Just a question regarding your frequent upset stomach. Are you taking some sort of pre-workout that may be contributing to this? Or maybe eating too close to your workout?
[quote]Josgood wrote:
Just a question regarding your frequent upset stomach. Are you taking some sort of pre-workout that may be contributing to this? Or maybe eating too close to your workout?[/quote]
I usually wake up, go shave, drink a pre workout shake (protein + gatorade powder, with creatine and beta-alanine) then bike/walk to the gym and get lifting. Usually, drinking the shake within 10ish minutes of waking up, and starting lifting about 30 minutes after drinking the shake.
I got through a whole semester with no stomach issues, then suddenly these last few weeks it sprang up. Dropped the amount of carbs and protein and still happens.
I could lift without the shake I guess, but idk, with all the talk about peri-workout nutrition it seems like a poor choice. I’m open to suggestions but dropping a calorie source before working out worries me.
5/9/14 Upper Body Day. Time Lifting: about an hour
I’ve decided I’m going to lower the weight some on a few exercises and try to focus on really contracting the muscle and making it do the most work. I’m training purely for physique purposes now, and with my injuries and everything it doesn’t make sense to try to use weight progression as my main focus when my goals aren’t to move the most weight. I’m never going to be a powerlifting due to leverages and injuries, and that’s fine by me.
Additionally, after watching some videos of bodybuilders train (namely Stu), I realized they usually keep a set tempo, control the weight going down, and sometimes pause at the top of movements. So that’s what I’m going to do. If I can’t get another rep with these guidelines, then the set stops. No more “cheating” to get the weight up. If the target muscle can’t do it anymore, then the set reached it’s effective point. Going to be hard mentally to consistently do this, but long-term it will likely help.
Paused DB Bench
5x10
40’s
Focused on chest contraction. Actually felt my chest some, and some shoulders too like usual. But felt chest, so that’s a start. Will play around with cable flies before these.
Cable Fly
3x10
10
Controlled tempo, hard contraction, 1 sec pause.
Wide Lat Pulldown
1x10
100
3x10
110
Holy hell, really mentally focusing on making my lats contract burned.
Machine Laterals
3x11
100
Rear Delt Fly
4x8
55
*No I raise. I’m debating whether to keep them honestly.
BB Shrug
2x15, 1x8
320
Straps
EZ Curl
1x11, 1x10, 1x5
70
1x8
45
*Focused on my biceps doing the work, still able to move almost the same weight. But the last set they died, and instead of using ugly form to get the weight up I just stopped.
Decline DB Skullcrusher
4x12
25
Controlled descent, no lockout, constant tension. Kept thinking “move like a machine” to keep the movement smooth and constant. Really thought about my triceps contracting, got a great burn. Will likely keep these instead of the V handle pushdown.
All in all, a good session. Pretty fun too. I’m going to continue to try to keep my ego away and focus on my muscle contracting. I’m always debating whether to switch to a push/pull/legs split and run it 5 days a week and just roll it over into the next week. I’ll think about it, the advantage there would be a little more volume each day for each bodypart.
I’ve had bad luck with combining creatine and beta alanine before lifting. Maybe consider using just one or other and see if that helps. I’d personally keep the BA and just take the creatine later in the day.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I’ve had bad luck with combining creatine and beta alanine before lifting. Maybe consider using just one or other and see if that helps. I’d personally keep the BA and just take the creatine later in the day.[/quote]
Hmmm, never really thought of that. Beta alanine is a relatively recent additoin (I think about 2-3 months of use) so that’s a possibility. I’ll try it out, thanks.
LONG-ish post, possible changing of my split. Ignore it if you want lol, but it details my split change and the reasoning why behind it. If someone sees an issue with my reasoning let me know, it makes sense in my head again but hey I might be crazy 
So, finals are over. Didn’t do that great on them by my standards, but apparently everyone else failed them because even with my average scores I got great grades in my classes (yay for everyone else’s failure!). So now I have all summer to sit in my room and study for my admissions test to a professional school. Blah. And I get a lot of freedom of time to eat and lift. Awesome.
I’ve spent the last couple hours reading around the site, re-reading Stu’s posts and his past posts. I re-read a lot of the former bigger guys from this site, and noticed some reoccuring themes (stressing the muscle, feeling it work, contract hard, stimulate it). I’ve also done some thinking about my schedule for this summer, and potentially about next school year (that’s what i do, I plan for stuff WAYYYY in advance). I’m thinking that a standard push/pull/legs/push/pull/legs/off split could be great for me over the summer (and potentially during next school year) for a few reasons:
-
Allows me to put a little more focus on pre-exhausting, and adding a little more volume per muscle per session. Both of which seem to be good for feeling the muscle work. I have significant injuries already, doing what I can to put the most stress on my muscles while reducing stress on my joints is important.
-
I have a lot of time, and outside of those few days where I’ll work like 10 hour days from like 10 am to 7 or 8 pm (which means the gym isn’t open when I’m off or before I leave for work) I should be able to lift almost every day (though I’ll take at least one off per week). If life gets in the way (and it will), I’ll just take an extra day off and roll over my schedule.
-
It doesn’t seem like upper/lower/u/l/u is a common theme for bodybuilders. I want to be one, why not train like one? My split is working some, I’m making improvements but not the level I think I should given my size and strength level. But I’ve also been doing this split for a decent time, change isn’t a horrible thing. I like the idea of doing more than one exercise for biceps and triceps, and calves. And pre-exhausting my back and chest, especially after how sore my back got just from altering my lat pulldowns on friday.
-
I still hit everything roughly 2 times a week (or at least twice every 8-9ish days if life gets in my way), which I believe is important. Train something as often as it recovers you know?
So I think I’m going to switch. It makes sense in my head at least. I could also just plan on 5 days a week and rolling over the lifting rotation, but I think planning for 6 days and then not stressing when life gets in the way occasionally is a better plan. I’m also tempted to try and do hill sprints once a week, but I worry that may be too much. Maybe I’ll switch out my 2nd leg day for those, if I can find a decent hill.
My gym is closed this next week, so I have to use my schools gym on its other campus. The other gym is pretty minimal, some older (round also, different feel) dumbbells, 2 adjustable benches, a cable machine, 1 squat rack, and maybe a leg extension I think. So while I have a split and exercises laid out, a couple of them will have to be switched out this first week due to a lack of equipment. Not a big deal, I’m just excited to test it out and see if there’s any issues with it. I get like that, super excited about something and I want it NOW lol.
Start of new workout template (push/pull/legs/push/pull/legs/off)
I removed creatine from my pre-workout shake. Absolutely no stomach upset-ness. That may be because of the lack of creatine, or it could be due to lifting a LITTLE later after waking then I do during the school year. I’m not sure, but I see no reason to add creatine back in before when I can just do it after like I did today.
5/12/14 Push day. Time Lifting: 1 hour
*Normally, I would do slight incline DB Bench first, but at the temporary gym there’s limited equipment and someone was on it.
Cable Flies (pump, 1 sec hold contraction)
3x12
13
2x12
10
*Should stay at 10 for next week, 13 I think gets too high and my shoulders want to start helping.
DB Bench
4x10
50’s
*Focus on chest doing work. No lockout
Slight incline DB Bench
3x10, 2x12
40’s
*No lockout
DB Laterals
2x12
30’s
2x10
20’s
*Will drop down to 20’s next week, 30 is too high I feel
Decline DB Skullcrushers
4x12
25’s
*No lockout
Rope Pushdown
4x10
20
*Used the cable fly machine since that’s all that’s available at the temp gym. Slow descent, hold contraction for 1 second.
Good workout, left with my chest and triceps pretty worked. As mentioned before, I’m going to avoid locking out, use controlled descent (slightly slower), focus on the muscle contracting, hold peak contraction on certain exercises. Chest is still hard for me to feel, even though after the cable flies I can really feel my chest work. Just when I move to presses it’s difficult for me to feel my chest.
5/13/14 Pull Day. Time Lifting: 55 minutes
Left out one back exercise since the temporary gym has NO back equipment and I can’t use barbells. I felt like I hit it pretty well though, and as I’m typing this up about 7 hours after lifting I can feel the soreness.
Straight arm rope pulldown
4x12
17
1 sec pause at contraction
*Will potentially do a curl bar cable pulldown once i get back to normal equipment. We’ll see though. I’ll be doing it on a different weight stack either way though where the weights are numbered different.
2 DB Row
4x12
45’s
1x8
25’s
*1 sec pause
*May drop these down to 30’s to see if I can get my biceps out of the movement.
NO THIRD BACK MOVEMENT DUE TO EQUIPMENT
Rear delt flies
4x9
55’s
BB Shrug
3x15
225
*1 sec pause at top
These were hard, did not use straps or chalk either.
Bent over 1 DB curl
3x10
20
Saw these in one of Stu’s videos, figured I tried them. Seemed to work, will play around with it.
EZ Curl
4x10
55
*kept constant tension on biceps, slowed down descent. Obviously weight is lower than before due to this and doing another bicep movement beforehand.
Overall, decent session. I find focusing on the muscle and getting a good contraction to be more fun than the upper/lower routine I was doing. Time seems to go by faster. Tomorrow is legs day, and the gym has 1 leg press, 1 leg extension, and 1 leg curl machine. Plus dumbbells, so I think I’ll be good.
I was going to ask you how the 2nd day went, but it looks like nothing was too intense in your workout to tell for sure.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
I was going to ask you how the 2nd day went, but it looks like nothing was too intense in your workout to tell for sure.[/quote]
I kept the creatine out of the pre workout shake again and had no trouble, but you’re right about not being an incredibly intense workout so no real knowledge gained there. I’ll be able to tell really well after tomorrow, leg press and lunges involved, both of which I love and really push.
Went to lift today, pulled my hamstring. Here’s the workout:
5/14/14 lower body day
Leg press
1x15, 1x10
540
Constant tension
Lunges
1x10
70’s
Went for a second set, 2 steps in I felt a pop in my left hamstring near the top. First time in my life I’ve ever heard and felt a pop when I pulled a muscle. Hurt a little when it snapped, not much. I knew what happened tho so I stopped. Walking around didn’t hurt, but if I squatted down or bent over. Went over and stretched it some. Had another guy out away my db’s and left.
Right now I’m icing it. I have no idea if it’s just a minor pull or something serious. I don’t know what signs to look for to tell if I need to see a doc, if anyone has suggestions I’m open. I don’t see any major bruising, which I read that I should expect if something was torn but it only happened 30 mins ago.
Walking up stairs hurts, and it’s literally only painful near the top right under my butt.
This might make it difficult to lift upper body even this week, squatting down and kicking db’s up won’t feel good with my hamstring
Re: the injury making it difficult to lift upper body this week, it might not be your preference, but you could do machine-only stuff for a few days. Better safe than sorry.
Wait…never mind. Just scrolled up and saw that you’re working out in the smaller of two university gyms for the time being (I also work at a University and lift in the smaller of the available gyms here rather than the big one with all of the fancier equipment, so I can at least guess at what’s available in both of yours based on what I’ve got in mine). Hm. My answer doesn’t really help now, does it?
[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:
Re: the injury making it difficult to lift upper body this week, it might not be your preference, but you could do machine-only stuff for a few days. Better safe than sorry.
Wait…never mind. Just scrolled up and saw that you’re working out in the smaller of two university gyms for the time being (I also work at a University and lift in the smaller of the available gyms here rather than the big one with all of the fancier equipment, so I can at least guess at what’s available in both of yours based on what I’ve got in mine). Hm. My answer doesn’t really help now, does it?[/quote]
Lol your input was a good idea, but yeah the smaller secondary gym is extremely limited. Actually, this second gym would be serviceable but my university is renovating this one too so it’s even more reduced right now.
So no machines except for one free motion cable machine, a pec dec, and leg extension and curl. Bleh, unfortunate timing for this.
If I had to guess, I’d be pretty surprised if it’s torn to any serious degree. Likely just a strain, hurts to touch up top and bend over or walk up stairs but it still has full range of motion and can still contract.
I’m a horribly slow healer generally, so this may take some time. If anyone has basic suggestions for helping it heal, id appreciate it. Right now I plan in icing it every couple hours today and tomorrow, stretch it lightly, and foam roll it at least once a day.
24 hours after the injury update:
Spent yesterday icing it a few times, took some ibuprofen at the end of the day, lacrosse balled by foot. Woke up today and it still hurts, but it’s better I think. Unfortunately my legs are sore from the workout (especially my butt), so it’s difficult to tell when I lightly stretch it how much of the discomfort is from normal DOMS and how much is from the pull.
Today, I plan on lacrosse balling my foot a few times, do some light stretching (basically, move my leg to a position just before pain, then relax back down, repeat), and icing a couple times. I’ll take some ibuprofen also, and I’m not sure if I should invest in some bengay or something, don’t really know if those help healing. I’m not really sure that using a lacrosse ball on my foot will really help, but hey I have the time and some people swear doing it cures all health problems. I think those people are nuts, but whatever. Also might foam roll the area, but a lot of places I read online say to avoid direct foam rolling for the first few days so I don’t know.
I don’t have to work today or tomorrow, but I’m scheduled Saturday for 9 hours. My job involves a lot of walking, stairs, and kneeling down. Obviously, I can’t do those right now. I already told my boss I’m not optimistic, but I can’t find anyone to fill in for me and they’re already down one person that day. So if I feel decent I’m working, if I’m like I am now there’s no way.
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor
600mg ibuprofen, every 6 hours, is a pretty standard regimen. If you’re going to be taking ibuprofen at all, I’d do that for a few days.
Voltaren gel (prescription-only) is also a very good product to rub directly on injured/pulled/torn areas. When I pulled some fascia in my abs from a white-water rafting trip, that’s what I was given. It’s basically a topical NSAID, diclofenac sodium. Maybe you can get a prescription for it without all the normal hoops involved in seeing a doctor. Once you have a tube though, it lasts forever.
I’m really only familiar with the medical options, and I’ve really only had success with those. RICE has never really done anything for me.
Depending on what you did… more (very light) squatting might help things. It might make things worse. My experiment squatting daily changed my perspective on how the body heals and recovers a bit. But I don’t feel confident enough to actually recommend it.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor
600mg ibuprofen, every 6 hours, is a pretty standard regimen. If you’re going to be taking ibuprofen at all, I’d do that for a few days.
Voltaren gel (prescription-only) is also a very good product to rub directly on injured/pulled/torn areas. When I pulled some fascia in my abs from a white-water rafting trip, that’s what I was given. It’s basically a topical NSAID, diclofenac sodium. Maybe you can get a prescription for it without all the normal hoops involved in seeing a doctor. Once you have a tube though, it lasts forever.
I’m really only familiar with the medical options, and I’ve really only had success with those. RICE has never really done anything for me.
Depending on what you did… more (very light) squatting might help things. It might make things worse. My experiment squatting daily changed my perspective on how the body heals and recovers a bit. But I don’t feel confident enough to actually recommend it.[/quote]
Awesome, thanks. I took 600 mg of Ibuprofen this morning and plan on keeping it going. RICE doesn’t ever seem to help me either, but everyone says to do it so might as well. The ace bandage and compression shorts combo I got going right now make it feel a little better, but I have no idea if they help healing.
One weird thing I found out with this injury is that I can do a typical sitting hamstring stretch with little issue, but if I lay on my back and bring my knee up to my chest that’s a problem. So I guess I just learned that “stretching” the hamstrings isn’t as simple as I thought. Something to keep in mind for me when I get healthy. It seems I should be doing more of the knee to chest stretch since that’s the same movement/stretch that goes on with lunges and leg press. I always wondered why typical hamstring stretches only seem to be felt around my knee area instead of up near my hips.
I think bodyweight squats are out of the picture for a few days, but I’ll start incorporating them in once I get some reduction in pain back. Right now when I start bending over I can feel some bad pain, again only just under my butt so I’m guessing I either pulled just one of the hamstring muscles up there or else the tendon around there. I’m not terribly knowledgeable on hamstring anatomy.
My last major strain was a hip flexor 5 years ago running sprints for basketball, and it took over 4 months until it was good enough to run sprints on it.
Hamstring feels a little better, had to run a couple errands so I left my house for the first time since the injury. Walking was fine, even got a little excited and took a couple small stairs with my left leg. Got a little ahead of myself and went to take a normal stair. Yep, still hurt. No more stairs for me.
Also did maybe 8 unweighted standing leg curls yesterday, and my leg was wiped out after. Unbelievable weakness.
I also went ahead and ordered a food scale and another normal scale on amazon just a few minutes ago. I figure I need to start weighing myself again, and since I’ve never weighed my food it wouldn’t hurt to do that to get another idea of where I’m at calorie wise. I have rough ideas since I eat close to the same every day, but it’s been a couple years since I measured anything.
On another note, I finished my undergraduate thesis up already (not due until April of 2015) so that’s pretty cool. Best part was, I got paid to do it and got some good research experience to add to my resume for applying to professional schools.
Work is still pressuring me to work tomorrow, but I don’t see how that’s possible. I can’t take stairs (unless customers want to wait another 2 minutes while I slowly hobble up) and I sure as heck can’t bend over or kneel. Since I work in retail, I really doubt customers want someone helping them who really can’t do a large part of their job. So even though they’re short 1 person already, I don’t see how I’d be a benefit to them.
And I’m still spending most of my days studying for my admissions test. Oh, the joy of summer…
5/19/14. 5 days after hamstring pull
Woke up later than I wanted because I let myself get lazy. Annoyed with myself but can’t do much about it now.
Went to the gym and did a light 8 minute session on the exercise bike. Resistance at 7-8 and mph roughly 12-14 the whole time. Didn’t try to go fast at all, just wanted my legs moving and a tiny bit of resistance. Felt good, no issues.
I also can walk gingerly up stairs now. Not normal speed, but slowly and I don’t have pain. Hoping by Wednesday (when I work again) I’ll be walking up and down stairs with no issues, and hopefully able to bend over or kneel down somewhat.
No upper body workout today. The main gym is "re"opened after the week closure but since it’s still under renovations and equipment is limited there isn’t a lot of upper body machines available this summer. Only ones are ab machine, lateral raise machine, and pec deck. With waking up late and the lack of equipment I didn’t really want to go do some lateral raises and pec deck then leave.
I’m also a little worried that when I get back to lifting normally I’ll have “unseen” the matrix so to speak. What I mean by that is before I got injured I finally understood how to feel the muscle and maximize stimulation and not necessarily the weight, but with the time off I almost feel like I’m forgetting how to do that. Doesn’t make sense I know, but when you lift one way for 4-5 years then try to switch for 3 days then take a week off, you naturally want to revert back to the old way. It’ll just take some mental strength to keep myself in line.
5/22/14 Push day. Time Lifting: 50 mins. Back to lifting
Back to lifting today. I also got my new scale and food scale, so I’m in the process of figuring out how much I’m eating every day. I should be able to post a breakdown tomorrow of my average nutrition, as it doesn’t change a ton day to day. Only time it does is if I work a weird shift or go out to dinner with my girlfriend.
Cable Flies
4x12
10
Slight Incline DB Bench
5x12
40’s
DB Bench
4x11
40’s
DB Laterals
4x12
20’s
Decline DB Skull
3x13
25
Wanted 4 sets, but my arms were shaking after 3
Rope Pushdown
3x12
60
Holy hell, from the first rep I had a strong contraction and incredible soreness. I guess doing DB Incline first is a great idea. Way way lower weight than I used to do, but my arms were toast.
I still struggle with removing my shoulders from pressing. I got a couple sets where I felt it mostly in my chest, but the last few sets my shoulders got really sore. I’m not sure if it’s how I’m benching or what, but I’m trying to play around with hand and elbow position but I can’t seem to find a good set up to minimize shoulder involvement and increase getting my chest involved. I’m open to some suggestions here.