You never know, it can always happen. If you’re interested in PL the sooner you start the better. It really doesn’t matter if you come in and get outlifted at your first meet anyway. No one will give a shit and you’ll learn something. It’s only an issue if you don’t improve over 10 years, only adding 100 pounds or something to your total in that time. Just sign up for one and have fun.
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Mad agreed. In my first meet, my lifts were poverty as hell but I got to meet strong competitors and coaches who I got to know and learn from.
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If you want to try a PL meet, don’t wait man. Turn up, go to the platform and lift the best you can, get experience.
EVERYBODY in there have been where you are, and they’ll all respect you for what you’re doing. You might even get some great tips and cues.
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@mortdk @SOUL_FIGHTER @oldbeancam ya know what, you guys are right. One of my old high school coaches (he’s only about 7 years older than me) and I were talking about doing a PL meet next summer. It’ll give us both a chance to add another ~100lb onto our totals if we’re lucky before we get on the platform. I guess there’s no point in putting it off. More experience is always better
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You could do a training meet this winter. You, your coach, and if you lift or know others that do, invite them.
I think you could benefit from that experience.
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23 August 2018 - Squats Bodyweight: 215.2lbs
Low Bar Squats 4x4 340lbs
Prone SL Hamstring Curl 55lb 1x10, 1x5 15sec rest
Notes
Yeah. Pretty short one, and I didn’t get all my sets. Last week I noticed a little nerve sensitivity in my right inner quad; not quite the adductors, but not directly on the front either. It went away without an issue. Today, I did my first two sets fairly easily, probably RPE 7.5-8 on both of them. Roughly 3 RIR for each set. After the second set, I noticed a bit of numbness/weakness in my right leg, albeit very minor. Did another set, and the condition worsened. I tried to do my fourth set, and got it done. Walked to the drinking fountain, walked back to the rack and sat down. My sister came over after doing her hamstring curls and said “you look like you’re in pain,” and I wasn’t aware that it was that obvious. But it did hurt, and I don’t think trying to squat 340lbs with a weak right leg is a good idea.
I googled it and couldn’t find a cause. When I had nerve pain in my left glute and calf, I was able to figure out that it had to do with my SI joint, because it often mimics symptoms of sciatica. This though is something I can’t seem to figure out. I’m starting to think maybe I have a slightly ruptured disk or something, because I’ve never had nerve pain or discomfort until I hurt my SI joint, and now I’ve had two occurrences in two different locations. I really don’t know what to do. My back never hurts anymore thanks to the core work that I’m doing, but it seems that perhaps I developed some sort of imbalance, and now my right side is suffering since I’ve corrected my left side. I have no idea though.
Yesterday was a shit day and this ruining my workout today is just fuckin perfect. Whatever.
OHP tomorrow, 6x4 145, bench 6x2 235. Then some dumbbell stuff, arms, core. Maybe a little cardio. Peace
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Sorry to hear man, hope you’ll figure it out.
Do you have access to a PT or Chiro?
If it continues it might be worth the spending.
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I could get access to a PT or chiro, but I don’t think my parents would be very happy if I told them I thought I had nerve damage.
The symptoms in my left leg went away after a few weeks, and I just read that using one hour of electric stimulation on the affected area for 3 weeks can more than double the rate of recovery for damaged peripheral nerves. Luckily I have a little stim machine that I got to help with my back pain several months ago. So I’ll be stimming my right quad for an hour every day for the next month or so. If that doesn’t do anything to help, then I’ll have to go to a PT or chiro.
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Say its for preventative care. I recommend looking for a PT or Chiro with a strength training background. My PT is also a USAW coach and was a PT for my old PL trainer.
I take care of my mom, who’s in a wheelchair with ALS, and my dad isn’t strong enough to pick her up to take her to the bathroom or to bed. I didn’t want my mom to know that I’m going to a PT for back pain since I’m her primary caretaker in that capacity. I told her it was preventative care.
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When did you hurt your back? These nerve symptoms could be the result of a disc swelling and putting pressure on the spinal column. When I hurt my back it took almost six weeks for the disc to swell enough to lunch the nerve. I had no pain in my back by that point.
@SOUL_FIGHTER that’s a good idea. It’s a white lie I guess. I just feel guilty if they have to spend money for something that is my fault…but in a way I guess that’s kind of what being parents is about. Taking care of your own
@Frank_C I hurt my back in early May. Deadlifted 455 in mid February, was fine. Early May I was scheduled to do 455 2x2. Got all 4 reps, was fine the next day, just a bit tender. The day after that, 2 days after pulling 455 for 2 doubles, I woke up in excruciating pain. By far the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. But that was in early May, so… roughly 15 weeks ago I think. It’s been on and off since then. Like I said, the original culprit was the left leg from glute to calf. I was pain free for about 2 weeks (about 3 weeks ago) and then my right side started hurting. It doesn’t seem to be a disc problem this time; the pain is lateral to the pain to my right side now which someone reaches down to my quad. I definitely need to get it checked out
24 August 2018 - OHP & Bench Bodyweight: 216.6lbs
1:00 planks 3 ways + arm circles
Barbell OHP 6x4 155lbs
Pause Bench (no rest) 235x2, 245x2, 255x2, 245x2, 235x2, 225x2
Seated DB OHP 30x8, 50x8, 60x8, 70x8, 80x9 (PR)
Reverse Flys 3x10 15lbs
Cable Lat Pulldown 3x15 45lbs
Tricep Extensions 3x15 45lbs
Pallof Press 3x10 each way
Lying Leg Raises 3x10 w/ 10lb DB
Hammer Curls 1x12 40lbs
DB Shrugs 1x50, 1x25 50lbs
Notes
Today was nice. I spent almost 2 hours in the gym just taking my time, doing what I wanted. I think I get more done when I just go in and have fun.
OHP was easy with 155. That’s just over 86% of my 1rm and I think I could’ve done 6x6 today which makes absolutely no sense to me. It shouldn’t be like that. The increase on my 1rm for OHP will be maybe 5-10lbs even though I’m very strong at high percentages for it.
Bench was no rest except for getting up to change the weight. No spotter, no rest periods. That’s called living on the edge.
I decided to take it easy on my hips and do my OHP seated today. Worked out well because I got a nice PR. I chose to just hit 8s until I couldn’t do 8s anymore; got 9 with the 80s because I knew the 90s were not going to budge if I attempted them so I just went all-out while I still could.
Got a nice lat pump. Got a decent trap pump. Got an okay bicep pump. Arm work is boring as hell.
Long day of work tomorrow. I’m picking up the truck and driving it to the catering event. Will leave the house about 12:45pm and won’t be home until about 12:45am so I probably won’t get on the forums tomorrow. Depending on how I feel on Sunday I may do my deadlifts then. I always lift better when I can sleep in and then have a little caffeine beforehand like I did today. I’m going to be overly cautious while warming up for deads. At the first sign of discomfort or pain, I’m walking away.
I have decided that if I continue experiencing pain, I may just totally change the way I train. Full body workouts 3-4x/week in a caloric deficit. Maybe some bodybuilder split on a cut. I don’t know. If I can’t go heavy and do heavy compound movements, I’m going to need to do something radical to keep things interesting. To be continued… and thank all of you guys for your continued input and support on my log. It truly means a lot to have a little support group on the forums. Peace
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Please, get it checked out before it morphs into something worse than it already is. It’s great that you’ll still train, I’m very happy to hear that. But if that pain follows you as you make those changes it can be demoralising. In my experience, getting an appointment takes some time anyway so the sooner you book it the better.
I don’t tend to go around being regretful about any choices that I’ve made, but if I had to pick one thing to have done differently in my life it would have been in the manner I sought help for my hip flexor pain back when I was younger.
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Bulged discs can get inflamed from time to time and put pressure on the nerves.
I agree with @Voxel. Last year I tried the whole “if it hurts then don’t do it” approach and the only thing that happened is that the list of things I couldn’t do got longer every week. I still had pain though.
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Agreed
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do the same but reduce weights?
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@Voxel I should. And I will at some point. But laying awake on Friday night I realized that there’s no need for me to be stressing my spine as much as I am–but I’ll get to that in my next post. I don’t want this to turn into something that nags at me for the rest of my life, but I’m also terrified that if I go to the doctor, he/she will tell me that I should stop squatting and deadlifting altogether.
I want to believe that my body can fix itself. And I know that peripheral nerves can heal themselves over time, which is good news. But like I said in my response to Allberg, my worst fear is having a doctor tell me that I can’t squat or deadlift anymore. But I suppose I’d rather avoid squatting and deadlifting for the rest of my life than squat and deadlift for another year and then have irreversible nerve damage/spine damage…
I honestly think this is a feasible option. I honestly can’t remember a squat session in the last 3-4 months when I wasn’t at or above 315lbs for my working sets. That might just be a little too heavy for me, idk.
The thing that makes no sense to me thinking about it from this perspective is that I deadlifted 385 for 6x4, with no pain or discomfort during the workout or in the days following. So how is it that I can do that, but when I try to squat, it hurts? I guess I’m just reinforcing their points that I should just give up the stubborn act and go see a professional lol
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26 August 2018 - Rest Day
Right now, until I’m able to get an appointment scheduled with a PT, this is the plan for legs:
Leg Extensions 5x15 OR Goblet Squats 5x15
Prone Hamstring Curls 5x10
Single Leg Squats 4x15
Calf Raises 10x15 (because why not lol)
Glute Work TBD
Back:
Lat Pulldowns 5x15
DB Rows 3x20
Face Pulls 5x20
Reverse Flys 5x10
I may or may not add cardio to each of these, I haven’t decided what I want to do for that yet. I will be increasing the amount of core work that I do, as well as some core activation. Right now, just as a base to start from, I’ll be doing 3x1 minute side planks for each side in addition to the warmup side planks I do before every session. I’ll either do plate twists or Pallof presses to work across the sagittal plane. Leg Raises probably to work across the frontal plane. If I’m no longer able to strength train in a few months, I at least want to look good. Well… as good as one could look without squatting or deadlifting. Lol.
I haven’t lost hope yet. And these workouts are purely just to keep myself busy. I chose movements that put minimal stress on my spine and hips. Goblet squats are the only iffy choice right now, but those will be done very light. I plan to make rest periods less than or equal to 60 seconds. I wouldn’t mind losing a couple pounds. There’s no real point in bulking if I can’t squat or deadlift; all those extra calories would likely just become fat.
Idk. Everything is a mess right now. I gotta figure this shit out as soon as possible
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Man I hate to hear this that you are still struggling.
I’ve noticed recently that my low back stays tight/ compressed more than before. I’ve thought I need to keep my working weights lighter and do more core strength work before really pushing the weight up again. Or find some way to decompress some…
I’ve read that working above a 50% of max will continue to make gains. But won’t have the same effect as that 80-90% sweet spot. I think this is why some of the big boys squat/ deadlift every other week heavy and do light work for their other sessions.
I’m not sure when this should be a part of planning or programming but there is a point of diminishing returns for weight on bar, reps, sets, volume per week, month
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If this happens then just go to another doctor. You have to find a doctor that understands the benefits of strength training.
In regards to your deadlift and squat, they put different stress on the body. I’d guess that the compression from squats is the biggest difference. You might brace similarly on each exercise but there’s no getting around the fact that there is 300+ lbs pressing straight down on your spine when you squat.
You could try belt squats. That seems to be more and more popular these days. Hell, they even have a special machine/apparatus for it now.
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