Posts

August update

Numbers Weight: I finished last month weighing 165, aiming to end this month below 170. I finished this month again around 165. BJJ, musculation, cardio: I did BJJ every week and thought about it quite a bit between classes; I feel like I’ve hit a good approach to how I’m learning BJJ lately and it seems to be showing up on the mats (I’ve gotten a lot harder to submit and I’m even getting the occasional submission against people who’ve been training much longer than I have). Doing musculation every week, and have added pull-ups and dips back in as well for the last few weeks. With cardio I’ve been making progress in my interval training and generally feeling pretty good about how it translates to BJJ practice. Cruising mindset: I think the mindset is going well. I don’t think about it much during the month but looking back now, I am straining to improve and fantasizing about being better but not afraid of not improving and at peace with where I’m at, so it’s feeling pretty good overall...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mid-2026 update

I’m doing well! Half a year ago I could hardly hope to get down to 170lbs at my lowest point in 2026 - this month I was able to say that 165 felt a bit higher than I was aiming for! I’ve added in weekly hard cardio, something that I wasn’t even contemplating half a year ago. For those first two points I think I actually have the BJJ competition in June to thank for those better than expected results. I’ve been consistent with BJJ and am seeing progress I think, and have been consistent with musculation - not so sure if I’m seeing much progress there lately but at least I’m retaining the progress I’d previously made, which I was, and still am, already happy with, and in theory if I keep doing this over time then I should continue growing muscle, even if only somewhat slowly. I’ve slowed down with ai learning but only after already making some amazing progress there. Still no standup comedy or anything, but I’m fine with that still. And I’m applying to the reserves! I don’t know if I’ll ...
Post a Comment
Read more

July update

Numbers Weight: I finished last month at 162 lbs, aiming at the end of this month to be somewhere in the range of 160-170. By the end of July, I was hovering around 165. BJJ, musculation, cardio: Stayed on top of weekly BJJ training even with the traveling at the start of the month, although I found I had less time and energy available for musculation and cardio than I expected - but still stayed on top of my minimum weekly goals and even managed to ramp up musculation by the end of the month. Cruising mindset: Weight maintenance has felt good. I think I’ve definitely had the cruising mindset for musculation and cardio, that what I’m chasing is the amount for retaining my current capacity rather than chasing new gains even if that will be the happy result. For BJJ I’ve found myself way more ambitious this month, dreaming of becoming an amazing grappler, but also feeling quite good about the grappling skills I’ve already developed over this last year. Reflections 165lbs is a bit higher ...
Post a Comment
Read more

June update

Numbers Started the month at 165, tentatively hoping to see 162 before my BJJ competition. I saw 162 on the scale two days before the competition, and then again the day before, and then on the day of - 161!! I felt weird after the competition and couldn’t stop eating and within a couple days was up to 170, but then I felt more like myself after that and my eating returned to baseline and my weight quickly corrected and by the end of the month I was actually down to 162 again. For BJJ, musculation, and cardio, the goal was weekly consistency as usual, with the possibility of a deload week before the competition, and I did what I aimed to do - weekly consistency and a deload before the competition, though the intensity was definitely down a bit for a while after the competition.  I had a post about the cruising mindset this month. I want to keep working hard but my goal is maintenance of what I’ve achieved and am happy with, not pushing myself too hard to make progress. Just do the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cruising

Competition is a week away! Weight is on target, strength feels good, grappling feels good, cardio feels great. I was thinking. This is an idea I’ve mentioned before at some point, but it’s time to apply it to some new concepts: I need to think of myself as being in maintenance mode for all these goals, even if I’m actually still making progress. I find it’s a kind of relaxing shift. Here’s the basic concept: “I’m happy with where I’m at in terms of [fat/muscle/cardio/grappling/whatever]. I never thought I’d be at this point. I’d love to make even more progress, but even if I only ever just sustain what I’ve already achieved, I’ll still be happy. I’ll keep doing the same amount I’ve been doing, with the understanding that that will be at least enough to maintain the progress I’ve already achieved. Maybe I’ll make further progress too while doing it and that would be great, but that’s not the point for me anymore and I’m not going to push myself to achieve more or be disappointed if I’m...
Post a Comment
Read more

May update

Numbers Started the month at 170, aiming for 165. After spending much of the second half of the month stuck at 166, I finally on the last day of the month saw a 165 on the scale! BJJ and musculation and cardio: did BJJ every week, felt pretty good overall. Did my isometrics every week, though for a couple of the weeks I didn’t have as much energy for it and only did the minimum, possibly because of cardio stuff or possibly because of experimenting with some new isometric positions that more effectively pushed my ability (or, possibly because of the calorie deficit and the new low weight!). Did my cardio every week - two sessions of ten minutes each, and by the end of the month I was up to 120 burpees in those ten minutes (or rather in 9:20 by the end of the month); pretty brutal, but it has made the most massive difference for my BJJ. Reflections 165 is lower than I have ever ever been as an adult. I’m starting to doubt I’ll ever be able to see a proper six pack; I think the loose skin...
Post a Comment
Read more

And cardio goals

Man. The burpee hiit project is going way better than I could have imagined. I think I’m already pretty close to the level I want to sustain long term. So I think my monthly goal for cardio going forward is very likely to be centred on just keeping the weekly habit I basically already have in place. That is pretty cool.
Post a Comment
Read more