Tuesday boxing was a good endurance workout. After skipping rope and shadowboxing, someone approached me to be his partner. He wasn't very good at holding pads as he seemed like he was still learning basics, so I was basically doing power shadowboxing from a lack of impact due to him holding them so limply. Because my shoulders were getting a little tired, though, I embraced the suck when I should really offer him pointers next time.

Been watching Roy Jones Jr. more lately, someone whose style I've always admired, but I noticed that I was working angles and standing wider a lot more in shadowboxing this time from bingeing his fights before class. I really like his rapid same-side hooks, too; he threw 4 or 5 rapid left hooks at one point. Insanity.

Was dead tired on Wednesday. Culprit is most likely waking up too much during the night to pee. I've been taking Biotest P-Well and drink cran + pomegranate juice with creatine as well, but I should make a point to get extra hydration during the early evening to avoid suddenly feeling as thirsty as I do after 8pm. Went to bed an hour early and felt better the next day.

Loaded up the bar with 310 to do the 20 rep squat + deadlift super-set, but my quads had that familiar glass feeling I've felt before when I squat heavy too frequently. I could have handily done the 20+20, but I decided to stop the squats at 10 and consider it a deload, as they don't feel recovered from my last squat workout and I'd like to nip this in the bud while I can. Followed-up with 10 deadlifts, with a plan to deadlift or mat pull heavy over the weekend, something I haven't done in a minute.

Ending this post with something ridiculous: my new Rumble Roller got torn-up by my cat. I was using it when I noticed pin pricks and some torn rubber when looked at up-close. It's not totaled, but I'm storing it in my closet from now on. I'm more amused than anything picturing him mauling it. I also have to say that while the Rumble Roller gives a better massage almost everywhere else, my low back feels better after using my regular foam roller, which was my main incentive for getting so into foam rolling on the regular. The Rumble Roller doesn't hurt it or anything, but I notice it doesn't make back pain disappear 1 or 2 days out from using it like the regular. Makes sense that the low back doesn't have as much tissue to dig into so there's no need for those spikes. So I'm using the flat roller more again, but will still use the Rumble for other areas.

Bench press

275 x 5

Close-grip bench press

225 x 3 x 8

Super-set with dumbbell rows

115 x 3 x 8

Keg curls

150 x 2 x 12

Haven't straight bar benched in awhile due to shoulder pain exclusively with this bar and movement. Still felt discomfort, but it's getting much better. Felt like I didn't have any pop compared to the Swiss bar, though, and 275 was moving VERY slow, so I made a wise call going in with reasonable expectations and settling at that weight. Even on 225, it felt like I was lifting through quicksand.

Lifted without elbow sleeves for the first time since I can remember because I have no elbow pain anymore. Will cautiously test doing kettlebell ABCs soon, as I miss having those as a workout option.

 Spent most of Saturday sick. Had it in my mind to do squats, but decided to give myself a rest day instead. Ate an extra large Round Table pizza throughout the evening.

Congestion and cough were better on Sunday. Still felt low energy and under the weather, but went ahead with the plan:

Yukon bar squats

470 x 2

Drop-down to 410 x 7, 320 x 8

Lying leg curls

290 x 3 x 10

During the work-up sets I put 410 on my back and did what felt like a max effort rep. Just felt heavy as hell. I walked away at first, figuring I'd better call it there and get some lighter work in, but then tried 405 again with a belt and it felt much better, and then I ended up surprised at how light walking out with 470 felt.

Still, left a reserve rep or two in the tank to promote recovery and cut-out all the drop-down sets below 320.

Then went on a 4.64 mile run in the evening, broken up with a little walking to use a store restroom, for 55 minutes.

Picked up a Rumble Roller. It doesn't feel difficult or extreme at all, just like a nicer massage than my standard roller, but my girlfriend reported that it felt like a torture device on her frame. 

Went to boxing on Wednesday for a standard partner drill and bag work day. There was sparring going on in the ring behind us and one young teen walked away with a bloody nose. Also watched 2 of my coaches spar pretty hard, the twins. Afterwards they both happened to be adjacent to me when my class was using the heavy bags and the 3 of us were by far making the most noise in the gym with power shots. 

Did a light mid-week maintenance workout yesterday after work:

SSB box squats

Worked-up to 330 x 5, 350 x 5

Giant sets:

Weighted decline push-ups: 105 lbs x 3 x 7

Lying dumbbell rows: 80s x 15, 12, 12

Dumbbell palm curls: 80 x 8, 8; 50 x 8

I'll find out if there's a name for those curls, but I took them from Paul Carter: you simply take a single dumbbell and support it vertically on your palms. Makes light weight feel incredibly heavy. Noticed I started gripping the 80 pounder like it was a grenade ball curl so knocked it down lighter.

Left IT band is still a bother sometimes. It was better the last time I did heavy squats, thankfully, but the other night I noticed it hurting from falling asleep on my left side and I also feel it if I sit down too long. Felt it ever so slightly on box squats, but it barely registered.

Did about 30 minutes of walking on Monday, along with stretching and foam rolling. Body felt beat from weekend training. Besides soreness, neck is tweaked from pressing overhead.

Yesterday was sparring. BIg focus going in was to relax my shoulders and take deep breaths between rounds. I sparred coach Gabriel again. Technically these are intro to sparring classes, hence why I've only gone against coaches. Now that I've completed 3 of these sessions, I can do member sparring from now on, which I'm highly anticipating. 

Round 1

Felt my jab falling short right away because I'm so used to light partner drills. Quickly course corrected and within seconds I was landing to his face at will. Popped him with jabs, crosses, left hooks, and upper-cuts; this was my most effective round at this gym yet when it came to displaying an offensive variety. My cornerman coach commented that I was looking "very technical" as he gave me water. My guard was a little too low though and I could still get more reach from extending my shoulder more.

Round 2

Right away I started throwing longer jabs with my shoulder rolling into my cheek and I heard my corner coach yell out "That's it!" One right hand that caught my headgear twisted it, obstructing my vision, and I had to adjust. From then on, strikes kept shifting my headgear and I was fighting it for much of the round; it kept blocking my vision and breathing. Although my technical gameplan went out the window from here, my conditioning prep at home and emphasis on staying loose had worked and I was feeling good between rounds unlike last time. 

Round 3

I couldn't see where his punches were coming from well because of my loose headgear but I could see his head so we both landed good shots. We were both all offense here. He started going lower to the ground and I was hitting the top of his head, so I shifted to uppercuts more, which he did a good job blocking. Was surprised when the round was over because I'm used to 4-minute rounds at home. Hopefully with member sparring I'll get a chance to do a lot more than 3 rounds.

Watched some other gymgoers spar and then went over to the heavy bags to get a round in.

Came home and immediately went out to Heart Attack Hill, sprinting up for 3 rounds and doing a shadowboxing round near the top at a steep incline after each sprint. 

I also resized my headgear so it's much tighter. There was a lot I didn't utilize because I was so distracted by it. Can't wait until next time. 

Axle clean once and press away

110 x 5

130 x 3

160 x 8

185 x 5

Last set followed by 12 pull-ups 

Axle clean and press every rep

140 x 3 x 8

Super-set with pull-ups x 3 x 10

Incline dumbbell press 

80s x 12, 10

Dumbbell curls

35s x 4 x 10

Reverse hyper 

200 x 3 x 10

Overhead band pull-aparts 

2 x 20

Haven't pressed the axle in a while and totally forgot it's 25 lbs lighter than the barbell. Got to 160 lbs and thought things felt abnormally light before I realized it wasn't 185. 

Made bicep curls harder via a tip from John Meadows about not hammer curling the weight partially up, but supinating the wrists at the very beginning of the movement. 

Signed up for sparring on Tuesday. Brought back cleans to add a conditioning element to press day. Also happy to report that my shoulders have improved enough to press with a straight bar again. A little discomfort in the right still, but big difference from before.

Eggs are still out at Costco. I don't want them bad enough to go hunting for them at other stores even though I probably could get them if I tried hard enough. Bought plenty of steak at Costco yesterday to make up the difference. 

 This week has been hectic at work. We suddenly ended up shorted a delivery driver so I went from my office desk to taking over driving the truck and unloading pallets. By sheer coincidence, I brought a homemade weightgainer shake (milk, chocolate whey protein, almond butter, a banana, and pre-cooked oatmeal) in a thermos the first day, which was indispensable during my time out in the afternoon. Repeated that the next day, this time knowing I'd be out on the road for much of the day.

On the second day, I had a driver I was training and we were delivering to Gold's Gym locations all day. They are pretty nice gyms inside compared to 24 Hour Fitness. He used to be a gym rat before falling off the train, but we had plenty of meathead talk to trade, which was a fun change of atmosphere from my very non-meathead office colleagues. He also used to box as a teenager,

My back was a little sore from lifting and carrying cases of protein shakes and Gatorade while bent-over, but nothing too drastic. 

Went to boxing on Tuesday and Wednesday - very standard sessions doing partner combos. Hoping next Tuesday is a sparring day I can sign-up for.

The combination of manual labor at work and boxing back-to-back, combined with poor sleep on Wednesday night, had me feeling beat yesterday, but I still got something done despite the temptation to skip it and rest.

Swiss bar bench press

245 x 8, 8, 7

Super-set with dumbbell rows

125 x 3 x 8

Incline dumbbell press

80s x 8, 10

Dumbbell hammer curls

50s x 8, 10

Had a headache by the end and felt like I needed to go lie down, so called it here. Happy with the workout.

Went to boxing on Tuesday and Wednesday. After skipping rope and 3 rounds of shadowboxing, we did simple partner combos. When we ended with heavy bag work, I couldn't help but blast the power shots despite my sore shoulders.

On Wednesday, I was doing awful when skipping rope. Kept messing up every 20 or so seconds. Shoulders also got tired, so likely a recovery thing. Unfortunately, we started shadowboxing rounds with dumbbells, and by the time I got to pick, only the 5 pounders were available, which is heavy for shadowboxing. Made it work fine, but my coach went to another room and got out 2 pounders to use mid-round. Also did front and lateral raises. I'm not going to brag about beasting 2 lb front raises, but while other people looked like they were dying and had to take breaks, they felt very nice as relaxed active recovery for my shoulders.

Alternated rounds between partner combos and heavy bag work. Ended with abs, which wasn't hard until my abs suddenly cramped and I had to hold my hand against my stomach in order to keep moving. Ended with stretches.

 Deload

Squats: 225 x 20

Super-set with deadlifts: 225 x 20

Standing ab wheel: 8 reps

Just squatting with 135 during warm-ups made me feel soreness in my quads from Friday that I wasn't aware was there, as I've been walking and running fine. 225 was uncomfortable as a result, but just the right weight for a deload. Used a mixed-grip with deadlifts, no straps for this.

Because I hit this soon after I got home from work, rather than eating first and then waiting, I had more time than usual the rest of the evening. Definitely going to make eating BEFORE I leave the office more of a habit. I was able to easily do that this time by making twice the amount of ground bison that I usually do, giving me extra meal prep bowls.

Aside from chores, I spent the rest of the evening doing stretching and soft-tissue work via my massage gun, foam roller, and Rolflex (compression device for elbow pain). Just cycled between them all to treat my shoulders, IT band, lower back, and left elbow while I watched TV. Also stretched out my hamstrings on the kitchen counter and the floor. About 2 hours before bed, I also went on a 30-minute night walk while listening to a Dan John podcast.

I mentioned my IT band: the upper area of that is what's been bothering me when I squat and sit for extended periods of time, rather than my "hip". It's been an on-and-off annoyance for the past few years.

Finally, this morning I did a 30-second dead hang and then foam rolled my lower back some more.

I feel INCREDIBLE today as a result of all that, like the feeling right after a big stretch in the morning but extended. I think putting all that together in a written list with timed intervals as a routine will make sure I cover everything on a regular basis without having to think about it, especially on busier nights.

Got boxing on the agenda today but my shoulders feel up for it.

Bench press
Work-up to 225 x 3

2-board press

315 x 1
370 x 0

335 x 2

345 x 2

Incline Swiss bar bench press

165 x 10

185 x 8

205 x 6

165 x 13

Kroc rows

125 x 30

Lying rear-delt flyes

15s x 20, 20, 15

Super-set with dumbbell curls

50s x 8, 8

35s x 10

Hammer curls

35s x 3 x 10

Switched to board pressing because my shoulders still feel fried from that max effort bench press workout last weekend. Got up to 225 on the bench press before I switched. 

Just barely missed pressing 370. Bar got stuck for a few seconds just before lockout before it came back down. I would have had it if my shoulders felt fresher.

With that said, there has been a lot of max effort grinding the past few weeks during these feast-heavy holidays. It's been fun and I've gotten stronger, but I'll be scaling that back. Returning to the boxing gym this week. Speaking of boxing, I missed recording a couple of home training sessions, but one involved 4-minute rounds of shadowboxing with 3 lb weights when I should have been giving my shoulders a break, haha.

This week will be a deload. Body needs it.

Yukon bar squats 

460 x 3

Drop-sets of 410x5, 320x10, 230x10, 140x10, 50x10

Reverse hyper single leg curls

200 x 20

 

Good mornings
140 x 10
190 x 8

Crushed this and only stopped at 3 reps because of my hip. That was feeling better this session than last, by the way. I brought my massage gun down to the gym and used it on my hip between sets.

Done at 10pm, felt tired and hungry, and actually walked away at 405 because I figured I should come back the next day when I was well-rested and with more food, but then turned back around because I'd already come this far. Was pretty surprised at how light everything felt.

Back has been feeling fantastic, by the way. Foam rolling regularly has made a world of difference.

 New Year's was fun. Went to a gaming party at Cayce's house. Mostly played F-Zero and Shenmue 2 on my Steam Deck that I was hoping to hook-up to the TV that was being occupied by Mario Party, but alas, it never happened. Someone noticed F-Zero GX though and invited me into the garage where a Gamecube with a boot disc was running and I got to play it with a GC controller. It controlled SO well that way.

I fretted over what plans to pull the trigger on for New Year's, but this was the right call. Super fun yet close to home so I could leave at 1:30 and be home in 20 minutes with no long-distance travel hassle. And it was just so fun to get drunk and geek out over videogames.

Anyway, back to motherfucking bizness:

Seated Arnold press

80 lb dumbbells x 10, 9, 9, 8

Super-set with pull-ups: 15, 12, 12, 12

Dumbbell skullcrushers

50s x 10, 8, 8

Super-set with hammer curls

50s x 10, 10, 8

Tate press

50s x 8, 8

Super-set with concentration curls

50s x 10, 10

First I tried to barbell overhead press and my shoulders felt painful once I worked-up to 95 lbs. I really ran them through the ringer on Saturday with that max bench press workout. It wasn't that bad and I could have worked through it, but when I tried dumbbells and found them more comfortable, I opted for the Arnold press, which I've made good gains on since the last time I hit that.

My shoulders were done after the 4th set so I went pretty tricep-intensive after that. I had also just read an early arm workout that Bruce Randall did in his heyday with multiple sets of extensions and curls and I was in a bodybuilding mood afterwards.

Since I'm on my second week of no boxing gym (they were closed last week and are on a reduced schedule this week), yesterday I donned my breath restriction mask, a wool beanie, and two layers of sweaters to shadowbox in my living room with 3 lb weights. 2 round for 4 minutes. Went outside afterwards and hit the heavy bag also for 2 rounds, 4 minutes, then went on a 1.8 mile jog afterwards.

I'm making my minimum round time at home 4 minutes, so 3 minutes for drills in the gym and 2 minutes for sparring feel easy.