In the name of ${DEITY:=Salma Hayek}, training sucks more than a vacuum cleaner.
I’ve been training jits for two weeks already at a local SBGi gym (finally after almost a year-long hiatus). The staph crap is completely gone, and my neck is good to go. Been squatting and deadlifting heavy shit and doing my due diligence in the metabolic pathway department, crossfit’ting my way to increase my internal gas tank.
But no matter how hard you go by yourself, it is never the same when you are being pushed. This is specially true when doing combat conditioning in a group directed by a guy who can run loops around you with ease.
Crap, each class is one hour long (which by itself includes about 15 minutes of sparring). And it is followed by 30 minutes of open mat. All that is fine and dandy, except that the class is preceded by a 30-minute long class called ‘Combat Conditioning’.
By the balls of Odin, holy crap on a plate, this sucks balls. It drains you dry. Burpees, more burpees, side runs, squats, lunges, jumping squats, more burpees, each exercise done with 10-second active recovery followed by going balls out for 20-30 seconds. And each exercise is done back to back without break for 9 minutes with 1-minute break. Three of those to make 30 minutes.
You see God as you try not to puke. By the end of the 2nd round, I’m having a hard time hanging up with the rest of the class. And by the 3rd, my effort is in not stop moving even though I can’t perform the reps as fast as I can (which is the main idea). The only thing that gets me going is that I know I will eventually adapt, physically, to these imposed demands, and that this is a fundamental part of the freaking game.
You really need to want this shit badly to keep going. That very same thought keeps popping on my mind whenever the inevitable thought comes as I’m holding my gag reflexes – “Oh God, this sucks, I don’t need this shit”. Either that thought or if you stop, you are a pussy. Whichever works at the heat of the moment, I’ll take it.
The 2nd hardest part of all is scheduling recovery time. You know you need the rest, you know your CNS and your gas tank need the rest, and that the free time can be used for stretching, active recovery, going over your class notes. And still, it feels like wasted time.
A retarded mental dichotomy this is – training vs recovery. It is a falsehood, a fallacy, one which I must keep in mind at all times if I’m not to burn out again.
Tomorrow I’m seeing my chiro, for the first time in almost two months. And Saturday will be my next grappling and conditioning class. Until then, get some active rest, do additional strength training, go over your notes and sleep cuz Saturday is going to suck.
And as much as it sucks, it makes me happy. Finally, after so many setbacks, I feel I’m finally back on track in my life. I’ve said the same statement several times in the last year. So long as Murphy doesn’t decide to fuck things up, that’s how it will be. As much as this training sucks the living life out of me, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
