21 ABCs with 50 lb kettlebells in 6:03

5 minute heavy bag round

5 minutes of burpee chins

5 minute heavy bag round

Improved my time and added a rep on the ABCs. First go was 11 reps unbroken. Left shoulder feels better and I experienced no pain while pressing or hitting the bag.

Burpee chins have been excellent for gently decompressing my back. It was feeling great throughout the day, but sleep made it feel stiff again. Pain in my right side has diminished, at least. I've opted not to back squat until after sparring on Thursday - can't risk my back getting worse, and it's been feeling better overall from the break.

On Sunday I received a text from the sparring coach inviting me to spar one of his fighters on Thursday, so that just about made my day after going to sign-up for classes and seeing the announcement that there will again be no sparring on Tuesday.

Sunday after the press workout: 3 rounds, 3 minutes each of shadowboxing, using VR boxing sim Thrill of the Fight

4 hill sprints followed by a 15 minute jog afterwards.

Noticed my left shoulder was feeling a little achy.

Monday morning: 5 minute round of jump-rope

Evening: 8 minute jump-rope round

3.4 mile jog in 36:22

Tuesday morning: another 5 minute round of skipping rope before work. This is pretty much a daily ritual except on squat days.

Been enjoying mixing in the VR headset for training sometimes. It's like enhanced shadowboxing. 

Got set-up to deadlift on Saturday, but I worked up to 495 and called it a day after 2 reps. Every rep felt like a slow grind and I had a headache from poor sleep. I'm pleased that I didn't have any failed rep attempts, which used to plague me.

My brother was visiting from Seattle so I took him out to dinner with my girlfriend at our favorite local Italian spot. When I ordered the lobster fettuccine I was NOT expecting an entire lobster dwarfing the not-small pasta portion, so that was an awesome surprise when my plate arrived dwarfing everything else on the table.

On Sunday I hit a press workout:

Overhead press
150 x 5
170 x 3
190 x 3
140 x 3 x 10

Super-set with weighted chin-ups:
15 x 10
30 x 2 x 10

Keg curls
150 x 25

Kept the volume manageable, as I want to hit ABCs on Tuesday.

Boxing was a good technical session yesterday. Rotated through partners 3 times so got a good mix of people to work with. Simple combos were practiced while taking turns throwing, but my first partner was the big fella I spar so practicing my sense of distance with him was helpful.

Something I'm experiencing more in boxing than I did in Muay Thai was entering the mindless state where my body moves on its own without thinking. My accuracy with kicks was never great so I'd overthink things in Muay Thai, but in boxing I can just flow. Really experienced that with these partner combos, need to channel that in sparring. I still practice kicks and knees on the heavy bag at home, by the way; don't want to lose my technique on them.

I think if I deadlifted heavy today, my back will pay for it tomorrow. I will do some manner of lower-body training, but probably not heavy deads. Belt squats and leg curls are what I'm thinking. 

 20 ABCs with 50 lb kettlebells in 6:38

5 minutes of burpee chins

5 minute round on the heavy bag

Did 10 ABCs without a rest pause, followed by 5, 3, then 2. Wasn't pushing the reps or pace because of my back, which held up but has been in more pain on the lower right-side than usual lately. Burpee chins felt very  tonic for my back and I woke-up the next day feeling good, while yesterday there was morning pain.

Remembered this time to actually do 3 squats instead of just 2.

Sunday:

Overhead press

140 x 3

160 x 3

180 x 5

Last set super-set with 10 chin-ups

137.5 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 9

Super-set with weighted chin-ups

30 x 5 x 10

Giant sets

Dips: 2 x 10

Keg curls: 150 x 20, 15

Lateral raises: 15 x 15, 10

Steady progress with every session. Calorie intake is up, but carbs are low in the morning at work and late at night. I'm due for a weigh-in one of these mornings. Feels like I'm around 200 lbs.

Yesterday: 3.20 mile jog in 37.50. This morning was another 5 minute jump-rope round followed by 60 crunches.

Since last week I've been playing only Itagaki games to commemorate him in light of his recent passing. Dead or Alive 3 still kicks ass and I think I'm going to stick with Ninja Gaiden Black as the version for my playthrough. Found out the Switch version of Sigma is based on the Vita version and has downgraded graphics.

Squats

340 x 3

390 x 3

440 x 3

Strip-sets of 405x4, 315x10, 225x10, 135x10

Reverse hyper single leg curls

4 plates x 20, 20

Good workout, feeling stronger. Had more reps of 440 in me but my back hasn't been feeling hot and heavy back squats even being doable was a question in my mind, but I'm feeling no worse for wear afterwards.

Went on a 1.5 mile jog Tuesday evening on top of my daily 5 min jump-rope round in the morning. Yesterday evening:

Bench press

215 x 5

247.5 x 5

280 x 6

Low incline bench press

205 x 10, 10, 8, 7, 7

Super-set with lying bilateral dumbbell rows

115s x 5 x 8

Giant sets:

Dumbbell incline skullcrushers: 50s x 6, 35s x 9

Dumbbell incline chest flyes: 50s x 8, 35s x 9

Dumbbell curls: 50s x 10, 10

Notable gains on bench. Creeping toward 5 sets of 10 on the incline. Forgot how much harder dumbbell rows are when performed bilaterally.

I will always love training this way, just concentrating on one region for an hour and hammering it to the point where it's hard to hold my arms up with light dumbbells by the end, roleplaying a bodybuilder while I picture Arnold or Dorian in my mind. Lonnie Lowery once shared the same sentiment on an Iron Radio podcast, how having a body-part theme each session is what really captivates his interest. 

 Deadlifts

405 x 5

455 x 5

515 x 0, 5

Bulgarian split-squats

80s x 8, 9, 9

The next morning before work:

5 minute jump-rope round

55 crunches

First attempt at 515 didn't break the bar off the ground. Went outside to meditate for a few minutes, came back, and crushed it after remembering to start with leg drive before the hinge.

Weekend was a couple of days of good food. Went to my sister's birthday dinner on Friday and had a turf and surf dinner at a Japanese restaurant. On Saturday I ended up having an unplanned date night where we saw the new Tron and then spontaneously hit up an old-school Italian restaurant next door for beef ravioli and pizza.

 Wednesday:

Overhead press

135 x 5

155 x 5

170 x 6

135 x 10

145 x 2 x 10

Last 4 sets super-set with chin-ups

Bw x 10

35 x 3 x 10

Keg curls

150 x 22

Thursday:

20 ABCs with 50 lb kettlebells in 5:36

5 minutes of burpee chin-ups

My schedule has been nutty this week. George had his car break down so he asked if I could drive him to a night class after work on Wednesday. When I got home an hour and a half later than normal due to traffic I scarfed down two Costco pizza slices and then hit the press workout 20 minutes later but felt like crap. Nausea came from the obvious source, but I also had a headache and felt sluggish and weak. Still, since my weight is on an upward trend I performed well with a top-set roughly equivalent to 165x7 last month but there was not enough time or gas for BBB, so I upped the weight to 145 and lowered the assistance press work to 3 sets.

Thursday was an errand evening with some time-sensitive things to take care of and I was all too happy to embrace an ABC workout with such limited time. Ever since I once heard Dan John describe ABCs on his podcast as being 2 squats I've been mixing up in my head what the original prescription was, so I did 2 squats up until rep 12 (which was the first rest-pause). Did a quick YouTube check at that point and reps 13-20 were 3 squats as intended. Usually, the press portion is not the tough part of ABCs but after boxing on Tuesday (mostly the heavy bag rounds after sparring) followed by a press workout on Wednesday, my shoulders felt more tired than usual and I actually had to grind out one rep with my left arm near the end. 

Have also been bringing back rope-skipping in the morning before work, as it increases my appetite for my pre-work eggs. Did a 3 minute round yesterday and a 5 minute round this morning, with crunches following both. 

Got a birthday dinner for Attossa 2 hours away in Berkeley to attend this evening after work. Saturday should be the start of a less hectic schedule.

Before sparring yesterday, I did something I've never done before and told my partner "I'd like to keep it technical if you don't mind." He agreed, and when we got to talking, we both had injuries we were recovering from - back for me, knee for him. He's the biggest guy at the gym and usually hits very hard. I got messed up the first time we went at it (had pain swallowing for a week from getting uppercut) and had much more success trading with him the time after, to the point where he got gassed and I was landing overhand rights in succession, but I really wanted to focus on practicing this time around instead of blasting each other. 

We ended up going TOO light for my liking, with him barely tapping me. I haven't sparred light in a long time and he's my only sparring partner with a longer reach, so I fell back into my old problem of not fully extending my punches in an effort to not hit hard and almost everything fell short while he kept touching me. He did a good job of maintaining distance while I chased him when usually I'm the one outfighting with the vast majority of people.

My cornerman told me stop twisting my head to slip, and to block with a higher guard instead. I've been told by another coach not to hold my hands up so high when I was employing a high guard against this guy, and in truth, this time I'd been watching some Canelo fights recently and had the way he leans back in my mind. I need to employ a better balance of blocking and dodging instead of getting stuck in one or another.

It was frustrating to leave the ring feeling like I did poorly but without the satisfaction of being tired like during hard sparring, so I was left wanting more rounds. Stuck around and worked the heavy bag afterwards in the hopes that the coach might call me up again, but no dice. They allow just enough sign-ups to fill the hour.

Good learning experience, all things considered. Came home and then did 4 hill sprints followed by a cooldown jog.

Squats

317.5 x 5

365 x 5

415 x 5

Called it a night there. I have sparring today and couldn't risk my back pain regressing to what it was last week, nor do I want to get sore from doing drop-sets.

Felt light. Night and day difference from the last several weeks of squatting now that I've gotten a little bigger. Much more stable during the walkout and descent. I look forward to pushing myself on the reps next time. My abs are blurrier but waist is still trim, and though this isn't consistent with my usual pre-breakfast morning weigh-in, the scale read 200 lbs the other day.

I had a good night of sleep up until 5am. I've been closing my bedroom door due to my sister and her dogs visiting to keep out the noise, so my cat ended up peeing in my bed. 100% my fault, as he had no way of going out to do his business and I was naive just because he usually sleeps through the night with me and goes pee in the morning. After putting out the soiled sheets and flipping my mattress over, I managed to get another 30 minutes of sleep before my alarm, but I woke-up with a bit of a headache. Not great circumstances on sparring day, but it won't hold me back. And if piss and vinegar make for aggressive energy, I've already got the piss part taken care of.

Bench press

205 x 5

235 x 5

265 x 8

Low incline bench press

205 x 9, 8, 7, 8, 7

Super-set with bent-over dumbell rows 

115 x 5 x 10

Incline dumbbell skullcrushers 

50s x 6

35s x 8

Super-set with dumbbell curls

50s x 8, 8

7 minute cooldown jog

Shoulders and chest were a little sore from an intense boxing session yesterday evening (nothing too technical to review, just a lot of calisthenics like push-ups and dragon walks hitting the heavy bag), but still made gains compared to last cycle thanks to eating more food.

Went to a favorite breakfast spot with my girlfriend and had a chorizo omelet with black coffee before training.