Yesterday morning before work: 10 rapid roundhouse kicks for each leg, 20 burpees, and 50 1-arm kettlebell swings with a 25lb bell

Went for the first swim of the year in the evening. Took a cold shower at the pool before entering and really enjoyed the aftermath of the cold shock. Community pool is too small to make counting laps worth it, but I swam at a brisk pace for 8 minutes back and forth.

Looking noticeably leaner. My first 2 meals of the day are just eggs in bone broth, and dinner has just been chuck roast with nothing else. Lunch at work has been ground beef with some cooked veggies mixed in. Carbs in the form of oatmeal with berries are still coming in before and after lifting, and before boxing.

Throat and neck feel better. Ready to spar after work. I'm eager to practice my defense.

 Woo, sparring yesterday was rough. Figured out that cutting my hair makes my headgear fit loose and that I need to tighten it. Got paired with a big 6'3 guy (we compared heights and reach afterwards). I've trained with him in class before - we always pick each other for partner drills because we're the two biggest and most muscled trainees in intermediate. 

Right away he starts throwing heavy bombs. His jab actually jolted me the first time I felt it. It was then I realized that every hit was shifting my headgear in front of my eyes again. At one point he cracked me and as I was stupidly adjusting my headpiece right in front of him he smashed me with a clean cross. It was also the first time I've ever been staggered in sparring. Didn't feel things go dark, but I got knocked off balance three times. Each time he'd hold his glove out and ask if I was OK, which pissed me off in the heat of the round more than the hits themselves. I went for a lot of body shots but had a hard time seeing where his strikes were coming from and should practice keeping my eyes up more when level changing to go low. I ate a big uppercut when going for the body at one point.

By the middle of the third round, he slowed down and I was starting to land 1-2s and some hard straight rights of my own, backing him up. Despite my earlier beating, I had more success with a looping overhand right in the third round than I've ever had before. The final round ended with me teeing off on him.

I have to say that I was the least tired I've ever been sparring. Part of that is being at the point where I'm not tense under fire. I can take a hard shot and not wilt, which negates tension and anxiety over getting hit in the first place. And my home conditioning with 5-minute rounds has just been plain working. When round 3 was over, I wanted SO BAD to go more rounds and was genuinely shocked that it was done so soon.

Afterwards, I noticed my Adam's apple hurt and it was painful to swallow, similar to when you're sick with a bad sore throat. Eating a steak dinner was a little annoying later that evening, but manageable.

As soon as I came home, I grabbed the 50 lb kettlebells and did 21 ABCs in 6:30. Right after that, I did a 5-min shadowboxing round and a 5-min heavy bag round.

After spending family time on Saturday, I trained three times on Sunday.

Morning:

Axle clean once and press

135 x 5

155 x 5

175 x 4 + 1

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

SSB front squats 

240 x 5

265 x 5

300 x 5

Super-set with neutral grip pull-ups: 3 x 12

Dumbbell incline press

85s x 8, 8

80s x 9

Super-set with lying dumbbell rows: 80s x 3 x 10

As soon as I pressed 135, sharp soreness in my triceps and shoulders flared up and stayed present the rest of the day. My traps also started to ache from cleaning the axle. Seems like I wasn't fully recovered from the grinding log reps I'd done on Friday. I was moving S-L-O-W on the dumbbell pressing, too.

Got that done, and then a few hours later:

2 rounds of 5 minutes jumping rope

1 round of 5 minutes shadowboxing

1 round of 2 minutes weighted shadowboxing, 3 lb hand weights

3 rounds of 5 minutes hitting the heavy bag

After dropping my visiting brother off at the airport, I came back and went on a 2.73 mile jog in 34:23.

In the middle of all that, I got a text from the coach asking me to spar his guy on Thursday. So I'm doing general sparring on Tuesday and then his sparring on Thursday.

I woke-up today feeling like I got hit by a truck, but glad I got a lot of training in before a busy week. Have also lost 5 lbs since last weigh-in and am down to an even 200.

Friday night:

Log clean and press
217.5 x 0, 0, 0
205 x 0, 2
220 x 1 (PR)

200 lb sandbag carry: 3 rounds, 1 minute each

200 lb sandbag floor to table: 5 reps

200 lb sandbag floor to shoulder: 1 rep

A lot of misses on the log before my form came together, and then the thing flew up. 220 shot up into the air like nothing once I fired from a stable-enough base.

Didn't max out on the platform loading reps. I was good at 5. Never attempted to shoulder a sandbag before, but that came pretty easy.

I signed-up for sparring on Tuesday before it inevitably got full. It's been a challenge to sign-up for classes on time sometimes - they fill-up within an hour of the email going out. If coach sends me another invite, that'd be sparring twice next week. 

Going out for dinner tonight with siblings to Dad's favorite Chinese spot after visiting his resting site and seeing the new stone that just got set in.

Sparring yesterday kicked ass. We went the hardest I've experienced at this gym. Ate some big right hands that made everything ring for a second, but gave a lot in return. Still, did a much better job of actually blocking instead of frantically trying to parry everything as a reaction when under fire. Again, need to bob and weave more to make less hits land on me, but consistent blocking is an improvement.

Cornerman said after the first round that I looked "very good" with "nice footwork" and that I'm moving around well. Advised me to throw more rights to the body.

Round 3 is where I really opened up. Lots of right crosses slipped over his left hand and landed, and I dug in some hard body crosses and hooks. Left hook also kept landing. Felt like his cardio started to fade near the end as it became just me throwing and backing him up.

No headgear issues this time. Got it plenty tight and it stayed that way. Made such a big difference not having to constantly adjust it during the action.

Afterwards, I got told by someone watching that I was a one-armed fighter the first round, mostly throwing jabs, but I improved a lot in the second and third. He happens to be the uncle of my former Muay Thai coach, so that's cool. My sparring partner also came up to me and proudly showed me his bloody gums.

It was also the 1-year anniversary of Dad passing. I remembered how he would always say "How was the boxing?" when I'd get home.

2 rounds of jump-rope, 5 minutes each

1 round of shadowboxing, 5 minutes

2 rounds on the heavy bag, 5 minutes each

10 minute jog 

Been noticing a little knee pain in my right leg. It's different from what I've felt before: everything will feel 100% until I get a jolt of pain if I put weight on it in the "wrong" way, and then it's gone for the time being. Will watch out for that and do some of my favorite knee health exercises: tibialis raises and backwards hill jogging.

Sparring today. Let's GO.

Wide-grip pull-ups: 5 x 10

Super-set with SSB JM press: 

170 x 10

180 x 10, 10, 10

180 x 9

SSB good mornings

150 x 3 x 10

Super-set with dumbbell curls: 35s x 3 x 10

5 minute jump-rope round

Back was a little sore from deadlifting, so went light on the good mornings. Biceps have also been perpetually sore from a bevy of activity last week: lifting a 132-lb espresso machine from the ground up to a counter at work to the amazement of my coworkers and all the gear carrying for the camping trip.

Got invited by the coach to spar his fighter again this Thursday. It'll be an hour and a half after I get out of work so I won't have to rush out this time. 

 Axle power cleans

170 x 5

195 x 3

210 x 2

220 x 1

Deadlifts

425 x 5

475 x 3

535 x 1

Ran out of time so I'll  finish the rest of the workout this afternoon. Pleased with what I accomplished here, though. I misread what I was supposed to hit on power cleans and did that extra set of 210 when it should have been 220. 220 wasn't too hard. 

Deadlifts were interesting: I didn't get psyched up at all like I do when they're *the* lift of the workout. I had synthwave playing in my earbuds instead of loud metal and I walked up to the bar each set feeling calm. It was just another exercise.

Had homemade buffalo wings for dinner and I'm putting a ban on them. I woke-up with my guts hating me and feeling like I got half the sleep I did. Not the first time I've had bad sleep from eating wings at night. Also had a gnarly dream where I woke-up at 2pm thinking I missed work, but somehow still felt dead tired. I kept glancing at the clock and my phone in the dream thinking it's impossible I slept until 2. Finally, my cat gently woke me up by stepping on my chest and I saw it was 5 minutes before my alarm. It sucked being tired IN the dream, waking up, and feeling the exact same way.

Before leaving for the camping trip on Friday, I knocked out a lower-body workout. 20 squats with 225 super-set with 20 deadlifts with 225. Made a point to squat pretty slow to avoid reinjuring my groin. It held up fine, as did my back. Legs got pretty sore from this despite not being a difficult super-set.

Ate a lot of good food thanks to our gas camping cooker. Didn't need any of the canned sardine, tuna, or Quest bars I brought when there was grilled salmon and grass-fed hot dogs. On Saturday morning, I had a steak breakfast with green tea and my Kindle open with Iron Samurai by Louie Simmons when it hit me what a kickass camping trip this was. 

The site was next to the beach so here's a beach shot, complete with sunburn. 

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.