Post from Pat Flynn RKC

12-29

I'll be back from vacation soon and back onto the training regimen. We brought a 8kg and 12 Kg bell with us. Just been doing press ladders and front squats to keep up with something. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to the gym.

This morning:

Clean and Press - 5x3 - 12kg

Press ladder/Front Squat Ladder - 1Press L, 1 Squat, 1 Press R, 1 Squat -- Up to 5 each side

Overhead walks up and down the driveway ~50ft, 12kg 2x each arm.

Check out Pat Flynn's Blog. He has already been logging some of our training:

RKC Training Log - 12/20/201012/22/2010 4 Comment(s) As promised, here is the first installment, of what I expect to be a very long series. There will not be a video log of every workout, such a task would be too time consuming, but I will post written logs as often as possible, for those who wish to follow along. Our current goal is to maximize our all around strength or general physical preparedness, while also focusing on our sports specific(martial arts) enhancement as well. Master Somnath Sikdar RKC is a 5th degree Tae Kwon Do black belt, and the owner/head instructor of Dragongym in Exton, PA. In order to train both sports specific and GPP(general physical preparedness) our program must take into careful consideration the variables such as volume, intensity, and density A recollection: Volume refers to total amount of work performed. You can think of this as total number of sets and reps performed, or total amount of weight lifted, I prefer the latter. Intensity refers to how hard you are working. In terms of weight, we base intensity on our one rep max. So a 60% intensity, implies that we will use a weight that is 60% of our one rep max. Density refers to how much work you cram into a period of time. Tons of volume, and high intensity on a daily basis will not only fry your CNS(central nervous system), but will surely hinder your sports specific training as well. Our program is tactically periodized, so that the volume and intensity are constantly fluctuating, sometimes inversely and sometimes not. Both high intensity and high volume days do appear, but it would be unwise for any athlete to train at such high volume and/or high intensity all of the time. Train hard, but also train smart. This was our workout from Monday - 12/20/2010 This was a medium volume, medium intensity day. The highest intensity for this workout was with the vertical press(double clean and press)m which was about 60% or 2x24kg kettlebells for me. All other movements were performed with weight around 40% of our 1 rep max I will post our sports specific training separately for those who are interested

Black Belt Test

12-18. The Winter 2010 Black Belt Test.

This test was one of the best in recent memory. We had 4 adult candidates for 2nd Dan and several youth candidates for 1st and 2nd poom. Things started at 9am with the kettlebell requirements for the adult students. 200 swings in 7.5 minutes and 5 minutes of continuous TGUs. I have to admit, they made it look easy. That makes two things quite apparent. One: in martial arts the true test is really in the preparation. Two: I can make at least this portion of the requirement harder.

The remainder of the test included the traditional requirements of forms(poomsae), kicks, partner work, sparring and breaking. Although the forms could have used a little work(but I always think this), everything was performed quite well.

Tremendous turnout. Over all a great day for Dragon Gym.

12/16

Training on the easy strength program has been going well. I have been sticking with the same primary exercises: Dead Lift, Military KB Press, Bench Press, Pull Up, Squat. No huge 1RM jumps yet; however, I have tried to 1RM either.

Notable numbers:

Dead Lift 6x1 - 355lbs

KB press - 6x1 - 40Kg

BP - 3x3 - 195lbs

Pull Up 6x1 - 24kg

I have been keeping the squats light due to the high kicking volume lately; heavy squats seem to really tighten up the hips when combined with a lot of kicking....not sure why.

1 to 7 Snatch ladders with 24kg feel good, easy.

The increases kicking volume is really helping, legs feel light again, kick height is back up.

Chunkwon and Hansoo are coming along nicely, I guess we'll find out on Saturday...

12/2

Training Log

I was basically sick all through Thanksgiving weekend, but it was a good chance to recover. Feeling much better on Monday, I started my Even Easier Strength program for the month of December. The goal being to maintain/increase strength but back off some of the intensity and volume and focus on my TKD training. Started this month at 178 Lbs, I'm curious to see if there are any bodyweight/composition changes. Long term I'd like to get my dead lift to 2.5x and be able to press the "Beast".

Mon:

"60%" day

Dead Lift - 3x3 - 265 Lbs

KB Military Press - 3x3 - 28KGs

Bench Press - 3x3 - 175 Lbs

Pull Up - 3x3 - 12 KGs

Squat - 3x3 - 205 Lbs

Snatch - 6r/6l per minute - 5 minutes

Beginner Class

Dynamic Warm up: basic kicks, footwork

Focus Target Work: 2 kick combinations, counters

Sparring - Hands only, feet only, mixed

Poomsae Review.

After Class

140 kicks per side just the basics

Poomsae - Koryo -> Chunkwon

Tues:

Noon Class

Dynamic Warm up: basic kicks, footwork

Focus Target Work: 2 kick combinations, counters

Sparring - Hands only, feet only, mixed

Poomsae Review.

Advanced Class - Steve Taught, I worked on Poomsae

Chunkwon down to Koryo

Chonji - Kae Baek

Heavy Bag Work

Round kicks, low, middle, high

Doubles

360s

"40%" day - Same lifts, dropped the weight, went 2x5 on all. Definitely get better work outs in the AM then PM

Wed:

"60%" day -- Same as Monday. Everything felt smooth except the squat. Hips are tight from the increased kicking volume

Beginner Class

Spent a lot of time on Break falling, rolling, and standing up --> Carryover from TGU!

Technique work on chambering, deep skill on Roundhouse Kick

Adv Class

All kicks: basics, skipping, jumping, 360s

Poomsae - Pyong Won, Kwang Gae, Po Eun

Knife defenses

So far the increased kicking and poomsae volume feels good, albeit tiring. The strength training feels good as well, even though the squat is tight. I'm excited to see how this works over the next couple weeks.