My name is Jonathan Morris, I am a serving soldier in the British Army however I have been released to train full time in my sport of Judo, aiming to achieve a spot on team GB for the London Olympics. I have never written a blog so I must apologise if it is wrong or the contents is not what you would normally find in a blog. I am going to try and update it weekly and give a brief description of what I have done for training that week.
Monday 13th June – So I have had a rest and now the next stage of training. 0645 today started with a 45 min jog, it was just a steady pace but I always feel awake after a run and it sets me up well for the day to come. The long distance running just helps me shed the weight and gives me an opportunity to progress my cardio. As a player I like to be able to apply pressure throughout the fight, the longer the fight goes I feel stronger as my opponent starts to deplete. I mix the morning sessions up by alternating between a long distance run, sprint sessions or swimming.
The next session was a power development session in the gym, Dave Richardson my strength and conditioning coach is top notch and knows when and how to push me in the gym. The sessions are varied and new as to keep us on our toe’s, however you always know you have done a session. We broke today down to Push, Pull and Legs.
Push-Bench – 3 reps – heavy load on bar.
6 reps with a light load (bringing bar down slow 8 sec’s, then explode and throw the bar).
3 clap press up’s
All of the above is a complete set with no break in between, rest after each complete set. This is done a total of 6 times.
Pull- 3 reps heavy – Bent over row
3 reps resisted-Pull up’s
6 reps – single arm cable pulls
All of the above is a complete set with no break in between, rest after each complete set. This is done a total of 6 times.
Legs – This was a new exercise for me, normally it would be 3 heavy squat, 3 squat jumps with weight then 3 ply metric jumps. However with a weighted bar we did,
3 forward and backward jumps x 3
3 side to side jumps x 3
Then a set of forward-back and side to side x 3.
It is important to really focus on the explosive aspect of the exercises.
The next part of the day was a bit of active recovery, my Judo coach and my BJJ/2nd str&con coach were doing some ne-waza so I joined in for 30 min. It was just a light roll and helped to loosen me off for rest of day.
Next was a more specific technical Judo session, it starts off with a general warm up then straight into gripping situations. It is so important to have a clear understanding of what you do in order to combat every situation your opponent can put you in. That is the beauty with Judo I suppose, it can be made to suit every type of person, whether they be short and wide or tall and skinny. The different situations can make you aware of what you need to work on. Lots of instructors like to teach lots of throws and all the fancy stuff, however when you’re fighting someone who feels like a brick wall and is stopping your attacks with their grips you need to be first to grips and control the situations. These are what people for some reason don’t like to teach, yet are probably the most important. After different scenarios and practice sessions we did Open Randori. This is practice fighting but a little more open as to get you to commit to throws confidently. They are supposed to be light but they always tend to turn out to be full on wars by the end lol.
It was a tough day but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am a very lucky person who has been lucky enough to have the support of the Army.
Roll on Tuesday………………………………………………….

Tuesday 14th June – Today I woke up and was actually not sure if I could get out of bed! My whole body was aching. However if it was easy when training full time everybody would be a champion. About 1 mile away I have a hospital nearby and just at the back of it there is a dog walking area, there are lots of little paths so it’s a good place to do some hill sprints. A steady jog there to switch on and on with the sprints. When I’m sprinting it’s about total effort, everything I do now has to have a purpose.
The next session was horrible too, it was a judo based MAP session. To get the session started we did some different situations, like yesterday but a lot more intense. These sessions are designed to take you to your max work rate to try and replicate competition, it’s as close as you are going to get without actually competing.
After being on the mat for 45 min I was hoping the coach was going to rap the session, not a chance! Now the session actually begins. 3 x 10 min situation Randori. What we do is 30 sec’s work then 30sec’s rest, yet I’m convinced its 45/15. The situation’s are anything from shuttle sprints, escaping pin’s, nage-komi (practice throws), keeping posture, movement with partner, breaking grips etc etc etc. You are both working so when your aim is to break a grip your opponent is keeping the grip, when you’re trying to escape a pin their keeping you pinned. There is a lot of bragging rights up for stakes, so you have to give it all.
This session is one of the worst yet more rewarding sessions. It is a massive psychological positive if you know that when the clock is ticking down you still have the tank to keep pressing forward. The complete session took about 1.5 hours but the coaches wanted us to do some active recovery as everybody worked hard. We did some light moving uchi-komi, this is turning in for the technique and breaking your opponent balance but not actually throwing. Even though we were all tired it’s important to keep the technique correct and tight.
I have been have a problem with my right shoulder for some time now, fortunately after an MRI scan there is no tear in the shoulder but there are some other little bits going on so we have decided to have a quartozone injection in the spot to hopefully stop the pain. Due to this I won’t be able to do any judo or weights for two days, but it won’t stop me do cardio so I did an all over body endurance circuit. After the morning session it could have been a bad idea, with a bar and 10kg we did what felt like a million exercises, after the weights its 4 min on the treadmill each time increasing the speed. We did this a total of 4 times, I think Dave wanted us to do more but there was no chance!
A nice early finish and I was glad to get home and flop on the sofa, however I had to build two bikes and sort the breaks out for my two sons, but seeing them on their bikes is priceless and that is my favourite way to relax.

Wednesday 15th June- Well today was always going to be a shorter day as I had my appointment at Headley Court at 11am. To get the day going I did a steady jog for 30 min on the tread mill, then I started a 20 min Fat burner. This consists of 4 x 5 min exercises. The first is 5 min on the treadmill, it is broken down into 30 sec bursts, the first 30 at 50% max, then 60% max, 50%,70%,50%80%,50%90%,50%,100%. After this its onto the bike this is slightly different 30 sec with high resistance-RPM 40-50, then 30 sec medium resistance fast as possible, then 30 sec medium resistance RPM 50 I repeat this for 5 min. Then arm bike simply 20 sec fast as possible then 10 sec recover but still move arms in the recovery time. Finally my arch enemy the rower, 20 secs fast as possible 10 secs recover. I’ve never done this and not looked like someone has poured a bucket of water on me. I actually got this out of a health magazine but I find it works for me. I think that’s so important in any type of workout, it’s about finding what works for you.
Then off to Headley Court. It’s a real eye opener when you see the real hero’s of our country. I always hear people say in the MMA world or some sort of other martial art that they are warrior’s etc, not a chance! These people are real warriors, I have so much respect for all who give so we can continue to pursue our goals in a sporting environment. The steroid injection was a real success and although my shoulder is a little achy and I have to stay off the mat for the rest of the week it has made an almost instant difference, thanks again to the British Army who made this all possible through their elite athlete programme.
I have to be sensible and listen to the people who know, so I am going to stay off the mat for this week. However I’m fine to sit on a bike, so after a quick visit to see my friend who has just had a surgery on his knee for the 4th time (cheers judo), I headed for the gym on camp and did 1hr on the bike, I don’t feel too lazy now.
Looking forward to see how my shoulder develops over the next few days…………

Thursday 16th June- Shoulder is a little tender this morning, bit of a dull ache but the sharp pain I was experiencing has gone which is massive. It was becoming a real pain and it got to the stage where it was affecting my training.
Unfortunately it has thrown a spanner in my normal training plan so the sessions are a bit mixed up and certainly not what I would normally do. I don’t go in the gym to get a beach body, everything has to be specific and have a purpose. However anything will be better than nothing.
The first session of the day was a steady jog for 1hr, it’s nice to be able to run in a morning and feel fresh, the biggest factor in that is my nutrition programme that Physiques-training has set for me. I used to cut weight in such a poor manner. I was always one of the fittest and trained like a beast at 81kg but when I started to cut weight everything else also used to suffer, now my weight is coming off and everything is improving!!!! I also have help from Reflex nutrition who sponsor me in the form of supplements and protein powders.
The next session I did was 45 min on the bike then in the gym. I did a very basic leg session squats, lunges, good mornings and calf raises. The sessions I do are normally much more specific and interesting but I just wanted to tide them over till next week. As next week carries on I will continue to write the individual sessions I do.
Bit of a slow day but got to listen to the doctors and do as I am told…….

Friday 17th June- Shoulder better still today but the ache is still about. Almost tempted into going to the Judo club to do ne-waza but one bad hit and I guess I’m back to square 1. I can’t afford to lose any more time off training. I have a lot of competitions coming up and need to be back on the mat.
Early morning start and off to the gym to do the cardio session I did on Wednesday morning. Good start but not enough!!!!!
I think I am my worst critic in judo and training, I find it difficult to switch off when I know I need to train in a certain way. However I know that this cardio is useful in my weight cutting and is building my stamina. As the week’s progress and I get closer to competition the sessions become shorter and more intense.
A morning finishing some odd jobs then back to the gym to do another session on the bike, earphones in and pedal away…………
There is no Judo over the weekend but there is a local BJJ club that I sometimes go to. I started Brazilian Jiu-jitsu to help improve my ne-waza for Judo. Since starting it has helped me so much, I feel comfortable on the ground now with any Judo player and it has made people think twice about going to ground with me. In competition that will give me an immediate advantage.
So the Doc said 2 days and that is what I’ve done, can’t wait to get back on the mat……..