Mike's Log - The Road to Recovery
- Thread starter mikeynov
- Start date
Interestingly this became Justin's default recommendation for volume day vs. 5 x 5 at some point, he said that he and his guys found it actually worked better. Glenn Pendlay had a post on reddit last summer talking about running this variant of the Texas Method with a lot of success. Apparently they were finding that the volume days didn't need to be as volume-y as the original program called for.
That said, I may be hitting the abort button early. After yesterday's session my shoulder got pretty sore overnight. I don't recall this happening at the beginning of my last HST cycle, so it's possible that I need some combination of A) longer than a week for SD's and B) starting at lighter weight than moderate 5's. It's frustrating, but I am considering taking another 2 weeks off (starting again two weeks from yesterday) and repeating another HST cycle, insofar as that now has a proven track record for being largely pain-free.
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Well, 3 x 5 is still a decent amount of TUT for a single session and would still be tough to complete once the loads are in the 80-85% of 1RM zone.
Sorry to hear your shoulder issue has flared up so quickly. I definitely think a few HST-type, 15-rep sessions are a good move after any time off, esp. if you are rehabbing injuries. I just feel that the lighter loads and the higher reps get so much blood flow to the injured areas that they are too good to miss out on. All the best with that.
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Just as a quick update, I had the PRP (plasma-rich platelet) injections on Friday. Two separate injections, one for the tear in my infraspinatus, one for supraspinatus. Some interesting notes/thoughts on how things went:
* Either I was initially mis-diagnosed (obviously possible) or my shoulder has miraculously gotten better to some degree. Originally I was told I had full thickness tears in both infraspinatus and supraspinatus, with infraspinatus maybe ~1/4 of the way through and supraspinatus as much as ~3/4 of the way through. He seemed to have more difficulty finding the tear in infraspinatus on Friday (5 months later), and said it looked like a partial tear, as opposed to a full thickness tear. On supraspinatus he said it looks like a full thickness tear, but by his guess maybe ~1/3 of the way through. These are obviously much different (and better) diagnoses, so I'm not sure what the hell happened. Maybe HST is magically causing my shoulder to heal? There actually is research showing that a small minority of people actually recover enough from full thickness tears that they're no longer visible on MRI, so maybe it's possible that resistance training is more magical than we realize. Or, like I said, he somehow initially misdiagnosed this.
* The procedure was WAY more painful than I realized, particularly for infraspinatus. They draw, spin, and then inject your own blood back into the injury site without anesthetic, and the needle is decent sized. The first injection hurt so much I almost passed out afterwards. The second one was a lot better.
* My shoulder is way, way more sore than I realized it would be. At rest it doesn't really hurt, but it feels like somebody punched my shoulder a few dozen times or something when trying to raise my arm above my head and such. Taking a shirt off is still pretty difficult.
Given the above, I will probably end up taking off until ~Saturday, unless things drastically improve by Wednesday. That said, the shoulder is feeling better pretty quickly, so I'll play it by ear. Either way, I may wind up doing an even lighter initial block, possibly 20's for lower body and 15's for upper body, preceding the normal cycle, given the longer than usual detraining (I'll have worked out basically once in a month or something like that by the time I start back).
* Either I was initially mis-diagnosed (obviously possible) or my shoulder has miraculously gotten better to some degree. Originally I was told I had full thickness tears in both infraspinatus and supraspinatus, with infraspinatus maybe ~1/4 of the way through and supraspinatus as much as ~3/4 of the way through. He seemed to have more difficulty finding the tear in infraspinatus on Friday (5 months later), and said it looked like a partial tear, as opposed to a full thickness tear. On supraspinatus he said it looks like a full thickness tear, but by his guess maybe ~1/3 of the way through. These are obviously much different (and better) diagnoses, so I'm not sure what the hell happened. Maybe HST is magically causing my shoulder to heal? There actually is research showing that a small minority of people actually recover enough from full thickness tears that they're no longer visible on MRI, so maybe it's possible that resistance training is more magical than we realize. Or, like I said, he somehow initially misdiagnosed this.
* The procedure was WAY more painful than I realized, particularly for infraspinatus. They draw, spin, and then inject your own blood back into the injury site without anesthetic, and the needle is decent sized. The first injection hurt so much I almost passed out afterwards. The second one was a lot better.
* My shoulder is way, way more sore than I realized it would be. At rest it doesn't really hurt, but it feels like somebody punched my shoulder a few dozen times or something when trying to raise my arm above my head and such. Taking a shirt off is still pretty difficult.
Given the above, I will probably end up taking off until ~Saturday, unless things drastically improve by Wednesday. That said, the shoulder is feeling better pretty quickly, so I'll play it by ear. Either way, I may wind up doing an even lighter initial block, possibly 20's for lower body and 15's for upper body, preceding the normal cycle, given the longer than usual detraining (I'll have worked out basically once in a month or something like that by the time I start back).
Sucky procedure, Mike. You have my sympathies. I've had my fair share of biopsies but never had to have stuff squirted back in again! The last two biopsies were in my lymph nodes in my groin. That brought tears to my eyes, I can tell you. 
The important thing is that the good news does sound really good. Hopefully, the bruising/inflammation following the proc will dissipate after a few days. Once you are back at it, I would definitely do what you did before as it seems to have encouraged the healing process rather well; there's plenty of time to get back to the heavy stuff once you are happy that you aren't going to set yourself back again.
The important thing is that the good news does sound really good. Hopefully, the bruising/inflammation following the proc will dissipate after a few days. Once you are back at it, I would definitely do what you did before as it seems to have encouraged the healing process rather well; there's plenty of time to get back to the heavy stuff once you are happy that you aren't going to set yourself back again.
And...I'm back.
Upper Body - First Session, Week 0
Paused DB Bench
Warmup
50's (100) x 15,10
Chins
Me x 15,10
Pushups
Me x 30
Cable Rows
107.5 x 15,10
DB External Rotations
5 x 25/side
Notes:
My previous HST cycle finished on April 7th (just about exactly 4 weeks ago), and I've done one light session each of upper and lower body ~2.5 weeks ago. So needless to say, I'm a bit detrained, and the burn of 15's was quite...burny.
Nothing hurt or was particularly uncomfortable on my shoulder. A good way to start the cycle. Note that I'm calling this week 0 as I'm only doing one session each of upper and lower body this week, and my "normal" week 1 will start on Wednesday. This gives me one extra increment to help build momentum for the first, 3 week block of this cycle.
Upper Body - First Session, Week 0
Paused DB Bench
Warmup
50's (100) x 15,10
Chins
Me x 15,10
Pushups
Me x 30
Cable Rows
107.5 x 15,10
DB External Rotations
5 x 25/side
Notes:
My previous HST cycle finished on April 7th (just about exactly 4 weeks ago), and I've done one light session each of upper and lower body ~2.5 weeks ago. So needless to say, I'm a bit detrained, and the burn of 15's was quite...burny.
Nothing hurt or was particularly uncomfortable on my shoulder. A good way to start the cycle. Note that I'm calling this week 0 as I'm only doing one session each of upper and lower body this week, and my "normal" week 1 will start on Wednesday. This gives me one extra increment to help build momentum for the first, 3 week block of this cycle.
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Lower Body - First Session, Week 0
High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Warmup
165 x 15,10 (belt)
Hook Grip Deadlifts
Warmup
275 x 5,5,5 (belt)
Seated Calf Raises
45 x 15,10
Notes:
Man, if upper body is tiring after an extended break, lower body is something else. High bar squats actually felt a little something on my left shoulder. Testing my ROM, it appears that my left shoulder wants to heal in a slightly contracted state, missing external rotation. As such, the arms transversely abducted and elbows up a bit position kind of pulls on that area. I had been doing external rotation stretches prior to lower body day, and will start that practice up again. Starting next week, I will only be squatting and deadlifting once per week per lift. Each lift, then, represents a single rep range, peaking around week 6 (i.e. since it's half the rate of the twice per week lifts, it takes twice as long to increment up as the other lifts). In reality, I'll give both lifts breathing room such that I should be able to pretty easily finish the full 10 week cycle in a reasonable rep range.
Deadlifts felt fine, my sciatic whatever felt a little something on sets 2 and 3, but just barely, and this almost always happens after a break for me.
High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Warmup
165 x 15,10 (belt)
Hook Grip Deadlifts
Warmup
275 x 5,5,5 (belt)
Seated Calf Raises
45 x 15,10
Notes:
Man, if upper body is tiring after an extended break, lower body is something else. High bar squats actually felt a little something on my left shoulder. Testing my ROM, it appears that my left shoulder wants to heal in a slightly contracted state, missing external rotation. As such, the arms transversely abducted and elbows up a bit position kind of pulls on that area. I had been doing external rotation stretches prior to lower body day, and will start that practice up again. Starting next week, I will only be squatting and deadlifting once per week per lift. Each lift, then, represents a single rep range, peaking around week 6 (i.e. since it's half the rate of the twice per week lifts, it takes twice as long to increment up as the other lifts). In reality, I'll give both lifts breathing room such that I should be able to pretty easily finish the full 10 week cycle in a reasonable rep range.
Deadlifts felt fine, my sciatic whatever felt a little something on sets 2 and 3, but just barely, and this almost always happens after a break for me.
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Week 1 - Lower Body, Day 1
High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Warmup
175 x 15,10 (belt)
45 Degree Back Extensions
Warmup
Me + 10 x 15,10
Calf Stack Raises
Me + 122.5 x 15,10
Leg Extensions
82.5 x 15,10
Notes:
Left hamstring/sciatic whatever felt a little goofy. Interesting to me how it often gets re-aggravated after time off, but tends to go away pretty quickly with activity. Such is life.
High Bar Squat (Vibrams)
Warmup
175 x 15,10 (belt)
45 Degree Back Extensions
Warmup
Me + 10 x 15,10
Calf Stack Raises
Me + 122.5 x 15,10
Leg Extensions
82.5 x 15,10
Notes:
Left hamstring/sciatic whatever felt a little goofy. Interesting to me how it often gets re-aggravated after time off, but tends to go away pretty quickly with activity. Such is life.
_tim
Well-Known Member
Preach on, brother Mikey! The blood flow alone both tonight and tomorrow as you heal should clear up the goofiness. I hope anyway.
Upper Body - Day 2, Week 1
Pause DB Bench
Warmup
55's (110) x 15,10
Chins
Warmup
Me + 10 x 15,8
Pushups
Me x 30
Cable Rows
120 x 15,8
DB External Rotations
5 x 28/side
Notes:
Bumped this up a day early as I have my graduation ceremony tomorrow (school not technically done until August, but we faux graduate tomorrow, due to the next ceremony not being until December). Definitely noticed it in terms of volume tolerance, as I cut the chins and rows off at 8 reps on the second set (mostly just to keep myself away grinding).
Pause DB Bench
Warmup
55's (110) x 15,10
Chins
Warmup
Me + 10 x 15,8
Pushups
Me x 30
Cable Rows
120 x 15,8
DB External Rotations
5 x 28/side
Notes:
Bumped this up a day early as I have my graduation ceremony tomorrow (school not technically done until August, but we faux graduate tomorrow, due to the next ceremony not being until December). Definitely noticed it in terms of volume tolerance, as I cut the chins and rows off at 8 reps on the second set (mostly just to keep myself away grinding).
Lower Body - Day 2, Week 1
Hook Grip Deadlifts (Vibrams)
Warmup
255 x 10
Leg Press Rapers
Warmup
2 plates per side x 15,10
Leg Curls
70 x 15,10
1-Leg Calf Raises
Me x 15,10 per side
Notes:
Happy Mother's Day, y'all. My sciatic weirdness on the left side was definitely present today, even warming up with RDL's and an empty bar felt a little uncomfortable. Warming up in deadlifts (from the floor) didn't really feel weird until my work set, though that felt a little something, as well. Hopefully this dissipates over time, as whatever I have there has been a recurrent thing going on 3 years that I'm not going to keep taking time off for - whatever it is, it gets irritated easily and often randomly goes away. Also worth pointing out that my brother in law was unable to find anything weird on ultrasound (e.g. no tears in hamstrings or external rotators of hips, that sort of thing). Still a bit annoying.
Hook Grip Deadlifts (Vibrams)
Warmup
255 x 10
Leg Press Rapers
Warmup
2 plates per side x 15,10
Leg Curls
70 x 15,10
1-Leg Calf Raises
Me x 15,10 per side
Notes:
Happy Mother's Day, y'all. My sciatic weirdness on the left side was definitely present today, even warming up with RDL's and an empty bar felt a little uncomfortable. Warming up in deadlifts (from the floor) didn't really feel weird until my work set, though that felt a little something, as well. Hopefully this dissipates over time, as whatever I have there has been a recurrent thing going on 3 years that I'm not going to keep taking time off for - whatever it is, it gets irritated easily and often randomly goes away. Also worth pointing out that my brother in law was unable to find anything weird on ultrasound (e.g. no tears in hamstrings or external rotators of hips, that sort of thing). Still a bit annoying.
Basically a leg press in which I pause at the bottom, push the platform ~50-75% of the way back up (keeping tension on my legs), pause it at that point, then back down. The idea is that the legs are constantly fatiguing, never recovering between reps, and I emphasize this with the pauses. I called the squat version of this "leg rapers," so I just call the leg press version of this leg press rapers.
Upper Body - Day 1, Week 2
DB Pause Bench
Warmup
57.5s (115) x 15,10
Chins
Warmup
Me + 15 x 15,8
Pushups
Me x 32
Cable Rows
120 x 15,9
Shoulder External Rotations
5 x 20/side (more emphasis of squeezing at the top)
Notes:
The burn continues to be quite burn-y. Modified form a little on the shoulder external rotations as I noticed my lockout strength was a little lacking on my left shoulder, so I emphasized that more.
DB Pause Bench
Warmup
57.5s (115) x 15,10
Chins
Warmup
Me + 15 x 15,8
Pushups
Me x 32
Cable Rows
120 x 15,9
Shoulder External Rotations
5 x 20/side (more emphasis of squeezing at the top)
Notes:
The burn continues to be quite burn-y. Modified form a little on the shoulder external rotations as I noticed my lockout strength was a little lacking on my left shoulder, so I emphasized that more.
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