Texas Recovery 9/29/10

- Pullup 8xBW, Press 5x45, Dip 8xBW
- Pullup 8xBW, Dip 12xBW
- Pullup 8xBW, Dip 10xBW
- Pullup 8xBW, Dip 10xBW
- Pullup 7xBW
- Lunge 5x45, 5x95 (both legs)

Lunges are awkward, and I was dying by the time I got to them, so no more of those. Wish I could find a more technically feasible substitute for squats on light days, but I'm just no good with front squats.

Anyway, I haven't done a recovery workout for a good while, so this felt pretty good, even though it was pretty volume-heavy, especially on pullups. Felt pretty great, though.

Texas Volume 9/27/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x225; Bench 5x45, 3x135
- Squat 5x285, Bench 5x190, Chinup 6xBW
- Squat 5x285, Bench 5x190, Chinup 6xBW
- Squat 5x285, Bench 5x190, Chinup 6xBW
- Squat 5x285, Bench 5x190, Chinup 6xBW
- Squat 5x285, Bench 5x190, Chinup 6xBW

Yup, exactly what it looks like - did a circuit. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I was pressed for time. This was ****ing taxing as hell on my CNS, but the saved 10-20 minutes were convenient. Hopefully won't have to resort to this scheme often.

Muay Thai club 9/26/10

Since our officers weren't there until five minutes in, another club member led warmup, most notably including a brutal ten-minute ab workout session at the end. Godawful.

Otherwise, it was fun. Did boxing-style combinations and extremely light sparring. I dwarfed the first guy and was about equal in size to Ben, which was cool.

Probably not gonna get to go to the club during the week, at least until Thursday, due to interview season. 'Jesus.'

Texas Intensity 9/24/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 5x225, 5x325
- Bench 5x45, 5x135, 3x185, 5x205
- Deadlift 5x345, 1x375
- Chinup 8xBW, 8xBW

Whoo. New PRs on bench and deadlift. 'Same old' on squat, though I'd like to think this is one of my best examples of form yet.

Found out that I weighed like 190 after lunch today. I've kinda let go on the eating. Need to step it up again to maintain and bulk again, though my inactivity in the gym isn't helping with that, either. Might need to pick up a more structured schedule, since two big days a week might not be enough to keep me very driven.

Texas has been treating me well, though. I'm closing in on the 4-plate deadlift!

Texas Volume 9/20/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 5x225, 5x275, 5x275, 5x275, 5x275, 5x275
- Bench 5x45, 5x135, 5x185, 5x185, 5x185, 5x185, 5x195
- Chinup 8xBW, 8xBW, 8xBW

Something of a reset week for me. Squats felt really good. (Actually, they felt terrible, but that's the point of squats.) The bench didn't feel too great until set 4, when I suddenly decided to take a leap of faith. The 5 reps of 195 felt great; still haven't gotten up to 205 for 5 on intensity day (lolwut), but I'm closing in on it on volume day.

Texas Recovery 9/13/10

- Press 5x45, 5x95, 5x120, 5x120, 5x120
- Chinup 11xBW, 10xBW, 9xBW

... Something like that. Didn't exactly take this workout too seriously.

Muay Thai club 9/12/10

Notable because we picked up a little sparring this time, though just boxing-sparring with jabs. Also cool because one of the guys I lightly jabbed with actually spotted me the other day.

The conditioning before this workout was absolutely killer, with jump-rope, power-squats, high-knees, and pushups in a circuit (with one break station), each for 90 seconds. Yeah, it sucked.

Worked a little on parrying, blocking, avoiding punches before sparring. Got to taste some leather again. Didn't get blasted or anything, but there's actually a literal taste to it. Another cliche is bestowed with meaning!

Texas Volume 9/11/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 5x225, 5x275, 5x285, 5x295, 5x305, 5x315
- Bench 5x45, 5x135, 5x185, 5x185, 5x185, 5x185, 6x190
- Deadlift 5x315 (three double-overhand, two mixed)

Deadlift was mainly grip-work here. Anyway, squats were probably imperfect, but whatever. I'm more concerned about the fact that I can do so many reps with 185-190, but I can't even put up 205 for 4. Augh.

Messing around 9/10/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135
- Press 5x45, 5x95, 5x115, 5x115, 5x115, 4x120
- Chinup 8xBW

Hazy on memory. Anyway, it was an unmotivated effort and doesn't really deserve elaboration. Not sure if those rep schemes are exact since it's been a while.

Muay Thai club 9/7/10

Brutality. Did this right after the intensity workout, and it annihilated me. Did a warmup, followed immediately by situp-punch/pushup-punch, four-counts (kick, punch, punch, kick) and doubling the kicks in those four-counts. That was the worst of it. After that came the relatively easier hop-kicks, covering long distances. And for the finale, 30 power squats. It was murder and another reminder of why I stopped going.

Felt good though.

Texas Intensity 9/7/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 5x225, 3x315, 5x325, 2x330
- Bench 5x45, 3x135, 2x185, 3x205, 3x205
- Deadlift 1x315, 5x335, 1x365
- Chinup 10xBW

It's official - I have gone backwards since summer on the bench. And I'd just pressed 185 for 6 reps four days ago... Guess it wasn't enough.

Squats were probably legit, and they felt good. Had the bars out and stuff, same as last time I did the recovery workout. Worked out in Teagle, which is an interesting scene with very few machines and lots of free weights. The only two chicks there were jacked as hell.

The 365 is a PR. Right hand over, left hand under. Felt the consciousness slipping away when I busted it out. Feels fucking awesome, man.

Muay Thai club 9/5/10

Good stuff. Ben led the group practice, and there was less hellish conditioning stuff. Paired up with a guy named Nockey (?) and did boxing stuff. Did some clinchwork at the end.

Short update is short.

Texas Recovery 9/5/10

- Squat (to rails) 5x45, 5x135, 5x225, 4x275, 4x275
- Press 5x45, 5x95, 5x115, 4x125
- Chinup 7xBW, 7xBW, 7xBW
- Pullup 6xBW
- Dip 10xBW

Poor showing, but it's a recovery day, so whatever. No comment here.

Texas Volume 9/3/10

- Squat 5x45, 5x135, 5x225, 5x285, 5x290, 5x295, 5x300, 5x305
- Bench 5x45, 5x135, 5x185, 5x180, 5x180, 5x185, 6x185
- Chinup 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 5xBW, 9xBW

Squats weren't perfect, but they were workable, and I'm going with that. Bench felt pretty good; sucks still to be repping 180, but I managed three work sets at 185 out of five, so that's definitely good news. As for chinups, that last set was probably imperfect in terms of dead-hang, but let me give you a hint as to how much I cared.

Muay Thai club 9/2/10

Wow. Now I remember why I stopped coming to this club. Kicking and punching pads is exhausting as all hell gets out, and holding pads is teeth-rattling. I partnered up with a guy named Edwin for the first practice of the semester. Did the standard Thai kicks, teeps, and teep-kick combinations. At the end, a promised two-minute Tabata turned into a three-minute Tabata that wrecked me - 20-second intervals alternating the 1-2-3-2 punch combination and alternating uppercuts.

Afterward, met a guy from Texas named Marcello, who I assume is of Mexican descent. Seemed pretty cool. And now I badly need another cold shower.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club 9/1/10

Didn't do any rolling; left at seven for dinner. Worked on kimura, kimura reversal from guard to mount complete with satisfying thwack, guillotine, and a bullfighting drill to practice passing guard from standing.

Practiced with a very big dude who was a brown belt. Built like Fedor, but wider and shorter. Guess he was old, though; I think his joints had problems and he took breaks more often. Getting choked doesn't feel good.