Gavin
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Posts posted by Gavin
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Thank you! Yeah that's exactly what I want to do - plan and make achievable goals! :)
I've also taken a look at your diet - try to add green vegatables like broccoli, bean sprouts, spinach, cucumber to at least 3 of you daily meals. All these vegetables have de-acidification (I'm not sure it's the correct word) properties. So we usually eat a lot of acidic stuff (chocolate or fast foods :)) and these vegetables help keep the acid level in our bodies low and this helps us lose weight or keep our cravings in check. This is basically a shortend version of the whole process.
Good advice. I'll add some of that in next week (I've already bought groceries haha)
MICC hit in on the head BCAAS - branch chained amino acids. Essentially building blocks of protein, stuff like leucine. It actually tastes pretty good, so I recommend it to any sweet tooths who have trouble getting enough water in. Zero sugar too.
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Hi Folks
Two questions:
1. What size glove do you use for training? Do you use a different OZ for bag work vs pad work vs sparring etc...?
2. What brand do you use/prefer and why?
I have a pair of Punch Trophy Getters that I bought years ago before I ever started muay thai. I also have a crappy pair of Adidas that I bought while in NZ that sit in the cupboard because the Punch are better. Both are 16 oz and I use the Punch for everything.
Should I be using a lighter weight for bag work?
This may be silly, but I think maybe I should be using the Adidas now because as I learn to punch better I might want a better, stronger pair of gloves to protect my hands. Whereas right now I don't punch that hard and could probably get away with wearing the Adidas. I'm assuming one day I'll punch like Foreman and just be shredding heavy bags daily. :sorcerer:
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No worries Gavin ! Just remember it's not going to be weight that goes first for everyone. You might be converting fat to muscle, hence the seemingly no weight loss at first. It will come if you keep up, I promise :) also, idk what your diet is like, but i read somewhere (unfortunately cannot remember) but diet is equally important as training. That includes water intake. I'm imagining that you've probably adjusted diet to coincide with training, but curious as to what you did for yours. If you don't mind my asking. I've noticed, with mine at least, recovery between things helps substantially when I eat right.
My water intake is good - 3+ litres a day. My diet is pretty good, but I have been eating a lot of snacks and then I have a day here or there where I eat a lot of shit. My diet for this week consists of oats and a bannana in the morning, protein shake mid morning, chicken, vegetables and brown rice for lunch, piece of fruit, lean mince with tomatos and beans, and brown rice for dinner. Plus BCAAs.
If I can adhere to this I'm sure I will lose weight this week. I've also halved my brown rice intake.
Tonight was 1 hour of boxing. Not much to say here, but I think I've figured a sensible way to increase my training volume. Wil write about it next week.
24hr 30 min
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Hey Gavin, I just wanted to say that reading your updates on here has inspired me to start my own training log to keep track of my progress. Your goal is awesome and I have no doubts that you will make leaps and bounds in progress achieving it.
Hi Steph,
That's fantastic. I think writing down and tracking will help you a lot.
This log has inspired me, too. I was thinking in how to get my training to the next level, as I feel somethimg is lacking in it now. I will try to make achievable and detailed goals like kicking the bag a number of times a week, skipping the rope or focusing more on learning to throw elbows. Gotta work out a plan and stick to it!!!
Yes!
I recommend working out your big goal and then breaking down what you have to do into monthly, weekly and daily chunks. "How to get my training to the next level" - what does that mean? Try and be more specific. It's too vague to be achievable. Fight 3 times this year. <- That's more specific, and there is a time frame.
All the best. I'll be reading your blog!
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Hi Gemma
I thought you did really well, especially in the later rounds in the clinch and with your checks. Farida seemed to control the distance with her thip in the early rounds and prevented you from coming forward with punches.
You nearly beat a world champion... Imagine what you'll be doing by the end of the year!
P.S.
I think Cadbury have gone crazy back in Aus, they released a vegemite chocolate...
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I love your updates Gavin. You've got a great attitude. Pretty cool.
Gavin thank you so much for this. Appreciate reading it. Keep going! Dana
Thank you both, it's nice to hear. Actually, more than that, it's very encouraging.
Yesterday when I arrived at the gym all of the mat space was taken by the personal trainers, so instead of doing my own bag work, I joined a wrestling class.
It was damn hard. I really struggled. The coach mentioned how the energy system is very different to striking. We worked a double leg, single leg and the sprawl. I am somewhat aware of these techinques from jiu jitsu and judo, especially the sprawl, but the coach gave a lot of good details. Judoka used to learn something like a sprawl to block the morote gari which is the judo equivalent of a double leg and is now banned from competition.
Something I didn't mention in my last post is who I sparred with. Every friday at the gym there is a group of guys who do their own sparring. I do bag work on the same mat every week. One of them asked me if I'd like to work in. I was a bit unsure as they are a lot better than me - "I'm not sure I'm good enough", I said.
He replied "It's not about whether you're good enough, just if you want to". Or something like that. I love this about martial arts. A no ego, welcoming attitude. I did two rounds and they both toned down their sparring to accomodate me.
One asked me if I had a background in a kicking art. I did Karate competitively for around 4 years as a teenager. He said he could tell. I'm not sure what that means exactly, maybe leg dexterity.
Anyway, one of them invited me to join them whenever I feel like sparring, which is cool.
This week is a weird one as my mum is flying in to visit, so I'll miss two days of training. I also need to figure out a way to recover quick enough to increase my volume without taking so much time off. I also need to get my weight moving down. My weight has stayed static around 102.4kg for the last two weeks. My legs look leaner, but I haven't measured them (sorry michelle!). Either way, it's unsastisfactory.
Here's some things I'm going to do this week:
Fish oil and bcaas everyday.
A mid week hydrotherapy session in the morning (this is a test to see if it helps me recover)
Strict adherence to my diet!
A protein shake in the morning
Four sessions of training (and possibly one friday morning)
This is probably my biggest challenge if I can not increase my weekly training volume there is no way I will reach my goal of 1000 hours in the time frame i have set. I will do my best to attack it and if I can't see a way to achieve it I will have to adjust my goal.
I hope everyone has a good week of training.
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I took two days off because I was messed up from Monday and tuesday, my body wasn't ready for that kind of volume in two days. It's actually interesting I had adapted to doing 1 hour 5 days in a row, but adding 1.5 hours to monday broke me down...
Anyway I did 3 rounds of shadow boxing, then 12 bag rounds, then 2 rounds of sparring tonight. I was at the gym for an hour and a half.
22hr15min
Ah, I also did 120 teeps and 120 knees to finish. My jumps knees are getting a lot better.
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Michell, I often miss the warm up because of the time I finish work. I recently started stretching after class for about 10 mins . I stretch everything basically...
Tonight I did 1 hr of Muay Thai. There was a visiting Thai trainer. Very cool!
I did struggle a bit tonight after the double session yesterday but it was to be expected.
20hr45 min
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Today I did 1 hour boxing, 1.5 hours Muay Thai. It wasn't too bad, but we'll see how I pull up tomorrow.
19hr 45min
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Hi Freddy
"No (wo)man is an island" the quote goes...
In Stephen Covey's book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People he talks about three stages of growth - dependence, independence, and interdependence. Interdependence being the highest level of growth. It recognises that we perform our best when we are in a team, not by ourselves.
I don't think you need to do it by yourself... reading between the lines, I just think you need a different coach, a different team.
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Gavin, "off" days happen. Just as Michelle says, the enforcing of a new habit puts stress on you, and this can result in binge eating. I have these moments, too. I actually have them A LOT. But I decided I will not give up. I will stand up as many times as I have to. Of course I know it's best NOT to fall, but if I can't deal with it and turn to my bad eating habits for a few days, I just need to get back on track. You fall down, you get up, start again. The work you've already put into it is still there, one "off" day won't do much harm. One month for sure, but not one day ;) So as long as you get up quickly, it's alright. It takes 60 days to create a new habit :) So just bear with it. You're on the right track!!
Micc, it's good to hear that people go through similar struggles. Thanks for sharing. The positivity in this thread is great.
Today I went to the gym and did three rounds of shadow boxing, then ten rounds on the heavy bag. I finished with 100 thips, and 100 jumping knees. I started at sixty and am going to work that up to 200-300. I just do this at the end of my own sessions.
This week I'm going to add at least 1 extra muay thai class after boxing. I am going to commit to doing it on Monday, and if I feel good Wednesday as well, if not I'll add the second next week. <- That's a confusing sentence, but I'm too tired to correct it.
17hr 15min.
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HI Michelle, thanks again for some good advice. I'm not beating myself up about, I just wanted to note it. Thank you.
Tonight I did 5 rounds of shadow boxing and then 10 rounds of heavy bag. I didn't have much power today, but I was able to work various boxing combos. I also tried practicing the floating block, it wasn't very good, but I'll keep persisting.
16hr15min
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So yesterday I hit my first challenge. I wrote:
I took today off, my legs were aching, I will train tomorrow and the next day. I'll add an extra session in on Saturday so that I meet my goal.
I wasn't lying, but in reality I was barely concious when I wrote it. I don't want this log to turn into some kind of diary, but I do want to share mistakes, otherwise it's just a censored, glossy, half-truth, that is not helpful to myself or anyone else reading.
Yesterday, I woke up feeling run down and with this idea in the back of my head that I didn't have enough fat in my diet. So, basically I ended up eating 5000 calories yesterday. I really wasn't that concious of what I was doing. I've woke up at 3.30 this morning and started thinking 'what the hell happened yesterday?', to the point where I had to figure out how many calories I'd consumed and write this post.
It was like my 'id' took the wheel for 8 hours or something. I ate a bag of candy... I don't even eat candy.
It was the antithesis of every goal I have. I want to be healthy, I want to lose weight, I want to train Muay Thai, but yesterday I did the opposite.
I wasn't conscious yesterday. I didn't spend time writing down my goals like I usually do, and my training isn't habitual (yet) like some of the people training here.
I also got distracted, I started toying around with internet marketing/business stuff. This is another interest of mine and something I have been succesful in the past.
But the fact is, it's a flat out distraction to my goal of achieving 1000 hours of Muay Thai. It was something I was consciously putting aside in order to pursue a higher priority goal more deeply and fully.
A big problem for me in the past has been a lack of focus, by chasing many goals simultaneously I've only reached superficial layers of success. It's also a way of running away when the going gets tough. I somehow convince myself that this second goal is my real goal, and I go and flirt with it for a while, splashing in the shallows, and then bail when it gets tough for the next distraction.
Anyway, I take full responsibility for yesterday and can only do better today. I'll eat better today and train tonight. I also just realised I haven't been taking much fish oil or bcaas this week. So, I'll be more dilligent with that and hopefully that will help my body feel less run down.
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Sounds good Michelle. If you don't feel strong enough I recommend a 6-12 week strength plan, I think a lot of beginner trainees can double their strength over this period. I've done it and I know other people have as well. My squat went from 60kg to over 100kg in a couple of months. Not sure how it would fit in with M.T. training though...
I took today off, my legs were aching, I will train tomorrow and the next day. I'll add an extra session in on Saturday so that I meet my goal.
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Have you ever heard the three feet from gold story? Here's an image that explains it:
You might be at the point where you break through. Who knows? You could go on a 10 fight winning streak. I say if you really love it, give it another shot.
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Gavin,
I was essentially working a job that I hated and also made it nearly impossible to work out. I also have struggled with sleep issues for many years related to depression and PTSD. I went a little nuts one day realizing I really really needed to change, I was caught in a downwards spiral. I sold everything I had and moved to Bangkok to train full-time. People thought I was nuts, but when there's a will there's a way. I haven't regretted it for an instant.
When I got here I was 93 kilos and now I'm walking around at about 73 - 75 kilos most days. Just had my first fight at 75 kilos last week, I'd like to get down to 70 for the next one!
Keep it up, being tired just means you're doing it right! :D
Tyler, that's awesome mate. Have your health issues improved with dropping weight? How long will you stay in bangkok?
Hi Gavin,
I don't know the kg to lbs ratio, but currently I'm about 195lbs at 5'3". My heaviest was 210 more than a year ago. However, though my weight hasn't gone down much, I have lost inches and gained muscle. My point here being that if you don't see the weight change you're looking for, don't fret. Check your inches, you might see more change with that. Inches in your waist, arms, thighs, calves, etc. For me I've had a gain in my arms and legs, but a loss around my chest, ribcage, and waist, yet I still am about 60 lbs over. I've a long way to go also, as well as overcoming injury and illness, so I understand where you're coming from. Don't give up, we're here to support you :)
Also, I like the idea of doing boxing and muay thai back to back and not at two separate times. That's what I try to do, to get the most out of my workouts. I aim for 6 days, but usually only do 5.
It's a good point Michelle. I should start taking some measurements. Do you have a goal with your training? I'm 224lbs at 5'10 as a comparison. I was 236 late last year :)
1hr of boxing tonight. Worked Jab, Cross, Hook, bob, left uppercut, right straight, hook, My legs were hurting a fair bit tonight, but I massaged them with tiger balm and it helped a bunch.
15hr15min
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I don't really understand how chia seeds give such an energy boost... they are essentially a small amount of carbohydrate and fat.
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I did a muay thai class tonight. I'm actually too tired to write what we did out, but there was a lot of kicking. I stretched for about 20 mins when I got home.
I have a copy of Becoming A Supple Leopard so I'm going to pull that out to get some ideas for improving mobility. If you've never read it, I recommend it, I don't agree with everything in the book, but it's a good resource.
14hr15min
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Oh yay! You are at my home gym. That is awesome!!
Have you given any thought into adding in some of their functional strength and conditioning classes? Those might be good to look into as they are shorter but high intensity, although possibly lacking in the technique area you are focussing on. I highly recommend them. And the guys who usually run them are amazing and can really help you with your goals :)
Yep, it was the fourth gym I tried in Melb actually, and I thought it had the best instructors. At this stage I'm just building up the striking classes, but I'd like to do some strength work eventually if I can fit it in. I use to squat and deadlift often and I enjoy it... Thanks!
Tonight was 1 hour of boxing. I really enjoyed it, even though I felt not great during the day. I have a sleep disorder due to my weight, so sometimes (often) I wake up tired no matter how much I've slept. It's something I am looking forward to changing as my weight comes down.
The main combo tonight was jab, right uppercut, hook, cross, bob, cross, left uppercut, cross, hook.
I forgot to stretch at the gym, but when I got home I watched some cooking show on the internet while I stretched for about 20 mins.
I need to get my training up to 15hours a week otherwise I am not going to make my goal. There will be too much of a deficit to catch up. I might try and add two classes this week instead of one... we'll see how I go.
As a side note, you might be wondering why I chose 1000 hours. There is this succesful writer and businessman - Mark Ford, and before Malcom Gladwell published his book on 10,000 hours, Mark Ford was citing 1000 hours to competency, 5000 hours to mastery and 10,000 hours to virtuosity, with the caveat that virtuosity is only achieved in rare cirucmstances no matter how much work is done.
He also mentions that competency can be achieved sooner, around 700 hours, with great instruction.
So, that's why... hopefully by the end of my 1000 hours I will be competent.
13hr15min.
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Very cool video, a little confusing - the title and word tribute made me think she had passed away, but she hasn't right? Anyway, hearing her talk about her work ethic was inspiring.
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Hey Gavin, it's great that you're making notes of the techniques, this will definitely help to review the techniques in an off-day!! Props to you for this idea!
As for flexibility, you HAVE to warm up thoroughly! :) I like to to do a basic routine that warms up all my joints, then some light cardio to warm up the muscles and only then I start with LIGHT stretches. A good thing is also to stretch after a class. I often stay 20-30 minutes late, sometimes even an hour and stretch all possible liagments and muscles that worked during the class. I like it :)
Hi Micc, thanks for this advice. I think the answer is staying after class and doing my own stretching like you. I'm going to commit to stretching after every class. Thank you.
This is awesome man. A log is a great way to keep yourself accountable and also get some extra support if you need any. Don't be afraid to ask for help, and please give a shout if you are feeling burnt out at some point. Everyone goes through it, and I'm pretty sure everyone here is more than willing to get you over the hump. I also have lost a lot of weight through Muay Thai, it's a great medium for that. Keep us posted!
Thanks Tyler. Will certainly call out if I need some help. I have to say today I was feeling a bit run down. It was the last day of 5 days in a row. I literally haven't trained like that in probably 7 years or more... If you like I'd love to hear more about your story and weight loss. Cheers.
Where are you training?
As for your training, I would personally recommend trying 1 session a day, 6 days a week. I suggest this because you can then use the rest of your day recovering and relaxing. I know a lot of people who struggle with two a day and you want to avoid burning out at this stage.
This is of ccourse just my opinon. Would love to hear some others thoughts?
Absolute mma in melbourne. It wouldn't be two a day as in split sessions, more like do the boxing class and stay and immediately do muay thai? So 2.5 hours instead of 1 on that day... I definitely want to avoid burn out this early as I'm just beginning, so I'll definitely consider what you're saying. Thank you.
Today I did 1 hour of shadow boxing, bag work and stretching. I really only went 100% one round. I didn't have much in me today, but I was able to practice a lot of the techniques I learned in class this week. As I add sessions in I think putting time into drilling these techniques will really help with my development.
I am down to 101.9kg. Ideally, I'd like to lose 1kg over the next week.
12hrs 15mins.
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First of all you make a good point. So many people will tell you you're overtrainig who don't even know what hard training is.
Here is an example from weight lifting. In weight lifting we worked every day, too. So many people will tell you that you should only lift three times a week, but it's not true, you just have to be smart about it. You can't lift max loads every day, but you certainly can train every day and improve. I've met a guy, however, who trained based on the Bulgarian method (google it, you'll like it), and like many others before him he busted his knees permanently.
Something to keep in mind with the bulgarian lifters is that they were most certainly on performance enhancing drugs.
I used to train Judo and BJJ, I developed lateral and medial tendinosis / tendonitis in both my elbows. After some hard judo sessions I couldn't release the park brake in my car with one hand. I still have this issue 7 years later. Was this overtraining or underdevelopment (of tendons, recovery ability)?
Sylvie, I read one of your articles earlier this week, so these ideas have been swimming around in my head.
On Tuesday night after training I could barely stand my legs hurt so much. On Wednesday I asked my self "Am I injured, or is it just pain?". I decided it was muscle soreness, so I trained Wednesday and now tonight - Thursday. My legs feel a lot better. I wonder if I had rested would I still be limping around or not?
For those interested there is a famous case of exercise induced rhabdomyolysis, involving 13 members of a highschool football team.
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Thankyou missmuaythai, I think I might be training at your old gym.
Sylvie, 100%. It was looping around.
Tonight I did one hour of Muay Thai. We practiced throwing a knee and then as your partner goes to return the knee you push them to off balance them and throw a body kick... I suppose it could be a head kick or leg kick as well? I like this technique and I could see how you could use it other situations. For example: push off from the clinch and straight away throw the right kick.
Tomorrow is my last day of training for the week, there is no class, so I'll go into the gym, skip, shadow box, then do bag rounds. My focus will be all the techniques I learned this week. This is the great thing about having it written down. I can go back and refresh my mind before the session.
I have a couple of thoughts... I need to improve my flexibility and do something to loosen my hips. When they're not sufficiently warmed up I can barely kick past my partners hips.
Secondly, I am titrating up my training, and I wonder whether six days next week or five days, with an extra class on a day or two is better? I originally planed six days, but I now think five days with an additional classes might be better. Thoughts?
11hr15
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Which Brand Of Boxing Gloves Do You Prefer?
in Muay Thai Technique, Training and Fighting Questions
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A lot of food for thought here... more complex than I thought. I will never hit anything hard without wraps now, I feel my wrist flex too much when I hit stuff even with wraps. It would be interesting to pick up a pair of 14oz or 12oz just to see the difference.
There are these little deoderizing pouches you can buy from some equipment stores now. Otherwise, maybe get a second pair and alternate daily?