It might be a combination of weak hamstrings, weak glutes, weak abs and tight hips/quads.

I deleted this whole post and going to re-write it more concisely:

Knee Extention/Flexion - No problems in ROM, no experience of any tightness
Hip Flexion - Generally no problems in ROM (7/10) but very mild tightness after prolonged sitting
Hip Extension - Really bad. ROM (4/10) is crap and a lot of tightness felt in hamstrings
Hip Abduction/Adduction - More than decent ROM (8/10), no tightness
Transverse Adduction/Abduction - More than decent ROM(8/10), no tightness
Internal/External Hip Rotation - Again, ROM (7/10) seems decent and no tightness

Weak abs are contributing to weak core and affecting lower back strength, that much is clear.
My glutes have increased tremendously in strength. Just the size alone is now 2" more than it used to be less than 10 months ago. Quads also very strong.

I will post some vids of Front Squats and some postural pics for reference

You realize the hamstrings contract when the hip extends?

12 Mar

(kg)

CGBP
42.5 x 12
69.5 x 5 x 3

Chin Ups
10, 7, 5

Standing Cable Row
120lb x 8 x 5

Chest Flys
25 x 10 x 3

BB Pullover
30 x 8 x 3

Single Hand DB Row
20 x 10 x 3

Tricep Push Downs
70lb x 8 x 3

Bicep Curls
ez curl bar + 25kg x 10 x 3

Planks
bw + 5kg, 4 sets of 4, 15s hold

Side Planks
bw + 4kg, 2 sets of 4, 15s hold

Step Ups
30 x 15 x 3

Trap Bar DLs
80 x 8 x 6

yes and i feel a stretch in the actual tissues when i extend the hip. Its hard to explain, but when i extend my hip, at relatively early position I feel a tightness/stretch in the back of my leg. Its directly where the middle to lower part of the hamstrings should be - almost down to the back of my knee. It's like the hamstrings are so inflexible they won't shorten properly.

this is what I got from researching this last week:

[IMG]http://s4.************/6u69or9il/Picture_6.png[/IMG]

and basically, if i dont bend my knees slightly, i can't really extend the hip much at all. Like this above diagram illustrates, I am putting my hamstrings in a mechanical disadvantage by making them less tense than they should be during hip extention

Your symptoms say that the front of your legs & hips are too tight. They're pulling the front of the pelvis down. The glutes and abs are not strong enough to counteract this. Maybe you have adhesions in your hamstrings, but tight hamstrings are not keeping you from extending your hips.

Have you read this before?: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_..._force_couples

yea i read that article. i think you posted it before in my log. I am reading it again.

my hip flexors and quads are definitely much stronger than my glutes, abs and hamstrings. I have the slightest of anterior tilt and either way I need to be doing the corrective stuff they outlined for APT.

Some of those exercises and stretches I already do but they are a secondary focus and I am not working on them enough. Secondly, other than Glute Bridges I had stopped doing things like side clams etc. Will start those again. I also hardly ever foam rolled my quads and flexors, was too focused on the posterior chain rolling.

Should I continue doing Front Squats or no? I have really well developed quads. I was already thinking of doing them Mon and Fri only, instead of Mon-Wed-Fri. I might even cut the frequency down to once per week and add RDLs and more glutes focused stuff on the other two days. Other core work I will continue as it is.

Anyways, I have got a good idea of what might be happening:

its as if as soon as I start to extend my hips, the powerful and tight quads & flexors pull the pelvis towards them to its end ROM and then basically the glutes and hamstrings just cant force the pelvis back towards a neutral position as I try to hinge further forward, creating unnecessary tension in the posterior chain, esp back of the legs and in the end restricting my hinging ROM

Yes, I'd keep doing FSs, but make sure you do enough posterior chain work, and also spend a lot of time rolling and stretching the quads and fronts of the hips. Its fine if your quads are strong, but its not fine if they're too tight.

Not sure if you're aware of this, but part of your quads are also hip flexors.

thanks for clarifying this whole thing

haha i wasn't

15 Mar

(kg)

Foam Rolling x glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, obliques

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
22.5 x 10
42.5 x 8
52.5 x 5
62.5 x 5
72.5 x 5 x 4
77.5 x 5

(72.5kg)


Bench Press
22.5 x 10
42.5 x 10
62.5 x 5
77.5 x 5 x 3 --> this was great. almost felt I could have added a couple of 1kg plates. Good stuff


Chin Ups
5kg + bw x 5 x 4

Standing Cable Row
120lb x 10 x 5

DB Press
45 x 12, 10, 8

DB Pullover
25 x 15, 12, 12

Machine Chest Flys
120lb x 8 x 3

RDL
22.5 X 15
32.5 X 15
42.5 X 10
52.5 X 8 X 2

^was trying these after a while so focus was just to see where I am at and on form.

Planks
bw + 5kg x 5 sets of 4, 15s hold

Dead Bugs
bw x 3 sets of 6 reps on each side
bw + 2kg x 2 sets of 6 reps on each side

Lying Leg Raise
3 sets of 8 reps --> focus on keeping low back flat

Side Bends
15 x 8 x 3

Chiro Update:
Tuesday is my last spinal decompression therapy and then I will see the doctor again that same day.


Will probably be updating this log at least once more but can't wait to mention that Monday is both Holi and St. Paddy's!!

FS - pretty good, but try to sit back just a little farther so that your torso is more upright.

I am not quite sure I comprehend what you mean by 'sit back just a little farther'

won't sitting back cause the torso to tilt forward more?

No. The weight is too far forward when you go down. If it goes more forward, you'll dump the weight forward. The weight is in line with your toes. Your torso should be more upright. You do that by keeping the weight in line with the middle of your feet.

I think a bit more chest up and wider stance will allow me to keep the weight more inline with the middle of the foot

yeah, that will work. A wider stance will also require you to sit back farther. Dont lean forward.

18 Mar

Voodoo x Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings, Obliques, Calves

OHP
22.5 x 10
32.5 x 5
37.5 x 5 x 5
32.5 x 5

Chin Ups
10, 6, 6, 3

Lat Pull Down
100lb x 8 x 3

Single Arm DB Row
20 x 8 x 3

Chest Flys
25 x 10 x 3

Chin Ups
5, 5, 3


Both my obliques and hamstrings didn't recover since saturday's work out so I skipped all leg and core work out. Will do something tomorrow.

Mar 19

Voodoo band Hip Opener

Glute Bridges
10kg x 20 x 3, 2s hold at top

Bird Dogs
3 sets of 4 reps, 8s hold

Planks
bw +5kg x 4 sets of 4 reps, 12s hold

Side Planks
bw +3kg x 4 sets of 4 reps, 15s hold

3 mo Position Pullover
15kg x 20 x 3

Wall Press Abs
3 sets of 5 reps, 4s lowering

3 mo Position PNF
3 sets of 8 reps

Rumble Roller x Glutes, hammies, calves, obliques, quads

Chiro:

The spinal decompression really makes me nice and loose for the day. Couldn't see the doctor after the therapy. Will see what he puts me on next.


---------------------


20 Mar

Rumble Roller x Glutes, Hammies, Calves, Obliques, Quads

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats
22.5 x 10
42.5 x 8
62.5 x 5 x 4
72.5 x 5

Cha, I lifted a lower weight as I tried a wider stance and tried to keep my chest up to keep the weight on the middle of the foot but I kept leaning forward just like always. Below a certain depth I keep leaning forward and dropping my shoulders not because my arms are fatiguing but because I just find it hard to keep the torso upright with anything parallel or below unless I go super wide stance with almost sumo like setup.
For a total of 3-4 reps I was able to keep my torso upright and get depth and my lower back around the thoracolumbar fascia and lower lats felt like it suddenly woke up and they were activated to higher levels than before. It almost felt good.

Do I need to drop weight and focus more on keeping the torso upright? I am assuming this leaning is happening because of core weakness?


CGBP
42.5 x 10
62.5 x 10 x 3 --- decided to do higher rep sets this week

Standing Cable Row
120lb x 10 x 5

Machine Chest Flys
120lb x 8 x 3

DB Pullover
30 x 10 x 3

RDL
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8
72.5 x 8, 8, 6

Trap Bar DL
80 x 8 x 6

Planks
bw +5kg x 5 sets of 4, 15s hold

Side Planks
bw +3kg x 2 sets of 3, 15s hold

Side Bends
15 x 8 x 3

Dead Bugs
bw +2kg x 3 sets of 5 reps on each side

Glute donkey kicks
bw x 20 x 3 -- was too easy but i was tired. next time will add ankle weight

yeah, with your back issues, what you suggest is probably the right thing to do. Doing FSs correctly is hard imo. I think it might be partially core and partially hip issues.

Its good to hear the decompression is helping.

cool thanks

yea like yesterday morning I woke up late and went straight to the doctor's clinic and was feeling tight around where the left QL should be. It was just uneasy tightness almost on the threshold of pain. Got the decompression and I was totally fine right after it. Didn't even feel like I was hurting just 30 mins prior.

I will probably ask the doctor to keep it going for a bit more when I see him

Its good news the decompression fixed that pain, but the bad news is it sounds like that pain was coming from a nerve/disc issue if the decompression actually did fix the problem. yeah, I'd keep doing that if its working.

Yea it is bad news in that regard. Although the doctor promised me my next MRI will show a less degree of bulge if I continue doing what he tells me. For decompression he said that sometimes it can create a negative pressure in the disc that sucks the bulge back in somewhat. Do you think he is talking out of his ass or is that really something?

One of the first things he drew on a paper when I met him was that force couple line diagram. He also keeps saying I have weak posterior chain and tight muscles in my legs. Next he also wants to work on posture and strengthening of these areas.

Secondly, the machine also feels like it pulls on my pelvis and definitely puts the lower back muscles in a slight stretch that feels good. I am hoping that the pain it fixes could also just be tight muscles getting loosened up. Like if I did a bunch of foam rolling + mc kenzie stretches in the morning instead of going to the doctor, most of the tightness would go away anyways

I dont know. I dont remember seeing McGill say anything about decompression. Aside from telling the neurosurgeon I was using an inversion table, and him telling me to continue doing it, he didnt get into any details. Because of the fact the inversion table only seemed to help me, the subject you bring up never got brought up with my chiropractor either.

Your weak posterior chain, in particular, your glutes, have a big effect on APT. Strong glutes, along with strong abs and loose hip flexors, help correct APT.

23 Mar

(kg)

Foam Rolling x Quads, Glutes, Obliques, Calves, Hamstrings

Air Squats x 10

Front Squats -- Wide stance, no deeper than parallel
32.5 x 10
52.5 x 8 x 3
62.5 x 5 x 3
67.5 x 5 x 5

Wanted to keep weight lower and concentrate on torso position but back was doing 100% so I did a bit more weight than I initially planned. Torso position felt fine most of the time, although when I did lean, I think it was due to my wrist moving and shoulders dropping. Will continue working on form


Bench Press
22.5 x 10
42.5 x 8
62.5 x 5 x 2
82.5 x 4, 4, 4
62.5 x 10

These many reps with 82.5 is a PR for me. If I had just increased 2kg from last time I would have 29.5kg on each side of the bar and I decided to just go for an even 3 plates of 10kg and thus increased the weight from last week by 3kg.

First set failed on the last rep but its because the trainer suddenly jumped towards me when he thought i was gonna fail and it threw me off.

Second set my shoulder retraction came un-done. Third was just a complete failure on the 5th rep. If I had stuck to 2kg increase instead of 3kg I feel I would have completed each set.


Chin Ups
bw + 5kg x 5,5,5

Standing Cable Row
130lb x 8 x 5

DB Bench
45 x 12, 10, 8

DB Pullover
25 x 12, 12, 10

Planks
bw +5kg x 5 sets of 5 reps, 15s hold ---- this crushed my abs. I think last reps on the last 2 sets I started counting the 15s faster and faster

3 mo position pullover
10kg x 3 sets of 8

Dead Bugs
5kg x 3 sets of 8 on each side --- was hard to keep spine on the floor in the last few reps.

Side Planks
bw +5kg x 3 sets of 3, holds varied from 20s to 10s

Donkey Butt Kicks
bw +3kg x 3 sets of 20 on each leg

Wanted to add RDLs but this was a huge work load and had to scrap them.

nice work