What vodoo magic is that? Scary stuff.
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I’ve had needles done on my hip and lower back. We’ve done my traps which always hurts a bit at first because they’re so tight. It’s no fun going the day after a heavy trap workout. She’s also done my right shoulder and arm to address some nerve pain that I caused by using one crutch after surgery. The crutch pushed my shoulder up and it pinched a nerve or nerves that run through the brachial plexus…stupid. My neck feels pretty good. It’s a little stiff again but much better than it’s been.
Good for you! I’m a little excited to get my new program underway. I’ll wake up once I start my warm up.
It’s a strange technique but I like the results!
As mentioned by the others it’s dry needling. They use needles of different lengths for different spots. It’s like a trigger point therapy. She finds the knots or tight muscles and jabs them. Notice how my neck/head is red above the needles? I instantly got hot and started sweating. The body responds in a fight or flight manner. I think the idea is to stimulate the area and cause the body to do its healing thing. The end result is that the knots melt almost immediately.
The needles can go pretty deep. She did one in the front of my shoulder and it hit the bone! I didn’t even notice. I looked at it after the fact and asked her how deep they went (thinking it was like a half inch) and she informed me.
Depending on the area she’s treating she might even attach clips to the needles and to e-stem as well. After the treatment she’ll re-check the trouble spots and if I still have tightness or pain she might do a couple of other quick spot treatments and then reassess. It’s strangely awesome how it works! Go in with pain and stiffness and walk out feeling like the muscles are soft as butter.
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I wonder if I should look into this for my hip issues. Interesting.
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It wouldn’t hurt. I also have a chiropractor who does active release technique (ART). Both help alleviate muscle problems but you have to get multiple treatments.
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Thanks for this info. May be time to search out a person to take care of the aches and pains before it gets serious and I need one.
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Guaranteed Simple Strength & Size Week 1 Day 1
3 LAP DYNAMIC WARM UP
SQUATS
135 x 8
185 x 8
205 x 8 x 3
DEADLIFTS
135 x 8
205 x 8
255 x 8 x 3 EMOM (so 2:20 of fun LOL)
WALKING LUNGES
30’s x 8 ea x 3
RDL’S
135 x 8 x 3 w/ 30 sec rest between sets
FARMERS WALK
75s x 60 m x 3
My lower back is a bit fatigued from everything but I think the farmer’s walks were what finished it off and gave me this lovely feeling. Glad that session is over. 5 x 8 on Monday is going to suck.
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Do you find that works well on shoulders and knees too? Never tried chiro - always found just getting blood flow to injured spots are the best. Nice tattoo by the way. I have one good cross and crown of thorns on my shoulder but have always thought about getting a couple more.
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I haven’t done my knees but that’s the plan for next week’s appointment. I haven’t had knee pain since high school basketball and suddenly both knees are killing me at the start of my workouts.
Chiropractic care has evolved quite a bit and I think people are starting to add different treatments to their services to expand their business. The two that I see aren’t the type that crack you and send you out the door in 10 minutes or less while charging the $50 co-pay. The ART is like a sports massage and although it’s painful it definitely helps. The dry needling is mysterious but works great. If you’re really hurting one visit won’t do the trick.
The first time I saw the chiro who does the needling my hip was really bugging me. It finally got to the point to where I felt the stabbing pain on a body weight squat. I had the pain at the start of the appointment and it was gone when I left. I never felt it again with a body weight squat. I still had pain doing other things but that particular thing never came back.
I’m go both for the tissue work and the adjustments. I lift enough that I’m always a bit out of alignment somewhere—usually my neck and sacro-illiac joint. My neck is tolerable but the SI joint stuff can really jack me up during a deadlift or squat if I ignore it. Things can shift even more and then I’m on the DL for a couple weeks.
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I’m pretty sure CT just described me here. I’m not 100% certain which neurotype or blend of types that I am because I see a little of myself in more than a couple, but I definitely enjoy adding, and adding, and adding to my training. I also freak out about looking good in the mirror. He described me perfectly with the too much volume and not enough food scenario.
What’s even better is that this helps me accept that I need to stay natural. I’m nowhere near crossing that line into enhanced, but I’m definitely curious, and the older I get the more I find myself reading about it in the pharma section.
This little gem may be just what it takes to keep me from crossing that line. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but it could be a bad thing for me.
Thanks, Coach!
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How do you feel about getting into TRT when you are older? For health purposes it’s really good but it may be hard for a lifetime natural to get into.
Also, Type 1 checking in (I can’t define it between 1 and 2)
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I am very open to TRT but my natural levels will have to drop first. I had my testosterone checked early last year and it was over 600. Guess I’m good in that aspect. But I’m definitely the type to convince myself that there’s nothing wrong with hanging out at the max end of the spectrum.
For now I just have to commit to this growing process and ride it out. No more abs. I’m already looking a little bigger through the chest and shoulders (I think) but I’m definitely losing definition. On the plus side I don’t have to beat myself up so much if I indulge a bit more often. I’m finally finding it tough to get my calories in a day and that’s never an issue when I’m eating 3000 a day or less.
CT was responding to someone else in that thread but he hit the nail on the head for me as well. I know he’s used drugs and trained people who have done the same. He is accurate in describing my training style and mentality without knowing me, so I trust that he is probably right about using PED’s as well. Although with the right combination and doses I could grow and be lean at the same time (I think).
I also don’t want to use something, have great success, and then have to stop because it was a temporary fix. I don’t want to be on PED’s forever either. I think TRT might be the happy medium solution someday. Hopefully my doctor will understand my mindset and help me out when the time comes.
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3.24.18
Forgot to weigh myself first thing because I was tired and wanted to stay in bed. Stepped on the scale post-workout after a protein shake mixed with half a cup of oatmeal, a cup of coffee, about 20 ounces of water and weighed over 232 lbs.
Yesterday’s Nutrition
3262 calories, 385g carbs, 75g fat, 226g protein.
This will be the last time I track this for awhile. I’m stepping away from my OCD ways and I’m going to try to eat like a normal person without tracking every gram of food.
GSS&S W1 D2 (in my basement)
1 minute rest between all exercises
BENCH
135 x 8 x 2
185 x 8
205 x 8 x 3
PENDLAY ROW
135 x 5 x 2
155 x 8 x 3 sets
SEATED OHP (NO BACK SUPPORT)
I’m too tall to do OHP standing in the basement.
95 x 8 x 3
This felt pretty similar to regular OHP so I was pleased with the modification.
NEUTRAL PULL-UPS
BW x 8, 8, 5-3
BENT-OVER REVERSE DB FLY
20’s x 12 x 3 sets
Done in 35 minutes. One of my shortest workouts in a while.
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That’s good
Mini-cuts would keep your conditioning in check, are you going to include them?
In a month or two you’ll be starving with your current calories as your metabolism adapts
Good thinking
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I don’t have anything scheduled but I’ll throw it in if I start to look too soft. I’m actually not too worried about that aspect yet. I’ve always been strict on myself and my desire to have a six pack interfered with my other goals. It’s almost like a mental battle and I’m trying to force myself out of my comfort zone by not worrying about that right now. I know I can cut weight. I’ve proved that over and over. I haven’t proved to myself that I can do a slow and smart “bulk” and add quality muscle. I’ve also never tipped the scales at 250 lbs.
I have a man crush on The Rock. We’re about the same height but he’s 260-270 lbs. I’ll never look like him but it’s still my goal (he was a very large adolescent so he has better genes for it than I do). I’d be thrilled if I could hit 235 lbs at 10-12% body fat someday. I’d also take boulder shoulders, a big chest, and a flat stomach. Who cares if it’s a 6 pack as long as it doesn’t have rolls?
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From what I’ve seen reading your log I think you have this kind of “all or nothing” mindset when it comes to bulking - or maybe I just happen to be around only when you are devouring pizza and wings
I’d try to tone that down a bit and eat a large quantity of clean foods at a slight surplus. Yeah, it’s the most boring way to bulk ever but it’s just about the best if you want to even remotely look like a human rather than a sumo wrestler.
True that. I love being lean, but when in clothes you look so much more massive with a bit more fat. As long as the ridges of my abs are showing I’m pretty happy, but I still want to get really lean every once in a while just for the hell of it
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I eat clean 90% of the time. Every couple of weeks I’ll eat pizza because it’s my favorite food. It’s quite possible I always talk about my pizza splurge because I enjoy it so much lol! That probably makes it stand out more on my log.
My average day as of late has been oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly sandwich (natural PB and organic jelly), baked chicken, baked potatoes or beans & rice, pasta with red sauce, broccoli, more chicken and one of the above carbs for dinner, and protein powder.
I also mix in a bit of my wife’s tofu and lately I’ve been splurging with vegan hot dogs. I limit that due to the soy though.
That sounds good to me, let’s see what you can do!
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Great plan. My calories are going up too. Not sure how much over 250 I’m willing to go…at 6’4" I could get to 250 and still be “slender” but damn that is big. 250 with a sub 15% bf I’m good. 250 with 18-20% I’m not good…
I’m trying to get from “lean and athletic” to swole. Lean and athletic will always be an option for me and will probably be where I end up down the road. It’s the logical choice when I’m old, but there’s no reason I can’t try out the swole thing for awhile.
I’ve reflected on my better days (or what seem like them in my mind) of training and when I looked “better”. I weighed 240lbs in 2006 and decided to try The Abs Diet starting in September. In a month I dropped to 225 and looked pretty good. That was about the time I started hanging out with my wife. I was able to pleasantly surprise her the first time she saw me shirtless. She thought I was one of those guys who were hiding fat under their shirts but to her surprise it was a six pack! (my first one ever too) But the lesson learned is that I was 240+ for quite awhile and cut to 225.
I took a break from training and eating right for 2-4 weeks at the end of the year. I drove out to Lake Placid, NY for my internship in early January and weighed under 220 when I got there. I got back in the gym, started back on creatine, and ate like a horse. I got up to 247 lbs. I got off the creatine and started eating like a normal person and dropped back down to the low 230’s (first thing in the morning). Again, I was lean and defined.
See the trend? 240 lbs or more + small cutting phase = big AND lean (at least compared to where I am now)
I’ve been trying to get back to big without sacrificing the lean part. So here we go on a much slower journey. If 240 meant 225-230 lbs lean (ish) then maybe 260 can be 235-240 lbs lean (ish)? Call me a dreamer but let’s give it a shot!
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That would imply “wet” needling exists. So cortisone shots?
Glad that’s helping you out. I can’t even get a massage, the knots just hurt worse after… so I leave them alone hoping I won’t anger them more.