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