Saturday/Sunday
I taught my usual class on Saturday morning, finishing out the week of half guard top position by working some over/under pass variations and concepts. Then I rolled a couple of rounds at open mat. I could definitely feel the progress I have made over the last nearly two weeks of letting myself rest properly after nearly overdoing it. I was moving quite well and very dynamically without too much hesitation – most of my hesitation comes into play when I am in guard and wary of my partner potentially moving my leg and putting stress on my hip. When I play top or neutral position I feel very confident/secure and much as such. After open mat ended I hung out for a little bit and waited for a private client to arrive for an hour session before heading home to relax for the rest of the evening. Sunday as always is my sloth day – I do the bare essential demands so my brain can recharge for the week. I find that this makes the rest of my week far more productive and efficient.
This update is going to cover a few days extra as I’m going to switch my update day to Sundays moving forward.
Monday
I had a surprise substitute physical therapist today, so he asked me if I wanted to change anything about my program and I told him that I didn’t know what he had planned for me and as such I couldn’t make any comments. He said he was going to do the same thing as what I had listed from last week – so I told him that the kettlebell RDLs were very easy and I could probably use an increase. So he took me to the weight room and checked my form on a landmine deadlift with a 45# plate – that became the replacement. Everything else remained the same as last week except that for my straight leg raises I used a larger cone and for my TRX pistol squat I opted to not use the squishy pad as a target behind me and just watched my depth in the mirror to make sure I was getting to the spot I needed to be.
Monday nights we have a 90 minute Jiu Jitsu class at my academy and it is one of our most popular classes of the week. I work from home on days that I have physical therapy but got a ride in from one of my team mates. We warmed up with partner movement drills, then went into our takedown sequence of the month before working on a Jiu Jitsu technique from side control bottom (position of the week). Then we had a good 30-40 minutes of live drills/rounds. I was able to go through the entire class without any modifications to techniques and felt really good in all my movements. I even was able to implement a new passing concept that I sniped our other black belt instructors studying – it wasn’t exact to the way they were practicing it, but it used the same principles in the moment and it worked.
Tuesday
I felt the deadlifts in my upper hamstrings when I work up this morning. Nothing above and beyond, and I was still able to move around like normal, but I could definitely tell I had done them the day before! My blood pressure was running on the lower side of my normal today continuing the trend from yesterday (mid 90s/60s) – so I decided to really focus on extra hydration to see if I could bring it back up a bit. The nice thing about Jiu Jitsu practice is that if my hypotension issues flare up, I’m already on the ground so I’m less likely to pass out except for in between rounds when I stand back up.
Class this morning was fun! One of our black belt instructors reviewed over the technique from the previous evening class with an additional technique that was really stupidly useful (my favorite kind). We got a good amount of live rounds in and I felt pretty solid moving around.
I did a fair amount of mobility and stretching before going into my home PT exercises during evening class as I was still a bit sore. It was just muscle soreness though and my joint felt good so it was okay to work through – I did go a bit lighter with prescribed weights however and only did one set of the single leg (shoulder elevated) hip bridges.
Wednesday
The hamstrings are a little less sore today although my hip joint started getting a little sore. I realized that I was sitting curled up like a gremlin for the majority of the day and it felt better as soon as I stretched out a bit in my big chair that I have set up in the office. I’m still not ready to be hunched over in a standard office chair all day apparently but I’m thankful to my team for setting me up with a comfortable alternative.
I taught some leg framing principles from knee shield half guard tonight (how to activate the core and not just depend on isolated muscles for stability) and then two sweep options depending on whether people are pressuring the knee shield or have their weight neutral/back: a little push/pull dance so to speak. We sparred a few rounds as well and I got to jump in and it has been a while since I did any no gi sparring rounds!
My energy levels had been pretty low this day but since I had gotten my vitamin shots right before class I had a bit of an energy boost and decided to ride it and stay for the gi class afterwards. I got introduced to a new half guard sweep series that I may have to play with a little bit and then got two more light rounds in afterwards.
Thursday
For morning Jiu Jitsu class I was pretty fuzzy headed and had to work hard to maintain my focus and not be a bumbling buffoon during drilling. It was easier during live rolls because that’s more instinctive for me and doesn’t require as much brain power as does focus repetitive technique drilling.
I did my evening PT exercises during the comp class and made it through the full set for the first time this week since the hamstring soreness had died down appropriately enough by this point. It felt pretty good!
Friday – 19 weeks post op
This was typically my work from home day but I had to go into the office after a morning appointment with my therapist as we were down an office staff member. This meant an extra day of sitting which is still a bit more uncomfortable even in the stretched out chair so I had to take extra time to walk and move around during the day.
Saturday
Our morning ladies class is slowly growing and I taught loop choke variations this morning before heading home to relax and take an afternoon nap. I went to see the opera “Carmen” at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center this evening as a special treat and wanted to be well rested for my night out – I really enjoyed the show!
Sunday
That brings us to my new update day. I spent most of Sunday morning doing a deep clean of my apartment and then made a batch of cookies to bring to my PT clinic the following day. Tomorrow will be my last PT session with my current therapist before my original therapist returns from maternity leave to resume overseeing my care – so I figured I would bring some baked goods to see her off. My chocolate chip toffee walnut cookies are always a crowd pleaser!
All in all, I was pretty sore especially toward the beginning of the week in the hamstrings from those deadlifts, but it wasn’t sore enough to cause me to cause me to not be able to move. The main trick I find is that the more choosy I am who I train with, the less guarded I have to be with my movement. In fact this week was some of my best movement thus far. I’m still doing my best to keep the reins on but I can tell I’m getting very close to being where I need to be to get the all clear soon.
Coach's Killer 