Woke-up 5 minutes before my alarm and got in a morning shadow kickboxing session randomly broken-up with 10 burpees. Nothing was timed, just turned on the music and flowed. Was freezing when I got out of bed and had to take my sweater off by the time I was done.

Submitted a request to be placed on the adult waiting list for a local boxing gym. I've had my eye on this spot since 2007. If I don't hear anything soon I'll sign up for my old Muay Thai gym that's about 5 minutes from my house. It's pricey but the proximity is worth it; I'm saving up for a car to replace the old van I'm driving and I don't want to take my current vehicle further than this if I can help it, especially not on the regular. My first choice would have been American Kickboxing Academy, which has more competition for me (local spot has a lot of suburban family folks going for cardio kickboxing and sparring partners can be hard to come by) and actually $10 cheaper, but that'll be my reward once I get a more reliable vehicle.

Realized my packed lunch was a little light today so I treated myself to a poke bowl with zuchinni spirals instead of rice. Despite the large bowl I was still hungry afterwards so had some of my bison hamburger meat with avocado afterwards.

Getting a little stricter with the diet as I inch further down in weight. Still holding on to my Saturday cheat day but no longer eating carby on Friday night or Sundays. Weighing around 209.

Squats
430 x 8
330 x 18, 10

Leg curls
10 plates x 30

Standing ab wheel
8 reps

Feeling the instability from a smaller waist. Going to increase the amount of ab work I'm doing and will hit some planks today. Overloaded squat walkouts are another idea but I'll have to be wise on programming them in and not overtrain my back.

Block press (equal to 2-board press)

320 x 5

Super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 10

Block press (equal to 1-board press)

275 x 9, 7, 6 - drop-down to 225x5

Super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 10, 10, 10

Keg curls

160 x 20, 10

Super-set with Swiss bar skullcrushers: 65 x 20, 10

Shoulders were sore and in a little pain so nixed my plans to bench press and reduced the ROM by going with block presses. The heavy shrugs on deadlift day are causing that and I'm not recovered enough by the time I train again. Heavy log pressing during the week compounds that. Going to keep the load light with no rests next overhead press day. 

Left off my elbow sleeves for the first time in while. Gives less rebound so things are a little harder this way but I have no reason to wear them all the time anymore with the healed state of my elbows.

Romanian deadlifts

365 x 8, 8, 8

10 shrugs at the end of each set

1:15 plank

Went easy on my back and opted for rep work over heavy singles. It's been feeling good with minimal pain but has been taking more of a beating using the log so I'm being smart about recovery.

Got a new pair of 45 lb bumper plates. Not nearly enough to fill the bar for deadlifts but yes for anything with cleans. And with health insurance for the first time in my adult life I'm keeping an eye out for strongman comps in addition to a powerlifting meet next month.

Got in 40 burpees and 50 jumping-jacks before work yesterday and at night, only about an hour and a half before bed, did one sprint up my usual hill (which I long ago named Heart Attack Hill after a racing track name I thought was awesome in the game Burnout 2 almost two decades ago), followed by a 12 minute jog.

This morning, I put on a shadowboxing video on YouTube and joined in, except adding kicks to make it kickboxing. I actually look forward to this morning ritual as it gets chillier because it makes me warmer in the cold mornings than huddling in bed does.

Log viper press

180 x 7, 5

Clean once and press away: 6

Super-set with chin-ups: 10, 10, 10

Dips

12, 12, 12

Super-set with chin-ups: 10, 10, 10

Behind-the-neck press

50 x 15

Super-set with lat raises: 15s x 15

Dumbbell curls

35s x 10

Squats

410 x 10

320 x 20

Leg extensions

10 plates x 25

Super-set with leg curls

10 plates x 25

Did this after a barhopping Saturday of Halloween-themed spots in San Francisco. Had plenty of Orgain protein shakes with me. Dinner was sushi.

Sumo deadlifts

405 x 1

505 x 1

525 x 1 + 10 shrugs

RDLs

315 x 10, 10 + 10 shrugs each set

Second week deadlifting without any pain. So far so good.

Block press

315 x 1

365 x 1

385 x 0

315 x 6 (PR), 4+1, 5

Last set drop-down to 275x5, 225x6 bench press 

Dumbbell rows

125 x 12, 12, 15

 

Came so close to lockout but failed the 385 so went for a rep PR on 315. Had the bar right near the pins and I fought with it for a good 10-15 seconds, no exaggeration. Really happy with how light 315 feels in my hands afterwards.

Deadlifts

Up to 500 x 1 + 10 shrugs

405 x 3 + 10 shrugs 

Kettlebell squats

50 lbs x 70

My back held up and I left with no pain, which is a win.

Axle clean once and press: 110 lbs x 5

Chin-ups: 5

11 rounds in 8: 48

Faster time and 1 more round than last session.

Dips

15

75 x 9

50 x 9

Super-set with chin-ups: 3 x 10

Loving the juxtaposition between this light, low rest day (only on the dips - next time I should do some band pull-aparts for no rest times period) and the weekend bone-crushing. 

Squats

320 x 17, 15, 15

Leg curls

10 plates x 30, 30

Kettlebell RDLs immediate after:

50s x 20

First real squat session in weeks. Probably going to be sore as hell tomorrow as a result. Back held up and has been feeling good as long as I spend the majority of my sleep on my back. 

Ended things here to make an appointment I had at the local park for a pedal boat ride across the lake. Had a weightgainer shake and then an Italian sub from a local sandwich shot that was on the way to the park before setting sale for the high seas.

Came back home, was still full as hell, and finish this at about 9:00 p.m.

Incline bench press

135 x 10

185 x 10

195 x 9, 7

155 x 6

135 x 7, 8, 12

High pulls

110 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Dumbbell rows

125s x 12, 12, 12

Keg curls

160 x 15, 12, 15

Block press

315 x 2

365 x 1

390 x 1

395 x 1

Bench press

290 x 7

275 x 8

Super-set with dumbbell rows: 125s x 10, 12

Going to do more accessory and bodybuilding work later but I'm elated to have hit this while losing weight. Been employing a tactic to start carbing up Friday evening and then having a massive cheat day all throughout Saturday lately. Surround the power workouts of the weekend with a ton of food and then bring it back down for weight loss during the week. It's been creating very steady, incremental weight loss changes while still letting me make progress so far.

Axle clean once and press: 110 lbs x 5

Chin-ups: 5

10 rounds in 10:30

Dips

10

50 lbs x 2 x 10

Super-set with chin-ups x 3 x 10

Band pull-aparts

3 x 20

Swiss bar tricep extensions x 20

Also, yesterday I was able to squat 315 up to 11 reps before I reracked it due to my back. Surprisingly though, I didn't wake up to any pain which usually happens if I feel anything the day before like that. I count that as a win. Going to hit squats again tomorrow or Thursday depending on how my body feels.