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I have been training well since the last setback. I have gained bodyweight and took my squat to 98kg for 3 sets of 5. I have also been doing well in practice, despite the national team coaches telling me I am "going to lose the train" (not be competitive).
Yesterday, a guy fell on top of my knee when it was bent, and [I] felt strong pain in my knee. Today the physiotherapist told me it was just a small tear in the MCL, and I shall be ok soon. She also prescribed several unilateral leg exercises, and band isolation exercises to work the ''stability of the ligaments."
Even though I am grateful for the physio's help, I can't find a reason to do these "exercises" I have been asked to do, even though she said they were a compliment to strength training.
It completely goes against what I've learned to be true. These isolation and unilateral exercises are not functional movements, involve little muscle mass and they can't be done in any way possible that would drive a systemic adaptation. It seems that a properly performed heavy squat would produce stronger ligaments, and overall strength adaptation throughout the body, better than any "stability" exercise can.
I trust your word coach, and the word of the people here, because it has proven to be worth it's value. Probably, I should know your opinion on the subject right now, but do you think that any of these ''stability training exercises'' can be useful in any situation?
I can think of no mechanism by which isolation exercises would work better than compound movements for rehab of any structure.
In Starting Strength:BBT 3rd Ed, you say that in the press, tissues such as the supraspinatus are not the primary muscles producing the movement, but rather function as stabilizers (paraphrasing). If this is meant to imply that they act isometrically rather than concentrically & eccentrically, couldn't one argue that the press will not optimally rehab such a tissue, if such a tissue will only be optimally rehabbed by including concentric and/or eccentric contractions?
The concentric function of the supraspinatus is to assist the deltoid through the first few degrees of abduction. The role of the rotator cuff muscles during the far majority of "functional" activities is to work together isometrically to stabilize the glenohumeral joint while the many larger, stronger muscles (pecs, lats, deltoids, teres major, biceps, triceps, etc.) that operate the joint create movement much like they do during the press so your example is not a great one.
[spacediver], much practical experience shows that progressively loading an injury in the tissue's normal anatomical function forces it to progressively return to its normal anatomical function. You are merely postulating that this might not be the case without explaining why. It matters not what "physios" say or do, since their methods are not usually any more effective than the same amount of time spent in a good quality drinking establishment.
I haven't done any cardio for 19 months. When I exercised, I did high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on my exercise bike. It has 8 settings. 1 is easiest, 8 is hardest. I used to do 20 minutes. 6 minute warm up on 4, then 20 seconds on 8, 40 seconds on 3 and repeat that for 9 sets. 5 minute cool down. It would kick my ass.
Currently, I'm at least 60lbs heavier than when I was. Did the same HIIT last night, having not done ANY cardio for 19 months. It was pretty easy. I'd done squats of 355lb for 5x5 the day before too. So, I wasn't as fit as I thought I was, and adding 250lb+ of squat has had an impact.
Weird isn't it?
Not really. Quite a common report throughout these threads.
Played in a racquetball tournament in Flagstaff, AZ. I never got winded. It kind of freaked me out actually. How does someone that hasn't done any cardio for nearly 4 months and hasn't played racquetball for 6 months NOT get winded in Flagstaff? I would say that I wasn't trying very hard but my muscles said otherwise. My lungs were fine, my legs not so much.
Last time I used my C2 model D rower was back when I was doing crossfit at 5'11" 185lb. My squat was a pathetic 215x3. I now weigh about 243, and my squat has doubled to 425x5. Per Jordan's suggestion, I decided to start rowing 1-2 times a week.
So I dig the rower out of the closet, get on it, and decided to row a 500 to see how well I do, and I beat my all time best by about 1.8 seconds, after not doing it at all (or any conditioning really for that matter) in about 2.5-3 years.
I was pretty surprised.
Without doing any cardio, I was significantly better off (especially the day after) during a 7 mile hike with a roughly 4000 ft ascent (it was one of the steepest hikes I've ever done, especially at the beginning and for the last mile) last summer.
My wife, however, was absolutely destroyed and almost didn't make it up.
Contrasted to this summer. My wife had been lifting for ~2.5 months. She had worked her way up to a BW deadlift and almost BW squat for reps. No cardio. We took an extended weekend trip to Colorado where we spent every day doing at least one, if not multiple hikes with a lot of elevation change. She was perfectly fine energy wise the entire time, and most importantly, there was absolutely no residual soreness. We were just tired at the end of the day, went to sleep, and woke up refreshed like nothing had happened.
It was awesome.
My Training Philosophy –Carl Raghavan
Strength and Endurance –Mark Rippetoe
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