Sparring today was a short 3 rounds, but went well. I told the coach I'd be there 15 minutes after I'm off work, so I ran out of the office, rushed to the gym, quickly changed into my gym shorts as soon as I parked, and walked in just in time. 

 Both my sparring partner and I ate a lot of heavy shots. I did more head turning for defense than I've done in the past, and almost everything that landed was on the side of my head as a result.

My headgear became dislodged far more than last time. It either became loose on its own or I don't remember adjusting it one day during bagwork. Spent too much attention constantly adjusting it so I wasn't blind, which hampered my flow.

 I landed more body shots than I have before by doing more level changing, which was good, but now I need to add weaving on top of that when I'm down low. Really, there are just so many more things I want to showcase that I've practiced on the bag or in partner drills but haven't successfully brought out in the heat of the spar yet. I'm far more excited perpetually for "next time" every sparring session than I am frustrated, which is a good sign.

My cardio felt notably improved. Even if it was only 3 rounds, I felt fresher than previous 3-round spars.

The coach let me know that was exactly what his fighter needed and that he'll invite me for more sessions. Hopefully the Saturday morning ones are longer.

My back felt mostly recovered and didn't hamper my movement; same goes for my groin area.

Came home and had snack, then lifted:

Bench press

135 x 3

185 x 3

225 x 3

275 x 3

300 x 2

315 x 2

SSB JM press

200 x 8, 8, 7

Dumbbell rows 

115 x 3 x 10

Super-set with Band pull-aparts: 2 x 10

Heavy band pressdowns: 2 x 10

Dumbbell curls: 35s x 10, 8

 

First time bench pressing in months. Glad to report that there was no shoulder pain.

 

Upping the weight on the JM press really had me feel it in the triceps. Because my grip is narrow, I also feel a lot of inner chest tension when I'm at the top of the concentric and stabilizing the safety squat bar. It's my new favorite exercise - I love the way it feels when doing it. 

Great training day. Next few days are for camping.

Found a corner of my garage with a high enough ceiling and enough clear space to jump-rope. Did 2 rounds of 3:30 for warm-up. I noticed that the combination of no hand wraps and running shoes instead of boxing shoes made skipping rope much more effortless compared to the gym. I'm probably getting easier wrist flexion without wraps, but I'm also wondering if balance is an issue with my shoes. They have very narrow soles, which is probably the point, but I 

Good and bad news on the injury update front. Yesterday I was able to do 8 ABCs with 50 lb kettlebells with no back issues. However, when coming up for the 7th, I felt a twinge in my upper-left thigh near the groin, an area that's been tender from all the sprints I did last week. It was mild enough to where I did an 8th rep to assess and decided that while I could keep going, it'd be better to stop there. The 8 reps came with no break and I was on my way to break 10 reps non-stop.

Did a 5-minute round on the heavy bag afterwards and twisting caused the area to hurt. Although limiting, I actually found value in practicing what I could do under this condition as it forced me to stay loose and expend less energy..

Area feels better the next day and I can walk fine, including up stairs. 

 Exceeded my training expectations yesterday. Figured I'd be able to handle a light jog and set out to do that, but found my back was feeling really good by the time I was out of the office and I was able to mix in some actual running with the jogging. Went 3.66 miles in 44 minutes. Came back, put on the head gear and mouthguard, and followed that up with 3 rounds on the bag, 5 minutes each. Couldn't practice weaving low, but was still able to utilize head movement.

Today is the first day I've been able to get up from sitting and just walk away normally. Yesterday, although I was feeling much better than Sunday, I would still have to take a few minutes for my back to straighten out after standing and I'd be walking funny until then.

Back pain persisted throughout the weekend but is better to the point of increased mobility just in time for work today. Did a bench press workout of 225x3x8 followed by JM presses of 135x2x10 and a bunch of pull-ups Friday night. Couldn’t use leg drive and upper-back wasn’t kept as tense as usual due to irradiating discomfort, so reps were slow and deliberate.

Did another upper-body workout on Sunday. Saw a video of Matt Wenning demonstrating the JM press with a safety squat bar and got the idea to try that out for fun.

SSB JM press
150 x 2 x 10
170 x 1 x 10

Incline crazy bell bench press
145 x 2 x 10

Band-assisted pull-ups: 4 x 10

Came away impressed with the SSB JM press. Felt a lot of pressure in my triceps and none in my elbows. It just felt good to do.

Back was feeling a little better by Sunday evening. Pushing a heavy shopping cart around for a Costco trip felt like rehab. Went on a short jog up Heart Attack Hill when I got home, alternating facing backwards and forwards.

Got a text from the boxing gym coach asking if I can spar his fighter next Saturday. I’m going on a beach camping trip from Friday to Sunday so he then asked if Thursday will work, which I confirmed. Can’t wait. Back is good enough to go running today.

Damndest thing happened. Aside from the morning push-ups yesterday was a recovery day. Ended up going on a walk, doing some light reverse hyper sets, stretching, and foam rolling. Slept very well and woke-up feeling great, then lay down for a few minutes right before I was due to head out for work, and when I stood-up my back seized up. It's now in some pain and I definitely won't be able to deadlift this evening or do weighted carries this evening like I had planned. 

My theory is because my hips and glutes have been so wrecked, I haven't been able to move fluidly and I've been jerking too much to get up from a prone position.

Going to pivot to a bench press workout this evening instead. I haven't flat benched in over 8 weeks, which I actually think is a record for me ever since I started lifting.

Boxing yesterday started out by going out to the parking lot and racing in teams. Had to side-shuffle halfway down and sprint the remainder before tagging our partner in. Despite being bigger and older than everyone in class, I smoked everyone in the sprints by a wide margin every round. After coming back in, we did 3 rounds of shadowboxing followed by partner sparring using only feints and jabs, then more rounds that included body hooks.

My hip flexors and glutes were absolutely nuked afterwards. Weekend running, Monday running, 2 squat workouts, and the sprints have added up. Instead of burpees this morning, I hit 55 push-ups in one set.

Currently rereading The Iron Samurai: The True Story of Westside by Louie Simmons, which I've wanted to pick-up ever since reading @T3hPwnisher's review of it. What a wild book so far. I like the format of, "Here is one story. [Insert insane story about insane weightlifter doing insane thing here.] That is a true story, by the way." Then repeat. Very little cohesion going on; you can go from page 10, skip to page 30, and not feel like you've gone out of order. I love it so far. 

Yesterday was a great home boxing day. Put on my sparring gear and did 3 rounds of 5 minutes on the heavy bag. Really focused on pretending there was a live opponent in front of me and doing things I train outside of sparring but rarely implement in the ring, like body shots and pivots. 

Saw a combo from Sugar Ray Leonard recently that I practiced: jab, right body hook, left body hook, left hook.

Afterwards, I jogged to the high school track, saw that it was open for once, and did a mile around it while sprinting some of the straightaways before running back. Total run was 2.13 miles in 21 minutes.

I'm running low on groceries, so I found time to meal prep 2 lbs of ground beef and veggies, knockout chores, and still play Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Ocarina of Time, and finish my partner reread of The Ellimist Chronicles. Great day!

Finally, this morning before work, I had time to knockout 8 double-press ABCs with the 50 lb kettlebells. I heard Dan John on a recent podcast mention 2 presses and since I just got back into ABCs, I thought I'd been doing them wrong by pressing only once so I pressed twice per round this morning, but upon review, the original prescription was indeed one press. Good "problem" to have.

Axle clean once and press

150 x 5

170 x 3

190 x 3

Super-set with band pull-aparts: 3 x 15

SSB front squats

260 x 5

290 x 3

330 x 5 (PR)

260 x 10

Super-set with neutral-grip pull-ups: 3 x 15

Incline dumbbell press

85s x 8

80s x 10, 10

Super-set with bent-over dumbbell rows: 100 x 3 x 10

1-min 200 lb sandbag carry

Pressing 190 for 3 was very smooth. Paused for a second after the 2nd rep, but the lack of momentum didn't and the bar shot up for the third rep. 

Went back to front squatting with the SSB, as it just feels better on my joints and I can focus more on squatting and less on my wrists. Gives the biceps a big pump, too.

I attached two 5 lb plates on the ends of my dumbbells with bands to make them weigh 85 lbs. One of them held, but the other fell apart and the band + plate snagged around my elbow. I kept lifting unabated and got the idea to just start that way next time by dangling plates from my forearms, as silly as it looks. It felt like lifting through quicksand.

I'm bummed that there are no more Tuesday boxing classes, as that was my favorite day and coach. Going to do bagwork at home today with a run on top of it. Been awhile since I've done hill sprints.

Feeling wrecked today. Whole body is sore. Went on a 6-mile run up to the reservoir and back, with a couple of brief pause to use the restroom and walk along the water.

Watch the Expendables 4 later. I'm very easily pleased with action movies, especially ones with my favorite badass actors, but even I thought this one was just bad. 

Also finished Deadpool and Wolverine last night, which was okay. Had some really bad scenes and dialogue, but just when I'm losing interest something makes me laugh or the action picks up and I'm convinced to stay. My main drive was waiting to see Wesley Snipes and Blade.