Press

135 x 5

155 x 5

175 x 4

140 x 8, 8, 8, 9

Random sets of overhead shrugs at the end of most sets

Super-set with chin-ups 

Bodyweight x 3 x 8

50 x 4 x 8

Skullcrushers

35s x 12

50s x 5 -> drop-down to 35s x 4

Super-set with keg curls

160 x 20, 15

Done at the end of a very restorative weekend with family. Went go-karting for my niece's birthday on Friday but badly felt like I needed to crash afterwards. Went home and fell in a coma for an hour and a half before heading to boxing. Made myself not touch a weight the next day and took another nap before a Costco trip amidst eating a lot of high calorie, carb-heavy food for my cheat day. Finally, by Sunday I felt alive again.

I also caught myself looking in the mirror on Friday, the end of a strict diet week, and thought I looked very skinny. At the end of Saturday after eating pizza all day, I looked big. Night and day difference. 

Food and rest did me well. Got twice as many reps on 175 as last time when I was aiming for 3. Felt like I had power while pressing overhead again.

Also want to mention that I FINALLY got around to watching 2008's Punisher: War Zone on Saturday night. Saw it in a VR movie theater with a Quest 2 headset. I loved the 2004 movie with Thomas Jane back in the day and have been meaning to see this one for years. Very fun watch but incredibly silly and left less of an impact than its predecessor. 

 Boxing was a way bigger class than normal for Tuesdays. After shadowboxing we partnered up and took turns throwing 1-2s, then 1-2-3s, then some other combos before repeating on the mitts. Partner commented that I have a "shitload of power".

I have imposter syndrome going on when I hear comments like this because in my fickle mind, I'm usually larger and more muscular than whoever is complimenting me so of course I seem strong to THIS person; that's the bare minimum of standards. One of my coaches said the same thing to me, though, and he's a figure competitor with arms about as big or bigger than mine.

Ended with some footwork drills. 

I really like that Tuesdays are so meticulous and technical despite going over the basics a lot. Fatigue is kept to a minimum with no calisthenics so we can concentrate on boxing. I do enjoy having the challenge of conditioning thrown in on other days but it's good to have a technique day.

Been going 3 times a week and will increase that to 4 and 5 once sparring starts. I rarely, if ever, made it to Muay Thai 3 times a week when I trained that. Need to find the sparring paperwork I took home or ask for another if I can't find it.

Went for a leisure swim when I got home to cool off from the heat and resisted an urge to eat some fried macaroni and cheese bites from Trader Joe's after ingesting an edible and getting the munchies. Dinner was instead numerous small portions: a bison sausage, 2 eggs with some egg whites and bone broth, some grass-fed steak strips with a few mixed vegetables, and Metabolic Drive.

Press

165 x 5

135 x 4 x 8

Super-set with weighted chin-ups

50 x 4 x 8

Skullcrushers

35s x 8, 11

Super-set with keg curls

160 x 20, 15

Knowing that my pressing power is down, I picked what I figured I can get for 5. I was right to go with 165, but the 5th was one helluva fight to get lockout. No belt or wraps, as I didn't feel justified using them on weight this low.

Recently developed an abscess on my upper-back, near the teres minor, that is tender to touch and resembles a spider bite. Going to take a picture and monitor its progress daily to make sure it's not staph. As unlikely as that is at a boxing gym, my skin does come into contact with the floor when we do ab exercises so better safe than sorry.

Friday boxing was a good session. Coach Hashim says he sees a lot of good power coming from me but I need to be more consistent twisting my upper-body more when throwing straights. He also mentioned after class that he was watching me hit the bag and noticed that I tend to come up on my toes too much with left hooks and uppercuts sometimes, throwing my balance off. Reminds me of when I've been told in Muay Thai not too jump into my high kicks. 

Took Saturday completely off. Was feeling beat to hell after boxing on Friday. Not because the session was particularly hard, but I hadn't slept well and training fatigue from the week felt like it had been accumulating. Also felt like my body was fighting off illness - throat was a little sore and chest felt inflamed. Intended to relax at night playing PSO but could barely stay awake and crashed at 11pm. Slept in until 10 the next morning and got around to relaxing with some videogames and doing housework. Went to George's in the PM and watched The Beekeeper, which was ridiculous but good fun. Wasn't done when I came home at 3am: I booted up Metal Gear Solid and reveled in the nostalgia and just how damn good it still is.

Sunday:

Matt pulls (6)

500 x 5

Deadlifts

315 x 10

SSB squats

240 x 2 x 10

Hise shrugs

290 x 2 x 10

Reverse-hyper

200 x 2 x 10

Russian twists x 3 x 20

Ab wheel

10 standing reps

I’ve been doing more twisting ab exercises per Jamie Lewis’ recommendation that they’re good for back health. They help train punching power, too. My back has continued to feel excellent and I kept the supplemental exercises light to keep it that way.

Weighed 191.7 in the morning, about 4 lbs more than my dehydrated weight at the end of a hot day after boxing.

 Breathing squats

315 x 14

20 pull-overs with 25 lb kettlebell

Swiss bar pause bench

250 x 4

235 x 2 x 5

Super-set with T-bar rows

4 plates x 8, 8, 10

Squatted high bar for the second time in 5 years. Whereas last time I couldn't get a good feel for the positioning and kept the weight light, this time it just suddenly came back to me. Much easier on my shoulders and elbows and didn't have to worry about the bar slipping from sweat.

I've been pausing my bench reps lately and going slower on the descent, as well. Just something I've drifted toward now that I'm no longer obsessing over my maxes. We did a lot of bodyweight squats and push-ups in boxing the day before so I was satisfied with what I put up in this workout.

Took a few physique shots to mark where my body composition is currently at.

 Different boxing coach yesterday. I've seen him coaching sparring matches before. We donned chest protectors and took turns throwing partner combos. My partner seemed like he was putting everything he had in throwing hard shots but then had to stop and catch his breath after every combo. I wish people would just keep going when they gas and hit softer rather than stop the flow to gasp for air.

Afterwards, I stopped by the gym on the way home with a bag in my trunk packed with skull sandals (necessary detail) and swimshorts. Spent 10 minutes on the elliptical at a moderate intensity while watching the ending of Terminator 2 on the machine's screen and then did a 1-minute dead hang before spending about 8 minutes in the sauna and 3 minutes in the cold plunge. Left due to time, not discomfort - the cold plunge was quite comfortable and not quite as cold as I was expecting, but good enough to have the intended effect. I could definitely make a chillier ice bath at hme, though.

Felt superb walking out. Had a big protein-rich dinner at home of 3 eggs in bone broth, whites, and pickle juice + a plate of veggies and rotisserie chicken and grass-fed steak strips. Metabolic Drive with egg whites about 30-minutes before bed.

I may quit the gym in the coming months. I'm paying the full mortgage now whereas before my dad and I were splitting it 50/50. It's making things too tight for me. I'm enjoying my time there, but also feel like I've scratched the itch to some extent and wouldn't miss it TOO much. I'll evaluate after reviewing my written budget.

Worked on long combo strings with partners yesterday. The guy I was paired with had a handle on decent boxing form, but acted like he was half-asleep and ignored the combos we were supposed to throw even though we started out dead simple. I wonder if he came in stoned or something.

Woke-up this morning with some left hip pain, which was surprising because it's been almost a week since I felt hip discomfort from SSB squats and it was gone the day after. There's a good chance my nightly stretches have aggravated it. When I do dishes, I stretch my hips and hamstrings by sticking one leg up on the countertop and rolling the leg, something I learned from a Muay Thai coach online. I also held various split positions on the ground Monday night. Stretching my hips and hamstrings makes my back feel good, but all of the above has probably been adding up after that squat session. 

Press
135 x 5
155 x 5

175 x 3

Chin-ups: 20, 15, 12

One-arm standing dumbbell press
80 x 4/3 (right hand, left hand)
50 x 12, 12, 15

Incline dumbbell skullcrushers
35s x 8, 10

Felt pain in my sternum on 155 that got worse on 175 so I shut it down, not that I had much left in me anyways as my pressing strength is way down. Hurt to breathe afterwards and couldn't complete a chin-up when I tried. Found this very interesting. Used to experience pain like this early in my lifting days when I went heavy on weighted dips, but have never had it happen from overhead pressing. Gotta be something to do with not having barbell overhead pressed in a minute combined with a dramatically lower bodyweight.

The pain was intense at first and then dissipated after 10 minutes. Was able to do chin-ups fine after that and I have no pain the next day, thankfully.

In the realm of good news, my elbow pain was all but gone during everything, even the skullcrushers. I felt a little something on the 20th chin-up rep but that was it. Major improvement.

 Mat pulls off a stack of 7 mats

500 x 1, 1 (mixed grip)

500 x 5 (straps)

Romanian deadlifts

225 x 2 x 10 + 10, 15 shrugs at the end

Belt squats

6 plates x 10

6 plates + friend sitting on the plates x 10

Russian twists

25 x 20 each direction

Ab wheel

5 from floor + 5 standing

Figured out a positioning issue that's been tripping me up. I've been standing too close to the bar with the bar pressed against my shins and it's been causing my shoulders to start well in front of it, causing me to pitch forward. This is what injured me last month. This time I lined up the bar to my toe knuckles and was able to lean back with the bar as it broke off the ground. I remember learning this exact pointer and working to get it right after watching a Google Video Diesel Crew tutorial vid in the 2000s.

Despite that, I was extremely gunshy moving the weight at first. Went ahead and donned straps after 2 singles so I could get my head game focused on moving the weight, but I'm liking this recent trend of using grip power as much as possible.

Walked to the gym later. Did a 1-minute dead hang and then 10 minutes on the elliptical at max resistance (level 25 on this particular machine). Afterwards, I sat in the steam room but it didn't seem to be working, checked-out the cold plunges and both were occupied, squeezed into the crowded outdoor sauna for about 5 minutes, and then sat in the infrared sauna for another 5. Too crowded for my liking but I'm still learning what peak hours are on the weekend. Earlier in the day or close to closing might be better.

Went to a very tough early Saturday morning boxing session, sweated a gallon, got on the scale without clothes after getting out of the shower out of curiosity, and weighed in at 187.5. 

Weighed myself again in the afternoon. Despite drinking a lot of water throughout the heat today, I weighed 191.2! If that's accurate, it's amazing how much water I sweated out throughout the day. I have not been ceasing my lunch break walks in the triple-digit weather. 

If I break into the 180s, it'll be the first time since my teens.

Paused bench press 

305 x 2

275 x 4

Wide-grip bench 

235 x 8, 7

Super-set with dumbbell rows 

125 x 8, 8

Close-grip bench

245 x 6

225 x 8

Super-set with dumbbell rows 

125 x 8, 8

 SSB squats

380 x 5, 4, 3

Hise shrugs

380 x 2 x 10 (done at the end of first and last squat set)

SSB front squats

240 x 10

Russian twists

45 x 10 for each direction

Whew, happy with this. Felt like a ton at this bodyweight but despite the awfulness, I forced a lot of explosiveness out of the bottom. Could have grinded out more reps with ugly form but experience told me it wasn't worth risking my back.

Squatting narrower than I used to with this bar, which made it a surprise when I noticed my left hip was hurting when I lay down to sleep. Seems better the next day after a night of sleep. Lower back is VERY sore but not in an injurious way. Can still move and bend fine. Such a different feeling from last month's back injury.

Weighed 195.2 this morning.

Went to boxing again on Wednesday. Going to keep increasing my attendance from a norm of 2 days a week to 3-4. Making 4 the standard will be the minimum I need to be competitive.

Very big class size, typical for Wednesdays, but I like the busy environment. Space isn't a problem because this coach is good about breaking up people into groups and putting half on the bags and the other half out in the open. Also seems like a lot of people don't want to step up into the boxing ring, so I tend to shadowbox up there.

3 rounds skipping rope

3 rounds shadowboxing

3 rounds freestyle on the heavybag

1 round partner shoulder-tagging drill

2 rounds of blocking, slipping and rolling with partner throwing 1-2-3s and 3-4s, alternating between dodging and attacking after each combo

Ab work and stretches

I was happy to work with the tallest guy in the gym once again, who usually comes up and asks if I want to partner up. 

Boxing class yesterday:

3 rounds of shadowboxing consisting of splitting up two different combos with a slip
2 rounds of partner striking, taking turns throwing 1-2, slip, 2-3-2 with the defender blocking
2 rounds of the same but ending with 3-2-3 instead and adding slips and rolls
4 rounds of the same combos but with one partner holding mitts and alternating roles
Ended with 1 long round on the heavy bag, alternating between speed and power work per coach’s callout

Stopped by my dad’s resting site on the way home. Always such a meditative experience. Feels like I’m spiritually refreshed going there.

Walked to the gym yesterday after finding a copy of God of War Ascension sitting in my PlayStation 3 library and not remembering that I bought it cheap off eBay a while ago. Pregamed for the gym with it and raised my testosterone levels by murdering massive, screen-filling Greek gods and monsters with brute strength.

Arnold press: 80s x 7, 6, 5

Incline dumbbell press: 80s x 7, 6

Chin-ups: 12

Machine chest press: 185 x 3 x 10

Super-set with machine high-angle rows: 185 x 3 x 10

Cable chest flyes: 15, 12, 12

1-minute dead hang

Cable pressdowns:20

Machine preacher curls: 65 x 10, 10

45 x 12

I'm having a really fun time using the machines and getting a pump. Although my elbow aches a little using the dumbbells and during curls, I'm giving it more of a break than I would training at home with machine rows and pressing. Need to remember to make note of machine weight settings, though, as I don't remember what I used with flyes and pressdowns but it was light weight. 

Went in the steam room afterwards, doing a few stretches in there for my sore hamstrings. Then went to the pool area and sat in the sauna before sitting poolside reading a Michael Crichton novel with my protein shake. After my swimsuit got dry, I went upstairs to try out their cafe. Sadly, they don't have much meat options which is such a missed opportunity, but enjoyed my "protein toast" with eggs, avocado, and balsamic vinegar on sourdough for what it was while fantasizing about a gym that sells barbecue and then vowing to make my home gym exactly that, except I get a VIP discount by making it free after I buy it from the store. Walked home and ate some lamb and rice after the cafe snack.

I also had elk for the first time that I can remember yesterday (I may have had an elk stick before but I can't remember if it was actually venison, and it was processed and spiced to the point that it tasted like any beef stick). It was delicious just from pan frying with a rich, "dark" taste. The cat is also eating deer these days (see below) and I made ground bison bowls for my work lunch. 

Got in a lot of walking throughout the rest of the afternoon and a final one at night.

 Had a great boxing session yesterday with a substitute coach. Did some partner shadowboxing and got scratched in the face (sidenote: this guy happens to be the uncle of my old Muay Thai coach). During this, the coach singled me out and asked me to only jab so my partners could keep up. Donned gloves and did some rounds of trading simple combos with a partner, choosing to block, parry, or slip. One training partner who I've developed a good rapport with asked me to partner up in the ring and we spent the round pushing against each other trading upper-cuts and hooks.

Happy to report that my back has been doing well. Got in a squat session today.

SSB squats
330 x 7, 8, 7

SSB front squats
200 x 10

Romanian deadlifts
225 x 8, 10

Hanging leg raises
10, 15

Ab wheel
5 reps kneeling, 3 standing

Felt drained going into boxing on Wednesday. The heat didn't help after being in a hot office all day, but started feeling more energetic the more we trained. 

3x 3-minute rounds of skipping rope

3x 3-minute rounds of shadowboxing with 4lb dumbbells

2x 3-minute rounds of freestyle heavy bag work

2x 3-minute rounds of footwork drills via jabbing in and out of the plastic floor rings and slipping to the side, eventually adding a hook

2 rounds of trading 1-2s with partner and slipping, eventually adding a hook

Light stretches

I also found my Cerberus belt sitting in the equipment area and I took that back home. Going to submit paperwork next week to get into the sparring classes. 

Had a great 4th of July. Went to the beach in the morning and overpacked food so I didn't hit up any of the quaint beachside restaurants as was planned, but that's a good problem to have. Left around 4pm once heavy fog started rolling in. 

Yesterday evening:

SSB squats

150, 200, 240 x 10

Ab wheel x 25

Super-set with reverse crunches x 8

Exceeded my goal of squatting 150, but made myself stop at 240. It's improved by leaps and bounds from last week but under load, it feels tender at the bottom of the squat. Still, excited to have weight on my back again. The simple things in life...

Ab wheel was done lying down rather than standing, also to go easy on my back. 

Food note: I've been buying quail eggs to use with my morning bone broth and they suit this purpose better than big chicken eggs. Easier to drink down and they don't get stuck to the bottom of the porcelain. I've avoided them before because they can be annoying to crack (rubbery shell) and require a high volume when pan frying to fill a plate, but for drinking, definitely going to keep buying them from Costco.

Went to boxing on Friday and my back was able to handle everything except ab work at the very end. Skipping rope and medicine ball burpees felt fine, although I made sure not to move ballistically on the burpees. Coach asked me if I can duck and roll and after starting slow I pretty had it down.

Unfortunately I left my Cerberus belt at the boxing gym. My next class is Wednesday but if I have time I'll swing by and grab it today. 

By the end of class my back felt great, but I still wasn't ready for large amounts of load-bearing like heavy squats. Luckily, the onboarding rep who was handling my trial week at the gym extended my access period until Monday when she found out I wasn't able to make use of it the past week. I was able to go on Saturday and had a fantastic machine session. Hit cable flyes, seated cable rows, preacher curls, leg press, and lying leg curls. Had a limp afterwards from pushing the leg curls. Went in the steam room afterwards, swam laps in the pool, and then the sauna before walking back home.

Sunday: 20 minute jog followed by untimed shadowboxing rounds.

Before work this morning I hit 20 burpees and 50 jumping-jacks. Going to cautiously squat 150 with the SSB today.

Back is more or less the same as the past few days: still painful with limited bending ability, but I can walk, get up, and turn over in bed efficiently. 

Decided to go to boxing tonight while letting the coach know about my state of things. Going to don my Cerberus soft lifting belt.