy has the most annoying guard EVER. REALLY GOOD, IT IS FRUSTRATING.
Nutrition:
Breakfast: 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1 handful of cranberries and 1 handful of almonds.
Lunch: 200-300g of chili con carne Left Over and 300g of steamed broccoli and cauliflower.
Snack: same as breakfast
Dinner: stir Fry vegetables and 250g of turkey mince, with coconut milk
Daily drinks: 2 black coffees, 1 green tea, 2.5 liters of water
Tips:
The cottage cheese and nuts is a good snack which sits well in stomach, you don't feel hungry and is digested really fast. I had one 30 minutes before training, I felt energized but not sluggish at all.
Comments:
Today was harder, as I did feel hungry at times, I had a handful of pumpkin seeds and almonds 10 minutes before going to bed.
At a fitness level, I felt a lot better, no stiffness after sessions (=IBCAA) which aloud me to put hours of practice without having to deal with discomfort or injuries.
At a weight level, I am super happy as I weighed myself after lunch and was at 87.8kg YES YOU READ WELL. A drop of 2.1kg in 2 days.
Day 2 conclusions:
The sacrifices worth the results as I may get to my "normal weight for next week".
A WORD OF CAUTION, I AM PERSONAL TRAINER, USED TO TRAIN 12-15 times a week. I am focused and I am on a MISSION.
IF YOU DO NOT NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT AS DESPERATELY AS I DO THEN YOU WILL HAVE MORE STARCHY CARBS, SUCH AS PASTA, RICE...
My current carb intake is very low, as carb suck liquid for 1g of carb you retain 2.7g of water, HENCE YOU WEIGH MORE.The conditioning is going well as I put the work without catching niggles or injuries.
The BJJ is good as I get more technical and some flaws in my game are highlighted.
My game is very similar to Rodolfo Viera, I follow him as his game fits my qualities, nevertheless, I realized that I am "loose" sometimes, so thanks to my training partners @joshkennedy, Luke, Mike and my coach Steve Cowan, I am fixing the issues.
Day 3 is on the way: losing weight and feeling tired...
Working out seem more enjoyable as I can see and feel the improvements. I said more enjoyable, still PAINFUL THOUGH