Good point.
I was doing a LOT of overhead squats all year before the move, though… However at this point if I did them with JUST the bar, and approached it with this “feel the muscle” bullshit, concentrating on the shoulder blades, it might help!
I’m not on any sort of plan at this point - Monday’s squat marathon just popped into my head on Friday, so I did it; today’s upper-back session was a response to my inattention to proper shoulder therapy; and I’m thinking as of now that Friday will be a moderate deadlift session to find out if it hurts my shoulder.
With more thought, and possibly help from this community, I could probably cobble together a PLAN that focuses on what’s important, and keeps me accountable in terms of effort… But I’m not even sure I want that right now, for a few reasons.
This is reaching into “nobody does this” territory, but one-arm overhead squats was a thing once. Even more challenging for the shoulder girdle. Something I’ve been looking to add in myself, but haven’t yet.
This is definitely from the squats! I put finishing touches on the downstairs floor last weekend, which wasn’t enough work to really beat me up; and haven’t touched it since.
On that note, i should probably get back to the upstairs floor soon…
11/17/2023 Friday
Walking up to the gym I had a thought on “discipline”. Not enough time or clarity to put it on paper at the moment but… it’s a differentiator. Some people have it. Some people don’t. I don’t feel that I could live well without it.
Deadlift 5x5x225. I mainly wanted to see how my shoulder felt with load in that direction. It was fine, no trouble at all. Also did these barefoot for some reason.
5 rounds of: Hanging knee or leg raises; scap pullups; poor attempts at combining the two. @T3hPwnisher was it you who mentioned (citing some author) combining scap pullups with hanging leg raises? I think it’s telling me something. The leg raise is no problem. The scap pullup is no problem. But once my legs (even bent) are up, the angle of my torso changes to where the scap pullup is extremely difficult and just doesn’t “groove”. Maybe this is worth practicing and improving. Maybe it will contribute to shoulder health…
After that, just some generic BB BS. Nothing loggable, just hopping around with various machines and free weights. Trying to move slowly and learn to “feel” muscles still. And using angles I don’t normally use.
A decent amount of time just trying to move my shoulder in different ways with light load. Learning about it.
Speaking of shoulder: PT later this morning. Will be the first full session. Will update.
11/20/2023 Monday
Last Monday I loaded 185lbs and squatted 100 reps, going 2 EMOM for 50 minutes.
Today I loaded 185lbs and squatted 90 reps, going 3 EMOM for 30 minutes.
Also did a lot of cable stuff for my upper/mid back, etc as per shoulder issues.
Weekend update:
Flooring etc for a lot of hours. No beach trips. A nice hike, 2.5mi round trip, pretty steep the whole way. Pushed a stroller for most of it. Pics later maybe.
11/22/2023 Wednesday
Soreness update: Pretty darn sore. Not quite as debilitating as last week though.
Thinking next monday I’ll do 4 EMOM and see if I can go for 20 minutes and get 80 reps.
Today’s session: Like last wednesday, focusing on the mid-back muscles close to the spine. Myriad angles of shrugging (but not regular shrugs) and pulling. Hanging knee raises. With bent knees I can do them while holding a scap pullup. A set each for bi’s and tri’s to top it off.
Feels good.
11/27/2023 Monday
Firstly: No training last Friday. No regerts either, had a much-needed 4-day weekend. Went to the beach 3 of those days, and worked hard on flooring and other needed home projects as well, all of which was physically taxing.
Today:
Squats: 185lb, 80 reps in 20ish minutes. 4 EMOM for 20 rounds.
May not sound like much but it’s BRUTAL. Like doing 4x 20-rep sets - in a 20-minute time period!
This was just below my puking/panic-attack/fall-down-with-jelly-legs failure threshold. Also I forgot my knee sleeves, not sure how much of a factor that was but I’m glad I overcame without them.
After that, not much, just some scapula stuff and learned how to use the belt squat rig at my gym - but was in no condition to get much out of it.
11/29 Wednesday
Schedule is EFFED and prevented a morning gym trip. I will instead try to get one mid-day when I should be able to get a break from work.
Update for now to say: the DOMS in my legs is insane. So painful. Quads sensitive to the touch.
Today I’ll focus on mid-back and stuff for shoulder health.
Quick update, i did make a later-than-usual gym trip for Wednesday.
Lots of scapula stuff, but also strict pressing, and decline plate-loaded machine. And pullups, machine rows, biceps triceps.
During the pressing movements i focused extremely on pinching the shoulder blades back and down.
Did not experience shoulder injury pain!!
