Was a smooth session. I actually enjoyed it. I maybe could have pushed a bit harder on some exercises but didn’t really feel like I needed to as strength is coming back fast still, and I don’t want to ruin my recovery for the sake of it.
Only conventionally deadlifted twice in about 18 months, and haven’t put that amount of weight through my wrist so it was interesting to see what happened. I wasn’t sure where I’d be strength-wise as it’s been 3months-ish since I’ve been able to grab something actually somewhat heavy. Felt smooth though, my form actually felt better than it was when I did it regularly. I know some people argue whether there’s any carryover from the trap bar, but even without doing either for a long time I still felt the carry-over, my leg drive felt a million times more natural, and I just felt super stable.
Not sure how long I’m gonna stay with the straight bar. Considering rotating every week, but I might end up just seeing where I’m at with it until the muscle memory slows down.
Nope. Makes me want to go in tomorrow morning and do some more bike work!
Quite hooked on the gym at the moment. It would appear I made it through my first serious-ish injury and come out the other side. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve seen drop off in similar situations, so I’m really proud of myself.
You guys at T-Nation indirectly helped a ton. Still keeping up with my log kept my head in it.
Did 6 or 7 150m running fast paced, not quite sprints this morning. Wasn’t planned, agility place we were walking the dogs had posts every 50m metres so I thought bugger it… may aswell!
DB Press (one handed)
24kg x 12 (only 11 with weaker wrist)
22kg x 15 (only 14 with weaker wrist)
Machine chest press
80kg x 8
75kg x 12
Lat raises
14kg x 15
14kg x 14
DB Rows (one arm)
40kg x 12
38kg x 15
Tricep pushdowns
27.5kg x 12
25kg x 12
My right arm DB Row form was embarrassingly atrocious. I’m fiddling about every week as I can’t put weight through my hand flat too well right now, and grabbing something feels a little dangerous still. I put the seat up on the bench today and used that to stabilise myself. The left-hand side felt like a dream, right-hand side, I reset 2-3 times on the first set, and on the second by the end I was literally almost rowing it into my chest. Shocking.
Oh well.
I had the whole morning free so it was a session that could have been done in 45mins-1hour that become a 3-hour one just chatting to people (I can’t be the only one that occasionally does this right?). Aircon was broken and it was so damn hot in there.
Got 7,000 steps in before 7am this morning. Weight still bouncing around 182-184lb the past 5-6 days despite being in a 600-800 deficit throughout it. I am feeling leaner though, and expect that drop to happen at some point. Pretty much back to within 10-20% of my previous numbers on all exercises, except Deads because I’m still reintroducing the straight-bar slowly. All despite losing weight since the injury is nice. Gonna keep cutting slowly as I’m finding it easy right now. May as well continue to set me up nicely for a long lean bulk when winter is approaching.
My lower back doesn’t feel great today. I really messed up trying to be comfortable on those one-arm rows with my wrist. Gonna do some more focused rehab weight-bearing in extension this week so I can get back to doing them in the correct form that I enjoy and feels comfortable.
After all my years at the gym i still never really feel ‘set’ or comfortable on one arm rows. There seems to be too many variables with how far forward or to the side i lean and then hip/ knee bend etc.
I know they are supposed to be really good for hypertrophy but i prefer a machine which locks me in and stops any poor form. Not that that is right though.
Only 0.2lb on the scale today. By my maths I should be at least 2lbs lower than what it’s telling me. I know weight loss isn’t linear, but in my faster cuts I could pretty much guess day to day how much I would weigh. Maybe this little “plateau” period is what stops so many getting from 20% to sub 15%. I know that one day soon the scale will reflect what the mirrors doing, which ultimately is the only thing that matters anyway.
Walked the dog this morning, did around 7k steps, did 3 light jogs for mild distances before I let my usual irrational fear of cardio and interference creep in.
Was gonna go in and do some Deadlifts today but for 3 reasons I’m not.
Those Dips have given me mad DOMs all across my chest and back. It literally hurts to turn my head. I should have introduced them a bit slower rather than going all out with a deep range of motion. With the RDLs I increased the load slowly because I knew after not doing them for a while they would murder me the following day. I forgot to do that with dips.
I’ve been taking esomeprazole for reflux again. The first day or two I felt great but I soon went back to baseline level. The last time I took them for 2-3 weeks I started to get really frickin’ tired all the time and that has started to kick in. Me cutting during my rehab and building muscle back probably contributes to this too. Not gonna feel guilty about an extra rest day or two. I actually feel it would be sensible.
Some more good weight through my wrist today. Tell you what though, my form on those Deads were not great at all, there was definitely quite a bit of rounding. My back and legs felt like I had a ton more in me, but I guess I’ve lost some bracing strength not being able to risk lifting much through my injury. Half way through the second set I realized I forgot to put a belt on which didn’t help. Maybe it’ll sort itself out as my all round strength catches up, maybe it’s a case of not DLing for 18month months or whatever I said it was. Not in any pain though which is good.
I do wonder how long I’ll go before I decide to switch back to the trap bar.
DB Press (one handed)
26kg x 11 (only 9 with weaker wrist and it was a griiiind, felt a click in my wrist but think I’m okay)
24kg x 14 (only 12 with weaker wrist)
22kg x 7 (extra set just for weaker side, probably not necessary)
Machine chest press
82.5kg x 8
75kg x 14
Lat raises
14kg x 18
14kg x 16-ish
Tricep pushdowns
27.5kg x 14
25kg x 12
RP20secs x 6
Feeling the inflammation in my wrist from the silly grinds I went through yesterday to get closer to my non-injured side. Don’t think it’s too serious but still feels like a setback. Hopefully only a very small one.
Got 10,000 steps in before 8am today. I usually don’t do more than ~7000ish because I find my appetite spikes if I do. I’ve been doing well living off of protein shakes and a salty snack or two until a big meal in the evening. Might sound a little crazy to some, but occasionally I even end up chasing calories because I’m not trying to lose too fast when injury recovery is still happening. Still adding weight and reps each week even in a 500-1000 deficit so no need to play with it anymore whilst I’m coasting.
I discovered that because the vanilla protein I have is too damn sweet for me, I’ve been mixing it with unflavoured and found out that the scoop they provide is 25g, not 35g (which is required to get 25g from the vegan protein). I’ve probably been eating 10-30g less protein than I thought I was most days. Guess what though? ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE in my training. I’ve always only aimed for around 0.8g/lb, this oversight has probably taken me down to 0.7g/lb. Typing that out makes it sound as insignificant as it actually is. So many people make their bulks so much harder by trying to get 1g per pound and even higher. Protein is so satiating that it makes bulking feel like an impossible challenge at times, not to mention that too much protein can send peoples digestion way off for multiple reasons. I understand the 1g/lb message we see in the fitness industry as it’s an easy measurement and makes sure people cover their bases, but in my own experience and all the data I read - it’s overkill, and downright bad advice for hardgainers. I think I saw @TrainForPain talk about this before also, and I’m 100% in agreement.
I think you nailed it man.
Here’s kind of my bulleted thinking (with very little context, because it’s time for me to go lift rather than type about lifting!):
1g/ lbs is indeed the easy number
The literature tends to show .8g/ lbs as the maximum effective dose
Further looks into literature show ~.62g/ lbs as a point of significantly diminishing returns
We accept this ratio to fall completely apart for folks with higher bodyfat levels
We (to my knowledge) never review absolute protein intakes
We know absolute amounts of other macronutrients elicit specific effects/ stimulate processes (the brain uses ~100g glucose daily, the liver stores ~250g, etc.)
We accept that hypertrophy is nonlinear and slow
Protein intake studies typically are not controlled for training experience or lean body mass in any statistically significant way (and, honestly, how could they realistically find that sample)
All that to say:
I think 150g is plenty for almost all of us. That number happens to hit between .62 - 1g/lbs for most of the population
Further, I even think most coaches would agree intellectually. They would likely tell you they hedge that up so folks actually hit the lower bound. I don’t personally like that thinking, but I understand the logic.
You could definitely come argue with me about how it changes for a 300lbs. IFBB pro trying to gain 2 more lean pounds… but I think chemistry may change the equation because we’re talking about (wait for it) chemistry.
Sorry for the diatribe, but I’ve really developed an opinion on this topic! I really, truly believe striving for these ultra-high “perfect” protein diets derails more folks than it benefits.
Each bullet is right where I’m at too. I see lots of the older trainers, the in-the-trenches guys, the guys who were around before protein was a $6billion industry, the ones who have 100s of, if not 1000+ clients in their backlog, they mostly say around 150g is about all 99% of us would ever need, and the data backs that.
I don’t like the thinking of PTs 1g/lb either. It can seem so unobtainable to some and leaves people relying on protein shakes, filling themselves up and not getting enough whole foods because “protein is everything”. I’m not recovering well “more protein”, my bench has stalled “more protein”, my program stopped working “more protein”. It feels sometimes like it’s being made out to be a bigger rock than it actually is.
With that said, in the scope of what an average personal trainer would mostly deal with, which is people seeking fat loss, the message can be okay. 1g/lb can go a long way in improving dietary habits and feeling more satisfied each meal. I guess what I’m saying is it’s nuanced, and it being “the message” instead of just another tool based on the individual trips up too many.
I literally got this exact text from a guy because his bench didn’t go up week-to-week for the first time in 2 months. Like you said - it’s very pervasive.
