hrat's log

[hrat]

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
Cheesecake.

[hrat]

OK, no longer wanting to lay down and cry. Tweaked my back last night, but it's feeling a fair bit better already. I think it was mostly bad luck. Started with paused squats at 40 and 50. Then squat 5s, focussing on knees out. Did 60, 70, put belt on for 75, 80 fine, knees were good, no pain in anything. Unracked 85 and something went in the spine, under my belt. I think it was a facet joint, and I think it was only horrific because it did so under load. Wasn'tas tight as I should have been. Immed racked, felt OKish. Did 40x5x2 and 60x5 painless deads before I convinced myself not to be a prick.Went home, spent the evening lying on the floor icing, and started ibuprofen. Slept in. Walked to work this morning feeling OK-ish, slight spasms at times. Played football- felt fine, nice to move about.
Right now, it slightly stiff, but continued icing, ibuprofen, lying/sitting square, and moving and it feels a crap load better than I was hoping.

Go back to light squats/deads on Monday, feel the way up.

I feel like such an idiot though. Was it my fault? Did I fuck something up, should I have known the discomfort recently was a developing issue? But I've had minor pains like recently and nothing has exploded. I can handle pain, and setbacks,but I don't know quite what to do, and it pisses me off.

[DPMuller]

When feeling like an idiot, it's a good idea to learn from your possible mistake then let go.

Based on what you're saying, your back might have been less tight than it needs to be under a heavy bar - so focus on keeping it really tight in the future.

When I twice tweaked my back by squatting with a loose back (my back tightness was pathetic before I saw a coach), it usually only took a few days to be ready to lift again, so just keep an eye on it - it should get better faster than you think. And to quote Rip, when in doubt on whether the injury healed enough, warm up, see how you feel and make a decision.

[hrat]

Thanks, I just hope I don't run out of vertebrae before I run out of lessons...
I've had a couple of back issues before or varying degrees. I am learning, just slowly.
Moving yesterday seemed to help, by evening I managed 3x20 ish broomstick squats without any discomfort. There just seems to be some muscle spasms, although I can find the facet-joint that hurts, either by hyperextending, or by prodding.
Today: brisk walking. Gym: squats sets of 5 going up 5kg each time from bar to 40. Did 40 for 3x5. No pain, slight favouring, focusing on not doing that.
deads: 40x10, superslow down. 60x5 superslow. 70x5. Slight discomfort on overzealous lockout of final rep. Decided this was enough. Few leg raises and stretches in there too. Walk home.

Feel stiff in all my hip/low back muscles, which is more annoying than the injury. Moved from ice to heat, for this reason. Still on Ibuprofen.


ETA: just did a lying SI joint adjustment thing (knee to chest, extent against resistance), got an audible clunk, and feel miles better. I can feel an upset muscle/facet joint, but everything else feels more normal.

Lesson: no weight is light enough to mess with, do every rep like a 1RM

[hrat]

Feeling a lot better. I had a good dig about with my knuckles in the hip/lower back area, and managed to give myself about 4square inches of very purple bruising on my backside. Don't know how that happened exactly. Climbed yesterday, felt fine.
Tonight:
squats 40x5 paused, 50x5 paused. No pain, but I feel tentative. 60x3x5-first set with belt, second two without. Video of first set: I felt tentative, wasn't sitting back well, and they did not feel sharp.

Video recorded by random stranger, because I have no friends to train with.
Deads: 60x5, 80x5, slow, careful to keep tight. No belt, no pain.
PC: 40 some 3s
Enough.

ETA: took me 2 hours to figure out how to rotate y video without turning it into stop motion. Gah.

[hrat]

Feeling way way better: still a bit of soreness in the hip muscles. Main problem now is that it feels so good to move, I cannot sit down and concentrate on my work.
Today:
press 22.5x3 (meant to be 5), 25x3, 27.5xamrap=8 last was an effort, and I'm avoiding hyperextending the low back.
singles 3x1 at 30. Easy enough, but don't feel I'm getting under like I should.
bench 35 5x10 with chins, wide-ish parallel, 5x3.

Chins have come back fast! I've never achieved more than 5 reps in a set. I want to reach 10-12. I find them pretty fun to do on e.g vertical climbing ropes, or assymmetrically on climbing holds.

[hrat]

Saw a physio on Tuesday. Basically walked in and said I hurt myself lifting heavy shit, and I'm looking for help to fix it so I can get back to lifting heavy shit. She didn't object, although did recommend pilates. Obviously I'm ignoring that, but I do think being more consistent on ab work is a good idea.
I am lopsided, and the side where the SI joint gets painful, and where I've tweaked a facet joint, has less muscle round the hips- coincidentally that's the side I don't carry my gym bag on.

Conclusions: slouching on the couch is bad: I'm going to get a better desk chair for a start. Carrying a heavy bag for ~2 miles a day always on the same side is bad. Other than that, I got a nice free massage, and I've broken the ice - there's a bunch of things I kept meaning to fix, but haven't got around to, and a little kick in the pants was required.

[hrat]

Donated blood on Tuesday: eating plenty to compensate. I've never had much problem with it, provided I don't get dehydrated- maybe a bit of lightheadedness on very demanding things.


Yesterday: 40ish minutes slow run. I volunteered to accompany a friend who's training for the Dublin marathon. Mostly a jaunt in the sunshine. Wore flat shoes, and my calves were dying by halfway. Really stiff today too, calves and shins.

[hrat]

Video of squats above has many issues. Some of them were just due to the back being off: I get tentative etc. Main thing I want to fix is the hip break/ass back motion, because on reflection it is probably causing the issues with knee position. Concentrated on simultaneous breaking today, then next session will think more on hip drive/sitting back.

Today: squats: 40x5, 50x5, 60x3x5 variable, but starting to get it. 70x5: felt better, but also a ton to unrack.
deads: 60x5, 80x3 no belt. belt loose 100x1, belt tight 110x1, 115x1. Wasn't as good as I wanted. Decided not to go heavier, but do some reps: 100x12, hook grip. Didn't let go of the bar, but did take some time to breathe.
1arm deads 60 about 4x1 each arm. For fun, and as an experiment - I'm looking for good core shit. Nearly passed out on one - over did the breathing.
plank +15kg 2x30sec

I searched the site a lot, and although Rip seems fairly unimpressed by planks, he has said it's mainly because they're hard to load/progress. I've found I can increase time nearly every week, then up weight once I reach about a minute. Figure loading will work OK up to about 2 plates in a stack, so got a way to go yet.

[hrat]

Calves/shins worse today, as usual (+36 hours is when I get really sore). Takes a few strides to be able to walk.

Bench: 35x5, 37.5x3, 42.5xamrap=10 (aim 1+) then 45x1,1,2 paused.
My hips are feeling way way looser and I felt like I had pretty good leg drive now I can put my feet out to the side more.
Press 20 3x10 out of time and exhausted.
1 hour 4 aside football. Still a little breathless from the blood donation, and hard to run with stiff shins.

Enjoying the 5/3/1 rep outs. A little doubtful that they'll actually help at heavier weights, but I intend to give it an honest run.