Bench press 

260 x 5

295 x 3

330 x 2

260 x 9

Last set super-set with lying dumbbell rows: 115s x 10

Seated overhead dumbbell press 

80s x 9, 10, 8

Super-set with lying dumbbell rows: 115s x 10

Swiss bar curls

45 x 50

Felt sluggish in warm-ups tonight, but I got it together for the top set. Strong performance. I keep almost wishing for a string of poor bench sessions so I have an excuse to switch strategies and start block pressing just because I find it fun, but I'm not going to change up what's working.

Enforcing a full rest day tomorrow before Friday boxing. Thursdays are shaping up to serve that quite nicely.

I worked up to squatting 275x8 yesterday before shutting it down, as the pain in my thigh started getting louder and louder. It went away about 20 minutes after finishing and I had no issue walking up stairs like I did on Saturday when this first reared its head, thankfully. It feels like the bottom stretch of the squat is what exacerbates it so my next plan of attack are box squats. Belt squats should also be fine, since the way I do them off the floor has the ground stopping the weight. 

I always drag my feet about doing belt squats because they feel so unsatisfying compared to bar squats, but because I can do high reps with very heavy weight, they always seem to make my bar squat stronger. As I write this, I'm thinking I should take this as a sign to do them more.

In other news, I scored a TON of recently expired drinks from work. We have 3 pallets worth that we can't sell but taste perfectly fine. Took home a bunch of RTD grass-fed protein shakes and energy drinks, with more to come. I actually want to be mindful about moderating my intake of all this; I'm not a big energy drink guy since I prefer coffee and I prefer powder to RTDs with their gums and preservatives. Also don't want to be megadosing on artificial sweeteners everyday, either

 After a break from Monday boxing I returned yesterday and was reminded why this is one of my favorite days. After skipping rope, right away we took to shadowbox sparring. The coach doesn't stop us if we make contact so I usually end up sparring at 50% if I choose the right people, but both partners this time don't have that relationship with me and one of them was new to boxing, so it was indeed contactless for once aside from some blocks and parries. We then worked on simple 3-punch partner combos like a 1-2-3 and ended with medicine ball slams and push-ups.

 After a break from Monday boxing I returned yesterday and was reminded why this is one of my favorite days. After skipping rope, right away we took to shadowbox sparring. The coach doesn't stop us if we make contact so I usually end up sparring at 50% if I choose the right people, but both partners this time don't have that relationship with me and one of them was new to boxing, so it was indeed contactless for once aside from some blocks and parries. We then worked on simple 3-punch partner combos like a 1-2-3 and ended with medicine ball slams and push-ups.

 Overhead press 

145 x 5

165 x 5

185 x 5

Close-grip incline bench press 

185 x 10, 9, 9, 9, 10

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

Dumbbell skullcrushers

35s x 10, 10

50s x 9

Super-set with hammer curls

50s x 3 x 10

Another solid session. Got a big pump from the assistance work by focusing on muscle contractions. I historically tend to get stuck at 185x5 on the press so I'm looking forward to going past that next cycle.

Whatever I pulled in my upper thigh seems mostly healed. Just some fading pain if I flex that area. Squats today will be the real test.

Squats

350 x 5

400 x 5

450 x 5

405 x 3

315 x 1

Felt strong, but when I reracked I noticed that I had pulled something in my left inner thigh. I was started my strip-sets but stopped after the first rep of 315; it wasn't feeling like something I should ignore. It hurts a little but I can still move fine. 

Boxing last night was more bagwork, focusing this time just on the overhand right. Awesome, I've been wanting to train that more. After several rounds of incorporating that into different combos like double jab, overhand right, low left hook, high left hook, straight right, and double jab out, we did a quick ending workout: line-up and do 2 rounds of dragon crawls to a set point followed by crab crawls on the way back, doing jumping-jacks whenever it's not your turn. Afterwards, a 3 minute plank to end class with.

Friday boxing was a good session. Primarily did rounds on the heavy bag mixed with various calisthenics based on the coach's callouts. 

One drill he sometimes has us do is reacting as quickly as possible to dropping down on our stomachs or backs and standing up. This was a lot harder at this weight than before and actually made for a decent conditioning workout. Ending with a long plank after this was killer.

The next day, we went out for drinks and breakfast at Mix Huevos and then saw Street Fighter, which started off awesome but declined in quality a bit as the movie wore-on. M. Bison's depiction was just inexcusably bad. It was a fun watch overall, though, and it felt surreal to be watching Ryu vs Akuma on the big screen.

We meant to go out to the pumpkin patch later but ended up taking naps in the afternoon and staying in. I put on Conan for a little while to get some Halloween costume ideas. 

 Bench press

225 x 5

260 x 5

295 x 5

Seated overhead dumbbell press

80s x 4 x 8

Lying dumbbell rows

80s x 25, 15

Solid bench press effort. For the assistance work, I knew I needed to bring the intensity down as I was feeling beat-up. The dumbbell pressing and high-rep rows ended up making my shoulders and upper-back sore, but I felt peppy walking away from this workout.

Boxing the next day was a bit of a slog: my calves were sore from hill sprints and skipping rope had my legs feeling like lead. We focused mostly on bagwork at first before transitioning to partner combos, ending with ab work.

I'm allotting a full rest period when I get home from work today. No training. Tomorrow is a conditioning-intense boxing session followed by a heavy squat weekend and I also want to get in a run on Saturday or Sunday.

Mat pulls (9)

545 x 5

Romanian deadlifts

315 x 15

Sandbag squats

200 x 20

Heavy pulling in the past tended to make for really long sessions. Besides all the plate loading, there was the hype-up period to overcome injury insecurity for my back. No more of that: I blazed through this. Had plenty of more reps in me but I capped it at 5 to see how much better I recover because mat pulls days used to run me into the ground and I have the added variability of boxing now. I'll keep it at 5 reps all the way until I reach the floor.

The right side of my back started to hurt after RDLs, though. It's not bad and I can still move fine, but it has annoyingly broken my streak of a pain-free back. Next time, back off a bit after the heavy pulling; I should have done RDL sets of 8-10 instead. Luckily, I was still able to hold up the sandbag and squat with it just fine.

This morning before work I managed to squeeze in a couple of sprints up Heart Attack Hill before going back inside for breakfast.

Also, had a really good weekend. Played a bunch of Ninja Gaiden Black and PSO on the gaming front (finally beat the bone dragon boss and it was incredibly easy this session). Sunday, went up to SF for a lowkey birthday. Went to a Simpsons-themed bar and then Stooky's, which had some amazing beef broth cocktails.

 Bench press 

245 x 5

275 x 3

310 x 4

245 x 10ish (lost count)

Axle clean once and press

150 x 9, 8, 8

A few more things I didn't record.

Also squatted 480x3 in the session after this, followed by strip-sets. 

 Two deloads to record on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Friday:

Log clean and press

97.5 x 5

117.5 x 5

142.5 x 5

Weighted push-ups: 80 x 3 x 10

Super-set with chin-ups: 3 x 15

Axle curls

40 x 36

Sunday:

Deadlifts

315 x 5

365 x 5

405 x 5

Sandbag squats

200 x 20

On Saturday I went on a 3 hour hike with coworkers. Much of it was uphill but I found it pretty easy. However, the next day deadlifting seemed to awake deep muscle soreness in my right thigh and the first rep of squatting with the sandbag was such agony that I set the bag down, assessed whether it was pain I could ignore or not, decided it was, and knocked out 20 reps without issue.

 Deload

Squats

225 x 5

275 x 5

315 x 5

Front squats

225 x 8

Sandbag squats

200 x 20

Good mornings

155 x 10

185 x 15

Been a while since I've done barbell front squats and I stopped at 8 due to wrist discomfort in the clean position. The grip shirt kept the bar solidly in position at least, so it was the starting position that started to hurt and not from the bar gradually sliding down like before. Arms crossed would work well paired with the grip shirt, but I suddenly remembered I really like sandbag squats and they work my upper-back and biceps as a bonus.

I have boxing class this evening. The heat wave we're experiencing doesn't make a huge difference to me; I'm always hot as hell in there.

 Deload

Bench press

135 x 5

185 x 5

225 x 5

Axle clean once and press

117.5 x 3 x 10

Super-set with lying dumbbell rows

80s x 3 x 15

Banded tricep pressdowns: 3 x 15

Super-set with dumbbell preacher curls: 35 x 3 x 10

Went to a pool party over the weekend and my friend brought Impossible burger patties while I supplied the bison. I assured him his good intentions weren't in vain with me and I'd have one of this burgers, but oops, I ended up only eating my own bison burgers. Since the Impossible patties were pre-grilled they took no time getting ready so everyone else was already full by the time mine were done.

I did a 20 rep squat set with 315 on Saturday to make-up for running out of time after the 500 squat single. Followed that up with 2 sets of 315 RDLs. 

Went out and saw Coyote vs Acme after lunch and coffee. Eli and I thought it was mid. Some good jokes, though.

Later that evening, I went on an untimed 2 mile run.

The next day, I hit 20 ABCs in 5:30, followed immediately by a 5 minute round on the heavy bag. It was the perfect short but intense workout to do before going to a pool party later. George grilled Impossible patties while I supplied the bison burgers. Spoiler alert: I ended up only eating bison.

Also did some solid advancing in Champions of Norrath and Tales of the Abyss and even got in a PSO session on Saturday. 

Block press

315 x 3

335 x 1

355 x 1

375 x 1

Bench press 

275 x 8

High incline dumbbell press

80s x 10, 9, 7, 8

 

Kroc rows
125 x 32

 

Single arm preacher curls
15 x 10
35 x 10
15 x 10 

 

This workout wasn't in the program. It's just what I wanted to do after getting home from work; I was looking forward to it all day. I've been wanting to block press heavy for awhile now. Immensely pleased at how light this felt in my hands. 

 

This is the height of the block I'm benching with. 

 

 Did some grappling training in my sleep the night before last. I dreamt that someone was trying to rob my garage so I grabbed him in a rear-naked choke. We fell to the ground with me choking him for a long time until I felt pressure on my back. In the dream I thought he was using some move to break my spine so I squeezed harder until I woke-up on my stomach squeezing my pillow with my cat sitting on my back.

Considering I only took 2 weeks of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, it's pretty clutch that I can pull off a submission literally in my sleep, even if it's the easiest one to learn.

Boxing yesterday started with shadowboxing and then light sparring. Both of my partners were teens who seemed like beginners so I took it very easy to give them a chance to throw. The second kid pointed to my arms and said "Don't hurt me" with a big grin. We did rounds on the heavy bag afterwards, and then to my initial dismay, stepped outside, which usually means sprinting. I was not looking forward to that with my left knee hurting lately, but at least I was wearing my SBD sleeve.

Sprinting was fine, although whether from being out of practice or from subconsciously not firing as hard as I could, for once I wasn't at the front of the pack. Next we had to do walking lunges all the way cross the large parking lot. Not only was my knee fine but it actually felt therapeutic, and had it not been for boxing I never would have thought to do lunges with a problem knee.

Squatted 500 lbs for a single tonight and then walked away, which is the first time I've hit that in quite awhile. My left knee has been feeling iffy when I go upstairs lately. If I shift weight on it wrong it'll hurt a little and buckle. Wasn't sure if I could squat heavy, but cautiously working-up took me all the way to the goal. Didn't bother with assistance work as it was way late and I've been sleeping poorly this week already. I also felt better not pushing the knee too hard after that.

500 felt pretty light despite the fact that I felt like crap waking up today. If I wasn't gunshy about the knee I would have gone for a second rep. 

Memory is weird. I did a long (for me) run last year and I could have sworn it was 8 miles, but I recently reviewed that log entry and found out it was 6 miles. It was one of the farthest runs I've ever done and the record-keeping gamer inside me is rankled by the high score demotion, so I now have a personal goal of running 10 miles just for the claim of having done so. It's been awhile since I've gone running so I'll start with my usual 2-3 miles and work-up from there. Since I'm currently 210 and expecting to get heavier, knee sleeves for joint health will be used.

I've got some catching up to do. Across my last two lifting sessions, I bench pressed 320x2 and deadlifted a single rep of 545 (went for 585 after and couldn't break the weight off the floor). I also did two boxing sessions last week that were very standard partner combo drills and heavy bag work.

Yesterday:

Log clean and press

177.5 x 5

202.5 x 3

227.5 x 1 (PR)

Close-grip bench press

240 x 10, 10, 9

Super-set with wide-grip chin-ups

3 x 15

The 445 deadlift was more of a grind yesterday than I expected and my back was feeling it today (standard muscle soreness and not anything injurious). As a result, my log clean was poor and my biceps did a lot more of the work than usual getting the log to my chest (on the positive side, I got to skip curls because the log already took care of them). 

227.5 went up halfway from leg drive and I strict pressed to get the lockout. On a second rep attempt, which was actually a pretty strong and snappy clean, I got the weight over my head but lost balance and literally threw the log forward onto the crash pads, which was a fun fail. Went for a third just for the hell of it and this time it was one of those reps where you barely get the log to your chest and have nothing left to press with.

Not being able to deadlift 585 was disappointing, but I have so many ways forward that the biggest challenge will be settling on one.