Axle strict press
160 x 5
182 x 5
207 x 3, 4
-
Last 3 sets super-set with Iron Woody band pulldowns
* Felt like a ton of bricks today, glad I got 4 at least because grinding out 3 on the first attempt made me feel pissed off. 

Some quick backstory. For the past few months I've been having temporary but near-daily nausea issues, most severe in the morning, coupled with a more-frequent-than-usual need to piss. Monday it was REALLY bad. Might have been compounded from a seafood restaurant I ate at on Sunday while at the beach (we social distanced). It was a struggle Monday to eat anything, although I made a weightgainer and got an OK amount of calories and protein in. Definitely not enough to grow off of but no less an amount than when I maintain or cut weight. Anyway, it might have been too optimistic to expect a heroic press attempt after feeling like crap, so I'm happy I did what I did here.

Absolutely killed it on the accessory work though. After my usual incline bench and decline dumbbell press I just attacked what I had in my living room. I was going to stop like normal, thought I looked too small in the mirror, and then kept adding "1 more set" of randomness: push-ups, partial push-ups, kettlebell preacher curls, overhead tricep extensions, band pullaparts. Had a crazy pump afterwards and I ended the workout at 10:30PM.

Had a good mat pull session Tuesday, took long enough. My back has been feeling really good lately and I was able to pull with reckless abandon. That's 100% the issue. Hit 570x6 fairly easily.

On Wednesday I did a deload press workout. Shoulders are feeling fried lately. Straight-bar squatting twice in one week after my injury made them feel worse.

Strict pressed 225x2 yesterday. Getting close to my old numbers now. 225x3 was a milestone way back in the day (2009) and then 225x5 was the next accomplishment that had me going hell yeah. Both were at much heavier bodyweights. I don't want to exceed 220 because I have to make 198 again by November for my meet.

Been feeling nauseous in the morning for several months now. Can't remember if it coincides with the caloric increase. Maybe it's the creatine? Batch I have is a few years old. 

Mat pulls (5)
565 x 0, 2
* VERY gun-shy, couldn't break the bar at first but on a second attempt it was pretty easy. Shut it down based on how my back felt on the second rep. This cycle was kind of screwy because I decided to switch to TNG, which I'd never really done before, in the middle of it which was a mistake. I'm going to add matts back until I have a good day and then go back down. All things considered though it did feel good to do a heavy pull again.

TNG deadlifts
405 x 5
* Didn't happen as extremely as last time but lately when I do these my left hand and arm clenches up and I can't undo the claw shape for several seconds to a minute. This is with straps mind you. Doesn't happen on the mat pulls. The veins in my forearm also look different and then the normal ones return when my hand goes back to normal. Since the reps were only 5 it happened for about two or three seconds this time.

SSB lunges
150 x 14
170 x 16, 16
Super-set with SSB good mornings
150 x 7
170 x 8

Whoa, weighed 210 this morning. More than I thought.

Benched 335x3 on Saturday. Decline bench press and light incline dumbbell press were the follow-up exercises. Really pounding my chest during this period of growth. I have OCD over the inner area looking less developed to me than the outer chest, although it's not a big deal. 

Lifts are all going up except my deadlift. That's a matter of keeping my back feeling good outside the gym and mental hang-ups. Plenty of time before November meet to sort it out. The strength is there. =

Did 3 hill sprints yesterday followed by a 10 minute jog. Definitely noticing running is harder with the weight gain.

Took a break from drinking this week and just stayed in all weekend, was nice.

Squats
370x3
425x3
475x3
Drop-down to 405x5, 315x1
* Back is good again obviously, was able to crush this. Did shut-down the planned drop-down sets unfortunately, hopefully I can get them next week.

SSB squats (drop-down sets)
330x8
240 x 10
150x10
65x10
* Was a little leery about SSB but I kept my back up and it was fine.

Band leg curls

Did some stretching last night and practiced some shadowkickboxing. Went on a walk afterwards for about 30 minutes.

Been maintaining my flexibility for Muay Thai during this downtime but I want to do more. Keep up stretching everyday.

Noticed the extra weight gain when doing rapid kicks. Currently hovering at around 205. Going to have to pick it up if I want to get past this. Already getting bored with eating as much as I am. I'm thinking I'll start cutting in late August to make weight for my November comp (assuming it doesn't get canceled, which it very well might).

Was able to squat 425x2 yesterday, shut it down there out of safety. Back still hurts but is getting better. 

Axle strict pressed 215x3 today. New favorite chest exercise: decline dumbbell press. Paired this with incline benching.

Work is really rough right now. Looking to jump ship soon, applying to lots of places.

Wasn't sure if I'd be able to bench effectively but I was able to crush 315x5. Back hurts a little getting into position on the bench but it was mostly fine. Extremely happy with this. Did decline bench with 225 afterwards.

Was able to do kettlebell squats yesterday. Held the 50 and did sets of 50, 40, and 30. Really long rest times between sets mind you, I was doing other things around the house at night. Went on a short jog afterwards.

Back pain more or less feels the same but I'm more mobile today. Don't know if it's physical or mental. Can't really load anything with my back so I did a calisthenics workout. Push ups and chin-ups or pull-ups as a superset. try to do it without any rest times but that wasn't happening. Left number is push-ups and right number is chin-ups or pull-ups.

50 20
10 10
Here I had to take a rest. Just glad I got 50 push-ups there, which I wanted no matter what.
10 8
10 5
10 7
10 5

finish off with 10 wide grip pull-ups on their own since push-ups were so much higher a number.

Came up with a goal midway through to get 100 push-ups. I know that ain't exactly championship training but I have always been horrible at push-ups. My triceps just feel like collapsing after rep 30. Always just considered it a fast twitch handicap but that's all the more reason to train something. Thanks injury. Also I'm pretty sure I can gut out 50 push-ups anytime now whereas in my teens and early twenties it was considered a remarkable day to hit that amount.

Thought about calling off of work but I'm going to go anyways.