Thanks buddy! 
Had the best steak of my life with my parents. It was flawless! At home I had some Ben & Jerry’s and now I am following it with a few glasses of whisky (yeah I am taking a break of the whole sobriety-abstinence-thing for the evening).
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That sounds like s great night
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22.02.
30 min of stationary bike
23.02.
Had a lot of sleep last night.
1 box squats (single ply squat suit)
worked up to
1 @ 140 kg - just to feel the movement out. Then decided to break out the old squat suit.
1 @ 180 kg
1 @ 200 kg
fail @ 220 kg - didn’t commit to it
1 @ 220 kg - rushed/ skipped the pause on the box. Felt like I was going to die but looked like a DE on camera. I think that is kind of the beauty of such a suit. At least for a noob like me, haha. PR for suited squats.
2 sandbag squats
2 x 5 @ 100 kg
6 @ 100 kg
Ok I have only done them twice now but I am confident about recommending them to any strongman who is reading this! Well worth your time. You’ll hate me though.
3a ab pull downs
3 x 12
3b leg curls
3 x 12
3b leg extensions
3 x 12
Notes:
- good session. Felt like I got something done. The rest of the week is going to be significantly lighter. Next week it is game on.
24.02.
Really shit and frustrating day. I feel kinda disheartened because I put a lot of hope into that clinic. Told them today (like every week) that I am disappointed about not making progress and pointed out some very concrete things I am unbappy about. Told them that it is about time for me to say goodbye. They didn’t really seem to give a shit.
I am currently making follow up appointments for after my stay. I already have the urologist, an endokrinologist and a psychiatrist(all in March). Therapist to go and maybe I have a team big enough team to keep me together as a functioning human… Haha…ha.
1 EMOM 3 axle continental cleans + 1 press (strict)
For 10 minutes @ 61 kg
Thought this was going to be hell. It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park but not particularely hard either.
2 hicks press
Up to
6 @ 80 kg
6 @ 100 kg
4 @ 120 kg - pretty exagerrated pauses. Probably two more in the tank. 3 with regular pauses. Promising.
10 @ 100 kg
8 @ 100 kg
3 chest supported t-bar row
5 x 10
4a face pulls
3 x 12
4b triceps push down
3 x 12
4c hammer curls
3 x 12
Notes:
- SI joint area acted up tonight. I guess the extra heavy squats weren’t welcome. Whole hip area wasn’t too fond of it today tbh.
- good session to get some conditioning going and refamiliarise myself with the axle clean. I could have done power cleans but for any meaningful weight I’ll have to go continental, so it’s best to get the practise in.
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26.02.
1 EMOM deadlift
1 deficit deadlift @ 140 kg
Immediately followed by
1 elevated deadlift @ 140 kg
For 7 minutes (so 7 reps on each bar)
Went double over on the deadlift bar for deficits and mixed grip on the power bar for elevated deadlifts.
Planned to do 10 minutes but my SI joints (especially right side) acted up so badly that I decided to throw in the towel.
2 did a few shrugs and single leg stuff but all in all combined maybe 5 sets… So not worth mentioning
Notes:
- Had log planned for tomorrow (also very light) but maybe it’s best to cut it out. Already confirmed that I’ll play tennis on friday.
- I probably don’t need to describe how I feel about me having to cap a deload workout
- I need to figure this thing out. @flatsfarmer maybe you have an idea?
On the … I originally injured my back when I passed out with farmer’s handles in my hands. In the moment it felt like it was mainly my SI joints/ hips that took the beating. Later it would actually be my lumbar spine. The physio suspected some disc damage,which would be possible but it doesn’t have to be true. That particular physio isn’t exactly the best one I’ve had. I originally got a lot of relief when my regular physio adjusted my SI joints. I would still get back pumps when I started to move/ warm up/ lift but it was gradually decreasing. Now I think I have aggrevated it again (most likely with those heavy box squats). When I start to lift, no matter how low the weight, my SI joints feel increasingly painful and often times my lower back-hip-area tightens up in a kind of self defense mechanism I imagine. The pain is very local in both joints, predominantly the right side. It doesn’t spread, no “spine pain”, no muscle spasm, no tingling, loss of sensation etc. The pain can be decreased “relatively” quickly if I lay down on my back with my feet up. Sitting helps as well but to a lesser degree.
I am not really sure what is happening here and the physio isn’t much help (plus today was my last session). I imagine it is a bit difficult for him since I have zero pain in day to day life. It only manifests itself when I lift, do sport activities or go for longer walks (uphill).
Could this maybe be inflammation in the joint or am I missing something else? If inflammation - ice/ take ibuprofen/…?
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You 100% could have a problem in the joint, not in your disks. Your pelvis isn’t one solid piece, it’s like two halves connected at your SI joint with your sacrum in the middle. Apparently it’s pretty common to get one sided tightness somewhere in your hips, groin or back that twists your pelvis and irritates your SI joint and lower back.
If this is what’s really going on, some muscle in not doing its job so you’re unstable. The “fix” is to lay on your back and engage your your adductors (leg squeezers) abductors (leg spreaders) your glutes ( hip extensors) and your low abs (hip flexors). Ideally, once you get the lazy muscle fired up your pelvis will return to normal alignment and relief will be nearly instant.
Here’s a more educated guy talking about it. At 2:30 he shows a drill where you lay on the floor and drive one knee “up” to hit abs and one knee “down” to hit glutes and pop things back into place.
Here’s one where a lady lays on her back, feet on the floor and squeezes and speeds her legs against some BS resistance to do the job.
This lady uses the same isometric knee up, knee down that the first guy does, then squeezes a foam roller between the knees for adductors.
Just be careful squeezing your legs together too hard, you can get adductor cramps.
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That’s a brilliant explanation.
It’s what my bracing hip thrusts and bracing 90/90s do - which is why they work well for me, obviously.
You managed to explain what’s going on.
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@FlatsFarmer thanks a ton mate! That’s really awesome information. I am not really buying into the whole disk damage thing to be honest so this explanation feels a lot more likely.
Now the question is when/ how do I implement these exercises? Throughout the day, in my warm up, when issues present themselves?
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If your back hurts you can do them right away to see if it helps. Mark does the 90/90 bracing stuff before lower body workouts (I’m pretty sure). Thus stuff is pretty low impact so I don’t think through out the day would cause any problems. Sometimes it takes 2-3 times to figure out exactly what you’re trying to do.
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Awesome. I’ll try it out tomorrow while I have some down time. If it seems like we’ve hit the jackpot, I’ll maybe be able to train in the evening and repeat it for warm ups
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I’ve read this tons of times in his log btw. and always had a completely wrong picture in mind! I was thinking about the glute stretch the whole time, haha
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Haha!
Here’s a super short one. This guy has his feet against the wall, using it as resistance to get things right.
If you are interested search for “90/90 hip lift” for more details.
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Absolutely. I even do it at home if my back feels off. It helps a ton.
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27.02.
This was my exact warm up today.
- 5 minutes cardio
- SI joint reset
- 90/90 hip lift breathing (15 breaths)
- world’s greatest stretch
- t spine pull overs
- shoulder dislocations
- clamshells
- plankes + side plankes
- rotator cuff warm up
- db windmills
Actually just copied that to ask for your opinion, @flatsfarmer.
1 EMOM: 3 log viper presses (aka one motions)
10 minutes @ 61 kg
2 incline db bench press
10 @ 35,5 kg
7 @ 41,5 kg - really strong for my chesticles
12 @ 32 kg
3 seated rows
5 x 10
4 face pulls
5 x 15
Notes:
-
the pain was there. A little less evil than yesterday but I think that’s because it wasn’t deadlifts. No sign that anything was off during the day. Even did the SI reset and 90/90 hip lift this afternoon. Didn’t notice much when I did them. Felt good but like nothing happened, you know? The whole warm up felt smooth and didn’t indicate a problem. Repeadetly picking up the log turned into a problem. The picking it up and putting it down part lit my SI’s up like a wildfire. The pressing was fine. Also tried the reset thing again when I was already hurting but it didn’t give any release sadly.
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It’s getting hard to take mentally. Sounds like a minor thing all in all but it is one additional thing on a whole pile of stressors at the moment. Also: Bad timing! With the season coming up…
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btw about 15 minutes after I stopped log lifting and did nothing at all but cool down, the pain subsided mostly
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as always: I am open to any suggestions. Is there anything particular I should feel/ notice during the hip lift @markko?
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I’m not sure. For me, it makes my back feel more stable.
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That sucks, I was hoping you’d be fixed!
I like the side planks, clams, t spine, rotator stuff. The world’s greatest and windmills might be a little too much twisting if your back is already bothering you.
Regarding the 90/90 breathing and hip lift stuff. I want to feel my abs and hamstrings kinda tighten and maybe “shorten” a little and my lower back to loosen up a little. I want to go from feeling like my lower back is “tight” and supporting me all alone to the feeling of my abs/glutes and hams/hip muscles “turning on” and taking some of the load off my back.
I see. I felt my abs activate as well as my hamstrings and then my glutes. My back did not feel tight to begin with actually and it didn’t change the way my back felt. That’s the nutty thing… everything feels okay until I start picking things up. 
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Also I am still a little confused about how local and “in the joint” this whole thing feels. I get that surrounding tissue of different kind can be the reason I am hurting in that spot but nothing there feels overly tight or painful, you know.
The different sized circles indicate nothing but my crude paint skills.
That’s where my back had been bothering me lately too. It’s just one side for me, not both, and I found pretty quick and effective relief by using a lacrosse ball on the glute of the affected side. It didn’t feel overly tight or painful until I did that haha.
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