Lol's New HST Log

Sat 12/01/13

Bit of a sore right arm from Thursday. Elbow and shoulder evidently got tweaked a bit.

General Warmup
OHS with broomstick
Lunges
Dislocates
Naked bar work

Hang Snatch
All reps from high hang at hips
10 x 20kg
5 x 30kg
3 x 40kg
5 x 50kg + OHS
5 x 55 + OHS

No straps; no belt.

Snatch
3 x 60kg
2 x 62.5kg
2 x 65kg
2 x 67.5kg
1 x 70kg - 2nd rep FF
1 x 70kg - 2nd rep FF

No straps; no belt.

Managed to get a tear on my right little finger with the 65kg lift. I let my callus on that finger get too big. Thankfully, I've avoided this sort of thing in my Oly lifting so far. I didn't bother filing them down before I trained today so it was a reminder not to forget. I attended to both hands and then carried on.

Hang Cleans
All reps from below knee
3 x 70kg
3 x 80kg

C&J
20 x 1 x 90kg (198lb) PR

No straps; no belt.
Total time ~20 mins; one C&J each minute.

That was fun! I could have done these faster but I think it was a pretty good pace. My lower-back fatigue crept up slightly faster than anything else. I could have power-cleaned all twenty reps but did a few full-squat cleans for practice during the proceedings. I think if I up the load to 95kg next time, I'll be hard pressed to manage so many power-cleans which will make the whole experience more challenging.

Good workout.
 
Sci said:
It would seem wise for you to do dips or some other Pressing movement other than benching on Mondays, since benching tweaks out your shoulder. Other than that, I think the program is perfect for you.
Click to expand...

Definitely! I'll probably incorporate a bit more upper-body work than the template Glenn has outlined. I'm happy training five days a week if I have a lighter day as one of those days so I can add in dips and chins without too much of a problem. I'm not going to do low-bar squats either as I'm keen to improve my high-bar squat as much as possible.
 
Sun 13/01/13

My back has been feeling beaten up all day today following yesterday's Oly work. It's amazing how complete a back workout snatching and C&J'ing provides. Everything from my low-back spinal erectors to upper-traps is sore. I almost shelved tonight's squats in order to give my back a bit of a break but I really didn't want to miss out my leg work, so I did a quick session...

General Warmup
OHS's with broomstick
Lunges
Dislocates

High-bar Back Squat
W/U: 10 x 50kg, 5 x 80kg, 5 x 110kg

10 x 137.5kg (303lb) @ RPE 9 PR
5 x 137.5kg (303lb)
7 x 137.5kg (303lb) @ RPE 9

Think I gauged my warmup sets about right. Next session I'll try for 10 x 140kg. Legs are still getting stronger.

Decided against leg rapers tonight as I may well be squatting again tomorrow.
 
_tim said:
Nice PR Lol! That was one heck of a 10-rep set, especially with a fatigued back!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got to 5 reps and thought about racking the bar! :D 10 and 15 rep sets are as much about mind as body. 140kg should be fun. I'd like to break through to 150kg for a set of 10. Never managed that for low-bar so it'll mark a properly new squat 10RM. I did do 10 x 150kg for bench squats one time but that's a completely different animal.
 
Stupid!

Mon 14/01/13

Had to do a quick session tonight due to other commitments; therefore in a bit of a rush; therefore not as careful as I should be.

My right elbow has been a bit sore since the session of 20 x 90kg cleans I did on Saturday. There was also some tenderness in the right antecubital region. I Intended to be a bit careful tonight.

General Warmup
OHS's with broomstick
Lunges
Dislocates

Hang Snatch
All reps from hang below knee
10 x 20kg
5 x 30kg
5 x 40kg
3 x 50kg
3 x 55kg
3 x 60kg

No straps; no belt.
Even with a slightly sore right arm, all these reps were good. Decided to stop there as I was short on time.

Chins
W/U: 10 x BW, 5 x BW
3 x BW+30kg
3 x BW+30kg
3 x BW+30kg
3 x BW+30kg
3 x BW+30kg - stupidly, went for a fourth rep and pop!

I did an extra warmup set to help ease the soreness and so, as that had seemingly worked, I thought triples with 30kg would be ok, seeing that I had managed several sets of 4 for the previous chin session. Of course, because I always have to do something daft, I decided to do an extra rep for my last set. Not smart. I felt something pull deep in my right antecubital region as I was half-way through the fourth rep. Typical! Then there was a sharp stinging sensation, so I immediately let go of the bar. Not a happy bunny.

Right now, I'm not sure if it is a tendon problem or a slight muscle tear? I hope it is the latter as that should heal a lot faster. The last time I did something similar to this (carrying some heavy sheets of plasterboard up a flight of stairs) it took a year to heal! My brachialis and brachioradialis both seem ok so it must be either muscle close to my biceps distal tendon insertion on the long-head side, or the tendon itself.

I didn't dare risk benching or floor-pressing after that, but I decided to have a go at some push-ups. I tried one or two very gingerly and everything seemed ok, so..

Push-ups
25
20+5,5

Performed all reps in a 3/1 cadence: 3 seconds for eccentric/1 second concentric.
Second set was done myo-rep style for maximum burn effect.

Oh well, I'll see how my arm is after a night's rest. If I have to ease up on Oly lifts and back work for a couple of weeks, so be it. I can still squat.
 
Last edited:
Ugh - no good, Lol. Hope as you said that this is a mild muscle tear. I'm not sure that this will help you in any way, but one of the things that seemingly works for me (at least over the past decade or so) is amassing a ton of blood around the affected area. As an example, with back (muscle) pulls, a couple very light, not at all intense sets of rows between 15 and 20 reps work like a charm to speed recovery. I increased recovery time from those pulls by over 1000% using that method. Something to consider anyway; it's the opposing view to rest, which I completely acknowledge, but was something I was urged to try by a physical therapist many years ago.

No matter what, good luck and feel better.
 
Tue 15/01/13

@Tim: Yeah, totally with you there. Rehabbing already! I found out that I can do a hammer curl movement with very little discomfort. Using my Oly-db handle, which weighs 6kg, I and get a deep burn in the area doing partial hammer curls. I just do loads of reps until I can barely feel my hand. :) The whole area feels hot afterwards and the soreness and stiffness diminishes quite a bit for a while at least.

I wanted to squat tonight so thought I would back squat again rather than stress my forearms with front squats. The warmups went ok so I decided to go for a PR.

Warmup
Lunges
Air squats

High-bar Back Squat
W/U: 10 x 70kg, 5 x 90kg, 3 x 120kg

11 x 140kg (308lb) @ RPE 9 PR
5 x 140kg (308lb)
5 x 140kg (308lb)

Ha! Got it! And I had one left in the tank too. :)
 
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Lol said:
Tue 15/01/13

@Tim: Yeah, totally with you there. Rehabbing already! I found out that I can do a hammer curl movement with very little discomfort. Using my Oly-db handle, which weighs 6kg, I and get a deep burn in the area doing partial hammer curls. I just do loads of reps until I can barely feel my hand. :) The whole area feels hot afterwards and the soreness and stiffness diminishes quite a bit for a while at least.

I wanted to squat tonight so thought I would back squat again rather than stress my forearms with front squats. The warmups went ok so I decided to go for a PR.

Warmup
Lunges
Air squats

High-bar Back Squat
W/U: 10 x 70kg, 5 x 90kg, 3 x 120kg

11 x 145kg (308lb) @ RPE 9 PR
5 x 145kg (308lb)
5 x 145kg (308lb)

Ha! Got it! And I had one left in the tank too. :)
Click to expand...

Hm have you ever considered trying a saftey squat bar on some days?:
http://www.westside-barbell.com/products/?c=14&p=124
I tried them once and they really distribute the weight nice on the body.
 
thegentleman1981 said:
Hm have you ever considered trying a saftey squat bar on some days?:
http://www.westside-barbell.com/products/?c=14&p=124
I tried them once and they really distribute the weight nice on the body.
Click to expand...

Nice idea, TG, but it's really not worth my while buying a bar like that. It wouldn't get used very often. I rarely have a problem using my regular bar. Shoulder/arm injury is the only thing that makes having handles like those on the safety bar any benefit to me, but it's possible to use straps on a straight bar for the same effect. :)
 
Wed 16/01/13

In view of my bad arm, I wasn't sure what to do tonight? Definitely no ballistic stuff, so I figured that I'd try some sort of slower pull and some sort of press with relatively light loads.

General Warmup
Air Squats
Lunges

Snatch Pull - from floor
2 Pauses: 1" from floor and below knee
W/U: 5 x 40kg, 3 x 90kg
5 x 100kg (220lb)
3 x 110kg (242lb)
3 x 120kg (264lb)
3 x 120kg (264lb)

Straps after warmup sets. These were all done using my regular snatch grip which is about 1.5" in from collars.
I wasn't sure whether my injured forearm would complain or not but it seemed ok with the warmups so I carried on. Straps helped a lot to take the strain off my grip for the heavier sets.

When performing these pulls, I didn't allow the bar to rest on the floor between reps, so I maintained tension on my hams for the whole set. Pauses were held on the way up and on the way down, so that's four pauses each rep. Much tougher than they sound. I stayed at 120kg for the sake of my bad arm but I'd like to take them further when I'm all healed up again.

Floor Press
30 x 40kg
25 x 60kg
25 x 70kg
18 x 80kg @ RPE 10 - failed on 19th

Right arm felt a bit sore holding the bar at the start of the press, so I did 30 very steady reps to warm everything up as much as possible. After that first set, my arm didn't really complain any more so I went as far as 80kg and called it quits. Great triceps and pec pump and hopefully I won't lose too much strength doing high-rep sets for these for the next couple of weeks.

Hammer Curls
Lots x 6kg Oly DB Handle

Rehab for my right arm. I hold the fat end of the Oly-db and keep repping until the burn in my arm is intense and I can't grip the bar so well. I did these three times today. Same again tomorrow.

Fully straightening my arm is still unpleasant if i contract my tris really hard. If I attempt to supinate my hand at the same time that's worse again. I'm thinking that when I get back to chinning, I will use a neutral grip. I think I'll have less chance of causing the same injury again if I do. Not quite sure how I'll rig that up yet? It would be nice to be able to adjust the handle spacing.
 
Sounds like the rehab is coming along nicely, Lol - so glad to hear that. In terms of neutral grip chins - what equipment are you working with currently?
 
_tim said:
Sounds like the rehab is coming along nicely, Lol - so glad to hear that. In terms of neutral grip chins - what equipment are you working with currently?
Click to expand...

I've been using the chinning bar at the top of my rack. I used to have a bar fitted to the ceiling but that's gone now so I'm going to have to rig up something that I can then rest on top of the rack. I think I have it sussed.

I remember that just before I stuffed my arm in that last set, I had gripped the bar really tightly. That forced my arm into a more severely supinated position. On the last rep, the sudden intense pull from the bottom position was all it took to pop the weakest link in the chain. Usually, I allow my pinkies to come away from the bar a bit. I think that allows my arms to supinate a little less. It's much more comfortable if I do that. Anyway, if I chin with a neutral grip once I'm healed up that should prevent it happening again.
 
I find supinated chins to be the least effective, personally. I *think* it might be because of a (relative in context) imbalance in strength in my over-under forearm muscles, but that's anecdotal guesswork.

I find that palms facing each other, either using a D-grip bar or just a close-grip V-bar (the usual suspect) is best for my joints and 'weakpoints'. Wide-grip chins are obviously great for lat 'isolation' (as much as one can isolate the lats) but I find the load involved drops significantly.
 
Lol said:
I've been using the chinning bar at the top of my rack. I used to have a bar fitted to the ceiling but that's gone now so I'm going to have to rig up something that I can then rest on top of the rack. I think I have it sussed.

I remember that just before I stuffed my arm in that last set, I had gripped the bar really tightly. That forced my arm into a more severely supinated position. On the last rep, the sudden intense pull from the bottom position was all it took to pop the weakest link in the chain. Usually, I allow my pinkies to come away from the bar a bit. I think that allows my arms to supinate a little less. It's much more comfortable if I do that. Anyway, if I chin with a neutral grip once I'm healed up that should prevent it happening again.
Click to expand...

Another tool time tip.
Whats up with rings?:
http://www.fitstream.com/exercises/ring-pull-up-chin-up-a22
 
What's up with them is that they're awesome.


Similar to the rotating handles you can purchase for push-ups.


Ever seen a scrawny Olympic gymnast?
 
I totally agree with using rings too. They feel so natural to use. A year or so ago I bought some but didn't have anywhere high enough to rig them up permanently and I didn't like doing chins where I have to lift my legs up a whole lot. So, I leant them to my brother and now I don't have the heart to ask for them back. He uses them mainly for dipping. In the meantime I had some other handles that I had rigged up for neutral-grip chinning. Then they had to come down when the room I'm using as a gym had the ceiling sorted (no more naked joists to fix bars and things to).

I want to avoid injuries as much as possible; I am very aware that I am no longer as "stretchy" as I was when I was younger. Things tend to snap now. I think I ought to get myself some more rings. I originally got them in order to learn to do muscle-ups and some other gymnasticy stuff. That's still something I would like to get back to.

Might have to add that to my goals for this year. :)
 
Fri 18/01/13

Arm is doing well. Been high-rep hammer curling regularly.

Paused Front Squat
W/U: 10 x 50kg, 10 x 70kg

10 x 100kg (220lb) PR
5 x 100kg (220lb)
10 x 100kg (220lb) - matched PR again!

Knee sleeves; Oly shoes; loose belt.

Well, that was pretty intense! A PR for paused front squats and a PR for sets across too. Pauses were for a good second between reps. I hadn't intended to do a set of 10 reps for the third set but once I got to 5 it seemed like the right thing to do. I was smelling the scent of ammonia after that which always tells me I've had to push it a bit.

As my arm didn't hurt when the bar was in the racked position I thought I'd try a few light cleans with 40kg. Didn't feel bad in the second pull (which is the fast one) or racking the bar which I take as very promising.

I also tried a few careful neutral-grip chins with most of the load on my good (left) arm. No obvious pain which is a great sign too.

I'm such an impatient person when it comes to injuries but I'm really going to try to be careful this time as I don't want it to drag on unnecessarily. Sensible rehabbing will continue for a bit longer. I think I may be able to do rows with my EZ-curl bar without any noticeable discomfort so I might give them a go over the weekend.

I wouldn't mind getting hold of a pair of these:

DSC08465_zps57619db1.jpg
 

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