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Tossing Weight With Torobestia: Powerlifting Log

I think whatever is happening now is the same thing that happened back around December. I checked myself for a hernia, and a doc checked me for a hernia as well and found nothing. We think it might be a lower back issue. I'm going to go see a chiro who will throw in X-rays as part of the consultation (so I wont get charged on top of it) and see what he says and see if I need more tests or if an obvious issue presents itself. It might be that one of my lower back joints is irritated or something got caught in the area of one of my lower back joints considering I can trigger pain by flexing my lower back.
 
Damn it...back issues SUCK. I hope the Chiro finds your issue and it's easily remedied.
 
Yesterday was my last day at PT. We basically had a real workout session with lots of pushups, stabilizing planks (on a bosu while I rocked it, while they rocked it), IR/ER, rows and pulldowns (lat extensions, as they call it), etc. So I didn't go to the gym that day for upper body, especially since it was an overhead day for me. So I went today.

14/02/19

UPPER

Simple 6, more t-spine PVC rolls, neck stretches

SWISS BAR PRESS
45-8
95-5 <-- 90 sec rest, I meant to put on 90lbs
90-7x5 <-- 90 sec between sets
Easy, RPE like 6

PUSHUPS superset CHINUPS
BW-3x20
BW-3x10 <-- too heavy, will use band next time

SINGLE ARM REAR DELT MACHINE (tempo 4010)
75-15,15,15

Fast workout. Everything felt good. Next week I might experiment with a straight bar. Swiss bar was a little funny as I really wanted to externally rotate at the top but couldn't. That's about all there is to say on this workout. I remember about 3 years ago I was doing seated DB presses with 90s in each hand ... what happened, lol.
 
You are Glad to see you getting back into Toro. And also glad that none of your ailments are ever serious and you handle it so fast.
 
Friends, I have interesting news. I seem to have some significant chiropractic issues both in my hip and my neck.

To begin, I have moderate pronation in the feet, and I am a bit flat (Sam, my initial diagnoses may have been sugar-coated by the tech). I have a subluxed, bulging disc in my low back (L5, common) which is causing the pain in my hip and the sciatica-like pain in my glutes and low back. It's mild which explains why it doesn't radiate down the leg. Doc says this appears pretty treatable.

Next, my neck is presenting as having a reverse neck curve, which my chiro explained is a result of a trauma and not congenital nor likely a result from weightlifting. While I brought up the car accident 2 years ago, I actually believe this may be from years of having forward neck posture. Interestingly, one of the manifestations of having this is bursitis =o . He did leave me with some rather bad news, which is that this condition could be controlled but likely cannot be cured. I might see another specialist down the line to get a second opinion on this.

I won't be squatting/deadlifting for a little while nor be doing goodmornings etc. I can do reverse hyper. I'll reassess in a couple of weeks - I anticipate Ill be able to return then. In the meantime I will continue my upper body work.
 
Sorry to hear that at least it's treatable

I wonder if the back thing is what I got going on atm does it hurt when u bend at the hip like u are performing a stiff leg deadlift it's like tightness in my glute when I do it?
 
Duramaxhd said:
Sorry to hear that at least it's treatable I wonder if the back thing is what I got going on atm does it hurt when u bend at the hip like u are performing a stiff leg deadlift it's like tightness in my glute when I do it?
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Sounds like you definitely have an issue of some sort. It might be a muscular issue, though, and you'd need an XRay, and possibly an MRI, for more evidence.
 
14/02/22

UPPER

BENCH
185-2x5 <-- shoulder hurt kind of bad, almost gave up but added boards
2-board
185-8x5 <-- set 1-4 aggravated shoulder, last sets easier and less pain, last 2 sets bar felt so light like it was unloaded

BAMBOO BAR BENCH
90-20
110-20
130-17,16

FOOTBALL SKULLCRUSHERS
95-15,10,10

SEATED CABLE ROWS
180-15,15,14

SEATED DB CLEAN
15-15,15

So, I have this trigger point right in my chest that's very interesting. If you look back to one of my really old log entries in September/Oct, you'll see how I felt like I tweaked something in my chest doing close grips. This is the same point. When I palpitate it with a good amount of pressure, I hear all this cracking and snapping, and I feel my cuff rotators move around in my back. I actually feel "relief" when it's being pressed against. My shoulder moves, too, without me doing ANYTHING other than pressing on that trigger point. Highly interesting. I know I've noted this before, but I should pay attention to it.
 
Bamboo Bar Bench
[video=youtube;UFtWjxg2GZM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFtWjxg2GZM&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
That's like the one bar I don't have access to. Looks like it started to take you for a little ride there haha
 
rob112 said:
That's like the one bar I don't have access to. Looks like it started to take you for a little ride there haha
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Heh, yeah, definitely.

I had some issues in my second set because the weight on my right (left side on the video) would go so far down it'd hit the ground and bounce. I guess that made for some extra RC work, lol.
 
Torobestia said:
Heh, yeah, definitely.

I had some issues in my second set because the weight on my right (left side on the video) would go so far down it'd hit the ground and bounce. I guess that made for some extra RC work, lol.
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Oh okay. I way like "is that pinning him?" And then you threw it up and kept going lol
 
rob112 said:
Oh okay. I way like "is that pinning him?" And then you threw it up and kept going lol
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Oh, when that would happen that was because the bar was definitely out of control for one reason or another, and that's the best way to get it to stop shaking, lol. It's kind of cheating, but without a spotter it's the best way to control that to get more reps.
 
Torobestia said:
14/02/22

UPPER

BENCH
185-2x5 <-- shoulder hurt kind of bad, almost gave up but added boards
2-board
185-8x5 <-- set 1-4 aggravated shoulder, last sets easier and less pain, last 2 sets bar felt so light like it was unloaded

BAMBOO BAR BENCH
90-20
110-20
130-17,16

FOOTBALL SKULLCRUSHERS
95-15,10,10

SEATED CABLE ROWS
180-15,15,14

SEATED DB CLEAN
15-15,15

So, I have this trigger point right in my chest that's very interesting. If you look back to one of my really old log entries in September/Oct, you'll see how I felt like I tweaked something in my chest doing close grips. This is the same point. When I palpitate it with a good amount of pressure, I hear all this cracking and snapping, and I feel my cuff rotators move around in my back. I actually feel "relief" when it's being pressed against. My shoulder moves, too, without me doing ANYTHING other than pressing on that trigger point. Highly interesting. I know I've noted this before, but I should pay attention to it.
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Pec minor holds your scap down and against the thoracic wall. If you injured it and pressing on that point relaxes it, you could see that movement. Would also cause pain between sternum and coracoid. Cuffs would move because they are taking up tension that the pec minor is releasing through postural muscle tone. Just a thought. Where is your trigger point and where is the majority of your pain. What movements specifically hurt?
 
CountryLiftin said:
Pec minor holds your scap down and against the thoracic wall. If you injured it and pressing on that point relaxes it, you could see that movement. Would also cause pain between sternum and coracoid. Cuffs would move because they are taking up tension that the pec minor is releasing through postural muscle tone. Just a thought.

Where is your trigger point and where is the majority of your pain.

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I think it's the second blue x near where the pec attaches to the shoulder. Mine may be a little bit further away but it's right enough. I only seem to experience pain around my front delt and armpit. On rare occasions I feel tightness in the neck.

What movements specifically hurt?
Precisely movements that involve the pec minor the most. Of the exercises I've done, these are the ones that hurt my shoulder going from most painful to least:
1) decline bench, bb or db
2) dips
3) flat db bench
4) CGBP
5) flat bench
6) pushups, standing swiss bar ohp <-- little pain
7) incline bb bench (nearly no pain)
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Answers above in red. In case it wasn't clear I wanted to emphasize that pressing on that trigger point does not elicit pain but, more or less, relieves it entirely.
 
Torobestia said:
Answers above in red. In case it wasn't clear I wanted to emphasize that pressing on that trigger point does not elicit pain but, more or less, relieves it entirely.
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Those left two X's are the ones that give me relief for my AC joint. The first rib mob helps with the tightness around the neck. It's crazy how those spots are tied into everything really.

Have you given yourself a bruise yet? lol
 
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The first one in here is easy as hell to add in before a workout for first rib
 
Interesting. In a few years I would be able to tell you a lot more... but definitely could be an issue in the minor. Probably the reason the decline hurts the most is because it is the movement that opposes the action of the minor the most (weight elevates and pulls the scap away from thoracic wall) aka stretches it... if it's still injured, stretching is obviously going to be painful.

Sean you mash/roll your traps at all? Might take some tension off your clav, in addition to what you already do on the ribs/pec. I know it helps me get a lot of tension out of my whole shoulder. How is everything coming along w/ yours anyways?
 
CountryLiftin said:
Interesting. In a few years I would be able to tell you a lot more... but definitely could be an issue in the minor. Probably the reason the decline hurts the most is because it is the movement that opposes the action of the minor the most (weight elevates and pulls the scap away from thoracic wall) aka stretches it... if it's still injured, stretching is obviously going to be painful. Sean you mash/roll your traps at all? Might take some tension off your clav, in addition to what you already do on the ribs/pec. I know it helps me get a lot of tension out of my whole shoulder. How is everything coming along w/ yours anyways?
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Yessir a couple times a day for 30-60 seconds I do all the trigger points around both shoulder girdles.


Makes sense what ya say about decline.
 
Sean1332 said:
Yessir a couple times a day for 30-60 seconds I do all the trigger points around both shoulder girdles.

Makes sense what ya say about decline.
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Smart. ^ I need to be more active with mine honestly.

Yep, makes sense to me from what toro has told me w out looking at him... we just covered some more in depth shoulder anatomy and movement in my functional anatomy class so we are talking about it. It's interesting because he's a PT getting his masters in biomechanics and really has a good understanding of this stuff, and he applies the anatomical structures to how they actually produce movement and some of the basic injuries etc. Good stuff. Glad to finally be learning things that matter.
 
CountryLiftin said:
Interesting. In a few years I would be able to tell you a lot more... but definitely could be an issue in the minor. Probably the reason the decline hurts the most is because it is the movement that opposes the action of the minor the most (weight elevates and pulls the scap away from thoracic wall) aka stretches it... if it's still injured, stretching is obviously going to be painful.
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Agreed on the issue. Well, I would say what probably happens is because my minor is "underperforming" (for whatever reason) things like decline bother me the most because then my shoulder is pulled up out of the socket which causes it to either pinch a muscle and cause pain, or pinch a nerve and cause pain. Unloaded stretches don't seem to hurt it as PNF band pec stretches feel good.
 
Torobestia said:
Agreed on the issue. Well, I would say what probably happens is because my minor is "underperforming" (for whatever reason) things like decline bother me the most because then my shoulder is pulled up out of the socket which causes it to either pinch a muscle and cause pain, or pinch a nerve and cause pain. Unloaded stretches don't seem to hurt it as PNF band pec stretches feel good.
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Could be. When your scap is pushing off the wall it is changing length and position of every other muscle attached to it so it could cause lots of issues. My guess is that weight through the arm into the glenoid combined with a weak pec minor is putting your glenohumeral at a weird position and pinching on one side and pulling out on the other side. Inflammation of tissues then at that point just makes everything in that area worse. You're also probably pushing up into the coracoidacromial lig which helps hold the head of the humerus in, and tons of stuff like nerves and tendons and other ligs are packed in that area. I say rest then add some work to directly hit the pec minor for a few weeks should clear things up. Shoulders suck.
 
CountryLiftin said:
Could be. When your scap is pushing off the wall it is changing length and position of every other muscle attached to it so it could cause lots of issues. My guess is that weight through the arm into the glenoid combined with a weak pec minor is putting your glenohumeral at a weird position and pinching on one side and pulling out on the other side. Inflammation of tissues then at that point just makes everything in that area worse. You're also probably pushing up into the coracoidacromial lig which helps hold the head of the humerus in, and tons of stuff like nerves and tendons and other ligs are packed in that area. I say rest then add some work to directly hit the pec minor for a few weeks should clear things up. Shoulders suck.
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BTW, what exactly constitutes "work to directly hit the pec minor"?
 
Torobestia said:
<img src="http://anabolicminds.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=97150"/>

BTW, what exactly constitutes "work to directly hit the pec minor"?
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Great question and I wish I had a few more years of school under my belt. You can't really isolate it that I know of, but you need to do lighter weight chest exercises that work it without straining it after initially allowing some healing. Stuff like push-ups, banded flys etc would be good. The key is super light because the rest of your body can handle a lot more weight. I can ask somebody and see if they have any ideas though. If you know of any good PTs around go go in with direct access and ask them to eval and give you some ideas for treatment. You don't have to stay for sessions unless you want.
 
14/02/26

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches. Forgot to do some tricep stretches considering they're feeling tight

STANDING SWISS BAR PRESS
45-8,8
105-6x3 <-- 75 sec between sets

PEC MINOR DIPS
BW-10,10,10 <-- 2-3 second static hold at top and bottom

PUSHUPS superset CHINUPS
20-15,15,18 <-- these would hurt shoulder/chest sometimes
-40x10; BWx10,10; +20x2,1 <-- pretty terrible, but these felt the best, in my shoulder, of all my pullups

SINGLE ARM REAR DELT
95-12,12,12 <-- huge negatives

Some discomfort on the warmups with the bar, but no pain on my working sets. Pain during pushups towards the last reps. Everything else felt pretty good, especially weighted pullups. Expect to see a lot more in my routine. I think I engage all my shoulder and back musculature better with some weight dragging me down other than my body weight.
 
napalm said:
nice work toro, take it easy w the shoulder bro...
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Thanks man.

In related news, I feel like I've lived my whole life with bad posture and as if tonight my upper back muscles suddenly decided to turn on and correct my posture. I'm not saying I look particularly good or better than before wrt my posture, but damn does it feel really weird right now.
 
napalm said:
lol, i say to myself 20 times a day "pull your scapulas back ass..."
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I know what you mean.

I am wondering if these pec minor stretches I did throughout the day plus dips have something to do with the feeling I have right now. That or maybe the weighted pullups did it.
 
14/03/01

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches.

INCLINE BENCH PRESS
45-8
95-8
135-5
165-6x3 <-- 30 seconds between sets
5 second negatives/rep on the last set

PEC MINOR DIPS
BW-10,10,10 <-- 2-3 second static hold at top and bottom

VBAR PUSHDOWNS superset WG LAT PULLDOWNS
80+26lb chain-15,12,12
160-10,10,10

FACEPULLS (2 second eccentric)
75-12,12,12

Great, brisk workout. No pain at all. There's some sort of strange imbalance still as the pec minor dips feel different in each arm, but what's good is I have a stronger pump all over my left side vs. my right. I think that's good, anyways. I did goof up this workout, and that was because I had planned on doing 8 sets, not 6, on the incline. The thought occurred to me as I was driving back home.
 
14/03/03

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches.

BENCH
95-8
135-5
165-5
185-3
210-10x3 <-- 1 to 2 minutes between sets, rest time diminishing as I did more sets. No boards necessary today

BAMBOO BAR BENCH
110-20
130-17,3 (lost the bar), 20

FOOTBALL SKULLCRUSHERS
105-12,10,10

Had to cut my workout short because I only had an hour to do the gym due to other commitments and also to avoid driving after the snow that had cleared and melted on the road froze over. I'll do my rows tomorrow. Glad about my shoulder, though.
 
14/03/05

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches

SWISS BAR OHP
45-8
90-5
105-3
120-11 <-- paused on chest/rep, RPE 9*, Zero pain

superset SEATED CABLE ROWS (2 D-handles)
140-10
200-12,12,12

PEC MINOR DIPS (2-3 count pause on contraction and at rest)
BW-10,10,10

PUSHUPS superset CHINUPS
+45-12,12,3 <-- shoulder hurt bad on 3rd set, shut it down
+35-2,2,2

ROPE TRICEP PUSHDOWN superset CHINUPS
90x8 dropset 65x8 drop 45x8
BW-7

SINGLE ARM REAR DELT MACHINE (5 second negatives)
105-3x10

Nice workout. I tried to go for broke on the OHP, but believe it or not my abs gave out before my arms and shoulders. I now know how bad it is that I've skipped out on ab work, partially because so much of what I did was a pike variation which requires good shoulder stability (and I had none). I'll get back on it, though. Re pushups, I think my neck, pecs, and/or shoulders just tightened up from the pressing and earlier pushups.
 
rob112 said:
Nice workout...and nice to see the shoulders going strong
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Thanks man. I'm also glad about the shoulders. I feel I'm getting better session to session. The day I can do other movements like dips, cgbp, and db benching, I'll be satisfied.
 
14/03/07

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretch, lacross ball mashed around scapula as needed

INCLINE BENCH
95-8
135-5
165-3
180-1 <-- warmup
180-14 <-- no pain, nice

PEC MINOR DIPS
BW-10,10,10 <-- these feel completely fine now. I'll be trying regular dips very soon

VBAR PUSHDOWNS superset WG LAT PULLDOWN
90+26lb chain-12,12,12
170x10, 180x8, 190x8

FACEPULLS (2-3 second eccentric)
80-10,10,10

Another promising workout. I experienced shoulder discomfort in my inclines for all my warmup sets, but surprisingly my 180xamrap set was pain-free. Glad with my number. I'll be bumping the training max up between 10-20lbs. I am maxing all 3 of my lifts right now, especially the incline, just in case I can't do flat bench amrap set so that at least I can push my supplementary movements.
 
Nice inclining, Toro. Hope this means you are on the mend.
 
jinxie said:
Nice inclining, Toro. Hope this means you are on the mend.
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I hope that's the case as well. I'd really like to get back to squatting and deadlifting though. Squatting is really going to suck with this new form I'm playing around with. It's no wonder my low back can "take anything" (my knees, glutes, hips, and shoulder, on the other hand, can't, thanks to my low back having been all messed up) when I not only deadlifted and did bent over rows with my low back but also because I've squatted for 4 years by loading my low back instead of my glutes. Anyways, I am hoping to be able to get back at it this upcoming week.
 
14/03/11

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck stretches

BENCH
95-8
135-5
165-5
185-3 <-- discomfort present in shoulder
215-1 <-- same
230-10 <-- paused on chest every rep

BAMBOO BAR BENCH
130-3,17,17,17 <-- had some serious probs stabilizing the weight today

SEATED CABLE ROW
220-3x10

Had to leave to help my mom run some last minute errands. May do some arm accessories tomorrow. Fairly happy with the workout. I was a bit disappointed with the bench, but I like that I still got 10 with a pause bench each rep and that I didn't get less than 10 with the shoulder not being completely happy today. My left trap and some other muscle was particularly bound up today and interfered with the benching. Sux. I don't know how to adjust my training max after this cycle. Whatever I increase it by, it'll have to be on par with my shoulder press if not a bit less.

Also, I didn't update you guys yesterday, but my chiro has cleared me to squat and pull. Woopie! I might take a conjugate approach with my lower body training with lots of non-free squat variants to not stress my lower back too much and really help me dial in my new form. I'll definitely be throwing in some pause squats, but I'll also throw in bulgarian split squats to keep the quads and hip flexors happy while building up my glutes as well. I'll probably avoid good mornings and stick to reverse hypers, even though I don't like them as much as GMs due to how arbitrary the load on the reverse hyper is.
 
Nice work on the 230 x 10 paused, impressive. Careful with that bamboo that heavy. Great news re clearance from chiro. I just got clearance from the ortho surgeon sorta, lol.
 
Nice work man. I really wana come back benching soon it's killing me...
 
Well, I came in to the gym today with the intention of getting in some squats and deadlifts. After my mobility work limber 11 though I was not feeling it at all lol.

I did reverse hypers for sets of 10, stritct with pause at contraction, up to 180. After 3 sets of 180x10 my low back was done, lol. Will have to figure out something for legs while I bring up my lower back. Work capacity for lower body at zero now. Lots of room for fun :)
 
Swanson52 said:
Increasing work capacity = fun?? ;)
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Well, it's fun in that just about any exercise can bring it up if it's at zero. So I can do shít that I like to do even if it's not necessarily a weak point =p (I won't overuse these movements, I promise!)
 
Pumped about today's session-

14/03/16

UPPER

Simple 6, extra t-spine rolls, neck and trap stretches (I really have the technique nailed down for these stretches if anyone wants pointers)

SWISS sOHP (s for standing)
45-8
95-5
105-4x5 <-- 60 seconds rest per set

CHINUP
BW-7

DIPS (real dips) superset CHINUPS
BW-10,10,6 <-- form was terrible on 3rd set so I stopped
+15-6,5,6

UNI REAR DELT FLYS
80-15,15,15 <-- 5 second negative per rep

So I have officially progressed to being able to do real dips now! It was awesome. While I had zero pain, dips felt funny and there's some coordination (maybe more) problem with doing dips. First set was fine, second set my left arm (that's the problematic arm for your reference) would start flaring out more, and by the third set it was so flared out it looked fairly ridiculous. I tried keeping my shoulder blades together but it wasn't happening. I had no pain doing these but I still decided to not reinforce bad form nor hurt myself. Chinups progressing somewhat. Also, bodyweight @ 270 somehow ...
 
Nice work on the dips. Usually tough for really big guys like you, even without shoulder issues. Do you have access to wide bars, ideally the ones that angle outward at one end. I find if I use that side, and face outward, it's easier for me to keep the scap retracted, and elbows inward. Big fan of dips. Welcome! :) Another thing I've been meaning to mention to you, as well as Sean and GP, is that I find that if I work biceps before bench, OHPs, etc., it helps protect my shoulders because of reduced range of motion from the biceps pump. May be worth experimenting. At the very least, it has my biceps as strong as ever despite my elbow issues.
 
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