Repair and prepare - my journal on the road back to 5x5

[Anthrax Invasion]

Focus on pulling the shoulder blades together and getting a squeeze at the top. Think of how you're supposed to do power cleans - arms are ropes. They're just hooked to the bar, your back does the majority of the movement.

 

[anotherbutters]

I've thought about letting my forearms hang and concentrating on pulling my upper arms back with my back, but I always forget to pull like that when I do the movement. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 6, Tuesday

Bodyweight: 83kg (183lb), still

1. Chins
BW x 4 x 6 reps ............ a little self-belief is a powerful thing. PR!

2. Hypers
2.5kg/5.5lb x 3 x 15


Comments

I quit early today as I just couldn't carry on. I'm hungry, tired and I've been working out virtually every night for the last 3 weeks, even if they've been small workouts. I need to factor rest days in because I can't do this every night any more. I never have time to do anything else in the evenings.

Still, at least I got another rep out of chins.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Whoo, rest is great. I've been running without sleep for...how much is two days? That long now. I'm so out of it, you have no idea. I don't even know why I'm posting this here. I wanna sleep, but I have work in 2.5 hours! Hoo-rah!

Sleep deprivation is a terrible, terrible thing. I did just get back from hardcore sledding though. Went off huge cliffs which dropped out onto hills on trails by me - ended up getting a puncture wound in my right ass cheek. Hoo-rah for rusty nails.

 

[anotherbutters]

lol, get some sleep!!!

 

[anotherbutters]

Week 6, Wednesday

Bodyweight: 83kg (183lb)


1. Incline bench (kg)
warmup: bar x 9, 40 x 5, 47 x 3
53 x 8 ....... up 2
53 x 8 ....... up 2
54 x 8 ....... up 3 ......... (119lb) ....... still going up easily

2. Supported rows (kg)
warmup: 40 x 5, 50 x 3
61 x 3
61 x 3
61 x 3
61 x 3
61 x 3 .......... (up 1kg from Monday) ........ (134lb) ..... hard

3. Ivanko Gripper (lb)
warmup: 87 x 8, 113 x 3, 119 x 3
130 x 5 x 8 ...... up 2 reps


Comments

I quit early again today. I started the core work, but gave up. My heart's just not in it and like I said yesterday, I don't really have time to do this every night. I'm going to skip my 'chins and hyper' workout tomorrow and maybe throw the hypers in on Friday. I'll be away all weekend, so I won't be able to workout then either.

I'm a bit pissed off that stretching my hamstring seems to be nothing more than a short-term fix, as it always goes back to being tight again the following morning. If I arch my back whilst standing up in the morning, the hamstring's painful. I really need to see the doc, I guess.

I'm also pissed off that my back is still a bit knackered. The mornings are worst, which ties in with the hamstring. I just want to squat. My non-rehab exercises are just upper body, and whilst I've had a little bit of hypertrophy, my gut's still not shrinking from its 39" girth. The people at my new job must think I'm mad - I look fat, yet I eat like a horse trying to maintain my bodyweight.

Sorry folks, it's just one of those pissy days.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

If you wanna lose some girth, start a cutting diet. It likely won't shrink otherwise, especially since you're no longer a newbie.

Don't worry 'bout chins and hypers. Do the core work daily, but otherwise keep it to M/W/F. Core work should take a few minutes, so doing it daily should not be an issue. I can see chins and hypers draining you more and burning out your mental drive to lift. It did it for me when I tried 6x a week.

Back problems can take some time to heal, remember that. Be thankful you won't be out of the game for 8 months or longer - it's a bitch. You clearly made progress since starting the core work. Now just keep up with it and continue being vigilant with stretching.

Oddly, I never had morning back pain despite my situation. Maybe if I slept for 12 hours, but otherwise none. Could have to do with your hips being uneven. Mine are perfectly aligned. Doc said I had a "textbook" perfext vertabrae.

Keep your chin up, AB. And I don't mean that motivationally - you need to keep proper posture, god dammit!

 

[anotherbutters]

Cheers bud.

I'm just worried that it's my hamstring that's causing my hips to stay out of alignment, since my hamstring's been painful for 10 months now. I'm beginning to think my hamstring is stopping my back from getting better, which is obviously bad news considering how long the hammie's been bad.

I'll phone for a doctor's appointment tomorrow.

I think I might let my weight drift down too.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Losing some weight wouldn't be a bad idea - 39" waist is pretty big. No offense or anything, you might have a stockier build in general and it might be normal for you. Either way, you may wanna get an MRI to make sure there's no disc problem. Just a suggestion. It may do more harm than good, since a lot of people get "worse" once they find out that they officially have a disc problem - something Siff reported.

There are other benefits to losing some fat, though. I'd suggest a nice HST cycle while cutting. It's really a great routine for cutting - everyone has seen it work wonders. Even G5 liked it.

How would you fix an unaligned hip? I'm not informed on that kinda stuff at all.

 

[anotherbutters]

No offence taken at all. I bulked too quickly last year and I was hoping to lose some of the fat by getting stuck into another SF 5x5 on maintenance (or a slow bulk), but I haven't been able to start yet. Before my bulk, I was around 34" belly and could easily get into 30" trousers/jeans. I refuse to buy anything larger than 32", so I'm struggling a bit at the moment

I'll have to refresh my memory on HST. I know you work your way down from 15 to 5 reps over 6 weeks, increasing intensity each workout, but I can't remember if there's anything special about exercise selection. I don't have any dumbells and can't squat. I keep wondering whether I could get away with doing some deadlifts, or at least SLDLs.