20x25m prowler sprints, as little rest as possible
Superset of tibialis and calf raises for 3x20 each
Hip flexor raises for 3x20
Superset of hanging leg raises and med ball crunches
Superset of hack squats, heels almost touching and feet down low, going until my hams touch my calves, I.e. the deepest flexion possible, just 1 plate for 3x20 and hyperextensions on the Roman chair holding a 25# plate for 3x20.
I love the terrified looks I get from half squatting dudes as I strengthen my knees. I can’t rave enough about the stability and overall lack of pain I feel these days.
Rehabbed a busted back full of herniated discs through rounded (upper) back high hip deadlifts, a torn shoulder through behind the neck presses and dead hang pullups, and crunchy painful knees through ass to grass leg movements.
I want to amend the statement about pain being weakness leaving the body - muscle pain (burning from lactic acid) is weakness leaving the body, joint pain is weakness living in the body.
Finished with 3 sets of 15 high-to-low cable crossovers, going slow, big stretch at the top, really felt the pecs just shredding apart on these. No matter how much I flare my elbows or alter my form, my arms do 90% of the work on any bench variation I use, so I don’t feel guilty at all doing some extra isolation work for the pecs. Hit failure right at the last rep of the last set, and the first two sets were hard as well.
Have an active day of playgrounds and biking with the kids on the menu for this afternoon, and I’m gonna make a thai turkey meatball curry for dinner.
This is the sled, I think it’s called the First Place Drive Sled and it’s 70#, I’m pretty sure, so then I just put 2 plates on it, so 160 pounds.
My gym has a big 25m astroturf section in front of it, so I just do 10 there-and-backs. Sprint there, switch the columns you push with from the position that guy’s in in the picture to the front two posts, take a couple seconds, sprint back, take a minute, repeat.
Still sounds horrible. The sled at my gym has those high pillars (handles) on one end and the other end has low handles. We don’t have much space to the distance is probably Half of yours (12m there and 12 back). I am guessing the Sled weighs about 35 - 40 kg and I add 100kg to the sled and push one way with high and back the other with the low handles. I find the high ones a lot easier than the low.
I try to do 10 reps EMOM style but have only managed 10 once, usually seem to blow up around 7 or 8.
Thanks dude. It became apparent that I was going to have to attack injuries head on when doing nothing made everything worse. If I’d listened to the people who told me to avoid stuff, I wouldn’t be able to bench, OHP, squat, deadlift, run, and a bunch of other stuff.
I definitely always put a disclaimer that this is ME and this is what I found to work so that some dude with a reconstructed knee doesn’t go do max effort sissy squats and come back here blaming me for his miraculous combusting knees.
I am, however, of the opinion that anyone below the “middle-aged” category who is experiencing knee, hip, or shoulder pain should try strengthening all of those joints in the very positions they find them most compromised in.
I’m also very big on ankle mobility these days - it’s what allows me to squat keep without butt wink, and it makes running and jumping easier and more comfortable. I don’t have flexible ankles so it’s been an uphill battle. Some people have crazy ankle mobility naturally.
My best friend here in VA that I play music with invited me over the other day to jam, and for the first time I noticed he would set up the equipment in a full squat with his knees fuckin 1 foot over his toes and his heels basically touching. He’s an electrician of nearly 20 years and has never experienced knee pain. I think this certainly contributes to it. I snapped a picture of him setting up. Look at this - his heel is pretty much touching the ground and somehow his knee is further in front of the toes than anyone’s I’ve ever seen.
@aldebaran I think you’d get a kick out of my friend’s ankle mobility as well, he’s never spent a day in the gym in his life - what I wouldn’t give for that.
Finished with an ab circuit - 10 hanging leg raises, 20 med ball crunches and a 30s plank, did 5 rounds. Pretty brutal. The med ball crunches, surprisingly, are the hardest part.
It’s both, but the specific work is crucial - two things contribute - calf work and tibialis work. During tibialis work you’re trying to achieve the greatest degree of dorsiflexion. Then, during calf work, whether it be seated, standing, or straight-legged-bent-waist (donkey calf raises), you’re focusing on the stretch, but you’re not letting the weight bring you into a stretched position, you’re actively lifting your toes into dorsiflexion.
Basically, it’s working through an active ROM but instead of letting the weight crunch your ankle into an extreme angle you’re flexing your foot up. That way, you know you can naturally achieve and bear weight in that angle.
Jesus, olympic lifters are drooling at your friend’s mobility!
Nasty… You’re completely right on the movement thing. My personal anecdote as well as others concur with you. Years of training have made my ankle and knee mobility improve significantly.
Movement is life, stillness is death!
I think our knees will never be “crunchy-free” now ahahah
Yeah, got my mom, 56, arthritis everywhere and surgeries to sports again a few month ago. Not only her body comp improved but everything improved. She just doesn’t do full ROM squats but I make her do everything else. And she’s stronger, more mobile and with less overall pain
That’s some Todd McFarlane Spider-Man type stuff! I do find your advice to be sound and practical! I’ll try that if I get hurt or injured (I don’t have any insurance besides Sprite and vitamin c gummies)
This log is full of great stuff. The kneesovertoes stuff is legit. It straightened out my hip flexor issue. Squats killed me right in the right hip flexor. I do some cable hip flexor raises once or twice a week, and I haven’t had pain there since. I ran super squats…bunch of squatting no pain. Also getting some motivation to tackle Krypteia. Re-reading it this morning to make sure I’ve got it straight in my head.
Very, very little of what I do or say here is born of my own imagination - it’s just a bunch of frankenstein’d stuff pulled together from a LOT of different people, but if anyone can read any of it and it points them in the right direction, especially in terms of fixing pain, that’s the ultimate reward. Glad to have you along for the journey, dude.
This is true - my knees definitely do pop a few times, but it’s painless - benign crepitus, I think it’s called. They don’t pop every rep or anything but they’re always good for some nice little pops when I’m deep in the hole (hey-ohhhh).
25m prowler sprint one way, few deep breaths, 25m prowler sprint back, 20 pushups
x5
Assault Bike, starting at 15mph and increasing speed by 2 mph every minute until I failed to maintain at 25 and then a 5 min cooldown at 18
Hip flexor cable raises
3 on the stack x20 each leg
5 on the stack x20 each leg
6 on the stack failed at 13 with my weak leg, so just did the same with my strong leg
Seated round back good mornings
40# ez bar on my back/neck, 3x10
Quick question what size DBs do you use on your assistance? I only have 60s at the moment. Should I just up reps for the time being? I could use a weight vest but not sure that’s ideal for both movements.
