Bench press

365 x 1

315 x 4

285 x 8

Dumbbell rows

125 x 12, 20

Wanted a short but heavy power workout without much bodybuilding to maximize recovery in light of late night New Year's festivities I'm anticipating. 365 felt lighter than expected and 285x8 was a very nice improvement. Still gunning for 315x5 after my max set.

Going to San Francisco with friends tonight. Bringing lots of food and protein. Happy New Year everyone.

Axle strict press

200 x 3

165 x 10, 8 8

Super-set with chin-ups: 12, 12, 12, 20

50 push-ups

100 Poundstone curls with 40 lb axle

Had a great Xmas Eve and Xmas. Also ate big. Had Chinese food for dinner after that bench workout, went to George's for drinks and movies, and then relaxed the next day before going on a Christmas night hike on a trail that was within walking distance from my place. Ended the night making enough bison burgers on my Foreman grill for dinner and also lunch the next day at work.

My quads have been getting painful again, which historically happens when I up my squat frequency. In this case, I think it's from doing burpees every morning and landing deep in a squat position. Couple that with how heavy I weigh and it's the most obvious explanation. I'll take it a little easier this week on the burpees; I'm thinking just one or two mornings rather than everyday.

Bench press

350 x 2 (PR)

315 x 4

275 x 8

First 2 super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 2 x 12

Last super-set with bent-over axle rows: 220 x 10

Swiss bar bench press

245 x 8, 8, 8 -> drop-down to close-grip bench of 135 x 10

Super-set with bent-over axle rows: 220 x 2 x 10 and 200 x 12

Kept having out-of-body experiences on the heaviest bench sets, almost like blacking out but being conscious enough to do the set. Felt so light and floaty that I can't believe I was putting out the force to PR 350 for a double. I find that happens if I'm a little hungry, have had caffeine, and hold my breath during exertion.

Going out for a Christmas Eve Chinese food dinner and then meeting friends for festivities after.

Last night:

Axle press

110 x 18, 12, 12, 11

Super-set with chin-ups: 17, 12, 15, 15

Swiss bar skullcrushers
45 x 30

Dumbbell curls
50s x 10
Alternating: 35s x 20

This morning: 30 burpees before work

Hit 50 consecutive burpees yesterday morning, which is a PR for "real" burpees. Because I first started doing burpees in Muay Thai and was performing them the way I learned, I'd been doing them without the push-up up until recently.

Went out in the evening and did 70 reverse-hyper leg curls with 5 plates each side for 70 reps, another PR, followed by 70 kettlebell swings with a 50lb bell, ending with a 40-second dead hang, a third PR. Biceps were actually pretty pumped just from holding onto the reverse-hyper handles during the leg curls.

Was short on time this morning so hit 51 push-ups instead of burpees.

Bench press
340 x 2
285 x 7
275 x 8
Super-set with seated reverse-hyper rows: 5 plates x 12, 12, 12

Swiss bar bench press
245 x 8, 9, 7 -> dropdown to close-grip 185x5, 135x8
1st was super-set with more RH rows x 15, last 2 super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 12, 12

340x2 felt surprisingly light. Likely had another rep in me. It's good days like this that keep me eating a lot and flirting with "permabulker" territory, but as Mark Bell says, strength is never a weakness.

Axle press
190 x 5
160 x 3 x 8
Super-set with chin-ups: 12, 12, 12, 15

20 dips

100 Poundstone curls with 40 lb axle

Did 10 kettlebell ABCs the day before yesterday and my back was hurting after. Thankfully it did not worsen the next day. Originally planned to incline bench but after training for a powerlifting meet, I'm getting bored of bench pressing. I still look forward to my heavy Saturdays but I had a strong itch to press overhead while also not worsening my back. I was able to make it work by wearing my belt on every set, including all work-up sets, and just being extra mindful to squeeze my abs and my glutes. If anything, this is good practice for doing those cues all the time. The gift of injury.

Came home yesterday after work and hit 10 ABCs with 50lb kettlebells in 4 minutes. Back did not like this and it started to hurt more and more as time passed afterwards. Went on a 22 minute run at night.

Back is a bit better today. It was wise to only do 10. 

Hit 50 push-ups in the morning before work.

Last night:

Reverse-hyper machine
180 x 3 x 20

50 reverse-hyper leg curls with 5 plates
Super-set with 60 kettlebell swings with 50 lb kettlebell

Uncounted number of weighted decline crunches with 15 lb kettlebell

Dumbbell curls

50 lb dumbbells x 3 x 12

#1 Captains of Crush gripper: 30 each side

40 burpees this morning before work. I've been wanting to bring back kettlebell ABCs in the morning, too. Thinking I'll hit those tomorrow. Had trouble squatting into and out of burpees at first because I smashed my knee into my squat stands last night, instantly disassociated myself from the intense pain and forgot about it, and then felt confused later that night why my leg was hurting so badly before remembering what happened. I'd forgotten why I was limping, too, since that's not uncommon around lower-body training, but this afternoon it's better. 

I welcome accidentally smashing my shins and knees into household objects and believe everyone interested in Muay Thai should pick furniture with the pointiest edges in as hostile an arrangement as possible when picking the layout of their home. It's something I never see on interior design shows surprisingly, although that could be because I've never watched an interior design show.

Squats

410 x 11
320 x 20, 10 (last set narrow-stance)

Between squat sets:

Lateral raises: 15lb kbs x 3 x 20
Band pull-aparts: 3 x 20

Left hip is mad at me and back has been hurting ever since the last overhead press workout. Maybe cleaning the weight is to blame? However, a previous week I pressed overhead from the rack and my back hurt the next day as well. If it's just the act of stabilizing the weight overhead that's the culprit, I could do weighted overhead carries to train my posture combined with some ab work to address that weakness and then monitor how I fare the next day. Turkish get-ups could be useful here, too.

Anyway, squatting 410 without a belt felt dicey on my back although it VERY easily could have been psychosomatic and I was just mentally waiting for something to hurt. Instead of going into the 500s like I planned, I opted to not go above 410.

Fairly certain 410x11 is a PR but these numbers aren't crazy for me or anything, yet I had to lie down afterwards from feeling like death. Been doing less cardio while getting heavier and it shows. Haven't neglected that completely; I've been jogging roughly twice a week, shadowboxing almost every night I don't lift, and have been doing 20-40 burpees on some morning before work, but those are all fairly non-intense activities versus death-defying conditioning workouts. Very often I'll come home from work, eat a big dinner, and then simply be too full for several hours to do any crazy conditioning before bedtime. It's a calculated and temporary choice, but if I wake-up just 15 minutes earlier I could get a lot done on that front.

I have a fridge full of goodness from Costco and Trader Joe's and plan to finish all that up and then probably start ramping things down for gradual weight loss, although I'm not on a strict timeframe about it.

Went to see Godzilla Minus One once I managed to get up onto my feed and eat some leftovers after the nausea subsided. The movie kicked ass. A little too sentimental too many times (almost every human scene) but I'm always in the minority on that; I'm just particularly sensitive to a movie browbeating me to be sad versus organically feeling it. It was also the coldest theater I've ever been to and they were selling blankets at the confection stand for $20, laughably. They couldn't break this Canadian, though.

Before and after going to see that, I rewatched Army of Darkness broken up into two viewings, which somehow gets better everytime I see it. Hail to the king, baby.

Bench press

315 x 4

Swiss bar bench press

235 x 11, 10, 10, 9, 8

Super-set with bent-over axle rows

200 x 5 x 10

Pec-delt tie-ins are feeling better.

Went to a work dinner party last night and ate a bomb steak dinner. While everyone else finished eating and were working on drinks, I laboriously kept at it until I finished the whole thing. 

Axle press: 130 x 5

Chin-ups: 5

10 rounds in 11:25

Dips

20, 20

Super-set with chin-ups x 15, 10

Behind-the-neck press

50 x 20

Band pull-aparts

20

Lateral raises

15lb kbs x 12

30 second chin-up 

Minimal rest times, just barely enough to muster the energy to go on. Sore all over from the crazy weekend training. Even lifting 130 overhead felt heavy.

Last night:

Reverse hyper leg curls

5 plates x 50, 40

50 Kettlebell swings with 50lbs

Hanging leg raises

15, 15

Dead hangs

15 secs, 15 secs

Jackknives

15, 15

Also forgot to mention: that night where I did 150 curls and 150 skullcrushers, I also busted out my old Captains of Crush grippers and mindlessly squeezed the Trainer (misplaced the #1 somewhere) for around 8 minutes while I watched TV and did a few partial reps with the #2. Blew up my forearms.

Should also document what I'm doing with the way I'm eating. I had it in my mind to go back down in weight after my meet - well, that didn't happen. I'd had my break from laboriously eating so much and I felt fresh, so I've been taking advantage of the holidays and eating to grow a little again. I think I'll be done living like this right after Christmas, but it's really up to whatever I feel like. I have my first doctor's appointment as an adult in January so it'll be interesting to see what my health markers are with this obscene diet.

I used to make a point to cut weight in winter and gain weight in summer as a personal form of social defiance. In 2005, the rep at GNC asked if I'm cutting weight "to get that beach bod" which started it all because I was an edgelord back then - scratch that, because I AM an edgelord - and I thought that question was lame as hell. But it's just way more manageable to eat this much when it's cold out. This past summer, all that laborious digesting on top of the extra bodyweight had me constantly sweating bullets in the office; conversely, it feels really good to be eating big and indulging in holiday traditions and foods when my weight goals align and the weather is cold. 

Squats

460 x 6
Drop-down to 

405x5

320x10

225x12

135x12

50x12

Starting from 225, my stance was narrow. This was at night with work the next day so with limited time I basically made the workout all one awful drop-set.

Interesting doing this after training with 20-rep squats. My drop-down reps are higher than they used to be when running this approach. My squat strength at that time was roughly equal, with a tested training max of 540, but my ability to crank out reps is better now.

Block press (equivalent to 2 board press)

315 x 2

345 x 3, 3, 3

Single board press

300 x 6

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115 x 10

* Pec-delt tie ins felt a little painful when benching, probably from a combo of heavy benching leading up to the meet and following that with heavy dumbbell presses. Wasn't so bad that I couldn't push through it but opted for reducing the ROM so it doesn't get worse. That's fine with me, block pressing has been good for my bench press.

Swiss bar bench press

235 x 10, 9, 9

Super-set with dumbbell rows

125 x 10, 10, 12

Came back at night and hit some arm work to take advantage of the fact that I'm eating a lot of food:

40 Swiss bar skullcrushers with the 45 lb bar

100 Poundstone curls with 40 lb axle

40 Swiss bar skullcrushers with 45 lb bar

30 curls with 40 lb axle

30 Swiss bar skullcrushers