Workout Recap - Week of August 7, 2022
This had been looking like it'd be another disappointing week when I had too much swelling on my right foot to go to class on Wednesday. I finally caved after that and used some over-the-counter pain/inflammation-relief medicine so that I could go on Thursday. I'm not sure if it was that decision or a concerted effort to be more mindful of my kick placement/power that made the difference, but I felt good enough afterwards that I went to class again on Friday. Not only did I have a good time then (since we worked on a lot of head kicks and some elbow strikes), but I didn't feel completely beat up afterwards, either. Admittedly, the bottom of my left big toe was scraped up from all the pivoting, but I think it might be a sign that my body is adapting to the new stimuli. And regardless of that, making it to three classes in one week for the first time was a big morale booster.
It might be a little tricky to repeat that since I won't be able to go on Thursday or Friday this coming week for medical reasons, but I'll definitely try to do it.
Monday
Muay Thai class
I got to work with the same main pad-holder as last class, which was a good experience once again. Something I didn't mention last time is that he'd also push me to repeat the last strike or two of a sequence if it didn't feel like I did it well, which I appreciated. Once I get better at holding (I think I'm still too timid about meeting punches and could stand to be faster in moving between holding for punches and round kicks), I'll have to keep in mind to do stuff like that.
Tuesday
Type: Pass/Fail
Uneven Pull Ups - 2 sets of 7, each side (pass)
Stand-to-stand Bridges, one wall touch on the way up - 2 sets of 6 (pass)
One-arm Push Ups - 2 sets of 3, each side (pass)
Bonus: 100 seal jacks
I'll admit that my waist stability wasn't great, or even really good, during the one-arm push ups, but I did better at it in the second set, so maybe it's mostly a matter of not having done those in a little while. The Muay Thai classes are fine for building speed and conditioning (especially once I'm feeling durable enough to go harder on the power output instead of kind of just flicking out my limbs with the momentum built from the general body mechanics), but we don't do much in the way of focused strength work in those, so I think it makes sense to keep focusing on that at home.
Thursday
Muay Thai class
Another good class. I got to work with the amateur who'd been with me for my first class, and he commented that my techniques seemed much better, and he also called out that I had good footwork at one point when we were circling. Granted, he may have just been being nice, but I've been feeling like I'm slowly getting better, too, so I'll take it as at least having some element of truth to it. Also, this is entirely selfish, but he slipped and fell on a round kick at one point, which made me feel less bad about having done the same in my third class. We also did a fair bit of low kick work this class, and while I was a bit sore afterwards, I didn't bruise up like I had my first time holding a kick shield to receive those, so I seem to be getting tougher. All in all, it's always nice to feel some progress, especially when I was feeling terrible the day before about being physically unable to attend because I couldn't put on my shoes to get to the gym.
Friday
Muay Thai class
My first time going to classes on consecutive days since my first week, and I was definitely adapted better to handle the rigors this time. I had chickened out of trying head kicks with pad-holders in previous classes because I didn't think I had the mobility for them, but since they were a focal point in this class, I went along with building up to them over a few attempts and felt alright with them. I'm also starting to feel better about doing step-though lead leg round kicks after a rear arm strike, though whether I'm doing that transition or a switch step, I still need to think about cocking back slightly and turning over my hips/torso to get the movement working overall. That said, more practice will work out those kinks eventually, and I definitely had a good time linking rear elbow slashes into lead leg round kicks for the last round of padwork. Then again, elbow strikes are something that I really enjoy in general (the few times I've been in actual fights, they were an instinctual choice of attack, which is part of what attracted me to Muay Thai in the first place those many years ago).
Saturday
Type: Pass/Fail
Towel Pull Ups - 2 sets of 10 (pass)
Stand-to-stand Bridges, one wall touch on the way up - 2 sets of 6 (pass)
Hanging V-raises - 2 sets of 8 (pass)
Bonus: 50 prisoner squats
Honestly, I should've probably done some pistol squats since I've left those out for a while, but I didn't want to dorsiflex my ankles too much since I had some swelling/soreness from the last class. Getting back to V-raises was a nice compromise, though, since working on my core strength will also help all of my striking power.
