I haven't made it to Muay Thai this week due to car problems. It broke down on me twice driving on the freeway Tuesday. Ended up being stranded in Redwood City but made the most of it with my friend meeting up and hanging out. Ate a lot of food between two trips to a local diner, first a burger on my own and then later a barbecue dinner for the two of us. Earlier that day I hit a deload press workout, but still went pretty heavy on dumbbell pressing (115 in left, 100 in right, but only for 2 sets before doing some tricep pressdowns).

Because I was up late dealing with that mess Tuesday night (AAA didn't show up after waiting for an hour so I drove home myself down residential roads at midnight going slow), I was tired the next day, but still managed to do some home Muay Thai rounds of shadowboxing.

Yesterday and today I got some good sessions in. 415x5 squat and 275x7 bench press. I actually lifted twice yesterday, first the squat sets along with the SSB bar for 335 before work and then deadlifts and lunges at night. Between overhand gripping the bar, Fat Gripz on lunges, and Fat Gripz for skullcrushers and curls today, my forearms are fried.

Not done with the backlog of updates. I've been training a lot.

After lifting on Tuesday I went to Muay Thai. Was a big class comprised of young kids in gis who were transitioning from some other class. Interesting experience. Had to pull back a drastic amount which probably fared well for technique.

Wednesday I went on a jog, followed by 2 rounds of shadowboxing with a breath-restriction mask (this thing is hell).

Went on a night hike Saturday night with friends for about 45 minutes.

Mat pulls off of 2 pavers on Monday with 535. Felt really strong, but on rep 2 I felt a painless twinge in my back so I cut it short to be safe. No pain afterwards. Moved on to 335x2x5 box squats and a third set for 6, just because, as well as Hise shrugs with the same weight for 20. Finished up with dumbbell lunges of 50 lbs in each hand for as many reps as I felt like doing without bothering to count.

Tuesday I strict pressed 205x1 and dumbbell pressed 115 in my right arm, a move up from 100. Did 125 in my left and super-set all that with rows using the same weight.

I also rebought these for the third time since 2012. Forearm pump was downright nasty.

Bench press
235 x 5
270 x 3
300 x 3
235 x 12
* A bit sore. Trained upper-body really intensely on Wednesday and then did some push-ups yesterday at practice, along with the usual shoulder involvement from striking. Solid performance but everything past 185 felt like a ton of bricks.

Weighted dips
50 x 10

Iron Woody band tricep pressdowns
12, 10

All exercises starting from 300 bench press and after super-set with chin-ups, both bodyweight and weighted (50 lbs) x 9-12

Curls

Pretty intense 3 days of training. Ready for the weekend and lots of food. May hit up the gym with a friend on Saturday or Sunday but it would normally be mat pull/deadlift day for me, which is the worst session for a commercial gym. Will either save it for Monday at home or just do lighter, high-rep touch-and-go deadlifts for 405 or 450 depending on how sore my back is by that time (never done a controlled eccentric phase past 405).

Went to class last night. Surprisingly big group. Haven't seen that in a long time. Partnered up and worked another combo string, this time starting off with parrying a jab. Parry the fist to the side, don't smack it down.

Finished up with some intense bag-work.

Did some intense shadowboxing rounds on Wednesday after squats. Experimenting with breath restriction using a respirator. I am under no illusion that I'm somehow going to blood dope or accurately simulate elevated environments this way, which have been copiously debunked, but it DOES get me used to fighting under a suffocating blanket of misery. I notice that this sensation is the hardest part of sparring when using my headgear with full face-mask and I start to gas. I've never quit from feeling like I'm unable to breathe, but I've had to fight the urge to.

I really liked it. Started having a challenging time about 8 minutes in of hard striking. Will keep using this until I buy a specialty mask.

Some new basics to emphasize that I gleamed from a YouTube video: sit in your punches much more. Get the legs to do more of the work.

Squats
340, 395, 440 x 3
* Felt good to have a strong showing and to break the week pattern that's been ailing me the past week. First rep felt a little shallow so I sank in deeper for the next two.

335 x 2 x 8
315 x 9

Deadlifts
408 x 2, 8

Swiss ball planks and reverse crunches

Strict press
140, 170 x 3
195 x 1, 1
Last set super-set with 8 pull-ups
* This has stalled and has been at this point for awhile now.

Bench press
225 x 8
235 x 8, 8, 8
Super-set with lying dumbbell rows with 115s x 8, 8, 8, 8

Band pull-aparts, curls

Woke up with an upset stomach this morning from spicy buffalo wings the night before. Had a tough time creating good intra-abdominal pressure in my belly. Couldn't break 535 off of 2 mats on first attempt, but did it for a slow single on the second. Did a poor job of staying tight and practically RDL'd it up. Damn, I am just full of excuses this week, aren't I? Anyway, glad I at least got the bar up at all. Can't wait to attack again next week.

Have been sick but I'm better as of today. Only hit 185x3 on Saturday's press workout (wasn't sick then but shoulders were sore). Couldn't squat over 395x2 on Tuesday.

Yesterday I benched 285x5 and went to Muay Thai after. Learned a combo-string: low right kick, 3-2-3, right body kick, 3-2, left switch kick, overhand right and left hook to the body, circle out with double-jab. Started with just the first portion of that and added on.

Next, learned the calf kick. Coach Anthony said he's not the biggest fan but it can be a useful tool in the right situation. Eventually utilized it in a sparring situation. Donning headgear and a mouthguard it was going against the coach that had me gassing really hard by the end. Gassing with the headgear on always presents a suffocating feeling. Wanted to quit and get some air by taking my gear off but I suffered through. I find myself getting too spastic when I go up against him, trying to match his movements. Relax, don't waste any movement, and be efficient. Against everyone else I'm fine. When I get good enough THEN I can do fancy fake-outs every second. Glad to have gotten a good solid cardio workout, though.

No sparring Friday night. Was getting ready to lift in the morning when I got called into work after someone didn't show. Worked overtime and hit this

Mat pulls (3)
535 x 4
* Finally a good day for this depth. Really made a point to hold back on squat day and I came into the session feeling fresh.

SSB box squats
330 x 3 x 5

Great sparring session on Friday. Wish I had jotted notes down in the immediate aftermath so it's fresh. Will do that in the evening when I get home. Was told that I'm getting the better of the exchanges but then I back off and let the opponent get out of the pocket. To be frank, that's intentional. It's sparring so I want the other guy to be able to respond and get some work in. I recognize that this is kind of silly and they'll learn more if THEY have to figure out how to escape, so I need to stop being such a nice guy. 

Strict pressed 185x3 on Saturday, falling well short of 5. Might be my shoulders are getting too much work between Muay Thai and all the pressing I do. Will cut-back a little to favor direct tricep work and give my deltoids a little bit of a break.

Squatted 415x5 yesterday, came pretty easy.

Did a prolonged cardio circuit yesterday consisting of skipping rope in my living room and shadowboxing.

Deload mat pull workout today. 405x5 double-overhand touch-and-go, and 500x1, all off of 3 mats. 500 felt heavy without a belt, rep was slower than I'd expect it to be and back felt looser than it should have been. SSB box squats of 295x3x5 after.

Planning on hitting up sparring tonight. From now on I will jot down points of focus beforehand on things I want to improve. For this week:

> Chin down when striking.
> Pivot followed by a wind-up into a hook. Pivot and work angles in general.
> Rolling the shoulder and using full reach when throwing the right.
> Feints.
> Low leg kicks are cool but hit the thighs more, those aren't protected by shin guards.

Knocked out deload squat and bench press workouts. Have been sick from the weekend but feeling better yesterday and today. Cardio has been minimal as a result, just some form practicing at an aerobically-charged pace.

Had a big dinner last night for Persian New Year at my aunt's.

Had an excellent sparring session Friday. Threw the best kicks I've utilized in a livefire situation. They were dangerous enough that I could see my opponents being thrown off by them, which has almost never been the case before. Only glaring regret I have is I completely forgot to use feints and suddenly remembered as I got into my car to go home.

Did a deload press workout Saturday.

Went to Muay Thai on Wednesday with George. Worked on the clinch and kneeing the body. Also got a refresher in posting, which I definitely need to use in sparring more for distance control. Coach held the mitts for me while I fired off some super fast combos at his command, although my brain still gets mixed up if too many numbers are given too fast.

Mat pulled only 535x1 off of 3 today. Did that both attempts. Still sore from squats and simply could not explode up the way I wanted to. Going to switch deadlift and squat days to avoid this problem. New challenge is I will now be squatting on the same day I spar which might result in leg cramps, so I will go a little easier on the assistance work after my main sets.

Have been doing some reverse leg-raises on a Swiss ball in imitation of a reverse-hyper and my back feels great today. Used some bands in an attempt to add resistance but it didn't make much of a difference. I'd have to get creative with the set-up if I want to really feel some weight on my heels.

Bench press
230 x 5
260 x 3
295 x 4
230 x 12
* Felt heavy today but had a better showing than last cycle when my butt came off the bench. Thought I could get more than 12 for the 230 but my shoulders weren't having it. Just a reality of Muay Thai. Might do a little less pressing for assistance work and add in direct tricep exercises.

Strict press
135 x 8,10

Chins
8, 10
50 x 8, 9, 9

Tricep pressdowns, curls

Squats
360 x 5
410 x 3
460 x 1
360 x 7
315 x 8
295 x 10
* Very smooth single. Have quite a bit left in me. I really want 500 at my next meet, which would match my last competition number but at a lighter weight class. Going to do first set last for squats from now on.

Deadlifts
405 x 8

Swiss ball leg curls

Did 4 hill sprints last night and went on a jog afterwards.

Warming up this morning I noticed my left hand has pain, particularly on the middle knuckle. Was a little hard to grip the bar and typing kind of hurts. Will do some easy expansion exercises with rubber bands.

Strict press
160 x 5
180 x 3
202 x 1
160 x 7
* First-set-last is a 1-rep improvement. Hard-fought.

Chin-ups
10, 10

Axle bench
110x5+165x8
235 x 8, 8
Super-set with dumbbell rows of 115(L)/100(R) x 8-10

Curls

Swiss ball planks

Bought an air mattress so I sleep better at my friend's house on Saturdays when we go out. Previously I was sleeping on a wrestling mat and sleeping bag and I'd typically get an interrupted bout of 6 or so hours of sleep because of the discomfort, and have felt like crap on Sundays as a result.

Mat pulls (4)
535 x 4
Not bad but I was aiming for 5. 4 mats is when it starts to actually feel like a deadlift to me. To remedy this I plan on nixing the RDLs on squat day as well as the squat drop-down sets and increasing the deficit deadlift weight to 405. Deadlifting 405 for reps on squat day has historically helped me with deeper mat pulls.

SSB box squats
335 x 3 x 5

I'm eating like a beast before and after training and keeping carbs low at other times of the day. The result is I've maintained my weight but my right arm has been growing, albeit slowly. Currently 195. Later this year I would like to gain weight to make my arms fully even, if possible.

Went to Muay Thai on Wednesday with George. Started out with more footwork and movement drills, which I really appreciate. Basically just went down the length of the gym while throwing a 1, then later a 1-2, and finally a 1-2-3. Simple, but getting a solid pivot while moving can sometimes be tricky.

Afterwards we separated into beginners and everyone else. And because class size is small, by this I mean George and a mom + daughter duo went to work with coach Anthony while me and this one other guy I know went with assistant coach Tyler to spar. We rotated in and out. Opted not to don headgear because Ty said to only go very light and I wanted to emphasize adhering to this. Got decked in the nose once which hurt but wasn't bad. Toward the end when sparring Tyler he kicked me pretty hard in the torso which knocked the wind out of me. I would say this session was just about perfect for intensity level, though. 99% of the time the shots were hard enough to punish but not enough to cause lasting damage, which is all I ask for if I'm still at the stage where I need to polish up some fundamentals (especially defensive).

Immediately at the start of the first round coach Ty tells me I'm too jumpy, which seems to happen when I try to be loose. Need to find a medium between being relaxed but not wasting energy with needless movement. Be mobile, but intelligently.

I covered distance better than before by not standing too wide and instead stepping in to throw. As usual, my jab was good. I really want to bring everything up to speed. Going to throw more uppercuts next time.

I've been feeling more confident about throwing kicks without eating shots. Now I need to pick them better. Need to quit landing on my opponent's backside and hit some vulnerable spots.

Gassed by the end although I forced through and kept it competitive. It really depends on the opponent, and these two are good enough to make me work compared to everyone else except one older guy who comes on Fridays. Jogging and some hill sprints aren't going to cut it, but I've also kept my cardio outside of Muay Thai fairly recoverable because of lifting. Ah, the conundrum they warn you about. I believe I can stand to add another really intense conditioning workout a week, and if I need to it won't be a problem to cut down on some reps under the iron.

Squats
340, 385, 435 x 3
330 x 2 x 8 -> drop-set to 225, 135, 45 x 10

RDLs
335 x 8

Deficit deadlifts
335 x 7

Having some good luck with the rain. It pours in the morning and at night but not in the afternoon when I train.

Failed to strict press 182x5 on Saturday, which I've done before. Got 4 instead. Seems like whatever I switch to the second week tends to suffer just a little bit.

Went to Muay Thai yesterday with George, who signed up. Did a lot of pad work and then kicked the shield. Got reminded to rotate more with my arm in the direction of the kick, which helps a lot with pivoting properly.

Raining today which sucks but squats must be done.

Bench pressed 265x8 on Wednesday.

Did 4 3-minute rounds of Muay Thai practice yesterday before going on a jog. Knees were hurting, both of them. Gained some good insights from a footwork video on YouTube. During sparring I am definitely standing too wide when chasing opponents. STEP into throwing the right hand instead of reaching super far with my rear leg planted. You can still pivot, just have to put your foot down. Also practiced pivoting into a left hook, wherein the pivot comes first and then the torso rotates to follow, like you're winding up. Really keen on honing my mobility and not getting stuck in a pocket.

This morning, mat pulled 535x2 off of 4 pavers before the bar rolled off. Reset and immediately went for more reps. Couldn't even break the bar off the mats this time. I woke up with my back sore, maybe from sleeping in a poor position. Also felt lethargic and sluggish, in general. I ate Costco pizza and coffee cake with coffee for breakfast and instead of feeling strong off all the calories I just felt like crap. It's okay to have a little more leeway with diet peri-workout but will try to be a little more reasonable with it, haha. I have actually had success eating like this at work before heavy squat workouts but something about it being first thing in the morning just nauseated me.

Squats
315, 360, 410 x 5
330 x 8, 9
Last set dropset to 225, 135, 45 x 10
* Some left knee pain just from walking upstairs, but wasn't an issue squatting. Nor was my busted right shin. Weight felt very light but I felt light-headed and shaky so it was hard to balance, like I could blast up a lot more than I was at the risk of falling right over. Maybe train sooner after eating when doing squats.

Romanian deadlifts (overhand)
315 x 8

TnG deadlifts
335 x 8

Last week George expressed interest in going to Muay Thai with me so we planned for yesterday. I met him at 7:00 for the 7:15 class. Very chill session since coach wanted me to stick with my friend for the duration of it rather than go with the more advanced group. We did warm-ups and drilled footwork, then took turns holding the mitts for each other. At the end we took the combo we'd been working on and applied it to the bag with a right kick at the end. Finished with abs.

Injured my shin at the work party on Saturday kicking some old equipment that was bound to be thrown away. Pretty stupid. Well, it was healing nicely until I slammed it into the bag and felt pain shoot up my leg. Went southpaw until class ended after that. After a good sleep though it feels much better again. I should be able to squat with it but will refrain from kicking anything (Lord help me).

Strict press
150, 170, 190 x 3
150 x 8
* Finally got this after a couple of months failing, and it was easy despite the back that my shoulders were a little sore from sparring. Key changes I made were strict pressing on my bench days and changing this cycle to 3/5/1.

Bench press
235 x 3 x 8

Curls

Got some hard sparring rounds in tonight. My new headgear is a protective wonder. Ate a headkick and kept on trucking even after my opponent stopped out of concern. I would say I employed my gameplan with success tonight. Threw combos, angled out of corners, and utilized my 1-2 attack pattern.

My jab was crazy fast tonight and found a lot of victims. On the other, my distance was off for more kicks than I would have liked. I may actually blame this on the headgear I just praised a moment ago. Extra protection means less visibility and I found myself looking down to see incoming kicks a lot, something I had gotten over doing before. A lot of my kicks fell short, too.

Felt like death at the end of the last round but came away with little actual damage other than a sore leg.

Afterwards, went to my uncle's and had a nice Persian dinner. Going to bed at a reasonable hour to wake up for more training tomorrow and a work dinner + party in the evening.

Mat pulls (5)
Up to 535x5
* Not too hard. Deadlifting as assistance work is really helping. Might have had another in me, and definitely had a couple more if I rest-paused.

SSB box squats
Up to 330x3x5

SSB hise shrugs
330 x 20

Neck crunches between sets

Wanted to do some deadlifts and ab work but I'm sparring this evening and want to be fresh. Walked into work after this session not even feeling like I lifted in the morning.

An idea I recently learned from an online Muay Thai instructional video is to break-up offense into two distinct phases. Move in, strike, defend if necessary, and then blast out your second combo. Will keep in mind tomorrow during sparring along with working the angles.

Deload

Bench press
135, 155, 185 x 5

Dumbbell press
100(L)/80(R) x 8, 8, 10

Strict press (clean on first rep)
135 x 8, 8

Presses are super-set with dumbbell rows of same dumbbell weight x 6 sets of 10-12

Curls

Excellent Muay Thai session in the evening. Small class. Paired up with a girl and hit the mitts. 1-5 to start with (not a true upper-cut; he showed us something that starts like a jab but twists up, yet he called it a 5 when demonstrating with the assistant coach). Add on 2-3 to that, then a slip and a 3.

Full combo is 1-5-2-3 slip 3

This girl had awesome power and she was arm-punching. Coach had to tell her repeatedly to pivot more. When holding for me she encouraged me to hit harder but I told her I'm pacing myself. As the rounds went on we went faster and harder and the coach commented on how loud my punches were echoing throughout the gym.

Switching stances messed me up but it's been something I'm working on in general and will continue to.

Ended with taking this combo over to the bag but breaking it up with kicks every 2 strikes. 3 rounds total. 1 conventional, 1 southpaw, and the final where we switched after every combo.

Knuckles were pretty red after class. Very fun evening.

Deload squat workout yesterday. Up to 290x5 and then 245x3x10. Ended with 315x8 deficit deadlifts, double-overhand, and some ab work. Did Swiss ball planks again and felt it in my pectorals.

Practiced Muay Thai for 3 rounds, 3 minutes each and then did 2 hill sprints and a jog afterwards.

Deload

Strict press
95, 115, 135 x 5

Dips
10
35 x 10
50 x 10, 10, 15

Chin-ups
6 sets of 10-12

Curls

Birthday today. Meeting Sam for lunch and then going up to San Francisco for a sushi dinner and after-party.

Did 4 hill sprints after work yesterday, followed by a 15-minute jog. Later at night went on an easy 20-minute jog.

Still very sore but forced myself to do a deload workout for lower body. Mat pulls up to 500x3 to start with off of 6 pavers. Could not break the bar for two initial attempts, but after putting a belt on it went easy. Afterwards did 295x3x5 SSB box squats, Hise shrugs for 30 reps on the final set, and planks + reverse crunches.

For the planks I did them elevated with a Swiss ball for about a minute. Wasn't too much harder actually but the squeeze made my pecs burn, which was the intent.

DOMS from squats is real this week. Must have been from the drop-set I did.

Bench pressed 290x4 yesterday. Had a tough time with the 4th; butt came off the bench, which almost never happens with me. Lifted in the pouring rain and had a rain jacket on with two pairs of glasses over my face to prevent water getting in my eyes. Must have been quite a sight.

Sparred again on Friday night. Got my leg, which was already hurting from sparring on Thursday, whacked some more which caused me to stumble. People went easy on it afterwards. Worked on directional pivots in particular. Good session.

Squatted 455 yesterday. Sore today.

Wasn't sure about doing this session today or tomorrow due to slightly sore shoulders but I went for it and actually felt pretty strong.

Strict press
160 x 5
180 x 3
202 x 1
160 x 6

Chin-ups
8, 12

Bench press
185 x 8
225 x 3 x 8

Super-set with lying dumbbell rows
115(L)/100(R) x 4 x 8-10

Called it here to get ready for work. Planning to hit rear-delts, biceps, and maybe neck (been training it with squats) tomorrow morning.

Muay Thai yesterday. Started out with simple footwork drills. Forward, back, and side to side. Added jabs and 1-2s.

Moved on to sparring in rotations of 3 people: coach Tyler, Aaron (big guy), and lanky guy named Sang. Aaron spars weird. He will cover up and stay still, tanking hits for awhile. I hit him at will but because I'm not throwing too hard I don't break his guard. Next time I'll make a point to adjust on the fly for this and increase my power. His body is left completely open and I punch his torso tons of times in succession. Then he'll decide to start throwing hard, sometimes the same punch over and over. Afterwards he'll explain that he's trying to teach you a lesson in not falling for the same thing repeatedly. Okay, I see the value in that but...it's not working for you. If I went as hard as some other people here do you'd be getting pretty damaged, and you're not landing the punch that's supposed to be punishing me.

I went into this entire session with "ANGLES" on my mind and it paid off excellently. Aaron would throw right crosses and I circled around, tagging him clean as I saw his punch go past me. This happened 3 times in a row and he complimented me.

Sparring with coach Tyler is always a fast-paced match. He got me good on my quad and I'm limping a little from it.

The other guy was tired and seemed a little new. We went extremely light.

I didn't use my new headgear. It was only $40 (as opposed to the $330 Winning one I had my eye on). Because my nose has been bothering me in sparring it has a face cage. Looks like overkill but I don't care. Did get my nose bopped a few times and it hurt worse than normal because it was still smarting from sparring 2 weeks ago, but nothing got me too hard.

Landed more kicks than I probably ever have sparring before, but to my discredit two were groin shots. Left kicks both times. Be more careful. Also need to be faster at checking. I can see the kicks coming but can't react fast enough, resulting in a half check. Might need to adjust my stance for that and keep more weight on my back leg.

Great night overall.

Mat pulls (6)
535 x 3
*Back felt weak. Still sick. Will try again at this depth next week. Keep pulling from the floor, it always gives a boost.

SSB box squats
Up to 330 x 3 x 5

Romanian deadlifts
315 x 8

Deadlifts
315 x 8

*Last two sets of deadlifts were done on a slight decline so a deficit was present.

Planks
1:12
* I seem to remember a few years ago I was only doing planks for 30 to 40 seconds. Out of nowhere they became really easy. Maybe Muay Thai? Also much lighter body weight.

Trained sick.

Bench press
215 x 3
245 x 3
275 x 5
215 x 14

Strict press (power-clean first rep)
135 x 8, 8, 8

Band flyes
20

Super-set with pull-ups
8, 12
35 x 8, 10, 10, 10

Curls
50s x 8
50 (left hand only) x 5 dropset to 35 x 4

Right bicep was hurting a little from the power cleans and weighted pull-ups. Growing pains, nothing to worry about. Come to think of it this might be the first time I've done cleans since surgery.

Yesterday:

Squats
335 x 3
380 x 3
430 x 3
335 x 8, 7
315 x 7
*Didn't feel too heavy, but felt very sluggish today. Energy levels were low and was lazy about rest times.

Swiss ball leg curls

Strict press
150, 170 x 3
190 x 2, 2
150 x 11
140 x 10
*This is annoying. Been unable to get 3 for almost 2 months now even after introducing push presses. Oh well, my other weeks keep getting better and I'm not gaining weight, so it's not too bad. Will make some further changes that have worked for me before. As an aside, goddamn does it feel lame to struggle with this weight after my pre-surgery numbers.

Chin-ups
8
35 x 8
50 x 8, 8, 8

Incline dumbbell press
100(L)/80(R) x 6
50s x 13, 12

Curls

Mat pulls (7)
535 x 8
*Came home after work and went to work on leveling the ground with a shovel. silly of me not to do this sooner. Had no issues with the barbell falling off the mats. Was actually able to do a max effort for once, although I didn't rest pause. Watched a clip of the new DBZ Broly movie that's currently in theaters to get me angry before the set.

Box squats
330 x 3 x 5

Swiss ball leg curls
20

Plank
1:22

Crush grippers

Also did various neck crunches

Weighed 192.4 with sweater and pants on first thing in the morning. Right arm has been growing so that's lighter than I thought I'd be, but cool. I can gain a little weight before the April meeting, which I think is an ideal situation to be in.

Bench press
200, 230 x 5
260 x 8
230 x 8, 8, 8
Notes: Sore shoulders from sparring. Was unsure about the feasibility of 8 so I donned a mouth guard and took my sweater off. Not too hard. was going to do first set last and forgot, but if I'm doing the same lift for assistance work then I can probably bear to skip it.
^
Super-set with dumbbell rows
80 x 8
115(L)/100(R) x 8, 8, 8, 8

Curls

Sparring was rough tonight. Legs didn't cramp but felt like lead and I wasn't moving as effectively as I needed to. Ate a lot of shots. Gave them back, too. Basically turned into brawl. One guy was extra aggressive and kept clinching so I kept throwing him off, prompting the coach to tell him to cut it out because I'm bigger than him. Shed blood too. Superficial wound, cut to the bridge of the nose. Bled on the mats though. It was fun. I like rough-housing. But dammit, I really want sparring partners who go light enough that we can relax and focus on drilling technique instead of aiming to cause damage. I'm not saying all the time, either! Just some of it, or even a lot of it. Just MY preference; I could be totally off the mark in the realm of effective development.

No leg pain in the match but getting out of my car once I got home had me limping. I didn't even get kicked in the legs this time (everyone was just throwing bombs up top). It's from squats, running, and then sparring.

Despite this, went on a 10-minute jog when I got home, and a 10-minute walk after dinner. Very productive Friday night.

Last night did 9 minutes total of shadowboxing and kicking, then went on a 10-minute jog. Being done on the same day as squats caused my legs to cramp at the end.

Woke up today and went on a fasted jog of about 25 minutes after taking a little bit of protein. Legs are feeling sore but nothing crazy. Hoping I don't cramp during sparring.

It took a couple of weeks to get the hang of them again but I'm good again with barbell squats.

Squats
315, 365, 405 x 5
Felt very light but still a little wobbly after using the SSB for so long.

315 x 10, 9, 9

RDLs
315 x 8

Dimel deadlifts
315 x 5 (grip gave out)

Swiss ball leg curls

Shadowboxed for a total of 3 minutes yesterday; 3 rounds with 60 second rest periods. Stretching has been paying off. Kicks are flowing much more loosely and naturally.

Have been studying a lot of tutorials on YouTube. Can't wait to implement what I've learned into sparring tomorrow.

Strict press
140 x 5
160 x 5
182 x 5

Push press
195 x 6

Strict press
140 x 12

Incline bench
185 x 4 -> 165 x 4
165 x 8, 8

All presses except work-up sets super-set with chin-ups, starting with bodyweight and working up to 35 lbs (first time doing weighted chins since surgery)

Curls, band pull-aparts

I curled a 50 in my right arm, moving up from the 35 I've been using.

At night I did 5 3-minute rounds of shadowboxing and kicking, with 1-minute rest periods.

4 hill sprints yesterday with a 15-minute jog afterwards. Worked almost 12 hours so took constant breaks to stretch. I've been doing the splits at my desk (or as close to them as I can get anyway) which feels really good on my back as well as keeping me flexible for Muay Thai.