Round 3 photos are up

[JohnnyJimJams]

Howdy all,

I have made some upgrades to the site and round 3 photos are available for viewing..... Come and have a look.

Will Warrior - Personal development and martial arts motivation

John

[da1prophet]

I took a look at your website--congrats on the improvements in your fitness that you've already made and best wishes as you continue pursuing your goals....

Since I have some expertise in the area of training for MMA/boxing I thought I'd share a few reactions that I had to your specific goals.

I checked out the link with the info about Louis Dorman--he's no doubt an inspiration due to his "before" and "after" pictures. My only question is whether using his body as an "aesthetic" goal doesn't work against the "functionality" you need for martial arts training. From a standpoint of physical appearance he's definitely a good guy to emulate, but depending on how serious you are about your martial arts training it might be advisable to find a "role model" who is more a combination of aesthetic and functional fitness. If you're going for that general look, I'd suggest UFC fighter Rich Franklin as a good place to start:

Rich Franklin.com

Franklin is in insane shape, and has been on the cover of a lot of the big US fitness magazines (he sued one for suggesting that his abs had been airbrushed by a competing magazine and won!). IMO he's probably the perfect combination of a bodybuilding type physique with the "functionality" you need for martial arts.

On your diet, you're on the right track with your plan to eat more but smaller meals, though 7 might be a bit overkill. Most professional fighters only eat 5 or 6. I'm also concerned that your carb intake might be a little low--that gets back to the concern that you're working toward two goals that might be someone contradictory trying to build a body for appearance while maintaining your martial arts training. It is a tough balancing act--you obviously don't want *too* many carbs, but if you're working out hard you need the energy they provide. Granted, there's a difference in training to get in shape and training to actually fight but you still might want to bump up your carb intake a bit.

The "nothing but water" component of your diet is likewise on the right track, but I'd suggest that you modify that somewhat--drink a lot of water, but also allow yourself anything without sugar, caffeine and (possibly) dairy. I drink a lot of unsweetened herbal iced tea and fruit juices. I still have a coffee every now and then, but most mornings I'll have hot tea or a chai latte made with soy milk. I've found that this still affords you essentially all of the same health benefits as the "all water" diet, but when you're not in such a state of personal denial you're a lot more likely to stick with your plan.

Assuming that you're otherwise doing well with a healthy diet and lifestyle, I certainly have no argument with an occasional beer or two. You might not want to put a number on it, however, for the simple reason that you'll be more likely to *drink* four every time you go out on the town. If you simply allow yourself to have an occasional beer, you may find yourself just having one or two. I've never been a heavy drinker, but have always enjoyed a beer or cocktail or two. Since I've been on my improved diet and workout regimen, I'm even less likely to overindulge than I was before.

The weight training regimen is excellent for bodybuilding but from a standpoint of training for fighting you want to do less intensive workouts more often, since you're worried more about strength and endurance than appearance. A lot of the specifics I'd suggest would depend on the specifics of your martial arts training.

Anyway, those were just some thoughts I had when reading your site. If I've misconstrued any of your fitness goals, my apologies and feel free to disregard anything I've said ; )

In any case, good luck!

[Wanderer]

225g of Protein sounds like way too much.

Protein Requirements for Athletes

87kg is about 190 pounds, times that by 0.7 (see the website) 133g. It looks like your eating about 100g too much protein. If you were to ditch most of the protein shakes that would not only reduce your cost, but it would also help you get in shape faster as excess protein turns to fat not muscle.

[JohnnyJimJams]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the encouragement and well thought out replies, they are greatly appreciated.

In regards to protein intake, you may be right, you may be wrong, but as there as so many sources that have conflicting information, I have decided to find out for myself. Trial and error style... If I'm putting on fat and no muscle, then I will adjust my diet accordingly. At this stage I have lost 2 kilos since I started.... time will tell. I have also met (manifested?) a body building coach, and he is happy with my protein intake at this stage.

da1prophet: Great reply! What are my goals? My specific goal is:

"By my 35th birthday, I am a well rounded, full time instructor surrounded by other driven martial artists. This position encourages and guides the personal growth, as a person and martial artist, of everybody involved, everyday."

This year I will continue with a 'body building' focus, as a second side effect of this goal is improved strength, which is not something I've focused on in the past. (see photos )

Saying that, though I still train twice a week, doing hapkido, with an extra 2-hour intensive training session on Satuday, which we call tournament training. I am also weight training twice a week, on Wed and Sun. This is enough to keep my body repairing itself pretty much everyday.

Overall, my main focus (although the web site doesn't yet represent it) is on martial arts training... I train like a mad man in class, because I love it. I compete in local and interstate tournaments, and have done well so far. I absorb as much martial arts info as I can get my hands on, everyday. If I had more time (and I plan to set myself up this way), I would incorporate some more groundwork, and other tough martial arts training into my schedule.

Thanks again guys, more food for thought, and if at the end of the year I still resemble E.T. then you have my permission to point and laugh.

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJimJams

da1prophet: Great reply! What are my goals? My specific goal is:

"By my 35th birthday, I am a well rounded, full time instructor surrounded by other driven martial artists. This position encourages and guides the personal growth, as a person and martial artist, of everybody involved, everyday."

This year I will continue with a 'body building' focus, as a second side effect of this goal is improved strength, which is not something I've focused on in the past. (see photos )

Saying that, though I still train twice a week, doing hapkido, with an extra 2-hour intensive training session on Satuday, which we call tournament training. I am also weight training twice a week, on Wed and Sun. This is enough to keep my body repairing itself pretty much everyday.

Overall, my main focus (although the web site doesn't yet represent it) is on martial arts training... I train like a mad man in class, because I love it. I compete in local and interstate tournaments, and have done well so far. I absorb as much martial arts info as I can get my hands on, everyday. If I had more time (and I plan to set myself up this way), I would incorporate some more groundwork, and other tough martial arts training into my schedule.

Thanks again guys, more food for thought, and if at the end of the year I still resemble E.T. then you have my permission to point and laugh.

Diet is a very personal thing--what works for one person doesn't for the other even if they're training in the same sport and have similar body types. Personally, I'm more concerned about your carb intake being too low than anything else. Of course that's something you can determine for yourself--if you start not having the energy you need for your martial arts training you can always up your carb intake. I will say that every professional fighter--both in boxing and MMA--have any number of theories about their diets, but almost all of them emphasize high carb intake. Even if you're not actually fighting competitively, you still need the same reserves of energy.

The fact that your doing the martial arts training will be a good counterbalance to the weight training--still, its important to be careful that your bodybuilding efforts don't end up working against your martial arts training (since it is your primary goal). More strength is always good, of course, but not if it comes at the expense of the other components of your training (eg: flexibility and cardio).

In any case, I wish you well--keep us posted on your progress! :-)