Yesterday:

Alternating SSB lunges
150 x 10
180 x 10
190 x 10, 10

SSB squats (narrow)
240 x 8

Hise shrugs
240 x 25, 30

Good mornings
190 x 8, 8

Rare rest day yesterday. Went to see Hereditary in theaters and it was amazing. Between Annihilation, A Quiet Place, and Hereditary, it's been a good year for creepy movies. Had a sugary Starbucks drink but that was the only off-diet choice I made. In the theater I smuggled in a charcuterie bowl of salami, olives, and cheese.

I have gotten so much better at skipping rope. I can actually do it comfortably for 5 minutes now thanks to improving my footwork. Class size was big again last night. After the jump-rope warm-up we got in three groups and warmed-up with one group freestyling on the bag, another shadowboxing, and the other doing medicine ball slams. Rotated and did 3 rounds before we partnered up with Thai pads, shin guards, and gloves.

Drill 1: pad holder kicks, striker checks, switch-kicks, 2-3, inside leg kick.
Partner was south paw and this threw me off a little when remembering what side is what in the heat of the moment when holding, but I got it down soon. Partner kept kicking my knee on the inside leg kick. Corrected him to kick higher but by then my knee was already hurting. Come my turn I used my 12 oz gloves instead of the 16s. Trying to remember to drop my legs more when throwing the cross. Pivoted pretty well into the hook.

Drill 2: add in a left push-kick and right head kick
Struggled with going as high as my partner was holding for the head kick and badly stubbed my big toe because of it. Asked him to hold it lower and I kicked slower.

Drill 3: add left spinning back kick
Fun addition. I am actually better at this kick than I thought I would be, having practiced it a little before from Joe Rogan's inspiration. At first I fell well short of even touching my partner with my foot but then I got the range down and hit his pad nigh perfectly. The first time this happened after I kept missing coach Anthony happened to see and went "Nice."

Ended with ab work. Coach said that intense circuit warm-up at the beginning was because a lot of people in class need to better their cardio and that's why he's been adding things like that in. I don't blame him, I blame people who are not new to class and still gas hard.

Limped after class a little from the toe and the side of my knee hurts from the kicks.

Axle strict press
Work up to 180 x 2

140 x 8, 8, 8
Super-set with neutral grip pull-ups x 8

Dumbbell bench press
50s x 15, 15
Super-set with neutral grip pull-ups x 8-12

Curls, rear-delts

Surgery site has been sore the past few days. Was holding a 35 lb dumbbell while doing rear delt raises and felt a twinge of pain so I stopped work in that arm. No lingering pain though.

Must Thai yesterday right after work. Two usual coaches are still on vacation. Filling in was the assistant coach who I've worked with a few times before within normal classes. Class size today was just 3 others. Worked various drills on the shield. 1-2, switch kick. Very simple. Kicking the shield at its various angles is a little bit of a challenge for me, but I'm not sure if that's my fault for not correcting how my partner held it. Didn't hurt my toes once and aimed well, though. Eventually added a 2-3-2 after the kick and ended with a kick on the other side. Class ended with ab work.

Talked to the coach after and it turns out he used to go to the AKA on Hillsdale, the same one that was my first school ever back in 2006. It's since closed down but he told me about how Arlovski, Velasquez, Phil Davis, and tons of other guys used to go there. Very cool.

Felt tired yesterday after work but went on a chill 25 minute jog in the evening. Just went around the high school and back. Working almost 12 hours today and choosing to spend the short time I have after work to go to Muay Thai instead of lift.

Cool thing at the party on Saturday: someone asked me how my arm was doing and couldn't tell which side it was on.

Did squats up to 400 x 5 and then back down to sets of 6, 8, 7 with 330. Glad I hit the rep goal on the same day I did Muay Thai. Will be going to a house party and BBQ soon. Bringing a protein shake with me that came in a package today.

Made it to Muay Thai this morning. New coach I've never seen before and 2 new people in class with only the remaining person being someone I recognized as an assistant coach. Coach introduced himself to me and said between the 3 other guys he's taught them for a combined 30 years, making me the newbie.

First drill was a simple right low kick to the shield. My partner went first, then me. As usual, my first few kicks were terrible, but by the third attempt I found the right motion. Got corrected on how far I was rolling my ankle. I overcorrected and landed the next attempt with the side of my shin. Need to find a happy medium. Bizarrely, my left kick was far better and stronger. Coach remarked on this. Told him it's usually the opposite.

Another thing to keep in mind is to land on the ball of the foot when push-kicking, not the heel.

Next drill was 2 for 2 combinations with our gloves as mitts. 1-1, duck, 2-3-2. Got told to loosen up. Also to not lean forward so far into my punches and to not stand so low because it's not utilizing my superior height over my partner's. Several years ago in Portland my boxing coach corrected my stance and made me go really low when throwing punches, telling me this is how power is generated. Muay Thai is a different animal, though, and maybe the coaching styles are different as well, but in any case I stood up a little more and dipped straighter down when throwing the right hand instead of lunging way forward.

We finished with several different combos on the heavy bag that the coach would call out, mixed with some easy ab work (10 sit-ups, 10 crunches, repeat until the end of the timer). Again, got told to loosen my shoulders up and not be so tense on the bag.

Loved this class. Really dug the emphasis on technique over burn-out conditioning. Hope I see this coach again.

30 minute jog a couple of hours after lifting. Felt my blood sugar levels drop and I got a little shaky out there. Walked part of the way home and had a small spinach and fruit smoothie and some low carb portabella pizzas. Still feeling a little hungry, but that's what dieting is supposed to be like sometimes. Will have a casein shake before bed like usual and evaluate my weight tomorrow morning before deciding on whether I will have a cheat day or not.

Axle bench press
Up to 160 x 5
Super-set with barbell rows up to 185 x 7

One-arm dumbbell press
50 x 7
80 x 5
100 x 3
125 x 3
140 x 0, 0
125 x 7
Couldn't get 140 off my chest. Worth noting that anything over 125 is with my dumbbell handle and plates so the set-up and grip are harder. Did the 125 on little rest to make it feel heavier.
Super-set with dumbbell rows up to 125 x 9

Axle bench press
205 x 7, 8, 7
Super-set with barbell rows up to 185 x 9

Dumbbell bench press
50s x 15, 12

Rear-delt raises
35s x 18, 18

Alternating dumbbell curls
35s x 2 x 8-10
Partial reps on right arm.

Facepulls

Was driving to Muay Thai when I got pulled over and issued a citation for making an illegal left turn. He said lots of people do it at that area. It really does look like a turn lane, but oh well. Ticket was $25 but apparently I have to go to court and court fees add up so it's more? Weird. More importantly, I missed class so I came home and ran sprints up Heart Attack Hill.

Did a lot of grocery shopping today. Went to Grocery Outlet instead of the local market for my main haul and saved a ton of money on meat and other things. I'm saving up to get a Winning FG 5000 headpiece. Comes out to $340 on Rakuten. They canceled sparring tomorrow so hopefully I will have it in time for next Friday. Wish I had known about nose guards and how little protection open-face gear provides before I bought my Venum one.

Two good days of training to report. On Tuesday I worked up to the usual box squatting workout with 330x5.

Went to Muay Thai on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was a tough conditioning day but it wasn't too bad. Everyone else was dying and had to keep taking breaks. When class started and we just started burning out on the exercise bikes and slamming medicine balls I was thinking that I would rather be working on technique but luckily we quickly incorporated bag and mitt work into the class which alleviated my concerns.

Yesterday was just me and one other girl in the class. Actually worked out pretty nicely for myself because I got more intimate coaching. Did a drill where one person jabbed with a left low kick following it and the other person parried. Very simple. Got told not to jab so fast so she can react. Added in 2-3, then switched the kicking sides. Eventually got up to 1, kick, 2-3, kick, 3-2, kick. Ended with working the same thing on the heavy bag with power behind it. Coach Payam really steps out wide when kicking. He said we need to really push with the leg and step way out so the kicking leg swings over hard. Felt a lot of power by stepping out more. Same thing we went over before on a Saturday.

Yesterday:

Axle strict press
Work up to 170 x 3
Good weight to put up. Not too hard on the right arm.

140 x 7, 8, 8, 8

Dumbbell bench press
50s x 12, 13

Dumbbell curl, left arm
50 x 8, 8

Plate curls
45 x 20

Facepulls
12, 10

Working overtime on Mondays now. No time for both lifting and Muay Thai.

Did some shadowboxing and kicking for about 12 minutes this morning on an empty stomach except for a little bit of protein. Some progress pictures, with the last one being relaxed:

Weighed in at 197.6 this morning. Exactly what I told myself I wanted to be before I stepped on the scale. Losing 2 lbs a week is good.

Got ready to go to Muay Thai at 9:15 until I realized at 8:55 that it's at 9:00, not 15 after like during the week. Damn. Opted to do the workout I had planned later in the day instead. Some benefits to this happening because my toes still hurt and I have minor pain in my right hamstring if I lift the leg from stretching too hard again in the split position.

Deload

SSB squats
185 x 5
230 x 5
280 x 5

240 x 9, 10, 10

Swiss ball leg curls and reverse crunches

8 minute jog after

Gonna make the rest of the day a cheat day.

Went on a 50 minute jog from 8-9 tonight. Going to bed early to wake up for Muay Thai. Less partying and more training lately on Fridays.

From yesterday

Deload

Axle bench press
130 x 5
150 x 5
180 x 5
200 x 5

160 x 10, 10, 10, 10

All Super-set with barbell rows up to 135x10

Curls

Went to Muay Thai on Tuesday and Wednesday. We actually did some limited sparring where each person takes turns throwing a punch and a kick, making sure not to do the same combo twice in proximity. One dude just starts full-on sparring me, ignoring the drill. Barely got hit because his punches were pretty wild and I blocked and parried well.

I've noticed that some of my bad habits that I've worked to rectify are cropping up in the very beginning of class and it's taking me a while to warm-up. Yesterday on my very first kick I totally missed the shield and went over it, smashing my toes on my partner's shoulder and keeping me in pain the rest of the session. Paying attention to where my kicks land is something I've worked on recently.

Deload

Axel strict press
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 5
Super-set with pull-ups x 8

90 x 9
95 x 9, 9
Super-set with pull-ups x 8-9

Dumbbell bench press
50s x 20, 20
First dumbbell exercise with both arms. Used both arms to get the right dumbbell into position. Still don't feel ready to curl a 50. I tried to a few weeks ago for partial reps and felt something twinge. Probably scar tissue, but eh, I'll work up to it.

Curls with 50x7 on left arm

No Muay Thai. Worked overtime today.

Did Muay Thai in the morning just about two hours ago. First drill was one partner throwing a 1 or a 1-2 at the holder's cue and the holder throwing a right low kick so the puncher checks. We just used our boxing gloves instead of mitts and my glove kept getting loose. Eventually added a hook so it's 1, 1-2, or 1-2-3, depending on the call-out. Also switched the leg kick side. Got told not to move into the direction of my partner's back leg so I don't walk into a kick. I suppose if I moved fast enough that would actually work to my advantage in stuffing his kick, though. Also jammed my same thumb. It's a new bad habit from overcompensating in trying to loosen up. Keep fists closed.

Second drill was on the bag. Coach Payam would call out a combo that we could execute, checking at the end each time. Got corrected on how little I'm stepping to the right when throwing that left kick. Actually, got told the same thing last time but on the opposite leg. In short, step more to the side and follow with the kick. Power increased exponentially from this.

Finished up with ab work. Reverse crunches super-set with sit-ups. Three rounds of this. Just what I wanted. I didn't have time to do abs after squats yesterday and figured we'd do something in class anyway.

Eating clean this morning and afternoon, then making it a liberal evening at a Tiki bar and restaurant in Oakland for the birthday.

Yesterday:

SSB squats
350 x 5
395 x 3
440 x 1

330 x 7, 8, 8

Three hill sprints a couple of hours later, after dinner.

Sunk in pretty deep for that 440. Had to fight a little bit.

Axle bench press
Work up to 160 x 5

One-arm dumbbell press
Work up to 140 x 3
Super-set with bent-over dumbbell rows up to 125 x 10

Axle bench press
200 x 5, 7, 8, 8
Super-set with barbell rows of 185 x 5, 8, 8, 8, 10

Curls, rear-delts

Getting heavy on the bilateral stuff. Good milestones. Surgery site is feeling a little tender but no pain. Feeling kinda bloated. Ate horrible pizza, fried chicken, and a cinnamon roll at this game place last night with my nieces and sister.

Picture from last night:

Took a 40 minute nap after work yesterday's and went to Muay Thai. Held the mitts for a new guy and gave him a few basic pointers. On my turn the coach told me my hook is way too wide. It's an adjustment I made after I kept falling short in sparring. A long hook has its place in an arsenal but the biggest correction I need to make is being at the right distance and keeping the trajectory tight like before.

Jammed my thumb from keeping my hand too open. Rookie mistake.

Went through several basic combos and added kicks in before we did cardio circuits. Exercise bike, ab wheel, medicine ball slams, planks, in that order. Last 15 seconds on the bikes and slams were burnout phases. Third time since Saturday I'm doing this. Would rather have 100% technique training but there are a lot of out of shape people here who could benefit from this. Oh well.

Will take today completely off to give my body a break and attend my niece's graduation.

Muay Thai yesterday evening. Started out doing teams on the exercise bikes while the other half of the class (only 6 people in total, big for a Monday) did various exercises including with the medicine ball. Switched after 2 minutes. On the bike, final 15 seconds was all-out. Bag work was part of the rotation. Drills included knees and elbows only, right kicks, left kicks, and boxing.

Latter half of the class was throwing two punches and a kick at the opponent. Took turns. Went up against the big guy first. Cracked my toes a few times. Stupid. Made a point of striking at some new angles instead of just coming straight in and I found success getting around his guard. Watching boxing videos is giving me ideas.

Went up against this guy's brother next, a short guy who always runs and does Tae Kwon Do kicks. It was especially annoying this time because he'd backpedal way the fuck away after my first strike and it interrupted the combo because I'd have to come after him and go again, so it ended up being a strike, chase, second strike, chase, kick. Soon the coach stopped me and whispered "Corner him." I stopped being so frantic and concentrated on anticipating where he was going. It totally worked. As he moved I did the same while coming forward, always keeping him in front of me. Even when he tried to feint out I was more than agile enough to keep up and cut him off. Ended with him being stuck against the wall and me unloading light shots. Felt awesome. Total night and day difference.

We finished with some ab work.

Weigh-in yesterday in the morning was 198.6.

Twisted something in my side. Maybe from lifting yesterday, or moving too much in my sleep. Nothing major.

SSB box squats
330 x 3 x 5

SSB walkouts and hold
470 x 11 seconds

Swiss ball single-leg curls, weighted crunches

Post-workout meal of steak, toast, and a spinach smoothie before Muay Thai.

Did some very light shadowboxing and kicking yesterday morning at work.

One-arm dumbbell press
Work up to 115 x 1
Couldn't muster anything more. Shoulder felt dead bearing the weight.

Axle press
140 x 7
145 x 7, 7, 7
Super-set with pull-ups up of 7-10 reps

Curls, rear-delts

Muay Thai was absolutely killer this morning. We started off skipping rope and went right into sparring, but only doing body shots. Yes! Can we please do more of this? I appreciate the drills but being able to put it all together against a reacting opponent is something I want more of. I'm finding my range with kicks much better these days, although I still had too many misses. Still got some really good shots and I no longer worry about landing my inside leg kick near the groin. Got warned by the coach not to keep looking at my opponent's legs. Eventually added very light jabs to the face. Got popped once square in the nose. Not hard but it made me worry a little about my septum. Went through 4 partners.

Ended with an insanely tiring circuit of max effort on the bikes alternating with medicine ball slams, push-ups, mountain climbers, and a few other things involving holding the balls either over our heads or out in front while we did knees and side shuffles. Between every one of the items I listed we'd burn out on the bike. Also did hard elbows and knees on the bag.

Got on the floor and did another circuit of various ab exercises and push-up variations. Went to failure numerous times, including on push-ups. Legs got an insane pump, too. Because I did sprints yesterday and this session today, I'm going to do squats on Sunday instead of today.

This all lasted from 9-10 but it felt way longer. Walked out absolutely beat. On Friday nights when I don't go out I'd like to make Saturday morning sessions a habit.

Woke up at 7:30 today to go to a 9AM Muay Thai class, something I've never had time for before. Quick breakfast of a tuna can, a small slice of wheat toast, a few orange slices, cottage cheese, and green tea. No cheat day today since I drank and ate carby two days last week for the convention.

Had a good run yesterday after work. Two hill sprints and then a jog afterwards. Passing by the high school I saw the track was empty so I did HIIT for a mile, sprinting hard once every quarter mile. Jog back home. Totally time...maybe 30 minutes? Not sure. Legs were pretty sore after. I've always been a really explosive sprinter. I remember a track coach saw me racing and tying with one of the football players in highschool (Rene; dude was an insane bodybuilder for being in his teens) and he invited me to join. Being so accustomed to hill sprints makes flat ground feel easy.

After work yesterday I spent about 30 minutes doing rear-delt raises, facepulls, and curls.

Muay Thai in the evening. No annoying warm-ups today for some reason, that was nice to skip. Just skipped rope and did some push-ups. 

Drilled with a partner on parrying the jab, grabbing the neck, and throwing a knee. Pretty easy. Switched sides eventually. Really not that much to report on here. It was hard to mess up.

Expanded that from a jab to a 1-2. 

Ended the session lying on the floor doing sit-ups while our partners slammed a Thai pad into our stomachs. Fun and I wanted the extra ab work.

Very easy session as far as a workout is concerned but hopefully instilled some good muscle memory patterns into countering. No sparring today. Canceled for the second week in a row. Just as well. Two weeks on from my last session and I still feel pain in my septum if I push on my nose.