11/5/13
Benchin (3x5): 205 235 265
Face Pulls: 4x12
Pretty easy set of 5. Wasn’t really feeling like doing shit tonight so just benched and hit some face pulls and went home.
Just keep chipping away.
11/11/13
Some foam rolling to glutes/back/quads (ouch)
Skwats: Worked up to 455x1
Front/Side dorsiflexion with band: 3x12 each foot
Cardio: Skipped
Got back after it tonight hitting a big post-surgery PR at 455 for a single. Was debating whether to try this or not, as my warmups and work sets felt pretty heavy, but that was my goal coming into the session and I really felt like I could get it. Was unstable as all hell on the walkout and nearly considered racking it and calling it a night. My left foot/leg felt very unstable and i think you can see that in the video. That will be a strong emphasis for rehab working going forward.
This will be my max to base my training weights on as I begin back on 5-3-1 officially. 90% puts my training max right around 410, wich feels right.
Hit my band rehab exercises after that. Have a PT appointment tomorrow with a new dude and I’m going to get him to look closely at my SI joint and my knees/hips to make sure they are functioning as they should be (hint I don’t think they currently are).
Was going to do some cardio and got up on the elliptical but my legs were fried so called it a night here.
Testing bench max tomorrow. Will probably base it on a triple instead of a true 1 RM.
YES!
11/12/13
Physical Therapy (lots of bending and groaning…more below)
few hours later:
Foam Rolling: Glutes, Thoracic, Hips
Lax Ball: Pecs, rear Delts, Rhomboids
Stretch: Pecs, Delts
Bench: Worked up to 350x2 (woot)
Band Pull Aparts: 3x12
Face Pulls: 3x12
Bench test night went pretty well. I really had no idea what I would be capable of going in, but the 3 plates that I had hit the past few weeks felt pretty heavy in my hands, so I thought 350 would be a good goal. Went to my old gym to hit this tonight, with better benches that don’t require a partial lockout just to unrack it with my monkey arms, and that made a nice difference. Felt strong.
Got a guy to spot me just in case I dropped it, but that proved to be unnecessary. Hit the 350 and did another just for good measure. Easily had 3 if I wanted to grab it, and likely could have gotten 4 but that would have been a bit ambitious.
350x2 works out to be about a 375 max, giving me a 340 training max going into my next 5-3-1 cycle. I am satisfied with that.
Hit some band pull aparts and face pulls for shoulder health and went to slam some food. Taking it easy with assistance and cardio this week to make sure I am fresh for all my test lifts. Conditioning block begins next week to get ready for upcoming bball season.
Physical Therapy
Went to my first post-surgery PT appointment tonight. The doc had wanted me to go months ago, but life got in the way and the place I had been going to was super booked and couldn’t see me for 3 weeks. ended up finding a new one closer to my house anyways.
The chick is not very large nor strong, so she may have some problems working me over like I think I am going to need. She was pretty thorough in her assessment though, and I am at least going to give her a chance.
My hips, as expected, are garbled up and tight as hell. She noted my calves seem pretty tight as well, and my overall mobility is rather poor. No surprises there. She worked my hip flexors pretty deep and noted I have some SI joint misalignment, which she tried to correct my yanking on my leg but wasn’t strong enough/my muscles were too tight to get it to release. Hopefully after some more stretching and mobility drills it will give a little.
Got some exercises to do in the meantime a couple times a day to help things along. Mainly concentrating on stretching the hamstrings, quads, hip flexors, piriformis, and glutes. Some exercises to use a lax ball to loosen up my low back and hips as well.
Feeling awesome tonight 8 hours later, like more fluid than I have in a long while. That is encouraging at least, especially after heavy squats last night. Follow up session on Thursday.
Peace bitches.
Glad to hear that, man. I’m ready to race if you are.
Have you heard of/tried a rumble roller? Had a(nother) meniscus tear several months ago, but the ortho recommended no surgery so am rehabbing on my own with the RR as the cornerstone of my soft tissue and mobility work and the improvements in my movements and pain are night and day. Can’t recommend one enough.
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Glad to hear that, man. I’m ready to race if you are.[/quote]
Goal for right now is getting lean and in shape for upcoming basketball season. I would like to maintain that through the spring while slowly adding strength then hitting it hard as hit after my wedding in June…it WILL happen by the end of 2014, so plan accordingly…don’t wait around on my account though!
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Have you heard of/tried a rumble roller? Had a(nother) meniscus tear several months ago, but the ortho recommended no surgery so am rehabbing on my own with the RR as the cornerstone of my soft tissue and mobility work and the improvements in my movements and pain are night and day. Can’t recommend one enough.[/quote]
yeah man, I have used the RR a couple times. Some of the gyms I visit have it, but not my main one. You’re right though, it is pretty good on the soft tissues. I may have to put that on the X-Mas wish list!
11/15/13
Deadlift: Worked up to 495x1
Felt pretty good. My buddy that I was at the gym with tried to video tape it, but apparently I am friends with the only asian guy in the world that doesn’t know how to work a camera. He got my initial prep (to center the bar) then stopped it for the lift, and started it again after I was done…gg
Anyways, it went up fairly well. More in the tank, but probably not a whole lot. I struggled about halfway up but was able to lock it out. It felt weird holding that much weight in my hands again. Weird is good.
PT is going well. Had my second appointment yesterday (which is why I moved DL’s off to Friday) and they have me doing more core work. Hips feelings better and more fluid, but still a long ways off from perfect I think. Back is feeling better. Good stuff.
Gonna hit my OHP tomorrow and get all my maxes calculated for the training block to begin next week. Pretty excited.
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
[quote]spar4tee wrote:
Glad to hear that, man. I’m ready to race if you are.[/quote]
Goal for right now is getting lean and in shape for upcoming basketball season. I would like to maintain that through the spring while slowly adding strength then hitting it hard as hit after my wedding in June…it WILL happen by the end of 2014, so plan accordingly…don’t wait around on my account though!
[/quote]
Sweet. I should be back over 5 real soon if I’m not already. Just keep winning at life.
[quote]
11/15/13
Deadlift: Worked up to 495x1
Felt pretty good. My buddy that I was at the gym with tried to video tape it, but apparently I am friends with the only asian guy in the world that doesn’t know how to work a camera. He got my initial prep (to center the bar) then stopped it for the lift, and started it again after I was done…gg
Anyways, it went up fairly well. More in the tank, but probably not a whole lot. I struggled about halfway up but was able to lock it out. It felt weird holding that much weight in my hands again. Weird is good.
PT is going well. Had my second appointment yesterday (which is why I moved DL’s off to Friday) and they have me doing more core work. Hips feelings better and more fluid, but still a long ways off from perfect I think. Back is feeling better. Good stuff.
Gonna hit my OHP tomorrow and get all my maxes calculated for the training block to begin next week. Pretty excited.[/quote]
Also sweet. Bolded portion made me lol.
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Physical Therapy
The chick is not very large nor strong, so she may have some problems working me over like I think I am going to need. She was pretty thorough in her assessment though, and I am at least going to give her a chance.
She noted my calves seem pretty tight as well, and my overall mobility is rather poor. No surprises there. She worked my hip flexors pretty deep and noted I have some SI joint misalignment, which she tried to correct my yanking on my leg but wasn’t strong enough/my muscles were too tight to get it to release.
[/quote]
if you want to get really loosened up next time before she yanks on your leg, eat a bunch of creamed corn and hawaiian punch right before you see her.
don’t give up VT. i want fight you one day when i get a little bit older.
Bring it on CD!!!
11/17/13
OHP: Worked up to 250x1
Core and legs were still feeling weak yesterday after Friday’s DL session, so pushed OHP off till Sunday. Went pretty well and ended up with 250 for a single. It nearly stopped halfway up but I was able to muscle it on up and lock it out. Had loaded 255 onto the bar, but backed it down to 250 which was the right call. I don’t think 255 was going up. Right weight here. This is about 35 pounds or so off my all-time max, without lifting it in about 6 months at least. Satisfied.
This is the end of my test week and next cycle starts tomorrow.
Edit
5/3/1 Cycle 21
/Edit
Monday marks the start of my 21st cycle on 5-3-1 and the first real one I have begun in about a year and a half. I had done some half cycles (upper body only) since my injury, but nothing to completion and nothing worth writing about. I am excited to be back on a regular routine with what seems like a functioning body again. As noted I still have some issues to line out, but I am confident I can hit my Big 4 and continue to get stronger in them going forward.
Training maxes are:
Squat 365
Bench 340
Deadlift 395
OHP 225
I opted to use 80% of my 1RM instead of 90% for the squat and deadlift for three reasons. First being it’s probably not a great idea to overload my joints and tendons and discs and shit for those exercises before really getting back into the swing of things. Second, the lower weight will allow me to get more reps which will help in getting back into the swing. And third, I am focusing on conditioning and losing weight these next couple months so the extra conditioning work will require a bit less intensity in the gym.
Conditioning wise, my goal for this cycle is at least 2 hard conditioning days a week (Prowler, Farmer’s handles, etc.) and at least 2 light conditioning (elliptical). This is in preparation for a serious conditioning cycle for my next run right before basketball season starts to get back into playing shape. I don’t want to push it too hard too soon.
Dietwise, low carbs except around workout period and lots of protein. I want to use up the rest of my Surge Recovery I have stacked up, then the Anaconda/MAG-10/Plazma I have sitting around collecting dust. I have a lot of free time right now so no excuse not to get my food prepped for the week and stay out of the drive-thrus.
Ready to roll tomorrow…
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
OHP: Worked up to 250x1
[/quote]
Oh okay. Soon enough. Soon enough.
21.1.1 - 11/18/13
Foam Roll: Glutes, Thoracic, Quads
Squat (3x5): 235, 275, 310 (2)
Strained my back on the last working set and stopped at two reps. Still hurting and feeling generally awful. Seems to hurt/pull when I move my left foot forward. Sitting down is fine, but walking and standing not so fine. Fuck my life. Back to the drawing board…
Don’t give up, man. You’ve come a long way. Just need to apply what you’ve learned thus far.
Fuck man; I’m really sorry to hear that. I still believe you’ll get a handle on that damn lower back one of these days though. And when you do it’ll make your victory that much sweeter.
[quote]csulli wrote:
Fuck man; I’m really sorry to hear that. I still believe you’ll get a handle on that damn lower back one of these days though. And when you do it’ll make your victory that much sweeter.[/quote]
X2, that sucks.
Thanks guys…back is feeling a lot better, but still fucked up. Sometimes it is painful to walk, sometimes not. Sitting down is fine (in most positions) but sometimes standing I look like Quasimodo. I am being pulled to one side, so that when I try to stand up straight, my torso looks like an ‘S’. This makes me hope I just pulled a muscle or something and it isn’t a joint/disc issue.
I go back to my PT tomorrow and we will reevaluate then. Just gotta tough it out I guess.
Much improvement today in my mobility. Can at least stand up without doubling over first. PT worked on my SI joint and surrounding musculature quite a bit today. Going to try some stuff on my own at home to loosen that up and hopefully get the muscles relaxed. Taking a shitload of aspirin, percocet, and muscle relaxers right now to aid in that regard.
Need to consider what I am going to do for lower body for the next few weeks, assuming I can get back into the gym next week. Don’t think squatting and DL’ing are really smart options at this point, but motivation to train is high (way higher than it has been the past 6 months) so doing nothing is not an option.
Don’t forget about ankle mobility. It’s a sneaky bitch.