SSB box squats
330 x 3 x 5
Knee is feeling good again.

Walkouts
470 x 2 x 10 second holds
420 x 15 second hold while Hise shrugging

Weighted crunches
50 lbs x 2 x 12

Plank
60 seconds

I'm upping the ab work lately. 

Went to sparring yesterday. Not everyone had the full set of equipment so some partners were limited to throwing 1-2s while the other person defended. I started off doing this with a new girl who had facial piercings so I made sure not to make any contact with her face. Gave her some pointers on not standing square and to keep her hands up.

We switched partners at the sound of the timer. Was able to spar a shorter guy who I've met before. He was moving around a lot and making me chase him so I used my reach and cut off his trajectory. Sparred another guy who has given me tips on technique before but his cardio isn't good and he had to stop to catch his breath a couple times.

Third partner was an older guy who suddenly hit me super hard and would not let up. He also clinched. I was kind of angry in the moment because I've gone far lighter than him and had the other coach tell me to lighten it up and slow down, whereas this coach reacted by telling me to tighten up my guard and defend. Instead of matching his power I bruted through his clinch attempts, parried and blocked, and lightly made contact with his chin over and over again because his guard wasn't great. I'll suck it up and adapt to the different coaching styles and go a little harder next time against this dude. He got gassed and slowed down a little as time went on.

After time was up I had a lot of energy left so I stayed behind and let loose on the heavy bag. Cadio is holding up very good. I didn't get tired until the bag.

Overhead press
135 x 5, 5, 5, 5
Super-set with band pulldowns

Dumbbell push press
Up to 100 x 4 for 2 sets
Super-set with band pulldowns

Landmine press
125 x 8, 8, 8
Super-set with Meadows rows x 8 and band pulldowns
Minor back tweak on the last set.

Decline push-ups and band chest flyes super-set followed by curls with a 45 and finishing with horizontal band curls

Going to a birthday party in Concord today. Going to eat a lot.

SSB squats
320 x 3
370 x 3
415 x 3
This was a roller-coaster. Knee and back were hurting. I walked out with the 415 THREE times only to walk it back because I felt my back tighten up, which happens before a really bad tweak. My knee had also hurt on the 370. Finally, I went for a 4th, took a wide stance, and really sat back into the decent, ready to cut the set short if I felt pain. Did three reps and felt good for 5. Very happy.

330 x 3 x 7

Had a shake and then did some sets of Swiss ball leg curl ups and ab work, including weighted crunches with a 50 lb kettlebell. 

Left knee hurt yesterday trying to do box squats. Worked up to doing singles of 360 and then finished off with 360x5 with no pain. Timed holds and walkouts after.

Bench press
Work-sets up to 155 x 5
Super-set with T-bar rows up to 115 x 8

One-arm dumbbell press
100 x 8
115 x 8
125 x 3
135 x 3
Super-set with dumbbell rows of the same weight x 8
Wanted to do a final RE set with the 125 but I'm cutting weight and doing martial arts. Less is more. Save it for the third week before deloading.

Bench press
175 x 8
180 x 8, 8, 8
Super-set with T-bar rows up to 170

Curls

SSB squats
300 x 5
345 x 5
390 x 5
300 x 8, 8, 8
Weight felt very heavy. Wasn't sure if I'd get the 390. Glad I'm not regressing yet with the addition of martial arts training. Left knee and right shin hurt a little. Was ready to cut the first 300 set short because of my knee until I widened my stance and felt better.

SSB good mornings
200 x 8, 8

Plank for 50 seconds

First non-deload session was box squats on Friday. Worked up to 330 x 5 for several sets, then did timed holds with 420 while hise shrugging the weight.

Went to boxing that night and sparred for most of the session. In the rotation was one guy who was dancing around and backpedaling the entire time. That's one way to defend, but we were told to stay in a limited space at the start and we were going all over the gym. I couldn't really drill much with him in a back-and-forth manner because I just chased him the whole time and used my superior reach to lightly make contact. Another opponent was a big guy who probably hit too hard for a sparring match but I never vocally complain about that. I got to trade with the coach for a while too and it was ridiculous how much lighter he went than almost everyone I've gone up against. It let me slow down a bit and focus on technique.

After work yesterday I dumbbell pressed up to 125 for 8 and bench pressed 175 for sets of 8. Continuing the weight increase with no issues. A milestone I made at the end was curling the 50 lb kettlebell with both hands. I have a well-developed tricep and a comparatively deflated bicep so I'm excited to bring some balance back to the Force.

Currently at work and it's dumping rain. Hopefully things are dyer by the time I squat in the afternoon.

Muay Thai yesterday. First time this year going without contacts. Completely forgot I wasn't wearing any by the time I was working, so that's good. Via instructed drill, worked on slipping my partner's jab with a counter to the chest as I weaved under his attack at the same time. We took turns doing this. Eventually added a leg kick which threw both of us off because we were stepping out with the wrong leg. Got it down and then added a 3, 2, and a knee to finish it off. I chose the tallest guy there deliberately. To be honest, when I faced off I noticed I was exaggerating his size in my head and when at a distance and he didn't seem tall when we went at it. Finished off on the bag. I felt a light twinge in my right hamstring tendon when throwing a left roundhouse and took it very easy when supporting with that leg afterwards. I am restricting myself to three days a week at this place for now while I powerlift and continue to gauge how my body is doing in regards to recovery.

Have been doing a deload week. Also had a good cheat day on Saturday. Pizza and cheesecake may or may not have been involved.

Muay Thai Monday went well. One of the less challenging sessions I've had, but got some good opportunities to work on technique. Mostly did boxing this session.

Finished up my deload with a press workout Tuesday, going up to 95 with the bar. Did some pretty heavy landmines up to 115, but lower then what I normally do. I feel it's very important to keep the heavy stimulus constant so my body doesn't lose muscle mass during this diet.

Speaking of which, my body composition status is progressing terrifically. I'll post some progress pictures soon, but I fit into a size 34 pants now.

Had an excellent Muay Thai session on Wednesday. There were only four other people plus myself, so while they partnered up I got to work 1-on-1 with the coach. The combos today were extremely short and simple compared to the long strings I've struggled to get right in the heat of throwing hands; he later revealed to us that this was deliberate and that he's trying to go that route more which is something I've wished for awhile now.

I got my stance corrected and was reminded to not stand so square as well as to keep my palms facing in instead of out. With him holding the mitts we did various combinations of 1-3 punches followed by a single kick. What's more, I was allowed to select what to throw. Something so simple really let me learn a lot more than striking poorly because I'm struggling to remember what comes next.

Before arriving I'd gotten myself psyched up watching compilations of Saenchai on YouTube. Something I learned watching him was how he seems to let the thrown kick lead his rear foot into a pivot. Instead, I've kinda been rearing up on the ball of my foot as the initial movement. It's been making my feet tired and my kicks weaker.

Whether that analysis is correct or not, it's been making my kicks pop much more and I feel loser and more fluid. The coach commented on how much energy I have and had to tell me not to jump when I knee since he's right in front of me.

At one point, I overextended my right arm and felt my elbow twinge in pain. I shook it off and took it easy after that. It was a little worrisome but I deduced that it wasn't anything deleterious to my recovering injury like the tendon failing or something.

Rest of the session was light sparring using just a punch and a kick combo. I felt tired. While everyone else switched between mitt-holding and striking in the prior exercises, I was striking the whole time. The last guy I went up against was the only person taller than me and his reach threw me off. I have to stay alert for that variable since I'm usually up against smaller dudes. I kept falling short and missing.

At the end we all stretched together and the coach gave us a pep talk before inviting us to a Saturday barbecue at the studio. He asked us what we learned today and I spoke up the most which he complimented. It was cool to get a vibe of camaraderie from here.

Last night I woke up from sleep in pain from my elbow, but it's weird. I can't replicate it at will even if I stretch out, although this wasn't the case a few days ago. Seems like it's improving. I'll be back on Monday so it gets a chance to heal. Also gotta be careful today while benching - we'll see!

Last Friday I went to boxing and was the only one who showed up! This is a sparring class and is my favorite session of the week. Just hit the bag for the 45 minutes, instead.

Yesterday I did a deload with box squats only going up to 310x5. Was planning on going to Muay Thai but I misread the schedule and mixed it up with a cardio kickboxing class instead of technical training. I opted to stay home and go on a jog instead. When I got to the high school track it was empty, which I haven't had any luck with lately, and couldn't resist doing half a mile of HIIT before jogging back home. Total time doing cardio was about 25 minutes.

Overhead press
Work-up to 135 x 2 x 5
Super-set with band pulldown

Dumbbell push press
100 x 1, 4
Failed a 5th.
Super-set with one-arm band pulldowns

Landmine press
125 x 10, 10, 10
Super-set with one arm band pulldowns
Triple-set with isolation work for right arm

A set of chest flyes and a set of hammer curls

Did 3 hill sprints and a jog several hours later.