There’s no crossfit in the jungle brah
Its all about becoming the urban athlete
ok so my program is a legs/push/pull i rotate it every week there are 4 different weeks, for example one week i may do on monday push and on the other week there may be a rest day on monay etc. usually in terms of frequency i train each body part around every 4-6 days, i will put my pull workout only as this is the one that causes my lower back pain also i do not warm up i just do some calisthenics in both my pull and push sessions and just think its enough i may be wrong on this, and on my legs i just start with lighter weight and call it a warm up.
exercise x weight x reps
- chin up x body weight x 6
- chin up x body weight 4
- bent over row x 60 kg x 13
- bent over row x 57.5 kg x 15
- bent over row x 55 kg x 16
- t-bar row x 50 kg x 13
- t-bar row x 50 kg x 13
- t-bar row x 47.5 kg x 14
- t-bar row x 22.5 kg x 20
- dumbbell row x 36 kg x 8
- dumbbell row x 33 kg x 14
- dumbbell row x 33 kg x 13
- incline dumbbell curl x 12.5 kg x 11
- incline dumbbell curl x 12.5 kg x 7
- barbell curl x 25 kg x 10
- barbell curl x 22 kg x 16
- barbell curl x 22 kg x 10
- barbell curl x 15 kg x 23
- face pull x 20 kg x 16
- face pull x 20 kg x 15
- face pull x 17.5 kg x 20
my progression model is to lift one more rep till i reach 12 reps(sometimes i do 4-6 more that intended) you see from what i have given you some are beyond this rep range because i didn’t expect to do that many reps so in next pull session for example the bent over row will be around 67.5 kg or maybe 65 kg and i will reduce the weight only maybe to 57.5 kg or 60 kg towards the end, as far as the rest periods i don’t count them i just rest more on more difficult lifts and less on easier ones like isolations for example.
no i don’t
i will send you my legs and push workouts tomorrow because i don’t have much time now.
Also one final note i don’t know if it matters but i have forward head and a bad posture i can still completely stand tall and even arch my back but my natural position is not proper.
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So is it something like:
- Legs-Push-Pull-Rest-Legs-Push-Pull-Rest, or
- Legs-Push-Pull-Legs-Push-Pull, or
- Legs-Push-Rest-Pull-Legs-Rest-Rest (then onto the next week)
I’m a bit confused, are you doing the legs-push-pull on a four or five day rotation? Do you have regular training days (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday)
Thank you for taking time to write this out.
Straight away
This could be something that’s contributing to your discomfort. Especially since you’re a newer lifter, your low back may not be built-up to tolerating back-to-back volume of two bent-over rowing variations. Could you please film a video of you performing a bent-over row and/or a t-bar row? (Preferably both)
Good sign
So posture on its own does not really cause or even correlate to back pain, but, if you are lifting in bad postures/positions, that could contribute. You say you’re able to move out of “bad posture” if you choose, so as long as you’re lifting in a proper position you’ll be okay. This is why it’s so important for you to film and send-in video of your lifting
it looks like this i got it from the internet and i like it because it was spontaneous:
Week 1
- Monday: Push
- Tuesday: Pull
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: Legs
- Friday: off
- Saturday: Push
- Sunday: Pull
Week 2
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: Legs
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: Push
- Friday: Pull
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: Legs
Week 3
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: Push
- Wednesday: Pull
- Thursday: off
- Friday: Legs
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: Push
Week 4
- Monday: Pull
- Tuesday: off
- Wednesday: Legs
- Thursday: off
- Friday: Push
- Saturday: Pull
- Sunday: off
to say the truth i have not paid enough focus on my posture when i train usually i just look at the first reps and then go on without paying much attention and i feel like i am in my natural posture on the rest reps i will pay close attention to these in my next pull session which is tomorrow i will focus a lot on monitoring my posture and see if i will feel the usual pain.
i don’t feel comfortable filming myself i know its very effective way to find a solution but is there any other way??
also will not reducing my volume and weight lifted halt my progress strength/size wise??
Thank you for sending the split. The split itself looks fine. What exercises are you doing on your Push and Leg days?
As a rule of thumb, for your first 6-12 months of training, you should always cut the set before you feel yourself get out of position. For the next 6-12 months, perhaps the last 1-2 reps can be dodgy, but you should always strive to maintain and train in the proper position
Frankly, there isn’t anything as good as video (with the exception of seeing/coaching you myself), but, given the information I’ve gotten so far it seems that the way you’re executing your lifts (i.e. position and posture) is likely the culprit, and this then compounds potential issues with exercise selection.
Don’t stop moving weight man (as long you move it properly). You won’t experience any significant change to your results by dropping the T-Bar row, but if you’re that worried about not getting sufficient volume, swap it for something like a cable row or a chest-supported dumbbell row. Anyone who tells you a t-bar row will “magically” build more muscle than any other correctly-performed and loaded row is lying to you. FWIW, I do 3 sets of rowing a week and my back is probably my best feature
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ok so my push day looks like this:
exercise x weight x reps
- push ups x body weight x 13
- push ups x body weight x 9
- push ups x body weight x 8
- dumbbell bench press x 25 kg x 5
- dumbbell bench press x 22.5 kg x 9
- dumbbell bench press x 22.5 kg x 7
- incline dumbbell bench press x 20 kg x 6
- incline dumbbell bench press x 20 kg x 7
- incline dumbbell bench press x 20 kg x 6
- shoulder press x 30 kg x 12
- shoulder press x 35 kg x 6
- shoulder press x 30 kg x 8
- shoulder press x 30 kg x 8
- shoulder press x 30 kg x 8
- dumbbell lateral raise x 10 kg x 13
- dumbbell lateral raise x 10 kg x 13
- dumbbell front raise x 10 kg x 13
- dumbbell front raise x 10 kg x 13
- skull crushers x 25 kg x 6
- skull crushers x 20 kg x 17
- skull crushers x 25 kg x 13
- skull crushers x 25 kg x 10
- tricep pushdown x 20 kg x 20
- tricep pushdown x 20 kg x 13
- tricep pushdown x 20 kg x 17
i am tall so my squat is quite laughable but ok i am getting better, my last leg workout:
- squat x 42.5 kg x 10
- squat x 52.5 kg x 10
- squat x 52.5 kg x 5
- squat x 50 kg x 6
- squat x 47.5 kg x 6
- single leg press x 42.5 kg x 15
- single leg press x 42.5 kg x 12
- smith machine calf raise x 70 kg x 37
- smith machine calf raise x 77.5 x 33
- smith machine calf raise x 72.5 x 30
- smith machine calf raise x 67.5 x 35
- smith machine calf raise x 67.5 x 30
- wrist curl x 27 kg x 19
- wrist curl x 25 kg x 18
- wrist curl x 22 kg x 23
- reverse wrist curl x 12.5 x 12
- reverse wrist curl x 12.5 x 11
- reverse wrist curl x 12.5 x 9
i will monitor closely my form as i its easy for me to get carried away while lifting.
i believe so too i am too young to have serious bone issues out of nowhere, the funny thing is when i was training around 2 years ago i was maxing my deadlift weekly(stupid teenager) and i didn’t feel any discomfort with terrible form, round back overly arching my back in the lockout etc. i really want to deadlift again so i guess i should do extensive research on what form works better for my body.
tomorrow i am gonna do the same exercises and pay close attention to my posture and if i feel again some aching i am gonna swap t-bar rows with other row variations.
you see i have very intense energy and doing only 3 sets of rows will make me a bit aggressive as it will not tire me enough i train to channel my aggression but i don’t just get there and train mindlessly, i try to structure it well and effectively too, thanks for all the advice man.
It looks to me like you are doing more volume than necessary in every workout. Like on your press day you do 14 sets of pressing followed by 7 sets of tricep isolation work, that’s a lot. Your pull day has 15 sets of lat/upper back work. According to many experts nowadays, more than about 8-10 sets per muscle group per workout is unlikely to give any additional benefits and can actually be counterproductive. Not only that, but barbell, t-bar, and dumbbell rows (if you go heavy enough and worse if you use sloppy form) will all make your lower back sore and can make it hurt if you overdo it.
What James Krieger says about volume:
On average, muscle growth tends to be best around 6-8 hard sets per muscle group per training session when taking long rests. That can be 12 - 24 weekly sets for a frequency of 2-3 days per week.
You haven’t posted a video, but two things that are likely to cause back pain are either rounding your back or hyperextending it. Rounding can cause injury such as herniated discs, hyperextending will make your quadratus lumborum (the muscles on both sides of your spine in the area you indicated) tight and potentially achy.
Also sitting a lot will make your QL and hip flexors get tight. If you sit a lot or for long periods then this can be a factor. Try doing some half-kneeling hip flexor stretches and see if that helps. I wouldn’t do any stretching for the lower back though, that can make things worse and is not necessary unless you are trying to become a contortionaist or something of that sort.
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I’d just add that based on the fact that OP feels better with spinal flexion, he’s likely to be hyperextending his back on his exercises, rather than rounding over
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I guess I missed that part, I kind of skimmed over the thread. That would definitely explain why his back hurts after doing a bunch of rows.
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Great video Start at 2:43
QL’s
thanks all for the advice i will try implement it.
The only way to avoid lower back pain is to train correctly. Use a SLOW MOVEMENT, LOW VOLUME, LOW FREQUENCY program. If you do the opposite like most people, eventually you’ll hurt your back.
Nope
the thing that miraculously cured my lower back was directly training it with back extensions, bird mans etc. as some pointed out i was doing only upper back work and neglected my lower back which was the culprit.