Getting Over a Tough Spot

[stl rick]

Hello Rip,

The first thing I wanted to do is thank you for the great books/DVD and website. I know that I am stronger than I have ever been in my life due to the knowledge learned from these sources.

I am 46, 5-10, 210 lbs.

I have been having great success with the Novice A-B SS program.

My PR's are currently:
Squat 285 Bench 195 Standing Press 145 Clean 140 Dead 300

My problem is that I hit a tough spot when the squat reaches 285. My first time was coming up forward so I tweaked my back. (Laid off for a few weeks for recovery) The last time I lost balance at the bottom of a squat. (Again took a few weeks off for recovery.)

As I restart the program, I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to get over the tough spot. I get my 8 hours of sleep and am taking a closer look at my diet in terms of calories.

1. I typically lift every other day. Should I force myself to take a 2 day break every 3 workouts?

2. Should I start to think about moving from the basic A-B eventually? (I will admit I do not understand why I would choose the Practical Programming Novice or Advanced Novice Program or Onus Wunsler or Wichita Falls Program.)

Again, Thanks.

Rick in St Louis

[Mark Rippetoe]

If you have been training every other day without the 2-day rest, you're not doing the program, probably in other areas as well. Like taking several weeks off to detrain while your back attempted to heal itself without your help.

[MikeC1]

Since he brought it up, how do you deal with squat-related lower back tweaks Rip? I remember reading that they're usually spinal in nature, so the Starr rehab protocol wouldn't apply?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Time is short on my end, as you can see. Homework is done by using the search function in creative ways, since this has been addressed many times here.

[stl rick]

Excuse my blockheadness.

I figured it was more productive take my two day breaks when other responsibilities dictated. I also thought it made more sense to let a hurt heal before continuing training.

Rick

[Mark Rippetoe]

You're forgiven. Read.

[jerji]

Since he brought it up, how do you deal with squat-related lower back tweaks Rip? I remember reading that they're usually spinal in nature, so the Starr rehab protocol wouldn't apply?

I think you answered your own question there. If it's muscle belly, Starr; if not, all bets are off. Incidentally I tore a muscle or something in my lower back that made me collapse in the middle of a set (hooray for setting the safety pins correctly) and my half-assed implementation of the Starr protocol cleaned it up in three weeks.

[Mark Rippetoe]

It is highly-ass unlikely that you tore a muscle belly in the middle of your back, as your own homework will reveal. Since back muscles don't flex and extend over long ranges of motion, they aren't subject to belly ruptures the way hamstrings and quadriceps are. But Starr developed his rehab method for his own back, so sometimes it works for backs too. It doesn't work, though, for knee tendinitis.

[jerji]

It is highly-ass unlikely that you tore a muscle belly in the middle of your back, as your own homework will reveal. Since back muscles don't flex and extend over long ranges of motion, they aren't subject to belly ruptures the way hamstrings and quadriceps are. But Starr developed his rehab method for his own back, so sometimes it works for backs too. It doesn't work, though, for knee tendinitis.

It was in my very lower back, during the middle of a set-- slight misread there. I don't know if your comment still applies to that area but yeah, it was near the base of my spine on the high side of my butt. It was interesting to say the least but I figured that since I had no sciatica, could walk just fine (it only hurt excruciatingly when I leaned forward) and it didn't hurt otherwise, that it probably wasn't something too serious, even though it seemed like hell at first (I could only bend forward about 5 degrees before pain/stiffness and I had to do a negative pullup just to get into my car to see if I could drive).

The Starr method worked wonderfully, whatever it was, and I thank you for that! I just rest/ice/ibuprofen'd it the first few days and started squatting on the fourth day. I told myself if there was significant improvement on the 2nd day I would Starr it up and if not I'd see a doc, so luckily it was probably 30% better or so by the second day and so I saved myself a doc visit.