Entry #650

I've lost some strength from all the conditioning I've been doing. Last time, I was able to bench 305 lbs. for 3 reps. Today, I couldn't lockout the second rep.

It felt like I had the bar too low on the first rep, though. Perhaps it was one of those instances where a second attempt with paying more mind to form is met with success. We will see next week.

I need to eat more. Much more.

Entry #649

George and I went hiking at Russian Ridge today. That was the badass place with the burnt landscape, charred black. It's completely recovered, now, so that was disappointing.

It was a very easy trek. I'm not sure if this is because my conditioning is so much better, or if we just didn't take as many uphill detours as before.

In the evening, I jogged halfway to the track before I saw that there was a game going on, so I ran back and swam laps in the pool. Nobody disturbed me, this time.

Entry #648

ME lower

Rack pulls:
7 x 3     135, 225, 275, 315, 365, 405, 455 lbs.
1 x 2     500 lbs.
> My grip didn't let me get a third rep on 500. Otherwise I felt
phenomenal. My back manhandled this weight for the two times I was able
to hold on.

Lunges:
3 x 8     100 lb. dumbbells

Hyperextensions:
3 x 8     45 lb. plate (overhead - makes it harder)

Chop crunches:
3 x 12
> Pain.

George and I are planning on going hiking tomorrow, but now, I'm
reconsidering because of all the wildfires smoking up the air. The news
advised residents to stay indoors as much as possible.

Cancerous carcinogens build character.

Entry #647

I'm currently reading Heavy Duty Nutrition by Mike Mentzer. It's actually pretty bad, but I'll still finish it.

Edit: Uh, looks like enduring through it won't be a problem, because it's only 14 pages. I'm deleting this one, pronto. You were a good bodybuilder, Mike, but don't ever write a series.

RE upper

Incline dumbbell press:
2 x 20   30, 50 lb. dumbbells
1 x 13   80 lb. dumbbells
1 x 8     80 lb. dumbbells
1 x 6     80 lb. dumbbells
> 50 second rest times.

Cable pressdowns:
4 x 8     100 lbs.

Weighted chin-ups:
3 x 8     50 lbs.
1 x 6     50 lbs.

Dumbbell preacher curls:
3 x 8     50 lb. dumbbell

Hise shrugs:
3 x 15   275 lbs.

Entry #646

I went on a run today, and my conditioning is through the roof. I can't wait to spar. My shins didn't even give me any problems.

Unfortunately, I neglected to bring my sweatshirt, so I wasn't as uncomfortable as I prefer to be.

I stopped by Game Crazy on the way, and it didn't feel like I had been running at all. They didn't have Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection, so I ran back home.

Entry #645

After a torturous lifting session (it was light day, but I was fighting through DOMS that left my arms nearly paralyzed), I did some bag work before jumping in the pool to swim laps. Hard, laborous laps that left me quite out of breath. So I hardly noticed the clanging of the gate as someone came in. Two people, actually. Cripes, this pool is hardly big enough for just me. I turn my back towards them as I stretch my stiff muscles, and I suddenly hear a strange "whooshing" sound. I'm at a complete loss for this until the morbid truth hits me - they're blowing up a blasted float. I grit my teeth as I hear - or feel, rather - two foreign entities splash into the water, when it gets much, much worse.

"Oooohh, hehe," a female voice coos. "You're heavy even under water, baby."
"Mmmm, hehe."
It takes every ounce of willpower I have not to spontaneously combust (which would rule). They wade around and hydroflirt, making vile lovey dovey noises that can only be what the bowels of Hell sound like.  After I finish stretching, I then start shadowboxing as fast I can. Waves rock back and forth from my might as I punch through the water's surface. I pause to bob and weave, and then start punching again. That sure shut them up. Satisfied, I climb out, calmly grab my towel, and leave.

Brr, disgusting.

Today was DE again, which would have been boring if my arms weren't in the most excruciating pain imaginable. I staggered to each set like a zombie. Doing those skullcrushers slow on Monday killed my triceps.

Speed bench:
10 x 3   185 lbs.

Cable pressdowns:
4 x 12   Entire stack.

Weighted pull-ups:
3 x 8     50 lbs.
1 x 6     50 lbs.

Dumbbell preacher curls:
4 x 8     45 lb. dumbbell

Kelso shrugs:
2 x 12   85 lb. dumbbells
> This was light in anticipation of rack pulls tomorrow. Next week will be heavy power shrugs.

After my shake, I did some brief rounds on the bag before going for a swim...and the rest is (mis)history.

Entry #644

My whole body is sore. I took five minutes of shadowboxing to warm-up today, and my shoulders felt as heavy as anvils. And believe me, I walk around with anvils on me all the time.

After that, I did three rounds on the bag for three minutes each, with about a minute and a half break in between. I was dying in the heat. Death is, of course, the goal.

I'm showing good lateral movement, a far cry from any of my videos I have up. My guard is solid, as well. It was painful to weave because of how unstable my quads were, though.

Next, I just did repetition stuff with kicking, emphasizing form over intensity and pace. That can come later. George expressed interest in sparring earlier, and this time, I want to best him at his own game instead of outboxing him.

In the evening, I jogged over to the school, but both the field and track were busy. Luckily, I found a second field behind the bleachers that was completely empty, where I practiced more kicks. I also did some neck bridges and kip-ups, and then I ran back home, sprinting on the uphill portion and the bridge.

Also, I stretched for thirty minutes at night, as always.

Entry #643

RE lower body

Front squats:
1 x 15   135 lbs.
1 x 15   155 lbs.
1 x 14   185 lbs.
1 x 8     185 lbs.
1 x 10   185 lbs.

Good mornings:
4 x 8     210 lbs.

Janda sit-ups:
4 x 8

Crush gripper #1:
3 x 5

30 minutes of stretching at night.

Entry #642

Military press:
6 x 3     95, 135, 165, 185, 195, 205 lbs.

Barbell skullcrushers:
3 x 8     145 lbs.
1 x 6     145 lbs.
> This sucked. The bar kept hitting a weight rack that was right beside me, so I had to go slow as hell. Use the other bench next time.

Bent-over lat raises (unilateral):
3 x 16   50 lb. dumbbells

Lying dumbbell rows:
4 x 8     85 lb. dumbbells (lying, bilateral)

Bilateral curls:
1 x 8     45 lb. dumbbells
1 x 6     45 lb. dumbbells

1 x 4     45 lb. dumbbells

Entry #641

I went for a jog over to LGHS, and at first, I thought I was in trouble. My shins began to hurt after about two minutes. My cardio is excellent from hill sprints, but my feet just couldn't keep up, it seemed. I arrived at the track, with the intent of practicing on forms in the grass, but there were people walking around in the field, and I didn't feel like working around them, so I did pull-ups on the bar and stretched before running back, sprinting on both the uphill portion and across the bridge. When I was done, my shins were completely fine, and I was actually out of breath. Awesome. From there, I worked lightly on the heavy bag.

This is a cool picture of Muhammad Ali practicing Shorinji-Ryu karate with Ken Balliet, who taught some lessons to Bruce Lee. Ali claimed to have been training in it for his third fight with Frazier, in order to give his punches more twist so they would cut Frazier's face up. As anyone who saw that fight knows, that is a huge understatement to the punishment that ensued. It's hard to tell, but the setting looks a lot like Ali's training camp up in Deer Lake.

Entry #640

I lifted early, after breakfast. This will definitely be a habit from now on. It gives me much more time to devote the rest of the day to other training.

This session is dedicated to Tim Russert, one of the more objective and hard-hitting interviewers in contemporary journalism. R.I.P.

ME lower

Rack pulls:
8 x 3     135, 225, 275, 315, 365, 405, 455, 485 lbs.
> These were below the knees. They posed no trouble.

Lunges:
3 x 8     100 lb. dumbbells

Hyperextensions:
3 x 8     45 lb. plate (overhead - makes it harder)

Chop crunches:
3 x 12
> Pain.

Entry #639

I was ready to rack pull 500 today, but the gym doors were locked. A sign read, "Closed in honor of LGHS graduation." What does the school have to do with it? If they want to "honor" graduation, they should keep the place open and yell at passerbys to come in and squat until they puke out their entrails, like all good citizens should.

Instead, I took the opportunity to work the heavy bag. First, I warmed-up with five minutes of shadowboxing, and then did three rounds of bag work, three minutes each. My biceps are sore from snapping back my hands.

Entry #638

I'm making this entry in haste because I want to start a movie that I just got working through a codec update on my media player (Dirty Harry III).

DE upper

Speed bench:
You know what? DE is boring as Hell, so forget recording this. The only notable thing today:

Weighted pull-ups:
3 x 8     50 lbs.
1 x 6     50 lbs.

That was an improvement, but the downside is that I've lost weight from my trip from depending on low calorie conveniences like beef jerky and am down to 226. It's only 1-2 pounds, though, so I can definitely attribute this to strength gains.

Must eat more.

Entry #637

I'm back. I've been back since Monday, actually. I'm not keen on delving anymore into personal circumstances than I already have, not for reasons of confidentiality (this log has always been, first and foremost, for me, not for others), but because it's a waste of my time. I was not emotional over this ordeal at any point in the slightest, except in regards to the only emotion I consider worthy: rage.

I ate consistently, thanks in no small part to plenty of beef jerky rations, and got a good bit of reading done in the hotel. At first, I regretted not bringing my Gameboy (Castlevania calls), but I all but forgot about it when was up past my intended sleeping time reading Warhammer. Something about Chaos Space Marines decorating the fronts of their tanks with the crucified bodies of enemy soldiers and nailing the flaps of their skins open so that the still-beating vital organs are displayed to the rest of the opposition's troops piques my interest.

Needless to say, I dreamt well that night.



Above: my future self.

Lifting resumes tomorrow. There will be blood.

Here's a group picture of me and my posse, upon returning from L.A. It wasn't a pleasant trip, but I'll be damned if I let that prevent me from getting a signature pose in.

Entry #636

I'm making an emergency trip to Los Angeles. Here is the back-story:

"I've just
been informed through a phone call from my sister's friend that my
older sister, whom I haven't seen or talked to in nine years, is being
held captive in some guy's house. She's being beaten daily and isn't
allowed to leave. She doesn't have any form of communication with the
outside world. I'm going over to Compton tomorrow to save her. Her
friend said that she's calling the police, but who knows what's going
on. The details are very ambiguous, so I'm not just going to leave it
at that.

Telling this on here
would be the last thing I'd do, except for the fact that the wait right
now is completely unbearable. I can't concentrate on anything. I don't
know his address and nobody has yet answered the phone on the number
that her friend left. But I'll find out."

With that, I'm going. Skulls will be crushed. And I will continue training, wherever I end up.

By the way, I did DE upper today with good gains, and I practiced shadowboxing before that.

Entry #635

I did excellent on the heavy bag today. I'm going to tape a session soon to update my progress. It wasn't quite at 100% contact (until the very end) because I didn't have my wrists wrapped.

My rear hand doesn't drop, period.

Moreover, I'm exhibiting much better range as a result from not staying in and stuffing my blows. I've been practicing on starting at a distance and working from there before moving in.

1
1-1-2-3
4-5

I throw the lead jab as I rush in. As the distance closes, it takes less to retract my arm so I can go right to business.

1-2-3-4-1, 1-2-3-4-5-2-1

This really helps in conceptualizing concrete maneuvers as a part of strategy, instead of just linking punches together on the spot.

Afterwards, I did hill sprints with an extra lap. My legs feel like the recipients of a knife storm. It'd be pretty funny if it was raining knives and you nonchalantly went out with an umbrella. That would rule.

Entry #634

I'm dealing with a personal crisis at the moment. Training, of course, must continue, no matter what.

RE lower body

Front squats:
1 x 15   135 lbs.
1 x 12   155 lbs.
1 x 12   185 lbs.
1 x 10   185 lbs.
1 x 6     185 lbs.
> This was much easier this time. My legs didn't lock up. None were to failure, by the way. Through these, I expect to get my regular squat beyond 420 lbs.

Good mornings:
3 x 8     205 lbs.
1 x 8     210 lbs.

Janda sit-ups:
4 x 8
> I've finally cleared this.

Crush gripper #1:
3 x 5
> My left hand is much stronger than my right - at least today.

Entry #633

ME upper

Military press:
6 x 3     95, 135, 155, 185, 195, 200 lbs.
> Awesome. Just a few months ago, this was my 1RM.

Barbell skullcrushers:
4 x 8     145 lbs.

Bent-over lat raises (unilateral) :
3 x 16   45 lb. dumbbells

Bent-over dumbbell rows:
2 x 8     85 lb. dumbbells (lying, bilateral)
2 x 8     120 lb. dumbbells

Bilateral curls:
1 x 8     40 lb. dumbbells
1 x 5     40 lb. dumbbells

1 x 5     40 lb. dumbbells

At night, I stretched for thirty minutes.

Entry #632

I did a lot of analyzing today on my striking. One habit I'm rectifying is raising my back leg during a right hand.

Stan hasn't been at the gym lately, so I haven't been able to spar since our last session. Perhaps things will change with school getting out.