Second Self-Assessment of the Year; Round Two of PM for MMA Complete

Two-thirds of the way through the Program Minimum for MMA; seeing some gains and efficiency as I progress. Before I was having problems maintaining three minutes of steady swings, which was really bothering me. Then three weeks ago…I broke it…the swing barrier. This past Friday I swung the 44lb kettlebell for 5 minutes straight. Very happy with that. Haven’t done that…ever. This, along with the jumping rope and running, kicks my heart into the top end of the moderate-high intensity to high intensity zone. The former builds above average cardiovascular endurance and the latter builds speed and power. I can’t argue with those results.

As for strength I’ll be adding to the TGU’s and Crush Curls, after three weeks of using only the 44lb I’ll take a superset out with it and add the 53lb for three weeks and then make it two supersets. Then I cool down with a walk with the 53lb locked out overhead. I’ve been getting stronger so how are the measurements bearing out.

Fitness Progress Report:

Body Composition

Body Part                      Before                  After                   -/+

Neck                               14.20                   14.0                  -.20

Shoulders                  44.80                   44.5                 -.30

Chest                             38.00                  38.00               0

Waist                             32.50                   32.50                0

Biceps                           12.40                   12.75              +.35

Forearms                   11                          11.10               +.10

Thighs                         22.10                   21.82              -.28

Calves                          13.8                      14                     +.20

Weight                         153.8 lbs            156                   +2.2 lbs

Body Fat %                15.2%                  15.7%               +0.5%

Lean Body Mass    130.50 lbs        13 1.60           +1.1lbs

Everything but my biceps, forearms and calves have stayed the same. The crush curls helped the pulling strength and size of the biceps, and gripping the kettlebell in swings tightened up my forearms. Calves, all I can say is the jump rope did it. Body fat crept up a half a percent but I don’t see it gathering anywhere in particular. Lean body mass went up as well, and odd balance of a pound of fat for a pound of muscle. I can deal with that, and can’t wait to see the end results and before/after pictures. I’ll probably start easing into the next program’s conditioning phase of 15 one-arm swings and 15 squat thrusts for ten rounds (I’ll work up to it).

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