Had a friend over yesterday when I needed to get my mat pull session in. Historically I find that friend workouts can be distracting, but this was really productive. I put earbuds in for the max set, which I'm going to do everytime a guest is with me because it makes all the difference in getting me into my own place and exerting a full effort. Mat pulled 550x6 (1 rest pause) off 3 mats.

My knees have been hurting so I'm taking a break from belt squats. They might not actually be the sole culprit, it could just be parallel squatting in general. I heard about this Instagram dude "kneesovertoesguy" who specializes in exercises for healthy knees and it gave me a reminder to do deep squats for them, so I did 200-220 lb SSB ATG squats after the deads. And I swear this was the first night in awhile that my knee pain didn't flare up. I also felt some achiness on the first few reps of the squats and that went away quick. Had my heels propped up on patio tiles with 10 lb plates underneath while doing so. Going to keep these up, I definitely feel better after doing them.

This entry is going to be a bit scattered because I'm using voice narration to record this at 10:00 p.m. as I eat dinner about an hour and a half before bed and about 30 minutes after I finished an eye-bulging squat session. I saved my training for after work since I only had one job today, but I honestly didn't hustle as much as I should have due to being so busy during my 9 working-hours and honestly feeling kind of chill when I finally clocked out.

Squatted up to 490x1 and then realized I didn't have my belt on. Hey, that's a PR without a belt. Holy shit did it feel different. My waist is really thin now It was my core that was the weakest link. My legs handled the weight fine, experience knee pain today but I figured out the belt squats are really doing that. Going to take a break from them. Going deeper with them would help a lot too, going to figure that out.

Belted up and hit 490x4. Probably had a 5th in me but my back started getting pumped and fatigued so I called it. I'm pretty happy with this. Progressing my squat the way I have while losing weight and going down below 200? Can't complain.

Did the drop-down sets and hit 405x5 while fighting the urge to crumple over, I never used to be able to hit that after a max 5. Couldn't do more than 315x5 though without my back yelling at me so I stopped there and did the usual 225, 135, and 45 x 8. Honestly even 135 was hard on my back. To be clear there's no pain and nothing was tweaked.

Did a bunch of leg curls with the purple band (I think it's the equivalent of an elite FTS monster). Really have no good option but to pop a 10mg edible to calm me down for bedtime. I also take melatonin in cases like this to counter eating carbs before bed which I hear reduce the body's natural production of it. 

Wow, weighed 195 in the morning.

Mat pulls (4)
550 x 6

Belt squats
6 plates x 10
8 plates x 6 (got interrupted by a call from my boss)
9 plates x 10

SSB lunges
150 x 24

Not mindblowing but much better than last week's attempt, I was happy about this. Tried to eke out more reps by rest-pausing and my back just felt too fatigued, I couldn't budge the bar.

Did a lot of stretching and massaging via a massage gun on my back yesterday, it paid off today because it felt good. Do more of that.

  I haven't been posting about every night training session, but yeah, it's been nightly. It's my way of coping with two jobs, I don't even see it as a chore (unlike lifting). I come home and typically hit 3-5 rounds on the bag and then go for a jog while zoning out to music. I actually have to force myself to cut the running short in the interest of making it to bed on time. It's really the music that makes it addicting, I enjoy it more when I'm doing something physical. The only bad part is I like to microdose edibles doing it and that's bad for the wallet, but otherwise it's a good habit and it releases energy accrued during the day. Not to be on a high horse because I have a ton of my own shortcomings, but I don't understand how people can work in offices and not workout. Where does their energy go?

Hit a simple squat workout of 430x3x8 on Monday, which I'm really pleased about. First set felt a little miserable and then the last set felt LIGHT.

Tuesday:

Bench press

235x5

275x5

310x3

245x12 (super-set with dumbbell rows of 115x9)

* Ugh, that's some bad regression. Had a "wtf" moment when I felt how heavy 275 was. Should be noted that my traps and real delts are sore from farmers' walks I did the day before yesterday. Not going to chalk it up to that but it's something to note. 

* Attempted first set last but miscounted like a meathead and had it 10 lbs heavier.

Decline bench press

245 x 8, 8

-

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115s x 9, 9

Didn't record the rest due to work and moving so fast between sets.

Hit 205x3 in the axle press yesterday. Moved at a really good clip for the rest of the session and finished in a little over an hour. Going to aim to do that more.

Felt lousy waking up today. Kept waking up in my sleep and had stomach issues. Thought about skipping my fasted workout, which usually prompts me to do it even more.

5 minutes at level 4 on the exercise bike

40 burpees

5 minutes shadow kickboxing

1 minute of hook duck hook drill

2 minutes at level 5 burning out on the exercise bike

Unfortunately I forgot the time that I started so I don't have a precise runtime. Somewhere around 15 minutes.

Seriously surprised at how easy burpees become just from doing them. Used to feel tired at 20. 

The hook drill is something I got from Instagram. It's real simple, left hook, duck, right hook, repeat nonstop. I think I explained it before in a post recently now that I remember. But yeah, really liking Instagram for boxing tips. 

Feeling way better after working out and getting breakfast (2 eggs, some cartoned egg whites, smoked salmon, strawberries, two mini Kodiak protein pancakes drizzled with maple syrup, a latte, and about half a scoop of whey protein). 

 Yesterday was a bit of a mess. Woke up at 6:40 and got ready to train, but due to workload and phone meetings I didn't actually get to even pulling 315 until 2pm. Ate a big breakfast that got wasted as I got caught up in work tasks. Tried to keep the fullness extended by munching on bananas, some Girl Scout cookies, and taking some protein, but I really needed to table plans and just eat a full meal because I was hungry by the time I got to lift anything. Felt unfocused, too. Got up to 550x3 and then another 3 reps mat pulling off 4 mats. 

Went to my second job at this point and then realized my back was tweaked on my left side and was progressively feeling worse. Didn't get too bad luckily, just some pain when bending. Came home from job 2 and banged out 405x10 with no warm-up (TNG) and then did belt squats and SSB lunges (150 x 20). Definitely a punch-the-clock evening.

Now that I'm physically in the office, where I'm primed to sit down and focus on work, my work load is light and I have a ton of down time. Oh well, things being inconvenient make the gains better.

Finished off yesterday after work with 3 hard rounds on the heavy bag followed by a run. Was planning on not taking any edibles this whole week but found out I have to work in-person at both jobs so I took 13 mg (which is quite a bit for me, I rarely go above 7) to ensure I fell asleep early. I did, but got woken up by a really cute mourning dove cooing outside my window. Got about 7.5 hours and feeling good.

I've really upped my coffee game lately. Got rid of my old Mr. Coffee machine, partially out of concern about drinking hot coffee filtered through plastic every day, and am using a ceramic pour-over method with freshly ground beans and filtered water. I do taste a difference, but it's not major. It also takes a little longer but it's still very easy to make. Worthy trade-off for going plastic-free.

A few hours later at my leg is fine. Practiced some hard shadowboxing in the yard. Instagram has been a boon for getting drill and combo ideas in a quick format. YouTube tutorials are great but they're a little more involved with lengthy intros and the commentary. I like Instagram because I can see a 5 second tutorial clip and instantly get it. This was simply throwing a left hook, ducking, right, repeat.

Had my fasted workout interrupted by some crazy thigh pain. Wasn't sure if I pulled something or if it was just awakening DOMS from those SSB squats, but I stopped at rep 13 of burpees out of concern. At this point I had done 8 minutes of the exercise bike and burpees. Took a break here to walk around and do some chores like water my plants, assessing my leg. Went back to about 5 more combined minutes of the exercise bike and light shadow kickboxing. It just feels like really bad soreness but some injuries start off that way except the soreness never goes away, so I'll be taking it easy on my legs today. Planning on hitting the heavy bag later.

SSB squats
410 x 5, 5
415 x 5
Last set done with a set of 15-rep hise shrugs at the end.

Banded SSB good mornings
110 x 12, 12

I'm liking these 2-week breaks ("breaks") using the SSB bar. The load isn't that heavy but it feels like a different kind of hell with the nature of the bar. It's not something I want to run for long in any consecutive manner since my straight bar sessions are so much higher and I don't want that to regress if I can help it.

Did 4 hill sprints last night and a jog.

Axle press
Up to 195 x 5
* Was curious to see how this would fare after the log training. It...was the same. 

Band-resisted axle press
140 x 8, 7
-
Super-set with chin-ups
10, 14

Got a work call from my boss here and had a 20-30 min phone meeting.

Band-resisted incline axle bench
180 x 9
190 x 8
-
Super-set with weighted chin-ups
50 x 10
50 x 8 and then bodyweight chins x 5

Chest flyes, curls

Crazy busy day again. Got asked to come in-person tomorrow, thankfully I'm off from my old job then and won't have to work 12 hours.