Squat+DL Program w/o Upper Body

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Hi,
I have been having rotator cuff/shoulder impingement issues over the last month or so, which has severely affected my ability to bench/perform any pressing movements. I have been actively performing lots of shoulder mobility work such as shoulder dislocates, YWTLs, Y shrugs, wall slides, external rotations, facepulls (pretty much every other day) and have been focusing a lot more on rows for scapular retraction. I have also been actively seeking remedial massage for the issue at least once a week.

However, being stupid, I always end up stubbornly attempting pressing movements a few days after having soft tissue work done and the impingement keeps on coming back, which is why this has lasted for the last month. I have been very frustrated about the injury not healing and not being able to bench/press properly and have decided to take time off all pressing movements for the meantime - however long it will take (hopefully 3 to 4 weeks at most).

This leaves me with just squats and deadlifts to perform, and I guess this would be a good time to focus on these two lifts instead of worrying about not being able to press. I was/am on week 7 of Madcow 5x5, but have not been benching/pressing. Even bent over rows I am trying to steer away from as I feel they are aggravating my condition. This leaves just 5x5 ramping squats on Monday, 4x5 deadlifts on Wed and a 1x3/1x8 squat on Friday.

Although I am continuing to make progress in these lifts, considering that half of the lifts for the program I am currently unable to do, my workouts usually feel half-assed. Are there any other intermediate program that I will be able to do that specifically focuses on deads and squats that will bring their numbers up faster? All my effort in the gym will be spent on these 2 lifts for the next few weeks/months while I let my shoulder injury subside so I am looking at a more specialised and intensive S/DL program.

Cliffs: Looking for an intermediate program that focuses specifically on deadlifts/squats without any upper pressing movements while I am recovering from a shoulder impingement that prevents me from doing any kind of bench/press for the next ??? weeks/months.

2

Smolov Base Cycle or Smolov Jr, depending on your preference for lower or higher reps. If the volume feels excessive, just do consecutive workouts 3 days a week and stretch it to 1 month. Your workouts won’t feel half assed.

3

I have considered doing Smolov/Smolov Jr, but 1. I doubt my numbers are high enough to be doing Smolov at the moment (hence me posting in the Beginners forum) and 2. Deadlifts don’t seem to fit into the program

I was thinking of doing heavy deadlifts + core/mobility work one day and heavy squats + deadlift speed work another. Not sure how I would increase frequency though as I’d rather not be deadlifting/squatting only once a week given that I’m unable to do upper body work and can afford to spend more effort/intensity on them. Some kind of 3/4 day split would be optimal

4

[quote]dt79 wrote:
Smolov Base Cycle or Smolov Jr, depending on your preference for lower or higher reps. If the volume feels excessive, just do consecutive workouts 3 days a week and stretch it to 1 month. Your workouts won’t feel half assed.[/quote]

I was also thinking ‘Smolov’ the second I read the thread title; some people actually ADVISE you to do no upper body work while running it.

5

Do you have issues with pressing in all planes? Incline, decline, flat, overhead?

Have you tried limiting the range of motion? Keeping the elbows from going below the torso may help. For example, using floor press instead of bench press, or set the pins to get the same ROM.

[quote]qpalzm wrote:
Although I am continuing to make progress in these lifts, considering that half of the lifts for the program I am currently unable to do, my workouts usually feel half-assed. Are there any other intermediate program that I will be able to do that specifically focuses on deads and squats that will bring their numbers up faster?[/quote]

If you’re continuing to make progress with your other lifts, I would keep doing what you’re doing. Even if they “feel” half-assed.

Since you stated that you want to bring your squat and dead numbers up, just leave your ego and feelings at the door and keep doing what’s working until it no longer works. I realize that can be hard to do. But if those are your goals, make your decision based on what’s working, not how you’re feeling about it.

Various “blitz” type programs can be great before a competition, or if a lift genuinely gets stuck, but neither of those apply to you right now; you’re just wanting more, sooner, and frustrated with what’s happening. I’ve been there myself, and dealt with my own share of impingement issues.

Once you finish your lifts, just get out of the gym and do some other stuff with your free time until you can press again. Read a book, spend time with friends, whatever. Spend that time doing something positive instead of feeling negative about your gym performance.

Then when you can press pain-free, add it back in. Or just find a way to do it now that doesn’t hurt.

6

I have a similar issue with a nerve impingement when pressing. I have found “opening up” the shoulders with NG and supinated grip pressing takes pretty much all the pain out of pressing. I would suggest trying dips with a NG grip or slightly supinated grip if you have access to those V bars. You can also do reverse grip bench press and for overhead pressing use a log.

7

[quote]LoRez wrote:
Do you have issues with pressing in all planes? Incline, decline, flat, overhead?

Have you tried limiting the range of motion? Keeping the elbows from going below the torso may help. For example, using floor press instead of bench press, or set the pins to get the same ROM.

[quote]qpalzm wrote:
Although I am continuing to make progress in these lifts, considering that half of the lifts for the program I am currently unable to do, my workouts usually feel half-assed. Are there any other intermediate program that I will be able to do that specifically focuses on deads and squats that will bring their numbers up faster?[/quote]

If you’re continuing to make progress with your other lifts, I would keep doing what you’re doing. Even if they “feel” half-assed.

Since you stated that you want to bring your squat and dead numbers up, just leave your ego and feelings at the door and keep doing what’s working until it no longer works. I realize that can be hard to do. But if those are your goals, make your decision based on what’s working, not how you’re feeling about it.

Various “blitz” type programs can be great before a competition, or if a lift genuinely gets stuck, but neither of those apply to you right now; you’re just wanting more, sooner, and frustrated with what’s happening. I’ve been there myself, and dealt with my own share of impingement issues.

Once you finish your lifts, just get out of the gym and do some other stuff with your free time until you can press again. Read a book, spend time with friends, whatever. Spend that time doing something positive instead of feeling negative about your gym performance.

Then when you can press pain-free, add it back in. Or just find a way to do it now that doesn’t hurt.[/quote]

All kinds of pressing hurt (incline/decline/overhead/flat). I thought overhead was fine but I just attempted it a week ago and got a nerve-pinching kind of sensation in the back of my shoulder.

Floor presses actually sound like an excellent idea as it is only when my elbows dip below the height of the bench that I feel the strain in my rotator cuff. How is the carryover like for floor presses to bench (would I be able to maintain bench strength doing exclusively floor pressing for the next month or so)? Also, should I be doing barbell or dumbbell floor presses?

I’ve been feeling like I’m not accomplishing much going into the gym over the last few weeks, like you said. My squat and dead has been progressing, but I feel like if I’m only doing these two lifts due to injury, I should be doing way more than Madcow 5x5 allows for. I’m currently at 285x3 for squats (as of today, Friday) and with the way 285 felt I feel like I might not be able to get my 5 reps on Monday, so I thought that this would be a good time to change up my program to something more squat/deadlift exclusive.

8

[quote]qpalzm wrote:
All kinds of pressing hurt (incline/decline/overhead/flat). I thought overhead was fine but I just attempted it a week ago and got a nerve-pinching kind of sensation in the back of my shoulder.

Floor presses actually sound like an excellent idea as it is only when my elbows dip below the height of the bench that I feel the strain in my rotator cuff. How is the carryover like for floor presses to bench (would I be able to maintain bench strength doing exclusively floor pressing for the next month or so)? Also, should I be doing barbell or dumbbell floor presses?[/quote]
To answer the first question… maybe. Some of it depends on how you bench in the first place.

Basically it still works your triceps and your front delts and your chest, just not quite the same way. A couple things that make it different are that you end up decelerating the bar so you don’t bang your elbows, and then it’s a more pure dead-start movement from the bottom. This affects bench carryover somewhat.

But my take is that if you get significantly stronger on the floor press, once you get back to benching and your body relearns that groove, that you’ll be able to use most of the strength you built.

To put it simply, the worst case scenario is you get stronger.

As for your second question, I’d stick with a barbell. If something goes wrong (say, you get a really painful pinch in your shoulder while pressing), I’d much rather drop a barbell – which won’t hit me since the plates and the floor keep it above my body – than drop a heavy dumbbell from arms length on myself. From both a safety and ease-of-use standpoint I prefer the barbell.