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.