KRAKATOA: PowPowPunishment's Daily Ventures of Destruction

Training Training Logs
607

Yukon bar squats
410 x 3
320 x 14

Incline dumbbell press
80s x 10, 10, 9
Super-set with chin-ups: 3 x 10

Been half a year since I’ve back squatted heavy. Positioning was a little tricky, especially with this bar. 320x14 matches what I did when I was recovering from COVID but weighed over 15 lbs heavier than I do now.

I realized I’m being a little TOO cautious with keeping reps in reserve because I tweaked my back several weeks ago while at the very bottom during front squats, but it wasn’t a bad one at all and overall my back has been feeling great. Let’s push squats a little more next time.

This morning: 5 minute jump-rope round and uncounted crunches before work. Boxing class tomorrow and Friday, and hopefully sparring next Tuesday.

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Wednesday boxing class: after skipping rope and shadowboxing, everyone lined up with one foot in a plastic ring and took turns throwing close-range combinations that were called out by the coach. After 3 minutes, trainees on one side moved left and trainees on the other side moved right so everyone would get a chance to throw hands together, although we ran out of time to make it completely down the line. One of the combos was a left hook followed by a right hook with the defender ducking both. Through my peripheral vision I was the only one nearby able to keep squatting under the hooks for the full 3 minutes.

Next, we grabbed dumbbells and a medicine ball and did various workouts with those, my favorite being throwing the ball one-handed at the wall to train power jabs and straight rights.

I couldn’t help but see the humor in the skinny coach instructing me to do lateral raises as veins were practically popping out of my ears but I say that in good nature; it was a big class and lots of people were out of shape. Excellent technical first half for me, at least. And some of the medicine ball exercises got a little challenging.

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609

Typed this workout up during downtime at work last week but later ran out of time to finish and didn’t save it to the cloud to post it over the weekend.

Deload

Axle press
110 x 5
130 x 5
150 x 5
Super-set with band pull-aparts: 3 x 15

Front squats
135 x 5
185 x 5
225 x 5
Super-set with chin-ups: 3 x 10

Landmine rows
3 plates x 8
4 plates x 9, 10
Super-set with Arnold press: 80s x 7, 8, 6

Sandbag carry: 200 x 1 minute

Left wrist and right elbow are in a little pain. Nothing too concerning, but it’s a good time to deload.

Friday evening was boxing. We mostly stayed on the heavy bag, working combos and drilling a high power jab with the wrist supinated almost like a cross between a jab and an uppercut. I commented to the coach after class that it reminded me of Razor Ruddock’s “smash” punch.

Saturday was another deload workout:

Barbell shrugs
275 x 3 x 10

Romanian deadlifts
275 x 3 x 8

Bent-over rows: 100 x 3 x 8
Super-set with Swiss bar bench press: 205 x 3 x 8

Axle curls
30 x 50

I finally managed to get reserved for Tuesday sparring. On Sunday, I practiced two combos I want to employ:

Right uppercut - left body hook
1-2 while moving inside, then a left head hook followed by a left to the body

Drilled them across 3 rounds of 5 minutes on the heavy bag with headgear on.

Oh, and I went on fasted jogs first thing upon waking up on Saturday and Sunday with some dry whey scooped in my mouth. Roughly 45 minutes and I walked home about half of the time. Priority was enjoying the outdoor morning time versus maximizing fat loss and a walk home with a podcast playing was perfect.

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Deload

Medley:
Sandbag floor to shoulder: x 0, 1
Keg press: 1, 1
Circus dumbbell press: 80 x 5, 5

Standing unilateral dumbbell press with Fat Gripz: 50 x 3 x 10

Farmer’s walk: 125 x 1 lap

Sandbag floor to platform loading: 3

My brain seemed to completely forget what to do with the sandbag on the first attempt at getting it to the shoulder. Second attempt went up.

I’m ready for sparring today, but I’m aiming to not feel hyped about it and be more relaxed.

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Sparring yesterday went was fun, but opponent was out-of-shape. Big guy who could hit hard, but his strikes were slow. Corner coach told me before the match that he drops his hand after jabbing so counter with my right. Did that a lot, but also found I could land my right almost everytime without using it to counter. My jab had a near 100% success rate, as well. Practiced throwing more body shots than before, but I should throw those harder. They made contact but not as solidly as a body shot should. There were several left hooks and overhand rights I landed that seemed to stun him so I eased up, and in the last round he was very noticeably tired. After getting hit, he would slap his forehead and go “OOOORGH!” several times. His cornerman shouted not to do that and stay calm.

Had a chat with him afterwards while we watched the others go; nice guy. He asked me “You’re one of the coaches, right?” and I found out he was confusing me with the Tuesday night coach, who went on to spar after us. That was a cool compliment.

In unrelated news, I’m going to LA on Friday for my niece’s birthday and will be returning Sunday, so no boxing this Friday. Will see if I have time to hit up Muscle Beach in Venice again.

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Boxing class consisted of simple partner drills, starting by taking turns throwing 3 jabs of any pattern and consistency, then taking turns slipping 1-2s, then double jabs followed by a right hook, then adding to that combo with body shots at the end. Ended with playing shoulder tag. Partner commented after tag, “You’re very fast!” which is nice to hear from someone lighter and younger at this age.

Did a 60-second dead hang after class and then noticed bright red stretch marks under my arm. They were so vivid I thought I was bleeding and tried to wash em off.

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613

Super interesting log man. I’m doing boxing and lifting weights myself, although at a beginner level.

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@duketheslaya Thanks dude, I’ll be sure to give your log a read. It’s been an interesting balancing act to pursue both.

Back from a weekend family-oriented LA trip. Didn’t have time to hit-up Muscle Beach, which wasn’t surprising given how short an excursion this was. Went to the Porsche Experience racetrack for my niece’s birthday and we all sat and lounged in the restaurant while she learned how to drive on the track with the instructor. The food here was the best on the trip - had an excellent wagyu burger. Dinner at Lido Italian restaurant afterwards was good but not as amazing as that burger (I opted for the grilled salmon rather than pasta).

Diet was on point in general. I packed 5 tins of sardines in olive oil and brought an entire bag of whey powder. During breaks on the drive, I’d eat sardines and then scoop dry whey in my mouth, which soon forms into a ball and becomes a protein candy that slowly dissolves (been doing this for almost 20 years so way before the ill-advised social media fad of swallowing plain powder). I would have allowed myself burgers or tacos every now and then during the journey, but I knew there would be better quality cheat food at the destination so I might as well hold off until that.

New strongman gear arrived today: Rogue throw bag. Going to fill it up with rubber mulch once I make a trip to Home Depot.

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615

I wonder if Home Depot knows just how many strongman they’ve helped over the years.

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Sounds like fun. My Gaffer was invited to the Porsche Experience track by a CHP who pulled him over.

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@T3hPwnisher “Home Depot’s World Strongest Man” would be a great sponsor name. Pity I’m not their CEO.

@Friedrich Hah, that’s a great story.

Deadlifts
370 x 5
440 x 5
500 x 5

Swiss bar bench press
225 x 3 x 8
225 x 5
Super-set with bent-over dumbbell rows
100 x 8, 8
115 x 8, 8

Alternating hammer curls
35s x 3 x 20

Deadlifts felt light and bench press performance was an improvement with 3 sets of 8 so I added a 4th set.

Power cleans have been nixed for now because of persistent right bicep pain. I woke up yesterday after 4 days of no training with my bicep feeling worse than ever. Only thing I can think of that would have aggravated it is lifting boxes during a Monday night Costco run. Experimented with light hammer curls and I had to use a lot of body English to get the 35 curled on my right side, so not going to do curl anything beyond an axle for high reps from now on.

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618

Bicep tendon is now swollen and the area is hard to the touch, and pain is more pronounced. Can still flex the bicep and twist my wrist. Going to schedule an appointment with my doc because I’m due for an annual physical anyway and was already thinking I should see him before this.

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Is this the bicep that had the surgery?

620

Yep, same bicep and pain + swelling at the surgery site, although I have full range of motion and can fully extend the arm.

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Woke-up today with my bicep tendon pain and swelling almost completely gone. Can rotate my wrist and fully extend the arm without discomfort again and did some light shadowboxing in the morning without issue. Today would be my events day, but the dumbbell cleans and weighted carries are just too bicep-intensive even though I FEEL like my arm can handle them. Going to pivot instead to a squat and incline bench workout.

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Life is funny. While shadowboxing lightly in the morning today, my upper back seized up. I left it at that, functioning with some pain throughout today but nothing debilitating. Then while setting up for squats this evening, sharp upper back pain struck while lifting the empty barbell up, which is making me shelve this workout for another day and cancel Friday-night boxing tomorrow since I can barely move my torso or raise my arms out.

I’m so pleased that my swollen bicep tendon healed overnight that today barely phases me; I’ll gladly take this over yesterday or a low back injury. Going on a walk instead.

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Can never win with the body it seems

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@duketheslaya Appreciate the sentiment but considering what I ask from my body, these niggling injuries that heal quickly are a small price to pay.

My walk yesterday instead became 6 rounds of hill sprints up Heart Attack Hill, which is a PR, followed by a 12-minute cooldown jog. Even though I had difficulty breathing and standing upright after the back tweak, it was remarkably better after around 15 minutes. Boxing is uncancelled and I’ll be attending that this evening. Bicep tendon feels like the pain day never even happened.

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I hope you get back to “normal”. I send my best.

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@Friedrich Much appreciated, thank you. Feeling good and healthy coming into this week. Last week seemed like warning messages from my body that I took heed of.

Went to boxing on Friday with debilitatingly sore calf muscles from sprinting the hill. Coach noticed I was moving a little sluggishly and asked if I was OK when it was my turn to hit the mitts he was making the rounds with. Suffered through the hour and felt good for doing so at the end.

On Saturday, while working up my weight in squats, I felt a minor back tweak on my left with 315. Switched to belt squats instead.

Belt squats
8 plates x 3 x 10

High incline bench press
160 x 4 x 8
Super-set with landmine rows
5 plates x 4 x 8

Axle curls: 50

Signed-up for sparring and two more boxing training sessions on Tuesday-Thursday. In the same evening, went out to the heavy bag with headgear on and did 3 rounds of 5 minutes, followed by a 15-minute run.

Low back was in minor pain over the weekend since that tweak and is gone this Monday morning.

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