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Thread: The Anti-Degenerative Training Log

  1. #1
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    Default The Anti-Degenerative Training Log

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    Basics
    46 years old, almost 6ft1, current weight is 235lbs. Since 2013, I've trained using all kinds of training methods: Stuart McRobert's Brawn programs, 5/3/1, Starting Strength, RTS programming templates, Andy Baker program templates & personal online coaching, and probably more. The heaviest I've weighed was 260 and my best lifts are 395 BBS, 460 CDL, 225 OHP, and 330 BP. I know, never reached the 405 BBS or 500 DL, my anthropometry is not very good for those lifts (long femur/short torso crew).

    Knee OA
    On 11/3/22 I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my right patella after having some pretty intense pain on the lateral side of the right knee. The doc called it "significant arthritis with a bone spur." The lateral pain/pinch is still there from time to time but it has gone from a level 9 pain to a level 2 pain. I suspect the lateral knee pain was unrelated to the patella arthritis. I rarely have any pain in the actual patella area but will have some brief pain and swelling in that area from time to time. The doc said to expect a knee replacement surgery in 10-15 years. Might seek out a second opinion on the knee thing, might not. Sort of tired of thinking/stressing over it tbh.

    Right Shoulder
    I've developed some right shoulder pain that will at times stretch down to the elbow during OHP and Bench Press. The shoulder will hurt at times when I'm sleeping and I've experienced waking up with finger numbness in my right and left hands. The numbness has been in the pinky/ring fingers at times and sometimes in the thumb/pointer fingers, can never predict it. Some nights I don't have any numbness incidents at all. And so far I haven't had any numbness during the day. The numbness goes away when I wake up and shake it off and move to another sleeping position, I try to keep pressure off my shoulders and try to keep my arms extended. The doc said my x-rays showed no significant arthritis in the shoulder, just ordinary level of wear and tear with a small osteophyte. I also had some degeneration in the C6/7 at the base of my neck. The neck stuff was news to me and it is asymptomatic (although now that he told me about it I wonder if I am feeling it or not, thanks for putting that in my head doc). The doc concluded that the shoulder pain was maybe a slap tear and the numbness was Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. He did not order an MRI and said I could just use my band stretching for the shoulder. He said to keep my arms extended as much as possible to deal with the nerve/numbness issue. I've done some nerve gliding exercises/stretches and do my best to keep my arms extended while sleeping. I may seek out second opinion on the shoulder pain/finger numbness issues too, maybe not.

    Training Plan
    My workouts are now programmed cautiously while I seek out a way to continue to train without doing stupid shit that causes damage. I'm not a competitive lifter and just want to be as strong as I can be while staying healthy. It can be depressing to think about all the degeneration going on in my body so I try not to dwell on it. I can only do what I can do, and after that it's out of my hands. I'm relatively pain free most of the time and everything I've seen about this stuff has said to keep active, stay at healthy bodyweight, and take anti-inflammatories for any pain flareups. The worst thing you can do is rollover and die and just not do anything anymore. In fact, the docs say that arthritis pain during activity does not accelerate the degeneration. I'm hell-bent on not being fat in order to take unnecessary strain off my knee joints and I've already dropped ~ 25lbs. My programming is now weights 2x/week (Mon/Thurs) and low impact cardio on other days (elliptical or incline treadmill walks). The training will adjust over time as I feel comfortable. I take several supplements every day: one-a-day multivitamin, fish oil, and Glucosamine & Chondroitin with MSM. I allow myself some whiskey on the weekends too, usually one or two old fashioned cocktails or a couple of neat pours.

    Recent Workouts

    Monday, 12/5/22
    1. SSB Box Squat: 60x5, 110x5, 150x5, 180x5, 200x5, 180x5
    2. RDL: 45x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 265x5 (no straps)

    Thursday, 12/8/22
    1. SSB Box Squat: 60x5 (Titan SSB weighs 61lbs so I just round it to 60), 110x2, 150x2, 180x5x2 sets
    2. OHP 45x5, 65x3 (right shoulder pain so stopped)
    3. Pulldowns 145x5, 180x5, 170x5
    4. Shoulder band stretching, OHP with light bars, no pain

    Friday, 12/9/22
    Elliptical for 30 mins, some shoulder band stretches and light bar pressing
    Last edited by Railbob1776; 12-10-2022 at 06:06 PM.

  2. #2
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    Apr 2020
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    Default

    12/10/22

    30 minute incline treadmill walk

    Picked up the new Bookers 2022-03 today for a good price and also purchased a Knob Creek Rye Single Barrel Select (store pick). Using the Rye for an old fashioned consisting of: sugar cube, simple syrup, bitters, dab of honey, dab of maple syrup, and plenty of ice. I tend to prefer a spicy rye in the colder months, just seems to fit.
    Last edited by Railbob1776; 12-10-2022 at 06:02 PM. Reason: added drink info

  3. #3
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    Monday, 12/12/22 (235lbs)
    1. SSB Box Squat 205x5, 195x5
    2. RDL 270x5 (just chalk, no straps)
    3. Bench Press 45x5, 65x5 (felt pinch on right shoulder)
    4. Shoulder band stretches
    > felt the pinch on the lateral right knee just a bit, not letting that stop me
    > doing bench presses only if its painless, if I feel a pinch I stop
    > was going to do conventional deads but spots were taken
    Last edited by Railbob1776; 12-12-2022 at 12:49 PM.

  4. #4
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    Tuesday, 12/13/22

    30 minutes elliptical and then some shoulder band stretches. Woke up last night with a numb right hand, went away when I changed position and shook it off. Ugh. Still not interfering with me during the day so don't really want to take time out for another doctor visit. Getting old sucks. Weighed in this morning at 235.3lbs. Need to get serious in order to get into the 220's, been in the 230's long enough. I want my waist to be under 40 inches. Things may adjust after that but I'll decide that once I get there.
    Last edited by Railbob1776; 12-13-2022 at 03:56 PM. Reason: added date

  5. #5
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    Wednesday, 12/14/22
    30 minutes elliptical (felt some patella discomfort)
    2 walking laps around track

    I went ahead and made an appointment with another ortho for a second opinion on the knee/shoulder pain.The appointment is on 1/5 at 3pm. I just want to be clear on what's going on with the shoulder pain and hand/finger numbness since it is still screwing with my sleep at times and I want to ensure that there's not something I'm not doing [that I could be doing] to slow the progression of the arthritis in the knee.
    Last edited by Railbob1776; 12-14-2022 at 04:42 PM.

  6. #6
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    Thursday, 12/15/22

    1. SSB Box Squat 60x5, 110x5, 150x3, 170x3, 185x5x2 sets
    2. Pulldowns 180x6, 170x6
    3. DB Press 10lb x 10 super slow reps w/ right shoulder and then left shoulder

    > used knee sleeves today, felt pinch of right knee pain at bottom of squat on last sets
    > no pain on DB presses, just doing them to do something instead of nothing, avoiding painful movements with shoulders since I don’t know what’s really wrong yet

  7. #7
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    15 minutes of incline treadmill walk followed by about 8 minutes of walking around the indoor track. Then did some shoulder band stretches. Feeling some aches and pains today. My current life reminds me of an old Garth Brooks song, Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old). Wondering if I'd been better off never touching a damn weight. Is what it is. Looking forward to the Equalizer 3 movie, it reunites Denzel with Dakota Fanning which gives me hope that they will at least hint at a Man on Fire connection between the characters. Sipping on some old fashioned cocktails tonight, hope all is well with you and yours. Cheers!

  8. #8
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    Didn't do any cardio this weekend. I suspect the lateral knee pain is potentially a meniscus tear separate and apart from the arthritis in my patella which is almost entirely asymptomatic. Based on some online research, I think I'll just stop squatting for a bit since I can't seem to do it w/o the pinch of pain at the bottom and might just be better to let the knee completely rest outside of normal daily activity to try and encourage healing. Ortho still scheduled for 1/5.

    I'm also in the market for a new mattress. Any budget-friendly suggestions are welcome, not looking to spend more than $2k.

    Enjoying an old fashioned made with the new Jack Daniel's Bonded. Hope everyone is doing well.

  9. #9
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    Farted around with weights today for the first time in a bit.

    Rack Pulls: 225x3, 275x3, 315x3
    OHP 45x7, 65x6
    LBBS 45x3, 95x3

    Felt some pain on the OHP's so I stopped. Not trying to aggravate things. I worked through pain before and it only made things worse. I will continue to try and build the press but I won't work through pain. The exciting part is that I had zero pain on the LBBS. I only did the bar and 95lbs for 3 reps but I used strict and slow-ish form. I didn't dive-bomb into the hole, I didn't go ass-to-grass, just went to parallel or slightly below and I didn't get any pinch of pain on the lateral side of my right knee. That was great. I am going to try and build from here, probably just squat and pull once a week and do what I can with presses. Not sure. This is all experimental.

    Cancelled the doctor visit. Not worth the 40 minute drive for a second opinion. Plus they bombarded me with so much pre-visit paperwork my brain almost exploded. Fuck that. Not doing it. The hospital also noted that masks are recommended and that it doesn't believe gender is binary in the questionnaire it sent me. Just can't force myself to deal with all the nonsense right now.

    Everything seems to be calming down pain-wise and there's nothing they can do with arthritis anyway. The shoulder is more of a concern right now but it seems to be improving slowly. The random hand/finger numbness happens about every three or four nights at this point and it goes away as soon as I wake up and shake it off. I'll consider another opinion on the shoulder/numbness if it gets worse or fails to improve over the next few months.
    Last edited by Railbob1776; 01-04-2023 at 03:42 PM.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    More experimenting with some training movements.

    1. A few dead hangs from chin-up bar
    2. Bench Press 45x5, 135x5, 185x3
    3. OHP 45x5, 95x3

    The bench press felt pretty good but had some pain during the OHP so I stopped after 95lbs. Next week i am going to begin a program and adjust as necessary to avoid pain. Hoping I can get away with more than I think, especially hoping I can squat pain-free regardless of how light I need to start. I'll drop OHP completely for a while if necessary. I will also drop the light squat on Thursday if my shoulders get aggravated from the straight bar squats. Pulled the program from the old-guy section of the grey book.

    Monday
    1. Squat 5x5 (ascending 5 rep warmup sets to one top set of 3-5)
    2. Bench 1x3-5, 2x5 (only if no pain)
    3. Pulldowns 3x10

    Thursday
    1. Light Squat 4x5 (ascending 5 rep sets to last Monday warmup set)
    2. OHP 1x3-5, 2x5 (only if no pain)
    3. Rack Pull or Deadlift 1x3-5
    Last edited by Railbob1776; 01-06-2023 at 08:56 PM.

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