Kick My Ass!

[warlock]

Here we go.

My back is fucked up! �?? I have been out of commission this whole week but now I am feeling much better and my chiro gave me green light to go back to work.

My shoulder is fucked up! �?? Very little pain but sometimes I wake up during the night after playing volleyball.

My knees are fucked up! �?? Tendonitis in both knees; I have seen a physiotherapist and she gave me a protocol to treat them.

I am such a mess for various reasons, but the main problem is that I had adrenal issues and I stopped working out all together since November and I not just put 4lbs on but I feel strong like a chinchilla. That weakness generated my back problem and the fact that I am not working out as I should, made the other problems worse.

4 days at home made think about what I want and need.

I need to get healthy and pain free.

I want to loose the excess weight and get stronger.

I want and need to play better volleyball otherwise it is pointless to go there and just waste time/effort my league is farm from pro but I take it seriously as my only pastime.

I want/need to put muscle on because I work in the fitness industry and my biceps is my business card and because I am shallow and vain.

My plan is to loose weight, get healthy and be more muscular and strong.

Your comments and brutal honesty are appreciated.

Cycle 01
Goals: go back to gym and start rehab
Weight training 5X5 program 3X a week using machines to protect my back
Rehab exercises 6x a week
Cardio: low intensity 30min 6X a week
Fish oils -15g
Vitamin C - 2g
Humanofort - 3caps a day
Vitamin B complex - 2 teaspoons a day
Diet �?? whole foods, no sugars but fruit, 6 meals a day

Cycle 02
Goals: get stronger and pain free.

Weight training 5X5 program 4X a week using free weights in a push pull protocol and adding accessory movements (bis, tris, calves)
Rehab exercises 6x a week
Cardio: low intensity 30min 5X a week, 1 HITT session a week
Fish oils - 6g
Vitamin C - 2g
Humanofort - 3caps a day
Vitamin B complex �?? as my ND requests
Diet �?? whole foods, no sugars but fruit one piece a day, 6 meals a day, start starch control (only before/after work out and one cheat day a week)

Cycle 03
Goals: get stronger, leaner and pain free.
Weight training German Volume training program 4X a week
Rehab exercises 6x a week
Cardio: low intensity 30min 5X a week, 1 HITT session a week
Fish oils - 6g
Vitamin C - 2g
Humanofort - 3caps a day
Vitamin B complex �?? as my ND requests
Creatine �?? 10g a day
Diet �?? whole foods, no sugars, 6 meals a day, starch only before/after work out.

Cycle 04
Goals: get stronger, leaner, start training for next Volleyball season.
Weight training 4X a week 2X a day (no more than 45 min each session), session #1 low volume high intensity, session #2 high intensity low volume.
Prehab exercises 3x a week
Cardio: low intensity 45 min 5X a week, 2 HITT sessions a week
Fish oils �?? 6 g
Vitamin C �?? 2 �?�g
Humanofort �?? 4 caps a day
Vitamin B complex �?? as my ND requests
Creatine �?? 10g a day
Diet �?? whole foods, no sugars, 6 meals a day, starch only before/after work out.

Cycle 05
Goals: get stronger, leaner, train for next Volleyball season.
Weight training 4X a week 2X a day (no more than 45 min each session), session #1 high intensity low volume, session #2 low volume high intensity, start using Olympic lifts.
Prehab exercises 3x a week
Cardio: low intensity 30min 5X a week, 2 plyometric session a week
Fish oils - 6g
Vitamin C - 2g
Humanofort - 3caps a day
Vitamin B complex �?? as my ND requests
Creatine �?? 10g a day
Glucosamine and condroidin -?
Diet �?? whole foods, no sugars, 6 meals a day, starch only before/after work out.

Cycle 06
Goals: keep strenght, get even leaner, increase explosion
Weight training 4X a week full body, day #1+3 high intensity low volume, day #2+4 Olympic lifts and accessory movements (bis, tris,calves)
Prehab exercises 3x a week
Cardio: low intensity 30min 3X a week, 2 plyometric sessions a week
Fish oils - 6g
Vitamin C - 2g
Humanofort - 3caps a day
Vitamin B complex �?? as my ND requests
Creatine �?? 10g a day
Glucosamine and condroidin -?
Diet �?? V diet?

I am 5’10" 192lbs about 12% bf, I’ll post pics and more detailed info/pics next week

Thank you.

Warlock

[stuward]

In cycle 1, I’d suggest more body weight and cable exercises rather than rely on machines or maybe some combination. You really can’t get a good core workout with machines. You need to work this area the most to prepare for the heavy lifting later. You can adjust the intensity as you are able to tolerate it.

Have you decided how you will determine when you need to move from one cycle to the next?

Stu

[warlock]

[quote]stuward wrote:
In cycle 1, I’d suggest more body weight and cable exercises rather than rely on machines or maybe some combination. You really can’t get a good core workout with machines. You need to work this area the most to prepare for the heavy lifting later. You can adjust the intensity as you are able to tolerate it.

Have you decided how you will determine when you need to move from one cycle to the next?

Stu[/quote]

Thanks for your reply.

The core work will be done when I do my rehab work.

As I feel better I’ll start doing more free weights work and decrease the support to increase my strength

Each cycle is completed in 4 weeks

[stuward]

[quote]warlock wrote:
Each cycle is completed in 4 weeks
[/quote]

I assume that means that you have a volleyball season you are trying to get ready for. Otherwise I’d suggest that you have some type of performance measurement or threshold that you should achieve before switching. You may not be ready in time. Your program is quite ambitious and a some cycles may take longer than 4 weeks.

Stu

[andersons]

In Cycle 01: machines will NOT rehab your back. No no no.

What type of back injury?

If you are careful in your technique, single-leg exercises may be very helpful for both your knees and back. Mike Boyle has a great article here:
www.strengthcoach.com/public/1219.cfm

and elsewhere he discussed them for the purpose of rehabbing and preventing knee injuries.

Also you should be foam rolling. And doing trigger-point work with a tennis ball. This has made a HUGE difference for me.

[warlock]

I will use machines/suppported exercises as a way to AVOID further injury.

The Chiro believes that I have something happening in the facet joint on L3/L4, fortunately the pain is localized in my low back and doesn’t refer or radiate.

As you can see right under weight training I wrote Rehab 6X a week, that will include: core work, stretch and strength work for weak/problematic areas, foam roller, hot Yoga, Pilates and whatever else I can use to help my issues.

Thanks for the link and your answer.

W

[quote]andersons wrote:
In Cycle 01: machines will NOT rehab your back. No no no.

What type of back injury?

If you are careful in your technique, single-leg exercises may be very helpful for both your knees and back. Mike Boyle has a great article here:
www.strengthcoach.com/public/1219.cfm

and elsewhere he discussed them for the purpose of rehabbing and preventing knee injuries.

Also you should be foam rolling. And doing trigger-point work with a tennis ball. This has made a HUGE difference for me.

[/quote]

[warlock]

[quote]stuward wrote:
warlock wrote:
Each cycle is completed in 4 weeks

I assume that means that you have a volleyball season you are trying to get ready for. Otherwise I’d suggest that you have some type of performance measurement or threshold that you should achieve before switching. You may not be ready in time. Your program is quite ambitious and a some cycles may take longer than 4 weeks.

Stu[/quote]

This plan is the outline of what I want.

My goal #1 is to be pain free, #2 strength/performance, #3 looks

If in order to get a certain look i start too much of my power/strength I’ll sacrifice whatever I am doing in order to keep it.

I still am not 100% sure about doing the V diet just before my season starts.

I have to make sure that my joints are ok before starting doing Plyometrics and OL

That’s exactly the reason I appreciate your time/input.

Thanks

w

[andersons]

[quote]warlock wrote:
I will use machines/suppported exercises as a way to AVOID further injury.

The Chiro believes that I have something happening in the facet joint on L3/L4, fortunately the pain is localized in my low back and doesn’t refer or radiate.

As you can see right under weight training I wrote Rehab 6X a week, that will include: core work, stretch and strength work for weak/problematic areas, foam roller, hot Yoga, Pilates and whatever else I can use to help my issues.[/quote]

In “Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitiation,” Dr. Stuart McGill measured the spinal loading of a variety of machine and free weight exercises. Some of the machines were the worst offenders. If you get this book (and I strongly recommend it), you will see the high-quality evidence and know which exercises to avoid. It will change the way you look at exercises and whether you incorporate them in your training or not.

Overall, McGill shows that people with LBD need, above all else, spinal stabilization. This doesn’t involve strength; it involves coordination and endurance, actually, of some 40 different muscles. You cannot develop this coordination via machines. In fact, machine training may impair stabilization even further.

Furthermore, because machines lock you into a fixed plane of movement, they can force movement patterns that unduly stress the joints. So machines can cause more problems than free weights.

My goals are similar to yours. I have followed the rehab protocols in McGill’s book to the point where I am finally pain-free in everyday activities. Now I want to get back into weight training yet remain pain free. Then I would kinda like to put your #3 (appearance) as my #2, but clearly, your order makes more sense.

Sorry I missed the part about the foam roller.

Now about yoga and pilates. . .I don’t recommend these for back pain sufferers, based on the evidence presented in McGill’s research. Some of the movements are potentially helpful, but others are harmful (high degree of spinal flexion and mobility). For awhile I did some of the moves on a pilates video, while avoiding those with spinal flexion, but I found I got better results without them.

People are ALWAYS telling me I need to do yoga and/or pilates. And I noticed something. Despite being such raving fans of yoga and pilates, when I ask them about their pain and functionality, it’s not good and never improves. In fact I can think of three friends in my neighborhood; they all have horrible posture and chronic pain; they LIMP, all three of them. One cannot even go with me and my other friends on the the nature hikes around here because of various pains. They all attend yoga and pilates classes regularly and LOVE them. Although I can’t know whether yoga or pilates caused any of their problems, I do know it’s not fixing them.

[warlock]

[quote]andersons wrote:
warlock wrote:
I will use machines/suppported exercises as a way to AVOID further injury.

The Chiro believes that I have something happening in the facet joint on L3/L4, fortunately the pain is localized in my low back and doesn’t refer or radiate.

As you can see right under weight training I wrote Rehab 6X a week, that will include: core work, stretch and strength work for weak/problematic areas, foam roller, hot Yoga, Pilates and whatever else I can use to help my issues.

In “Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitiation,” Dr. Stuart McGill measured the spinal loading of a variety of machine and free weight exercises. Some of the machines were the worst offenders. If you get this book (and I strongly recommend it), you will see the high-quality evidence and know which exercises to avoid. It will change the way you look at exercises and whether you incorporate them in your training or not.

Overall, McGill shows that people with LBD need, above all else, spinal stabilization. This doesn’t involve strength; it involves coordination and endurance, actually, of some 40 different muscles. You cannot develop this coordination via machines. In fact, machine training may impair stabilization even further.

Furthermore, because machines lock you into a fixed plane of movement, they can force movement patterns that unduly stress the joints. So machines can cause more problems than free weights.

My goals are similar to yours. I have followed the rehab protocols in McGill’s book to the point where I am finally pain-free in everyday activities. Now I want to get back into weight training yet remain pain free. Then I would kinda like to put your #3 (appearance) as my #2, but clearly, your order makes more sense.

Sorry I missed the part about the foam roller.

Now about yoga and pilates. . .I don’t recommend these for back pain sufferers, based on the evidence presented in McGill’s research. Some of the movements are potentially helpful, but others are harmful (high degree of spinal flexion and mobility). For awhile I did some of the moves on a pilates video, while avoiding those with spinal flexion, but I found I got better results without them.

People are ALWAYS telling me I need to do yoga and/or pilates. And I noticed something. Despite being such raving fans of yoga and pilates, when I ask them about their pain and functionality, it’s not good and never improves. In fact I can think of three friends in my neighborhood; they all have horrible posture and chronic pain; they LIMP, all three of them. One cannot even go with me and my other friends on the the nature hikes around here because of various pains. They all attend yoga and pilates classes regularly and LOVE them. Although I can’t know whether yoga or pilates caused any of their problems, I do know it’s not fixing them. [/quote]

Thanks for the info.
I’ll try ti get a copy of McGuill book.
My intention was to use supported rows instead of barbell row, seated incline chest press instead of dumbbell press and one leg leg press instead of squat.
I guess I should take a look in that book before start moving.

As per Pilates/Yoga I know a few people that got their injuries in those classes and I have to agree with you that they are used as panacea for everything meanwhile they are just another class that can help or not depending on the problem.

Pilates is what saved my hips a few years back when I started having serious non-diagnosed problems, the class that I take is designed for 60 yo stay at home ladies, it is based on mobility and stretching with a few strength movements incorporated, the goal for me is to do whatever I can do in the pain free range of motion…

Thanks

w

[stuward]

[quote]warlock wrote:
stuward wrote:
warlock wrote:
Each cycle is completed in 4 weeks

I assume that means that you have a volleyball season you are trying to get ready for. Otherwise I’d suggest that you have some type of performance measurement or threshold that you should achieve before switching. You may not be ready in time. Your program is quite ambitious and a some cycles may take longer than 4 weeks.

Stu

This plan is the outline of what I want.

My goal #1 is to be pain free, #2 strength/performance, #3 looks

If in order to get a certain look i start too much of my power/strength I’ll sacrifice whatever I am doing in order to keep it.

I still am not 100% sure about doing the V diet just before my season starts.

I have to make sure that my joints are ok before starting doing Plyometrics and OL

That’s exactly the reason I appreciate your time/input.

Thanks

w[/quote]

It sounds like you’ve thought this through. Please keep us informed of your progress. I look forward to reading your posts.

Stu

[warlock]

3 days on my new program and I am feeling well.

I guess that my body was missing working out and now I finally have a tangible goal and a deadline!

I have to be trim in 3 months as I will have a photoshoot for my own web site.

I have to be healthy as well as I will have to do my sport conditioning.

3 days no crap food.

Still eating pretty much everything but nothing is processed and i am just watching my starch consumption, keeping it under control and eating only when I need (when I wake up before doing my cardio) and after WO.

Everyday I eat at least one HUGE salad full of greens with tomatoes and about 200 g of dead animal (fish, poutry, beef wathever…)

My short coming is something that is part of my personality: I am a generalist not a detail oriented person, therefore doing detail work is kind of boring. I still don’t have my program written in stone (or paper) my log is far from ideal and i should plan my meals better.

I guess my real 1sr step is just to create the routine: the WOs, the logging, the planing…

My WOs have been as good as they can be: my back isn’t 100%; no flexion or rotation for me. I need to rehab my knees before being able to do heavy work. Right no it is almost a mish mash I have been very rigorous with my leg rehab and my 5X5 for chest/back and been doing whatever I have time to do between the long rest periods between sets.

It feels good to be able to do 45 min of light cardio every day.

This weekend I get a little more precise as I have to get a decent book for my log (food/exercise) define exactly what to do in each WO and program food for the week.

Wish me luck.

w

[warlock]

One week is gone.

What have I learnt?

Logging is great.

It makes you accountable, responsible and enface your own weaknesses (If this were not a respectable place I’d use the word bullshit instead).

I have been able to do weight work outs, my cardio and take a look at my diet.

No it hasn’t been great but it is far from bad. Actually it is quite good as I believe that the first step always is to make the new habit.

The routine of doing the things that i have to do and to find excuses to do them instead of procrastinating.

I am taking my work out as appointments that I have to show up and doing my best to keep them at around 45 min to avoid being too tired next day or too bored down the road.

The down side is my knees started hurting again. I’ll review the routine that my PT asked me to do and make sure that I am doing it to perfection, if I don’t get enough results out of it in two weeks I believe I’ll have to meet her again…

As I was saying logging is great but right now my book is less than optimal therefore it is time for me to plan my next week and get a decent notebook to write things down…

[warlock]

2 months are gone:

Great news!

My back is assymptomatic.

My weight is fluctuating but my diet is much better and I have been working in my strenght 4/6X a week I look better and feel better.

Tomorrow start GVT, suplementation and tweak my diet!

I am very excited as for the firt time in my life I have been able to bench (5X200) more that I weight (190).