Thursday I went to Judo class with Gant and got to see my buddy Devin again. I started training Devin to get stronger when he was 12 years old, 6 feet tall, and weighed 200 pounds. Now he’s 14, is 6’4″, and weighs 220 pounds. I worked with him during last night’s class and we threw each other around for a couple of hours. It’s very humbling to have a 14-year-old man-handle you. Here’s a video we recorded a little over a year ago. Devin is 12 here (updated videos will come soon).
Of course I regret not getting involved with Judo more when I lived in Wichita Falls. I’ve always been very interested in using the physical attributes built in the gym into athletic endeavors. Personally, I haven’t been involved in a sport that requires athleticism, reaction, and finesse in quite a while. Learning new things is a humbling experience, and it’s something I encourage you all to do.
Lifting may be a new activity to you, yet I hope it’s your gateway to other things as well. I grew up loving weight training, but it was a means to an end regarding football preparation. I’ve been involved with competing in weightlifting (including Senior Nationals) and coaching powerlifting (including USAPL Raw Nationals twice), but sports and activities that require more are very interesting. In lifting, the same motions are repeated over and over, and there isn’t an exceptional amount of athletic ability inherent in it. This, of course, isn’t a knock on lifting. I love lifting and will always include it in my training, but using the strength and power developed through lifting into another sport is just as rewarding (if not more) as competing in the barbell sports alone.
Some of you are merely strength training enthusiasts. Others of you aim to remain more capable than the average person and want to preserve your health. Some of you may have picked and fully committed to powerlifting and weightlifting. Objectively, only a small percentage of you will be competitive at a high level that would require long-term specialization. In the same way that I encourage you to enter your first lifting meet, I encourage you to try a new sport or activity and even compete in it.
I can’t imagine anything more vulnerable than agreeing to do a Judo tournament in two months from now. I’ve had one session of getting my ass kicked by a young international competitor, and the thought of doing it live against an opponent who has their shit together is intimidating. But that’s the point. Competition isn’t supposed to make you feel nice; for the majority of us it’s going to be a character building experience.
Trying a martial art like Judo can be rewarding in many ways. You will improve your coordination, agility, and body awareness while improving your ability to throw someone through a table when necessary (it often is). Gant once rhetorically asked me, “What’s the point of being strong if you can’t throw someone across the room?” If you can find a place where you can also get some quality striking/sparring and actual real world self defense, then you’re automatically more useful. Being strong doesn’t make you more useful — conditioning your body to utilize that strength is what makes you useful.
Happy PR Friday — Post your training updates and PRs to the comments. Ask questions about or discuss some other sports to get involved with. If you have questions on Judo (including where to go and how to get started), put them in the comments and I can get some resources to you from Gant.
Follow the jump for a video from last night.
63 thoughts on “Try Something Else”
You must log in to post a comment.
I was in the Judo club in college for one semester before I got involved with another club. Judo is a lot of fun. I’d like to get back into it and am actually going to meet up with one of the guys I work with who trains jiu jitsu this Sunday. We are going to go over some knife disarming techniques along with some grappling. It should be fun.
i’d rather play street fighter iv
I’ve always wanted to learn one of the martial arts. Unfortunately all the places near me are kind of shady and have been closing down.
I’d rather watch kung fu re-runs.
Judo is sweeeet. I haven’t done it in years, but when I did, it gave me so much more confidence, and made wrestling with my mates fun! Before that, I hated anything too rough – probably cos I grew up only with sisters. One day I’ll get back into again…
By the way, Devin, nice name!
Judo is badass. I’ve been lookin into taking krav maga classes myself. The idea of disabling an opponent in one move is very appealing to me.
I sprained my knee over the weekend while hiking so I couldn’t train this week. I was still two or three miles from my car when it happened, and I had a 50-lb pack on, so it was a bad situation. But I built a splint and made it down the mountain, then made the 6-hour drive home. I was hoping to get in the gym and just do some upper body stuff this week, but I decided to minimize my “walking” (really hobbling) as much as possible and just go home and sit after work so that I could heal faster. After a very painful walk to work on Monday morning I had a brilliant idea: I called my little brother and he was good enough to dig through our parents’ garage for his old razor scooter. Now THAT is a way to travel if you can’t bend your knee! I go through an underground tunnel system to get to the subway, so riding that bad boy through it was a dream come true. I saw an orthopedist and he confirmed that it’s just a sprain, nothing is torn or anything. I’m going without the brace today. Next week I’ll be on vacation and away from weights, so hopefully when I get back I’ll be able to return to the iron. While on vacation I’ll try to start doing bodyweight squats, lunges etc. to make sure everything heals up properly. It’s the outside back ligament that was strained the most. Any suggestions for how to make sure I come back to full strength asap would be great. It has been improving steadily every day so I’m optimistic that it won’t be a big deal much longer.
The thought of you getting around on a razor scooter made me fucking laugh real hard. Make sure and ice that knee as much as you can, especially after rehabbing it.
–Justin
Bench PR: got a smooth 265lb with pause at the bottom… good for me.
I’ve been expermimenting with different foot placement – tucked under me as opposed to out wide in front to see how it affects my arch and stability. I think I settled on out wide in front because I get better leg drive. Justin, I’d love to get your opinion on bench press set-up.
@maslow, good luck with the knee. Same thing happened to me playing hockey in college. hurt like a bitch for a couple weeks but healed quickly
Decided not to train tonight after feeling weak & crappy at work all day with the flu. 10 mins later changed my mind and had a meal, a nap and then began psyching myself up. I honestly thought I’d struggle with even just the warm up sets and was worried I wouldn’t be able to rep the planned work sets at all. Ended up having the best session ever and smashed it. Felt grrreat. Now I have the weekend to stay in bed, eat and get well.
BTW, this completes Week 10 of the beginner 5×5 LP program I’m on. BW is up 22 kgs (about 50% LMB) so far to 112kg/247lbs, (6’2″, 29 yo). New to lifting coming from a amateur boxing background. Planning on competing in PL in 2012. Every set for every lift is a PR at the moment.
SQ PR – 122.5kg x1x10
Press PR – 65kg x5x5
DL PR – 145kg x1x5 (is sets first or reps?? I mean 1 set x 5 reps)
WRT martial arts, I can recommend boxing, which, like judo or TKD, is more of a “sport” in the approach to training and coaching IMO. Getting in the ring for a bout is an amazingly rewarding experience. You can forget stacking on weight whilst doing (what I’d call) proper boxing training though.
Muy Thai is fun too.
I badly fractured a finger during sparring earlier this year leading up to a tournament and may never be able to make a fist with my right hand, which is partly what lead to me lifting. Otherwise I’d probably still be fighting now, instead of getting 70s Big.
@Maslow – hope your knee heals up quickly mate. I’d be icing it after you doing anything much with it until its healed. I know some say ice is only good for the first couple of days after injury, but my experience contradicts this.
Brent:
I’d also rather play SF4. This is because I could beat you on that, but would have very little chance of throwing you in real life.
I started a new linear progression a couple weeks ago. Still a few weeks out from PRs, but it’s nice to be lifting regularly again.
Plus, the Fit Book is supposed to be delivered this afternoon.
PR for surgical recovery! Finally back at the gym this week after foot surgery and was out for 12 days. Lifted with my oly coach yesterday and discussed ‘strategy’ for MY FIRST MEET in 2 weeks!!
Used to compete nationally in Judo, just starting to get back into it after a few years away. Good luck in the tourney, there’s nothing more satisfying than plowing someone into the floor screaming at the top of your lungs.
Justin I think I remember you posting that you are in Panama City? If so, Carlos Cummings at Cummings Combat Sambo could not possibly be more legit for judo and sambo. He is awesome and VERY brutal!! cummingscombatsambo.com/Instructor.html
Awesome weekend training at WFAC with Rip and Jim and a slew of fabulous weightlifters.
Snatch PR – 55 kg
Clean and jerk PR – 72 kg
I’ve played a lot of sports in my life, and I’m totally fine making weightlifting my only sport at the moment.
Just came across this video. This is awesome: Ted Arcidi Breaks Bench World Record…TWICE!
Quick judo question: I did TKD for years then finally got sick of all the pointless and non-practical baggage that we had to do (patterns etc). Am I right in thinking there’s none of that in judo?
@Behemoth
At my judo club, there were never any forms. We just learned/practiced throws and grappling. At the end of every class, we did randori which is live sparring competition. The sport is focused on live sparring and competition.
Amen to this post. I have been practicing SAMBO(russian combat system) my whole life and it constantlyrequires that you refine technique and get stronger, faster etc. You can lift all you want, but if you sit in the corner crying while some thug robs your wife or worse…. then you are useless. Learning to fight has been one of the most rewarding endeavors in my life and it has put my lifting to excellent use.
Deadlift PR – 425 x 1
4 PRs to report:
1. Failed to meet or exceed my expectations in a competition last weekend at Nationals.
2. Learned a new phrase: unrequited love
3. Developed unrequited love for a girl who has a boyfriend (I know, Im a chump).
4. Met and fraternized with Justin Saturday night. On the verge of developing unrequited love for his biceps.
outside of oly or pl, my sport of choice is tennis. i’m considering joining the tennis club at UNT but i’m waiting a bit to see if i’ll actually have time to train, travel, and compete with the team. not so sure it will be possible with my crazy clinical/class/research schedule. but boy oh boy i would love that.
ah, as for PRs i think i hit a lame bench volume and front squat volume PR at my new lame gym this week. i’m heading back after class to see what i can do with my heavy back squat. i have improved insanely in my rings skills, though. that’s not lame. that was exciting.
omg omg omg omg omg i can’t wait for sunday——-brent and justin….you guys, saul, and i are going to barcraft. be fucking prepared, bitches.
If I had more hours in the week I’d love to get back into Karate. I got my junior black belt when I was 16 after 10 years of training and it’d be nice to get back into it now that I’m a hell of a lot stronger and more powerful.
Maybe someday, but right now I choose weightlifting.
It’s funny you made this post since I just joined the track and field team yesterday to learn the hammer throw. If I had not been strength training for the last year and a half practice would have gone differently.
The coaches were impressed with my strength in the throw and I held my own with some big guys (I’m 5’11” 235lbs close to 20% bodyfat)
After some running and agility work, they had us deadlift once every minute for 12 minutes while increasing weight. twards the end, it was just me and 3 guys out of 8 and I was able to pull it.
They put some hundred pound plates on the bar near the beginning, so I was not familiar with the weight, but the last lift turned out to be 425lbs for a 40lb PR!
Im happy to finally get out of training alone in the garage and be able to use my strength for something other than lifting this semester. Finishing up at my Community College and plan to walk on as a hammer thrower when I transfer to a 4 year this spring for the field season.
The whole reason I started lifting weights and found this site was because of football. I totally agree with you that you should get involved with other activities because the strength gains will really pay off when your faster, stronger and bigger in another sport or hobby you do. Nothing feels better in football when you can physically dominate your opponent.
I used to cycle, but I don’t need to be any skinnier/weaker, so I quit that. I’d much rather save my energy for some solid lifting.
Equipment PR: bought a 300# barbell set off of Craigslist for $50. Nice to finally have my own gear.
Squat PR: 160#x3x5
Is anyone crafty enough to figure out how I can transform a 20′ section of 4″x6″ PT wood into a sweet squat rack? Doing squats from the floor is getting old, and limiting.
@yeshuareigns – your comment about sitting in the corner and crying is spot on. Having some solid hand to hand skills should be on everyones bucket list.
@echo: A big saw.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu actually lead me to weightlifting, in a sort of reverse journey. It’s a grappling art with chokes and joint locks. I compete tons, and when you go up against someone with the same skill level, strength can tip the scales. It also allows me to be competitive with people much larger than myself in absolute divisions, or in the club. BJJ clubs are everywhere and so are the tourneys. It’s challenging mentally as well as physically.
Squat PR 3X5 @315
Bench PR 3X5 @ 235
Power Clean PR 4X3 @ 190
Unfortunately competitive judo has gotten really watered down due to safety concerns. Here’s a video that shows all throws illegal to use in competition as of 2009 I believe. They took away half of the game in one felled swoop.
The population I train is at a Krav Maga facility (Isreali Self Defense/Hand-to-Hand Combat). I primarily use a combination of Oly lifting and CrossFit Football along with good old fashioned conditioning.
I find the carry over from Oly lifting to fighting is incredible. It teaches people to use explosive hip extension that translates to striking, kicking, basing/sprawling and bursting. Sadly, Krav is not a competitive sport as it it primarily “reality/scenario based” and very violent/dirty. But the sparring is fun. I can say from first hand experience that gaining 30lbs of good muscle makes fighting much easier.
ACL is still recovering. Should be squatting and deadlifting in about 4-5 months.
Leg press PR: 25 lbs
Meal PR: 2 pounds of roast beef and half gallon of whole milk for breakfast.
Want to try something else, but still mostly want to lift?
Try strongman.
You can try brasilian jiu jitsu – it’s judo minus all the rules that make it judo. No ankle locks or knee bars? come on, judo!
Also, get in now before the sports gets too watered down.
Hit a triple at 300 on the bench the other day, previous PR was 303 for a single at a meet in June. Pretty happy with that!
PR: Fucked my wife’s best friend and my best friends’ wife.
Gotta count for something.
Huh???
–Justin
Deadlift: 340×5
Bench: (265×5)x3
My GloboGym seems to have switched to a playlist of country music slow jamz. That adds a new degree of difficulty to things…
I’ve trained Judo for 4 years now, and I am convinced it is one of the best sports in the world. Check out this video of one of the best judoka of all time, it’s amazing.
Here are some Judo sites for anyone interested:
http://judoinfo.com/new/
http://judoforum.com/
First time posting!
PR in OHS 91kg (1)
Been playing basketball for years, but since taking a head first leap into Oly lifts a couple months ago, My explosiveness going to the hoop is way better. Makes my high school day look elementary.
So I still play lacrosse and will continue to do so until I cant move. There is a guy in our club (Pabst Blue Ribbon Lacrosse) who is 67 years old and travels all over the world to play with a U.S. Masters squad which is pretty freakin awesome. He also plays with guys in their 20s and 30s and can hold his own pretty well.
Got a volume PR this week
Squat: 115kg x 20
-havent been able to hit squats at all until very recently so im happy about this one.
Dynamic Bench PR today: ((65kg + band) x5) x6
Caught a legit pump.
200lb press.
Squat: Trying to figure out this elbow pain issue (need a video I know) so I did an early reset. Setting the bar higher and focusing on elbows up and not pulling down with my hands as I stand. Down to 295 3×5 from last weeks 320.
Deadlift: PR 420×5
Bench: PR 247.5 5,5,7
Not to PRs yet, but close.
Press: 137.5x5x2, x6
Squat: 300x5x3
Bench: 202.5x5x3, x7
Deadlift: 275×7
Should be upping the Deadlift to 285 and Press to 140 on Sunday.
Badly wanted to get into Highland Games events this summer, but things got hectic on the homefront and instead I have been and still am remodeling a quarter of my house. Some serious woodworking/painting/drywalling going on. Maybe next season!
Agreed that the image of Maslow on a razor scooter is hilarious!
Still spots open for 70s Big Fantasy Football too. Go to Yahoo! League ID#: 383427, password is: squat. Get on that folks.
Home Library PR: FIT was waiting on my doorstep when I got home today.
Also, I finally transitioned to a Texas Method style set up. I’m excited to have some more complex programming to play around with.
Got a good heavy day in today.
Squat: 275×12 (quit because of technique, not fatigue)
Bench: 165×8 (meh, slowly building back up)
Deadlift: 455×1
One problem I ran into today was that my deadlift weak point has magically changed from lockout to breaking it off the floor. I’m not sure if it’s some weight loss, the lack of heavy squatting, or what, but I barely got 455 off the ground, and past the knees it felt fine.
Got back in the saddle Monday with a double bodyweight chin-up (+175) for a single, then +160, +135×2 and +90×5. Cheat curl and press 185×1, but that’s just a fuck off.
Tuesday I do the one-armed dumbbell press thing.
Left arm and right arm on each press:
1×100
1×110
1×120
1×120 (missed, I blame it on the dingleberry sitting there watching me the whole time, fucking douchebag)
1×110
2×100
Followed by 205×1 and 225×1 standing overhead press (barbell)
Between Tuesday and today I had a lousy bench Wednesday where I only got up to 305×1 on incline and a light bodyweight day Thursday with some flag levers, some rep out half-assed front levers, an elbow lever and 3 sets of 5 to 8 muscle-ups
Today I was able to maintain what I did last week with standing overhead presses
1×205
1×225
1×230
1×235 (missed!)
1×225
2×205
Still no time for seated overhead presses.
Squat 320×4 was a little shady on the fifth rep so I decided it was a no go.
Bench 270×5 easy
Did my first det of halting deadlifts and I have to say, not a fan. They just did not feel right.
Anyone have a good suggestion for a weightlifting belt for my wife? she’s pretty small @ 105#, but making awesome progress with only 5 months of strength training. First SS and now 6 weeks into GSLP, she’s gaining strength rapidly and I want to get her a good belt. Freaking pumped she’s in there 3x a week with me now… pretty fun getting to run GSLP with her and watch her make progress.
Squat : 410×5 (TM is great for my squat so far)
@mattruss
Where you located for highland games? I’ve been competing all season in CA. Have a couple of games left this season. If you’re out this way drop me a msg.
Squat 480×5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fedMXaau_yI
I was completely gassed after this and pressed light and went home.
After having spent nearly half a year in the Subsaharan African countryside far from a gym (but close to large heard of cheap, organic sheep), I came back to Canada at the end of July wishing to add mass and strength to my 186# frame, 5 foot 9 inch frame.
Four weeks later, I’ve succeeded in gaining nearly 20 pounds
(205# last I checked), partly due to the inspiration drawn from the amazing 70sbig community, and particularly the Food FAQ section.
I’ve achieved this weigh PR by essentially doubling what I normally eat, and eating way past the point where my brain is telling me I am full.
I’ve been training the main slow lifts consistently using the 5-3-1 method and the “Boring but big” assistance work scheme. The result is a net gain in muscle mass and not much change in body fat levels.
Training-wise I’m still quite far off my goals, but I’ve achieved 5×250 on the bench this week.
Cheers!