Axle strict press
155 x 3
175 x 3
200 x 3
* Not being a barbell it's always a guessing game where hand placement needs to be in order to have even weight distribution. On the final set it was definitely lopsided in my grip and I tried to adjust on the fly. That's why I was so suspicious of my math in adding the weight up; this felt like air. Did have to rest-pause for a second on the third rep but that usually kills my strict press momentum and is grounds for failure.
-
Super-set with chin-ups x 10

Incline bench press
200 x 8, 8, 8, 8
-
Super-set with chin-ups x 10
50 x 8, 9
Pull-ups x 50 x 8 drop-down to bodyweight x 3

Iron Woody tricep pressdowns, curls, band pull-aparts

Working early this Friday, so training will be in the afternoon. Cool shot of me at Muay Thai on Wednesday. Gonna try and make it to sparring this evening.

Strict press
145 x 5
165 x 5
187 x 3, 3
Super-set with chins x 10

Incline Bench press
110 x 8 followed immediately by 160 x 8
200 x 5 drop-down to 180 x 3
200 x 7, 7 drop-down to 160 x 3 and 110 x 3
Super-set with chins x 10
50 x 8, 8, 10

External rotations with a band

Preacher curls
35 with Fat Gripz x 8

Concentrations curls
35 with Fat Gripz  x 9

Pretty weak day. Remembered how tired my shoulders got at Muay Thai yesterday. Incline bench started out poorly but got better. Crazy pump at the end though.

I've noticed that when I'm feeling weak I rest longer to try and make my sets stronger. It rarely works out that way and I end up taking way too long for a non-impressive amount of weight lifted. So this ended up being a 2-hour session even though these poundages were not worth that. Been doing a good job of pushing the pace until now, gotta keep that up.

Made it to Muay Thai last night. I'm at the point where I'm good enough at skipping rope that I never trip up and my shoulders start to get tired. Good problem to have, just have to keep building stamina. Paired up with a partner and worked on 1, 2 to the body, 3, right leg kick, dodge the right hand, then angle back and throw a 1-2. Happy to work on angles and footwork. We did variations of this throughout the session and switched up partners.

Coach announced that one of the most prominent female Peruvian Muay Thai fighters was seated and watching and to go say hi. By the time I was ready to leave though she was gone. Damn, really wanted to meet her. Don't remember her name.

Bench press
215, 245 x 5
280 x 6
Super-set with T-bar rows
3 plates x 10, 10

Dips
50 x 10, 10, 10
Super-set with T-bar rows
4 plates x 10, 12
5 plates x 10, 10

Wide-grip Bench press
135 x 12
Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups x 10

Curls, band pull-aparts

Mediocre bench, but got a good pump. Running on 5 hours of sleep.

Front squats
300 x 3 x 5
* Now that I have some OK weight I'm going to settle in to a front squat routine of 3x5 twice a week.

One-legged RDLs
165 x 8, 8
190 x 8
* This is definitely a hamstring exercise I'm going to keep once I'm healed.

Leg raises

Did 3 hill sprints and a 10 minute jog later in the evening.

Deload

Bench press
135, 165, 200 x 5

T-bar rows
3 plates x 10
4 plates x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10

Dips
15
50 x 10, 10, 11, 11

Facepulls

Been getting much better at front squats. Currently doing 275x5 and 295x3. Have noticed wrist pain when I bench press now as a result, though wrapping them fixes the issue for that given session.
My bench and strict press seem to have switched statuses. The latter is on the way up while my bench sessions have been mediocre. The last two times I did 300x3. My front delts and pec tie-ins felt sore which I believe is from doing heavy flat benching on bench day and incline benching on press day, so I'm going to back off and replace one of those with dips to see if that improves things.

Have also gained quite a bit of weight since my break from Muay Thai. Currently at 198; last time I weighed myself in May I was 189. Ain't a bad thing, my undersized arm could always use the energy surplus.

Been training consistently, just not updating. Unjustifiably feel less inclined to now that I'm not squatting or deadlifting.

Went to Muay Thai for the first time in over a month. Am able to punch now without extra pain. Coach said it was good to have me back and he notices when I'm gone. He said he won't have me doing any hard impact striking as I heal. I have to note that after all the slightly awkward living room jump-roping I've been doing and dealing with carpet, I was able to have the best rope session ever on the mats. Skipped for around 5 minutes without missing a beat. Since I've never skipped rope straight for that long my shoulders got pretty tired.

After that we shadowboxed and then did ab exercises before moving on to the heavy bag. Combo was jab, right leg kick, left hook to the body, right leg kick again.  Transferred this to a partner with each person taking turns, and then adding a 1-2 at the end. Finally, we ended with heavy bag rounds using any combo of 3 punches and 2 kicks.

Pretty weak bench day yesterday. Hit 300x3. Was feeling hungry and I was also 2 days late with this session. Was also supposed to deload but I didn't BECAUSE of that and I reasoned I needed to move some heavy weight to make up for that. Did BBB sets after, 245x3x8 and 225x10 and x8, so those were some pretty heavy sets at least. Also increased T-bar rows to 5 plates (have nixed dumbbell rowing until my back is better because bilateral pulling just feels better and offers more stability).

3 rounds of hill sprints followed by a 20-minute jog yesterday evening. Second time this week doing that.

Worked on front squats today. Set-up is challenging for me since it's been years. Have been trying the clean set-up but my wrists can only handle a couple of reps. Today I used straps, which were comfortable but the bar kept falling forward. Still, it was the most solid out of everything I've tried, though I still sucked. Managed 1 rep of 275 for 2 sets; couldn't get more than that without the bar rolling forward into my arms. Also did 8 with 225 and 10 with 135.

Since the weight there was so light I did belt squats for a PR of 7 full plates and a 25. 8 reps.
Have also been doing one-legged RDLs this week with a Meadows row barbell set-up. Did that with two 45s and a 25. Very effective, legs are burning after 8-10 reps. Glad I found a viable hamstring exercise. It's good enough to keep after I'm healthy again.

Speaking of which, I'm continuing to feel a little better. Hope I can squat and deadlift again soon. I want to make it to an August powerlifting meet, but if things are just healing too slowly my back-up plan is a November one.

Back injury is slowly getting better. Emphasis on "slowly" though. Am able to run and throw punches with less pain than before. Really miss Muay Thai so I'm happy I can start going back soon. Will have to take it easy during sparring though.

Axel strict pressed 180x5 yesterday, an improvement from 3 the week before.

Dealing with a long term injury on my vertebrae here so my training has adapted as a result. Good news is it seems to be slooowly recovering. Doing those heavy squats a week and a half ago was a dumb idea.

Have been doing belt squats instead, combining them with lunges and front squats.

Been dealing with a strange vertebrae injury between my shoulder blades. Has persisted for about 2 weeks now. Originally thought it was very sore traps from doing Hise shrugs. The pain originated after I did deadlifts and box squats but I have no idea what actually caused it. It was managable until Friday when I did squats like a dummy. Completed the whole workout but it was slow going because of discomfort. Squatted 445x3. Shouldn't have done that, but goddamn did I feel strong. Had a weak bench day only managing 295x4, failing a 5th. Got trapped under the bar and everything, but that's not a big deal.

Felt some nerve damage happening by rep 6 on my assistance squats with the SSB (straight bar and SSB both hurt even with cushioning). Big toes have some slight numbness after that.

Gonna have to settle in for a longer-term healing process and not anticipate this going away soon. I can't squat and probably can't deadlift, but I have some ideas for legs this afternoon.

Never updated how Fanime went, but it was an awesome 3 days. I brought a shaker bottle to sip on protein throughout the day. It was pretty funny bringing it to a hotel bar. Could have actually eaten more carbs, though, with the amount of walking I was doing. I'd had an intense few days of lifting before that.

Bench press

215 x 5

245 x 5

280 x 7

215 x 15

* Was hoping for 8 but still good. As I lose weight I've noticed while my 1RMs continue to climb my strength-endurance feels challenged. By about rep 7 or 8 my muscles really feel it. Not declining, though.

Dips

50 x 10, 10

35 x 10

Bodyweight x 11

Super-set with wide-grip pull-ups and chin-ups x 10-11

* Back-work was all over the place - did weighted reps with 50 and dropped off to bodyweight when fatigued. Kept rest times pretty short for me, 2-3 minutes. 

Curls and rear-delt work

Last workout before Fanime weekend. Will update with pictures.

Went to Muay Thai on Wednesday. Worked pads with a timid new guy. Did a long string of combos and finished off with bagwork.

Thursday:

Squats
320 x 5
370 x 5
420 x 5
340 x 8
315 x 10, 10
* Core started to give on the last rep but I made it. Legs were strong. An expected result of getting so light (I weighed 189.6 today, haven't been close to that since I was 18) but still, more ab work!

Deadlifts
405 x 9

RDLs
315 x 9
* Pronated grip.

Abs

Aerobic workout in the evening.

Went to Muay Thai in the evening and met with George there. Mostly pad work. Didn't pace myself well and was throwing bombs early on, then got tired after awhile. Note that me getting tired just means I'm uncomfortable and I slow down a tiny bit to ration myself, not that I'm huffing and heaving or that I have to stop.

Deload

Axle Strict press
85, 110, 130 x 5

Dumbbell press
50s with Fat Gripz x 15
115s x 8, 8
50s with Fat Gripz x 14

T-bar rows
4 plates x 5 x 10

Curls

Three rounds of shadowkickboxing in the evening followed by an aerobic workout in my room.

Good sparring session on Friday. Opted for the open face head gear over the caged one which makes me overheat like crazy. I'm going to pick and choose depending on the physical state of my nose. Stung with my jab all night and by the end of it he commented that he was eating it non-stop. to his great credit he caught me twice with big swinging hooks. He confessed to me that he closed his eyes for one of them. Also told me that he had trouble reading my movements. That's good to hear but I dodge almost 100% and Don't really make use of a tight guard. I practice it on my own but in the heat of battle I op to move out of the way or parry. He also jacked my leg up from kicking it and though I hid it well I was limping about 30 minutes after class. I did check very vigilantly so it would have been worse had I not.

Didn't go out on the weekend. Took advantage of this by waking up and going on fasted runs both Saturday and Sunday with only a little bit of a protein shake from the night before as sustenance. And then on Sunday I did an aerobic workout in my room in the evening. Very relaxing yet productive two days. It was good to take a break from alcohol and not drive anywhere.

Deload

Mat pulls (8)
135, 315, 405 x 5
500 x 3
* All double-overhand except for 500, which was a mixed grip.

SSB box squats
300 x 5, 5, 5

Walking dumbbell lunges with fat gripz
50s x 20

SSB good mornings
150 x 10

Two deload days to record. Squatted 295x5 yesterday and benched 195x5 this morning. Yesterday evening did 3 hill sprints and a 20 minute jog afterwards.

Strict press
160 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 1 + 4 reps of push-press

Dumbbell press
115(L)/100(R) x 9, 9
125(L)/115(R) x 8

T-bar rows
4 plates x 10, 11, 12
4 plates + 25 x 12, 12

Curls

3 rounds of shadowkickboxing in the evening and an industrial dance aerobic workout with the breath-restriction mask.

So Friday sparring was a bust. While going at it with Aaron he kicked me between the legs harder than has ever happened to me and I had to bow out for the rest of the session. Really sucked. Usually I just hide it but this was brutal, haha. Not going back without a cup.

Went on a hike Saturday but it was so easy it didn't constitute any manner of training. More like a woodland stroll than anything.

Yesterday I had a headache from being hungover (only happens if I get less than 7 or 8 hours of sleep) but after a quick nap I willed myself to do mat pulls. Managed 550x6 on a second attempt after initially only getting a slow single. All in the mind. Box squats and lunges after.

Bench press
245 x 5
275 x 3
305 x 3
Last set super-set with pull-ups x 10
* Once again, felt the soreness from Muay Thai (Payam loves push-ups). Next cycle, don't be shy to rest; 72 hours between working the same body-parts is fine. 275 FELT like I was at max weight so Ihought I might only get 2 on the final set.

Weighted dips
50 x 9, 10, 10
Super-set with pull-ups x 11, 11, and weighted chins of 50 x 9

Iron Woody band pressdowns (various tensions depending on grip position) x 12

Planning on doing chest isolation and biceps tomorrow morning with some strongman training. No farmers' walks but will do keg carries. Don't want to do heavy farmers' every week so close to heavy pulling.

Yesterday:

Squats
365 x 5
415 x 3
465 x 1
335 x 2 x 8
Last set was a drop-set down to 225x10, 135x12, and front squats with just the barx12
* Depth felt shallow. Will count it but I should have taken an extra day of rest after Muay Thai the day before. Legs felt heavy (more than usual when under over 400 lbs of load, I mean...) and I was shaking under the bar.

Deadlifts
405 x 8

Unilateral Swiss ball leg curls until I got tired on each leg

Later at night I did a light aerobic dance workout with the breath mask.

Took a quick nap after work yesterday and then went to Muay Thai. Class consisted of me and a young girl, coached by Payam. Very technical class with a relatively low intensity for me. I welcome slowing things down and working on technique. I started off holding the mitts for my partner and after that mostly worked 1-on-1 with Payam with him holding the mitts for me. Did basic variations of 1-2-3 while adding in slips. I kept slipping the wrong way, it's just something I don't practice much with pads. I fumble when I have to remember a pattern instead of just free-form striking or sparring, but that's a huge part of training and I need to get better at it.

My kicks felt nasty on the heavy bag. My switch kick is a completely different weapon than what it used to be. I remember when I could not kick with my left leg in any meaningful manner but now it feels almost identical to my right.

Did a bunch of calisthenics in class, including squats. Since I was due to squat the next day I was ready to post-pone that by a day but I have no soreness and I think I'm fine. We'll see if that changes when under the bar.

Yesterday evening I skipped rope for 4 minutes, did 2 3-minute shadow kickboxing rounds, ran up the hill 3 times, and went on a 10-minute jog. Used the mask for everything but the hill sprints.

Strict press
150 x 3
170 x 3
195 x 2
* 1 rep better than last cycle but still not the 3 I'm aiming for. Good to know that cutting down on strict pressing as accessory work isn't actually making me worse, though.

Push press
195 x 4
* Going to keep this up. Max set for reps.

Bench press
185 x 10
240 x 3 x 8
Super-set with dumbbell rows of 125(L)/115(R) x 8

Fat Gripz curls

Went to the beach on the weekend and ate a lot of seafood. Before that though I did another strongman event day. Some rounds of farmers' walk with 190 in each hand, keg carries with a 160 pounder, cleans with a 110 axle, neck crunches, band pull-aparts and Swiss ball planks. Nothing was very difficult; this is a 5th day of lifting and I have no strongman competition anytime so it was mostly for fun and to hit some stuff that could use more targeting like rear-delts and abs.

Monday:

Mat pulls (9)
550x8

SSB box squats
340x3x5

Small in variety, big on weight.

Had an excellent sparring session on Friday. I feel confident in saying that my cardio gave me a competitive advantage, although in one opponent's defense he just got done training BJJ. Bottom line is training with my mask is helping, although I only expected it to psychologically. I've also been redefining what it means to spar and to NOT let my opponent catch a break. That means following up with combinations after kicks, in particular, not stepping back to indicate that I'm done. I was pretty relentless. There were several times where I would double or triple jab and the other guy seemed to relax, figuring I was done, and then I'd throw more jabs from my extended arm, almost like a 1-inch punch. I love jabbing. Also got in some good body and leg kicks, and even planted my foot squarely into a torso for the cleanest front kick I've ever landed.

Got warned not to oblique kick because it could hurt someone. Fair enough. Yes, I was copying Jon Jones.

Forgot my headgear for this session but didn't get hit hard enough to have problems. Nose was just slightly sore.

Things to work on: I think I could slam my kicks a little more. Previously I've been more focused on just getting them to land in the right spots. Now that they are I need to actually make them as much a weapon in sparring as my hands are.

Recently weighed in at 192 in the morning before breakfast with shorts on. Lightest I've been since I was a teenager. It'd be crazy if I could make the next weight-class down for August's powerlifting meet but I'm not going to push that. At my height it might just be too lean. 180 would probably be my competitive bodybuilding weight (that sucks to admit, haha).

Bench press
225,  260 x 3
290 x 5
225 x 14
* Good showing despite shoulders being sore from incline benching.

Weighted dips
50 x 10, 10, 10

Pull-ups and chin-ups
10, 12
50 x 8, 8, 8

Iron Woody band pressdowns super-set with concentration curls

Bringing my bag to work to make it to sparring this evening. It's been awhile since I've been to Muay Thai but I have NOT been resting on my laurels at home so I'm looking forward to showing everyone what I've got.

Donned my mask and sprinted up Heart Attack Hill before having to rip it off. Crazy hard. Did two more sprints and then went on a 15-20 minute jog, using the mask about half of that. It must look pretty silly to have Bane running down the street at night.

Squats
340, 390, 442 x 3

335 x 2 x 8

Barbell alternating lunges
155 x 16, 14

Good mornings
155 x 8, 10

Ab wheel
8

I'm not going to lie, this was a downright lazy session. Legs felt like lead under the bar and energy was low. Started warm-ups around 2:30 and finished my last set of good mornings by 5:00...and still had abs to do inside the house. Just took some long ass rest times between my squat sets. Going to hold my feet to the fire and record my start time in this log before beginning my session so it's staring me in the face as I record.

Overhead pressed 185x4 on Tuesday. Really thought I had 5 in me. First 3 shot up like a rocket and then my shoulders felt tired after that. Damn.

Practiced Muay Thai by myself afterwards, and also yesterday. Intended to go to class yesterday but I took a nap and slept through the afternoon.

Wasn't due to lift on Saturday but I had the day off and a morning with nothing to do, so I did some farmers' walks with 190 in each hand, neck crunches, and rear-delt work. Took maybe 20 minutes.

Went on a 7-mile hike on Sunday with friends. Was a total walk in the park for me despite plenty of uphill terrain. Only difficulty was having to go to the bathroom by the end of it. Crazy to think how badly my legs used to cramp 12 years ago.

Yesterday I failed at deadlifting 535 once on a first attempt, then on a second try I easily hit 3 reps. Thinking about pushing the Earth instead of pulling the weight did it. Really got my legs engaged that way. Nice to have a strong showing the day after hiking 7 miles.

Few hiking pictures:

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.