Ran 3 hill sprints last night followed by a 15-min jog.
My breakfast lately has been 4 eggs in bone broth with some egg whites added in along with lime or lemon juice, hot sauce, and citrus garlic seasoning. What started off as drinking just the broth when I had COVID last year turned into "Hey, I should add egg whites for more protein", then "Why not add a whole egg as well?" to 2, 3, and now 4 eggs.
Also, I finally found out what's been making me so nauseous every morning: the extra-strength fish oil capsule taken before bed. Now I'm thinking maybe morning nausea wasn't just part of the game when I was bulking, it was this all along (I generally feel perpetually not great when going above 220 lbs so I was just sucking it up without attempting to diagnose anything). I've also been taking fish oil before bed for 20 years and don't recall this being a thingwith me. Going to cautiously reintroduce it back into my diet early in the day and use the lesser strength krill oil caps I have if I take anything at night. I'll make Flameout my next fish oil purchase too.
Glad it's Friday. I scheduled 2 boxing sessions in the middle of the week in anticipation of going out for a crawfish and seafood dinner with coworkers, but they canceled. Fine by me - I'm going to bench this evening!
Went to bed early on Tuesday and woke-up early enough yesterday to get a quick, no-rest workout in after waking up: 15 kettlebell thrusters with the 50s, 8 skullcrushers with the 50 lb dumbbells, and 20 alt dumbbell curls with the 50s.
"Breakfast" before training was a miniature hummus cup, a small cup of coffee with organic half-and-half, and a few sips of an Orgain grass-fed protein shake. Light enough that I could go right into training. Hummus is my hack for quick fuel before training or at competitions; it's so easy to get down, being basically protein and complex carb pudding.
Boxing last night after work was fun. Took turns with a partner catching combos with our gloves and then throwing our own, then finished on the heavy bag.
By the time boxing was supposed to start yesterday nothing was happening, the coach who I had just greeted wasn't around, and there was nobody else in the room except for two guys working the bags, so I put my phone timer on and started skipping rope by myself. 3 minutes later as I'm finishing the round, everyone comes filtering in and the coach instructs everyone to start skipping rope. That pissed me off, but I got over it and took advantage of having to skip rope for a 6-minute round instead of 3. It's just that this was the coach and room (secondary space from the main gym) that I had my first boring, low energy class with, although I've come to find that I enjoy this day when adjacent to other crazy conditioning-intensive sessions during the week.
Did the same fun but odd "sparring" where we have to tap our partner's shoulders or knees. I'm not sure why it's the knees and not the torso.
Did a bunch of conditioning after that, including medicine ball slams and burpees, but also some footwork drills using the rope ladders.
Ended with hard rounds on the bag. This class is always small, probably because it's not in the main room, so out of the 4 other young, skinny guys, my heavy bag work was standing out in terms of noise and making the canvas move. Saw some stuffing fly out, too. Not proud to compare myself to much weight classes but it was impossible to ignore.
Had a nice conversation with the coach after class. He's a young guy who did kickboxing before and had to stop competing due to a surgery, but wants to get back into competing while juggling a tough schedule of classes and working at the gym. I told him a little of my own story, being much olderthan him but wanting to fulfill a dream of fighting before I cross into my 40s. We bro-fisted and gave each other encouragement.
More storm lifting on Sunday, although winds weren't as insane as last time:
Deadlifts
525 x 3
Dumbbell RDLs
125s x 12, 12
Wide pull-ups
20, 10
Carter curls
35s with Fat Gripz x 10
Super-set with 15 kettlebell curls with the 15 pounders
Went on a night jog last night.
Looking forward to boxing today and tomorrow. It sucks how I'm out of the house for 12 hours at a time and basically have to come home and immediately prepare for work next day, but I've made my choices. Stepping out of boxing feels soul refreshing and I would rather do it than have relaxation time at home.
Last night after work:
Squats
320 x 20
Press
185 x 4
165 x 6
150 x 8
135 x 10
Super-set with pull-ups x 4 x 12 and last pull-up set with 50 lb dumbbell x 8, then 2 bodyweight finisher reps
22 dips
Preacher curls with Fat Gripz: 35s x 10
Single-leg curls: 3 plates x 15
10 kettlebell high pulls: 50s x 10
It's my birthday today, turning 37. Co-workers got me a card with this inside:
Went to boxing on Tuesday and had a better time with that coach than my first time. More energy and engagement with the athletes. And while I'm no longer a snotty lifter who's against calisthenics and conditioning, I do appreciate that this is one day of the week that's all about technique and basically no general exercising. Did restricted sparring with partners where we could only tag each other's shoulders and knees.
Did 5 minutes of shadowboxing the past 2 mornings before work. Contending with morning nausea lately. Going to try to eat farther away from bedtime.
Also weighed 213.6 yesterday, a 2 lb loss.
This week is trying to be very busy event-wise. To name just 2 out of several, a co-worker invited us all out to tacos on Tuesday and another co-worker suggested we go out on Friday because my birthday is close in date to another employee's. Sacrifices have to be made in the interest of selfishness so I cancelled Taco Tuesday to go to boxing at least once this week. There are just too many people asking for my time this week and I needed to rebalance.
Sunday:
Squat walkout: 500 lbs x 10 seconds
Squats
430 x 8
320 x 19
20 kettlebell pull-overs with 25 lbs
Dumbbell RDLs
125s x 8
Back has been hurting since Friday, possibly from forced reps during ab training in boxing class after going to failure. Woke up thinking I'd have to do belt squats so this was a win.
Got a new pair of Hayabusa boxing shoes and they feel like cheating compared to my floppy, no-grip Chinese sneakers I'd been using. There's a good chance the new shoes were made in China too, but I literally mean I have a pair of Chinese-brand sneakers called Xidiso for everyday use. They look cyberpunk and cool, but have a very light structure to them and are practically like a sock. Be curious to see if the Hayabusas help reduce the minor quad and calf cramps that I sometimes get at the end of class when pushing off the back foot.
Got in a light, low-rest workout last night.
Kettlebell thrusters: 50s x 5
Chin-ups: 5
6 rounds
20 dips
20 goblet squats x 50 lbs
50-second chin-up
Reverse-hyper
2 plates x 2 x 10
Came home from work on Tuesday and right away did 5 minutes of skipping rope and some shadowboxing. Went out for a jog that night. Also weighed 215 Tuesday morning, down 5 lbs since 1/19.
Boxing yesterday was a rejuvenating session. I'd been having a bad mood day and after making myself go, found out 5 minutes before class in the parking lot I didn't have my gloves in my bag. The thought crossed my mind to cancel but I knew it'd be ridiculous to not go inside, so I did, looked for my gloves, and found them in a cubby because I'd forgot them on Friday. Instantly felt better as soon as we started rope skipping, although once again the instructor had to give me his personal rope after all the remaining class ropes were far too short. Going to bring in my own from now on.
Focused on the clinch today, which is easy but as a formality is a new lesson for me in boxing. Different from the Muay Thai clinch I've learned where the hands clutch around the neck to bring the head down. First practiced on the heavy bag, but because class sizes are too big for the amount of space we have (people hit each others' ropes when jump-roping all the time), there weren't enough bags to go around so I shared. Next after partnering up, one boxer would strike, clinch, and turn the defender around. I partnered with a smaller guy but he was very game, threw his combos hard, and moved fast with me. I'm pretty sure we ignored a break at some point, too. I was tired by the end and left shoulder was feeling sore from throwing so many hard jabs, but not gassed.
Woke-up before my alarm this morning and did 5 minutes of skipping rope, 20 burpees, and 10 rapid Muay Thai kicks each side.
Lifted outside Sunday during the worst of a bad storm. There was a weather advisory to not drive, but they didn't mention anything about deadlifts.
Sumo deadlifts
505 x 3
Romanian deadlifts:
365 x 2 x 8
SSB squats
240 x 2 x 8
Notes: Left hip is pissy at me.
Kroc rows
125 x 25
Dumbbell curls: 35s x 10
Supet-set with kettlebell hammer curls: 15s x 15
I've lifted in the rain before but the wind speed was a new challenge. It meant that there was no dry spot, even under the balcony. Definitely the stormiest I've ever lifted in.
Had a vet appointment for my panther right after this and while I was gone the power went out. Luckily, it came back on about 4 hours later.
Got in a 3-min round of rope skipping and another 3 min of shadowboxing this morning before work.
Fun boxing session last night. Paired up with a partner for a movement drill where we had to tag each other's shoulders. I was standing less square than the 3 people I worked with and while they primarily blocked my taps, I was fairly effective in simply twisting my shoulders away from contact. It's obviously very easy to block a light tap so I figured it'd be much better use of the exercise to dodge.
Next, inside the boxing ring one person would throw a succession of jabs while backing up the other person, and the defender would circle out to either side when sensing proximity to the ropes. Eventually we added a 6-3-2 combo (uppercut-hook-cross) for the defender to throw before moving away from the ropes.
This morning before work was 3 minutes of rope-skipping followed by 20 burpees.
Last night:
Squats
480 x 1, 2
410 x 8
Was going for a minimum of 3 reps with 5 being extra credit, but it was just feeling really heavy for me tonight. Second set definitely felt better. Worth noting this is the first time I'm doing a heavy squat session after a work day rather than the weekend.
Quads are feeling better and this is the most consistently prolonged period my back has felt decent in a long time so I'm very happy overall. Powerlifting is playing second fiddle at the moment to boxing and just being healthy.
I also haven't deadlifted in quite awhile, mostly because of my back. I'm thinking this Thursday I'll reintroduce them with a Dirty Double: 20 reps of squats super-set with 20 reps of deadlifts, and then a back-off set of Romanians.
I'm due to go back in for more bloodwork because of my elevated creatinine levels. I already know the deal about how intense training can throw those off, so to make sure it's just a temporary reading I'll rest a few days before going back to the lab. I also forgot to mention to my doc during the visit that I was supplementing with creatine mono up until a few weeks ago.
Wednesday boxing was a good session. Young coach but he at least had a pulse and was attentive to the class. Just gotta avoid the Tuesday class. My blood sugar levels felt drained halfway through class and I became fatigued and shaky. It's a familiar feeling so I calmly rode it out until my body switched to a different fuel source (hopefully fat). Happens if I drink a sugary post-workout shake and wait too long to eat solid food, but I've also noticed it if I'm underfed and go on a run. Took the feeling of being drained as a good training challenge and I felt much better by the end of class (and not even particularly hungry).
Yesterday morning before work I hit 40 push-ups paired with 30 heavy band pull-aparts. That night I did a full-body workout with minimal rest times. Worked up to squatting 320x5 with the SS bar using a close-stance, ATG, no knee sleves, and in sneakers - I take the time to detail that because it feels like such a different beast compared to how I squat on the weekend. Followed that with a couple 15-rep sets of single leg curls with 3 plates, then 160x5, 7, 5 axle press super-set with pull-upsx10-15, and ended with a super-set of dumbbell curls with light kettlebell hammer curls. It's amazing how you can make light weight heavy by tweaking some small things, reducing rest times, and focusing on the muscle contraction.
Got the past 4 days to cover.
Friday: Went to the doc's for the first time since I can't even remember. Purposefully chose a doctor that made mention of physical activity in his or her bio. I did well, he was fantastic. Commended me for hitting the weights and wasn't worried about my weight or overeating, but he did suggest blood tests after I said that. Blood pressure is good. The staff member who drew my blood seemed to have trouble and a bump on my arm that formed got pretty swollen and red. I kept saying I'm fine when a more experienced nurse took over and asked if I'm OK. My bicep also made the tourniquet pop off twice.
Boxing went much better than Tuesday. More experienced, more engaged coach. Had a sore left shoulder from shots and a painful, bandaged right forearm from the botched blood draw, which was just another training obstacle to me. Drills were very simple and consisted of jabs and 1-2s mixed in with free rounds via shadowboxing and bagwork. Also took turns of jabbing while moving backwards down the length of the gym and back.
Coach commented that I'll have trouble keeping guard as tight as other people because of how thick my upper-body is, which was kind of rad to hear, and to just do my best. I don't walk around with invisible lat syndrome but they definitely push my arms out more than normal.
Got a welcome reminder to step out at an angle more when coming forward. He held me after class to drill stepping in while ducking, then pivoting while throwing a jab or cross. We added a strike during the step-in, too.
One annoying thing about this place: the heavy bags are clustered together. It's basically impossible to move and throw punches at range; have to stay very close to the bag and they hit nearby people sometimes. It's also hard for the instructor to see you when you're in the middle of a small punching bag crowd.
Saturday: Squatted 450x7, 410x3, 320x8, 230x8, 140x8, and a 50 lb kettlebell x 10, done in one strip-set. Afterwards, I felt like I got hit by a truck and this feeling persisted for the rest of the day. I was likely feeling extra fatigue from the prior day's shots.
Sunday: Felt rundown. Benched 315 x 4, 3, 3, then 275x7, super-set with 125lb dumbbell rows x 10.
Monday: Did some single-leg curls on the reverse-hyper for the first time and they're great. I don't have to overload the machine with a ton of plates when I want to save time. Super-set 2 sets of 15 with 20 kettlebell swings, went on a jog, then used the ab wheel and Captains of Crush gripper.
Results of my bloodwork are mostly very good. Only point of concern is cholesterol being at an elevated risk but not a high risk. Will see how the change in diet and weight play out. It was fantastic to find all this out.
Will edit the formatting of this later as I wrote it in notepad and pasted.
Whole body is still sore from the heavy previous weekend followed by boxing, which worked my quads and shoulders pretty good. I previously did Muay Thai at a bodyweight of around 200-210 lbs, depending on the season. I'm definitely feeling the extra weight at 225 now, hence the sore legs.
Went out and did a full-body deload session yesterday.
Incline bench:
135 x 10
185 x 10
205 x 6
Kettlebell military press
50s x 8
Chin-ups: 4 x 12
GIANT SET
SSB front squats: 60 x 20
SSB back squats: 60 x 20
Kettlebell swings: 50 x 50
Quads had that familiar pain that told me better to go easy on the loading tonight and focus on depth and contraction instead if I want to squat heavy on the weekend.
I'm thinking I'll keep this arrangement, going from 4 lifting days a week to 3. I can still go crazy on the weekend, then focus on bodybuilding technique and form during the weekday for recovery.
Diet has been gradually ramping down this week. Nothing drastic, but not eating so much past the point of full. Last full meal of the evening is also no-carb unless I happened to lift right beforehand.
Had my first boxing session at Dreamland yesterday. I've been writing about this place in my training log since 2007 so it's been a long time coming.
As usual, I was the biggest guy in class, but also the oldest. The instructor was super young, possibly still in his teens. He was also really quiet and it was hard to hear him at times. Worse, he was on his phone while we were doing drills instead of monitoring everyone and handing out tips. First impressions are important.
Started off with 3 rounds of 3 minutes skipping rope to warm-up and then moved into minimal contact sparring: only the shoulders and...knees???...could be punched. This was fun enough. Compared to the last time I sparred someone in Muay Thai, I was working angles a lot better and cutting guys off who kept trying to run.
For the next drill, one person held a punch shield and walked their partner down while the other moved backwards while striking. After a few rounds of this, the direction was reversed and the striker moved forward while the defender moved back. We had an odd number of people so I switched off between working with the instructor and just hitting the heavy bag. Everyone rotated partners each round and I kept asking to join with people, but for some reason I was relegated to either the instructor or the heavy bag the whole time.
Ended with 1-2s that escalated up to 6-punch combos (1-2, 1-2-1-2, 1-2-1-2-1-2, then back down the pyramid) and then some push-ups.
The only advice I got the whole time was pivot directional changes faster and throw jabs off the pivot. In truth, my legs were sore but that's MY problem so it was a sound tip. Afterwards, I stuck around a little longer for open gym to hit the bag some more.
Definitely been to gyms with a better atmosphere. It felt like everyone was just in their own shell to get through the session instead of working with each other. Looking forward to working with a different coach this Friday.
Squatted 520x1, followed by 350x18, on Saturday. Did leg curls and ab work in the evening.
Yesterday:
Bench press
365 x 1
385 x 0
320 x 4, 4
285 x 7
Banded chest-flyes, 13 dips, and a 48-second chin-up for biceps
On the 365, the plates hit my keg that was situated nearby, killing my momentum and throwing the bar path off, yet I still crushed it. Was really expecting to get 385 based off that, but it wasn't to be.
I will say that was some seriously good BJJ training, though.
Really relaxing weekend overall. Big lifts and eats.
Monday:
Squats
410 x 13
Back had been hurting and wanted to get something done for legs. Invariably works out that I get under the bar, feel pretty good, and that just continues the more I load up. Squatting is more pain-free than day-to-day life. Still feeling quad pain, but I notice an improvement from reducing barbell squat frequency and taking a break from daily burpees with a deep squat.
Wednesday:
Incline axle bench press:
225 x 3 x 8
205 x 10
Super-set with wide chin-ups: 15, 15, 15, 20
50 bar curls
Weighed myself mid-day and I was 225.7, more than I thought. Cool! I'm just letting my body do what it wants for now until boxing starts up.
Last night: shadowboxing practice and an easy jog to unwind after a 10-hour work day.
Had a great Xmas Eve and Xmas. Also ate big. Had Chinese food for dinner after that bench workout, went to George's for drinks and movies, and then relaxed the next day before going on a Christmas night hike on a trail that was within walking distance from my place. Ended the night making enough bison burgers on my Foreman grill for dinner and also lunch the next day at work.
My quads have been getting painful again, which historically happens when I up my squat frequency. In this case, I think it's from doing burpees every morning and landing deep in a squat position. Couple that with how heavy I weigh and it's the most obvious explanation. I'll take it a little easier this week on the burpees; I'm thinking just one or two mornings rather than everyday.
Hit 50 consecutive burpees yesterday morning, which is a PR for "real" burpees. Because I first started doing burpees in Muay Thai and was performing them the way I learned, I'd been doing them without the push-up up until recently.
Went out in the evening and did 70 reverse-hyper leg curls with 5 plates each side for 70 reps, another PR, followed by 70 kettlebell swings with a 50lb bell, ending with a 40-second dead hang, a third PR. Biceps were actually pretty pumped just from holding onto the reverse-hyper handles during the leg curls.
Was short on time this morning so hit 51 push-ups instead of burpees.
Bench press
340 x 2
285 x 7
275 x 8
Super-set with seated reverse-hyper rows: 5 plates x 12, 12, 12
Swiss bar bench press
245 x 8, 9, 7 -> dropdown to close-grip 185x5, 135x8
1st was super-set with more RH rows x 15, last 2 super-set with dumbbell rows: 125 x 12, 12
340x2 felt surprisingly light. Likely had another rep in me. It's good days like this that keep me eating a lot and flirting with "permabulker" territory, but as Mark Bell says, strength is never a weakness.
Came home yesterday after work and hit 10 ABCs with 50lb kettlebells in 4 minutes. Back did not like this and it started to hurt more and more as time passed afterwards. Went on a 22 minute run at night.
Back is a bit better today. It was wise to only do 10.
Hit 50 push-ups in the morning before work.
Back has been hurting more than usual the past few days, which is funny timing. Not sweating it, I'll do the best I can and have fun. Feels like my back gets better as the day progresses so I may have been sleeping in disagreeable position.
Been feeling majorly nauseous these mornings from all the food. I'll go a little easy on the calories once this evening sets in. Since nausea usually means I've been eating a lot, it's usually when I'm strongest under the bar. I need a shirt that says "Nauseous but strong" with a jacked, sick-appearing lifter sitting miserably at a packed dinner table with his gut hanging out.
Going to be less training to report on this week as I maximize my recovery for Saturday's meet. Biggest challenge and prime objective is to keep my back feeling good. It was sore yesterday after squatting and deadlifting in the same session on Sunday but already feels better today. Sleeping on my back on the firm mattress side made a bigger difference than any amount of rehab exercises, although I'm still glad I bought a reverse-hyper with how many different uses for it I have.
I also haven't reported that I've been taking creatine for a few weeks now and I noticed a big change in how full I look from it. Never noticed this drastic a change in my youth, but I was never taking it while cutting carbs to the extent I have recently, either. Very interesting. I did a very unorganized loading phase, taking anywhere from 2-4 servings a day for roughly a week and a half. Studies show you eventually get to the same point by 30 days - loading just does it faster.
Keeping my cardio minimal this week. Just jogging and some light martial arts practice purely for fun. Those two activities are primarily how I listen to music and destress.
Ordered a new King Kong powerlifting bag. My old duffel is a cheapie off Amazon that's 12-years-old and coming apart. It'll be a good upgrade - it even has a place to store my belt on the outside.
Wrote my openers down:
Squat:
450lbs / 204kg
Bench:
315lbs / 143kg
Deadlift:
515lbs / 233kg
