Just. Don't. Suck (Part 1)

8.3.19

Woke at 213.0 lbs thanks to an epic failure of a night. Homemade pizza, Sam Adams, and a few of those fancy hard seltzers probably blew my low carb day out of the water. Oh, well.

I also failed to workout yesterday. My lunch break was extra long so I didn’t do my cardio. My boss allows me to take an hour lunch and an hour workout break but I felt like my lunch counted as both.

Could I have trained after work? Absolutely, but I wanted to be at home.

2 Likes

What does the rest of your rehab plan look like ? How long before you can lift with that shoulder again ?

We finally tested my strength in Thursday. My right arm has about 50% of the strength that my left has. We tested a front raise, lateral raise, external and internal rotation, flexion, and extension.

It was exciting to finally test my arm. I think that means that I’m not going to break under the first bit of strain now.

Yesterday, I used the cables to do the following:

  • front raise
  • lateral raise (bottom half only)
  • lateral adduction (opposite of lateral raise, pulling the weight down to my side)
  • internal and external rotation
  • scap push ups
  • something similar to a straight arm pull down

I’m excited to push myself a bit. I haven’t been using weight on some of those until recently.

6 Likes

Nice to hear that J. No pain?

I’m in. I’ve realized that just after a mere 2-ish weeks of making my workouts a priority again I no longer enjoy training. I’m not sure why - maybe I’m just not in a good headspace right now. That could definitely be it.

But I used to love it, which I can’t always count on to get me through stuff - we have to do a lot in life that we’re not going to enjoy. I want to be healthy, and stronger than the average dude, so whether or not I think it’s really fun like I used to, I need to do it. Discipline over motivation, like Wendler says. That being said, I need to figure out what I enjoy in training so I can at least have some fun. Anyway, I need some accountability, so I’ll be part of it! Will probably still be doing a 5/3/1 template.

3 Likes

No, there’s pain, but if my PT says I can do something then I’ll do it. Pain is inevitable.

Coming back after a layoff is always tough. Keep grinding and hopefully you’ll start you enjoy it again when you can see the benefits (improved strength and/or physique).

2 Likes

I guess you really have to discern which pain is a normal consequence of it and which pain is a red flag

2 Likes

You make the thread and I’m in. I have been feeling like a big flaming vagina lately, so this would be good for me…

Pull Workout

ELLIPTICAL
25 min, L10-13 / i10, 2.61 miles
Meant to do 10 minutes but I kept going until the women were done with the sprint competition.

DB RDL
50 x 5
60 x 5
65 x 5
70 x 5
75 x 5
80 x 5

superset with

DB SNATCH
50 x 5
60 x 5
65 x 4
70 x 3
75 x 2
80 x 2
Not sure if these are going to be a good move for me. I felt some pain in my left shoulder. Might just do high pulls until I can clean again.

DEADLIFT
Played around with some landmine lifts. Nothing really worked well. I didn’t have straps or anything to help with grip and that sucked. I felt like I might injure my left bicep if I kept messing around.

INCLINE DB ROW
60 x 10
65 x 8
70 x 6
75 x 4
80 x 7
These leave a lot to be desired. I might just stick work cable rows.

SA PULL DOWN
100 x 10
110 x 5
100 x 8

superset with

REV CABLE FLY
30 x 12, 10, 8 + 20 partials

Meant to do 10, 8, 6, 4, 2+ on pull downs but the superset tanked my performance. If I was healthy then I’d do AMRAP pull ups.

CABLE CURL (MECHANICAL DROP SET) 30 lbs
Reverse x 20
Hammer x 10
Regular x 10 with some cheating

My last two workouts are one of my options for this little challenge of consistency. I wrote out one push day and one pull day. If I run this then I will alternate the days and only train on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I will continue to run this trial program until I’m released to train like normal. At that time, I will be forced to make a decision for my challenge.

I’m watching the CrossFit Games and I’ve always thought it would be cool to be a badass like these athletes. I have three hybrid programs written by Ryan Fischer who calls them high intensity interval bodybuilding programs. There are more than enough workouts to run from September through the end of the year. It would be a good opportunity to finally commit to a CrossFit style program and run it with no options of quitting. My biggest hang up is that there isn’t necessarily a planned progression on any particular lift. The programs will be ballbusting so I don’t need to worry about not making any progress. I really feel drawn to them because I’m not all that comfortable with them. I need to get out of my comfort zone and see what I can do.

:thinking:

1 Like

When you’re cleared to go back will you need to ease into things or will you be able to do whatever movements?

Like after my surgery I was told I could overhead press, but maybe just bench for a while, so my shoulder “got used” to it, even though it was exactly necessary.

I’m not sure yet. It’ll depend on how my PT progresses between now and then.

Edit: if I go with the CrossFit type program then it won’t be a big deal. I can scale weights. The problem right now is all of the movements that can’t be modified. I would just have to replace them and there isn’t always a suitable replacement. Burpees, rowing, jump rope, push ups, pull ups, etc.

1 Like

Well, I have some disappointing news. I finally measured how much creamer I’ve been putting in m coffee lately and it’s not good. I’ve basically been drinking 200 calorie cups of coffee… about four to six per day. :man_facepalming:

Today was meant to be a high carb day and I’ve succeeded by eating tons of junk - chicken and waffles for lunch and leftover pizza. I’ll try again tomorrow; it’s a low carb day.

Here’s a snapshot of my training plan for the next five weeks. Ignore the finishers and complexes. Those are ideas for the future. I’m just going to do a simple push/pull until I’m released. I’m really leaning towards the CrossFit Bodybuilding stuff for my challenge.

1 Like

I actually like them sometimes. I prefer the chest-supported T-bar row, but these are ok in a pinch. I have to go pretty light and get very high on the bench to get what I want out of them.

1 Like

It’s the one armed factor. It’s just not the same.

Touché

1 Like

8.4.19

Woke at 213.8 lbs.

OUTDOOR BIKE
6.38 miles, 30 minutes

Spent all afternoon watching the CrossFit Games and figured I’d better get my butt outside and do something. I supposedly burned 313 calories so that should offset the three drinks I’m about to have for dinner :smile:.

2 Likes

8.4.19

Woke at 210.8 lbs. I guess yesterday’s hunger was worth it. I was a little over on my carbs and under on everything else. Today is a high carb day. It might actually be tough to eat enough carbs. That has me questioning the point of carb cycling. If I struggle to eat enough one day, and feel deprived on the other, then what am I doing? But then I realized that I’m not comfortable with this, and that’s exactly why I need to suck it up and just do it. I’ve never done it before and it could be what I need to actually see some changes.

If I can get my body fat down between now and September 10th, then I would feel comfortable taking on a very small surplus during my commitment challenge. I would be combining the HIIB training with carb cycling to really test Ryan Fischer’s programs, and myself.

1 Like

Push Day

RFESS
85 x 10 each
95 x 8
105 x 6
115 x 4
125 x 4

superset with

DB PUSH PRESS
55 x 10
60 x 8
65 x 6
70 x 4
75 x 4
I might swap these out for regular DB OHP. My elbow gets angry on the eccentric and that would be much lighter on OHP. That’s why this is a trial program.

SA DB INCLINE
50 x 10
55 x 8
60 x 6
65 x 4
70 x 0
Couldn’t get the first rep. If I could overcome that first rep then I probably had three in me.

TABATA LEG PRESS
366 x 18, 18, 18, 15, 13, 11, 9, 11
This might be the last time you see this as well. I can squat on the Smith, and that might be better for my health. I start to feel weird things during the late rounds of this - like my lower back working and a strange sensation in my right hip (the one with the torn labrum).

TRI-SET AMRAP

SA CABLE FLY
60 x 19, 10, 9

LAT CABLE RAISE
20 x 15, 12, 8 + 15 partials

SA OH CABLE EXTENSION
40 x 16, 10, 8

Another good session. I’m not sure how my upper body is faring. My legs are getting torched and the lateral raises are stimulating my left delt. I’m not sure about the rest, though. Single arm training is awkward.

Yo!!! What’s up brother? I’m back from the dead. I need to start a new training log but wanted to check in with you on what you’re up to (I’ll go read through some of your log).

2 Likes