Mike's Log - The Road to Recovery

Lower Body - Day 2, Week 4

Leg Press
1 plate per side x warmup
2 plates per side x warmup
3 plates per side x warmup
4 plates per side x warmup
4 plates + 10 lbs per side x 10,7

High Bar Squats (Vibrams)
Bar x warmup
95 x warmup
135 x warmup
185 x warmup
210 x 10 (belt)

Deadlift
135 x warmup (hook grip, no belt)
225 x warmup (hook grip, no belt)
280 x 10 (straps, belt)

Leg Press Calf Raise
3 plates + 10 lbs per side x 10,7

Notes:

I had to wait around forever to use the squat rack as a dude did 1/8 squats followed by SLDL's. Things that should make you go "hmm" include having a top set of "squats" at 405 lbs and a top set of SLDL's at half that.

Unfortunately I think I juiced my hips by doing leg presses first, as my top set of squats got very grindy by the end. I'll make sure to start the session with squats on Thursday.

On the plus side, deadlifts felt weirdly good, no real pain or discomfort and definitely not a top set.
 
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Upper Body - Day 1, Week 5

Dumbbell Bench Press
45s (90) x 8
65s (130) x 5
~82s (164) x 8,6

Chins
Me x 5
Me + 55 x 8,6

Pushups
Me x 30,15,15

Cable Rows
155 x 8,6

Seated DB Curls
42.5s (85) x 8,6

DB External Rotations
13 x 10/side
13.5 x 6/side

Notes:

Workout performed at home in the basement after a long day, so I felt kind of run down throughout the whole thing. Fortunately the weights are still low enough that this isn't a huge deal, but I definitely feel like I need some extra rest.
 
Lower Body - Day 1, Week 5

High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Bar x warmup
95 x warmup
135 x warmup
155 x warmup
185 x warmup
205 x warmup (and just to be clear, these were 1-3 reps each, max, without a whole lot of rest between sets. I find this style of warming up the most ideal for performance)
215 x 10,7

Leg Press
2 plates per side x warmup
3 plates per side x warmup
4 plates per side x warmup
4 plates + 25 lbs per side x 10

Leg Press Calf Raise
3 plates + 25 lbs per side x 10,7

Back Extensions
Me + 45 x 15

Notes:

Things definitely felt better in the proper order (i.e. squats before leg presses). Hard but manageable, as it were.
 
Upper Body - Day 2, Week 5

Dumbbell Bench
45s (90) x 5
65s (130) x 3
85s (170) x 8,6

Chins
Me x 5
Me + 60 x 8,6

Dumbbell Incline Bench
65s (130) x 8,6

Chest-Supported Machine Rows
135 x 8,6

EZ Bar Curls
90 x 8

DB External Rotations
12.5 x 15,8 per side

Close-ish Grip Pushups (slight shrug towards the top for serratus activity)
Me x 35

Notes:

Strength still holding up fine. It feels like I have plenty of breathing room in chins, but bench is getting reasonably tough (I could probably do 9-10 reps of 85s, so I have to be careful how much more I increment this as reps can start dropping fast in dumbbell stuff).

edit:

I decided I'll probably just do one, high rep set of pushups twice a week for "triceps" instead of worrying about volume, letting the # of reps I do naturally increase over time. Did the pushups later in the day.
 
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Lower Body - Day 2, Week 5

High Bar Squats (Vibrams)
Bar x warmup
95 x warmup
135 x warmup
155 x warmup
185 x warmup
205 x warmup
220 x 10

Deadlift
135 x warmup
225 x warmup
290 x 10 (belt, straps)

Leg Press
1 plate per side x warmup
2 plates per side x warmup
3 plates per side x warmup
4 plates per side x warmup
4 plates + 30 per side x 10

1-Leg Calf Raise (Machine)
Me + 35 x 10 per side

Notes:

I'm feeling quite juiced. 220 for a set of 10 in squats felt pretty hard, just no energy in my hips, so I may skip squats the first lower body day next week to help recharge for my final day of this cycle (end of 10's).
 
Upper Body - Day 1, Week 6

Dips
Me x 5
Me + 45 x 5
Me + 70 x 8,6

Chins
Me x 5
Me + 70 x 8,5

DB Incline Bench
70s (140) x 8,5

Chest-Supported Machine Rows
150 x 8,6

Seated DB Curls
45s (90) x 8

DB External Rotations
15 x 10,6 per side

Pushups
Me x 30

Notes:

I decided to make today a bit experimental in order to properly transition into the next phase of my HST-ing (5's). My long-term, intended lifts were dips + incline benching of some sort when I felt ready, so I decided to see how my shoulders held up today. After dipping, I am inclined to think I probably should have been doing dips all along - they are less uncomfortable than even a flat dumbbell bench, presumably because my scapulae are free to move. Really, these feel dynamite. I'm sorry for neglecting you, dips.

Everything else is pretty rapidly approaching 8 RM's, which is cool. The plan is to switch to 5's next week in kind of a quasi linear progression with the main lifts. Based on how that goes (i.e. how my shoulder holds up), I will probably bounce back and forth between 5's and 10's/8's as needed. If my shoulder doesn't like the slightly heavier range, I will probably just repeat the logic I used this past HST cycle of 15's/10's for lower body and 12's/8's for upper body.
 
Lower Body - Week 6, Day 1

High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Warmups
225 x 10 (belt, tied PR from last cycle)

Leg Press
Warmups
4 plates + 35 lbs per side x 10 (cycle PR)

Leg Press Calf Raise
3 plates + 35 lbs per side x 10

45 Degree Back Extensions (3rd hole)
Me + 55 x 15 (PR)

Notes:

I had originally thought to skip squats today, but felt like squatting. Glad I did as I had a better groove and 225 x 10 actually felt better than 220 x 10. This ties my PR in the lift. I will probably attempt a PR on Sunday.
 
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Glad you can do dips. They are the only heavy pectoral compound I can do with zero pain in my shoulder. Bench, incline, machine press... Dumbbell bench, ALL of these pectoral exercises bother my right shoulder to some degree.
Dips...zero pain, and my pecs and triceps are always really pumped up after dips.
 
Upper Body - Day 2, Week 6 (final upper day of base cycle)

Dips
Warmup
Me + 80 x 9

Chins
Warmup
Me + 75 x 9

Seated Barbell Press
Warmup
115 x 8

Cable Rows
Warmup
160 x 8

Curls
95 x 10

Pushups
Me x 30

DB External Rotations
15 x 7,5 per side

Notes:

Tested where my strength was in dips (which really isn't half bad considering I've dipped once in the past few months, last time) along with the other lifts. I also tested a hypothesis - when I first hurt my shoulder, I was able to do the seated, barbell overhead press in my basement for some reason. It actually felt good. I tried it again today, and sure as ****, it still feels good/pain-free. This is actually pretty exciting as it might give me a way to work on overhead strength pain-free, which I would hope would contribute to un-screwing my shoulder over time. Tentatively, then, the above lifts are going to form the basis of my upper body training here on out. I will, of course, play it by ear.

Tomorrow is the last lower body day. Pray for me.
 
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Lower Body - Day 2, Week 6

High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Warmup
230 x 10 (belt, all-time PR)

Hook Grip Deadlifts (Vibrams, no straps)
Warmup
300 x 10 (belt)

1-Leg Calf Raises
Me + 45 x 10/5/4 per side (quasi rest-paused)

Notes:

I definitely ended this base HST cycle on a high note, as I don't think I've ever managed a set of 10 in high bar with 230 before. Good stuff. I am currently celebrating with a milkshake.
 
Btw, if you wake up in Australia, not knowing wtf happened ... I just swapped houses with you ... that weights room is awesome.

Nice form on all those :).
 
I did some soul-searching about what to do next, options including going to more of a once a week bro split (which would give my shoulder more time to recover, in a sense) or continue on with HST into 5's. The latter, in a sense, is more aggressive, but I figured I'd give it an honest shot. If for some reason the lower reps/heavier weights tweak things, I'll simply discontinue.

Upper Body - Day 1, Week 7

Dips
Warmup
Me + 80 x 5,5,5

Chins
Warmup
Me + 75 x 5,5,5

Seated DB Press
Warmup
50s (100) x 5,5,5

Chest-supported Machine Rows
150 x 5,5,5

Seated DB Curls
45s (90) x 9

Close-ish Grip Pushups
Me x 30

DB External Rotations
15 x 5,5 per side

Notes:

Solid session. It was evident to me that I was not used to the heavier weights for multiple sets. It definitely gives a unique sense of deep strain. I am actually debating doing upper body days at home for the 5's portion due to the fact that my home dip stand is slightly narrower (and thus potentially slightly friendlier on the shoulders) and the fact that I can do seated barbell presses instead of dumbbells. The dumbbell seated press was basically fine, but the barbell press might be slightly wiser for the time being (e.g. losing control of a dumbbell during 5's with my screwed up shoulder strikes me as problematic). I'll have to think about it.
 
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mikeynov said:
Highlights of the past 2 days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xn-t1g3fO4&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Click to expand...

Wow. Perfect form on everything and ridiculous weights/reps considering your BW. Crazy strong.

Compared to your form, my chins don't even count. I need to start pulling all the way up to my chest like you do... Also, I notice your hands are seemingly shoulder-width apart, I've been gripping the bar with my hands much closer together... some of that is due to my left shoulder inflexibility, but maybe I'll try moving my hands out a bit.

Inspiring, thank you!!!
 
nativetroutbum said:
Wow. Perfect form on everything and ridiculous weights/reps considering your BW. Crazy strong.

Compared to your form, my chins don't even count. I need to start pulling all the way up to my chest like you do... Also, I notice your hands are seemingly shoulder-width apart, I've been gripping the bar with my hands much closer together... some of that is due to my left shoulder inflexibility, but maybe I'll try moving my hands out a bit.

Inspiring, thank you!!!
Click to expand...

Much appreciated, thank you for the compliments :) I do like going all the way up in chins, but I've been doing them that way for years. Honestly as long as the bar is clearly below the chin/neck I'd still count the rep, but I like the termination point to be up that high. The thing I have to be careful of with my shoulder is the bottom, however. I try to go all the way down but WITHOUT relaxing anything. As the going gets tough this is easier said than done.
 
I too go all the way down thus "enjoying" the full stretch position... I also try not to relax my shoulders, keeping my shoulder blades pinned back, but with "heavy" weights that all goes to crap after a couple reps. :)
 
Lower Body - Day 1, Week 7

High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Warmup
225 x 5,5,5 (belt)

45 Degree Back Extensions (3rd notch)
Me + 55 x 8,8

Leg Press Rapers
Warmup
3 plates per side x 8,12

Seated Calf Raise
70 x 8,12

Notes:

I bumped squats down to 225 (from my 230 x 10 set on Sunday) in anticipation of the fact that my higher rep sets in squats are more akin to a rest/pause set or something compared to most other lifts. This was appropriate as the weight definitely did not feel super light. Probably doesn't help that I pushed squats and deadlifts hard the previous session. This still gives me room to grow/increment, however.

Leg press rapers are just what they sound like based on my previous description of the lift for squats - all the way down, brief pause, ~3/4 of the way up, brief pause, repeat until legs are dead. This destroyed my legs much more noticeably than doing one rep at a time despite the lesser weight. I think this will be my go-to form of leg presses from now on.
 
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Upper Body - Day 2, Week 7

Dips
Warmup (including pushups)
Me + 90 x 5,5,5

Chins
Warmup
Me + 80 x 5,5,5

Seated Barbell Press
Warmup
120 x 5,5,5

Cable Rows
Warmup
160 x 5,5,5

EZ Curls
100 x 8

DB External Rotations
15 x 5/side
15 x 18/side (slow-ish negatives only)

Notes:

I worked out at home today in order to get access to seated barbell overhead presses. This went...okay, but I am still getting a sense of tightness/something in my shoulder region doing these. Last time I tried these I noticed this less, and while it wasn't overtly painful, I'm still a little skeptical of overhead stuff. As such, and having had similar results doing dumbbell overhead work on Wednesday, I am going to ditch the overhead work again next week, just doing a high-ish incline bench. It definitely seems like I am tolerating overhead stuff better, but I am not quite at the point I want to be to make this a primary movement. Patience is a virtue, I hear.

Everything else went fine. Since I'll be going back to incline dumbbell work, I'm going to continue performing upper body work at the gym. I will probably just repeat today's weight in dips since the gym's dip stands are just the TINIEST bit wider (and thus slightly harder to me) but increment chins. I am thinking I will start the dumbbell incline work at 70's to be safe.

Oh yah, and about the external rotations - I had the idea previously of trying negative only work since it's very easy to assist the working arm with the opposite hand, given the light loads. I know there's a fair bit of research looking at eccentric exercise to heal connective tissue and tendonosis type problems, so I wanted to see how this felt. This induced a profound fatigue by the end of the set but was otherwise totally comfortable. I think I may actually switch to this format, warming up with ecc/con, normal external rotations, then doing a single negative only work set. I will probably aim for 15+ slow, negative reps. I will be curious to see if I notice anything positive happen from this. Consider that 5 reps was not particularly easy with my left arm, but when I excluded the concentric portion, I was able to do 18, slow eccentrics. Interesting either way.
 
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