Ankle Rehab Log

Training Training Logs
21

tues 5/13

BP
135x10, 155x7, 185x5, 225x3, 240x3, 255x5, 225x10
BB row from floor
185x10, 225x10, 245x10, 275x5, 245x10 - 275 set was poor form. i will do more work with lighter weights and work up over time.

DB BP, weight per side
70x5x10
with One Arm Row (no straps!)
110x10, 120x10, 130x10, 140x10 - this was not easy

Reverse curl/overhead extension
+50x3x10

rode my trials bike again. then lost my car key and had to walk about 2 miles back to the apartment. that was not comfortable at all. rode my road bike to the gym (no way i was gonna walk that).

i felt much better with my bench set-up. 225x10 after the work sets is about on par with what i used to do, which is encouraging. \m/

22

wed 5/13

my surgeon said that i am way ahead of the curve for rehab, considering surgery was three months ago. she was a little uneasy that i was squatting and deadlifting. i told her it doesn’t hurt, and reminded her that she did give me permission to be aggressive. she accepted that.

she also seemed to like that i had specific movement goals i.e. full squat, lunge, calf raise, etc.

during our discussion she mentioned that i was “torturing” my calf muscle and tendons on the in side of my leg by trying to do calf raises. i guess the muscles responsible for maintaining the arch in your foot have to be strengthened before you can do real calf raises. i will try clenching my toes like a fist in an effort to tighten up the arch, and keep trying to do better calf raises.

i’m going to meditate a little bit on what i’ve done and what i will do to finish up, then write a closing post. hopefully someone will find this log useful! keeping it has helped me, that’s for sure. i’ll probably pdf it and save it for later haha.

23

thurs 5/14

Sumo DL - none of the work sets were touch-and-go
225x10, 275x7, 315x5, 365x3, 385x3, 405x3, 435x5 (belt)
DB Lunge - weight per side, reps total
60x10, 70x10, 80x10
wheelbarrow RDL - a.k.a. raging bull RDL
+200x10, +400x4x10

the RDL’s smoked my hammies, holy crap. i’m happy with the deadlifting… i’m getting the hang of driving my hips toward the bar, which was a big help for the 435 set.

rolled and stretched a lot, more than usual. i paid special attention to the right (healing) leg and calf. seems to be working, so i’ll keep at it!

24

fri 5/15

Mil press
95x10, 105x7, 115x5, 125x3, 135x3, 145x5
with
pull up
bwx10, +25x10, +35x7, +45x5, +55x3, +70x3, +85x4

then
MP
105x5x10
with
chin up
+55x5x6

rev curl/overhead extension
+50x3x10

military pressing felt good. my technique is settling into something consistent that seems to be working: hands just outside shoulder width, bring the bar down to the clavicles, keep the lats flared and bottom the tris on the lats, try to keep the wrist curled forward and bottom the forearms on the biceps, drive up and back as close to the face as possible, lock out while still driving back. knees locked, try not to lean back.

the 5 sets of 10 seem to be helping me learn more efficient technique. gotta love wendler’s BBB template!

ankle work: just been walking and stretching. still doing the ankle mobility drill a couple times per day, and what basically amounts to a TKE with all my weight on the bad foot. still massaging at night.

25

the weekend

visited my girl and walked to her gym together. i showed her how to bench at the real bench, as she’s been using the pre-loaded short bars and benching on a 0-90 bench. i was impressed, her form looks pretty good. she even has some elbow tuck going on. 65x10 was her best set, as saturday was a lighter day.

i just benched again, tried to keep it light so i don’t mess with anything else. bench, t-bar rows, incline bench and OAR. then various curls and pressdowns just because. i tried to show her the finer points of box squatting, but that was after the routine was over and she was tired and not interested. hopefully it will sink in later :slight_smile:

my hips are feeling a little tight, i will make sure to stretch and do some hip mobility work before squatting on monday.

also the ankle has been pretty stiff/uncomfortable lately. i want to blame it on the weather, which has been basically raining or threatening to rain, but it might just be because i’m not rehabbing it as aggressively now that i can walk ok. i will do some band work on monday just in case it’s due to me being lazy.

26

mon 5/18

box squat
135x10, 185x7, 225x5, 245x5, 275x3, 315x5, 225x15

DB swing
80x10, 95x10, 115x10, 125x10 (crushed a nut on the 115 set! that set me off)

SSB box squat - assuming a 45lb bar
"155"x4x10, "155"x11 (this was effing hard!)

RB shrug
+400x15, +600x12,3 (no straps), +600x15 (straps)

i was drained after this, and my legs were worked. it felt like i needed to stretch a LOT, so i spent a good 20-30 mins stretching at the gym. then another 30 mins rolling the quads, hammies, calves, glutes and erectors before bed. that was a good idea i think.

also rode my trials bike around campus for about an hour before the gym. my trialsin techniques are improving, too!

my ankle was actually pretty uncomfortable today too. i think the rolling will help loosen up the calf and hammies more so it isn’t so damn tight.

as for the log, i’m a little uncertain if i should wrap it up yet. it’s not quite fully rehabbed because it hurt like crazy to try to run, and my surgeon forbid me from doing so lest i cause irreparable damage to the joint.

i guess if the calf is still weak then it doesn’t do such a good job absorbing stress from impact activities, stresses that end up getting soaked up by the joint. it just so happens that none of my passions are impact sports, but just because i can do everything i want to doesn’t mean it’s fully rehabbed. plus i really like keeping a log. hmmm i’ll think about it.

27

tues 5/19

bench
135x10, 155x7, 185x5, 215x5, 245x3, 265x3, 225x8
bb row - trying to tighten up my technique
135x10, 185x10, 225x10, 245x5, 265x5, 225x10 (felt like pretty shitty form on the 265 set)

DB incline BP - weight per hand
60x10, 70x4x10
OAR - weight and reps per hand
100x6, 115x6, 130x6, 145x6, 155x6 (155 set was hard)

rode my trials bike some more before the gym. unfortunately i ended up stomping the ground with my right foot while bailing. holy shit that hurt. it was difficult to get to sleep because i was still getting stabbing pain all up my lower leg. i took some asprin and wrapped it with an ace bandage, which seemed to help. also rolled the hell out of my legs before bed again because they were still feeling a little off from squatting on monday.

today (wednesday) i rode my bike in to work/school and stretched some more when i got there. i’ll do some band work and use the trigger wheel on my calf a lot today i suspect.

28

wed 5/20

i went mountain biking today! i rode the bike on the first page. single speed, and way too heavy, but i did a lot better than i thought i would. all this lifting must make me strong! of course i’m only strong for about 30 seconds of hard effort. gotta work on that.

rode for about an hour and a half. i completely ran out of energy about 1 hr in and then slowly made my way back to the car. i should have had the high-carb shake BEFORE i went out, but i forgot (stupid!). also i can tell my ankle is still hurting from smacking the ground on tuesday. i iced it before bed in addition to the regular rolling of the calves and legs. i brought an ice pack and ace bandage to work in case i want to ice it during the day too.

as for the diet: still following a carb cycling plan. i’m going to experiment with eating fruit with my meals for carbs instead of canned sweet potatoes, as they’re getting old. and so is white rice.

29

thurs 5/21

Sumo DL
225x10, 275x7, 315x5, 355x5 (all double overhand), 405x3, 455x3 (dead stopped, not touch and go)

DB walking lunge, weight per hand, steps total
60x10, 80x10, 90x10 - i maybe shouldn’t have done these, my ankle hurts like crazy. not stabbing hurt tho…

RDL
225x10, 275x8 (dbl OH grip failed), 315x10, 335x9 (mixed grip failed), 365x6+? (straps, couldn’t remember how many reps by the time i went to write it down, all of 10 seconds)

RB shrugs
+400x15, +490x15, +600x15 (straps), +690x12 (+belt)

no bike riding today. i should take it easy on my foot so it has a chance to recover. also, good thing next week is deload week, i’ll have to miss friday to help my family out. or i could suck it up and go 4 days in a row… it is deload after all…

i’m gonna roll the hell out of my legs again. if i didn’t leave the ice pack out (fucking so absent minded) i would ice it. maybe i’ll use some vegetables.

30

fri 5/22

mil press
95x10, 95x7, 105x5, 115x5, 135x3, 155x4
pull up
+25x10, +25x7, +35x5, +45x5, +65x3, +95x4

mil press
105x3x10, 105x11, 105x12
chin up
+55x3x6, +55x8, +55x8

rev curl/OH extension
+60x3x10 (10 reps each of curl and extension, 60lbs on the ez curl bar)

man i’m looking through other people’s logs, and i feel like my MP is pathetic. is it just because i keep my knees locked? are other people giving a little at the knees? i guess i shouldn’t care too much, as i am improving and that’s all that matters. i feel it’s pretty weak tho. oh well, 155x4 is progress. pull ups are also progressing. not sure how to factor in an increase in bodyweight.

by the way, boring but big is the only reason i feel i’m progressing with the MP. yay for practice!

the leg was ok today. wore my chucks, no problems. a little pain, but i think it might be healing up. i rode my road bike into work again, due to the warm sunny weather. i stretched after riding too. my hips are feeling the deads and ssb squats for sure. good thing next week is deload!

31

tue 5/26

deload week! i’m moving into a new place, in addition to looking after my folks place later in the week, so only two training days this week. squat/bench today and dead/mil press tomorrow.

front squat
135x10, 155x10, 185x10, 205x6, 225x5
close grip bench press
135x10, 155x10, 185x10, 205x6, 225x5
BB row
135x10, 185x10, 225x3x10

this is basically the first time free squatting in a long time. front squats may not have been the best choice as they hurt the ankle quite a bit. nothing serious tho i don’t think. how pathetic is my front squat? i can match it rep for rep with a close grip bench! no big deal, it will get better.

bb rows just for practice. i really want to have good form with these, so i’m being strict with myself. today felt pretty good, minimal hip movement, and no deadlifting the bar for momentum.

the weekend was just spent seeing my girl, her friends and then my friends. probably didn’t eat enough, and i don’t care. just gonna get thru this week and get back to pushing it next week.

did about 30 real calf raises today, rode my bike to school, stretched, did mobility work, AND used the bands! how about that. now i just have to keep it up.

32

fri 5/29

so i lied about going two days this week: it’s only going to be one. however i did about 1000 weighted step-ups yesterday as i was moving to a new apartment. more conditioning than lifting, but at least i wasn’t a lazy sloth!

back at it on monday.

33

sun 5/31

i was inspired by a couple posts on “cardiac development” on elite, so i bought a heart rate monitor to try it out. i generally only have two speeds when it comes to exertion: on and off. my idea was the hrm would provide the feedback i needed to stay between 120-130 bpm.

i’m riding my road bike on a trainer indoors. not bad at all, i definitely need this i think. and it feels good on the ankle.

my plan is to do ~30 mins every morning between 120 and 130 bmp, as described in the posts on elite. nothing but good things can come of it i think. plus, having a quantitative goal makes the half hour more bearable. and maybe i can put forth more than 30 seconds of effort at a time when mountain biking…

squattin’ tomorrow!

34

decided to start a log for my general training. i won’t always be gimpy, after all.

Grettiron’s Training Log: