BigA's Log

[Toasterleavings]

I've only had one real back meltdown: I think it was SI joint issue. Came on doing SGDL when I was fatigued and already suffering a bit of inflammation pain. I guess I asked for it - having that area underecovered and doing high volume for an extended period seems to be a recipe for disaster. Took 5-10 minutes to stand up after it locked up on me. Took a couple of weeks to get back to heavy squatting, and longer for deadlifts. I knew once the pain had died down (and I guess the inflammation), I was good to go. But it was intermittently tweaky just doing everyday household stuff before that point. I haven't really done much in the way of volume deadlift work since then - mostly just 1/2 sets of 5 with the occasional 5x3 on SLDL. Good luck man.

[BigA]

I've only had one real back meltdown: I think it was SI joint issue. Came on doing SGDL when I was fatigued and already suffering a bit of inflammation pain. I guess I asked for it - having that area underecovered and doing high volume for an extended period seems to be a recipe for disaster. Took 5-10 minutes to stand up after it locked up on me. Took a couple of weeks to get back to heavy squatting, and longer for deadlifts. I knew once the pain had died down (and I guess the inflammation), I was good to go. But it was intermittently tweaky just doing everyday household stuff before that point. I haven't really done much in the way of volume deadlift work since then - mostly just 1/2 sets of 5 with the occasional 5x3 on SLDL. Good luck man.

Thanks for the input and good vibes! That's definitely been my experience the past days. It's made a lot worse by all the driving I have been doing, it's rather frustrating.

Press (no belt): 185 x 1, 162.5 x 5, 3, 3, 3, 3
Weighted Pull-ups: 37.5 x 2, 35 x 2, 32.5 x 2, BW Chin-ups: 8
Barbell Curls: 95 x 5, 5, 5
Front Squat Holds: 295 x 7-10 seconds

I am going to make front squat holds as part of my regular training. I did them a few times before, however, I did them a bit differently. I used to breathe like in a regular squat and unrack the bar. What would happen is that my spine would move under the load when I let my breath out. It didn't feel too good. So, from now on, I will unrack it on empty lungs and breathe once I am standing up. This way, there is no spinal movement at all. I think it makes the movement much safer. It felt good today although the load was pretty light (it felt heavy-ish since I am detrained though). This will be a good training experiment. I haven't seen people on youtube doing this for a longer period of time. Making it a staple movement will show just how beneficial it really is (or isn't).

Pull-ups went well. it's time to add weight to the back-off set of chins!

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 185 x 0, 162.5 x 4,4,4,4,4
BW Chin-ups: 8, 8, 8
Front Squat Hold (no belt): 305 x 10 seconds

My back was feeling better going into the workout then I retweaked it picking up a 45 plate too fast. This affected my press today. However, the tweak didn't last for so long. Overall, my back is trending towards getting better. I am considering just taking a muscle relaxer but I don't know whether that will eliminate the problem. I am trying as best I can to work around it. I wish I could squat and deadlift, I really miss doing these lifts.

On the bright side, I finally hit 3x8 on BW chins so I can now add weight!

Also, I am going to substitute incline bench press for one of the press intensity sets so that I have some other stimulus. I don't want to flat bench but I think doing only the press is not driving up the press as well as I had hoped that it would. So, incline bench will be hopefully be a helpful addition.

[BigA]

Incline Bench Press (no arch): 225 x 2
Press (no belt): 162.5 x 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Front Squat Hold (no belt): 315 x 10 seconds
Weighted pull-ups: 37.5 x 2, 35 x 2.5, 32.5 x 2, Weighted Chin-ups: 5 (pounds) x 6
Barbell Curls: 97.5 x 5, 5, 5

My back is feeling noticeably better. It's not 100% yet but I am glad that it is getting better. I did something stupid a few days ago (yet again) that set me back a little bit. I stretched my back by rounding forward. I have the knowledge to know that I shouldn't round my spine with a back injury. Yet, I did. It felt better for a little bit in the stretched position and then I stood up and had a really bad spasm. If I didn't have the bed to go grab onto so I could relax, I probably would have been in legit level 9 pain. My whole lumbar and thoracic muscles spasmed. Whew, glad it went the way that it did.

I have lost some weight from not squatting and deadlifting. My morning bodyweight was 238.2!

I tested the incline bench today. Man, I am WEAK. I will continue to get stronger over time but it seems to be quite a slow process for upper body for me. On the other hand, My shoulders feel great from not benching so, no regrets there. Maybe they feel great because I am so weak haha. It is nice to know that press has major carryover though.

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 185 x 1
Front Squat Hold (no belt): 325 x 10 seconds
Incline Bench Press (no arch): 185 x 5 x 5 (really easy)
Weighted Chin-ups: 5 x 8, 8, 5

Back is feeling markedly better. I will wait a little bit longer just to be sure. I have lost mass on my thighs and butt. My fancy pants are loose! I have lost some weight. It's good to see that my upper body strength has not gone down. However, it has stagnated for now. If I keep losing weight, it might go down but otherwise, it just makes my ratios a little better and then when I gain the weight back, it will go up faster than before for a little bit.

On another note, I got to play on a 250,000 dollar piano. So that's cool.

[BigA]

Tuesday:

Incline Bench Press (no arch): 227.5 x 2
Press (no belt): 162.5 x 4, 4, 4, 4, 3
Front Squat Hold (no belt): 335 x 10 seconds
Weighted Pull-ups: 37.5 x 2.7, 35 x 2.7, 32.5 x 2.7, Weighted Chin-ups: 5 (pounds) x 8
Barbell Curls: 100 x 5, 5, 5 (need to be a little more strict on these, I am moving the elbows too far forward to complete the movement)

Upper body pull is improving quite nicely. Squats and SLDL's tomorrow!!!

[BigA]

HBBS (no belt + no wraps/sleeves): 135 x 5 x 3
SLDL (no belt): 135 x 5

Guess who deadlifted and squatted without pain? THIS GUY!! I hope the rehab goes well. It felt great to squat and deadlift again.

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 185 x 0, 162.5 x 5, 4, 4, 4, 4
Weighted Chin-ups: 5 (pounds) x 8, 7, 6
Front Squat Holds (no belt): 345 x 10 seconds

I am pleasantly sore from squatting and deadlifting. I remember the feeling of having done hard physical work and being sore and having a whole body "fatigue" that you just don't get from doing upper body stuff. It really is fantastic and I appreciate it even more now.
Front squat holds are getting difficult. I think my LP with this is going to end soon. I am keeping to only 10 seconds to get used to holding a supramaximal weight in a position that I do not train otherwise (ie front squat vs back squat). Obviously, I can't say whether it has positively impacted my squat and deadlifting yet but it has improved my posture.

I didn't feel recovered today so the heavy press did not go up.

[BigA]

SLDL (no belt): 155 x 5
HBBS (no belt + no wraps/sleeves): 155 x 5 x 3 (rehab)

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 185 x 2, 162.5 x 5, 5, 5, 4, 4
Front Squat Hold (no belt): 355 x 12 seconds
Weighted Pull-ups: 37.5 x 2.4, 35 x 2, 32.5 x 2, Weighted Chin-ups: 7.5 (pounds) x 8
Barbell Curls (no belt): 102.5 x 3, 3, 3

I am really feeling the front squat holds in the abs now. Since I don't valsalva before I lift it, I cannot rely on the pressure from the air. It actually makes a huge difference in how it feels. I am liking it a lot.

I was more strict with the curls form today and I only got 3 reps in each set. It looks like my LP for curls has ended. On the bright side, only raising the weight when I hit 5 reps allows me to do the curls heavy (as opposed to sets of 8 or higher) and so far, I have not had any of the problems I used to have when doing the curls with a higher intensity.