5/21

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x5 - meh
225x1 - bah.
225x1 - less bad
225x1 - less bad than the others, but not good.

I'm having the issue I had with this side about a year ago now. Some pulling muscle on my left side doesnt work. I dont think its lats. I think its one or more rotator cuff muscles, but I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I cant bench normally. It is weird because the last time I benched, which was after the neck issue happened, I was able to activate that muscle fine and I did 545 ok.

I think since the neurosurgeon gave me the green light to lift, I'm just going to continue benching and try to make it work correctly rather than resting it this time. Also, I'm getting that cortisone epidural in a few days, so maybe that will do the trick to make this work this time. idk. We'll see. This was disappointing though.


DL
245x5x2
335x3
425x2x2
This was all raw, double-overhand. Other than me being a little out of shape, it was fine. I didnt feel any shoulder/neck/back issues.

GHR
20x3
I really felt my hamstrings and glutes during/after these. I should be doing a lot more of these.

knee update:

A few days ago, I knelt down on a carpeted floor for about a minute to clean something up. When I got up, my left knee had the same sharp pain I was feeling when it was at its worst several weeks ago. I think I might have some bone chips or bone spurs or maybe some roughed up cartilage in there in addition to stubborn adhesions.

I'm going to probably try high box squats and lots of soft tissue stuff for a while to see if it will go away, but this might require medical attention at some point.


With that in mind, if I can get my bench press working again, I might do just push/pull in the meet I was eyeing around the end of July, or maybe I could do DL only, but I might skip it entirely. idk.

Maybe it's simply because WL forces you to spend much more time on working on that flexibility and mobility in order to get in the proper positions. Shoulders, upper back, hips. Without that ability, you could hardly begin training properly, let alone putting more weight on the bar. (For example, throwing a weight overhead is already hard, but without the proper flexibility you would barely be able to begin trying.)

Whereas almost anyone is capable of benching and deadlifting, and hip flexibility for squats is rarely a big problem - so it's much more accessible (less demanding) and people can continue to do it even with a ton of imbalances that don't immediately stop them from doing the lifts.

Writing this suddenly kind of made me realize that perhaps, olympic style weightlifting is a sport that requires you to work on flexibility and mobility FIRST (or at least prioritize it in the beginning), and is needed quite abit in order to begin proper training. Whereas powerlifting you can almost always just start immediately, and problems areas are discovered later on - and then treated along the way (or not). And, by that point in time maybe already exaggerated and harder to overcome.

yeah, that makes sense, but getting yourself the required mobility for WLing is a lot less difficult when you're younger and not way past the point of no return. By the time I got exposed to power cleans I was already in my mid 40s with all kinds of neck, shoulder, knee, foot and back issues already, so any chance of ever doing WLing was already out the window. One of my goals back then was to be able to rack a clean, but at some point I realized that was not a reasonable or worthwhile goal for me. It was a pretty major accomplishment for me to be able to bench press without shoulder pain and squat without knee pain. In 2009 I could not air squat without knee pain and I could not push 10 lbs on a hammer press machine without shoulder pain. I couldnt even walk on the treadmill back then because of foot pain. I kind of always wanted to try powerlifting from the time I started getting active again in 2009, but it wasnt until about two weeks before I did my first meet in 2012 that I actually knew I could do it.

Are you saying you're only training for 8 years!?

long story made short: I sat in an office chair and got almost no exercise for about 16 hours a day for the better part of 8 years prior to 2009. 8 years ago, before I had my first log in H & F, I was basically a cripple. Prior to that, I had built some decent strength over several years benching (with awful form) and DLing and doing various other arm and back strengthening movements. I didnt know much about powerlifting back then and the only thing I knew about WLing was what I saw in the Olympics. I learned a lot in the past 8 years. I wish I had the resources to learn 25 - 30 years ago what I know now.

And now you can DL 600 lbs whenever the mood strikes you. Very inspiring!

Good luck Cha! Glad you're on the road to recovery.

Thanks for the advice in my log! What is best camera angle for recording bench press?

Thanks! yeah, I'm rusty right now, but I can probably still pull 600+. Gotta start getting back in shape now.

Thanks!

You're welcome. Probably about 45 degrees closest to your feet so your whole body is visible.

5/24

18" box squats with voodoo band wrapped above left knee
155x3 - in socks - felt bad without my squat shoes, so I put them on
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3

I decided to try without the box
335x3 - much easier than with the box. People were telling me everything was about an inch high. I wasnt trying to hit depth. I was pretty happy I was getting that close to depth with no knee issues.

425x2
445x2
445x2 - left trap started feeling more of a pump than I want while this neck issue is going on, so I stopped. Left knee held up without issues.


RDLs
225x5
315x5
405x5x3
Felt pretty good, not hard at the time.


GHRs
20
I started to feel my hamstrings getting sore. I guess the RDLs nailed them pretty good and I am out of shape, so I figured it would be best to take it easy at this point and stop. Stairs are not fun right now.

5/24

bench press
45x15
95x10
135x10
185x3
225x1x4
meh. My form apparently looked mostly good and the weight moved fast enough, but the left side isnt working right yet.

I did some physical therapy band stuff to try to activate the muscles the externally rotate my left arm. I'll keep doing more of that.

I also got a home traction device from my chiropractor. I'm planning to do that 10 minutes a day, possibly increasing the counter weight from 10 lbs to 20 lbs as I get used to it, and possibly go from once a day to twice a day. I did it for 10 minutes last night. I definitely feel stuff going on in my neck while its pulling on my head. I've had traction from physical therapists before on my neck and using this device seems like it works similarly, but its cumbersome to set up. At least I can use it daily.

5/26

I got the epidural cortisone injection in my neck. The doc said it would probably start kicking in in about 3-4 days and it could take two weeks. Friday night, my neck felt tight and it was hard to get comfortable going to sleep. Last night, I slept great and it felt good and loose. This morning, the tingling in my left index finger felt about 50% better than before the injection, so I think its working a little already.

5/28

bench press
45x15
95x12
135x8
185x3
225x2 - I felt like the left external rotators worked a bit better than they have been, but they still are not great. After this set, I felt tightness behind my left shoulder blade, which I am pretty sure is neck related, so I shut down the benching.

DL
255x5x2
345x3
435x2

suit
525x1
Everything felt good and went fast to this point.

575x1
This went a little slow, as I think it got a bit forward near the knees, but it went up without too much trouble. I think if I had to pull about 615 for an opener today, I could have.


GHR
20
raised foot plate
20
raised foot plate
20 - hamstrings started feeling it
raised foot plate to the top
20 - getting all these reps was hard. Hammies were screaming at me. I'm happy with how this has improved within the past week.

Any neck improvement since benching?

Thanks!

The neck and upper traps felt a bit tight yesterday, but they feel ok this morning. I think I need to get back to doing rows and face pulls after I bench so that my shoulders dont feel like they are rolling up. DLs didnt do the trick apparently.

I'm planning to squat tonight. If my knee and neck cooperate, I would like to throw my suit on and squat something a little over 600. I need to be prepared to shut down if all does not go well though.

5/30

squat
155x5
245x5

briefs
335x3
425x2
475x1

suit, side laces all the way loose
565x1
605x1

knee wraps
655x1

I had a voodoo band tight just above the left knee on every set, including under the knee wrap. The knee actually felt loosest after the last rep. I tried to focus on racking the weight correctly, and that went well on all the heavy sets. I probably shrugged up a little on one of the sets in the 400s and that didnt feel good - I was ready to stop if that didnt improve, but it did.

People were saying most of my reps were an inch or so high. I might have hit depth on some. The 655 was about an inch high. I'm not too concerned with depth yet. I just need to build a little strength back before I test the left knee. I was keeping my knees out very well.


RDLs
213x5
303x5
393x5
483x5x2 - this was challenging
Apparently I loaded a 33 lb bar


GHR
20. gassed, but legs were way less sore leaving the gym than they were last week.

Get well soon. I miss videos of whack weights in the squat.

This doesn't mean you were lifting in your undies does it? If so, video for form check!!!!

lol

5/31

speed bench
45x15
95x10
135x8
185x3
225x1
255x1
This is where my gimpy arm started to act up, so I stopped and did band rows and face pulls.

6/2

DL
225x5x2
315x3
415x2

suit
495x1
585x1
615x1 - was a bit forward, but I locked it out

band DLs w briefs only (sorry Josie, no vids today )
405+ big green and red bands x3 - this was pretty hard but it moved well and felt good
405 + big and medium green bands x 1 - this was basically max effort . IDK how much it is at the top for sure, but I'd guess between 625 - 650.

GHRs
20
moved foot plate up a notch - 20
moved foot plate to top - 10

6/4

bench press
45x15
95x12
135x8
185x3
225x1
275x1 - I started to get the left arm waggle a bit, but it was better than 225 was last week and better than 255 was last Wed. It moved fast.
315x1 - ugly. This was the worst press I've done since the neck injury. Absolutely no lat on the left. It basically fell on my chest, then when I went to press it, it was all arms. I started to push my heals down very hard to get some leg drive and I got left knee pain. It went up at least, but this was probably heavier than I should have attempted raw today. No harm done, so no big deal.

I wanted to try a relatively light shirted rep.

2 board press in size 54 rage X
was supposed to be 455, but someone put a 10 on the right side and a 25 on the left side.
440xf
I actually brought the bar down evenly and didnt notice the misload because my left side isnt working properly. It went less than halfway up. oh well. Stuff is improving, but its a long ways from where I need to be if I'm going to bench anything in a meet. Maybe I can do a shirted rep next week.

band rows and face pulls.

Good, this is good.