Rehabilitation & Groundwork: Seminar Preparation Log

[bean counter]

I will the attending the September 2015 Starting Strength Seminar in New York, so this log will chronicle my attempts to prepare. Although I'd love to train hard for a couple of months I have some persistent injuries that are holding me back and my first priority is to try and get past them.

About me

Male, 30, 6'0", 89 kg (196 lbs), training since January 2014.

Previous logs
bean counter's novice log (29 yo, 6')
Feigenbaum Foils Fuckarounditis

Best lifts
Squat: 150 kg X 4, 160 kg X 1
Bench: 100 kg X 5, 110 kg X 1
Deadlift: 165 kg X 5, 180 kg X 1
Press: 60 kg X 5, 67.5 kg X 1

Goals

Rehab
- Resolve elbow tendon pain. Many things seem to irritate this, but I believe LBBS to be the main culprit, so I'll be eliminating that for a while.
- Avoid shoulder pain. Benching has annoyed my shoulder recently, so I need to be careful when reintroducing it.
- Avoid developing any new injuries.

Technique
Having got the basics down a while ago I haven't been paying as much attention to technique as I should do and I know this is an area I can improve on. I'll focus on the main five Starting Strength lifts.

Strength
Realistically, I'm not going to get stronger doing a low volume programme with HBBS rather than LBBS. Hopefully I can avoid losing too much strength while rehabbing and then gain back to a semi-respectable level afterwards.

Bodyweight
I could stand to gain some more weight. Rip probably wants me at 100 kg, but in the time available c. 93 kg looks more achievable.

Programme
I'm not going to lay out anything too concrete, but rehab is going to be the priority initially, probably until the end of July. To that end I will be squatting high-bar and keeping pressing volume low. I'm also going to try out high-volume chins.

High-volume Chins: 30 sets of 2 reps w/ 1-2 min rest done once every 5 days for 3 weeks. If possible work your way to 15x3 and 15x2.

Something like this should fit the bill initially:
Thursday: HBBS 3 X 5, Bench/Press 3 X 5
Saturday: Deadlift 2 X 5, Press/Bench 3 X 5, (light HBBS)
Monday: HBBS 3 X 5, Bench/Press 3 X 5
Tuesday: Power Clean 5 X 3

I'll start fairly light and try to progress session-to-session without going too close to failure. RPE will be tracked. If and when my injuries clear up I'll reintroduce LBBS and add volume as required.

[bean counter]

16 July 2015, 89 kg

My elbows don't feel especially sore after yesterday's high-rep chin session.

HBBS
115 kg: 1 X 5 @ 8
110 kg: 2 X 5 @ 7, 7.5
Totals: 15 reps, 1,675 kg

DOMS fairly apparent after Tuesday. The first set at 115 kg felt tougher than expected, so I dropped to 110 kg for the other two sets. I'm sure I could have managed 115 kg for two more sets, but wanted to avoid form breakdown or anything too stressful right now. Aim for 115 kg 3 X 5 next time. Hips are tight post-session.

TnG Bench
80 kg: 3 X 5 @ 7, 7, 7
Totals: 15 reps, 1,200 kg

Easy, increase to 82.5 kg next time. Wrists were bent on the first set, but I sorted that out subsequently. Experimented with putting the bench on 2.5 kg plates to raise it a bit. That helped with unracking a bit, but still wasn't high enough to productively use the power rack safeties. 20 kg plates would probably put the safeties at the right height, but then the hooks would be a bit low, and the bench might be a bit high for my legs. Such are the perils of dealing with a widely (3-4") spaced rack.

Edit: Ugh, left rotator cuff area (behind scapula) feeling a bit sore 90 minutes later. Not a good sign.

[Gerhard]

In!

[bean counter]

18 July 2015, 90 kg

I eventually developed DOMS in my lats from the high-volume chins, but my elbows don't feel much different. I'll give it another burst, with a little more volume, on Monday or thereabouts. The rotator cuff soreness I complained about in my last post died off after about eight hours.

Deadlift
150 kg: 1 X 5 @ 8.5
140 kg: 1 X 5 @ 8
Total: 10 reps, 1,450 kg

First deadlifting in two weeks and it showed. Tough, despite a generous deload, and my hook grip was really painful. I don't think I rounded my back too much, but the pain in my hands did distract from the rest of my technique.

Press
56.25 kg: 3 X 5 @ 8, 8, 8
Total: 15 reps, 845 kg

There was some minor elbow pain while working up. Work sets were fine, increase to 57.5 kg next time. Technique on the third set felt solid - emphasise big breath and press toward the nose.

HBBS
80 kg: 2 X 5

Easy recovery / technique practice.

[bean counter]

20 July 2015, 90 kg

HBBS
115 kg: 3 X 5 @ 7.5, 7.5, 7.5
Totals: 15 reps, 1,725 kg

Good. Form felt much better than last time (scapula back, elbows up a bit) and the effort was easier too. Increase to 117.5 kg next time.

TnG Bench
82.5 kg: 3 X 5 @ 7.5, 7, 7
Totals: 15 reps, 1,240 kg

Good. Increase to 85 kg next time.

Pain / injury update
Left elbow flared up for some reason yesterday. It wasn't feeling amazing this morning, but fine to train with. I'll try and do more chins this evening.
Hips are tight - I probably need to be proactive about stretching them as high-bar seems more demanding than low-bar.
Lower back DOMS from Saturday's deadlifting, but not too bad.

[bean counter]

20 July 2015 [again]

Chins
BW: 10 X {2,2,3} = 70

High rep chins for my elbows. Trying to get chest to bar hurt my wrist, so I settled for chin comfortably over bar.

[bean counter]

23 July 2015, 90 kg

HBBS
117.5 kg: 3 X 5 @ 8, 8, 8.5
Totals: 15 reps, 1,765 kg

Bar position wasn't quite as comfortable as Monday. A bit tougher overall, with a hint of hip involvement on reps four and five of the latter two sets, but I got through all the work on five minute rest periods. Increase to 120 kg next time.

Press
57.5 kg: 3 X 5 @ 9, 8, 8.5
Totals: 15 reps, 865 kg

After an easy session at 56.25 kg this was much tougher. The first set in particular took me by surprise, so I reintroduced wrist wraps for the latter two sets and took six minute rests. After the second set my left wrist started hurting on the thumb side, where it had been irritated by chins. Increase to 58.75 kg next time, which I'm fairly confident about, but I don't think this LP is going to go too much further (60 kg is my PR for fahves) and I'll be back to intermediate programming soon.

DB Rows
32 kg: 5 X 5

Injury/Pain update
Sore wrist - see above.
Elbow flared up c. 48 hours post chins, but fine for training today.
DOMS in my lats much less pronounced that after the first chin session.
Hips less tight than before.
Shoulders/traps a bit stiff.

[bean counter]

25 July 2015, 90 kg

Deadlift
152.5 kg: 1 X 5 @ 8.5
140 kg: 1 X 5 @ 8
Total: 10 reps, 1,465 kg

Hook grip still rather painful, but I think my form was better than last week. On the first rep of the down set I dislodged my knee sleeve on the eccentric phase of the first rep, which was a bit of a distraction.

TnG Bench
85 kg: 3 X 5 @ 8.5, 8, 8.5
Total: 15 reps, 1,275 kg

Tougher than before, but no real difficulty. Increase to 87.5 kg next time, but may need to drop to 1.25 kg jumps soon. Nobody was around to give me a hand-off, but I managed my own OK by bridging slightly.

HBBS
85 kg: 2 X 5

Light day. Bar position felt better again - I just dived under the bar without trying to consciously put it in a particular place.

Chins
BW: {2,2,3} X 10 = 70

Third session of high-rep chins. Same rep scheme as last time because I was a bit fatigued from all the previous lifting.

Pain / injury update
Elbows a bit worse, but that's OK while I'm going through the high-rep chin protocol.
Left wrist sore - I wore wraps for DL & bench today.
Pretty good otherwise.

[Gerhard]

25 July 2015, 90 kg

Deadlift
152.5 kg: 1 X 5 @ 8.5
140 kg: 1 X 5 @ 8
Total: 10 reps, 1,465 kg

Hook grip still rather painful, but I think my form was better than last week. On the first rep of the down set I dislodged my knee sleeve on the eccentric phase of the first rep, which was a bit of a distraction.

TnG Bench
85 kg: 3 X 5 @ 8.5, 8, 8.5
Total: 15 reps, 1,275 kg

Tougher than before, but no real difficulty. Increase to 87.5 kg next time, but may need to drop to 1.25 kg jumps soon. Nobody was around to give me a hand-off, but I managed my own OK by bridging slightly.

HBBS
85 kg: 2 X 5

Light day. Bar position felt better again - I just dived under the bar without trying to consciously put it in a particular place.

Chins
BW: {2,2,3} X 10 = 70

Third session of high-rep chins. Same rep scheme as last time because I was a bit fatigued from all the previous lifting.

Pain / injury update
Elbows a bit worse, but that's OK while I'm going through the high-rep chin protocol.
Left wrist sore - I wore wraps for DL & bench today.
Pretty good otherwise.

Nice session man.

I'm not having the best experience with the Deadlift this week. You though, 150kg+ with hook grip for a 5 repper is no mean feat, well done!

How much rest do you take between the sets of chinups?

[bean counter]

Nice session man.

I'm not having the best experience with the Deadlift this week. You though, 150kg+ with hook grip for a 5 repper is no mean feat, well done!

How much rest do you take between the sets of chinups?

Thanks, it was a good day, I got everything I wanted done without too much difficulty. Working my way back from a deload is giving me a nice mental and physical break. I'm still failing to gain weight though.

Last week, hook grip was tearing up the skin on the side of my thumbs. This time, the pain in the distal joints was more of an issue. 152.5 kg X 5 was way nastier on the grip than my 180 kg X 1 PR a few weeks ago, even though the heavy single was a harder lift. I'm surprised how well hooking is going, I don't have very big hands and I think I'm pulling on a 30mm-ish bar.

For the chins I'm using an interval timer on my phone and doing sets EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute), so I spend a whole half-hour doing chins. No weird comments from anyone in my gym yet.