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

[asdfzxcv]

I had to rescue this thread from page 2

It's taken 7 days, but the swelling and pain in my left wrist has now gone. There's a tiny bit of swelling left, but it'll probably be gone in the morning. I'm going to give it until Monday anyway.

I've just had my second physio visit. She found a lot of tension in my right glute and said it was probably causing the remaining pain in my right hamstring. She said it was probably pushing on the nerve as it passes through the pelvis into the leg. It took a bit of acupuncture and an ass massage to release - my ass has never had so much attention!

She said my hamstring issue is pretty much fixed and I agree. About 90% of the pain I had just 2 weeks ago has gone already. She gave me more core work to do, and recommended to wait until I've had a week free of any pain before going back to any exercises that use the core (squat, dead, OHP, etc).

One of the new exercises is simply single-leg squats, as a glute exercise. I should focus on shifting my weight as little as possible, so my hips move as little as possible when I raise my leg, using the opposite glute to keep me upright. Squat down for 10 secs, then back up. The exercises she's given me basically get me used to using core muscles that I'm obviously not used to using, so when I start proper training again, I'll know how to recruit them.

I reckon I'll be squatting in a couple of weeks time. In the mean time, I need to go an stand on one leg for a while...

Thats great news,it will be good to see you get back into full swing after so long without squatting/pulling.Do you think you will resume your 5x5 run in time or just focus on something different for now?

 

[blut wump]

This sounds all pretty encouraging.

 

[anotherbutters]

Thanks guys.

I'm not sure about resuming anything; it's going to be more like starting from scratch. But at least I now know the value of good core strength and won't neglect it any more.

My goal of simply getting bigger and stronger hasn't changed, so the SF 5x5 is definitely on the cards. I'll be squatting my little legs off in no time

Actually, I'm hoping a more solid core and a better ability to recruit my glutes will help both squat and deads.

 

[asdfzxcv]

I am curious as to how your cut with HST is going as you havent really mentioned much about it.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

How do you know you weren't properly recruiting your glutes before? Did you have "gluteal amnesia"? I could help with that.

 

[anotherbutters]

I'm down from just over 83.5kg to 80kg. Not a massive drop, but it's been approx 0.5kg/1lb per week. I haven't done anything for 7 days because a big lump flared up on my wrist.

I've just been a bit more sensible with my diet, so I haven't started getting strict or doing any cardio yet. My gut's closer to an acceptable level, which is all I really wanted. I'll measure myself in the morning. My belly was about 39.5" when I started.

In terms of strength, I don't think I've lost much in the upper body, if anything. In terms of size, I don't think my chest and arms have changed at all, which is good whilst cutting. I've been wanting to do cardio for the past couple of weeks, but I've just been too busy. The cardio would be for general conditioning, not just cutting.

In summary, I'm happy with HST, especially whilst cutting. I want to try it whilst bulking at some point because I get the feeling it's good for, well, hypertrophy

 

[anotherbutters]

How do you know you weren't properly recruiting your glutes before? Did you have "gluteal amnesia"? I could help with that.

I probably was, but the physio demonstrated that my glutes are weak, so it's an area that needs attention. Although, maybe it's just because I'm piss poor weak all over

 

[anotherbutters]

Today:

Weight: just under 80kg/176lb (max 83.5kg/184lb)
Chest: just under 40" (max 40")
R arm: just under 14.25" (max 14.25")
R quad: 24" (max 25", or maybe more if I look back in my log properly)
Gut: 37" (max 39.5")

In terms of damage limitation, I've maintained my pitiful chest and arm size, which has been my focus whilst fixing the leg and cutting. My legs have gone down an inch from not working them, and my gut's down 2.5" from the cutting. My legs will soon come back when I start squatting again, so all things considered, I'm happy.

I might start another HST run and cut slowly for another 6 weeks, with some cardio thrown in too. The 15's will be easier on my wrist than carrying on with the 5's and I've missed a week in this run anyway. I can take what I've learnt about weight selection in this run of HST and improve in the next run. I might squat, dead and OHP, but very lightly, just to get back into the groove, not to push the weights. Maybe just the bar in week 1, whilst I'm still focussing on the core work.

Hopefully, 6 weeks from now, I'll be able to move back to the SF 5x5 and start pushing the weights.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Ah, I converted you to HST. Beautiful stuff. It's a nice program, works well with 5x5. There's another I'd love to use on you, guinea pig. Can I call you that? Sure I can.

No, really though, if hypertrophy is your main goal AB, maybe give this other routine a run before you get back to 5x5, eh? I'd love to hear your results with it.

 

[asdfzxcv]

Today:

Weight: just under 80kg/176lb (max 83.5kg/184lb)
Chest: just under 40" (max 40")
R arm: just under 14.25" (max 14.25")
R quad: 24" (max 25", or maybe more if I look back in my log properly)
Gut: 37" (max 39.5")

In terms of damage limitation, I've maintained my pitiful chest and arm size, which has been my focus whilst fixing the leg and cutting. My legs have gone down an inch from not working them, and my gut's down 2.5" from the cutting. My legs will soon come back when I start squatting again, so all things considered, I'm happy.

I might start another HST run and cut slowly for another 6 weeks, with some cardio thrown in too. The 15's will be easier on my wrist than carrying on with the 5's and I've missed a week in this run anyway. I can take what I've learnt about weight selection in this run of HST and improve in the next run. I might squat, dead and OHP, but very lightly, just to get back into the groove, not to push the weights. Maybe just the bar in week 1, whilst I'm still focussing on the core work.

Hopefully, 6 weeks from now, I'll be able to move back to the SF 5x5 and start pushing the weights.

Good stuff,glad to see things are working out well now.I think you can still hit your 3 plate goal on squats if you take things at a moderate pace.I am half way through my first HST cycle and so far I have lost about 1 1/2 inches on the gut in about 3 weeks with no noticable muscle loss at all.My plan is to cut for 10 more weeks and hopefully drop another 2.5-3inches off this stupid gut.Then its the long road to 240-250lb.Just out of curiousity how many calories do you think your getting in?