BigA's Log

[BigA]

Tuesday

SLDL (no belt + mixed grip): 365 x 5 LS RO (rehab)

Cardio: 3 min x 200 watts (at highest resistance)

Deadlift is challenging now. I have a weeks of LP left on it then it's time to go to intermediate programming. I hope I am almost done with this SI joint/back injury.

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 187.5 x 2, 170 x 5, 5, 4, 5, 4
Weighted Chin-ups: 55 x 2, 50 x 2, 45 x 2.7
Incline Bench Press (no arch): 185 x 3, 3, 135 x 10
Superset of curls

I added in the incline bench press to my workout. The weight was pretty light. I wanted to start a bit lighter since I was fatigued from the press. I don't know what's going on with the press. It should be going up but it's not. Maybe the extra day of rest is too much? I hope adding in more work will get it moving again because I rather enjoy the extra time on my hands. I did misgroove the first rep of the press today so maybe that used up too much energy so that I wasn't able to get a third rep.

I suspect that the extra day of rest is better for lower body lifts based on my past experiences with the TM. Maybe it's not so for upper body but I will see. I think I will add in a quick superset of curls after the workout. I used to take rest in between curl sets before but I don't care enough about them to do that. This way, I get a quick pump before i leave the gym. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow and the day afterwards.

Morning Bodyweight: 249 (it has increased by a little)

Edit:

I forgot to say, i tried out the close grip bench press before the incline bench press. My right shoulder really doesn't like it. I retracted my scapulae as hard as I could and I tucked my elbows so hard that they were basically touching my body. But in a state of fatigue, I felt pain right away. If I abduct my shoulder up to about 70 degrees or so (just standing up) and then rotate it back and forth, I feel a distinct obstruction in it and accompanying pain. The press doesn't seem to bother it but benching and rowing (basically anything horizontal loaded movement) do bother it.

[BigA]

HBBS (no belt + no wraps/sleeves): 320 x 5, 5, 5 (rehab)

I need to remember to keep my head down. I am developing a tendency to raise my head (although I am still looking down). Like Rip says in SS, if you look down and keep your neck neutral, you can generate more force in the squat and that seems to be the case.

[BigA]

SLDL (no belt + mixed grip): 375 x 5 (rehab) LO RS

Cardio (Stationary Bike): 3 min 15 seconds at 200+ Watts (highest resistance)

I have been using the back revolution for about a week and a few days now and it's really fantastic. My back and SI joint feel much better now and as I am increasing the time I spend inverted each day, my back feels commensurately better. There is really not much to say about the benefits on the back, it just straight up works. In the beginning, I got small spasms along my back as the vertebrae and SI joint area were being pulled apart but now there are no spasms. The longer I hang, the better it feels with apparently no negative side effects.

What I find more interesting though is the effects that inversion have on my general state of mind / wellbeing. Obviously, hanging upside down increases blood flow to the brain. I am not a physiologist and haven't looked at any research on this so that's as much as I can say about the possible mechanism for the benefits I am going to describe. After the first few days inverting, I got used to the blood rushing to my head and now I literally almost don't feel it at all. Instead, the longer I stay, the more I feel a sort of a euphoria that lasts throughout the day. The longer that I do it, the better it feels and the longer the euphoria lasts. The euphoria is a subtle feeling, it's not a clear sensation like a massage or doing Cardio With a Friend. Rather, it's like feeling peaceful yet capable and full of energy. I guess you could say that it's kind of the opposite of being depressed. Overall, I am feeling more energetic, motivated, I am sleeping much better and for a shorter amount of time, I can concentrate better and I straight up feel noticeably happier.

I was into doing yoga a long time ago and if you guys have ever read any texts on this subject, you probably have heard of the headstand and maybe the shoulder stand. The supposed effects of these poses are similar to what I typed before and are said to be due to the increased blood flow to the brain and glands in that area. Obviously, the problem is that supporting your body weight on your cervical vertebrae is a baaaaad idea and if you do it wrong, you can mess yourself up badly. With this apparatus, you overcome those problems and can hang upside down to your heart's content while effectively tractioning your back and SI joint.

Even if you guys are skeptical of the mental effects of it, I would still highly recommend it for any back troubles or even just because it makes your back feel good. Even before I was injured, my lower back would still sometimes ache and I am sure that using this device would have alleviated that quite effectively.

I am increasing the time that I spend inverted each day by 15 seconds and I will work up to 15 minutes or even more. Right now, I am about to hit 6 minutes tonight. I will write more about it when I have done it for 15 minutes each day for a few weeks or if I retweak my back and I want to see how fast I bounce back using it.

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 187.5 x 3, 170 x 5 x 5
Weighted Chin-ups: [B]7.5 x 8[B], 5, 5 x 5, 7.5 x 5, 5
Incline Bench Press (no arch): 190 x 3, 3, 140 x 10
AMRAP curls, lateral raises, bent-over lateral raises (1 set each)

Very good workout today today, I set a decent amount of PR's. The incline bench press was much easier this time around as I am getting used to the movement and to putting it after my press. I think doing it after all of my pressing is much better because when I did it before the press a while back, it interfered with the press bar path. This way, there is no interference whatsoever with the bar path.

It seems that adding some volume was key to getting the press moving again. With the one extra day of rest in between every workout, it's possible that I was not doing enough upper body work.

I did some AMRAP bodybuilding movements. Doing them for one set is just about the minimum that one can do but I will see if it has any hypertrophy effect. I tend to go back and forth between doing some bodybuilding work or leaving it out so this may not last long.

[BigA]

HBBS (no belt + no wraps): 325 x 5, 5, 5 (rehab)

[BigA]

Wednesday

SLDL (no belt + mixed grip): 385 x 5 (rehab) LS RO
Cardio (Bike): 3 min 30 seconds @200+ watts (using highest resistance)

[BigA]

Press (no belt): 190 x 2, 172.5 x 5, 4, 4, 3 (misgrooved), 4
Weighted Chin-ups: 55 x 2, 50 x 2.7, 45 x 2.9 (almost had it but I couldn't count it). BW Chin-ups: 8,7
Incline Bench Press: 195 x 3, 3, 145 x 10
Curls, Lateral Raises, Standing Lateral Raises (One set each AMRAP up to 15)

My top end chinning strength doesn't seem like it's improved but considering I gained a little weight (I am up to 249), They have technically gotten stronger. The higher reps have continued to improve. I was pleasantly surprised at getting 2 solid reps with the 190. I almost got a third one. I hope that this incline bench volume continues to push my press up.

Putting my cardio on my SLDL day, directly one day after squats, is working out very well. My legs have ample opportunity to recover. I used to put cardio directly halfway between squat sessions and this would interfere with my recovery.

[BigA]

HBBS (no belt + no wraps/sleeves): 330 x 5, 5, 5 (rehab)

I thought about what kind of programming I should do moving forward considering this injury and my decision to not compete (which may change in the future). I would like to do the alternating rung method from Andy Baker's website but the transition from an LP to the alternating rung method is not quite as smooth as a transition to TM. Additionally, considering the injury, I don't think that it's a smart idea to do singles all of a sudden when all of my work for the past few months has been 5s. Lastly, I think I have a good amount of LP left and since I now am taking an extra day of rest, I think that it should be extended slightly. This extra day of rest will also serve well for my intermediate programming.

So, given all these factors, I think the best way to proceed is to finish my LP, run out the TM, and then do the alternating rung method for an indefinite period of time. This way, I will get back up to where I was previously in a decent amount of time and it will give me time to acclimate to doing lower reps which are an integral part of the alternating rung method. Hopefully, the alternating rung method will yield years of fairly steady gains as it is more conservative than other programs.

Of course, all of this is predicated on the hope that I will not get another back tweak anytime soon (hopefully never!). It looks like the back revolution is doing it's job well. I still feel some SI joint pain when I tense my muscles at rest but it's much less. More importantly, I don't have any spasms anymore.

My index finger is hurting now from carrying a cooler the wrong way. I went to a group meet-up with some people and brought a cooler filled with the drinks. It didn't hurt at all at the time but I noticed the pain a few hours ago. I hope it doesn't affect my SLDL tomorrow.

[BigA]

SLDL (no belt + mixed grip): 390 x 5 (rehab) LO RS

The 10 pound jumps have come to an end, it's down to 5 pounds now.