Lol's New HST Log

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(Lol @ Jun. 09 2008,8:45)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Hopefully, only six weeks to get to 5 x 60kg (132lb) if my shoulder and wrist hold out; sounds a pathetic weight but I'm finding these really hard.  
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Anyone who has done OHS's knows that they are no easy task. 60kgx5 would be quite an accomplishment in 6 weeks.
 
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(Lol @ Jun. 06 2008,10:14)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Hahaha, watch out or you'll be passing into the land of the terminally insane! Actually, 16 reps with 57.9% of your 1RM IS insane! However, relatively speaking you are a lightweight!
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I know what you mean about the delayed reaction; my blindness episode kicked in about a minute or so after I had completed my set. Gym was closing so I went and sat in my car. Felt like throwing up so I shut my eyes and focussed on breathing. When I opened them... nada! Everything was black as night! What the...? Still felt rotten so I couldn't do much but sit anyway. I couldn't believe it was going to last but I was in a state of mild panic and I recall starting to try to calmly plan out a) how on earth I was going to get home and b) what I was going to do for the rest of my life as a blind man!

After about 5 mins of blackness I noticed some faint specular highlights, tinged with red, on some things right in front of me (it was a beautiful sunny day at the time). Over the next few minutes the red became more intense, so I could make things out more clearly with what was like Terminator vision; a few minutes more and full-colour started to return. Then over about 20 seconds it was like someone was turning the brightness dial back up! So at the end of about 10 minutes everything seemed to be back to normal. I've never had it happen again, although the eye doc said it would be possible if I pushed it to the limit and stayed upright. He said it was best to lie down straight away. That's what I did right after those deads; I never want to go through self-induced blindness again!

Hopefully, I will make a 500 dead when I'm back at it full-on again. Cutting sucks though. Tonight, after not doing any proper squatting for nearly 3 weeks I found even 286lb pretty tough going and decided to make do with 3 sets of 5 instead of 2 sets of 10. I hope I'll recover some strength now my leg is almost back to normal and I can lift more consistently again.</div>
Scary story. Are you also doing a low-carb diet? That might also have been a factor if you do. Depleted of most carbs right after deadlift and very low glucose in blood, no/low energy for brain and vision (in combination with oxygen debt). It´s just a theory from a non-expert on the issue so I might be totally wrong.
 
Wed 11/06/08

Good news day!
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Oncology folks let me know that the lump recently removed was benign. It was a lipoma, which is just some fatty tissue. Very strange that it was in the same vicinity as the malignant stuff. Just hope they don't ring me tomorrow and say otherwise. It has happened before! Apparently folks over the age of forty are more likely to get such things. Well, I hope that's the last of them. I don't need any more stress.

Anyway, to celebrate I did some deads. Boy did they seem hard. Worked up to 400lb and only managed 2 sets of 2 plus a single and a static hold for about 20-30 seconds (I might have counted to thirty a bit fast!).

I also did some bodyweight parallel grip chins (4 x 10) and then some bench working up to 2 x 5 x 220lb.

As I lose weight (and I've only lost about 4lb so far), chins are a little easier but everything else is getting harder.
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Oh well, I just hope I don't end up looking like a string bean in 5 months time.

Sniggel: that blindness episode was a few years ago now. I wasn't dieting at the time. Thankfully, it hasn't recurred.
 
Thanks folks. It IS great news.

When I weighed myself yesterday I'd just eaten a pile of chicken and veg and had a large protein shake. Today I weighed in at 212.5lb.

I'll see where I am tomorrow but taking the 212.5 as reasonably accurate, I've gone from 220 to 212.5 in about a month. That's not far off 2lb a week! Eeek. That's probably why I'm feeling some strength loss. I don't really look any different, just feel a little deflated, oh, and did I mention weaker?!

In order to reach my current goal of 190 by Oct 1st I would still need to lose almost 1.5lb a week. That's too much really in the time I've allowed. If I can get to around 196 I'll be happy; that's about a 1lb a week loss. Then I can decide whether to carry on or start building up again.
 
Great news Lol. I agree also with your assessment that you've probably lost the weight a little too fast. I feel your pain, I'm experiencing the same thing myself... I think 196 is reasonable though. You could cut a little slower and probably maintain your strength a lot better that way.
 
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(quadancer @ Jun. 12 2008,6:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Prayers answered.</div>
Yup.
 
Great news! My dog gets lipomas often, just as a pointless FYI. I agree that 2lbs/week is probably a bit too quick...1 lb would be ideal IMO. The fact that you don't feel like you look any fifferent is good!! It probably means you have lost fat and maintained most of your muscle or you would have said definitively, &quot;I've lost muscle!&quot; Are you just restricting calories or have you changed your ratios?
 
Solfsun: yeah I feel a bit like an old dog too!

Ratios have changed a bit; carbs are down. Very few grains now except for a bowl of porridge first thing (that's oats) and an occasional slice of whole grain bread. No rice or pasta. Carbs mainly from fruit, veg, nuts and milk. Protein from chicken, fish, steak, eggs, cheese, milk and good old whey. Fats from nuts, seeds, milk, cheese, eggs and meat plus a flax oil supp. I've cut my milk back a lot; only about 2 pints a day now. The one sweet thing I have now (other than fruit) is a large spoon of honey on my porridge. I have two whole honey combs waiting to be scoffed but I'll try and make them last through the summer.

Body temperature is definitely lower so my metabolism is reacting to the reduced cals. Also, I'm getting more sore from my workouts. That happened last time I cut too. I also sustained more small injuries last time around so I'm going to try top be more careful this time. Don't think I'll go any heavier than what were my 5RM loads.

Haven't started cardio yet. I'm saving that for when my weight loss slows right down.

Still taking creatine daily.
 
Think I've had a bit of a breakthrough with my arm; I've been doing sets of 50 reps for curls with an Oly bar. It started out quite painful but has been improving each day. On waking this morning I had much less pain on stretching my arm than I can remember in a while. I don't think it's anywhere near completely better but the high rep work does seem to be helping the healing process so I will keep it up every day.
 
Wed 18/06/08

BW: 211.75 so weight loss slowed a little this week which is good.

Well, I don't know how you people that make strength gains while cutting do it. I can only assume that there is a certain amount of improved efficiency in performing certain lifts. I am generally losing strength all across the board which sucks. The only improvement is to things like bodyweight chins and dips for obvious reasons.

I managed 15 reps for back squats with 242 but that seemed pretty hard compared to my 275 for 15 a little while ago. I start out feeling strong but then my strength runs out. I remember this happening last time I cut. Oh, and did I say I'm so SORE! My DOMS get worse when I'm cutting. I've cut volume back too.

Didn't make any progress with OHS at all this week because of my stoopid right shoulder plus my wrists are really wimpy in the snatch grip position. I'm going to wait a few days and then I'll try again. I'm going to try strapping them to see if that helps a bit.

Anyway, I'm not going to get too cheesed about it. I'll just aim to maintain what I have now as well as I can.

Anyone learnt how to do kipping pull-ups/chins? As I get lighter and feel a little more athletic again I want to try to get the hang of these. Being able to do 40 or so kipping pull-ups would be pretty cool. It looks like a good core exercise too.
 
Some people respond differently to cuts. Some of us, like slapz and I, have made strength gains on the cut because it was slow (150-350 calories under maintenance per day).

Keep in mind that you are throwing heavier weight around compared to a lot of us. Also, keep in mind that you were in an SD for a bit and had surgery. No matter how little the surgery is, it is still a major shock to your body, and your body is using energy to heal itself.
 
No worries lol, once your done with your cut, you'll bounce back with bigger weights at a lighter bodyweight. You'll feel and look great too. Sorry to hear your shoulder is giving you grief with your OHS's.
 
Thanks for your comments folks. Seems like bulking is a loooong way off right now. But I can dream...

As well as my ongoing shoulder nerve impingement situation, I have now set my right arm back to square one. Yesterday, I did some bodyweight pull-ups, then switched to try some chins and then, 'ouch', felt that same rotten sharp pain. Too much too soon again!

I got a mate to watch me doing OHS on Thursday and he noticed that I was lifting my right shoulder higher than my left. To me it felt perfectly balanced so he took a quick vid to show me. It's amazing how proprioception can be pretty far off reality. So, I moved my shoulders around until he said they were even. That made my right shoulder feel even worse so I guess I was compensating for my weak side by throwing more weight on the left.

I have a better understanding of what is going on now: my right wrist starts to hurt because I am literally losing the power to grip the bar as the effect of nerve impingement increases. If I do more than 5 reps I have to end a set because my ability to feel and control my right arm shuts down rather than from muscular fatigue. It's Sunday today and sensation in my right hand is still not back to normal; it feels like I am wearing a glove.

Checking the CrossFit board shows that I am by no means the only one to get impingement problems like this from OHS. I have tried raising my shoulders as high as possible during the movement to increase the subacromial space so it's not that. Someone over at CF reckons that one of his clavicles is more curved owing to sleeping on that side for years (that's what his doc said). I have wondered about this too; I prefer to sleep on my right shoulder and that's the one that gives me all the trouble. I often wake up to find I have a dead arm.

Here's what Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore, and Kelly Starrett have to say on the issue:

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Primary impingement

Primary impingement is a direct extra-articular (outside the joint) physical impingement, or pinching, of tissues in the subacromial space, which is the space between the acromion (the uppermost tip of the scapula, or shoulder blade) and the humerus, or upperarm bone. The causes of primary impingement are:

Genetics
Shape of the acromion
Degenerative changes
Osteoarthritis
Thickening of soft tissue

Primary impingement is most common in people 40 years old and older.

In the case of primary impingement, we must respect that fact that there is a direct physical block to movement. These direct impingements must be removed (i.e. surgically) in order for the individual to be able to adopt certain positions.
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Well, there's no chance of me getting surgery just to see if it helps my OHS! I'll keep the dislocates up and attempt to OHS once a week only for another month or so. If after that time I am finding no change in the impingement situation I'll just call it a day.

One good thing that has come of this is that I have found an exercise that I really like for warming up: it's a combined close grip 'deadlift' into an upright-row and then back down again. It doesn't hurt my arm or bother my shoulder.

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Oh yeah, semi-Darwin award moment this week goes to me! Had to bail during an OHS attempt but forgot that I was standing on a suspended floor. The weights smashed two holes through my nice 150 year old pine flooring! Oops!
 
Mon 23/06/08

BW: 210lb So I've dropped a good 10lbs now.

Had a go at some kipping pull-ups tonight. Must have done about 100 reps altogether. I think I'm finally getting somewhere though. If it wasn't for my right arm I'd be able to try harder too. Anyway, I'm paying for it now. Initially, I found them harder to do than regular strict pull-ups as I just couldn't seem to get the timing right. But on my last attempt I made 12 good reps (chin above bar) before I lost my rhythm. I know I haven't got it quite right yet but something definitely 'clicked' tonight (not my shoulder for a change!  
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). I think what helped me to 'get it' was when I tried to go as fast as possible. It just seemed to help me get into a rhythm.

Observations: you really know you're producing a lot of power doing these kips. They are much more akin to a clean type movement where you feel that your whole body is involved in each rep. Because you actually push yourself back down (actually, slightly out) from the top of the movement to maintain momentum, it's very hard on your hands and shoulder joints. My hands haven't been this sore in ages. Should toughen up nicely for some heavy deads later this week. I'm hoping I'll get some general upper-body tendon strengthening from doing these. It's a good core workout too.

Also did some front squats working up to 110kg (242lb) for sets of 5. Hard, but I still have some more to come for those so I haven't lost too much strength in my front squats (my current PR is 5 x 120kg).
 
Do you think those kipping pullups will have any strength crossover to regular pullups? I've seen people post videos of them and laugh about how the people are cheating on their pullups, but I think it's probably more like trying to compare a push press to a strict military press and calling the push press a cheat - they are just different lifts.

Can you describe this deadlift/upright row thing? Is it like a high pull or something?

That sucks about the impingement. Hopefully it sorts itself out and you don't have to give up on the OHS.
 
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(Totentanz @ Jun. 24 2008,1:57)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Do you think those kipping pullups will have any strength crossover to regular pullups?  I've seen people post videos of them and laugh about how the people are cheating on their pullups, but I think it's probably more like trying to compare a push press to a strict military press and calling the push press a cheat - they are just different lifts.

Can you describe this deadlift/upright row thing?  Is it like a high pull or something?

That sucks about the impingement.  Hopefully it sorts itself out and you don't have to give up on the OHS.</div>
Hmm, I don't suppose kipping will help much with regular pull-ups unless your pull-up numbers are really low to begin with. Kipping really is a different exercise. It's as much to do with hip extension, coordination and timing as back and arm work. Although there's definitely a higher power output during kipping (same work in a shorter time) it's produced by more muscles so I'm not seeing it as a way to get better lat growth.

I suppose there would be some cross-over; so if you increased kips by 5 reps you might get another regular pull-up. Dunno yet. I can definitely see that kips will help strengthen tendons. Oh, and my forearms are really sore today just from all the hanging on to the bar!

What will be interesting to find out is whether I can do kipping pull-ups with weight attached, but that'll have to wait until my arm gets better (which may be a while as I keep setting it back as I'm too impatient).

The deadlift/upright row thing is more like a sumo to begin with as hands are between knees. You don't need to put your feet as far apart as you would for a sumo though. I grip the bar on the smooth sections of the Oly bar (either side of the central knurled section). Then it's just a case of getting a bit of momentum from the hip and leg drive and carrying the bar on up into an upright row. I go to chest level once it's heavy (heavy at the moment is about 80kg). Lowering, I go to legs first and then back to the floor.

Funny thing about the impingement is that I think I've probably 'suffered' with it my whole life but just never did anything to show it up so much as OHS. I can remember the first time I squatted, way back in my late teens, that my whole right arm sort of went dead during a set. Maybe that was just a circulation thing though, but it still points to some right shoulder issue.

Now I'm low-bar back squatting I do get a little bit of a buzzy thumb and index finger on my right hand afterwards but it clears up pretty fast. After OHS it lasts a good seven days! That's why I'm a little more concerned. I'd hate to think I was doing some long term nerve damage by carrying on with them. Even 5 rep sets did it last time around.
 
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