Sumo deadlifts

545 x 1, 3

Dumbbell RDLs

125s x 20

First set felt heavy, but I got dialed in and really emphasized channeling power through my legs and got a stupidly easy triple. No missed reps either, which is important to me on the deadlift as I have a history of doing that with deads and regressing. I walked away from the set after that single to regroup.

It was raining heavy again and there was a lot of mud. Third deadlift session in a row it's been like that, and deadlifts are the worst lift for rain because I don't do them under the balcony. Bring it.

During my daily lunch break walk yesterday, I went down the route that has the pull-up bars and I did 21 reps before heading back to the office.

Got to work with a tall partner in boxing, which I want to do more of. Simple drills of parrying the jab and countering with our own, or throwing 1-2s and blocking the 2 that's going to the body. Switched partners and did the shoulder tag sparring. I paired with an older guy whom I've gotten to know a little and have a good rapport with. We were REALLY moving and getting into it and we cracked some smiles because it was obvious we were working harder than some of the other trainees around us. He was out of breath by the end but I appreciate that this guy works hard during drills; he masks his fatigue well while partnered up.

Upon getting home, I hit the weights AGAIN. I was annoyed I only got 5 reps of skullcrushers with the 50 lb dumbbells that morning while fasted, so after warming-up with 20 burpees I tried again and got 9 skullcrusher reps, but this time with a flat bench, not an incline. Also did more band pressdowns and 3 sets of curls.

Went on a 30 minute jog Monday night. Right ankle has been bugging me and culminated in it being painful to walk before I went to bed, but it was better after a night's sleep. Skipped any morning workout to be safe so I could make it to boxing.

I managed to make it to boxing after going to the store once I got off work to get my dad his favorite ice cream for his birthday and dropping it off. Worked with partners for most of the session. One person would stay behind the bag and tag with foam noddles while the other would evade and move in to throw combos. I don't think much of working with noodles. It's too easy to tag someone with basically no consequences. My partner was a small teenager and he commented he was getting beat-up by the bag when I was punching it, but luckily I switched partners when we moved on to donning the body armor and had our partner evade and throw combos before switching. Ended class with push-ups.

Went to bed early again that night and managed to get in a no-rest fasted workout in the morning before work:

20 burpees

15 thrusters with 50 lb kettlebells

5 dumbbell skullcrushers with 50 lb dumbbells

8 skull crushers with 35 lb dumbbells with Fat Gripz

12 heavy band tricep pressdowns

40 minute dead hang

30 band pull-aparts

Saturday:

Squats
460 x 5 + drop-down to 410x4, 320x8, 225x8, 135x8, and goblet squats with 50 lb kb x 10

20 single-leg curls with 3 plates

Mostly rested Sunday. Just got in some walking and sunlight from doing errands and ate a lot of food. Considered Sunday my cheat day and had an exceptionally greasy pizza slice and half a giant chocolate chip cookie from the Costco food court. Upon coming home, I spontaneously decided to do a set of 20 curls with the 35s + Fat Gripz, then dropped-down to 15 lb kettlebells x 35. Just felt like putting this carb bloat to use and really feel a pump.

Today before work: 20 burpees, 50 total band pull-aparts

Forgot my bone broth mug with the 4 eggs at home, but I have bone broth, eggs, and egg whites in the office fridge. Just lacking the seasoning and big mug size.

Bench press

315 x 1

335 x 1

350 x 1

315 x 4

275 x 7

250 x 8

225 x 9, 7

Dumbbell rows 

115s x 10, 10, 10, 10

350 flew up. I was shocked at how light it felt compared to how heavy working up was. Performance boost was notable due to boxing on Tuesday and Wednesday instead of Wednesday and Friday, giving my shoulders more rest. Enjoying it while I can because I definitely want to box on Fridays more. 

Ran 3 hill sprints last night followed by a 15-min jog. 

My breakfast lately has been 4 eggs in bone broth with some egg whites added in along with lime or lemon juice, hot sauce, and citrus garlic seasoning. What started off as drinking just the broth when I had COVID last year turned into "Hey, I should add egg whites for more protein", then "Why not add a whole egg as well?" to 2, 3, and now 4 eggs. 

Also, I finally found out what's been making me so nauseous every morning: the extra-strength fish oil capsule taken before bed. Now I'm thinking maybe morning nausea wasn't just part of the game when I was bulking, it was this all along (I generally feel perpetually not great when going above 220 lbs so I was just sucking it up without attempting to diagnose anything). I've also been taking fish oil before bed for 20 years and don't recall this being a thingwith me. Going to cautiously reintroduce it back into my diet early in the day and use the lesser strength krill oil caps I have if I take anything at night. I'll make Flameout my next fish oil purchase too. 

Glad it's Friday. I scheduled 2 boxing sessions in the middle of the week in anticipation of going out for a crawfish and seafood dinner with coworkers, but they canceled. Fine by me - I'm going to bench this evening!

Went to bed early on Tuesday and woke-up early enough yesterday to get a quick, no-rest workout in after waking up: 15 kettlebell thrusters with the 50s, 8 skullcrushers with the 50 lb dumbbells, and 20 alt dumbbell curls with the 50s.

"Breakfast" before training was a miniature hummus cup, a small cup of coffee with organic half-and-half, and a few sips of an Orgain grass-fed protein shake. Light enough that I could go right into training. Hummus is my hack for quick fuel before training or at competitions; it's so easy to get down, being basically protein and complex carb pudding.

Boxing last night after work was fun. Took turns with a partner catching combos with our gloves and then throwing our own, then finished on the heavy bag.

By the time boxing was supposed to start yesterday nothing was happening, the coach who I had just greeted wasn't around, and there was nobody else in the room except for two guys working the bags, so I put my phone timer on and started skipping rope by myself. 3 minutes later as I'm finishing the round, everyone comes filtering in and the coach instructs everyone to start skipping rope. That pissed me off, but I got over it and took advantage of having to skip rope for a 6-minute round instead of 3. It's just that this was the coach and room (secondary space from the main gym) that I had my first boring, low energy class with, although I've come to find that I enjoy this day when adjacent to other crazy conditioning-intensive sessions during the week.

Did the same fun but odd "sparring" where we have to tap our partner's shoulders or knees. I'm not sure why it's the knees and not the torso.

Did a bunch of conditioning after that, including medicine ball slams and burpees, but also some footwork drills using the rope ladders.

Ended with hard rounds on the bag. This class is always small, probably because it's not in the main room, so out of the 4 other young, skinny guys, my heavy bag work was standing out in terms of noise and making the canvas move. Saw some stuffing fly out, too. Not proud to compare myself to much weight classes but it was impossible to ignore.

Had a nice conversation with the coach after class. He's a young guy who did kickboxing before and had to stop competing due to a surgery, but wants to get back into competing while juggling a tough schedule of classes and working at the gym. I told him a little of my own story, being much olderthan him but wanting to fulfill a dream of fighting before I cross into my 40s. We bro-fisted and gave each other encouragement.

More storm lifting on Sunday, although winds weren't as insane as last time:

Deadlifts
525 x 3

Dumbbell RDLs
125s x 12, 12

Wide pull-ups
20, 10

Carter curls
35s with Fat Gripz x 10 

Super-set with 15 kettlebell curls with the 15 pounders

Went on a night jog last night.

Looking forward to boxing today and tomorrow. It sucks how I'm out of the house for 12 hours at a time and basically have to come home and immediately prepare for work next day, but I've made my choices. Stepping out of boxing feels soul refreshing and I would rather do it than have relaxation time at home.

1-board press

315 x 3 x 4

275 x 7 (Close-grip)

12 heavy band-resisted bench push-ups

Had a pretty wild night out with coworkers last night. Had the whole bar singing happy birthday. Because I'm me, ordered steak steak tartare and a charcuterie board with quail eggs. Also had Orgain protein shakes with me and drank a ton of water. They want to do it again next Friday, which I'm turning down to live clean again and go to boxing that night. 

Last night after work:

Squats
320 x 20

Press
185 x 4
165 x 6
150 x 8
135 x 10
Super-set with pull-ups x 4 x 12 and last pull-up set with 50 lb dumbbell x 8, then 2 bodyweight finisher reps

22 dips

Preacher curls with Fat Gripz: 35s x 10

Single-leg curls: 3 plates x 15

10 kettlebell high pulls: 50s x 10

It's my birthday today, turning 37. Co-workers got me a card with this inside:

Went to boxing on Tuesday and had a better time with that coach than my first time. More energy and engagement with the athletes. And while I'm no longer a snotty lifter who's against calisthenics and conditioning, I do appreciate that this is one day of the week that's all about technique and basically no general exercising. Did restricted sparring with partners where we could only tag each other's shoulders and knees. 

Did 5 minutes of shadowboxing the past 2 mornings before work. Contending with morning nausea lately. Going to try to eat farther away from bedtime.

Also weighed 213.6 yesterday, a 2 lb loss.

This week is trying to be very busy event-wise. To name just 2 out of several, a co-worker invited us all out to tacos on Tuesday and another co-worker suggested we go out on Friday because my birthday is close in date to another employee's. Sacrifices have to be made in the interest of selfishness so I cancelled Taco Tuesday to go to boxing at least once this week. There are just too many people asking for my time this week and I needed to rebalance.

Sunday:

Squat walkout: 500 lbs x 10 seconds

Squats
430 x 8
320 x 19

20 kettlebell pull-overs with 25 lbs

Dumbbell RDLs
125s x 8

Back has been hurting since Friday, possibly from forced reps during ab training in boxing class after going to failure. Woke up thinking I'd have to do belt squats so this was a win.

Block press (equal to 2-board press)

350 x 3

Bench press

315 x 3

Block press

315 x 5

Close-grip bench press

285 x 5

275 x 6

245 x 7 

225 x 10

Kroc rows

125 x 30

Dumbbell skullcrushers

50s x 7

Alt dumbbell curls

50 x 16, drop-down to 15 kettlebell hammer curls with 15 lbs 

We went HARD in boxing yesterday, going to failure repeatedly on push-ups throughout class mixed in with max power heavybag rounds. My shoulders felt like they were replaced with kitten muscles right at the point that I reached 315 while working-up. Damn happy I could move 350 for 3. I'm so beat I would have been happy with 1, and 315x3 is exactly what I was going for afterwards.

I will soon give myself a day or two of rest before bench day (it can't be healthy on the shoulders to keep doing this, I can feel it), but for now I'm enjoying/hating pushing my limits and training under fatigue.

Got a new pair of Hayabusa boxing shoes and they feel like cheating compared to my floppy, no-grip Chinese sneakers I'd been using. There's a good chance the new shoes were made in China too, but I literally mean I have a pair of Chinese-brand sneakers called Xidiso for everyday use. They look cyberpunk and cool, but have a very light structure to them and are practically like a sock. Be curious to see if the Hayabusas help reduce the minor quad and calf cramps that I sometimes get at the end of class when pushing off the back foot.

Got in a light, low-rest workout last night.

Kettlebell thrusters: 50s x 5
Chin-ups: 5

6 rounds

20 dips

20 goblet squats x 50 lbs

50-second chin-up

Reverse-hyper
2 plates x 2 x 10

Came home from work on Tuesday and right away did 5 minutes of skipping rope and some shadowboxing. Went out for a jog that night. Also weighed 215 Tuesday morning, down 5 lbs since 1/19.

Boxing yesterday was a rejuvenating session. I'd been having a bad mood day and after making myself go, found out 5 minutes before class in the parking lot I didn't have my gloves in my bag. The thought crossed my mind to cancel but I knew it'd be ridiculous to not go inside, so I did, looked for my gloves, and found them in a cubby because I'd forgot them on Friday. Instantly felt better as soon as we started rope skipping, although once again the instructor had to give me his personal rope after all the remaining class ropes were far too short. Going to bring in my own from now on.

Focused on the clinch today, which is easy but as a formality is a new lesson for me in boxing. Different from the Muay Thai clinch I've learned where the hands clutch around the neck to bring the head down. First practiced on the heavy bag, but because class sizes are too big for the amount of space we have (people hit each others' ropes when jump-roping all the time), there weren't enough bags to go around so I shared. Next after partnering up, one boxer would strike, clinch, and turn the defender around. I partnered with a smaller guy but he was very game, threw his combos hard, and moved fast with me. I'm pretty sure we ignored a break at some point, too. I was tired by the end and left shoulder was feeling sore from throwing so many hard jabs, but not gassed.

Woke-up before my alarm this morning and did 5 minutes of skipping rope, 20 burpees, and 10 rapid Muay Thai kicks each side.

Lifted outside Sunday during the worst of a bad storm. There was a weather advisory to not drive, but they didn't mention anything about deadlifts.

Sumo deadlifts
505 x 3

Romanian deadlifts:
365 x 2 x 8

SSB squats
240 x 2 x 8
Notes: Left hip is pissy at me.

Kroc rows
125 x 25

Dumbbell curls: 35s x 10

Supet-set with kettlebell hammer curls: 15s x 15

I've lifted in the rain before but the wind speed was a new challenge. It meant that there was no dry spot, even under the balcony. Definitely the stormiest I've ever lifted in. 

Had a vet appointment for my panther right after this and while I was gone the power went out. Luckily, it came back on about 4 hours later.

Got in a 3-min round of rope skipping and another 3 min of shadowboxing this morning before work.

Block press (equivalent to 2-board press)

345 x 3 

315 x 5

Bench press

285 x 5

275 x 6

245 x 8

225 x 6

Dumbbell skullcrushers

35s x 10

Heavy band tricep pressdowns x 10

To recap, I did a press workout the day before yesterday and then a bunch of push-ups, medicine ball burpees, dumbbell lateral raise holds, and shadow boxing with 3 lb dumbbells yesterday. Well I don't have any crazy DOMS, I was planning for today to be a day of rest but the timing to lift heavy was just too perfect: a rare break in rain during this week-long atmospheric river, nothing on the agenda for the day, lots of food...ended up letting the intrusive thoughts win and gave my shoulders a little break by using the bench block on the heaviest sets. 345x3 was perfect - pretty heavy, but nothing that destroyed me.

Surprisingly, the body part that's most sore is my upper back from doing deadlifts for the first time in awhile. And only with 225! Sign from the universe to never break-up with deadlifts again. 

Was going to do Kroc rows at the end but I want to deadlift heavier tomorrow and got the idea to add rows and curls in that workout. 

Fun boxing session last night. Paired up with a partner for a movement drill where we had to tag each other's shoulders. I was standing less square than the 3 people I worked with and while they primarily blocked my taps, I was fairly effective in simply twisting my shoulders away from contact. It's obviously very easy to block a light tap so I figured it'd be much better use of the exercise to dodge.

Next, inside the boxing ring one person would throw a succession of jabs while backing up the other person, and the defender would circle out to either side when sensing proximity to the ropes. Eventually we added a 6-3-2 combo (uppercut-hook-cross) for the defender to throw before moving away from the ropes.

This morning before work was 3 minutes of rope-skipping followed by 20 burpees.