RDLs stretch the hammies more and GHRs contract them with knee flexion. I dont know how to explain it better, but they're two different exercises that work the hammies differently. Doing GHRs before or after RDLs is good normally, but it would not have been good for me last night.

Based on the way I feel right now, RDLs only were the right choice. My calves, hammies & knees feel a little better than yesterday. Hopefully they'll be near 100% by tomorrow after I see Dr K. I have been planning on back squatting ~360x3x3 tomorrow. If they don't improve more, I might have to change those plans.

Hmmm, seems like hitting the hamstrings even more would be tough on them. Mine are fairly shot after doing not super light RDLs.

The way the hammies contract doing RDLs is different than the way they contract doing GHRs.

I guess I'm not saying they can't be done, just that I'm not surprised on a day doing RDL, you may not feel up to GHR every time. I know I wouldn't, but it's more based on my ghetto GHR experience than proper GHRs where it's much, much easier.

The RDLs had nothing to do with the way my hammies, calves & the areas behind my knees felt before working out yesterday. I have significant adhesions in the hammies & calves right now that are messing with my knees. I'm pretty sure those are mostly due to the high volume of GHRs I've been doing lately. I thought stretching the hammies out with some moderate weight RDLs might feel good. It seems like it worked a little.

7/11

ART - I needed that

smr & mobility

back squats
55x10, 8, 105x5, 145x5, 195x3, 235x3, 285x2, 325x1,
360x3x3
My calves & hammies were causing tightness in my knees again, but not as bad as Monday. As the warmup sets got heavier, this went away. The work sets were not easy, but they were not as hard as I thought they were going to be - I'm happy about that.

DL
145x5, 235x5, 285x3, 325x1, 365x1,
365 + 4 chains x 1 x 6
The calves & hammies did not like this at first. The first 3 work sets went up slow. The 4th - 6th sets, I pumped myself up and pulled harder and they went up fast.

close grip pulldowns
200x15x3

Dr K says its fine for me to do light overhead pulls and pressing now - my neck is doing a lot better. I need to do something about my calves & hammies though - they are still in rough shape, but better than a couple days ago.

Nice big squat imo. Seems things are going really well, .

How bad are your calves and hamstrings? Like, is walking around fine? Are they spasming or rocks all day?

Walking is good. Its bad when my legs are bent at the knees and/or when I point my toes (like in a kneeling position). Its not spasming, kinda like rocks, but mostly the problem is in my knees. The pain in the muscles is not terrible.

yeah, thanks. I'm pretty sure 400 would be no big deal right now. I want to beat the state record and I think its doable, but I need my legs to loosen up a little more.


Notice the 242 lb class records. I will almost certainly beat that bench, I have a decent chance at the squat, and an outside chance at the DL.

Shot at the total as well. But it may take a couple tries imo. That is a pretty hefty DL. It's great that the 242 pounders are about as weak as the 182 pounders, lol.

yeah, I'm in the right age/weight class.

I did something dumb yesterday. I used the GuaSha shark on my calf and the area above and to the outside of my left knee. Apparently what I thought was a tight muscle near the kneecap was a nerve. I've been getting intermittent sharp pain in the outside of my left calf that is definitely nerve pain - it feels similar to the nerve pain I had when I had the disc injury, only its not constant. I haven't figured out exactly what sets it off, but it most frequently happens when I've been sitting a while, or kneeling on the left knee, or sometimes when I squat. The weird part is it gets much worse with no weight or little weight on my back than if my leg muscles are flexed or pushing heavy weight. So I worked out tonight.

7/13

smr & mobility

back squat
55x8, 5, 105x5, 145x5, 195x3, 235x2, 285x2, 305x2x6
I had the most issues mostly towards the end of the higher reps sets, but one work set I must have got sloppy with form and it bit me hard. It didnt cause issues with me finishing the set or racking it, it just hurt like hell for several minutes. This slowed me down, but doing the squatting generally felt good and this weight was pretty easy to do. However, it took a very long time, so I took this as a deload day for all the other lifts and did some light stuff to finish up. I still haven't missed a lift on this Russian squat program. Next week is the last week. Hopefully this nerve thing heals over the weekend, because its about to get heavy.

palloff circuit (overhead facing machine, then facing away, then to each side)
25x12x2

pnf d2 flexion
kneeling - 25x12 - this made the left knee very uncomfortable
standing - 25x12 - this was fine

blast strap push ups
12x3

Cha -
What does a herniated disc feel like? In my log I posted about sharp lower back pain that occurred today. Basically did a bunch of volume for erectors within a 36 hour period and something went wrong on leg day today.

The pain was 7/10 when it happened. I could not bend over to pick up a dumbell. The pain subsided and I finished up some leg extensions and leg curls.

Over the next couple of hours pain subsided some more. But I took a nap and the pain is back, 8 hours after training. Its left lower back, it feels like 5/10 when I do a straight left leg test. When I put a lacrosse ball there and move my leg as suggested by your video, the pain is 3/10. When I get out of bed to stand up, the pain is 7/10. When I bend down to try and touch my feet the pain is 8/10. I stop after bending a few inches at the waist. No pain anywhere else, including my legs or hips.

Obviously going to the doctor if this continues past tomorrow. In my opinion the culprit was leg presses on a machine that looked way more vertical than 45 degrees.

thanks for any input.

Cha:
I got my inversion table a few days ago.
Do you happen to have any good sources/links regarding traction/using the table?

Currently I just adjust it at about 60 degrees and lay down for 4-5 minutes. Once or twice every non-workout-day.

EDIT: loco:
not Cha but AFAIK the discs themselves don't have sensation.
Disc damage can result as pressure on the nerves that run through the spine, which again can result as nerve-pain.
Or muscle pain/spasms.

Loco - My experience with the herniated disc felt like a tightness in the hip, then a sharp pain in the adductor, with stabbing pains in the ITB and inability to straighten the hip. Basically all the pain went between my right hip and my right knee, primarily on the top and sides of the leg. This was an L3/L4 herniation that caused compression of the L3 nerve.

From what you describe, I think you should get that checked out by a professional.

When you say you were doing a bunch of volume for erectors, what does that mean specifically?


Pummi - As far as angle and time, I just did whatever I could tolerate / whatever felt comfortable on the inversion table. At first I could only handle about 5 minutes or so and little angle, and had to have pillows supporting my back so that I could maintain some bend in the hip. I gradually worked my way to to longer periods of time, didn't need the pillows behind my back, then increased the angle. Just don't do anything that aggravates your problems or causes any pain.

You're right about the description of a disc injury pain. I had basically no back pain. Some people do have back pain from disc injuries though.

Cha - he has a long list of everything he was doing on the last page of his log. Basically this is his summary (who knows what else he did too):

7/16

I figured it was time to take a day off from the squat program. This pain on the outside of my left calf is not getting better. After doing some research, the good news is I didn't cause the pain by using my Guasha tool on the top of my leg - that area is not a nerve. All the main nerves that would cause my pain go under the knee, not on top. The bad news is the nerve that is causing the pain is a branch of the sciatic nerve. After a lot of reading, I am about 90% convinced the cause is trigger points in my gluteus minimus. This is said to mimic sciatic pain and causes excruciating pain in the areas where I have it. Rolling that area and putting Biofreeze on it seem to help, but the problem isn't going away. Hopefully I just need to keep rolling it, and the muscle isnt torn, or worse, another back injury. Stuff I'm reading makes me think it is not a back injury though.

Anyways, no lower body work for now.

smr & mobility

ME bench
55x10x2, 105x8x2, 145x5, 195x3, 235x2, 275x1,
275 + 4 chains x 2
I'm thinking this is ~320 straight weight.
220 + 4 chains x 6


superset
standing cable row 200x15x3
overhead DB press 25x10x3

superset
floor press 195 + 2 chains x 5 x 3
face pulls 105 x 10 x 3

superset
close grip cable pulldowns 200x15x3
blast strap push ups 10, 12, 15