Great writing Lava.
You are doing all the right stuff, that is very uncommon for a young dude like yourself.
I can feel that you’ll be back to squatting again soon and when you do, take it easy friend and work back up VERY slowly.
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I have the same problem. I don’t need to do a lot of things but I really enjoy them. It’s tough to find the balance between doing what I enjoy and doing things that aren’t counterproductive to living a healthy life.
I remember the day I sprained my SI joint but my memory isn’t nearly as vivid as yours. I was warming up to attempt a 1RM on deadlift. It was in September of 2014 and I was about to turn 30 so I wanted to set baselines for my strength. I hoped to compare those numbers to my strength when I turn 40, 50, and so on. Well, I’m an idiot and just didn’t really warm up. I put plates on the bar and did a few reps. I put two plates on, then three plates. This was the first exercise I did for the day. If I did any warm up at all then it was five minutes on an elliptical. I felt a twinge when I lowered 315, but I added 25’s and pulled 365. I felt a much bigger twinge and movement in my back (bone structure) when I lowered that. I knew I was done and I knew I’d messed up.
It was stupid, but the damage is done.
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Ok confession time. Last Bench day (Monday) I was having a terrible bench session but not wanting to be a pud I got the reps programmed. Then went to floor press. I decided on 185 nothing too light but heavy enough to be a challenge. First few sets were fine. The unrack was a little high and I had to put my shoulder is a extended position to unrack the bar. I was struggling to find a groove and tired from the previous pressing. I actually thought of lowering the weight and the unrack position but was just wanting to get it done . On the 4th of 5 sets and the 3rd rep there was a knarly pop grinding feeling in my right shoulder. I finished the rep. I thought hmm. Is it ok? Let’s see. Got the 4th rep and it sucked bad went ahead and got the fifth rep. Holy mother of all things good that first feel good at all. Questioned if I should finish or not…dropped the weight to 135 and got the last set and it felt like dog shit. Finished the workout.
Sitting here today there is a tightness and mild pain (if this is what pin feels like, I don’t feel a lot of pain I guess). I’m working out how to proceed. Bench is the only of my goals I haven’t accomplished when I started this lifting journey. 315 seems forever out of reach…I’ll do some mobility work and try to rehab this so I can finish my goals, but it has really taken some of the steam out of the gains train.
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haha I’ll join you train wrecks.
My right hip is starting to be in somewhat pain or discomfort it started with the inside of my thigh, it is still bothering me, but it has moved to the frontside of the hip. Struggling to raise my upper leg to horisontal.
My left arm from the shoulder to my elbow is starting to feel somewhat numb and in a slight pain.
I am not sure but I think it comes from pull ups and deadlift, that’s at least where I really feel it.
Not so much on bench and OHP.
I hope this old body can hold together for another month.
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Mort!
My internet bro chris_ottawa gets a tight psoas (deep hip flexor muscle) from riding his bicycle. The psoas muscle crosses the hip joint and if it’s tight enough it pulls your femur out of proper alignment. When the “femur ball” migrates to the front of the socket your hip doesn’t work correctly. If your hip doesn’t move properly(you can’t actively move it the right way), but you keep forcing it through big ROMS (like letting the pedals push your leg around or leaning over and rounding your back on deads instead of hinging down) you can develop problems.
If you’re not careful you could end up in the hip club too!
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How could I forget about this!? My psoas is tight as hell on my left side (the bad side). There are times when it feels like a rubber band if you press in and find it. One of my physical therapists was surprised the doctor didn’t do a psoas release during my surgery. Apparently he does those a lot with labrum repairs. It would’ve prolonged my recovery so I was like “Well, guess I’m glad he didn’t do it.” Now I’m thinking it would’ve been beneficial.
So I may have identified the culprit. Any idea how to fix it?
Sorry to hear this but welcome to my club. I’ve hit 300 and 305 but never 315. Every time I get close I have to stop benching due to shoulder pain. I just don’t think it’s meant to be. Once you heal up you should try to find an alternative for your pressing. I think I can use DB’s pain free so I might just have to settle for maxing out the dumbbell rack and building my reps.
When people ask “How much do you bench?” I’ll have to say something like “Well, I use the 130 lb DBs and do sets of ____.”
@mortdk, I’m wondering if those extra couple of weeks at the start of SGSS were a good idea now. Hopefully you can finish and reap the benefits of all of the hard work you’ve put in.
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Alright, the PT said tight psoas. I feel less crazy now.
This guy is just hanging out in the 90/90 position. He’s trying to use gravity and breathing to let his Psoas relax, so he can get the right hip tilt and neutral spine.
Achieving the right hip tilt and a neutral spine isn’t always straight forward. If you’re tight on one side what you think of as “normal” could actually be slightly “off.” Post 1053-1057 in ironone’s log go into extensive detail.
Chris ottawa talks about releasing his psoas by “massaging” it or grinding on it with the handle of a screwdriver. I think as he lays down.
You can roll out the tight inner thigh meat, or like “lower Psoas.”
This is like a more intense version of the 90/90. Dude has his legs up and is using the wall and gravity to try to relax and let the femur kind of “settle” into the socket.
Here is the smashwerx dude using a band to actively pull things into alignment. This is kind of extreme.
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I searched art psoas and this little gem popped up.
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We’re just a banged-up weight lifting crew. Stronger than your average, but it comes at a price. I think we all need to ease up a little bit and figure out how to proceed in a healthy way, and I’m pretty sure we’re all in agreement on that.
I’ve tried a few of the positions that @FlatsFarmer linked, and the 90/90 variations are fantastic. Whenever my back is bother me a lot, I do the easier version of 90/90 by letting my lower legs rest on a chair. I laid there for about 25 minutes last weekend and I felt really good during the last 10.
As for the acetabular impingement release, I’ll do my best to describe it.
- Find a stable surface that’s slightly higher than your waist. Belly button height is ideal.
- Put one foot on there, and stretch your upper hamstring and adductors by leaning forward with a neutral spine. Ease in and out of it. Switch legs and repeat.
- Now, take whichever side has impingement and put that foot on top (we’ll say left hip and foot because my impingement is in my left hip). Lean forward into that stretch and hold it.
- This is where the money is: while still in the stretched position, grab the back of your left wrist with your right hand. Place the heel of your left palm just above your patella. Try to force your femur down and back for 3-5 seconds, then ease up.
- Repeat 3-5 times, then try squatting. If you have acetabular impingement, you should notice an improvement in pain when you squat or bring your knee to your chest.
I did this a few times and it almost completely removed my hip pain temporarily.
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Whens the virtual meet again?
3 December 2018 - Upper Body W8D1 Bodyweight: ???
Warmup: fire hydrants, band clams, side planks, rolling piriformis
Pause Bench 3x3 265lbs (LSRPE 7)
Barbell Rows 3x3 245lbs, last two sets w/ straps (LSRPE 0, super easy)
Pause Close Grip Bench 3x3 245lbs (LSRPE 6)
OHP 3x3 155lbs (LSRPE 7), 175x1, 190x1 (PR), 195x0
Chin Ups (finding my weight) 3x3 20lbs, 1x3 30lbs, 1x3 40lbs
3 way planks, 30sec each
Stretching
Hammer Curls 1x20 30lbs
Face Pulls 4x25 32.5lbs
DB Rows 2x10 85lbs
DB Bench 1x10 40lbs, 1x10 75lbs, 1x10 85lbs, 1x10 95lbs (PR)
Notes
A few PRs today that I probably shouldn’t have gone for. My OHP felt stronger than it’s ever felt, and I strongly believe that I could’ve pressed 195 strict if I hadn’t done 190, but I’ve learned that a 5lb OHP PR is similar to a 10-15lb squat PR so I’ll take what I can get.
All my lifts felt hella easy today, probably due to the extra day or two of rest. I was sore as hell after my 5x5, so I took a little extra time off and it paid off. I’m also glad I listened to you guys and added weight to my chin ups because 40 extra pounds is pretty significant. That’s what I’ll be doing for my 5x3, which will obviously be a huge PR for me because 40lbs is almost an extra 20% of my body weight.
The rest of the week is going to be pretty solid:
Tuesday - legs
Wednesday - Rest or platform
Thursday - rest or platform
Friday - Bench
Saturday - legs and platform
Sunday - Rest
@SOUL_FIGHTER I think it starts in 2 weeks and extends through the first week of January. I’m only doing bench for it, likely on the very last day or two of eligibility. I started my current program a few weeks too late for it to line up perfectly.
I was really looking forward to squats, especially for the 45 minutes where I squatted 5x8 295 and paused 320 on bench. Then I hurt myself again. I feel good and I think my back could handle it, but my legs are going to be weak. It’s going to take at least a month for me to get back to where I was 3 weeks ago by the time I start squatting again fml
Darn, I’ll be in DC probably out of a commercial gym. I’ll go off program just to do it haha
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Glad you liked the weights chins. I think sets up to 15-20 reps like you mentioned get into the muscular endurance territory.
Were you surprised by how these felt?
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Actually, yeah. I’m so used to being able to yank myself up quickly, but having 40lbs between my feet definitely provided some solid resistance. I’m excited to see what effect that has on my back size and strength over the course of a few months. It’s funny too, because even though I was only doing 3 reps, I managed to get a pump on everything I did today, including the chins.
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Exactly nice little PR, straying away from the program, but you seem to be doing fine.
This is the first week og 3’s right so you have to do 2 more weeks adding weight.
Remember that you have to put weight next week and the week after, so that is something like 45 and 50 lbs or 50 and 60 pounds, remember the first times doing OHP it was way to high. I’ve found that the first week of a new phase is actually serving as kind of a deload.
EDIT: awesome job on the chin ups btw
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Thanks mate. Doing 3x3 for 5-6 exercises is way less volume than I’m used to so I had a lot of energy left. I do have 2 more weeks of adding weight. Right now I’m thinking of adding 5lbs to each lift for next week, then possibly adding 10lbs for the third week.
That’d put me at 280 for bench, 260 for close grip (maybe 265, because 245 this week was pretty easy), 255-265 for rows, etc. But you’re right. Adding weight for chin ups will be interesting. I figure I can use a 45lb DB next week and a 50lb DB the week after that. Plus, if I work out at my high school, I can use their weight holding belt which would make it a little easier I think. Having it strapped on seems easier than holding the DB with my feet.
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Well if you have a backpack you could put plates in that.
That’s what I do.
I knew you had the other exercises figured out. It was the chin up I was a bit worried about… for no reason. you’re a strong MF.
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The dip/chin up belt makes a huge difference. It’s so nice to just focus on the pull up. I bought one for like $15. It even came with cheap straps.
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Agreed. I got up to 35lb and it didn’t work anymore cause the DBs started to get larger plus my legs would tire out before my back did.
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