Entry #323

Replaced resistance day for lower body with bodyweight drills due to lingering throe in my back. Barbell squats require too much stability from the back for comfort in this condition. Felt extremely light on my toes with shootfighters, though legs felt shaky after a few sets from the unfamiliar rep range.

At this point I'm most comfortable with the brief, burst movement that powerlifting entails. I wonder how much of an influence this has on my style of fighting. My guess would be little. My contention with muscle endurance seems to be specific enough to not be much of an issue; I feel like I can go all day in sparring and bag training, just not these exercises. Food for thought.

Attempt for the following set of boot~strappers resulted in increased back pain, so I cut it short. I'm stretching in the evening to relieve this.

Shadowboxing and bag~work are currently on hold.

Entry #322

Super~sets are proving more than adequate for endurance work. Forced me to go lower on some sets, however, but I'm recovering faster than ever.

Hurt my back somehow. Remember to warm~up before going all out in shadowboxing.

Entry #321

Bare~knuckled the heavy bag. Made huge progress on maintaining form. My
wrists didn't bend at all  in the later rounds. Ironically enough, safe
form means I'm punching harder so I drew a lot of blood. Stayed with
the familiar stance today.

I've also just realized that I'm a right~handed southpaw.

Entry #320

Tris are still sore from the pushups...from Tuesday. Amazing. My endurance needs the most improvement, however. My arms fatigued easily on the speedbag today.

Otherwise, I made good gains. 70 lb dumbbells on overhead press felt light.

Entry #319

Performed Workout #1 from www.trainforstrength.com
Completed it with little difficulty. Last time I was unable to complete the push~ups pyramid.
I'm reaping the benefits of endurance training. I might have this replace the bodybuilding routine for the following week. Most likely I'll just alternate from one to the other before going back to powerlifting.

Did some experimenting in shadowboxing today with a peek~a~boo stance. I'm not going to attempt to practice with it until I can officially get coached, but just from trying it feels so much more natural to me than what I've already learned. The tight guard feels awesome. Must check out the gym this weekend. I'll have struck gold if I can run to it.

Found a boxing gym near me. It's closer than AKA is. Might be within running distance.

I can't stand straight. I tried to box and I just fell down.

Entry #316

Have been steadily increasing calorie intake. I'm going to manage by without weightgainer for another week or two.

New split is 100% bodybuilding. It'll be on the menu for just a few weeks, however. Entirely custom~made.

Monday: Quads/Glutes/Calves
Tuesday: Chest/Lats/Traps/Forearms
Wednesday: Delts/Calves/Abs
Thursday: Lower back/Hamstrings
Friday: Triceps/Biceps/Forearms
Saturday: Delts/Traps/Calves/Abs
Sunday: Rest

High volume stuff, but I've been resting for this. There's also no pre~set routine. I'll be relying on experience and intuition. This encourages the variety and shock that bodybuilding entails. Squats, deadlifts, and bench are all in still.

Will continue bag~work as normal. I'm trying to look up the aforementioned MMA guy for AKA.

Entry #315

Taking a few days off while I devise a new routine. It's going to be bodybuilding~oriented in order to give my system a break from maxing out multiple times a week. Last time I tried this I made tremendous gains (January '06, ECO training).

Shoulder is feeling better so I can probably resume boxing~work with no problems.

Entry ##314

End cutting phase.

Currently at 192 lbs, which is 20 lbs less than what I was in April.

Pics:

Cut short again. Shoulder problems.

Entry #313

ME lower~body

Was extremely careful coming in. Had an extensive warm~up with the exercise bike.

Felt a small pain in left leg joint going down on third set of squat. I repeated the same weight for another and the problem remained. I took no chances; reracked the bar from there. Still, it was much better than last time. Should have no problems next week at this rate, and with the extra DE training days.

Instead switched over to heavy lunges with 105's for dumbbells, and had no problems. Made gains on this.

Entry #312

Cardio day. HIIT in the morning on the track, jumprope later at night. Conditioning is excellent.

Entry #311

Internet was down; unable to record yesterday.

Saturday, August 5, 2006

DE upperbody

I've lost 12 lbs and am down to 195.

Also began reloading phase on creatine mono.

Speedbag for warm~up. Three rounds of it mixed in between the initial sets of the first lift for endurance purposes.

Continued on with ten sets of speedbench. 185 felt oddly heavy, but I was rather sore. Made a point of bringing the bar down lower; instinctively it comes down to my chest. Blame bodybuilding.

Went heavy on everything else. No drop in gains here.

Found a new recruit for the AKA. I knew the guy working at Taco Bell when I walked there later at night. He asked me about training and made mention of how he wants to join there. He said he's excited because he just got his new car, too. Still, it'll only work if it's offered to me; I'm not going to impose myself on his convenience by getting a ride from him everytime. Same goes for George and the other dude (who never got back to me). If I can somehow organize all of this to work, though, I'll have some awesome training partners.

Entry #310

DE lowerbody

Making a point of not missing out on these.  Box squats work, in regards to both assisting heavy lifts and as AR. Started out stiff, but felt strong by the end.

Did Romanians for back work with 225. The form is tricky; should practice on a clear bar at home. It's worth the trouble because they're better than extensions for building hammies.

As with box squats, shrugs were tough to get into. Probably harder than before because of the DL's, but by the end I was repping 'till I saw red. Loaded the bar with 365 lbs. Great carryover for grip.

Worked on some easy knees and combinations at home, more for the sake of stretching out than anything else.

Entry #309

ME lowerbody

Cut short in a matter of sets. I pulled a muscle on squats. I was having trouble with 285 (!), and on rep one of set two I felt a sharp pain in my thigh. Reracked it and had a long, thoughtful walk home.

There's literally some new obstacle or injury every week now. This is fucking war.

Entry #308

Took a week off due to my back. Never do half~assed deadlifts.

In a state of comtemplation. I'm considering switching over to bodybuilding routines for a few weeks for the sake of refreshment. The most significant strength gains I've experienced occurred the last time I tried this.

Rose early today for cardio and conditioning continues to improve. Ran to the highschool, did laps around the track (doing HIIT on the final), and ran home with little fatigue and only short rests between.

Entry #307

Still haven't heard back from the friend who expressed interest in the AKA.

Worked on knees today.

Entry #306

Was sore from hiking, and my deadlift suffered. Somehow this must have caused me to use more back and less legs; afterwards my back was so sore that I couldn't do crunches. Fucked my entire day.

Entry #305

Just went on a long uphill hike with George today. Got a good workout for my legs.

Bodyfat is way low. As long as I make strength gains, it doesn't matter. I could probably start bulking now, but I want to condition further.

Entry #304

ME upper~body

Continued on with floor presses. The movement still feels awkward. 275 lbs didn't feel like much. Probably could have gone for more than just singles with that weight. Hopefully this carries over.

Pullups were much easier, probably due in part to losing weight. Widened the grip to compensate. I should start to look towards adding resistance on them.

Went hiking on a trail with George. Killed my legs. I was still sore from yesterday.

Entry #303

Beginning reloading phase of creatine mono.

ME lower~body:

Made gains despite losing weight. Deadlifted 365 lbs for triples and 395 lbs for multiple sets of singles. Grip was tighter than previous efforts and there was no failure because of it. Shrugs pay off.

Also started bringing protein concoction to the gym and mixing it immediately after. I really don't need to use the blender.

Entry #302

Jogged to the track and did four laps of moderate interval training. Couldn't help but notice how much faster my default jogging speed is than everyone else on the track. Legs held out fine. Jogged home afterwards.

Evening, ran from George's house and commenced with jump-rope circuit at home.

Conditioning is at an excellent level.

Entry #301

DE upper-body

Down to an even 200 lbs.

Began with a speed~bag warm~up. Reduced the rests in between sets of speed bench and continued to integrate bag work alongside. I figure it's a good opportunity to train for muscle endurance, in stark contrast to ME days. Increased the weight on several sets even, despite the weight loss.

Jumprope circuit later at night. Kept tripping up over it, for some reason.

2:32 AM
It's worse tonight. I went along with the pain and shadowboxed with it to build up pain tolerance. Still need to see a doctor.

3:00 AM
Just woke up. My stomach is cramped so bad that it's hard to breathe. I came on here to wait for it to pass; I think I'll have to go to the doctor early today so I can train after. It's been bad the last few days, but never this severe.

Entry #298

Sparred in the park.

Started off with heavy-contact. Shoulders were sore from lifting on the previous day, but I did an extremely consistant job of keeping the hands up. Felt like I could throw jabs all day. Did excellent in working them into combinations.

Kicks were abysmal. The power is there, but a moving opponent throws me off, admittedly. More than once I connected with my toes to an undesired location. At least I have the mechanics of it improved, but I'm looking forward to more work on them with actual humans. I need to anticipate and aim, not just recollect bag drills. Oddly enough, this isn't as significant an issue in regards to handwork.

Also did an exceptional job of bobbing and weaving. No idea where I picked this up. I've always just parried, but the smaller glove size made that and covering~up more difficult. George noticed this as well; consequently, he wanted to focus on that. We did a drill of me going for his head and him defending. I didn't want stay with this for too long because it didn't allow him a chance to defend via any sort of counter.

Calves cramped out before long. I brushed it off as nothing, we reset the timer, I attempted initiation with a roundhouse, and instead fell down before even getting halfway, unable to move my left leg. I encouraged George to keep coming, but he wouldn't have it. I fucking hate being weak.

Notes:
> Stay loose. Don't flex while fighting.
> Don't shift weight onto back leg so much.
> Don't telegraph kicks by changing stance. Just use whatever the situation calls for.
> Use more hooks. Got too comfortable with jab~jab~straight.

Entry #297

ME upper-body

Started floor-presses. The weight is basically what I bench. I need to get used to the coordination of it; had difficulty keeping shoulder blades pinched without having my legs extended to stretch my body out, as it would on bench press.

Have been using the speed-bag and the standing-bag for warm-up as of late. Knuckles are raw and cut from going bareknuckle so often, but the bag is soft compared to what I've got at home, so it's just skin breaking. .

Found a possible sparring partner. He's a competitive MMA'er with primarily BJJ in his arsenal, in stark contrast to my situation. We'd go hand in hand. I'm also lending him the AKA address, so if he's close I can maybe get a ride with him to the center, but I don't want to impose myself.

Jump-roping in the evening. Didn't aggravate my shin.

Entry #296

DE upper-body

Mixed in standing bag rounds with speed bench today. Momentum mechanics stayed consistant; endurance seems to be improving. It's getting easier and easier to go through fatigue and to keep my hands up throughout training. Shin is still in a bad state, but the soft wimpy gym bag allowed me to mix in kicks.

Also went to George's TKD black-belt testing, second degree. Regardless of my thoughts on the 4-on-1 sparring, the conditioning involved was impressive.

Entry #295

DE lower-body

Box squats killed my right shin. Walking with a limp now. Barbell shrugs were awesome, though. Hands felt like vice-grips. 365 lbs for ten reps felt like nothing, but was using a mixed grip. Hopefully, this transfers over to deadlifts.

Entry #294

ME upper-body

Left tricep was excruciatingly and unevenly sore for some reason. Consequently, was unable to bench straight. Had to nix the entire push portion of the session.

Also attempted some easy sets of floor press in the squat rack to drill the form down for next week. Got a headache from having my head press into the ground. Otherwise is a good situation for training, however, considering how desolate the rack room usually is.

The safety bars don't go down low enough in the rack to enable a full ROM (with elbows contacting the floor). Looks like I'm going without them.

Did a jump-rope circuit in the evening.

Entry #293

Finally back in the gym. DE upper-body day. Supplemented speed bench with speed bag mixed with standing bag rounds in-between five of the ten sets. Coordination and speed is good enough so that speed bag can be used as continuous cardio in and of itself. Used 50 lb dumbbells for skull-crushers, but the aforementioned bag work took a toll on endurance for tricep training.

Eating was big today. Lots of calories and fat.

Entry #292

Extensive static stretches in the AM. Opted to skip out on DE day for my leg's sake. Tomorrow should go as planned. No difficulties with jump roping in the late hours.

Diet has been extremely consistent.

Entry #291

Went on a run after a few days of rest. No problems from shins, and cardio held out the entire way. Shoulder is also better. Nevertheless, I intentionally skipped ME days for this week.

Entry #290

Bad case of shin~splints. Have been taking the week off, save for Tuesday. Squat number was down by a lot, likely in due part to the aforementioned injury and burned out CNS. Will still keep up boxing drills, but no thai kicks. Shoulder has also been acting up, though it's the other side this time. Things should even out by next week.

Entry #289

DE upper-body:
Decreased rest period in-between sets of speed bench. Would have liked to do speed-bag transitions, but the bag was flat. Could make a point of instead using the punching bag instead next time, but fatigue usually sets in if I bench immediately after working that. Still, this may actually be something to continue working on.

Cardio circuit:
Jump-rope run late at night. Technique in it isn't good enough so that it's as continuous a motion as running is, but the dynamics of it are more applicable to fighting. It's also easier on the joints.

Entry #288

DE lower-body
Continued training under two plates for box squats. Becoming more proficient with explosive concentric movement, but there is still a subsequent pause at the bottom. Awesome as to what extent flexibility is being incorporated into this movement, nevertheless.

Been using the Playstation 2 Eyetoy for some easy cardio on rest-days.

Entry #287

ME upper-body:
Consecutively advanced weight on bench singles. 275 proved to be no problem without a spotter, but form was off 10 lbs later. Should practice the technique at home on a free bar. Also need to work on faster eccentric phase while maintaining control. Several alterations this week: close-grip bench currently posing as my replacement for dips, and seperate deltoid movements being given more emphasis. When time is low, thus should be my priorities; curls come last. Will incorporate this sort of philosophy from now on, rather than follow the order strictly by what's written.

Analysis of MT drills:
Introduced a brief warm-up session via dynamic stretching methods, taken from trickstutorials.com.
> Followed up with 50 right roundhouses.
Felt much improved due to the prior stretching. No strain in hip flexors.
> 50 left roundhouses.
Couple instances of sloppy foot positioning upon lift-off; back leg would tweak for compensation of impact. Need to enforce a solid base.
> 50 right straights.
Fatigue in shoulder, most likely  result from today's lifting split. Excellent maintenance in power despite this.
> 50 left straights.
Still feels awkward from this position. Need to get this fixed with proper instructioning.

Analysis of heavybag rounds:
> 5 rounds of MT,  3 minutes each, 4 oz. gloves.
More shoulder fatigue, but if anything this forced me to lower my chin to compensate in order to get it behind my drooping hands. A testament to how instinctive protecting my chin has become.
> 3 rounds of MT, 1 minute each, bare-knuckle.
Noticeable improvement in fist conditioning. Little loss of power between the transition from gloves to bare. Was having trouble getting used to the lack of support, however; warped my wrist on more occasions than one.

Finished off with 10 minutes of jump-rope.

Entry #286

ME lower-body:
Regained lost strength. Can most likely attribute this to rejuvenated CNS via better sleep and consistency with DE days. Also have the advantage of creatine loading. Depth on squat was lower than ever; consequently, 365 on single still proved to be too much.

Entry #285

Synopsis of bagwork:
50 right roundhouses
50 left roundhouses
50 right straights
50 left straights
> Reiterating moves like this is helping to erradicate sloppy habits, especially "wrist~warping". Should expand upon these drills. Better warm-up is desirable as well, perhaps via dynamics.

2 full~purpose rounds, 4 oz. gloves
> Running into some trouble effectively incoporating straight-kicks here; in fact, too much telegraphing on kicks in general. Might need to adjust my stance/footwork. In the case of straights, however, chances are the (relatively) stationary nature of the heavy bag is to blame; this is something that needs room, and should in fact be used during the distance game. In this instance, it shouldn't be unrealistic to back off and work it from there.
Contrarily, jabs felt awesome. Great snap into them, without sacrificing power.

Entry #284

Box squats went well. Removed a plate, with little difficulty. In all that makes the flat box with two plates stacked on it. Flexibility is great. Wanted to do Romanians after that, but after a set I realized that I was rounding my back. I'm opting out of them until I get the form right. Also, tore the callouses off my hands doing barbell shrugs. This should do the trick for my grip.

Entry #283
Bench max dropped, but the subsequent reps prior to that were satisfactory. Benched 255 for three reps, with enough gas for a fourth. Also was forced nixed weighted dips for close-grip bench press; didn't want to take chances on my injury.

Cardio in the evening consisted of warm-up drills followed by three heavy bag rounds. Need to stop getting lazy in later rounds and letting my wrist limp on contact.

Entry #282
Weight dropped -- along with my squat number. Need to get more sleep. Beginning reload on creatine.

Entry #281
Vastly improved bench press form today. Kept elbows drawn in and shoulder blades pinched back, and altered the positioning of my feet in more of a powerlifter style.

Pain in chest was as prevalent as ever upon a cautious attempt at bodyweight dips. Should go and get it checked out.

Seeing noticeable improvements in heavy bag form, but I'm in serious need of human training. I need to work out some other plan for the Academy. I can't grow like this.

Entry #280
Changed up the lifts for ME upper-body. Used the 105 lb dumbbells on dumbbell press for six deep reps. Amazing how light these feel after months of bench maxing. However, was unable to do weighted dips due to my chest, to much dismay. I'll give it another week.

Another satisfying cardio session:
50 right roundhouses
50 left roundhouses
50 right straights
50 left straights
6 three minute rounds of stand-up on the bag, 45 second rests in between, using 4 oz. gloves (one more over last week)
2 one minute rounds of stand-up on the bag, 30 second rests in between, bare-knuckle
2 untimed rounds of shadowboxing by poolside
25 minutes of swimming fast laps

As for the Kickboxing Academy: the local Los Gatos shuttle doesn't give rides after 6:30 pm. Just found out today. Dammit.

Have also been off creatine since Sunday, and will begin loading phase next week.

Entry #279
Attempted 395 lbs on deadlift. Got the lift-off on all four sets, but not the lock-out. Prior to that I did manage 365 for three relatively easy reps. I wonder how I'd be able to do if I maxed out while fresh.

Just recovered from a chest injury lingering from last week, so tomorrow should go well.

Entry #278

ME for upper-body went by without a hitch. Shoulder felt fine. Had spent the previous week working on the subtle powerlifting nuances of bench press form. For that lift I put up 295 lbs for a single, but I'm not going to count it since my spotter gave me a small nudge on it. It was rising slow but I'm certain I could have done it all on my own. Still, I was being careful by asking for his assistance beforehand, and I got what I asked for. And in Jared's words, weighted dips own my soul. Also saw improvements in pull-ups. Damn, this day by far has the best lifts in the program.

Started cardio earlier today. Had my best heavy bag session yet. Did great in encorporating my punching and my kicking game together. Structured as such:
50 right roundhouses
50 left roundhouses
50 right straights
50 left straights
5 three minute rounds of stand-up on the bag, 45 second rests in between, using 4 oz. gloves
3 one minute rounds of stand-up on the bag, 30 second rests in between, bare-knuckle
2 untimed rounds of shadowboxing by poolside
25 minutes of swimming fast laps (was dying in the pool by this time)

Entry #277

Shins were feeling sore from a run last night, but it didn't affect ME for lower body today. Discovered a flaw in my deadlift form; my foot positioning has been way too narrow. Lifted 385 lbs for a single. Weighted lunges were with 105 lbers, but my hold was shot to hell after deadlifts. Only managed 4-5 reps on the four sets. Excellent grip training, though.

Evening cardio:
A round of heavy bag work.
20 minutes spent swimming laps.
3 rounds of shadowboxing by the poolside.
Should start this earlier from now on so I don't have to retire early on the bag due to the noise at night.

Gonna lay off running for a while and spend additional time on the punching bag, for my shins' sake.  This is more applicable training to me for fighting, anyways.

Entry #276

Academy update: found out the bus stop number for the location near the school. Just need to find a cross-city stop closest to the local stop of the Los Gatos bus, and I'm all set.

Cardio is improving. Ran to the school with little trouble. Once there I rested by the bleachers for a few minutes and then did HIIT on the track. Only did a lap of it because the  field was being closed down for the night, so I HIIT'd home, and went in the pool for some laps. My shins held out through all of this. Looks like they're not an issue anymore. My shoulder also didn't gave me little problems while swimming. Afterwards I proceeded to do 20 roundhouses on the heavybag. Had to retire on that early because it was late and I didn't want to make much noise.

Need to increase water intake, however. I've been getting lazy with that.

Entry #275

Am taking days off until next week's session in order to rehab my shoulder. Keeping frozen vegetable bags on it to reduce inflammation, and doing some basic exercises to keep it mobile. Also been practicing bench form whenever I get the chance. Attempting to keep my shoulder blades drawn back while I'm doing everyday activities so that the form becomes second nature to me, but it hurts my back if I keep them pinched together too long. Will work on this.

Great cardio today. Used the Eyetoy for PS2 as an entertaining warm-up (Virtua Fighter had my arms tired), and then ran to the high school to jog on the track. Didn't do HIIT. My shins hurt just from jogging. However, they're getting more tolerable to my weight, it seems. Did a lot of shadow boxing after. My cardio level has improved tenfold; it's just my shins holding me back. I seem to be locked at 212 lbs, but my bodyfat is definitely dropping.

Quoted for further reference:

"Retract your shoulders and press them down, get your legs under you and
drive your heels into the ground (or toes depending on if you want to
compete or not), arch tight and tuck your chin (double chin it), get a
hand out, keep your shoulders tucked while benching, then flare your
shoulders as the weight goes up.."