Nah I got one. Is gimmicky as: a little bit of tack but the shirt will still move around under it and not much more secure than a good tight back position or comp textured bench. I don’t sweat too much so use neither that chalk or the A7 that often. Convenience wise i can see that A7 > chalking up every time one sweats
I actually slide on the bench less when I’m more sweaty, in the summer my shirt is always wet once I’m warmed up but in the winter I’m barely sweating. Probably has something to do with the bar sliding on squats too.
Wednesday, January 22 - Main bench day
Bench press
365x3 - I don’t think I had a 4th rep, the 3rd slowed a bit but it wasn’t a struggle at all. It’s not a PR but it’s a slight improvement over the last time I tripled 365. I feel lazy today too, if I was feeling more energetic I bet I could get 4 reps. Yesterday in the afternoon I just started feeling all tired and lazy for no apparent reason, I don’t appear to be sick but I still feel drowsy today. But it’s not so bad that I can’t train as planned.
330x5 - Could have done another rep but laziness got the best of me. Honestly I wouldn’t have minded just doing an easy session today but I cut last wednesday’ s session short so I need to put some work in one way or another. Friday is a easy DL day and bench press is basically recovery work anyway. Fatigue is the enemy.
Floor pause DB flys
70’s x15, 11 - first set fried my pecs, went all out to beat last week by a rep
Front raise
60x13, 11
superst with:
Side raise
25’s x12, 10
W external rotation
super mini x3 sets
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Friday, January 24 - Deadlift day - easy session
Deadlift
485x5 singles - 1 minute rest - pretty easy overall, I tried some minor adjustments in my setup and the last two singles were extra fast. I think I have been trying to set my hips too low and it makes it feel like a bad squat, with my hips higher it feels better and moves better too. It’s only a difference of a couple inches at most, but it’s something.
A couple sets of band pull aparts since I’m not doing any rows or chin ups today, keep it as low stress as possible. And that’s it.
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Saturday, January 25 - Bench assistance day
Slingshot bench
420x4 - I hit the hooks on the way down on the 4th, still got it no problem but it could have been better. Maybe a rep in the tank. I should probably hurry up and get a new bench, sliding around is just no good.
385x7 - Felt like triceps could still handle another rep but just supporting this weight for so many reps gets tiring on my whole body. I think this is a PR too, the previous set might be as well.
JM press
290x5
265x8
Neutral DB pushups
+light band x15, 8 - all out on the first set, barely made it. I’m going to start doing these with weight loaded in a back pack.
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How about one of them little grip pads that go on ur bench?
I tried stretching bands over the bench which basically does the same thing, but the thing that I don’t like is that I can’t set up the way I normally do. If you see any of my bench videos you will see that I slide and wiggle around a bit, the bands or pad won’t allow for that so I need to figure out a whole new way to get into position.
But I have more problems.
It looks like I have an umbilical hernia. I have no idea when it happened, but this morning I was laying in bed and felt an itch in my belly button. When I scratched it I noticed that right above the center of the navel there was a sort of squishy lump that I never noticed before, although I pay about zero attention to my navel. I didn’t think much of it, but later I was taking a shower and thought I would check it out again. I tried bracing and squeezing like I would to squat and it bulge up a little bit. I
t’s small, when I squeeze it’s no bigger than my finger tip, and it doesn’t hurt either, but it’s there and I looked online and it appears to be a hernia. Just when I was on track to squat some big weights it all goes to shit again. I’m going to have to quit squatting and deadlifting for a while, and rowing too I guess, but I figure I should be able to keep benching for now. I’m going to go to a clinic tomorrow, I guess I will have to get surgery to fix this.
@whang - any advice?
I was reading some stuff last night and apparently visceral fat can also push through, there’s a chance it’s that rather than intestine. Also seeing as it doesn’t feel like anything that would make sense.
Right above the centre of my navel and to the right I can feel a small indentation where the hernia (assuming that’s what it is, I’m quite sure) comes out. It’s a small spot, it feels like the sort of hole you would get from sticking a pen in a can or plastic bottle. When I lay down the hernia goes back in, which kind of makes me wonder how come I felt it laying in bed yesterday. When I stand I can feel a little soft bump, smaller than the tip of my pinky, when I brace it bulges a bit but still small, maybe the size of the tip of my index finger.
Do you think it’s safe to bench? I’m bracing on bench but not the same way, plus I’m laying down. I guess I could also do flat back non-braced bench for high reps if that’s all I can manage.
I’m trying to figure out what I can do in terms of training, I don’t want to become a fat lazy slob but I don’t want my guts to pop out either. I guess I will have to lose some weight, which should be easy with my legs shrivelling up.
So I went to the clinic, the doctor said that yes it is a hernia but it is tiny and it’s nothing to worry about right now. He showed me pictures of umbilical hernias and at the least they were all a noticeable bulge, in my case there is nothing to see and hardly anything to feel, and no pain or discomfort at all.
He said it’s not worth doing anything about it, I asked what if I were going to pay out of my own pocket (rather than government healthcare) and he said that he doesn’t even think a private doctor would be willing to operate because it’s basically nothing and there is risk or complications and such.
I told him that I’m a competitive powerlifter an explained what I do, like squatting 550x3 last week, and that I figured I should probably quit that, or at least squatting and deadlifting. He said that he doesn’t even advise me to stop, at worst the hernia would get bigger and then I would just get an operation but it’s not really a big deal. He said that a lot of people have jobs that require heavy lifting and for them it’s not an option to stop, but of course what I want to do is up to me at that point. I thought that was a bit odd, but it’s better than what you hear about doctors telling people you should never lift over 100lbs and stuff like that.
The thing is I really don’t want to fuck myself up worse and I would rather not have surgery if I can avoid it. I guess I’m going bench-only from here on. I don’t want to be weak as shit though, so I suppose I could still do light squats and deadlifts for high reps, like sets of 10-20 with no belt so I don’t build up too much intraabdominal pressure and blow my guts out. It’s a shame because I really like squatting heavy weights and I was on track to break the national record in the submaster division, I needed about 620 which based on last week I could probably already do.
I’m going to try to contact Josh Bryant and see if he can give me some advice, he has a lot of experience with all sorts of injuries and has brought nearly crippled people back to elite levels of strength. But for now I think I’m going to do a couple AMRAP sets with 225 or something like that, rather than sit here and feel sorry for myself.
Also, my grandfather had a big hernia since before I was born, he must have had it for 30-50+ years. Back in Poland someone’s house burned down and he was helping to salvage whatever was left and he was lifting some big pieces of wood and it popped out. He had a big bulge in his belly between the navel and ribs, but never had anything done about it and as far as I know it didn’t bother him either. He lived to 104.
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The other problem is that here in Canada, and worse in Ontario, we basically have a third rate healthcare system. It was second rate (compared to private healthcare) a while back but the population of Ontario grew by several million in the last couple decades and they only built 2 or 3 hospitals in that time. When I was a kid the population of Ottawa was 300,000 and now it’s a million and they didn’t build any new hospitals at all. No joke, they have people in hospital beds in hallways, offices, and storage rooms. Just look at this headline:
You don’t want to get mixed up in any hospitals or operations around here if you can avoid it. I was joking that if I need surgery I will go to Cuba, but it’s not really a joke.
I just imagine them in the middle of open heart surgery and the janitor comes in and dumps the mop bucket.
I had my very small but very painful inguinal hernia fixed. A friend just has his abdominal hernis done after 2 yeats of putting it off. He never had pain or discomfort but it was large and in the way. He has a very phydical job too.
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Monday, January 27 - Handicapped squat day
Squat - no belt, no wraps, just sleeves because they feel so nice
225x21 - I was going for 20 but I thought I might have miscounted so I did one more to be safe. I expected this to be harder on my lungs, it got me breathing a little heavy but actually my quads would have been the limiting factor if I were to keep going. Maybe I could have done close to 30 reps if I was going to push it. I guess I will just slowly work up to something like 275x20 and keep doing that each week, maybe 2-3 sets total eventually. This is the first week and I’m not really goal-oriented when it comes to high rep squats so that’s all.
I held my breath and “braced lightly” on this, not trying to pop my intestines out.
I thought of doing some leg curls but I’m not in the mood, maybe next week.
Before I got into PL an really started focusing on strength, and was basically just training on and off when time and motivation allowed for it, I used to do high rep squats regularly, 10-20 reps. Not to depth, but it didn’t really matter then. When I first started lifting I plateaued on squats after a few months , I was probably doing sets of 8-12 or something like that, I read somewhere to do a couple warmup sets and then take a fairly light weight and aim for 20 reps. If you can get 20 then add about 10lbs next week, if not then repeat the same weight and push for more reps until you get 20. It won’t get you any powerlifting records but it will put some size on your legs.
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Yeah, I guess mine isn’t really affecting anything except for discouraging me from continuing with trying to push my squat and deadlift. If I hadn’t felt it yesterday I would have gone for 560x3 today.
Now that I think about it, I remember pushing into the middle of my belly button and having that same sort of squishy feeling that I have just above it. Maybe I had a tiny hernia there for a long time and all this lifting just slowly made it worse, it’s like the center of my navel moved down by a couple millimeters and something started to push through.
The two times I fucked up my back I was considering switching to bench-only, I think now the decision has been made for me.
Those green lights got me seeing red.
The thing is that the belt doesn’t directly press on where the hernia is, plus it increases intraabdominal pressure which is what would have caused it in the first place. My belly button is an “innie”, I’m kind of fat now but even when I weighed 180 it still went inwards, I would need some sort of belt with a plug to stick in my belly button.
It seems like it. Realistically, is it worth risking severe injury that will require surgery (and I’m at a very high risk compared to 99% of people) just for my own enjoyment and to set some obscure national records?
I e-mailed Josh Bryant, I will see what he says but he also quit competitive lifting after having a whole bunch of surgeries. Reading what I wrote about the doctor’s visit I can see a lot of people would say “hey, the doctor says you’re good to go, what’s stopping you?” but I’m still skeptical.
I thought about this before, how long would I keep lifting like this? I figured if I stay healthy and have no major injuries then I can keep squatting and deadlifting the rest of my life, but I figured if one day I mess myself up or I’m at a high risk of a major injury then I would rather quit than be one of those moving train wreck like some guys out there. Like Dan Green, that guy keeps building back up and training for a meet only to blow something out every time, hasn’t competed in years. Or Joe Sullivan, that guy can’t go more than a couple months without surgery. That kind of shit just isn’t worth it. I look at some old guys like Dave Ricks, he has apparently never had any serious injury but he must be made of steel or something, squatting 700 at 60 years old?
At the very least I need some time to think about this, and maybe a lower body deload this week won’t hurt. If I could just go and get an operation to fix this and it’s no big deal then I would, but the situation here is fucked up. We’re only slightly ahead of Venezuela right now.
Where are you now? Taiwan still?
Josh Bryant says he doesn’t have much experience with hernias and isn’t comfortable giving medical advice, which is understandable. I was hoping for something like “no way, don’t squat or pull heavy with a hernia”, or “if the doctor says it’s OK then I won’t contradict him”.
It would be good if I could see a specialist, or maybe go see another doctor for a second opinion. What the guy today said makes sense, but if I’m squatting over 500 every week I can only imagine that it will get worse over time.
That Squat University guy gives free advice, only he’s a little too popular nowadays. Maybe I will see if I can get some advice from him. Most times I have hurt myself lifting I knew I should have stopped sooner but kept going, right now it seems just like that.
There is a well known powerlifter named Mike Hedlesky who used to post here (currently banned), I looked at some threads about hernias and in one he said that he had two hernias from working on a farm as a kid, one was umbilical and I think the other was inguinal. He had mesh put in for both and went on to pull 800+lbs. I think it was the umbilical one that was done later when he was in college because it was getting bigger, he played football back then too.
So it can be dealt with, it just doesn’t seem very encouraging at the moment. I need some more serious reassurance if I’m going to continue with squats and deadlifts as before. But in the case it did pop out and become painful I imagine unless it was deemed a medical emergency I could end up waiting months and months for surgery during which I couldn’t work or do much else and then it would take several months to get back to normal. And then I would be weak as shit and starting all over again.
@donnerschweer - how long did you have to wait to get surgery for yours? You are in Quebec, right?
Really I just like being bigger and stronger than people, the actual competition is something to help focus my training. Maybe I got a little carried away and got too fat, but that’s another story. If I could be squatting 600+ for the next 25 years I would be happy with that even if I don’t set any records or win anything, but I would rather be not too strong but healthy rather than crippled or fucked up for life. And I can still bench, I could make it my goal to bench 500 at 242 or something like that.
Aren’t you originally from Taiwan? I remember you mentioning something about the Philippines but I wasn’t sure what was going on.
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Yeah, and seeing as this is a recent development and caused by intraabdominal pressure it’s almost certain that it’s from lifting and I find it hard to believe that it won’t get worse if I continue. Then on top of a shitty experience it would be a huge setback for my lifting and if I can’t lift anything remotely heavy for 4+ months after surgery (on top of whatever time it takes to actually get the surgery) I would be starting all over again. I’m also 36 years old, not exactly young, so re-starting powerlifting would be an uphill battle and I’m not at an elite level right now as it is.
Unless someone can tell me something reassuring about this then I think I just have to give up on squatting and pulling heavy.
Now I’m wondering how I got the impression you were from Taiwan. Is someone else on this forum from Taiwan? Was your account hijacked by a Taiwanese scam artist?
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Yes, I am in Quebec but when I can I cross the border to Hawkesbury. Way faster and better care. I had the surgery in Qc but all diagnostic test in Ontario. (Ultra sound, ct scan) I went private for the mri as Hawkesbury did not have one at the time. And my local hospital was going to 3 months wait. I saved 4 months of waiting by going in Ontario and it is just 10 minutes further then my local hospital.
My hernia was not reducible (could not be pushed back) but no intestine in it. So after months to figure out what the soft but painful bump was. I was put on semi urgent list. That was 6 weeks wait. Then 8 weeks of nothing. Mine was done by laparoscopy with a mesh. I am clear to do what ever I want including lifting. I asked if I could still lift 300lb single deadlift. Dr said yes.
The first week was bad. I felt the mesh a bit at first, now I don’t feel it at all.
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Wow, I didn’t realize that Quebec was even worse than here. I’m going to hop in a bathtub and paddle to Cuba.
So basically 6 months off training. If I could just get an appointment for the surgery right now I would be looking at this differently, but I have to wait for it to pop out and hurt like hell before I can even go through all that. I don’t know, doesn’t really sound appealing. I should look into some private clinics, not sure if I can afford it though. I’m guessing $10k+.
I’m looking at the Wikipedia article on Umbilical hernias, this is interesting:
Umbilical hernias are common. With a study involving Africans, 92% of children had protrusions, 49% of adults, and 90% of pregnant women. However, a much smaller number actually suffered from hernias: only 23% of children, 8% of adults, and 15% of pregnant women.
I never imagined it could be so common. The doctor I saw today was African too, I guess he probably knows a thing or two about hernias.
also this:
In more severe cases of umbilical hernias, the small intestine can poke out through the opening. This can very rarely cause ischemia and necrosis of the intestine and is potentially life-threatening. The bulge is often caused by fat or parts of the greater omentum
So quite likely it’s not intestine that is sticking out on mine, which is a good sign. I figured it would hurt if it was intestine.
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