Entry #758

Sleep has been abysmal due to the heat. Twice, I've stayed up all night until crashing at 2 PM before waking up drenched in perspiration by 6:30 that evening. I'm exhausted now from hiking, though, and I may sleep outside where it's cooler, so this should get my schedule back on track.

Entry #757

DE went very well today. I'm only doing speed bench for one week before max bench to derive the benefits directly. I don't really see any point in doing it afterward in preparation for overhead pressing the follow Monday. This strict rotation of two weeks on everything doesn't really need to be adhered to, I've come to find, as long as I'm switching and matching where appropriate.

Entry #756

Yesterday was pretty bad for DE. I did overhead squats in prep for heavy squats Friday and I stopped at set 8 because my knee was feeling a little uncomfortable. It's very easy for the knees to bow in on them as I struggle to stabilize the weight above me. I'll sacrifice depth for form if I have to.

RDLs, I couldn't even do over 5 of. My hamstrings felt supremely stiff and 315 felt heavy. I couldn't properly thrust with my hips. Frustrated, I stopped for safety and did glute ham raises instead.

Today was awesome, though. I went to the track for HIIT and stretched beforehand. Again, my hamstrings were so tight that I could barely straighten out my legs to touch my toes. I think I've been training them too much without properly stretching them out, making them tense. I'll have to be more vigilant in that. I did HIIT for about 10 minutes afterward and then shadowboxed.

Entry #755

Internet's been down again yet again, but I think I fixed the problem. The fist is mightier than both the sword and the pen.

My bench is stalled. I'm stuck on 315 lbs. for 3 reps (I was supposed to do 5 yesterday). However, circumstances to note:

> I was running low on sleep.

> I've only had 2 days to recover since DE instead of the usual 3.

> I twisted my elbow very slightly on one set (stupid).

I was also testing out my roundhouses on the bag and I can almost make the entire stand fall over. Sparring will be good when I meet up with George.

Entry #754

Haven't had internet for about a week, now. This is becoming habitual.

Tuesday ruled. I hit 340 for 3 very easy reps on pin-presses. The dead start isn't bothering me very much, for some reason. Height was about equivalent to a 2-board on board presses. Or maybe a 3, since the wood sinks into you.

Entry #753

Great speed day. I'm back to doing box squats after a too-long hiatus.

DE lower

Box squats:
10 x 2 225 lbs.
> First 7 were on the parallel stool. Last 3 were complete ATG. I'm just working my flexibility back into them here.

Good mornings:
225 lbs. x 8
225 lbs. x 8
135 lbs. x 8
> My back was feeling it by the last one, so I went light to focus on form.

Bilateral curls:
50 lb. dumbbells x 8
50 lb. dumbbells x 8
50 lb. dumbbells x 10

Janda sit-ups:
All over the place. I forced myself to go pick up extremely slowly and without any momentum, and just doing 1 was hard like this without anything to really anchor my feet down.

Crush gripper #1

Entry #752

ME upper

I'm going to be adopting fighter_and_writer's method of recording because this new Xanga form doesn't save spacing for my usual organization. If I put five spaces (Tab doesn't work anymore, either, so I have to tap the spacebar five times) between two items, it comes out as one space after posting. Forget that.

Pin press:
135 lbs. x 5
185 lbs. x 5
225 lbs. x 5
275 lbs. x 5
295 lbs. x 5
315 lbs. x 5
> These rule. Never tried them before. I have a tendency to do too much touch-and-go, so they should be helpful. I was surprised how easy this all was from a dead start.

Close-grip bench:
295 lbs. x 8
295 lbs. x 8
295 lbs. x 8

Barbell front raises:
80 lbs. x 8
80 lbs. x 8
80 lbs. x 10

Standing one-armed cable rows:
Entire stack x 8
3 sets
> Very explosive on these. New favorite lat movement. I can see these being very conducive to snapping back punches.

Went to the track and did pull-ups and ab work after.

Entry #751

Tuesday was sub-par. I overhead pressed 225 lbs. only once when I was aiming for three. and it was a slow rep. I was completely out of it from a lack of sleep, despite smashing my forehead repeatedly into the bar for a wake-up call.

Wednesday was good DE, though. Superb, actually. Front squats were fast, and I finally returned to doing Romanian deadlifts for the first time in awhile. All these glute-ham raises have made my hamstrings insane. 315, while never exactly heavy before, felt like nothing. I should go up to 365 for 8.

Today, I skipped the gym as a result of waking up late, and instead did TrainForStrength.com.

Entry #750

Internet has been down, but I'm back online. I have more tinkering to do once I get a new ethernet cable for my PS3.

This will be the last week that I go without a ME day for my lower body. I've been bringing my posterior chain back up to par with speed day supplemented with stuff like glute-ham raises (fucking murder, these are) before I go all out. I can't wait to squat 500.