JSK's strength/endurance/recomp log (not necessarily in that order)

[JSK]

Did some searching to research my hip pain, and it looks like it's the all too common hip-flexor issue. Consensus is that it's caused by knees sliding forward at the bottom of the squat, and that stance width may also be a contributing factor. The knee-slide at the bottom is something I'd noticed occasionally in my videos, and I've been actively working on it. But it hadn't previously caused hip pain, even when I was up to 300# work sets back in November. I think coming back too heavy from that 6-week layoff may have forced the issue.

So for now my plan is to skip squats for the next workout or two, do some hip-flexor stretches/mobility work and foam rolling, and then start back squatting with rehab-level weights and gradually work my way to heavier weights while being super strict on form and see how it goes.

[JSK]

Saturday, 1/28/2012
A mix of intervals and some cruising. Hip flexor started bothering me towards the end, after a max-intensity interval.

Skate - 19.1 mi, 72:23, 15.8mph avg, 153 avg HR

[JSK]

Sunday, 1/29/2012
No squats today because of hip flexor pain. I thought I might be able to deadlift, but I could tell from first warmup set that it was probably a bad idea; when pulling my chest up to set my back, I would get a twinge of pain. So I decided to do RDL's again, since they didn't bother my hip.

Bench Press
Not going to say these were easy, but they weren't particularly hard except maybe the very last rep.
225 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 5

RDL
I have to work on keeping my legs straighter; past a certain depth I find myself pushing my butt back and breaking at the hips in an effort to keep my back extended.
195 x 5
195 x 5
195 x 5

Dips
BW x 10
BW x 10
BW x 10

Chin-up (neutral grip)
I need to do these as very first assistance exercise. Doing them after RDL's and dips was a mistake.
BW x 3
BW x 3
BW x 2

Back Extensions
3 x 10

Lat Pulldown
145 x 11
145 x 10
145 x 8

Barbell Curl
68 x 8
68 x 8
68 x 7

Ab Rollout (from knees)
3 x 8

[JSK]

Tuesday, 1/31/2012

Overhead Press
140 x 5
140 x 5
140 x 5

Chin-up
BW x 5
BW x 4
BW x 4

Incline Bench Press
I think I could have gotten that last rep, but without a spotter I decided not to push my luck.
165 x 8
165 x 8
165 x 7

Lying T-Bar Row
100 x 6
100 x 6
100 x 6

[JSK]

Wednesday, 2/1/2012
Easy skate, just wanted to get a little conditioning in without aggravating my hip. Didn't have any pain while skating this time, so that's good.

skate - 16.85 mi, 70:49, 14.3mph avg.

[JSK]

Saturday 2/4/2012

Squat
Just did some really light rehab sets to see how my hip flexor felt. It ached a bit, but no sharp pain, so hopefully that's a good sign. I moved to a slightly narrower stance on set 2 and it felt a little better. Also playing around a little with bar position (need to find that spot where the bar stays without any tendency to roll down or up during difficult sets). Will probably do some more rehab sets next time, not sure if I should stick with these until the pain is completely gone, or slowly start moving up.
95 x 6
95 x 6
95 x 6
95 x 6

Bench
These felt pretty good. First set was hardest, as usual. I think I should be able to continue 5-lb jumps at least until I get back to 240.
230 x 5
230 x 5
230 x 6

Chin-ups
BW x 5
BW x 4
BW x 4

RDL
Still working on keeping both my legs and my back straight. I did better on some reps than others, and could really feel the extra work in the hamstrings when I did. The fact that I found it easier to keep my legs straight on the warm-up sets tells me I might need to back off and reset to a lower weight.
195 x 5
195 x 5
195 x 5

Dips
BW x 11
BW x 11
BW x 8

Lat Pulldown
Finding the higher-rep sets a lot more difficult than I expected.
145 x 12
145 x 9
140 x 8

Barbell Curl
70 x 8
70 x 8
70 x 6

[JSK]

Monday, 2/6/2012
Light intensity easy skate, just wanted to get a little conditioning and get back on wheels after last week's rain. Trying to ease back into it without further aggravating hip flexor.

Skate - 14.5 mi, 14mph avg, 139 avg HR

[JSK]

Tuesday, 2/7/2012
Upped the intensity a little, but still not going too hard yet.

Skate - 19mi, 15.4mph avg, 149 avg HR

[JSK]

Wednesday, 2/8/2012
Still being conservative with intensity due to hip flexor, focused on distance and form today. Wind was brutal.

Skate - 21 mi, 14.7mph, 145 avg HR

[JSK]

Thursday, 2/9/2012

Squat
Still just trying to rehab my hip flexor, so I kept these super light. Hip flexor feel like it's getting better, but pain is not completely gone yet. Also realized that I need to fix my form - bar path is not vertical enough, with weight getting forward of mid-foot and knees going too far forward. Frustrating thing is that at this weight it's not just a matter of the heavy weight causing my shoulders to drop at the bottom; my squatting mechanics are just wrong. I can see the bar start going forward before I'm even halfway through the descent.
95 x 6
95 x 6
95 x 6
135 x 6

Overhead Press
142.5 x 5
142.5 x 5
142.5 x 5

Chinups
BW X 6
BW X 4
BW X 4

RDL
Backed off the weight some, and was able to do a better job of keeping my legs straight.
175 x 5
175 x 5
175 x 5

Incline Bench
These were pretty tough, time to switch to 2.5lb increments, I think.
170 x 8
170 x 8
170 x 6

Lying T-Bar Row
100 x 6
100 x 6
100 x 6