A Bench Log, Yes it's Come to This

Training Training Logs
421

11/11 accessory upper

Really don’t remember what the hell I did this day

11/13

hungover as hell, missed workout

11/14 - upper

flat bench; 275x2x6

machine incline bench; 3 sets of 10

standing military press; tried but it was a no go with the back

some other accessory crap. I was on my own today and it sucked balls

11/16
foam roll, rehab stuff, same deal for lower body. also did some wall squats which kicked my ass, will be doing a ton of these in the future

11/17
random upper body stuff

11/18
more upper body, this was a great workout, more bodybuilder esque

11/20

rehab stuff, foam roll, lax ball, stretch, hip mobility, glute activation, etc

sled drag; 6 trips of 200 feet with 2 plates - brutal, want to get up to 10 trips with 3 plates

wall squats; 5 or 6 sets

pull thoughs; 3 sets of 10, lighter weight

reverse hyper; 3 sets of 10, lighter weight

Good day today, sled drag blew me up

422

Lots of good BB workouts lately, nothing work writing about

Finally got the MRI and results. Surgeon was impressed. Basically evey disk is bulged with L5-S1 far and away the worst, he was surprised I could use my left leg or sit down which I took great pride in.

So far I’ve had two opinions. One was surgery, the other was one year of rehab with basically zero loading. I would be able to train but not pick up anything over 100lbs. I am going to visit one more dr and then make up my mind for the first of the year.

423

Still no real updates.

I saw 3 surgeons. 1 advised surgery, 1 advised rehab, the third said it was 50-50. I could not in good conceous make the decision to have major back surgery without an overwhelming agreement on it.

Rehab is going okay, much slower than last time. I am trying some new stuff this week and we’ll see if any of it helps. Been focused on work so training has not been the best, my weight is holding at 247 and I’m eating as poorly as I have in my entire life, VERY little calorie intake right now. Leaving to go do my rehab workout now, see everyone on the flip side.

424

It’s been about a month now since I began working with Matt Poe. He put together a pretty comprehensive program for me to try out and I’m very happy with the results so far.

I’m now able to sit for prolonged periods of time with no pain and overall am getting through the day MUCH better. I’ve also started doing some more work with loading and so far so good! Have a great night yesterday.

LONG warmup which included 100 overhead squats with a barbell. Overhead squat worked up to a super easy 185 single. Set of 5 paused back squats with 185. Power snatch with 135, 2 sets of 5 @ 135 for deadlift. Then some more accessory stuff to finish. I went through this entire session with almost zero pain. At this point I’m putting down the info here just to reference the timeline. I’m going to keep things light for another month and hopefully at that point I can start to go after it again a bit harder.

425

hey man glad to see youre still on the site, care to share any rehab tips? I did have bulged discs which are now just ‘degenerative’ curious as yo how managing. Mine dont give me to much pain maybe like a 1-3 out of 10 thorughout the day, ive just gotten my shoulder pain(ish) free so i wouldnt mind some advice on the back.

If this is anything to you i havent squatted/dl/clean or anything spine loading for over 1 yr now and havent had a spasm since, i know the sacrifice sucks but might just be something some of us have to live with to be pain free which i now recognize as better than strong haha

426

[quote]bignate wrote:
hey man glad to see youre still on the site, care to share any rehab tips? I did have bulged discs which are now just ‘degenerative’ curious as yo how managing. Mine dont give me to much pain maybe like a 1-3 out of 10 thorughout the day, ive just gotten my shoulder pain(ish) free so i wouldnt mind some advice on the back.

If this is anything to you i havent squatted/dl/clean or anything spine loading for over 1 yr now and havent had a spasm since, i know the sacrifice sucks but might just be something some of us have to live with to be pain free which i now recognize as better than strong haha[/quote]

I’ll say this first. I’m never quitting! I may have to just do highland games. I may have to become a bench fag. I may even have to bodybuild but I’m never going to stop the pursuit of getting bigger and stronger.

I was advised the following for rehab;

walk. walking is one of the best ways to increase blood flow to the low back area

ice. ice the shit out of your affected area. 30 on, 30 off, all day long if you can do it

flexibility. hammies, hips, glutes, quads, etc. I am working hard on this and it’s SLOWLY improving

core strength. my erectors were pretty big by my ab strength sucked. everything needs to be hit harder

work up to one straight set of 100 overhead squats with just a barbell. do this everyday

look up the mackinze method for low back stuff

I have become a big fan of www.mobilitywod.com

This is just some of the info I was passed along. You can look up Matt Poe on youtube and he has alot of videos he filmed during his recovery.

Of course, I have been advised by 3 doctors to stop lifting. Fuck that. I’m going to go after this harder than ever. If I hurt it again I’m going to get the fucker fused and do this all over agin.

427

“We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

Winston Churchill

When it comes to lifting the last few words is what kept me going through all the injuries that I have had in the past. Keep tearing it up.

428

[quote]Monopoly19 wrote:

[quote]bignate wrote:
hey man glad to see youre still on the site, care to share any rehab tips? I did have bulged discs which are now just ‘degenerative’ curious as yo how managing. Mine dont give me to much pain maybe like a 1-3 out of 10 thorughout the day, ive just gotten my shoulder pain(ish) free so i wouldnt mind some advice on the back.

If this is anything to you i havent squatted/dl/clean or anything spine loading for over 1 yr now and havent had a spasm since, i know the sacrifice sucks but might just be something some of us have to live with to be pain free which i now recognize as better than strong haha[/quote]

I’ll say this first. I’m never quitting! I may have to just do highland games. I may have to become a bench fag. I may even have to bodybuild but I’m never going to stop the pursuit of getting bigger and stronger.

I was advised the following for rehab;

walk. walking is one of the best ways to increase blood flow to the low back area

ice. ice the shit out of your affected area. 30 on, 30 off, all day long if you can do it

flexibility. hammies, hips, glutes, quads, etc. I am working hard on this and it’s SLOWLY improving

core strength. my erectors were pretty big by my ab strength sucked. everything needs to be hit harder

work up to one straight set of 100 overhead squats with just a barbell. do this everyday

look up the mackinze method for low back stuff

I have become a big fan of www.mobilitywod.com

This is just some of the info I was passed along. You can look up Matt Poe on youtube and he has alot of videos he filmed during his recovery.

Of course, I have been advised by 3 doctors to stop lifting. Fuck that. I’m going to go after this harder than ever. If I hurt it again I’m going to get the fucker fused and do this all over agin. [/quote]

all of that was awesome thanks, i have not given up either, not at all, just dont do shit i know ill hurt me but it feels good being able to push on somethign even its split squats or cardio haha

429

BigJames, thanks bro, like that one! This one is my favorite

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiam, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid soulds who know neither victory nor defeat” - Theodore Roosevelt

Training has been going better. Last week hit an easty 365 decline bench, lifetime PR and had more in the tank. Yesterday hit 90kg for 4 in overhead squat. This was after almost an hour of rehab, work and 100 previous overhead squats with the bar. That’s a lifetime PR as well. Sore today but no glute pain! My food intake still sucks balls and I’m having a difficult time getting it on track.

430

Not much more going on. Desire to train is in the tank right now but I have continued to move forward. Had a small setback but nothing major. Still went in and did my 100 rep overhead squats on Saturday, it’s starting to bother my knees. Didn’t want to do anything else but but did some light deads and jerks from the back, hit a really easy 275. I guess this is progress for right now.

431

Solid workout last night.

Overhead squat: worked up to 100kg x 2

back squat: up to 130kg x 1

deadlift: tons of reps at 315 both conv and sumo

accessory stuff; more than I’ve done in a long time

Today I feel like I got hit by a bus

432

More good progress.

jerk up to 295, back jerk 315 for 2 singles. still feels very slow but easy

deadlift - worked up to 405. very smooth pull, 4 sets of 10 with 225 after. god was I sore the next day

Had a couple bad days with knee/wrist/back but just shut it down. I probably would have just pushed through it prior. Not sure if I will be ready to compete in August. If I don’t make that we are looking at a PL meet in October.

433

Good night last night.

overhead squat: up to 100kg for 3. More in the tank for sure

back squat: 285x5, 315x5, 225x10 with pause and hold at the bottom

hack squat; 3 sets

accessory work

More PR’s. The 315x5 was big for me as these are rock bottom squats. VERY sore and tender today. Wondering if it’s always going to be this way or if things are still healing?

434

Had a very close call last night, think I was about as close to re-injury as possible. Had not trained anything lower body for 1 week and am getting ready to leave on vacation for a week so I wanted a good session.

LONG warmup with everything I needed.

squat; up to 315x3

deadlift; worked up, prob too fast. 405x2 and then a very poor rep at 455.

Really I had no business doing the 455 today. I should have either not squatted first or stopped at 405x2. Finished with some accessory stuff.

Will be in Mexico for a week so I’m going to jab myself with a bunch of shit while I’m there, train and eat like an animal. Hopefully it will carry over to training/eating when I come back.

435

Well, Mexico didn’t go as planned. Ate some food I should not have and got sick, so training was pretty worthless. Still a good trip however. Had to go to the doctor and I would take that guy over a guy in the states ANY day!

However, I did get to try a pilates session the day before going down and it was AWESOME! Will be trying to work some of this in at home.

Training wise, not much to report.

Overhead squat; 185x3 against choked mini bands
power clean; up to an easy 100kg

bench training; 275 for 5 singles, paused

436

Couple of GREAT workouts

5/24
squat up to 365x2 no belt, great progress
reverse band (mini) squat: 405x3x2 - felt great
leg press; loaded up, 5 or 6 sets
some other stuff as well. I have to note, I went through this entire workout PAIN free

5/27
overhead squat work, warmup stuff
bunch of work with the rope, various pulling, arm over arm, seated, standing, etc
sumo pulls; up to 455x1 with my ass low and set in good form. then 455x1 with my ass up a bit higher, moved like it was 100lbs lighter. back was locked in on both sets, I have no idea what’s going on here

437

Took a week off for various reasons. Had other projects going but I also really didn’t want to go. Finally dragged myself in on 6/6.

6/6 - general

virtually no warmup, various oly stuff. conv deads up to 450, good progress for not really caring. then did a bunch of straight leg stuff and man I’m still sore. overall a good workout and I left the gym feeling better than when I got there

back to today there is no desire to train. have to say this is the first time in 10+ years I have been this unmotivated. I’m sure it will come back so for now will just keep trying to train through it

438

6/9 weekend workout

Longer warmup, probably 40 minutes

deadlift (again); worked on sumo and conv pulls. stayed sumo after 400. Ended up with a 515 pull which felt and looked great, 50lb pr since the injury. very happy to say that although things were very sore I did not have any pain.

did a TON of stuff with the prowler, pushed, pulls, drags etc. also did a couple of sets with some carry work. all in all a great day.

439

Not going to list all workouts, just a couple of highlights

6/13
Solid, long warmup. Did pretty much everything I needed to do.

SSB foam box squat - box set high; lots of warmups, working up to 455x1. Crushed it but stopped, this was already over 50lbs more than I have had on my back since injury so figured that was a good point to shut it down.

6/15 - Very good shoulder and tricep workout with an old partner

6/16 - Still very tired and sore from squatting, did some speed pulls and lighter work and was a solid day

440

6/28

Every once in a great while, the gates open up and you get a session in that’s like manna from heaven. Today was one of those days and it has re-motivated me to train.

Short warmup, not what I should have done but was rushed and wanted to get going. I will say that I got the BEST adjustment on my back from the foam roller that I’ve had in a long time, which for me, is usually a good sign that things are going to go well.

squat cleans; lots of warmup weights (all in KG today) 100x5, 120x2, 130x1, 140x1, 120x2

high pulls; 120x5x5

front squat; 80x8, 100x5, 130x2x3

bottoms up overhead squat; this was terrible, will be doing them on a regular basis from now on

jerk from rack; up to a pretty easy 130, then 10 singles at 120

What a day. The 140 clean was a great lift for me, form was spot on. I have no idea how I did this lift. I have not trained for it or done a full clean in close to a year. I guess all the accessory stuff and rehab work has payed off, now I just need to KEEP doing it.

200kg clean is still on my mind!

Monopoly