Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Gracie Diet

So there are a lot of diets out there. The most popular ones in the CrossFit community are the Paleo Diet and the Zone Diet. I started to try out the Paleo Diet for awhile but in this day and age, this particular diet becomes exceedingly difficult to follow. Mainly because, if a caveman didn't eat it, then you're not allowed to eat it. They are really strict on this. For instance, you can't eat canned tuna because cavemen didn't eat canned tuna. You can't eat bread because cavemen didn't eat bread. Needless to say, I fell off that bandwagon fairly quickly.

The next one is the Zone Diet. This one seems like the more popular of the two. I haven't even tried this one. It seems like it would be somewhat feasible, but then you really start looking into it and it gets pretty complicated. Everything is broken down into blocks. Each meal has to have a certain amount of blocks of certain amounts of things. Such as, one meal would include 2 blocks of protein, 2 blocks of carbs, and one block of fat. This is where it gets kind of complicated. You have to take into account how much fat your blocks of protein have in them and add them to  your blocks of fat. I don't have time to figure all of this out, so I don't.

Up until this point, I have just tried to keep my diet as clean as possible. And, as we all know, this is very difficult. Especially when you consider how awesome most un healthy food is. I love the pastas and the pizzas just as much as anybody else. But the unfortunate reality is, these things are really un healthy for you. And in order to reach my goal of winning that gold medal, everything has to be on point, including my diet.

I love CrossFit. Not only because of the workouts and the community, but also because they have everything figured out, almost to a science. CrossFit is constantly evolving. They are constantly studying things that make you stronger. They are constantly adding new things to their workouts that push the community to new limits.

The Gracie Family is the same way with Jiu Jitsu. I have been starting to pay a lot more attention to the Gracies and what they call the
Gracie Way of life. And let me tell you, I am completely fascinated! The Gracies, much like CrossFit, have everything about their way of life dialed in. They even have their own diet plan. I have purchased the Gracie Diet book and it should be here sometime next week. They have videos on Youtube explaining how to do certain things such as the Renergy Sandwich invented by Rener Gracie, and the Ryron Power Smoothie invented by Ryron Gracie. While I'm watching these videos on how to make a sandwich, I find that I am completely transfixed and hanging on every word they say. They teach sandwich and smoothie making the same way they teach Jiu Jitsu. And I am convinced that they are the best teachers I have ever seen. Some of the stuff that I have seen so far seem pretty interesting. Like the Renergy Sandwich is wheat bread, almond butter, avocados, and spinach. This seems like an odd combination, but I'm willing to try new things. The thing that appeals to me the most is that its not only a diet change, but it's a lifestyle change. I'm sure that I will be one of the only CrossFitters who is embracing a new lifestyle in the
. I'm pretty excited about this lifestyle change that I am about to embark upon, and I will definitely keep you updated on the results.

I should also tell you that this will be my first day of training for Grapplers Quest in November. This will be my quest for the gold medal. I know what the holes in my game are and what I need to do to fix them. I will get the gold this time.

Gracie Way


Monday, July 18, 2011

SealFit, The Aftermath

I got everything I expected from my first SealFit workout! It was 2 hours by the time I finished, and it wrecked me for the rest of the day which was completely expected. The first of the three workouts wasn't so bad. It was 21-15-9 of wallball and push ups. That one only took me 5 minutes. It took me 54 minutes and 34 seconds to complete the 5 rounds of 1,000 meter row, 20 power cleans and 20 front squats at 115 lbs. each. The 3 mile run at the end was the hardest part. For the first mile and a half my body was cramping, and seizing up, then it finally realized I wasn't going to stop and gave up. After that, the run became signifigantly easier and I cruised all the way into the gym. I spent the rest of the day trying to re-hydrate and re-fuel. I also did a little bit of filming with some bmxers that I am sponsoring through Never Die. I'm actually not feeling as sore as I thought, and I will be back on my normal training schedule tomorrow! It was a great experiance and I can't wait to do the next one! Here is the final episode of SealFit, enjoy!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

My First SealFit Workout!

Hey everybody! I'll be doing my first ever SealFit workout on Sunday morning at 8 a.m.! I'm pretty excited about it! It's a great way to start off my training camp for Grapplers Quest in November. I will settle for nothing less then a gold medal this time. I am going to make some tweaks to my training. I have already studied my weaknesses and found the things I need to work on in my Jiu Jitsu game. I have never been more determined in my life. I'm going to push harder and see exactly what my body is capable of doing.

The workout will be 21-15-9 of wall ball and pull ups. 5 rounds of 1000 meter row, 20 power cleans, 20 front squats at 115 lbs. And a 3 mile run to finish it off. I will let you guys know how it goes and I will probably film this one. I leave you with SealFit 9.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

MIAGI!!

This workout kicked the crap out of me!! It was a lot of fun and thank god I only had to do half of it! It was incredibly difficult, mainly because this workout is action packed with movements that I've never done before. Miagi goes a little something like this...

Teams of 2 complete the following for time:
50 Deadlift
-135# M/95# W
50 Double KB Swings -1.5 pd M/1 pd W *
50 Pushups
50 Cean and Jerk -135# M/95# W
50 Pullups
50 Taters -1.5 pd M/1 pd W **
50 Box Jumps -24" M/20" W
50 Wall Climbs ***
50 Knee-to-Elbows
50 Double Unders

Here is a video of the Rogue CrossFit team doing this workout. They did not do it as a team, so they did all 50 reps of everything and still got incredible times! These are some of the best athletes in the world ladies and gentelman! Enjoy!


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

In It To Win It!

Hey everybody! I'm taking a little break from Jiu Jitsu this week. I have watched the video of my second match over and over again. I'm figuring out the mistakes that I made. Next week I will start working on those mistakes. "Train until your skills become instinct. Train until you don't think but react." I have posted a few links for you guys to enjoy, one of them being SealFit 8! November is when I'm going to get my gold medal. Thanks for the support!

                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ignxdHgpzWI&feature=player_embedded

                http://youtu.be/7EGIOrQaKXE

Monday, July 11, 2011

One Win, One Loss = Silver Medal

Hey everybody! Here is the video of both of my matches. Both of these matches were completely crazy for different reasons. We had been at this event all day long! We got there at 10 a.m. and I didn't compete until about 5:30. I was completely un prepared and off gaurd. I was filming my Jiu Jitsu coach when I heard them announce my class over the speakers. I heard them announce my name and finally the mat I had to be at. I ran over there and right when I checked in they said "You're Jesse? Great, you're up!" I took my glasses off, threw my mouth peace in and was immediately thrown into battle! This guy was really strong and aggresive. I could tell he was a wrestler so I knew he was going to blow himself out within just a few minutes, all I had to do was survive the storm. I wore him down and caught him in a triangle choke to win the bout. I had a huge adrenaline dump and once it wore off I was completely exhausted! I couldn't even jump around! I was supposed to fight again but my opponent didn't show up so I got to relax a little bit while they finished up another division. My next bout was against a far more skilled opponent. He was another wrestler and he listened to his coach perfectly. I was doing really well but once he got past my legs and got control, I was stuck! I could hardly move! He used perfect technique and moved from one position to the other. He started working for a north/south choke and I was able to get some space the first time. He made a few minor adjustments and this time sunk the choke perfectly. I had no choice but to tap. I really learned a lot from that match and I'm going to make the adjustments I need to my weaknesses. Somebody has my gold medal and believe me, I'm coming for it! Come November, these light heavyweights better watch out, because I'm coming to win! Thanks for the support everybody!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Behind The Scenes!


Hey Everybody! Here is a behind the scenes look of my weekend at Grapplers Quest. I hope you like it! I will be posting my matches in full as well as a highlight video of all of everybody that competed from Flagstaff. My matches will be up here tomorrow and I will have the highlight video by tomorrow night. Thanks for the support everybody!