You’re the best @mortdk
Look, I got into a pretty shitty headspace yesterday. All the guys on here helped. Today I woke up and my back was better, and my head was a bit better too.
The bottom line is, unless this gets WORSE I’m going to go and handle my business. If I need to change the plan as I go to get a total, that’s what I’ll do, but I’m coming back with a PR total.
Err I am certainly no expert… But… Commonly back pain is linked to under/inactive glutes. I am 100% sure your glutes are fireing to be able to lift what you do… But what if… They arnt active enough day to day? What you described as helping (basically abductions) is a common exercise to help fire up the glutes.
Maybe try out a few more glute activation exercises?
Woke at 266.8 lbs, looking only a bit more bloated. Back feeling better, which is great.
Is there any live stream for the comp this weekend ?
Good question. I’m not sure.
This is possible @ladycherryblossom, but I don’t think it’s the cause. My wife never stops paying me out for having a clenched butt, and when I think about it my glutes are switched on whenever I’m standing.
I reckon, and this is of course just a guess, that I’ve got some kind of SI joint issue that gets exacerbated by sitting, which puts my pelvis in a shitty position. When I’m training normally, I pretty much never have any issues. It’s when the volume and assistance drops that issues crop up.
Ok, so I’m coming up on halfway through work. Back is holding up fine. Feels more like I went ham on back raises and reverse hypers than hurt or painful as such. Just kind of stiff and almost DOMS. Kind of pumped too.
I mean, given I haven’t done shit in terms of exercise this is exactly what I’d categorise as good, but it sure as shit beats the feeling that if I move wrong I’m fucked.
Still a couple of positions or movements where I get a reminder that I shouldn’t be doing that but nothing I haven’t had before.
This cracked me up. Your honesty and humbleness is awesome.
I have no need to pretend I know shit I don’t. I mean, you’d think I know this because I did two full units of anatomy at uni but I don’t, and beyond knowing how to avoid or fix problems I really dont care.
Very pragmatic and borderline stoic. I approve.
Woke at 265.9 lbs, looking less bloated. Back is better again. Not 100 per cent, but much better.
Do these seem to target your glutes? I can’t give you the why, but I find back pain relief by warming my buns. I’ll often do a few sets of glute bridges and banded pullthroughs before a squat workout if my back is cranky.
Edit: I should have kept reading before posting, it looks like @ladycherryblossom covered the glute topic already.
Targets my glutes, also something in my upper hamstrings. Best I can figure is that it takes pressure off my lumbar and SI joint or whatever.
End of the day and my back is further improved. Win.
Good to hear Mark.
Awesome news. Hoping for big things on Sunday
Woke at 263 lbs, looking similar to yesterday. Go figure.
Back continues to improve. When I got home from work I decided to risk some air squats and knocked out 25, no issues. Every morning I’ve been doing 75 to 100 of box knee push out things, which I’m guessing helped.
So it looks like it’s going to be a small meet: so far I think there are 13 people listed. That’s one flight, but a decently long flight so that’s good. It does mean it’s likely to go fast and may well mean there isn’t any real down time between lifts. I can deal with that, been there before a couple of times.
So far there’s also only one other 275, and based on his results from the same meet last year he isn’t going to push me too hard. Unless, of course, he just had a bad day last year, but his attempts don’t tell that story.
Stuff like that usually helps if tight hip flexors are the issue, glutes (which are hip extensors) are the antagonist to the hip flexors. If I spend too much time sitting that can be a problem, I do a lot of half kneeling hip flexor stretches but not pushing the ROM because that can irritate them too. You don’t want to hyperextend your hips, you just don’t want the hip flexors inhibiting your glutes and pulling you into anterior pelvic tilt.
MarkKO most likely has a herniated disc, a lot of things can go wrong with you back but that is one of the most common issues, especially with lifters.
@MarkKO - Another thing I should have mentioned is the cat/camel exercise, you can do that 2-3 times a day for a couple sets of 8-10 reps. Do it slowly and don’t push the ROM. McGill highly recommends it and it definitely made my back feel better, I still do it before lifting just to loosen up a bit. Also avoid stuff like air squats or anything where your back might round shortly after getting out of bed. When you lay down for long enough the discs in your spine swell up with fluid, the fluid goes away after you are upright for a while but while the are swollen they are more prone to injury than ever.