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

Weighed 192.4 with sweater and pants on first thing in the morning. Right arm has been growing so that's lighter than I thought I'd be, but cool. I can gain a little weight before the April meeting, which I think is an ideal situation to be in.

Bench press
200, 230 x 5
260 x 8
230 x 8, 8, 8
Notes: Sore shoulders from sparring. Was unsure about the feasibility of 8 so I donned a mouth guard and took my sweater off. Not too hard. was going to do first set last and forgot, but if I'm doing the same lift for assistance work then I can probably bear to skip it.
^
Super-set with dumbbell rows
80 x 8
115(L)/100(R) x 8, 8, 8, 8

Curls

Sparring was rough tonight. Legs didn't cramp but felt like lead and I wasn't moving as effectively as I needed to. Ate a lot of shots. Gave them back, too. Basically turned into brawl. One guy was extra aggressive and kept clinching so I kept throwing him off, prompting the coach to tell him to cut it out because I'm bigger than him. Shed blood too. Superficial wound, cut to the bridge of the nose. Bled on the mats though. It was fun. I like rough-housing. But dammit, I really want sparring partners who go light enough that we can relax and focus on drilling technique instead of aiming to cause damage. I'm not saying all the time, either! Just some of it, or even a lot of it. Just MY preference; I could be totally off the mark in the realm of effective development.

No leg pain in the match but getting out of my car once I got home had me limping. I didn't even get kicked in the legs this time (everyone was just throwing bombs up top). It's from squats, running, and then sparring.

Despite this, went on a 10-minute jog when I got home, and a 10-minute walk after dinner. Very productive Friday night.

Last night did 9 minutes total of shadowboxing and kicking, then went on a 10-minute jog. Being done on the same day as squats caused my legs to cramp at the end.

Woke up today and went on a fasted jog of about 25 minutes after taking a little bit of protein. Legs are feeling sore but nothing crazy. Hoping I don't cramp during sparring.

It took a couple of weeks to get the hang of them again but I'm good again with barbell squats.

Squats
315, 365, 405 x 5
Felt very light but still a little wobbly after using the SSB for so long.

315 x 10, 9, 9

RDLs
315 x 8

Dimel deadlifts
315 x 5 (grip gave out)

Swiss ball leg curls

Shadowboxed for a total of 3 minutes yesterday; 3 rounds with 60 second rest periods. Stretching has been paying off. Kicks are flowing much more loosely and naturally.

Have been studying a lot of tutorials on YouTube. Can't wait to implement what I've learned into sparring tomorrow.

Strict press
140 x 5
160 x 5
182 x 5

Push press
195 x 6

Strict press
140 x 12

Incline bench
185 x 4 -> 165 x 4
165 x 8, 8

All presses except work-up sets super-set with chin-ups, starting with bodyweight and working up to 35 lbs (first time doing weighted chins since surgery)

Curls, band pull-aparts

I curled a 50 in my right arm, moving up from the 35 I've been using.

At night I did 5 3-minute rounds of shadowboxing and kicking, with 1-minute rest periods.

4 hill sprints yesterday with a 15-minute jog afterwards. Worked almost 12 hours so took constant breaks to stretch. I've been doing the splits at my desk (or as close to them as I can get anyway) which feels really good on my back as well as keeping me flexible for Muay Thai.

It's been a laid back week. Going through the deload motions and keeping up with Muay Thai training. Went on a few jogs, too.

More people showed up for sparring last night. Rotated between 4 guys in total. Got told by the coach to throw a little harder. I did with my hands but my kicks remained pretty unthreatening the whole session, which I got feedback on from Daniel. To be honest, I was focusing entirely on accuracy because when I kick hard in the middle of a frenetic sparring match I hurt my toes. Today almost all my kicks landed where I wanted them to! Next time I'll put more power behind them.

My jab found a lot of victims. There would be times when I knew the jab was getting predictable and I could see my opponent's eyes locked on my left, and I still hit them clean.

Left quad and right shin + calf are in pain from getting kicked, but nothing debilitating.

Worked through the soreness and forced in a pull workout before work.

Mat pulls (8)
535x4
Same problem as last time despite checking the best place to put the mats on the ground. Bar rolled off. Need to figure something out.

SSB box squats
310 x 5
330 x 2 x 5

RDLs
315 x 8

Dimel deadlifts
315 x 6

Weighted crunches

Bench press
225, 255 x 3
285 x 4

235 x 3 x 8
225 x 8 (close-grip)

All supet-set with dumbbell rows except first two work-up sets (100 lb in right, 115 in left x 8)

Curls

Done in a hair over an hour. Solid pump and good amount of weight moved. Sparring day after work!!

Monday was crazy. Went out to celebrate a birthday at the club and then my friend and I ended up hiking up a nature reserve until 7am with a friend.

Tried my hand at barbell squatting yesterday and it didn't go as well as I thought it would. The weight was light on my legs but it felt like the bar was going to fall off. Very weird sensation after squatting comfortably for over 15 years. Got up to 365 pretty easily but only got the walk-out with 405, so I switched to the SSB and worked up to 420. Hit 330x3x8 and RDLs for 225x2x12 afterwards. My plan is to temporarily keep SSB squatting for max sets while I transition over to the barbell with everything else.

Went on a jog at night to the high school track and practiced Muay Thai, mixing shadowboxing with kicks. Following a boxing coach on Instagram that's giving me a lot of good boxing drills, such as hooking during a hard directional pivot.

Mat pulls (9)
535 x 1, 5
Bringing these back. Need to be more mindful toward set-up. The first set the bar rolled off the mats after rep 1 due to the ground's slope. The second set it happened after rep 5 but at least I got some reps in.

Did one set of 330x5 box squats before tweaking my lower back on a second set. Called it a day there.

Went to Muay Thai yesterday evening expecting an open gym session so I could hit the bag but my old buddy Daniel was there. Said he was coming back because he works in the area but that he's been going to the UFC gym in Sunnyvale. I want to switch over. It's only $89 a month (vs $140 here) and they have BJJ, kickboxing, MMA, yoga, weights, and more.

We sparred the entire time using 3 minutes rounds with 1 minute rests. My hands are good and he remarked that he wasn't able to get through my defense. My kicks started off just OK, but as time went on they got sloppy again. I can't throw kicks fast while tired even if I can muster energy for everything else. I'm not gassing, we both kept an intense pace throughout the 45 minutes.

Am sick. Eked out a single of 450 on SSB squats few days ago, didn't have 3 in me.

Bench press
225, 255, 270 x 3
225 x 12
Switch to the normal bar over the axle in preparation for a powerlifting meet I have my eye on this April. Accidentally used my third week work up weights for the first two sets, oh well.

Dumbbell press
115(L)/100(R) x 7, 8

All presses super-set with bilateral dumbbell rows (115R, 100L)

Curls, facepulls

New year, new goals. I have my sights set on a powerlifting meet April 14.  I will be shifting over to barbell work from SSB squats and axle pressing. Muay Thai training will continue; I've been able to continue progressing while still engaging in it if I lessen the volume and eat more.Weight class will be 198.

NYE was very fun partying at Death Guild in San Francisco. I prepared well for spending the night at a friend's house by bringing 4 protein shakes and some frozen food from Trader Joe's. However, I left my bag at ANOTHER friend's who left the venue early and when we got back to his house it was locked and he was dead asleep. Went to sleep with no shake, although I had two big slices of pizza at the end of the night and my food was in the freezer for breakfast the next day.