2025 Training Log Part 22

On the stereo today- Nothing for once. I’m listening to the rain rattle my roof.

A good week on the mats, and a quiet one in the weight room.

Monday

Felt a bit fatigued after running the irish open all weekend but I went to the gym in any case.

1. Bench 5×5
2. Dumbbell Row 5×8
3. Ring Push Ups 3×15
4. Face Pull 3×12
5. Weighted crunch 3×15
6. Pushdowns 3×12
7. Cable Hammer Curls 3×10

And then 20 minutes sauna in which I fell asleep. Waking up in that heat is a weird experience let me tell you.

Jiu Jitsu

Nice rounds even if I was a little tired. My legs felt dead. We did 30 minutes first score and then 3x6mins.

Tuesday

NoGi. I have barely rolled NoGi all year for no apparent reason, but this was a good session. 45 minutes first score starting in the shin grab position. NoGi shows your age and all of the young guys are streets ahead of me, thankfully. What sort of coach would be the best in the room?

Wednesday

6 rounds of very warm and sweaty Gi Jiu Jitsu. Just great times.

Friday

Quick and dirty conditioning.

15 minutes weights block-

1. Floor Press x8
2. Unsupported Row x8/8
3. Vertical Jumps x8

Fireman’s Carries 3x20m
AtAt Walks 20m with 2kg dumbbells.

Bollixed.

Saturday

Competition training.
15min Master Kimura Warm Up
30min 3-star positional from on your back
3×5 min sparring

Only 8 there. Very tough rounds. My son now tries to kill me and is getting closer every week. He’s 16 this week. I foresee a long road ahead.

Training Thoughts of the Week

Ego is the enemy. I thought of this on Tuesday as a 16 year old, 85kg blue belt was doling it out. Sooner or later, I thought, this kid is going to get his first ever score on me. And 2 minutes later, he did. This made me happy as a coach, and still, a little part of me was hurt. That’s the ego, rattling about in there.

Non-Training Thoughts of the Week

I’ll confess something. For a while, the idea of CTE scared me. (Brain injury aka the condition known as being Punch Drunk) I thought of all of the dumb stuff I’ve done and the stupid ways I trained over the years. I’ve had a few concussions from Taekwondo and from MMA, and I sparred like I was fighting. Fighters today are much more educated and not half as thick. Most coaches are educated about concussion and about heavy head contact (especially in sparring). It scared me enough to go and get a battery of scans and neurological tests, especially after I began exhibiting some symptoms.

Now, thankfully, all was clear. I don’t have CTE, and the symptoms were caused by something else that isn’t up for discussion here, but after that, I made it my business to educate myself on concussion for the sake of the people I coach. I think in martial arts we’re more aware than anyone, and we watch more carefully now.

So imagine my horror to discover that someone I know was back playing football just 4 days after coming down heavy on the ground and knocking himself out. I rang him and bollicked him, sent him reams of pages on the after effects of concussion and return to play protocols. And eventually after a bit of “I’m grand sure”, he went to the doc and was diagnosed with a concussion. He’s on the mend.

We get all of the attention (like rugby) but that education has to spread to other sports.

See you on the mat!

Barry