Lol's New HST Log

Mon 04/05/09

Well, I'm still waiting to see my surgeon but I have now had my general medical. The nurse told me I am classed as obese for my height (measured as  181cm)! I had to laugh at that. Good old BMI. She said that if I had been a bit heavier I would be refused an op by the particular hospital I have been referred to. I told her that a year ago I was almost 30 pounds heavier so I would have been morbidly obese then! Ha!

I'm pretty fed up with not being able to do much in the way of lifting. My left shoulder is still mending so I've been doing chins and pull-ups with just bw or only slightly weighted, rows with less than 200lb and presses with no more than around 120lb.

Today I decided to try some slightly heavier squats. I'm not going to use a belt anymore for anything but I used the old rolled-up-shirt-down-the-pants trick to keep the guts in place. I knocked out 15 reps with 242lb, pausing in the hole for the first few reps just to see how things felt down there. Nothing weird or uncomfortable. Then I tried a set with 308lb. The load felt pretty heavy on lifting off but I actually couldn't believe how straightforward it felt to squat with it. I knocked out 5 reps and racked the bar. No discomfort but decided not to push any further today. With intestines still in place, I felt a lot happier after that.  
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OBESE? Don't think so, Lol - not from the pics I saw earlier this year after your UD2 fun.

So glad to hear that the squat experiment went well - but FOR GOD'S SAKE DON'T BE STUPID.

Tough love, Buddy - that's all. I'm worried about you further injuring yourself before you get surgical assistance.
 
Hey Tim, just to clarify things a bit (and to let you know I'm not completely barking!): it turns out that squats are less bother to me than a cough or a sneeze! Prior to each rep, I'm not taking as deep a breath as I normally would, nor am I maintaining the same intrathoracic pressure as normal when driving out of the hole - I'm allowing some air out on the way up. It is also during the turnaround that my padding presses nicely on the dodgy area. As well as all this, I'm staying miles away from failure so I'm not straining or losing form at all. Deads would be a completely different kettle of fish, so I am avoiding them.

Hope I get my appointment this week.
 
I know you know your body best, and at that, what it's capable of in any condition. That said, sometimes the father in me comes out rather uncontrollably.
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Bottom line, I hope that everything works out without a hitch, Lol. Take care of yourself.
 
Hullo folks! Still having to be careful. No op date set as yet. I must not be famous enough!  
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 I'm not complaining though. Getting an op for free on the National Health is very much appreciated.

Just for a laugh I decided to do some cleans this eve. I haven't cleaned a bar in ages so decided to keep it light and to treat myself to a bit of a metcon w/o instead. Decided not to bother with my usual rolled-up-shirt-down-the-pants-to-hold-my-guts-in trick. 135 is about 60% of my 1RM.

Power-cleans: 30 x 135 in ~3 mins - my lungs were hurting after that! Bar lowered under control for all reps.

This was my easy version of the CrossFit "Grace" workout. You are supposed to get the bar overhead for all reps. For a little more work, I lowered the bar to the floor under control rather than drop it and then set up again quickly between reps. That's an average of 6 secs per rep which sounds pretty easy until you try it. I guess I could have gone a bit quicker if I'd dropped the bar between reps and used the bounce off the floor to aid the next rep but I didn't want to do that.

Bit of a rest and then finished up with:

Squat cleans and jerks: 10 x 135 - bar lowered under control for all reps.

Push press: 5 x 135 - all reps lowered to shoulders under control for neg emphasis. Left shoulder felt ok for these.

Calf-raises: 3 x 15 x 155 - performed in squat rack on platform. Easy but haven't done calves in ages so they'll be sore tomorrow.

Guts still nicely intact! Yay! Didn't feel any apparent strain down there during any of this.
 
26/05/09

A few days after my last session of c&j and calf raises, I could barely shrug my shoulders and was hobbling around with insane DOMS in my calves for several more days. Haven't had that experience in quite some time.

Did some floor pressing yesterday to see if it would be less bothersome to my shoulder.

After warm-ups, worked up in sets of 5 to a top set with 110kg. Frustratingly, the load feels fine on my pecs and tris but the old left shoulder is still junk and complained the whole time. I really warmed up well too; I did several sets of 10 with just the bar.

What with the hernia and the shoulder, my training has been very low-key over the past month or so. I'm trying to do enough to maintain but I'm not sure it's having the desired effect. I'm hovering around 200lb so I haven't lost much weight which I guess is a good sign.

I also used 110kg (242lb) for some good deep sets of squats yesterday. I made 15 reps and reckon I could have pushed to 20 had it not been for the hernia. I think my 15RM is around 125kg (275lb) so leg strength hasn't dropped off too much.

I just have to hope that mega-dosing with fish oil will help. I'll be starting down that road soon.

Thought this was a good read: Dave Tate's Six-Week Bench Press Cure
 
LOL,

Sorry to hear about the problem. I don't post too much, but read the new posts nearly every day.

Somehow I missed some of your's clicking on New Posts

When you get it fixed, how long will you need to lay off??

I had to have a carpul tunnel realease and was out for 5 weeks a while back. Funny thing is I really didn't loose anything. Thot that might be a bit encouraging!

I read the your post about "obese". I've heard the same thing. They are looking right at me and can see that I'm not, but it seems they are stuck on the charts!

I hope you can get it done soon.
 
<div>
(Lol @ May 26 2009,7:32)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">26/05/09


Did some floor pressing yesterday to see if it would be less bothersome to my shoulder.

After warm-ups, worked up in sets of 5 to a top set with 110kg. Frustratingly, the load feels fine on my pecs and tris but the old left shoulder is still junk and complained the whole time. I really warmed up well too; I did several sets of 10 with just the bar.</div>
I think you and I are SOL when it come to benching. Too bad, that Dave Tate bench press cure looks fun, but my shoulder complained just reading it
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Hope you can get that hernia taken care of soon. I can't believe your are even lifting. I had a hernia years ago before I was into weights, got it throwing a huge log into a wood boiler...I could hardly walk, much less lift anything. Wish I could shed you some light on recovery time, but I just can't remember. Get well soon.
 
I too don't check in as much as I once did and am just getting the info on your hernia. Best wishes.
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31/05/09

Hey Bax, sounds like yours was much worse; my shoulder is much more trouble than my hernia (although I instinctively bend double when I cough or sneeze!  
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). I wish the damn fish oil would arrive so I can get started on it. It may make no difference but I can hope.

Hey Russ and adb, thanks for the well wishes.

I got some more not-so-great news this week: recently had a scan of a lump that's being closely monitored by my oncology folks. The lump had grown a bit so the doc took a biopsy. A few days ago I had it confirmed that it was melanoma (again). So now I just have to wait for a few weeks while my doc decides on the best way forward. I'm guessing another chop is on the cards. Maybe I can get both ops out of the way at the same time. Not sure how long I'll need to recover properly but I'll be back at it as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, although in a state of decrepitude I did a little messing about tonight.

Warmups then:

Front Squats: 10, 5, 5 x 200lb

Back Squats: 10 x 200lb (2 second pause deep in the hole), 2 x 10 x 250lb - blasted those last two sets.

I also had quite a good CoC gripper session with No. 2 and No. 1 grippers. I'm still only just half-way to closing the No. 3 when I'm fresh. Plenty of work to do there then.

I've been doing some calf raises again too using my home-made platform and with a loaded bar held in the racked position. Once the bar is racked, I am able to lean slightly forward so that the bar rests lightly against the rack uprights which allows me to maintain my balance for the duration of a set. It's almost as good as a bespoke calf-raise machine.
 
Sorry to hear about your inguinal hernia, Lol. It will take a chunk away from your training time.

Don't worry about whether you'll be able to continue to lift afterwards. I had an inguinal hernia when I was an infantry officer during the Viet Nam era. I had to pick up a soldier who weighed a bit over 300 pounds (nobody else would volunteer to do it). Then I ran with him Fireman's Carry style for about a hundred yards (we were in a bit of a hurry). Shortly thereafter I had to have a hernia repair. After my surgery, I was back to duty. That included jumping out of helicopters with a full gear on. The repaired hernia was as good as new.

A coupla years ago I had to have the other side done. Yet all the work you've seen me do with squats and deads has been done AFTER the repair.

All the best,
 
That's really good to hear TR. And what an amazing story to boot! Major kudos. Hope all is well in the TR camp.
 
<div>
(Lol @ Jun. 01 2009,6:08)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Hope all is well in the TR camp.</div>
Well, we've been busy. My youngest daughter just had her first child -- my ninth grandchild and fifth grandson.



(You can tell I've been away from training for a few months. I'm more than a bit out of shape...)
 
Hey congrats TR! I'm sure they are as proud of you as you are of them.

My fish oil supply arrived yesterday so that's when my little experiment began. It's this stuff:

http://www.naturesbest.co.uk/images....106.pdf

Tastes pretty darn good for fish oil. I'm taking 3 x 9g servings a day, each with a meal. No fishy burps so far.
 
Tue 02/06/09

Day 2 on the fish oil. I actually like the taste of the stuff! I could definitely OD on it.
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40g/day would be no problem.

A bit of a pull workout tonight. Mainly high-rep, shipoopi stuff.

Pull-ups: 3 x 10 x bw

EZ-bar Rows: 15 x 41kg, 10 x 61kg, 10 x 81kg, 10, 10, 5 x 91kg (200lb), 3 x 111kg (244lb) - out of steam by that last set! Hoped I would manage 5. Bit of a big jump from 200lb.

EZ-Bar RDL: 25, 15 x 111kg (244lb) - decided not to go any heavier for these.

EZ-Bar Shrugs: 20 x 111kg (244lb) - had to use a thumbless grip to avoid scuffing my thumbs against my knees.

My shoulder always feels tons better after I've lammered the hey out of it. Endorphins, extra blood flow to the area and warmer tissue all help I guess. Pity the effects don't last that long.
 
05/06/09

Haven't squatted with anything approaching a heavy load (for me) in what seems like ages, so decided to try a 10 x 3 squat session tonight as part of my w/o. I won't have to strain as much during low-rep sets where the loads are between my 5RM and 10RM (which will be good in my current situation) but I'll still get a decent amount of work done.

Low-bar Squat: warmups {10 x 60kg (132lb), 5 x 80kg (176lb), 5 x 110kg (242lb)} then 7 x 3 x 130kg (286lb) 3 x 3 x 140kg (308lb) - upped the load for the last three sets because I was feeling pretty good after 7 sets and wanted to make sure I could still handle over 300lb.

EZ-bar Press: 15 x 41kg (90lb)

EZ-bar Curls: 15 x 41kg (90lb)

EZ-bar Pull-overs: 15 x 41kg (90lb)

(Nice and steady for those last three sets &amp; probably 3 or 4 reps away from failure.)
 
08/06/09

I did a few more sets of curls, presses and pull-overs with those same loads the following day plus some more light shoulder rehab'ing.

Last evening, I experimented with supported rows after Russ commented about propping up a regular bench on some blocks. I prefer it if the bench is raised at a slight angle of around 10-15º, with my head at the high end. With feet on the floor I feel very stable. I used my EZ-bar as I like the slightly angled grip I can take - sort of half way between parallel and regular.

I like the fact that supported rows are very kind on my lower back. However, as I can't deadlift much weight at the moment I really need to keep my lower back strong and so I reckon I need the extra work regular bent-over rows afford my lower back. There's a slightly reduced range of motion too as the bar hits the bench and not me. Still, I think these are great for an alternative and for when I'm deadlifting again and my lower back needs a break.

I also tried single-arm db rows without using a bench after I watched this guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahl5e43U09

Good alternative for when there's no bench handy. I like them. Unlike the guy in the vid, I rest my forearm near my elbow on my knee so I can keep my torso a little more horizontal. Still get a good stretch in the extended position.

Bench-supported Rows: warmups then 3 x 10, 4 x 5 x 200lb - 50 total reps. Didn't feel too bad. I think it was easier than regular rows because of the slightly reduced ROM.

SA DB Rows (no bench): 10 x 46kg (101lb), 15 x 56kg (123lb) - chalk, no straps. Harder with my left arm.

Dips: bw x 40

Tris were still fried form the pull-overs I did two days ago!
 
09/06/09

Pushed for time last night. Haven't gone above 200lb in front squats for a while so decided to do so and see how it felt.

Front Squats: 10 x 60kg, 5 x 80kg, 5 x 90kg, 2 x 5 x 100kg (220lb)

Stupidly, I didn't bother to change out of my jeans (again) and ripped them right down the back during the first set of 5 with 100kg! When will I ever learn?!

My lack of regular front squatting showed tonight. 220 felt much heavier than I wanted it to. Back in March I was doing sets of 5 x 110kg (242lb). Not sure if I could do that now even without an injury.

EZ-bar Press: 10 x 41kg, 10 x 46kg (101lb), 10 x 51kg (112lb), 5,7 x 53.5kg (117.7lb)

I did some grip work between sets of presses to make the most of my time. That 7th rep with 117lb went up fairly slowly. I don't think I would have made an 8th. This is frustrating but I have to be patient. Left shoulder is still the problem. It's definitely not as sore as it was though. I think it's really too soon to say, but maybe the fish oil is helping (I've been taking it for just over a week now).
 
10/06/09

Nuther quick session. Just some arms.

EZ-bar Curls: 10,10,8 x 53.5kg (118lb)

EZ-bar Pull-overs: 2 x 10 x 46kg (101lb)

Tried pull-overs with 118lb but felt too heavy so dropped the bar down to 101lb. Loads of stretch. Tris hammered. Now food.
 
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