• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

Breaking Muscle

  • Fitness
  • Workouts
    • Best Shoulder Workouts
    • Best Chest Workouts
    • Best Leg Workouts
    • Best Leg Exercises
    • Best Biceps Exercises
    • Best Kettlebell Exercises
    • Best Back Workouts
    • Best HIIT Workouts
    • Best Triceps Exercises
    • Best Arm Workouts
  • Reviews
    • Supplements
      • Best Pre-Workouts
      • Best Whey Protein
    • Equipment
      • Best Home Gym Machines
    • Certifications
      • ISSA Review
  • News
  • Exercise Guides
    • Legs
      • Back Squat
      • Bulgarian Split Squat
      • Goblet Squat
      • Zercher Squat
      • Standing Calf Raise
      • Hack Squat
    • Chest
      • Bench Press
      • Dumbbell Bench Press
      • Close-Grip Bench Press
      • Incline Bench Press
    • Shoulders
      • Overhead Dumbbell Press
      • Lateral Raise
    • Arms
      • Chin-Up
      • Weighted Pull-Up
      • Triceps Pushdown
    • Back
      • Deadlift
      • Trap Bar Deadlift
      • Lat Pulldown
      • Inverted Row
      • Bent-Over Barbell Row
      • Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
      • Pendlay Row
Fitness

A Bittersweet End to My Training Cycle (Athlete Journal 41)

Thirteen weeks of training hard came to an end this week. I'm happy with the progress I've made and ready to compete.

James Kearns

Written by James Kearns Last updated on October 22, 2014

The time has gone by pretty fast, and I have now finished my last full week of training before the IBJJF New York Pro and Masters Worlds. I guess the best word to describe the experience of preparing for Worlds would be “bittersweet.”

On one hand, I am excited and beyond ready to go and compete after devoting so much time and putting so much work in for these next two weeks. I am as mentally and physically prepared as I can possibly be. I have an extreme amount of confidence that I will do well, because I have done everything within reason to get ready for this competition.

The Last Five Weeks of Training

I have trained at three different schools over the last five weeks and put some serious mileage on my truck in the process. My hotel for Masters is taken care of, plane tickets are taken care of, and I have already made up my meal schedule for three days of eating away from home. I feel like all of the time and preparation that has gone into getting ready for the next two weeks will pay off, and I am ready to fly across the country and put it on the mat.

But on the other hand, I am definitely disappointed to wrap up all of the great training I have received over the last several weeks. In the six years I have been training in BJJ (three years in no-gi and three with a gi), I have never made as big of an improvement in my game as I have in the last five weeks. My transitions are super smooth, my control and pressure feel great, and my technique is better than ever.

“I have an extreme amount of confidence that I will do well, because I have done everything within reason to get ready for this competition.”

This would not be the case if I wouldn’t have put so much time into my training. I can’t tell you how many different guys I have met and trained with during this process. So as excited as I am that it is finally time to go and get it, I will miss the entire progression from then to now. 

Strength and Conditioning Program

I have also concluded another successful strength and conditioning program. I finished my last full week of my two-day split. I will do one day of plyometrics and barbell complexes on the Monday before the New York Pro and Worlds. These days will be more focused on maintaining rather than improving my current strength, power, and conditioning.

I hit some numbers in my lifting that I haven’t seen in a while, especially at a bodyweight of 201-202lb. Overall I was pleased with my strength improvements during this last program. I wasn’t sure how my body would react to being about seventeen pounds lighter and still overloading it during my strength program, but I continued to get stronger and more explosive. I also only missed one day due to injury.

RELATED: What Every Good BJJ Strength and Conditioining Program Should Look Like

Next week, training will start to slow down. I will only drive out of town once to train with Daniel Beleza, and then I will finish out the week training at Tactical Combat Academy (TCA). It is all winding down, and I feel like it has been way too long since I have competed. So, in the famous words of Bart Scott, “Can’t wait!”

This Week’s Training

Week 13 of 13-week Conditioning Phase

Bodyweight: 201lb

Sunday – BJJ

Drilling at TCA

Monday – Strength and Conditioning:

Box Jumps 3×11

Oblique Push Ups 3×4

Plyo Pull Up 3×6

Barbell Complex: 55kg

  • Hang Clean x5
  • Push Press x5
  • Front Squat x8
  • Row x8
  • Romanian Deadlift x8
  • Hanging Leg Raise

Monday – BJJ

Drilling, rolling at TCA

Wednesday – BJJ

Technique, rolling at TCA

Thursday – BJJ

Drilling, rolling at Daniel Beleza’s

Friday – Strength and Conditioning

  • Box Jumps 3×11
  • Oblique Push Ups 3×4
  • Plyo Pull Up 3×6

Circuit x3:

  • Dumbbell Split Squat x15
  • Pull Up x15
  • Incline Push Up x15
  • Hammer Curl x15
  • Medicine Ball Push Up x15
  • Dumbbell Farmers Walk 120 pounds 3x 45 yards,
  • Medicine Ball V-Sits 20 pounds 3×15,13,13

Friday – BJJ

Rolling at Harisburg BJJ & Judo

James Kearns is an active Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor and also trains and competes in Olympic weightlifting.Follow his journals here every week.

James Kearns

About James Kearns

James Kearns is a Brazilian jiu jitsu competitor and former United States Marine who began training martial arts in 2005. Starting in Taekwondo and boxing in his hometown of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, he would eventually begin training and competing in mixed martial arts. This is when James first started to train in no-gi jiu jitsu. Then, two and a half years ago, he reluctantly borrowed a gi and tried the Brazilian jiu jitsu class. James has trained in no other martial art since.

After successfully competing at the rank of blue belt for the last two years, earning six gold medals in IBJJF events and finishing the year with a gold medal in the Abu Dhabi Pro Trials adult division, James earned his purple belt in December 2013. Having set his goals high for 2014, he plans on competing six to eight times this year, including the IBJJF Masters World Championships.

Along with being an active BJJ competitor, James also trains and competes in Olympic weightlifting. Having a passion for the health and fitness industry, James is a certified personal trainer and the strength and conditioning coach at Tactical Combat Academy in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, where he focuses on individual and group program design for combat sport athletes. James is also a full time student, working on his B.S. in Sports Management.

Although training in Brazilian jiu jitsu and Olympic weightlifting, being a strength coach, and being in school keep James pretty busy, he still spends most of his time with his wife and four kids (who keep him even busier).

View All Articles

Recommended Articles

screenshot2014-12-30at113049am
Varying Squat Stance for Quad Development (Athlete Journal 121)
On the Other Side of a Belt Promotion (Athlete Journal 64)
screenshot2014-12-23at22546pm
Extreme Effort Is Only Temporary (Athlete Journal 120)
jess papi
Building Confidence as a BJJ Practitioner (Athlete Journal 63)

Primary Sidebar

Latest Articles

Strongman Legend Hafthor Björnsson Receives International Sports Hall of Fame Induction

Iain Valliere Believes the 212 Division Should No Longer Exist in Bodybuilding

Ryan Terry Diagrams His Ambitious 1,874-Calorie Mass-Building Protein Shake

Andrew Jacked’s Trainer Thinks His “Best” Will Come at 2023 Arnold Classic

Latest Reviews

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Review

Best Whey Proteins for Packing on Muscle, Shredding Down, Meal Replacement, and More

Best Pre-Workouts for Building Muscle, Running, Taste, and More

Best Home Gym Machines

Best Home Gym Machines

woman lifting barbell

Be the smartest person in your gym

The Breaking Muscle newsletter is everything you need to know about strength in a 3 minute read.

I WANT IN!

Breaking Muscle is the fitness world’s preeminent destination for timely, high-quality information on exercise, fitness, health, and nutrition. Our audience encompasses the entire spectrum of the fitness community: consumers, aficionados, fitness professionals, and business owners. We seek to inform, educate and advocate for this community.

  • Reviews
  • Healthy Eating
  • Workouts
  • Fitness
  • News

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

© 2023 · Breaking Muscle · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy · Affiliate Disclaimer · Accessibility · About