2024 training log

[Kiwi Tricker]

Back on my bullshit, again

It's been a long-ass time since I logged, especially with any sort of consistency. The past couple of years have been fairly up and down, especially in managing my training around injuries and illness. A couple of years ago I was maybe 2 weeks out from being back in the ring again, then got hit with a real bad bout of Covid which left me fucked for ages. Then, I injured my elbow quite badly a couple of times. Finally got into a good routine and some good consistency again when I had a quite bad neck injury which essentially boiled down to years and years of hard use as a fighter who specialised in clinching. This was combined with accepting a new job offer, working back in the beer and wine industry, which left me a lot less personal time than I would have liked (as well as drinking fairly often, as having a pint with a bar manager is the best way to get to know them and sell them some booze as well).

At probably the most chubby and unfit that I have been in my adult life, I'm trying to dedicate this year to focusing on myself and achieving some of the things that I really want to do again. So, as a hard and fast reset at the start of this year, I'm doing a 72-hour water fast, and then a dry rest of January.

Starting stats:

34 years old, 5'10"
85.5kg
23.8% body fat

Currently just training out of my garage as well as the Thai boxing gym I'm with. First thing to work on is just some more consistency.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

02/01/2024:

20 minutes:
10cal assault bike
10 KB swings at 24kg
10 push-ups
10 sit-ups

Aimed to just maintain a steady pace and keep moving. Started off nice and easy, but finished feeling yuck. Still, it's something.

 

[Aleks Sytsevich]

TIL I’m older than you. Welcome back!

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

TIL I’m older than you. Welcome back!

Gracias, homie. It's nice to be back!

 

[rikwebb]

Welcome home!

 

[KnightTemplar]

Welcome back, and a good new year to you, sir.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

04/01/2024:

Three day water fast over and done. Just had a bowl of Greek yogurt mixed with a scoop of protein, plus some blueberries and a sliced banana. Feels good to have food again.

First time doing a straight-up water fast. Based on previous experience with water cutting for fights, I would have thought I'd have dropped more weight due to lost glycogen plus having no solid matter left. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but also definitely wasn't fun either. Bone broth yesterday perked me up a bit, even if it tastes like a soup had depression and had been seasoned with disappointment.

Ending stats: 82.8kg, 20% bodyfat. Will be interesting to see how much comes back on across the next day or two, and how much of it may have been actual fat loss (not expecting much, if anything really). Still, it was a good exercise in mental discipline, and a good reset. Feeling a little more purposed now.

Rested yesterday, but will get some sort of workout in later on today. Will update when I do.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

05/01/2024:

Well, here's an interesting twist - despite the refeed yesterday (which included a 500g rump steak and garlic bread for dinner), I woke up lighter this morning than yesterday. 82.6kg, 22.8% bodyfat. I was expecting weight to have come back on within the past 24 hours, but it hasn't - and this is after I've also had a big ol' cup of coffee this morning. Looking visibly leaner, which I attribute to glycogen uptake, but had expected weight to come on with it. Maybe we'll see the increase I thought I would tomorrow.

Got given the code for the door at the gym last night, so will use that today to go and get some work done.

Conditioning:
4.05km run around lunchtime. 4.05km, average pace 6:25/km. HR average 163bpm, max 187bpm. First run of the year, as well as first run since November. It's a slow and small start, but it's a start. Got caught in the rain on the uphill section for the last 10 minutes as well, which was fun.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

07/01/2024:

Muay Thai

3 minutes skipping, 3 minutes shadow boxing. Repeat 5 times/10 rounds total, no breaks between. Bag work - 4 x 3-minute rounds, alternating between heavy bag and tear drop bag. Finished with 20 total chin-ups, then 2 sets of 15 push-ups and 20 sit-ups, then 80 running knees on the bag. Nice Sunday arvo sweat.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

08/01/2024:

Conditioning:

Fasted LISS workout. 4km, average pace 6:40/km, total time 26:37. Average HR 154bpm, max HR 169bpm. Better control over the HR this morning, which was nice, even if it meant that it felt like I was just shuffling my feet. Slowest run in forever, but it's something. Finished off the run with 10 ring pull-ups, 20 push-ups, and 30 sit-ups.


Muay Thai:
5:30pm class. Skipped for 5 minutes, stretched, shadow boxed, then into some basic drills. Nice way to ease into the year, especially as I got no fucking lungs. Finished the session with some power output intervals on the bag, 1 minute of running knees, then 1 minute of sit-ups.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

09/01/2024:

Had a nice surprise this morning, waking up at 82.9kg again. It's not far into the year, but feeling optimistic about the way that things are trending.


Strength:

1A: Front rack KB alternating lunge
16kg/hand x 8 reps/leg x 2 sets
1B: Half-kneeling KB one-arm press:
16kg x 8/arm x 2 sets

2A: Russian swing
32kg x 15 x 2
2B: Ring rows
BW x 12 x 2

3: Standing reverse band twist
6 reps/side x 3 sets

4A: Kneeling ab wheel
10 reps x 2 sets
4B: Med ball Russian twist
5kg x 20 x 2 sets


Muay Thai:

Warmed up with 5-10 minutes of skipping, then some dynamic stretches, then shadow boxing. From there, into pad drills. Held first. Drills tonight focused on defending and countering. For the last round on pads, 10 right kicks, then 20, then 30, then repeat with the left leg. Class finished off with a bunch of ab work. Being unfit is gross.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

10/01/2024:

Muay Thai:

Sparring night. Warmed up with 5 - 10 minutes of shadow, and then into it. Usual format, 10 x 3-minute rounds, 40 seconds rest, change partners every 2 rounds. Finished with 5 x 2-minute rounds of clinching, minimal rest, then a bunch of ab work. Definitely had to take a breather for a couple of rounds - the summer heat is not all that friendly, it feels like training in Thailand at the moment. Still, enjoyable enough first sparring session for the year.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

12/01/2024:

Muay Thai:

Was originally planning on a pad session tonight, but wound up going for sparring class instead. Warmed up with 2 rounds of shadow boxing, then 2 rounds of drills, then 10 x 3-minute rounds of sparring. Between every round tonight, sit-ups instead of rest. After that, quick break, gear off, then clinching for 6 x 2-minute rounds with no break, then a 3-minute round of knees on the bag alternating between skip knees and long straight knees every 30 seconds. Finished with more ab work. Absolutely fucked by the end of things tonight - the heat in the gym is brutal, and combined with having not a lot of conditioning, it's a bad time. Glad I took a rest day yesterday. It's all more steps in the right direction though.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

15/01/2024:

Muay Thai:

General class tonight. Warmed up with usual skipping and shadow, and then onto some basics/fundamentals of pad holding, focusing on boxing and elbows. After a few rounds of drills, finished the session with some freestyle pad rounds.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

I've been slack at updating things this week.

18/01/2024:

Muay Thai:

PT session, just doing one-on-one padwork with my dude Steve Pipe. Warmed up with a little mobility, shadow, then a round of technical play sparring with no shin pads on. Shadow for another round, then into some pads. Focus on efficiency and just getting rhythm back again, as well as paying close attention to details on the technical aspects. About 5 rounds or so, then some rounds of boxing on focus mitts to finish. Good session.


19/01/2024:

Conditioning: LISS

First run in the my new pair of shoes. Fasted run. Distance 6.37km, time 40:30s. Average pace 6:21/km. Average HR 156bpm, max HR 181bpm. Moderate effort. Mainly hard due to the humidity and heat. Started raining less than a km in, but not hard enough to cool me down or do anything other than just make my clothers heavier. Still, could have been worse. Probably going to be my default route for the foreseeable.


Muay Thai:

Sparring night tonight. Knew I wouldn't be able to stay for the whole class, so came in early to get some extra bag work in beforehand. Sparring class warmed up with 5-10 minutes of shadow boxing, then straight into it. Managed to get through 6 x 3-minute rounds with a 40-second rest between before I had to leave. Still, it was a good little jam. Left shin is quite dinged up so didn't want to push things through much further than I did.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

20/01/2024:

Strength:

Warmed up with a little mobility work and then some foam rolling for t-spine and lumbar regions.

1A: Front rack alternating KB lunges:
16kg/hand x 8/side x 2 sets
1B: Ring dips:
BW x 8 x 2

2A: KB Gorilla rows:
16kg x 8/side x 2
2B: B-stance Romanian deadlift:
16kg x 8/side x 2

3: Hinge rows:
BW x 6 x 2

4A: High-plank pull-through:
16kg x 6/side x 2
4B: Band reverse twist:
6/side x 2

5: Assault Bike intervals
Warm-up for 60 seconds at moderate pace.
10s max effort, 50s recovery, 8 sets.
60 seconds cool down.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

22/01/2024:

Conditioning: LISS

6.35km. Total time 39:39, average pace 6:15/km. Average HR 161bpm, max HR 183bpm. Struggle bus due to a combination of heat, humidity, and just generally not having any lungs. Sweated like an absolute monster. Fuck yeah, summer.


Muay Thai:

Covering some classes this week as a coach. Today's class was focusing on the switch kick, different ways of using it from different distances, as well as using it as a feint to set up some other shots. Finished the session with a set of 40 kicks, then some push-ups and ab work.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

Still alive, but as mentioned, still always terrible at actually updating things.

21/02/2024:

Strength:

1: Hang power clean:
40kg x 3
50kg x 3
60kg x 3
70kg x 3 x 3

2: Squat:
60kg x 6
80kg x 5 x 2
90kg x 4 x 3

3: Bench:
40kg x 10
50kg x 8
60kg x 5 x 3

4: Chest-supported row:
20kg x 10 x 3

Decided to invest back into an actual gym membership. I missed barbells. I also like that the gym is a separate place from everything else in life. Good little bit of fun working with barbells again for the first time in a long-ass time.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

23/02/2024:

Muay Thai:

Sparring class tonight, and a big one at that celebrating City Lee Gar moving to their current location 10 years ago to the day. Had fighters sparring at 6:30, including a bunch of people from other gyms come down. Rather than the usual 10 x 3-minute rounds, went with 20 x 2-minute rounds, 30 seconds rest, so there was more opportunity for everyone to be able to work with someone new. Really good session, a lot of hard rounds against some talented dudes. Finished with the usual ab work.

 

[Kiwi Tricker]

24/02/2024:

Strength:

Warm-up: Mobility work focused on t-spine, and shoulders, with lat & pec stretches.

1: Trap bar deadlift
60kg x 5
100kg x 5
140kg x 4 x 4

2: Alternating 1-arm DB clean and press
20kg x 6/arm x 3

3: KB Bulgarian split squat
24kg x 8/leg x 3

4: Chin-up
BW x 5 reps x 4

Slowly, slowly. Absolutely depressing how heavy trap bar deadlifts felt, but that's okay, because it's better than not doing them. Any point is a good starting point again.