9/14 – GreenStrengthIV Training Log

Wednesday 9/14

Session 1

Airdyne

x60min light recovery spin (450cal)

Session 2 

Croc Breathe

Croc Breathe into Bretzel

KB Arm Bar 16kg x1/1

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TGU

70 x5/5 – rest as needed

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“Right of Passage” C&P (Day 2 of 3)

704 ladders of 4 rungs (4-3-2-1)

Medium Grip Neutral Grip Pull Up Ladder

4 ladders of 4 rungs (4-3-2-1)

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Single Arm Swing

70 5/5, 5/5, 5/5, 10/10, 5/5, 5/5, 10/10, 5/5 = 100 (8min)

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BJJ Drilling

40min of light movement and drilling in the GI

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Listen to your body dummies….

Yesterday was supposed to be my viking warrior conditioning day as well as some simple and sinister play. However my body just felt different and I seemed to have less motivation. Instead of forcing myself to complete the high intensity work I literally just played for 90min. Tons of crawling, mobility, rolling, and breathing exercises had me so energized I decided to actually train. Here is the kicker. I refused to hit the weights and instead did 5 rounds of the following in order to fully allow my body/mind to recover..

-One Arm Push Up x3/arm

-Pistol x3/leg

-TRX Single Arm Row x5/arm

-Forward Leopard Crawl x10yards

-Backwards Shoulder Crawl with hips elevated x10yards

Moral of the story is you must listen to your body and rest or reduce intensity/load based on how you feel in the current moment. No online program or magazine can bust you through a plateau as fast as managing your own training stress. Be mindful, listen to your body, and train for a specific skill or goal!

Train Smart – Train Mindful

I’m Hurt, Banged Up, Overused…On to the next phase.

Last weekend I competed in the TSC and the Texas Five Grappling Tournament. Over the last couple of months I have discovered many things in my body; mainly fascial problems that have lead to asymmetries, that lead to overuse, injuries, etc.. This is common in pretty much everyone we see as we always want to push ourselves rather than build ourselves. I am just as guilty of this and sometimes it takes a moment like this to readjust and proceed forward correctly. With that being said, I went into the TSC with a few goals, and met them with flying colors.

I started Saturday morning at the TSC, weighing in at 186 lbs.

Deadlift – Ultimately this was going to be the moment for my 600lb pull, however I had to be smart and stay within my current limits due to my recent physical condition. I pulled 535lbs very easily. Missed 560 on my 3rd attempt due to a few things but who cares? I stayed smart and didn’t fight, just sat it down – veteran move!

Pull Ups – This was much tougher than I had anticipated, based on the nature of the pull up training I was used to (usually KB weighted pull ups/not for max reps). The metabolic effects of a true dead hang max pull up set are tough. Remember this was no kips and crap like that. I pulled out 20 reps hitting my goal.

Snatch – Again, I had to be smart here with my injuries, especially due to the fact that directly after the competition it would be time to grapple. I allowed myself one set down of the bell towards the end and still snatched 109 reps in 5min.

While this wasn’t my original Elite Class – 600lb Pull and TSC World Champ, I was able to accomplish goals while keeping my ego in check!

Next we jumped in the car and drove 30+ minutes to the grappling tournament where I competed in 3 total matches. The first was a GI match where I lost by points: 5-3. I made the first move and then made the first mistake, and he was able to capitalize.

The second match was against some punk in No-Gi who had no business being out there. His hand fighting tactics were punches, literally. The match was stopped as he was warned to STOP HITTING ME. Once we restarted, I face planted him, took his back, gave him some Rader face choke moves and waited for the ref to see the tap :).

My third match was against a Lovato BJJ teammate of mine for 1st in our division. This match was my favorite part of the day because A- he is tough, B- I have a lot of respect for him, C- I was able to win with a kimura.

This physical challenge was a blast and I highly advise others to set an event, challenge, or goal, and make it a priority. I had goals, accomplished many, spent great time with friends, and deff uplifted my spirits during this weekend. Going after something creates character, strength, and brings fulfillment in life.

So now onto my next phase…. I am going to take the next 3 weeks to do only these things….

-Rocking, Crawling, Neck Nods, Soft Rolls, Myofascial Release Techniques

-Yoga 2 X Week (Wed night, and Sunday with Green Strength’s Budokon teacher)

-Viking Warrior Conditioning 2 X Week

-Simple and Sinister 3 X Week (just practice TGU and keep swings moderate in volume)

-Strength Session 3 X Week – only these movements

*Day 1 – 5 total rounds with 4-5 being top end sets

DBL KB Clean x (2, 3, 5)

DBL KB Press x (2, 3, 5)

DBL KB Front Squat x (2, 3, 5)

Weighted Chin Up x (2, 3, 5)

Pistol x (2, 3, 5)

*Day 2 – 5 Rounds with 4-5 being top sets

DBL KB Swing x5

DBL KB Clean x5

DBL KB Reverse Lunge x5/leg

Single Arm Snatch + Negative of Press on way down x5/side

Weighted Tactical Pull Up x5

*Day 3 – 5 Rounds with 4-5 being top sets

DBL KB Snatch + Negative of press on way down x3

Single KB Press x3/side

KB Renegade Row x3/rows arm

Rack Pulls (below knee) x3

Over Under Grip Pull Up x3/each side

Schedule 

Sun – Viking Conditioning, Yoga

Mon – Day 1 Strength

Tues – Simple and Sinister, Rocking, Crawling, Walking (These can be done everyday – however they are done for sure this day)

Wed – Day 2 Strength, Yoga

Thurs – Viking Conditioning, Simple and Sinister

Fri – Day 3 Strength

Sat – Simple and Sinister

GreenStrength Fighters

This friday night in Tulsa Ok I have 4 fighters going to battle on the Legacy FC Card! Many people who train combat sports have asked about what I do, or they think from years ago I may be doing similar things as before. WRONG! I am building HEALTHY – STRONGER – FIGHTERS. All four of my guys recently posted or sent me a message via text. I posted them all below as I feel this shows firsthand what we are accomplishing together. These guys are moving, feeling, recovering flat out better than before and they all stand behind the fact they feel it has made their FIGHT TRAINING BETTER. That’s the purpose here. Derrick is the newest addition to the team but he is such a hard working, humble stud who has fit right in and just been a DO’er! Looking over notes on Rafael we saw where over the past 3+ years we have added 12lbs of Lean Body Mass to his frame while keeping weight around the same. Yes, ponder that and add the fact his injuries and small set backs from training have drastically gone down. He moves, sleeps, feels BETTER!

I can’t thank these gentleman enough for being the foundation and the true start to the #GreenStrength revolution.

Derrick Adkins recently had this to say on a FB Post 

“Yesterday I was tired and kind of sluggish. Then I got up and got to my strength and conditioning workout, Luke put me through simple fight week movements and I left feeling good and went straight to kickboxing and killed that workout feeling a lot better because of the first workout, instead of feeling worse because I killed a hard lifting workout. That has been the story of this fight camp, #Greenstrength workouts have enhanced my sport specific workouts for sure!”

Rafael Lovato Jr. recently put this tweet out

“My #strengthandconditioning coach, Luke Tirey, killing a 106lb #KB #turkishgetup this morning! He has totally changed my body composition, kept me healthy, made my stronger, & got me in the best shape of my life over the last few years. I am so thankful to have him a part of my #fightcamp. Give him a follow at @greenstrengthiv. #greenstrength #teamlovato #intelligenttraining #bestofbothworlds”

Justin Rader recently sent me this text message 

” Hey man I just wanted to shoot you a message and tell you thank you so much for everything! Everything you have had me do has really paid off. I feel amazing! I can feel it in my practices, I am stronger, faster, and just feel incredible! Thanks so much again, I hope to represent well at Legacy FC!

Myron Dennis recently posted this to his FB

“It’s fight week and I feel amazing. 12 + weeks will drive you crazy. For the first time in my pro career, I don’t have the stress of a large weight cut.”

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Interested in joining the #GreenStrength Community? Contact for details..

Morning Coffee Post | FIGHTERS!

Just finished sipping on my cup of coffee and have to admit to the world I broke the rules and drank it black… Not adding butter will quickly lead to the world completely destroying your life through social media. So hack this concept – FIGHTERS training there asses off with high intense, high anaerobic, high aerobic, high volume, WORKOUTS in addition with their fight training. Sounds like a recipe for producing a tough, possibly lean and ripped, fighter who is performing at a non optimal level and frankly they have no clue. Thankfully my guys understand this and trust in the process that when they come into the gym for “S&C” its about 3 things

1- Always leaving feeling better than when you came in – maybe its just you feel looser, or a sense of endorphin rush. That is a hell of a lot better than feeling like your going to throw up and shaky as you walk.

2- Practice Makes Permanent | Perfect Practice Makes Perfect – Always strive to get better in your movement/exercise. The goal is to continue to practice with the mindset of increasing the quality of practice each time.

3- Move Your Body With ZEN – Even after heavy deadlifts and chin ups its always great for fighters to finish up with playful light movement. This is where rocking, crawling, hanging, tumbling, rolling, corrective exercises, or even laying in a still state and slowing down your breathe and mind come in handy. Now do them!

When fighter buy into this approach they really become vocal about just how good they feel, how they don’t suffer as much pain or chronic tightness, how they don’t feel lack of energy or rundown, and how they feel stronger all around in life.

Well, what about conditioning? Leave that for the fight training. Be specific to your event and specific in nature to the demands your body will face…AKA SPARRING. Besides, I believe in swinging kettlebells and carrying heavy ass weights as part of strength training. Needless to say this combination will have you in shape regardless.

STOP OVERTRAINING NOW!

Have Balance?

If during a normal static posture moment the muscles of one side of a joint are shorter and tighter than what should be their normal range, there has most likely been compensation on the other side of the joint. This means that the joint is continuously being pulled out of its normal range and muscles are not working in their optimal range. 

***Majority of athletes I see have problems like this. YET… They want to train hard as hell and push it daily “No Pain No Gain”! This isn’t what I advise or support and strongly advise all Greenstrength followers to put more “attention with intent” in their movement/mobility/stability/flexibility.

Here is an example. Bench Press

Many lifters have spent years trying to grow the bench without ever balancing out the antagonistic work on the other side. In this case the lifter has tight pecs and keeps going on progressing the bench press instead of switching the focus for the time being on scapular adduction work (the antagonistic action). Why is this bad? Well because the shoulders are actually being pulled forward and tugging the shoulder girdle out of place. During movements it also means one side of the joint is stronger than the other. Muscle imbalances such as this can easily lead to injury when you move into the weak range with force or power (something you definitely do in sports or competition). 

Balancing acts like this don’t just work on muscles etc. To fully reach a high performance / high health state this balancing act must be applied in all aspects of training and life. The moment life brings to much added stress away from the gym its probably optimal to reduce volume in the gym etc. 

Stop concerning yourself on certain exercises and start concerning yourself with how your bodies balance inside and out is coming. Are you moving better, feeling better, standing taller, recovering faster? If so, chances are you are correcting some of these imbalances in the process. Keep it up! 

Agonist – Antagonist: Not just with the muscles but in life as well!