Blasphemy! Traitor!
Yoga would be a good addition for me. I just keep forgetting to check the class schedules. I’ll consider throwing in the towel for a bit. But it’s depressing.
1 Like
No need to be depressed man! Just look at it as a challenge. I think sometimes everyone needs a break whether it’s from lifting, work, etc just to reassess/rest and come back even better!
I was way under my calories (like 1300) when I finally got home. I had food to eat but didn’t have time. Once I got home I checked my food log and I had plenty of protein but was short on carbs and fat. The food I didn’t eat (but packed in my lunchbox) was pasta and beans and rice. I didn’t want to gorge myself in carbs this close to bed so I searched the fridge and cabinets. I finally grabbed the peanut butter and ate 11 TBSP. That was dinner.
How debilitating is your QL issue?
I have a shit lower back myself and its the QL muscle that flares up when I “do my back in”. Squats and deadlifts can leave me debilitated for weeks.
Have you considered skipping for cardio? How about something like boxing?
tweet
3 Likes
It’s tolerable. Annoying but it actually doesn’t prevent me from doing anything.
This all started back in February during a recreational basketball league. My hip start popping. It was the tendon snapping over the greater trochanter. It’s supposed to slide smoothly but if it’s inflamed then it’ll start to pop. It wasn’t really a big deal. But it progressively got more and more annoying. I ignored it because once I warmed up I didn’t have any issues doing what I wanted to do. And then one day it reared its ugly head…
I was squatting 285 on the 5 PRO’s version of 5/3/1. I’m pretty sure it was my 1+ week but on that lovely plan you get to do 5 on every rep. On one of my early reps my hip went a little crazy. I actually about fell over. I was filming and my hips moved left and then I saved it. I decided that it was time to stop ignoring the problem.
So I began my long journey of avoiding certain things, adding other things to strengthen weak links, and using the “if it hurts then don’t do it” approach to my training. Unfortunately it’s been several months and I haven’t improved. I continued deadlifting and set a couple PR’s but decided that it wasn’t helping so I scrapped that a few weeks ago.
I can feel my hip pain during my first couple sets of deadlifts and then it’s gone. The reason I quit doing it is because I think it stresses my QL. Through this process I’ve gone to my chiropractor and a physical therapist. My physical therapist was poking around at other muscles that affect the hip area and that’s when we discovered my tight QL.
Most of the time I don’t even notice my QL but the hip pain remains. Hang cleans directly aggravated my QL this week which was frustrating to say the least. Pulling 495 not too long ago was fine but hang cleans with 215 cause a problem? F!
(For the record, I do hang cleans from a dead hang. I don’t stand up and then lower the bar and pull in a jerking motion that would be bad for the lower back…and cheating)
Half of me is so frustrated that I want to go back to the gym and just do what I want to do and say the hell with it. I’ve increased my running intensity to fill the void created by removing squats, lunges, deadlifts, and cleans and that’s resulted in more minor and annoying injuries.
The other half of me is feeling pretty defeated because I’ve tried to adjust my training according to my injuries and nothing has worked. Apparently my idea of adjusting and tweaking things hasn’t allowed the affected area to heal.
I think I’m going to take all the advice about shutting it down and give my body a break. I hate doing that but I’m out of ideas. I’m also afraid it isn’t going to help. I have yet to figure out what the hell is causing the pain in my hip. I don’t have a muscle strain or tear. I have tight muscles in the general area and I have no idea how to alleviate that. It’s not like passive stretching throughout the day does anything for it. Something is causing those muscles to be tight; it’s like they’re receiving a constant weak signal to contract. Confused and frustrated doesn’t even begin to describe my feelings about it.
But since nothing else I’ve done has worked I’m going to stop lifting for a month. I’m going to St Paul for a wedding on August 18th. I will resume my normal training after that weekend. In the meantime I’m going to stay active by jogging, biking, and using the cardio machines at the Y. I will also probably be doing body weight training for my upper body. Push-ups (rumor has it that these can actually help strengthen your back), pulls-ups, and inverted rows. I might do some dips as well. I’m undecided about ab training.
In regards to cardio machines (which I hate), my legs are actually sore from my bike workout the other day. It feels great to have that soreness again. My quads and hamstrings are sore… just the right amount. I don’t know how to hit my glutes with that type of training but I feel like that workout was a good one and I didn’t feel a bit of pain in my hip or back. I’m not sure if I’ll continue to do those though. I’d like to but it goes against the “take it easy” approach.
3 Likes
Good idea. I recently had a 4 week break (which initially horrified me) from all working out while on vacation, and I came back feeling fresh and niggling-injury-free.
tweet
1 Like
Good idea.
You mentioned Yoga. Maybe that could do the trick, and mobility stuff for the lower back, i’m thinking that the SI joint could cause some problems. You carry stuff in your belt at daily basis, wich can be causing problems.
1 Like
sounds like heaven though!
1 Like
##7.22.17
Woke at 220.8 lbs again.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3579 calories, 443g carbs, 106g fat, 210g protein.
I decided to drop my daily calories to 3500 instead of 3700 since I’m not working out very hard these days. And for the second night in a row I pretty much just had peanut butter for dinner. Last night I stopped at 6 or 7 TBSP. My problem is that I eat too many carbs and too much protein during the day and then when it’s time for dinner I don’t have anything left to eat but fat. And my fridge doesn’t have many options. I think I did better today. I swapped my deer burger for a PB & J sandwich. I’m still high on carbs for the day but I have two deer burgers waiting for me for dinner. That should be enough to fill me up.
No training again today
1 Like
luckyyyyyyyy. I have issues sweating down my lower half so I rarely wear anything other than dark navy colors, or black nowadays. Baby powder helps if it bothers you a lot, if not then just ignore me.
1 Like
It’s been 105+ F the last couple days so I think everyone is wearing wet clothes. I wear Under Armour heat gear as an undershirt. It’s a compression shirt so at least it doesn’t move around or bunch up.
I love under armpit but it seems it makes me sweat a heck of a lot more, than cotton made clothes do. 32 degrees is a brand that makes some good stuff like under armor too. And it’s so miserable in Texas too at the moment. Humidity is at 87% this week.
##7.24.17
Woke up at 219.8 lbs.
I feel short of my calories by about 600 yesterday. I’ve been lazy and didn’t cook any chicken or deer burgers this weekend so I didn’t pack a lunch yesterday. Luckily I had a gift card to Panera so at least I had a good lunch. I enjoy their Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt. I wouldn’t buy it with my own money because I don’t feel like it’s $9 worth of food but it’s tasty.
Took some measurements today to see if (or how badly) I fall apart in the next month.
Neck: 16 & 3/4"
Chest: 43 & 7/8"
Abd: 34 & 7/8"
Waist: 35 & 1/2"
Hips: 40 & 7/8"
Quads: 24" (right, 24 & 1/4" (left)
Calves: 15 & 1/2" (right), 16" (left)
Bi’s: 15 & 3/8" (almost equal)
Forearms: 13"
Progress (or lack thereof) Pics
1 Like
##7.25.17
Woke between 220 and 221 I think… I don’t remember.
I didn’t do anything yesterday. The back to back days of 107 and 107 degrees apparently wore me out. It felt like I worked more than four days this past week. I sat around yesterday morning looking at the real estate market and researching about a loan that allows you to finance renovations.
I took my daughter to her first movie at 1:30pm. We had chocolate milkshakes beforehand and watched Cars 3. Decent movie. I think I was more interested in it than she was.
The lack of lifting has decreased my appetite a bit. I’m sure I had plenty of calories with the milkshake, movie popcorn, and mixed nuts from home but I wasn’t all that hungry most of the day. I decided that I wasn’t going to track my food yesterday so I ate handfuls of mixed nuts pretty liberally.
I’m working six hours of OT today. I’m currently waiting for someone to come pickup up the driver and vehicle of a car that I stopped because his license is revoked and my boss told me I had to babysit him until someone arrived. It would’ve been faster to take him to jail…
3 Likes
Totally feel you here - if you look at bar speed or hip extension speed. It’s night and day. My speed now vs when training for it 2+ years ago is probably pushing 20% slower and that kills me. General fitness and appearance are great - but I like to be able to “go” too. Ideal would be to look like the Rock but still dunk well, run a 4.5 40 and a 5 minute mile lol.
2 Likes
That’s a good day in Georgia
The whole South of America is humid and miserable. Can’t wait to just…leave it lol.
1 Like
How old is your daughter?
I just took the kids to see Despicable Me 3. That was cute. My daughter just turned 4. She was only mildly interested in the movie. Although we watch #1 at home frequently. I’ve found that the movies with singing (Moana, Trolls, Frozen, etc.) keep her more interested.
She’s 4. I think if it had been Frozen then she would’ve been locked in.
1 Like
I agree 100%! Why is this too much to ask for?
I’m only 32 but after my pathetic attempt at running with any type of effort has me thinking it’s time to hang up performance and settle on physique and overall health. I have a couple thoughts about this…
- I don’t ever want to give up performance.
- It might be easier to settle for physique only (silver lining)
- My body might not give me much of a choice.