[Diego Lara]

Thu 10/18: Watched Donaire vs. Darchinyan, which was fun cuz I love it when two lil angry guys bang it out till one of them falls to the ground.
Ran 1 mile, cut it short for sparring today...

Gym time: 1 round of stretching and 1 round of shadowboxing, then went 4 rounds with Liu. I surprised myself by how much quicker I was in the ring, even since I sparred Luis. It was the first time in my sparring Liu that I didn't feel like I was being controlled, and I felt like I could find and create openings more than before. One thing I definitely need to work on is throwing more combos, rather than relying on my one-twos. I did get few combos in tho, and I used the hook and went to the head alot more than I have before. I know that I should concentrate on the body in the earlier rounds cuz it's likely most guys out there will be faster than me. All in all a great sparring session, and as soon as these shinsplints go away, I wanna get in with some of the other guys in the gym, particularly Wes.


Conditioning.: Ab work on the machine, 2 pyramid sets.

5x10 twist-ups. That was all for Thursday. My lips hurt cuz they're all split. But I don't cut or bruise easliy, so I don't have any scars or scrapes to wear around.

[Diego Lara]

Fri 10/19: Watched Tszyu vs Livingstone Bramble. Tszyu had a lot of power, and he let Bramble know it. 2.5 m run. Shins are gonna break.

Gym time: 1 rounds of stretching, and 2 of skip rope.

3 rounds of shadowboxing. Working on walking with the punches and keeping the footing right. I'm also working on extended my combos by ending them with double and triple jabs then starting over again.

4 rounds of heavybag. Keep walking with the punches, Mike says, and learn the "shoeshine", the art of throwing uppercut flurries that focus on speed, not power, in order to lift the opponent's head and set them up for a cross or hook. Difficult because I keep trying to drive them with force, instead of focusing on doing the flurries fast. It'll come to me....

No speed or double end bag cuz the bladders are flat. Did 2 more rounds of skip rope, with some shadowboxing mixed in.

Conditioning:
3x10 sets of pushup circuit, this time including the dips. 2x10 pulldowns, front and back. Need to do more of those...


Sat 10/20: Ran wind sprints in the park. Shins felt like they were made of broken glass. Came back to the house and did 4 rounds of mitt work with Liu. Focused on fast, fluid combos, and incorporating defense (slips and rolls) into my combos, cuz, you know, most guys don't just stand there and let you hit them 7 times. Also worked more on the concept of the "shoeshine" and throwing with speed, saving the power punches for the end and not trying to throw all power-punch combos. That'll wear you out before the 6th round. And I wanna be a relatively slow starter that gets crazier as the fight goes on. Now it's time to go take a bath in Cryogel. Firefox out.

[Rachid Ghanoudi]

Shin splints can be very frustrating. I wish I had a remedy, but best I can tell (from experience) you have one of two options: 1) take some time off running and let the shin splints get better, or 2) Tough it out and keep going. Like me, I think you're probably partial to option 2...

[Diego Lara]

I douse them in Cryogel and go to my happy place in my head when I'm skipping rope. It doesn't bother me when I'm boxing, just running and skipping. Yet I've been through these before, and I know that with adequate greens and enzymes I'll be over it soon enough.

[Diego Lara]

Tue 10/23: Watched Meldrick Taylor and Buddy McGirt today. McGirt got slapped around bad, heard he even got his eardrum broken in the fight. They're both fast as hell though, and McGirt was ultimately the one who ended up doing better in life....
2.5 m run.

Gym Time: 1 round stretch.
2 rounds shadow boxing. Mike thinks my jab is better than Liu's. It's true. Mike says I don't know how to twist my hips. I tell him to put on some salsa.
4 rounds on heavy bag. Mike has to teach me how to twist my hips again. He can probably dance better than me.
3 rounds of speed bag. I suck again today. Maybe it's a first day of the week thing.
Finish with 2 shin shattering rounds of skip rope.

Conditioning:
2x ab machine.
40 medicine ball sit ups.
40 medicine ball twists.
30 front raises.

More conditioning work than usual. I really need it though. I think I should maybe train with my mouthpiece sometimes to get used to it when I spar. I'm off of work today, and I can go home and be as antisocial as I want.

Wed 10/24: Watched Calzaghe vs Sakio Bika. Calzaghe is fast, so he can wear you down (and slap you down) if you don't know how to pressure him and keep him from dominating you. Bika could not seem to get this.

Ran maybe 1 mile around the park and back home.

Gym time:
1 round stretch.
2 rounds shadowboxing, but mostly it was me practicing swinging my hips in the mirror. Shut up.
2 rounds skip rope. Shins hurt.
5 rounds heavy bag. Yesterday used the lighter bag, to focus on speed. Today I used the heavier bag to hit with power, still fast though. Mike had me throwing a jab, lead uppercut, lead hook, right hook combo that was just beyond my abilities of speed right now. Mike says throw it slow and get it right first. I stil need to twist my hips more. Sad.
3 rounds speed bag. Took me three just to get a semi-decent rhythm going. Guess it's not a first of the week thing.

Conditioning:
2x10 lat pulldowns, front and back.
3x10 ab circuit.
2x10 dips.

Not as much as the day before, but I plan on stepping it up starting tomorrow. Abs are always a favorite. I'm kinda vain. Firefox out.

[mschatz]

Originally Posted by Diego Lara

Mike says I don't know how to twist my hips. I tell him to put on some salsa.

This made me chuckle...

[Mr. Sinister]

Hey check this guy out:

[Diego Lara]

I have a dumb lookin face on in that black and white pic.

[Diego Lara]

Thu 10/25: Watched Sweetpea vs. Buddy McGirt. McGirt had hurt his right arm before the fight, so he wasn't able to keep Sweetpea from showing off at his expense. Still faster than Floyd Mayweather on crack, though.
Ran 3 miles.

Gym time: I've been stretching out more these days. 2 rounds of that. 2 rounds of skip rope. I'm getting used to the pain.

3 rounds shadowboxing.
6 rounds on the heavy bag. Mike worked my ass off. First I was practicing the jab-uppercut-hook-cross combo he'd shown me, but then Mike said I forgot how to throw the 1-2, so did 3 rounds of only that, learning to twist my hips and step in with the cross again. My left arm cries.
3 rounds speed bag. I sucked for the first 2 rounds, but finished strong. Slow starter.

Conditioning:
3 sets of ab machine pyramid.
5x10 twist ups.
3x5 hindu pushups.
5 ab roll outs.
Time permitting, I would have done more. I felt strong yesterday, maybe it was all the stimulants, or maybe just desperation to get into better shape. The shins don't hurt so much, or maybe I'm just losing feeling in them. Either way, it works. Firefox out.

[Diego Lara]

Fri 10/26: Watched 37 yr old Duran vs Iran Barkley this morn. Despite his age and Barkley's size advantage, Duran gave him a hard night's work to win by split-decision. Manos de Piedra. They're gonna call me Manos de Lard.

1.25 m run around the park and back.

Gym time: Life is more stimulating with shinsplints.
1 round of stretching.
2 rounds of skip rope.
3 rounds of shadow boxing. Liu alerted me to the fact that I don't move around much when I'm not throwing. So I focused on walking with my punches and moving around the ring more. If I can move about and not come forward ALL the time, I can conserve energy by not having to throw as many punches to keep a guy off me.
3 rounds heavybag. Mike had me focus on my footwork and popping the punches (by this I mean "popping" the punch from the shoulder and retracting it equally fast to both block counters and set up for combos).
2 rounds on bodysnatcher. Still need to swivel my hips more and throw with my bodyweight, treating my arms as a slingshot that delivers the bolo of my fist. It requires less arm exertion, but more body movement and coordination. Arm punches will quickly tire one out and not impact as hard as those driven by one's body weight.
1 round on the shield (a giant focus mitt used for power punching). This was the toughest part of the day. For over 3 straight minutes, throwing my hardest 1-2s with all of my might, incorporating hooks and uppercuts. All power punches. I was grunting and spitting by the end. The last 40 seconds or so I threw rapid-fire 1-2s, over and over, beyond what I thought was the point of exhaustion and into a realm where the pain doesn't register so much as the thought of NOT BACKING DOWN no matter what, even in training. What my trainer asks, I will do, regardless of how my body feels or how my mind protests. So i grit my teeth, think of being in a sold out arena with blood running down my face and thousands of people chanting my name, and I keep hitting no matter what. Mike kept me throwing for a good 30 seconds after the round before he let me go.

Conditioning:
5x10 ab circuit.
2x10 lat pulls, front and back.
2x10 dips.

If anyone has any tips for effective upper body or ab exercises that I haven't mentioned in this log yet, feel free to let me know. I wanna diversify the range of exercises I do for these so my body doesn't get used to the same exercises over and over again. Took some good pics of Liu training with Mike today. Gotta get some shots of me working too man, I need some stuff to brag about. Trying to lose about 5 or 10 more pounds, just for vanities' sake since I'm not training for a fight. I'm at about 150 now, so let's see how the weeks go bye. I'll keep ya'll posted on my dieting woes and whatnot as I work my way down to 140. Firefox out.