Worked all day, then came home and did mat pulls off of 2 mats for 550x5 with one rest-pause.

Been eating a lot lately. Am feeling like particular shit tonight after steak, garlic bread, and chocolate chip cookies for dinner post-workout, but I'm thinking the late lifting might have more to do with it because I'm yawning aggressively and feeling tired despite sleeping 9 hours last night. Popped a melatonin and am ready for bed. Working at 10 tomorrow morning.

Feeling much better since last entry. Did this after work, ending at around 9:30 PM.

Bench press
230 x 5
265 x 5
300 x 4
230 x 13
* In a holding pattern. Same number as last month.
-
Last 2 sets super-set with Meadows rows
45+45 plates x 8
45+45+25 x 8

Bench press against heavy bands
135 x 10
155 x 10, 12
185 x 10
-
Super-set with Meadows rows
45+45+34 x 8, 10, 12, 10

Face-pulls
15

Keg curls

Really liking the band work lately.

Felt like shit this workout. Woke up at 4:30 with my stomach nauseous from buffalo wings I ate the night before. Trained hungry Yeah also felt like a bloated blob at the same time somehow. Took way too long between sets to rest too.

Mat pulls (2)
550 x 0, 2, 0

Low-bar axle squats
110 x 20
130 x 20, 25

Swiss ball single-leg curls
50 lb kettlebell x 10, 10

Glad I at least moved 550 a bit.

SSB squats
330, 370, 400 x 5
260 x 10, 12 (ATG)
> Switching back to this in an attempt to alleviate shoulder bone pain I've had from low-bar squatting. Spine injury has been getting better and pain felt no worse than usual here.

SSB lunges
150 x 20

Deadlifts
405 x 5, 8
> Felt nerve pain in the aforementioned shoulder area. Mostly ignored it.

Weighted crunches on Swiss ball
20

Ab wheel
9
> Abs were already sore and this really made me feel them.

Swiss ball planks
40 seconds

Sparred yesterday.

Cardio help up very good.

Still leaning too far into punches in lieu of bending my knees.

Slipping, and head movement overall, is much improved, as in actually being present.

Low kicks are landing where they need to; still have work to do on body kicks.

Don't kick when right up in the opponent's space. Gauge distance.

Sit into hooks, don't reach out with just arm power.

Deload

Axle strict press
85 x 5
110 x 5
130 x 5
-
Last two sets super-set with chin-ups
10, 10

Axle strict press against bands
110 x 9, 9
Super-set with chin-ups and pull-ups
12, 11

Axle incline bench press against bands
145 x 10, 10
-
Super-set with pull-ups
12, 12

Iron Woody band press
10
-
Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups
10

Fasted 30 minute jog in the morning yesterday and some shadowkickboxing in the evening after work.

Deload

Front squats
Up to 225 x 8
Against bands: 225 x 8, 10

Last 2 sets super-set with 1-legged RDLs
115 x 8, 10

Registered for a powerlifting competition in April. No turning back from this one.

Mat pulled 550x5 off 3 mats in the rain on Saturday, 1 rest pause.

Did a bodybuilding-style workout yesterday morning, isolating my pecs, tris, bis, rear-delts, and abs. Abs are sore today.

Had a big Thanksgiving dinner with friends, just what I needed.

Axle strict press
160 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 1
-
Last set super-set with chin-ups
10

Axle strict press against bands
130 x 8
110 x 10
-
Super-set with chin-ups
12, 12

Incline axle bench against bands
130 x 8, 10
-
Super-set with chin-ups
50 x 8, 8

Got another light band so I'm trying out a lot more band work. Felt fun to add something new (well, something I haven't tried in years, anyways).

Squats
345 x 5
395 x 3
445 x 3
315 x 9

SSB lunges
150 x 16
200 x 16
* Having the bar extremely high up to work my neck and avoid pressure on the pain spot in the center of my traps.

TnG deadlifts
405 x 12

Everything felt so light but I still have pain when I squat. With the low-bar form now it's my left shoulder bone. So weird, my right feels fine but my left always feels like the bar is grinding into it no matter how I manage the positioning.

Bench press
245 x 3
280 x 3
315 x 2, 1
* Stopped myself at 2 and then tried again for 3 but the plates clipped a dumbbell that was standing on one end and made me off-balance. Called it there.
-
Last 2 sets super-set with dumbbell rows
50s x 8
115s x 8

Close-grip bench press
235 x 8
-
Super-set with dumbbell rows

Sparring went really well. Coach Anthony said that was the best head movement he's seen me utilize and that I stayed in the pocket more. He did criticize my stalking; basically I was walking the opponent down and crossing my legs in the process, but he also said it was the other guys loss for not capitalizing on that.

Did really well at avoiding headshots, as mentioned above, but my legs got chewed up. Nothing too bad though.

Though I kept a good pace I've been feeling awful while sparring. I start overheating in my headgear and it feels like I'm suffocating. The no duh answer is to get better cardio but I feel like I didn't experience this before even when I gassed. I'll attack it from a brute force angle and just train to suffer more at home. I can run all day but sparring is a very different kind of fatigue. Wish I hadn't gutted my breath restriction mask for Wasteland Weekend.

The friend workout isn't going through so I'm just going to chill at home tonight and meet up tomorrow. My legs are pretty sore anyways.

Went on a fasted jog yesterday morning before breakfast for about 40 minutes.

Today did mat pulls off of 4 pavers. 550x5, 1 rest-pause. Couldn't even break 495 and then 550 off the mat on first attempts. Glad I got payback. Think I'm going to replace RDLs on squat day with 405 lb touch-'n-go deadlifts to hone my form.

That's all I did before work. I'm planning on going to sparring afterwards and then assistance work for my lower-body at night, possibly with a friend.

Pretty breezy Muay Thai session yesterday. Been the only guy in the class lately, which forces me to hold back on power when striking the pads. I see that as a positive thing. Did basic combos of 1-2-3 slip+kick 2-3 outside leg kick. Switched the second straight right with an uppercut at one point. Having a hard time throwing nice-looking kicks that are also light. I find myself fighting the momentum of the kick I threw which throws off my form.

Didn't get to push my cardio at all during this but it was a good technical primer. Will try to make it to sparring this Friday.

Strict press
140 x 5
160 x 5
185 x 4
-
Last set super-set with chin-ups x 10
* I'm going to change things up here. Been at this wall for too long.

Banded strict press
95 x 9, 9
Super-set with chin-ups
10, 11

Dumbell strict press
80 x 6(L), 4(R)
-
Giant-set with Iron Woody band press
8
-
Giant-set with chin-ups against bands
10

Iron Woody band press
10, 10
-
Super-set with chin-ups against bands
11, 10

Band chest flyes
12, 12
-
Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups
12, 12

Band curls
12, 12

Had an aggravating weekend from something getting embedded in my foot, making it hurt to walk. Had to manage with a limp for most of it. Managed to get it out without any meat cutting via baking soda under a Band-Aid and an Epsom salt bath, two remedies I looked up. Actually worked, go figure. I was working out how I could squat with this thing in me but I'm good today.

Starting a proper 5/3/1 cycle for squats.

Squats

300 x 5

345 x 5

395 x 5

Box squats

315 x 8, 8

Box front squats

225 x 10

RDLs

315 x 8, 8

Posting this at 4:20 a.m. before I crash but the friend workout actually happened. We walk into 24 Hour at 10 PM and I managed to convince the counter guy to let us in. I didn't have enough food in me but I did some decent assistance exercises for bench press day while also helping train my buddy.

Muay Thai Wednesday night was almost entirely bad work with some abs done at the end. Thursday and Friday were cardio days. Jogged on Thursday and did hill springs plus a jog yesterday. Shadowboxed on both days as well.

I'm hitting my heavy bench press sets today before working out with a friend later this evening. Doing this on 5 hours of sleep.

Bench press
230 x 5
265 x 5
300 x 4
* One short but still solid. I'll tackle this again.

Getting back on creatine for the first time in years. Not bothering to load. Just mixing it in my protein shake for maximum convenience. Curious to see if I notice a difference at Muay Thai.

Shadowboxed for a bit last night after work, filming myself in the process, and went on a jog right after. About 30 minutes total of easy cardio.

Mat pulls (5)
550x5

SSB lunges
150 x 14, 16
200 x 10
* Put my SBD knee sleeve under the bar to cushion my neck and had the bar up high to avoid hurting my pain spot while also doubling as neck resistance training.

Was a little rushed to get to work. Planning on hitting up Muay Thai tonight and then doing some extra hamstring work and abs tomorrow morning.

Strict press
165 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 1
-
Last 2 sets super-set with chin-ups
5, 8

Push press
205 x 4
-
Giant-set with dips
10
-
Giant-set with pull-ups
10

Dips
50 x 8
80 x 8, 8
-
Super-set with pull-ups (varying widths)
10, 11, 10

Band preacher curls
10, 12
-
Super-set with lat flyes
35s x 10

Band chest flyes

Squatted 425x2 on Saturday. Was only supposed to hit 1 but it felt too light. Still not super comfortable low-bar squatting.

Went to a black metal show Saturday night and my chest and biceps are sore as hell from the moshpit.

Air in northern California is bad right now due to wildfires so lifted in a respirator mask. Shoulders and chest are still sore from push-ups and striking on Wednesday.

Did the meat and potatoes par of my session today before work. typing this up at work alone in the office and will finish up when I get home. Now that's a Friday night.

Bench press
260 x 5
295 x 3
330 x 2

Close-grip bench: 225 x 8

Wide-grip bench: 205 x 10

Last 3 bench sets super-set with dumbbell rows
100 x 8
115 x 8, 10

Currently playing Dragon Quest XI in the office while I wait for traffic to die down so I can leave. Anxious to lift. The bookkeeper made me awesome Korean food for a pre-workout meal.

Did 13 minutes this morning pre-breakfast alternating between 1-minute of skipping rope and 1-minute of shadowboxing. Added 50 lb kettlebell swings in one round of that. Only had some sips of a protein shake upon waking up.

Was the only guy at Muay Thai last night but the gal I got partnered up with hit like a beast and was pretty experienced. Worked 3 combos on the boxing mitts:

1, feint, 1-2
1, feint, 3-2
1, feint, 5-2

Ended the rounds with rapid 1-2s.

Moved on to the bag with the emphasis on throwing these with more power. Ended with a lot of push-ups. Shoulders are tired and the push-ups were to failure so I'll be taking tomorrow today off from benching.

Mat pulls (5)
Up to 550 x 0, 2
* Felt strong in the build-up sets, especially on 405, but I just didn't have it today.

Front box squats
225 x 8
275 x 6, 8

Band leg curls
* Got a new band from Amazon but it's too strong for things like band pull-aparts and facepulls. Good for legs but will be ordering a less intense level for shoulders.

Finished up a much-needed deload. Had a good squat day where I reached 405x3 with the low-bar form.

Felt really crummy strict pressing on Sunday, couldn't lift 190 more than a couple of reps. Think it might have something to do with the way I've been sleeping because my shoulders hurt in the morning.

Went on a fasted run today before work. Schedule is picking up and I'll be in the office for more hours, but I have mornings and late evenings to train.

Deload

Overhead dumbbell press
35s x 5
50s x 5

Axle strict press
110 x 5
135 x 5
-
Super-set with one-arm Iron Woody lat pulldown (10) and pull-ups (10)

Axle incline bench press
160 x 8, 10
180 x 10, 9
160 x 8
-
Super-set with pull-ups
10, 11, 11, 12, 12

Curls and rear delts

Bench press
240 x 3
275 x 3
312 x 2
240 x 8, 8
* Yikes, I need a deload. Things are hurting that shouldn't. Yesterday when doing 115 lb dumbbell lunges my left tricep started feeling fatigued and was shaking. And when I do any kind of lat exercise I feel my triceps hurting a little. There's more beyond that, too.
-
Super-set with bent-over dumbbell rows
100 x 8
115 x 2 x 8

Iron Woody band press
12, 1w
-
Super-set with bent-over dumbbell rows
115 x 8, 8

Curls, rear-delts

Squats
275 x 5
315 x 5
375 x 5
275 x 10
285 x 10
-
Last two sets super-set with band leg curls

Front squats
225 x 8
-
Super-set with band leg-curls

Russian twists + leg raises

Hip flexors are feeling a little tender. Should bring in box squats to give them a break.

Muay Thai last night was chill but productive. We worked uber basic combos, starting with jab + right low kick, then adding jab + cross + left low kick. Eventually did this southpaw. Moved on from partners to heavy bag.

Coach Payam really emphasizes stepping into kicks and I found out that I'm breaking down the motion of step and kick too distinctly. It's really closer to a hop into the kick, though not quite that.
Front delts got really tired especially from the non-stop 1-2 rounds on the Thai pads. Need to do more rear delt work to balance this out.

Bench press
225 x 5
260 x 5
290 x 5
225 x 13
* 290 was a struggle, butt came off the bench on the last rep. Running on 5 hours of sleep and feeling shitty so I'm still happy about it. First set last was a pretty bad RE but I was drained at that point.
-
Super-set with Meadows rows
1 plate x 8
1.5 plates x 6
2 plates x 8, 10

Iron Woody band press
10, 10, 10
-
Super-set with Meadows rows
2 plates x 10, 10, 10

Curls

Mat pulls (7)

550 x 7

Dumbbell lunges

50s x 20

115s x 8

Dumbbell split-squats

50s x 10

Axle strict press
160 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 2
-
Last 2 super-set with chin-ups
8, 10

Axle push press
205 x 4
-
Super-set with chin-ups
11

Axle incline bench press
205 x 6, 8
160 x 10
-
Super-set with weighted chin-ups and pull-ups
50 x 8, 8, 8

Front squats
Work up to 275 x 5
315 x 3
325 x 3
-
Giant-set with walking dumbbell lunges of 50s x 20 and dumbbell RDLs of 115s x 5

Walking dumbbell lunges
115s x 6, 8

Dumbbell RDLs
115s x 10
125s x 8

Leg raises

Back from Wasteland Weekend, a Mad Max-themed excursion in the Mojave Desert. Camped from Wednesday to Sunday afternoon. Will do a report in another post with pictures; I really want to get back to regular training recording. Using a different blogger app so my posts don't get deleted.

Axle strict press
140, 160, 185 x 5
-
Super-set with chin-ups
10

Axle push press
185 x 7
-
Super-set with chin-ups
11

Incline bench press
185 x 9, 9, 9
Super-set with chin-ups
13
50 x 8 + bodyweight x 2 for 2 were

Band pull-aparts x 20

Decline push-ups x 17

Been training regularly but got flustered with several long entries getting deleted so I haven't posted in a while. Doing the last bench press workout before Wasteland Weekend (hit 305x3) right now. Will be gone until Sunday. Bringing protein, vitamins, and lots of canned food. Also bringing my weight belt as part of my costume and the Iron Woody band for some workouts.

Bench press max video from last week:

Currently deloading.

On Tuesday I did hill sprints followed by an aerobic workout in my room.

Wednesday was a good day. Went on a 45 minute run after work. Took a short nap and then in the evening went to Muay Thai where we sparred the whole session.

One particular thing I want to note is how I'm getting a little flaily when defending as if I'm trying to parry every single shot that comes my way. Keep that guard tight and move.

Someone got into my car last night. thankfully no windows were broken. It appears they forced the front passenger window down and unlocked the door. Stole my broken dash cam, tire repair kit, and air pump. Total value of stolen goods is about $60. Idiots didn't even steal my awesome Austrian Death Machine CD.

Been watching some Muay Thai tip videos and learn some new ways to locate. Took a cue from the Dutch style by dropping my hips back and it makes the swing come much more naturally. Going to be practicing this.

Was planning on going to Muay Thai tonight but Tuesday is the one day of the week where someone at the office isn't working late and I need to take the calls from home in the evening. Looks like I'm going to have to train at home.

Really good leg day yesterday. Worked up to 335x5 low-bar squat (315x5 now included).

Bench press
235 x 3
275 x 3
305 x 4
225 x 10, 10
235 x 10
-
Super-set with pull-ups
12, 14, 14, 14

Iron Woody band chest press
17, 20
-
Super-set with keg curls
160 x 10, 10

50-second chin-up

Band pull-aparts
15, 20

Good performance on the bench press. Session took pretty long but at least it was because I was taking work calls so there was a reason for it.

Mat pulls (9)
Up to 500x5
* Not hard, just working my way back up. Found my touch-n-go groove on the fifth rep but suddenly felt my belt dig hard into my ribs so I stopped there. Probably didn't need to but it was a startled reaction I had in the moment. Will go for 535x5 next week and evaluate whether I should set that as a weight to go for reps with or keep moving to 550.

Walking dumbbell lunges
50s x 14, 16
100s x 4, 8

Dumbbell split-squats
50s x 10, 10

Hanging leg raises
15, 15

I've confirmed that my blogger app is indeed erasing my log entries and it's not due to me resetting my phone. Ate up a bench press workout I was 90% done with editing yesterday. The lowdown: benched 285x5, 225x3x10, and did some Iron Woody band presses afterwards. Super-setted with pull-ups x 15. Terrific pump.

Did 6 straight minutes of skipping rope and shadowboxing (1-minute "rounds") followed by 20 minutes of an industrial dance-type workout afterwards.

Had a bit of a lousy squat day yesterday. The good news is I did my goal of a 325x5 lowbar squat. However, my upper spine was in more pain than usual and getting under the bar at 225+ required several attempts and psych-ups, which resulted in me being idle too long between sets. At one point doing assistance work with 275 I thought I heard a cracking sound but I was in no additional pain so I don't know if that was my imagination or just something totally benign akin to when people crack their knuckles or back.

I also came the closest to a catastrophe on the squat I've ever encountered. With the 325 on my back one of the patio pavers under my feet slid and my legs widened. Somehow I stopped it and was able to prevent myself from doing the splits, but barely. Kind of impressive I was able to stay balanced but if I had been squatting in the 400s or especially 500s this could have been bad. Will make sure to secure them from now on.

Enough mopiness. I slogged through and will attack again.

Strict press
170 x 5
190 x 3
215 x 1
-
Super-set with chin-ups x 10

Dumbbell press
50s x 12
115s x 8, 8
125s x 5 drop-down to 50s with Fat Gripz x 12
-
Super-set with chin-ups
10
Pull-ups of 50 x 8, 8, 8

Went to work after this. Will do some isolation exercises in the evening.

Deadlifts
Up to 500 x 1
* Very easy. I don't think I've lost any strength on this to be honest. Upper spine still hurts like usual but deadlifting doesn't aggravate it so whatever.

Walking dumbbell lunges
50s with Fat Gripz x 10
100s x 4, 8
50s with Fat Gripz x 20

Dumbbell split-squats
50s with Fat Gripz x 10

Trained in 102 degree weather today. It doesn't really make a difference to me. I'm always hot when I train in California outside. The heat is really only annoying at times of relaxation.

Benched 315x3 on Monday. Happy to be back at that level.

On Tuesday, did 3 hill sprints and an aerobic workout in my room afterwards.

Went to Muay Thai yesterday. 4 other people, 3 of them inexperienced girls and the other a very young boy. Good on them but not having comparable training partners sucks. Hate to say it but I may switch gyms due to price and class size. First half of the class was just conditioning which I usually don't like to do it since I do it at home. The rest of it was partnering up and throwing a mid left kick followed by any two punches. My first partner was the coach, thankfully it. I need to practice my body kicks more so this was a welcome drill. Ended with everyone getting in a rope and playing tag where we had to leave as soon as we got kicked without checking. Pretty fun and helped me focus on maintaining balance while multitasking. I landed plenty of kicks and people did not acknowledge them by leaving, however. The little boy in particular would come up with a reason why the kick I landed didn't count.

Squats (low bar)
Up to 315 x 5

Front squats
225 x 8, 8
275 x 7 super-set with dumbbell split squats of 50s x 8

Slow good mornings
135 x 10, 10

Axle strict press
165 x 3
180 x 3
200 x 3
-
Super-set with chin-ups x 10

Dumbbell press
50s with Fat Gripz x 15
115s x 8, 8, 8
-
Super-set with chin-ups x 12
50 x 8
Pull-ups 50 x 8
Chin-ups 50 x 10

Went on a 40-minute run last night. Pretty fast pace, definitely more than what I would call a jog with short bursts of sprint attempts (I say that because my hips were sore and I didn't go full blast).

Low-bar squats
135, 185, 185, 225, 275, 285, 295 x 5

Touch-and-go deadlifts
315 x 5 (overhand)
405 x 5 (mixed grip)

Getting back in the powerlifting game. Low-bar squats (which I've never done before) don't seem to hurt my I injury area.

Did 39 push-ups in Muay Thai yesterday (was going until the timer ran out although I was getting pretty tired; never been good at push-ups).

Bench press
235 x 3
265 x 3
300 x 4
235 x 12
-
Super-set with barbell rows
3 plates x 12
4 plates x 10

Iron Woody band press
10, 10, 12, 15
-
Super-set with barbell rows
4 plates x 10, 10, 10

Slow pull-ups x 8

Band pull-aparts x 10

Keg curls
160 x 8, 9

Band curls
10

A previous version of my blogger app has been continuously erasing posts I type into it, hence the week-long hiatus. Installed a different version that I hope doesn't have the same issue.

I did my front squat workout yesterday and then went to Muay Thai. Too much to report that's not fresh my head anymore.

Bench press
215, 250, 285 x 6
215 x 15
-
Last 2 super-set with T-bar rows
3 plates x 12
4.plates x 10

Iron Woody band chest press
10, 10, 10, 12
-
Super-set with T-bar rows
4 plates x 10, 10, 10, 12

Keg curls
160 x 8, 8

Band pull-aparts
10

20-second chin-up

Front squats
245 x 5
285 x 3
315 x 5
275 x 1, 7
225 x 10
*Set up issue on that first set of 275. Using a narrower stance. Just feels better with the front squat.

One-legged RDLs
3 plates x 8, 8

was planning on going to Muay Thai tonight but they're doing fence work in the backyard and I don't have a chance to lift in the early afternoon. Have to lift in the evening when the workers are done for the day.

Just did 15 minutes of skipping rope alternated with shadow boxing rounds. One minute each round with no rests.

Got home from work early today and am waiting for George so we can hangout and thought I'd squeeze quick update. After work yesterday evening I did HIIT for 15 minutes.

Strict press
165 x 5
190 x 3
210 x 1
-
Super-set with chin-ups
10

Incline bench press
205 x 7, 8, 7
160 x 10
-
Super-set with chin-ups
11
50 x 9, 10
30-second Chin-up

Slow wide-grip pull-ups
8

Iron Woody chest-flyes x 12

Curls

Blogger app ate up a long and detailed entry for my bench press workout. Quick rundown is I front-squatted 300x6 on Monday and benched 310x3 on Tuesday.

Went to Muay Thai yesterday. Class size was bigger than normal. Partnered up with someone who smelled really bad with Thai pads. Did a really simple combo of 1, right kick, 1-2, left switch kick. When I was holding, this guy would suddenly stop after awhile and look down. Confused, I asked, "Need a break?" No answer, just looking down. I thought he didn't hear me so I asked louder, "Taking a break?" Still no answer. I actually find it annoying if my training partner is too quiet during training and doesn't provide me feedback or doesn't acknowledge feedback I give them, but this was another level. Weird. Happened 4 or 5 times, too.

Axle strict press
155 x 3
175 x 3
200 x 3
* Not being a barbell it's always a guessing game where hand placement needs to be in order to have even weight distribution. On the final set it was definitely lopsided in my grip and I tried to adjust on the fly. That's why I was so suspicious of my math in adding the weight up; this felt like air. Did have to rest-pause for a second on the third rep but that usually kills my strict press momentum and is grounds for failure.
-
Super-set with chin-ups x 10

Incline bench press
200 x 8, 8, 8, 8
-
Super-set with chin-ups x 10
50 x 8, 9
Pull-ups x 50 x 8 drop-down to bodyweight x 3

Iron Woody tricep pressdowns, curls, band pull-aparts

Working early this Friday, so training will be in the afternoon. Cool shot of me at Muay Thai on Wednesday. Gonna try and make it to sparring this evening.

Strict press
145 x 5
165 x 5
187 x 3, 3
Super-set with chins x 10

Incline Bench press
110 x 8 followed immediately by 160 x 8
200 x 5 drop-down to 180 x 3
200 x 7, 7 drop-down to 160 x 3 and 110 x 3
Super-set with chins x 10
50 x 8, 8, 10

External rotations with a band

Preacher curls
35 with Fat Gripz x 8

Concentrations curls
35 with Fat Gripz  x 9

Pretty weak day. Remembered how tired my shoulders got at Muay Thai yesterday. Incline bench started out poorly but got better. Crazy pump at the end though.

I've noticed that when I'm feeling weak I rest longer to try and make my sets stronger. It rarely works out that way and I end up taking way too long for a non-impressive amount of weight lifted. So this ended up being a 2-hour session even though these poundages were not worth that. Been doing a good job of pushing the pace until now, gotta keep that up.

Made it to Muay Thai last night. I'm at the point where I'm good enough at skipping rope that I never trip up and my shoulders start to get tired. Good problem to have, just have to keep building stamina. Paired up with a partner and worked on 1, 2 to the body, 3, right leg kick, dodge the right hand, then angle back and throw a 1-2. Happy to work on angles and footwork. We did variations of this throughout the session and switched up partners.

Coach announced that one of the most prominent female Peruvian Muay Thai fighters was seated and watching and to go say hi. By the time I was ready to leave though she was gone. Damn, really wanted to meet her. Don't remember her name.

Bench press
215, 245 x 5
280 x 6
Super-set with T-bar rows
3 plates x 10, 10

Dips
50 x 10, 10, 10
Super-set with T-bar rows
4 plates x 10, 12
5 plates x 10, 10

Wide-grip Bench press
135 x 12
Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups x 10

Curls, band pull-aparts

Mediocre bench, but got a good pump. Running on 5 hours of sleep.

Front squats
300 x 3 x 5
* Now that I have some OK weight I'm going to settle in to a front squat routine of 3x5 twice a week.

One-legged RDLs
165 x 8, 8
190 x 8
* This is definitely a hamstring exercise I'm going to keep once I'm healed.

Leg raises

Did 3 hill sprints and a 10 minute jog later in the evening.

Deload

Bench press
135, 165, 200 x 5

T-bar rows
3 plates x 10
4 plates x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Dips
15
50 x 10, 10, 11, 11

Facepulls

Been getting much better at front squats. Currently doing 275x5 and 295x3. Have noticed wrist pain when I bench press now as a result, though wrapping them fixes the issue for that given session.
My bench and strict press seem to have switched statuses. The latter is on the way up while my bench sessions have been mediocre. The last two times I did 300x3. My front delts and pec tie-ins felt sore which I believe is from doing heavy flat benching on bench day and incline benching on press day, so I'm going to back off and replace one of those with dips to see if that improves things.

Have also gained quite a bit of weight since my break from Muay Thai. Currently at 198; last time I weighed myself in May I was 189. Ain't a bad thing, my undersized arm could always use the energy surplus.

Been training consistently, just not updating. Unjustifiably feel less inclined to now that I'm not squatting or deadlifting.

Went to Muay Thai for the first time in over a month. Am able to punch now without extra pain. Coach said it was good to have me back and he notices when I'm gone. He said he won't have me doing any hard impact striking as I heal. I have to note that after all the slightly awkward living room jump-roping I've been doing and dealing with carpet, I was able to have the best rope session ever on the mats. Skipped for around 5 minutes without missing a beat. Since I've never skipped rope straight for that long my shoulders got pretty tired.

After that we shadowboxed and then did ab exercises before moving on to the heavy bag. Combo was jab, right leg kick, left hook to the body, right leg kick again.  Transferred this to a partner with each person taking turns, and then adding a 1-2 at the end. Finally, we ended with heavy bag rounds using any combo of 3 punches and 2 kicks.

Pretty weak bench day yesterday. Hit 300x3. Was feeling hungry and I was also 2 days late with this session. Was also supposed to deload but I didn't BECAUSE of that and I reasoned I needed to move some heavy weight to make up for that. Did BBB sets after, 245x3x8 and 225x10 and x8, so those were some pretty heavy sets at least. Also increased T-bar rows to 5 plates (have nixed dumbbell rowing until my back is better because bilateral pulling just feels better and offers more stability).

3 rounds of hill sprints followed by a 20-minute jog yesterday evening. Second time this week doing that.

Worked on front squats today. Set-up is challenging for me since it's been years. Have been trying the clean set-up but my wrists can only handle a couple of reps. Today I used straps, which were comfortable but the bar kept falling forward. Still, it was the most solid out of everything I've tried, though I still sucked. Managed 1 rep of 275 for 2 sets; couldn't get more than that without the bar rolling forward into my arms. Also did 8 with 225 and 10 with 135.

Since the weight there was so light I did belt squats for a PR of 7 full plates and a 25. 8 reps.
Have also been doing one-legged RDLs this week with a Meadows row barbell set-up. Did that with two 45s and a 25. Very effective, legs are burning after 8-10 reps. Glad I found a viable hamstring exercise. It's good enough to keep after I'm healthy again.

Speaking of which, I'm continuing to feel a little better. Hope I can squat and deadlift again soon. I want to make it to an August powerlifting meet, but if things are just healing too slowly my back-up plan is a November one.

Back injury is slowly getting better. Emphasis on "slowly" though. Am able to run and throw punches with less pain than before. Really miss Muay Thai so I'm happy I can start going back soon. Will have to take it easy during sparring though.

Axel strict pressed 180x5 yesterday, an improvement from 3 the week before.

Dealing with a long term injury on my vertebrae here so my training has adapted as a result. Good news is it seems to be slooowly recovering. Doing those heavy squats a week and a half ago was a dumb idea.

Have been doing belt squats instead, combining them with lunges and front squats.

Been dealing with a strange vertebrae injury between my shoulder blades. Has persisted for about 2 weeks now. Originally thought it was very sore traps from doing Hise shrugs. The pain originated after I did deadlifts and box squats but I have no idea what actually caused it. It was managable until Friday when I did squats like a dummy. Completed the whole workout but it was slow going because of discomfort. Squatted 445x3. Shouldn't have done that, but goddamn did I feel strong. Had a weak bench day only managing 295x4, failing a 5th. Got trapped under the bar and everything, but that's not a big deal.

Felt some nerve damage happening by rep 6 on my assistance squats with the SSB (straight bar and SSB both hurt even with cushioning). Big toes have some slight numbness after that.

Gonna have to settle in for a longer-term healing process and not anticipate this going away soon. I can't squat and probably can't deadlift, but I have some ideas for legs this afternoon.

Never updated how Fanime went, but it was an awesome 3 days. I brought a shaker bottle to sip on protein throughout the day. It was pretty funny bringing it to a hotel bar. Could have actually eaten more carbs, though, with the amount of walking I was doing. I'd had an intense few days of lifting before that.

Bench press

215 x 5

245 x 5

280 x 7

215 x 15

* Was hoping for 8 but still good. As I lose weight I've noticed while my 1RMs continue to climb my strength-endurance feels challenged. By about rep 7 or 8 my muscles really feel it. Not declining, though.

Dips

50 x 10, 10

35 x 10

Bodyweight x 11

Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups and chin-ups x 10-11

* Back-work was all over the place - did weighted reps with 50 and dropped off to bodyweight when fatigued. Kept rest times pretty short for me, 2-3 minutes. 

Curls and rear-delt work

Last workout before Fanime weekend. Will update with pictures.

Went to Muay Thai on Wednesday. Worked pads with a timid new guy. Did a long string of combos and finished off with bagwork.

Thursday:

Squats
320 x 5
370 x 5
420 x 5
340 x 8
315 x 10, 10
* Core started to give on the last rep but I made it. Legs were strong. An expected result of getting so light (I weighed 189.6 today, haven't been close to that since I was 18) but still, more ab work!

Deadlifts
405 x 9

RDLs
315 x 9
* Pronated grip.

Abs

Aerobic workout in the evening.

Went to Muay Thai in the evening and met with George there. Mostly pad work. Didn't pace myself well and was throwing bombs early on, then got tired after awhile. Note that me getting tired just means I'm uncomfortable and I slow down a tiny bit to ration myself, not that I'm huffing and heaving or that I have to stop.

Deload

Axle Strict press
85, 110, 130 x 5

Dumbbell press
50s with Fat Gripz x 15
115s x 8, 8
50s with Fat Gripz x 14

T-bar rows
4 plates x 5 x 10

Curls

Three rounds of shadowkickboxing in the evening followed by an aerobic workout in my room.

Good sparring session on Friday. Opted for the open face head gear over the caged one which makes me overheat like crazy. I'm going to pick and choose depending on the physical state of my nose. Stung with my jab all night and by the end of it he commented that he was eating it non-stop. to his great credit he caught me twice with big swinging hooks. He confessed to me that he closed his eyes for one of them. Also told me that he had trouble reading my movements. That's good to hear but I dodge almost 100% and Don't really make use of a tight guard. I practice it on my own but in the heat of battle I op to move out of the way or parry. He also jacked my leg up from kicking it and though I hid it well I was limping about 30 minutes after class. I did check very vigilantly so it would have been worse had I not.

Didn't go out on the weekend. Took advantage of this by waking up and going on fasted runs both Saturday and Sunday with only a little bit of a protein shake from the night before as sustenance. And then on Sunday I did an aerobic workout in my room in the evening. Very relaxing yet productive two days. It was good to take a break from alcohol and not drive anywhere.

Deload

Mat pulls (8)
135, 315, 405 x 5
500 x 3
* All double-overhand except for 500, which was a mixed grip.

SSB box squats
300 x 5, 5, 5

Walking dumbbell lunges with fat gripz
50s x 20

SSB good mornings
150 x 10

Two deload days to record. Squatted 295x5 yesterday and benched 195x5 this morning. Yesterday evening did 3 hill sprints and a 20 minute jog afterwards.

Strict press
160 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 1 + 4 reps of push-press

Dumbbell press
115(L)/100(R) x 9, 9
125(L)/115(R) x 8

T-bar rows
4 plates x 10, 11, 12
4 plates + 25 x 12, 12

Curls

3 rounds of shadowkickboxing in the evening and an industrial dance aerobic workout with the breath-restriction mask.

So Friday sparring was a bust. While going at it with Aaron he kicked me between the legs harder than has ever happened to me and I had to bow out for the rest of the session. Really sucked. Usually I just hide it but this was brutal, haha. Not going back without a cup.

Went on a hike Saturday but it was so easy it didn't constitute any manner of training. More like a woodland stroll than anything.

Yesterday I had a headache from being hungover (only happens if I get less than 7 or 8 hours of sleep) but after a quick nap I willed myself to do mat pulls. Managed 550x6 on a second attempt after initially only getting a slow single. All in the mind. Box squats and lunges after.

Bench press
245 x 5
275 x 3
305 x 3
Last set super-set with pull-ups x 10
* Once again, felt the soreness from Muay Thai (Payam loves push-ups). Next cycle, don't be shy to rest; 72 hours between working the same body-parts is fine. 275 FELT like I was at max weight so Ihought I might only get 2 on the final set.

Weighted dips
50 x 9, 10, 10
Super-set with pull-ups x 11, 11, and weighted chins of 50 x 9

Iron Woody band pressdowns (various tensions depending on grip position) x 12

Planning on doing chest isolation and biceps tomorrow morning with some strongman training. No farmers' walks but will do keg carries. Don't want to do heavy farmers' every week so close to heavy pulling.

Yesterday:

Squats
365 x 5
415 x 3
465 x 1
335 x 2 x 8
Last set was a drop-set down to 225x10, 135x12, and front squats with just the barx12
* Depth felt shallow. Will count it but I should have taken an extra day of rest after Muay Thai the day before. Legs felt heavy (more than usual when under over 400 lbs of load, I mean...) and I was shaking under the bar.

Deadlifts
405 x 8

Unilateral Swiss ball leg curls until I got tired on each leg

Later at night I did a light aerobic dance workout with the breath mask.

Took a quick nap after work yesterday and then went to Muay Thai. Class consisted of me and a young girl, coached by Payam. Very technical class with a relatively low intensity for me. I welcome slowing things down and working on technique. I started off holding the mitts for my partner and after that mostly worked 1-on-1 with Payam with him holding the mitts for me. Did basic variations of 1-2-3 while adding in slips. I kept slipping the wrong way, it's just something I don't practice much with pads. I fumble when I have to remember a pattern instead of just free-form striking or sparring, but that's a huge part of training and I need to get better at it.

My kicks felt nasty on the heavy bag. My switch kick is a completely different weapon than what it used to be. I remember when I could not kick with my left leg in any meaningful manner but now it feels almost identical to my right.

Did a bunch of calisthenics in class, including squats. Since I was due to squat the next day I was ready to post-pone that by a day but I have no soreness and I think I'm fine. We'll see if that changes when under the bar.

Yesterday evening I skipped rope for 4 minutes, did 2 3-minute shadow kickboxing rounds, ran up the hill 3 times, and went on a 10-minute jog. Used the mask for everything but the hill sprints.

Strict press
150 x 3
170 x 3
195 x 2
* 1 rep better than last cycle but still not the 3 I'm aiming for. Good to know that cutting down on strict pressing as accessory work isn't actually making me worse, though.

Push press
195 x 4
* Going to keep this up. Max set for reps.

Bench press
185 x 10
240 x 3 x 8
Super-set with dumbbell rows of 125(L)/115(R) x 8

Fat Gripz curls

Went to the beach on the weekend and ate a lot of seafood. Before that though I did another strongman event day. Some rounds of farmers' walk with 190 in each hand, keg carries with a 160 pounder, cleans with a 110 axle, neck crunches, band pull-aparts and Swiss ball planks. Nothing was very difficult; this is a 5th day of lifting and I have no strongman competition anytime so it was mostly for fun and to hit some stuff that could use more targeting like rear-delts and abs.

Monday:

Mat pulls (9)
550x8

SSB box squats
340x3x5

Small in variety, big on weight.

Had an excellent sparring session on Friday. I feel confident in saying that my cardio gave me a competitive advantage, although in one opponent's defense he just got done training BJJ. Bottom line is training with my mask is helping, although I only expected it to psychologically. I've also been redefining what it means to spar and to NOT let my opponent catch a break. That means following up with combinations after kicks, in particular, not stepping back to indicate that I'm done. I was pretty relentless. There were several times where I would double or triple jab and the other guy seemed to relax, figuring I was done, and then I'd throw more jabs from my extended arm, almost like a 1-inch punch. I love jabbing. Also got in some good body and leg kicks, and even planted my foot squarely into a torso for the cleanest front kick I've ever landed.

Got warned not to oblique kick because it could hurt someone. Fair enough. Yes, I was copying Jon Jones.

Forgot my headgear for this session but didn't get hit hard enough to have problems. Nose was just slightly sore.

Things to work on: I think I could slam my kicks a little more. Previously I've been more focused on just getting them to land in the right spots. Now that they are I need to actually make them as much a weapon in sparring as my hands are.

Recently weighed in at 192 in the morning before breakfast with shorts on. Lightest I've been since I was a teenager. It'd be crazy if I could make the next weight-class down for August's powerlifting meet but I'm not going to push that. At my height it might just be too lean. 180 would probably be my competitive bodybuilding weight (that sucks to admit, haha).

Bench press
225,  260 x 3
290 x 5
225 x 14
* Good showing despite shoulders being sore from incline benching.

Weighted dips
50 x 10, 10, 10

Pull-ups and chin-ups
10, 12
50 x 8, 8, 8

Iron Woody band pressdowns super-set with concentration curls

Bringing my bag to work to make it to sparring this evening. It's been awhile since I've been to Muay Thai but I have NOT been resting on my laurels at home so I'm looking forward to showing everyone what I've got.

Donned my mask and sprinted up Heart Attack Hill before having to rip it off. Crazy hard. Did two more sprints and then went on a 15-20 minute jog, using the mask about half of that. It must look pretty silly to have Bane running down the street at night.

Squats
340, 390, 442 x 3

335 x 2 x 8

Barbell alternating lunges
155 x 16, 14

Good mornings
155 x 8, 10

Ab wheel
8

I'm not going to lie, this was a downright lazy session. Legs felt like lead under the bar and energy was low. Started warm-ups around 2:30 and finished my last set of good mornings by 5:00...and still had abs to do inside the house. Just took some long ass rest times between my squat sets. Going to hold my feet to the fire and record my start time in this log before beginning my session so it's staring me in the face as I record.

Overhead pressed 185x4 on Tuesday. Really thought I had 5 in me. First 3 shot up like a rocket and then my shoulders felt tired after that. Damn.

Practiced Muay Thai by myself afterwards, and also yesterday. Intended to go to class yesterday but I took a nap and slept through the afternoon.

Wasn't due to lift on Saturday but I had the day off and a morning with nothing to do, so I did some farmers' walks with 190 in each hand, neck crunches, and rear-delt work. Took maybe 20 minutes.

Went on a 7-mile hike on Sunday with friends. Was a total walk in the park for me despite plenty of uphill terrain. Only difficulty was having to go to the bathroom by the end of it. Crazy to think how badly my legs used to cramp 12 years ago.

Yesterday I failed at deadlifting 535 once on a first attempt, then on a second try I easily hit 3 reps. Thinking about pushing the Earth instead of pulling the weight did it. Really got my legs engaged that way. Nice to have a strong showing the day after hiking 7 miles.

Few hiking pictures:

I haven't made it to Muay Thai this week due to car problems. It broke down on me twice driving on the freeway Tuesday. Ended up being stranded in Redwood City but made the most of it with my friend meeting up and hanging out. Ate a lot of food between two trips to a local diner, first a burger on my own and then later a barbecue dinner for the two of us. Earlier that day I hit a deload press workout, but still went pretty heavy on dumbbell pressing (115 in left, 100 in right, but only for 2 sets before doing some tricep pressdowns).

Because I was up late dealing with that mess Tuesday night (AAA didn't show up after waiting for an hour so I drove home myself down residential roads at midnight going slow), I was tired the next day, but still managed to do some home Muay Thai rounds of shadowboxing.

Yesterday and today I got some good sessions in. 415x5 squat and 275x7 bench press. I actually lifted twice yesterday, first the squat sets along with the SSB bar for 335 before work and then deadlifts and lunges at night. Between overhand gripping the bar, Fat Gripz on lunges, and Fat Gripz for skullcrushers and curls today, my forearms are fried.

Not done with the backlog of updates. I've been training a lot.

After lifting on Tuesday I went to Muay Thai. Was a big class comprised of young kids in gis who were transitioning from some other class. Interesting experience. Had to pull back a drastic amount which probably fared well for technique.

Wednesday I went on a jog, followed by 2 rounds of shadowboxing with a breath-restriction mask (this thing is hell).

Went on a night hike Saturday night with friends for about 45 minutes.

Mat pulls off of 2 pavers on Monday with 535. Felt really strong, but on rep 2 I felt a painless twinge in my back so I cut it short to be safe. No pain afterwards. Moved on to 335x2x5 box squats and a third set for 6, just because, as well as Hise shrugs with the same weight for 20. Finished up with dumbbell lunges of 50 lbs in each hand for as many reps as I felt like doing without bothering to count.

Tuesday I strict pressed 205x1 and dumbbell pressed 115 in my right arm, a move up from 100. Did 125 in my left and super-set all that with rows using the same weight.

I also rebought these for the third time since 2012. Forearm pump was downright nasty.

Bench press
235 x 5
270 x 3
300 x 3
235 x 12
* A bit sore. Trained upper-body really intensely on Wednesday and then did some push-ups yesterday at practice, along with the usual shoulder involvement from striking. Solid performance but everything past 185 felt like a ton of bricks.

Weighted dips
50 x 10

Iron Woody band tricep pressdowns
12, 10

All exercises starting from 300 bench press and after super-set with chin-ups, both bodyweight and weighted (50 lbs) x 9-12

Curls

Pretty intense 3 days of training. Ready for the weekend and lots of food. May hit up the gym with a friend on Saturday or Sunday but it would normally be mat pull/deadlift day for me, which is the worst session for a commercial gym. Will either save it for Monday at home or just do lighter, high-rep touch-and-go deadlifts for 405 or 450 depending on how sore my back is by that time (never done a controlled eccentric phase past 405).

Went to class last night. Surprisingly big group. Haven't seen that in a long time. Partnered up and worked another combo string, this time starting off with parrying a jab. Parry the fist to the side, don't smack it down.

Finished up with some intense bag-work.

Did some intense shadowboxing rounds on Wednesday after squats. Experimenting with breath restriction using a respirator. I am under no illusion that I'm somehow going to blood dope or accurately simulate elevated environments this way, which have been copiously debunked, but it DOES get me used to fighting under a suffocating blanket of misery. I notice that this sensation is the hardest part of sparring when using my headgear with full face-mask and I start to gas. I've never quit from feeling like I'm unable to breathe, but I've had to fight the urge to.

I really liked it. Started having a challenging time about 8 minutes in of hard striking. Will keep using this until I buy a specialty mask.

Some new basics to emphasize that I gleamed from a YouTube video: sit in your punches much more. Get the legs to do more of the work.

Squats
340, 395, 440 x 3
* Felt good to have a strong showing and to break the week pattern that's been ailing me the past week. First rep felt a little shallow so I sank in deeper for the next two.

335 x 2 x 8
315 x 9

Deadlifts
408 x 2, 8

Swiss ball planks and reverse crunches

Strict press
140, 170 x 3
195 x 1, 1
Last set super-set with 8 pull-ups
* This has stalled and has been at this point for awhile now.

Bench press
225 x 8
235 x 8, 8, 8
Super-set with lying dumbbell rows with 115s x 8, 8, 8, 8

Band pull-aparts, curls

Woke up with an upset stomach this morning from spicy buffalo wings the night before. Had a tough time creating good intra-abdominal pressure in my belly. Couldn't break 535 off of 2 mats on first attempt, but did it for a slow single on the second. Did a poor job of staying tight and practically RDL'd it up. Damn, I am just full of excuses this week, aren't I? Anyway, glad I at least got the bar up at all. Can't wait to attack again next week.

Have been sick but I'm better as of today. Only hit 185x3 on Saturday's press workout (wasn't sick then but shoulders were sore). Couldn't squat over 395x2 on Tuesday.

Yesterday I benched 285x5 and went to Muay Thai after. Learned a combo-string: low right kick, 3-2-3, right body kick, 3-2, left switch kick, overhand right and left hook to the body, circle out with double-jab. Started with just the first portion of that and added on.

Next, learned the calf kick. Coach Anthony said he's not the biggest fan but it can be a useful tool in the right situation. Eventually utilized it in a sparring situation. Donning headgear and a mouthguard it was going against the coach that had me gassing really hard by the end. Gassing with the headgear on always presents a suffocating feeling. Wanted to quit and get some air by taking my gear off but I suffered through. I find myself getting too spastic when I go up against him, trying to match his movements. Relax, don't waste any movement, and be efficient. Against everyone else I'm fine. When I get good enough THEN I can do fancy fake-outs every second. Glad to have gotten a good solid cardio workout, though.

No sparring Friday night. Was getting ready to lift in the morning when I got called into work after someone didn't show. Worked overtime and hit this

Mat pulls (3)
535 x 4
* Finally a good day for this depth. Really made a point to hold back on squat day and I came into the session feeling fresh.

SSB box squats
330 x 3 x 5

Great sparring session on Friday. Wish I had jotted notes down in the immediate aftermath so it's fresh. Will do that in the evening when I get home. Was told that I'm getting the better of the exchanges but then I back off and let the opponent get out of the pocket. To be frank, that's intentional. It's sparring so I want the other guy to be able to respond and get some work in. I recognize that this is kind of silly and they'll learn more if THEY have to figure out how to escape, so I need to stop being such a nice guy. 

Strict pressed 185x3 on Saturday, falling well short of 5. Might be my shoulders are getting too much work between Muay Thai and all the pressing I do. Will cut-back a little to favor direct tricep work and give my deltoids a little bit of a break.

Squatted 415x5 yesterday, came pretty easy.

Did a prolonged cardio circuit yesterday consisting of skipping rope in my living room and shadowboxing.

Deload mat pull workout today. 405x5 double-overhand touch-and-go, and 500x1, all off of 3 mats. 500 felt heavy without a belt, rep was slower than I'd expect it to be and back felt looser than it should have been. SSB box squats of 295x3x5 after.

Planning on hitting up sparring tonight. From now on I will jot down points of focus beforehand on things I want to improve. For this week:

> Chin down when striking.
> Pivot followed by a wind-up into a hook. Pivot and work angles in general.
> Rolling the shoulder and using full reach when throwing the right.
> Feints.
> Low leg kicks are cool but hit the thighs more, those aren't protected by shin guards.

Knocked out deload squat and bench press workouts. Have been sick from the weekend but feeling better yesterday and today. Cardio has been minimal as a result, just some form practicing at an aerobically-charged pace.

Had a big dinner last night for Persian New Year at my aunt's.

Had an excellent sparring session Friday. Threw the best kicks I've utilized in a livefire situation. They were dangerous enough that I could see my opponents being thrown off by them, which has almost never been the case before. Only glaring regret I have is I completely forgot to use feints and suddenly remembered as I got into my car to go home.

Did a deload press workout Saturday.

Went to Muay Thai on Wednesday with George. Worked on the clinch and kneeing the body. Also got a refresher in posting, which I definitely need to use in sparring more for distance control. Coach held the mitts for me while I fired off some super fast combos at his command, although my brain still gets mixed up if too many numbers are given too fast.

Mat pulled only 535x1 off of 3 today. Did that both attempts. Still sore from squats and simply could not explode up the way I wanted to. Going to switch deadlift and squat days to avoid this problem. New challenge is I will now be squatting on the same day I spar which might result in leg cramps, so I will go a little easier on the assistance work after my main sets.

Have been doing some reverse leg-raises on a Swiss ball in imitation of a reverse-hyper and my back feels great today. Used some bands in an attempt to add resistance but it didn't make much of a difference. I'd have to get creative with the set-up if I want to really feel some weight on my heels.

Bench press
230 x 5
260 x 3
295 x 4
230 x 12
* Felt heavy today but had a better showing than last cycle when my butt came off the bench. Thought I could get more than 12 for the 230 but my shoulders weren't having it. Just a reality of Muay Thai. Might do a little less pressing for assistance work and add in direct tricep exercises.

Strict press
135 x 8,10

Chins
8, 10
50 x 8, 9, 9

Tricep pressdowns, curls

Squats
360 x 5
410 x 3
460 x 1
360 x 7
315 x 8
295 x 10
* Very smooth single. Have quite a bit left in me. I really want 500 at my next meet, which would match my last competition number but at a lighter weight class. Going to do first set last for squats from now on.

Deadlifts
405 x 8

Swiss ball leg curls

Did 4 hill sprints last night and went on a jog afterwards.

Warming up this morning I noticed my left hand has pain, particularly on the middle knuckle. Was a little hard to grip the bar and typing kind of hurts. Will do some easy expansion exercises with rubber bands.

Strict press
160 x 5
180 x 3
202 x 1
160 x 7
* First-set-last is a 1-rep improvement. Hard-fought.

Chin-ups
10, 10

Axle bench
110x5+165x8
235 x 8, 8
Super-set with dumbbell rows of 115(L)/100(R) x 8-10

Curls

Swiss ball planks

Bought an air mattress so I sleep better at my friend's house on Saturdays when we go out. Previously I was sleeping on a wrestling mat and sleeping bag and I'd typically get an interrupted bout of 6 or so hours of sleep because of the discomfort, and have felt like crap on Sundays as a result.

Mat pulls (4)
535 x 4
Not bad but I was aiming for 5. 4 mats is when it starts to actually feel like a deadlift to me. To remedy this I plan on nixing the RDLs on squat day as well as the squat drop-down sets and increasing the deficit deadlift weight to 405. Deadlifting 405 for reps on squat day has historically helped me with deeper mat pulls.

SSB box squats
335 x 3 x 5

I'm eating like a beast before and after training and keeping carbs low at other times of the day. The result is I've maintained my weight but my right arm has been growing, albeit slowly. Currently 195. Later this year I would like to gain weight to make my arms fully even, if possible.

Went to Muay Thai on Wednesday with George. Started out with more footwork and movement drills, which I really appreciate. Basically just went down the length of the gym while throwing a 1, then later a 1-2, and finally a 1-2-3. Simple, but getting a solid pivot while moving can sometimes be tricky.

Afterwards we separated into beginners and everyone else. And because class size is small, by this I mean George and a mom + daughter duo went to work with coach Anthony while me and this one other guy I know went with assistant coach Tyler to spar. We rotated in and out. Opted not to don headgear because Ty said to only go very light and I wanted to emphasize adhering to this. Got decked in the nose once which hurt but wasn't bad. Toward the end when sparring Tyler he kicked me pretty hard in the torso which knocked the wind out of me. I would say this session was just about perfect for intensity level, though. 99% of the time the shots were hard enough to punish but not enough to cause lasting damage, which is all I ask for if I'm still at the stage where I need to polish up some fundamentals (especially defensive).

Immediately at the start of the first round coach Ty tells me I'm too jumpy, which seems to happen when I try to be loose. Need to find a medium between being relaxed but not wasting energy with needless movement. Be mobile, but intelligently.

I covered distance better than before by not standing too wide and instead stepping in to throw. As usual, my jab was good. I really want to bring everything up to speed. Going to throw more uppercuts next time.

I've been feeling more confident about throwing kicks without eating shots. Now I need to pick them better. Need to quit landing on my opponent's backside and hit some vulnerable spots.

Gassed by the end although I forced through and kept it competitive. It really depends on the opponent, and these two are good enough to make me work compared to everyone else except one older guy who comes on Fridays. Jogging and some hill sprints aren't going to cut it, but I've also kept my cardio outside of Muay Thai fairly recoverable because of lifting. Ah, the conundrum they warn you about. I believe I can stand to add another really intense conditioning workout a week, and if I need to it won't be a problem to cut down on some reps under the iron.

Squats
340, 385, 435 x 3
330 x 2 x 8 -> drop-set to 225, 135, 45 x 10

RDLs
335 x 8

Deficit deadlifts
335 x 7

Having some good luck with the rain. It pours in the morning and at night but not in the afternoon when I train.

Failed to strict press 182x5 on Saturday, which I've done before. Got 4 instead. Seems like whatever I switch to the second week tends to suffer just a little bit.

Went to Muay Thai yesterday with George, who signed up. Did a lot of pad work and then kicked the shield. Got reminded to rotate more with my arm in the direction of the kick, which helps a lot with pivoting properly.

Raining today which sucks but squats must be done.

Bench pressed 265x8 on Wednesday.

Did 4 3-minute rounds of Muay Thai practice yesterday before going on a jog. Knees were hurting, both of them. Gained some good insights from a footwork video on YouTube. During sparring I am definitely standing too wide when chasing opponents. STEP into throwing the right hand instead of reaching super far with my rear leg planted. You can still pivot, just have to put your foot down. Also practiced pivoting into a left hook, wherein the pivot comes first and then the torso rotates to follow, like you're winding up. Really keen on honing my mobility and not getting stuck in a pocket.

This morning, mat pulled 535x2 off of 4 pavers before the bar rolled off. Reset and immediately went for more reps. Couldn't even break the bar off the mats this time. I woke up with my back sore, maybe from sleeping in a poor position. Also felt lethargic and sluggish, in general. I ate Costco pizza and coffee cake with coffee for breakfast and instead of feeling strong off all the calories I just felt like crap. It's okay to have a little more leeway with diet peri-workout but will try to be a little more reasonable with it, haha. I have actually had success eating like this at work before heavy squat workouts but something about it being first thing in the morning just nauseated me.

Squats
315, 360, 410 x 5
330 x 8, 9
Last set dropset to 225, 135, 45 x 10
* Some left knee pain just from walking upstairs, but wasn't an issue squatting. Nor was my busted right shin. Weight felt very light but I felt light-headed and shaky so it was hard to balance, like I could blast up a lot more than I was at the risk of falling right over. Maybe train sooner after eating when doing squats.

Romanian deadlifts (overhand)
315 x 8

TnG deadlifts
335 x 8

Last week George expressed interest in going to Muay Thai with me so we planned for yesterday. I met him at 7:00 for the 7:15 class. Very chill session since coach wanted me to stick with my friend for the duration of it rather than go with the more advanced group. We did warm-ups and drilled footwork, then took turns holding the mitts for each other. At the end we took the combo we'd been working on and applied it to the bag with a right kick at the end. Finished with abs.

Injured my shin at the work party on Saturday kicking some old equipment that was bound to be thrown away. Pretty stupid. Well, it was healing nicely until I slammed it into the bag and felt pain shoot up my leg. Went southpaw until class ended after that. After a good sleep though it feels much better again. I should be able to squat with it but will refrain from kicking anything (Lord help me).

Strict press
150, 170, 190 x 3
150 x 8
* Finally got this after a couple of months failing, and it was easy despite the back that my shoulders were a little sore from sparring. Key changes I made were strict pressing on my bench days and changing this cycle to 3/5/1.

Bench press
235 x 3 x 8

Curls

Got some hard sparring rounds in tonight. My new headgear is a protective wonder. Ate a headkick and kept on trucking even after my opponent stopped out of concern. I would say I employed my gameplan with success tonight. Threw combos, angled out of corners, and utilized my 1-2 attack pattern.

My jab was crazy fast tonight and found a lot of victims. On the other, my distance was off for more kicks than I would have liked. I may actually blame this on the headgear I just praised a moment ago. Extra protection means less visibility and I found myself looking down to see incoming kicks a lot, something I had gotten over doing before. A lot of my kicks fell short, too.

Felt like death at the end of the last round but came away with little actual damage other than a sore leg.

Afterwards, went to my uncle's and had a nice Persian dinner. Going to bed at a reasonable hour to wake up for more training tomorrow and a work dinner + party in the evening.

Mat pulls (5)
Up to 535x5
* Not too hard. Deadlifting as assistance work is really helping. Might have had another in me, and definitely had a couple more if I rest-paused.

SSB box squats
Up to 330x3x5

SSB hise shrugs
330 x 20

Neck crunches between sets

Wanted to do some deadlifts and ab work but I'm sparring this evening and want to be fresh. Walked into work after this session not even feeling like I lifted in the morning.

An idea I recently learned from an online Muay Thai instructional video is to break-up offense into two distinct phases. Move in, strike, defend if necessary, and then blast out your second combo. Will keep in mind tomorrow during sparring along with working the angles.

Deload

Bench press
135, 155, 185 x 5

Dumbbell press
100(L)/80(R) x 8, 8, 10

Strict press (clean on first rep)
135 x 8, 8

Presses are super-set with dumbbell rows of same dumbbell weight x 6 sets of 10-12

Curls

Excellent Muay Thai session in the evening. Small class. Paired up with a girl and hit the mitts. 1-5 to start with (not a true upper-cut; he showed us something that starts like a jab but twists up, yet he called it a 5 when demonstrating with the assistant coach). Add on 2-3 to that, then a slip and a 3.

Full combo is 1-5-2-3 slip 3

This girl had awesome power and she was arm-punching. Coach had to tell her repeatedly to pivot more. When holding for me she encouraged me to hit harder but I told her I'm pacing myself. As the rounds went on we went faster and harder and the coach commented on how loud my punches were echoing throughout the gym.

Switching stances messed me up but it's been something I'm working on in general and will continue to.

Ended with taking this combo over to the bag but breaking it up with kicks every 2 strikes. 3 rounds total. 1 conventional, 1 southpaw, and the final where we switched after every combo.

Knuckles were pretty red after class. Very fun evening.

Deload squat workout yesterday. Up to 290x5 and then 245x3x10. Ended with 315x8 deficit deadlifts, double-overhand, and some ab work. Did Swiss ball planks again and felt it in my pectorals.

Practiced Muay Thai for 3 rounds, 3 minutes each and then did 2 hill sprints and a jog afterwards.

Deload

Strict press
95, 115, 135 x 5

Dips
10
35 x 10
50 x 10, 10, 15

Chin-ups
6 sets of 10-12

Curls

Birthday today. Meeting Sam for lunch and then going up to San Francisco for a sushi dinner and after-party.

Did 4 hill sprints after work yesterday, followed by a 15-minute jog. Later at night went on an easy 20-minute jog.

Still very sore but forced myself to do a deload workout for lower body. Mat pulls up to 500x3 to start with off of 6 pavers. Could not break the bar for two initial attempts, but after putting a belt on it went easy. Afterwards did 295x3x5 SSB box squats, Hise shrugs for 30 reps on the final set, and planks + reverse crunches.

For the planks I did them elevated with a Swiss ball for about a minute. Wasn't too much harder actually but the squeeze made my pecs burn, which was the intent.

DOMS from squats is real this week. Must have been from the drop-set I did.

Bench pressed 290x4 yesterday. Had a tough time with the 4th; butt came off the bench, which almost never happens with me. Lifted in the pouring rain and had a rain jacket on with two pairs of glasses over my face to prevent water getting in my eyes. Must have been quite a sight.

Sparred again on Friday night. Got my leg, which was already hurting from sparring on Thursday, whacked some more which caused me to stumble. People went easy on it afterwards. Worked on directional pivots in particular. Good session.

Squatted 455 yesterday. Sore today.

Wasn't sure about doing this session today or tomorrow due to slightly sore shoulders but I went for it and actually felt pretty strong.

Strict press
160 x 5
180 x 3
202 x 1
160 x 6

Chin-ups
8, 12

Bench press
185 x 8
225 x 3 x 8

Super-set with lying dumbbell rows
115(L)/100(R) x 4 x 8-10

Called it here to get ready for work. Planning to hit rear-delts, biceps, and maybe neck (been training it with squats) tomorrow morning.

Muay Thai yesterday. Started out with simple footwork drills. Forward, back, and side to side. Added jabs and 1-2s.

Moved on to sparring in rotations of 3 people: coach Tyler, Aaron (big guy), and lanky guy named Sang. Aaron spars weird. He will cover up and stay still, tanking hits for awhile. I hit him at will but because I'm not throwing too hard I don't break his guard. Next time I'll make a point to adjust on the fly for this and increase my power. His body is left completely open and I punch his torso tons of times in succession. Then he'll decide to start throwing hard, sometimes the same punch over and over. Afterwards he'll explain that he's trying to teach you a lesson in not falling for the same thing repeatedly. Okay, I see the value in that but...it's not working for you. If I went as hard as some other people here do you'd be getting pretty damaged, and you're not landing the punch that's supposed to be punishing me.

I went into this entire session with "ANGLES" on my mind and it paid off excellently. Aaron would throw right crosses and I circled around, tagging him clean as I saw his punch go past me. This happened 3 times in a row and he complimented me.

Sparring with coach Tyler is always a fast-paced match. He got me good on my quad and I'm limping a little from it.

The other guy was tired and seemed a little new. We went extremely light.

I didn't use my new headgear. It was only $40 (as opposed to the $330 Winning one I had my eye on). Because my nose has been bothering me in sparring it has a face cage. Looks like overkill but I don't care. Did get my nose bopped a few times and it hurt worse than normal because it was still smarting from sparring 2 weeks ago, but nothing got me too hard.

Landed more kicks than I probably ever have sparring before, but to my discredit two were groin shots. Left kicks both times. Be more careful. Also need to be faster at checking. I can see the kicks coming but can't react fast enough, resulting in a half check. Might need to adjust my stance for that and keep more weight on my back leg.

Great night overall.

Mat pulls (6)
535 x 3
*Back felt weak. Still sick. Will try again at this depth next week. Keep pulling from the floor, it always gives a boost.

SSB box squats
Up to 330 x 3 x 5

Romanian deadlifts
315 x 8

Deadlifts
315 x 8

*Last two sets of deadlifts were done on a slight decline so a deficit was present.

Planks
1:12
* I seem to remember a few years ago I was only doing planks for 30 to 40 seconds. Out of nowhere they became really easy. Maybe Muay Thai? Also much lighter body weight.

Trained sick.

Bench press
215 x 3
245 x 3
275 x 5
215 x 14

Strict press (power-clean first rep)
135 x 8, 8, 8

Band flyes
20

Super-set with pull-ups
8, 12
35 x 8, 10, 10, 10

Curls
50s x 8
50 (left hand only) x 5 dropset to 35 x 4

Right bicep was hurting a little from the power cleans and weighted pull-ups. Growing pains, nothing to worry about. Come to think of it this might be the first time I've done cleans since surgery.

Yesterday:

Squats
335 x 3
380 x 3
430 x 3
335 x 8, 7
315 x 7
*Didn't feel too heavy, but felt very sluggish today. Energy levels were low and was lazy about rest times.

Swiss ball leg curls

Strict press
150, 170 x 3
190 x 2, 2
150 x 11
140 x 10
*This is annoying. Been unable to get 3 for almost 2 months now even after introducing push presses. Oh well, my other weeks keep getting better and I'm not gaining weight, so it's not too bad. Will make some further changes that have worked for me before. As an aside, goddamn does it feel lame to struggle with this weight after my pre-surgery numbers.

Chin-ups
8
35 x 8
50 x 8, 8, 8

Incline dumbbell press
100(L)/80(R) x 6
50s x 13, 12

Curls

Mat pulls (7)
535 x 8
*Came home after work and went to work on leveling the ground with a shovel. silly of me not to do this sooner. Had no issues with the barbell falling off the mats. Was actually able to do a max effort for once, although I didn't rest pause. Watched a clip of the new DBZ Broly movie that's currently in theaters to get me angry before the set.

Box squats
330 x 3 x 5

Swiss ball leg curls
20

Plank
1:22

Crush grippers

Also did various neck crunches