Overhead press
140, 160, 180 x 5
140 x 10
As I suspected, the 175x3 last cycle was just a bad day, an anomaly.
Last two sets super-set with pull-ups x 8, 9

Axle incline bench
130 x 10
165 x 8, 8
Super-set with pull-ups x 10-12

Band chest-flyes, curls, band pull-aparts

Bicep somehow got bruised during Muay Thai yesterday. I distinctly felt it starting to hurt. This is despite not getting struck a single time in that class. I can bend and flex it just fine, just hurts a little. I may have hurt it by contracting too hard during a punch...? Can that even happen?

Used the Vyper vibrating foam roller after lifting and it felt really damn good, like a massage.

Squatted an easy 420x5 on Tuesday. I am crushing my squat workouts lately.

Went to Muay Thai last night. Heavy on form practice, which I loved. Did some footwork drills that involved traversing over a jump rope layed out on the floor. Added strikes to the mix. Bag drills were next, again emphasizing footwork with specific strikes. Kept it simple, just 1-2s followed by teeps. Got told to throw right hooks, which still feels weird on my arm, but not in a bad way. Tells me I need to do them MORE.

Got corrected on how loose my toes are when I kick. Keep them pointed.

Last night.

Axle bench
190, 225 x 5
250 x 8

Dumbbell press
125/100 x 6, 7, 7
115/100 x 8
100/80 x 10
Super-set with bent-over dumbbell rows of same weight

Curls, rear-delts

Finished my deload week with box squats of 330x3x5 on Saturday. Went to a metal show that night and got a decent workout in the mosh pit. Wrist is a little hurt and fell on my knees at one point so those hurt too. Usual minor scuffs.

Sparred last night in Muay Thai. Tuesdays are turning into sparring nights, which is always welcome to me. We don't have many experience practitioners coming in anymore so I'm often separated from the beginners and paired with the assistant coach to spar with. 

We did far too many rounds for the whole hour for me to distinguish between them in review, but in general I'm doing a better job of picking my shots and stringing combos together. He asked me if I want to work on anything in particular and I told him I have issues landing hooks. I stay too far out and rarely land. For the rest of the session I focused on ending combos with a hook. 

My kicks were pretty bad today. I landed some clean ones but others were sloppy and not making contact with the shin. Jammed my right toes at one point.

Took some really hard shots. My right arm in particular is in pain, although this next morning the surgery point no longer hurts and I'm just feeling the bruises.

Wow, I'm actually updating on the same night as my workout. Just did a deload squat session up to 290, with 240x3x10 for accessory sets. Finished with 225x10 RDLs. Did a light aerobics workout in my room after dinner.

Deload bench press workout on Saturday, up to 170x5. Sternum has still been hurting.

Went on a short jog of around 20 minutes last night with my respirator.

Did a few indoor rounds of shadowboxing last night and some hardstyle dance set to industrial music. Aerobics for edgelords, basically. Doing what I can to stay indoors.

Deadlifted in the haze today while wearing my respirator. Did up to 465x5, then 330x3x5 on box squats, ending the last set with 20 Hise shrugs. Finished with some Swiss ball leg curls in the living room.

Air is absolutely nastay here. Northern Cali overall has worst air quality in the world at the moment according to the BBC, although the Bay Area isn't at a "Hazardous" rating like further up (just "Very Unhealthy").

Did two 3-minute rounds of shadowboxing last night, then went on a 30 minute jog wearing the mask. Harder to breathe but didn't give me any trouble.

Overhead press
155, 175, 195 x 2
155 x 7 + 2 push-press reps
Well this shot up in the last few weeks. Makes me think I was working through some soreness the first week when I failed to get 175x5.

Incline bench press
135 x 8
155 x 8
175 x 8
Super-set with pull-ups of 8-12

Rear-delts, curls

SSB squatted 460 for an easy single. Probably had more in me. Everything felt light. After some hard-fought cycles these past 3 weeks have seen sublime squat performance despite being under personal stress (mental management on that front has been going well).

Was worried my shin would hurt but it's fine. It mostly hurts in the morning. I will return to Muay Thai tomorrow and only kick very lightly with my right leg.

Finished up with squat drop-down sets and RDLs for 315x7, overhand grip (2 sets).

Bench pressed 270x5 on Saturday. Sternum has been hurting. Going to retire dips for awhile.

Haven't done much cardio. Air is still unhealthy according to the EPA's website. Also, my shin is still hurting almost a week after sparring.

Did do some shadowboxing. I don't normally shadowbox this fast but it's hard to resist when filming so I can see myself.

Wednesday I did a press workout where I hit 185 for an easy 3. Yesterday I didn't do much of anything besides stretch and do some light shadowboxing. Was nursing my shin.

Today I woke up to a world of haze. Fires have affected us all the way in the Bay Area. EPA website had the air quality index at 96, which later rose to a crazy 186. Closed all the windows in the house and did a deadlift workout wearing this:

Got up to 465x3 and did box squats of 330x3x5. Felt a little light-headed from the decrease in oxygen but it made a huge difference; I couldn't smell a thing.

Muay Thai yesterday was all sparring. Rotated between Aaron and coach Tyler. Doing a better job of stringing combos together as opposed to single strikes. Front kicks and teeps are new game changers for me, too. Warded off a lot of advances from Aaron using them. The dude NEVER backs away. Not knocking him of course, but I need to hit him a little harder because I throw combos at him and he blocks or eats everything in his face before I back off. Kicking his stomach finally changed that. Even though it's sparring, have a bit more of a killer instinct and punish any openings.

When sparring Tyler our shins clashed at the same time and pain shot up my leg. I was able to ignore it but I was limping after class and this morning.

SSB squats
340, 390, 440 x 3
Work-up sets felt heavy and the final set felt easy. I have had to adjust my belt to the tightest it has ever been due to my waist size.

330 x 9, 8
Last set super-set with drop-down sets of 240, 150 x 10-12

Good mornings
150 x 5, 10
First set super-set with last squat set.

Swiss ball leg curls, kettlebell crunches, reverse crunches

Yesterday afternoon after work:

Axle bench press
190, 225 x 3
255 x 8
Dumbbell rows at the end

Dumbbell press
125 (L)/100 (R) x 7, 7
Super-set with dumbbell rows
Dumbbell pressing 100 with the right was pretty sweet.

Skullcrushers, curls

Had fun clubbing in style last night in Oakland. My smaller arm is looking pretty decent in pictures lately. I didn't even realize this was my surgery-arm at first.

At work in the morning here due to a co-worker being sick. Went on a 30 minute jog last night at about 8. Did some light shadowboxing and kicking before that.

SSB box squats
Work up to 290 x 2

Deadlifts
305, 395 x 2 (overhand)
445 x 5

SSB box squats
330 x 3 x 5

Swiss ball single-leg curls, abs

Last night it was just me and one other person for Muay Thai.

Me: "Where is everyone?"
Coach Jose: "Niners game. But you're right, where is everyone?"

As I skipped rope coach and I chatted about our apathy toward football, along with the sports we like and how long I've been doing Muay Thai. Something I haven't mentioned before: I only recently learned how to do the boxer skip when jumping rope. After looking up YouTube videos of it the movement patterned just clicked for me one day.

I held the Thai pads for a girl I've never seen before. Gradually built up from a basic 1-2 combo to add an elbows, knees, and kicks. Got my form for holding the pads cleaned up such as not properly angling in for elbows. Also, when catching an elbow you want to intercept their trajectory pretty early on. The biggest thing was keeping everything in the center line and not being too wide.

When it was my turn the coach really work me over. She kept logging my power and speed as well as lauding how strong I am but that he sees things to clean up. Got instructed not to step out so wide when throwing a kick which is seemingly the opposite of what coach Payam showed me, who demonstrated how much power you get when you step out and let your leg follow you. It may just be that I need to find the sweet middle, though.

Got some video taken of me but anytime a iPhone user texts over a movie file the compression is horrible. Here's what I have anyways. This was the end of the session and I was tired but strikes still seemed snappy.