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Building Back Up

GreenMachineX said:
Weight: 214.8

Standing OHP 5x5x130
Pull-ups 5 x 3
CG Bench 4 x 6/6/5/6 x 155
BB Row 4 x 6 x 155
Incline Machine Press 3 sets
DB Lateral Raise 3 sets

Something is up…achy joints, weak, and my left knee feels really unstable even on barbell rows. It started when I did leg extensions the other day, just a little pain in the ACL area, but getting worse. Did I crash my e2, or deficit too large? I don’t really feel anxious or other low e2 symptoms. Hard to sleep, but I’m still only using 1.5mg lunesta.
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I think it’s just life in our 40s lol. I randomly get stinging knee pain that subsides just as quickly.
 
SkRaw85 said:
I think it’s just life in our 40s lol. I randomly get stinging knee pain that subsides just as quickly.
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lol 😔

Do you ever get a “shock-like” sensation in your knees, or in the surrounding structures? Almost like a zap, or current running through it?
 
GreenMachineX said:
lol 😔

Do you ever get a “shock-like” sensation in your knees, or in the surrounding structures? Almost like a zap, or current running through it?
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Yep. Blew out my left knee meniscus when I was a young lad. Thats the one that gets the random feels every now and again. Can be induced from atmospheric pressure changes, fatigue and overload. She’s a fickle biotch.
 
I have seen a few people say things like "if it hurts, stop" in regards to lifting etc and I'm like wtf are you talking about. I would have died by age 14 or would still be in bed. something hurts every day but I think its been that way since my first torn rotate cuff as a kid tbh. not sure what its like to be painfree and not sure I care to know!
 
SkRaw85 said:
Yep. Blew out my left knee meniscus when I was a young lad. Thats the one that gets the random feels every now and again. Can be induced from atmospheric pressure changes, fatigue and overload. She’s a fickle biotch.
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Do you think I should get a brace to wear for every day life while it’s healing back up?

The pain is now above the knee cap, so it seems unrelated to the ACL. Patellofamilular ligament maybe?
 
Weight: 211.0

Second night with a sore throat but goes away during day. Feeling a bit sore all over in places I shouldn’t. To train, or not to train…that is the question.

Edit: well, decided to just take another day off. The telltale symptoms of whatever this every-6-month bug is are here. Haven’t had a full week off in quite a while, but I guess that’s what’s happening.

I don’t feel bad enough to get steps though…should I still shoot for 5k or something per day?
 
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Hope you feel better soon. I’d definitely try to get some steps in; the bloodflow can help recovery and the achey body if you don’t feel like it’s hard to walk. Basically if you can, you should, like training. And if not, don’t stress it. But that’s how I decide what to do - what does my body seem able to do?

I would try not to wear a brace for more than 1/2 days. Not at all if I wasn’t worried about the actual stability/getting hurt worse by not wearing it. Braces provide immediate support if you need to do a thing, but cause weakness over time.
 
GreenMachineX said:
Do you think I should get a brace to wear for every day life while it’s healing back up?

The pain is now above the knee cap, so it seems unrelated to the ACL. Patellofamilular ligament maybe?
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Mine was when I was 20, being a bit more invincible at that age recovery tools were neglected, mostly just rest and PT. At our golden age, I would be more inclined to use tools in everyday life to aid recovery. I vote yes.
 
I'm still in the camp of rub some dirt on it and "act as if". I apply "act as if" as much as possible in life. I have caught myself with a hitch in my walk still here and there. Yesterday I had a LOT of walking to do through the store so I focused on trying to make both legs operate as identically as possible to not allow my self to nurse the injury too much. basically "acting as if" i had no injury. Today I'm feeling even better than yesterday. injuries are fake. ego is forever.
 
Thanks for the input gents. Knee does feel better today as the day went on, but still feeling rundown/mildly sick. We’ll see if it pans out tomorrow. No training until I’m sure.

No issue with 4k steps so far, just slow.
 
Hyde said:
Hope you feel better soon. I’d definitely try to get some steps in; the bloodflow can help recovery and the achey body if you don’t feel like it’s hard to walk. Basically if you can, you should, like training. And if not, don’t stress it. But that’s how I decide what to do - what does my body seem able to do?

I would try not to wear a brace for more than 1/2 days. Not at all if I wasn’t worried about the actual stability/getting hurt worse by not wearing it. Braces provide immediate support if you need to do a thing, but cause weakness over time.
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Totally get that. I’d prob use it when out or at work. The catch to not using it would probably be other areas overcompensating to correct gait and causing disruptions elsewhere. Which also sucks lol. I learned that hard when I first injured discs and had sciatica for 2 months.
 
SkRaw85 said:
Totally get that. I’d prob use it when out or at work. The catch to not using it would probably be other areas overcompensating to correct gait and causing disruptions elsewhere. Which also sucks lol. I learned that hard when I first injured discs and had sciatica for 2 months.
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If it’s not healed by the vacation in February, I’ll get a brace then because we’ll average 10-15 miles per day.
 
GreenMachineX said:
If it’s not healed by the vacation in February, I’ll get a brace then because we’ll average 10-15 miles per day.
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Yes, that’s exactly when you’d use it. It makes sense for people going to work who need to stay on their feet, but just take it off when you get home. And if you had a desk job, you might try not to use it at all.
 
GreenMachineX said:
Squat 5 x 5/5/5/5/8 x 255
Single Leg Curls 3 sets
Triceps Pressdowns 3 sets
DB Curls 3 sets
Cable Shrugs 4 sets
Machine Preacher Curls 2 sets

Knee sleeves on squats are like a cheat code I felt so much stronger, steadier, and my form a so much more quad dominant instead of hips/quads. Good call gents.
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You know, I think I heard that elevated heel squats are a good way to shift to a more quad dominant focus. I've never tried it, but if you're looking to target the quads more fully then you could try it?

Also another general thought given you have to do so much joint/fatigue management:

Have you tried the RP strength app? I think you might benefit from the way it factors in joint soreness and recovery, and adjusts the weights/sets accordingly. I've been using for just over a month now (currently finishing up my first deload week) and I find it to be pretty accurate on what I can handle.

Dustin07 said:
knee sleeves and hook grip are the two biggest eye openers I can remember in the past 15 years. Coach kept watching me fail like 215 on power cleans. kept saying hook...hook grip it. finally I gave it a try. 215, 225, and like 230 that same session lol.
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Meant to quote your other post, but yes, I always feel more lat engagement with double overhand grips on deads / SLDLs, etc. Little differences in grips or angles definitely do change muscle emphasis for sure.
 
Segansational said:
You know, I think I heard that elevated heel squats are a good way to shift to a more quad dominant focus. I've never tried it, but if you're looking to target the quads more fully then you could try it?

Also another general thought given you have to do so much joint/fatigue management:

Have you tried the RP strength app? I think you might benefit from the way it factors in joint soreness and recovery, and adjusts the weights/sets accordingly. I've been using for just over a month now (currently finishing up my first deload week) and I find it to be pretty accurate on what I can handle.
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Interesting. I haven’t tried it, but I’ll keep it in my back pocket after this 5x5 block I’m running (if unsuccessful). This 5x5 was going very well until I got sick 😡
 
Hyde said:
Hope to hear you feel better soon! Hang in there and keep some sodium coming in if food isn’t.
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Thanks. I’m hitting >3g sodium according to MacroFactor, aside from salting food to taste. Potassium is at 3500mg usually these days.

Had a few hours today where I felt normal enough to jam on my guitar, and even turned on the metal driving my daughter somewhere. Glimpses of normality shining through (I usually have no desire to listen to music when ill).
 
Segansational said:
Meant to quote your other post, but yes, I always feel more lat engagement with double overhand grips on deads / SLDLs, etc. Little differences in grips or angles definitely do change muscle emphasis for sure.
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so just to clarify, I meant specifically when in hook grip, for me at least there is something in the hook grip that grabs the lats better-
 
GreenMachineX said:
Hook grip, but not regular double over hand, engages your lats more?
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yeah that was the point I was trying to make, it dawned on me doing power cleans when my 1 rep went from like 210 to over 230 in a single session by simply applying hook then I realized how much more lat engagement I was getting with hook grip.
 
Hyde said:
I feel it does. Or rather, you cannot possibly not have them fully lengthened - it very naturally helps you engage them the entire pull.
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Now that you say that, is it hook grip, or is it simply not having to actually grip the bar? My lats are engaged much more so using straps…same thing?
 
GreenMachineX said:
Now that you say that, is it hook grip, or is it simply not having to actually grip the bar? My lats are engaged much more so using straps…same thing?
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For myself, straps can let me coast - I have to make sure I engage my lats using straps. I can quite well because it’s DOH, but I need to think about it. With hookgrip, I think you naturally want to tighten everything in the hand, which always helps trigger you to squeeze everything else.

The #1 cue I give people I don’t know to help improve performance on any lift is “squeeze the bar”, because it just helps everything a bit.
 
Hyde said:
For myself, straps can let me coast - I have to make sure I engage my lats using straps. I can quite well because it’s DOH, but I need to think about it. With hookgrip, I think you naturally want to tighten everything in the hand, which always helps trigger you to squeeze everything else.

The #1 cue I give people I don’t know to help improve performance on any lift is “squeeze the bar”, because it just helps everything a bit.
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Interesting. I’ll pay attention to it more this week when I start up again.
 
if I understand what Hyde is saying, that is one of the reasons I personally don't like to use straps when I am moving heavy weight. pretty sure I mentioned it before but RDL's at say 315 is fine, but if I'm pulling from the ground in the 405+ range then I noticed my form goes to $hit. It's probably a bit to do with that lat engagement, but I'm more likely to lose my tspine position with straps.

I also haven't noticed straps adding to my ability to break the ground with a heavy pull. My buddy for sure, his weak point is his grip on a big pull. for me grip doesn't give out until I'm running higher rep RDL's or something like 275-315+ type stuff for sets.
 
Dustin07 said:
if I understand what Hyde is saying, that is one of the reasons I personally don't like to use straps when I am moving heavy weight. pretty sure I mentioned it before but RDL's at say 315 is fine, but if I'm pulling from the ground in the 405+ range then I noticed my form goes to $hit. It's probably a bit to do with that lat engagement, but I'm more likely to lose my tspine position with straps.

I also haven't noticed straps adding to my ability to break the ground with a heavy pull. My buddy for sure, his weak point is his grip on a big pull. for me grip doesn't give out until I'm running higher rep RDL's or something like 275-315+ type stuff for sets.
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Exact same. Straps are not helpful for me unless grip becomes a problem.
 
Hyde said:
For myself, straps can let me coast - I have to make sure I engage my lats using straps. I can quite well because it’s DOH, but I need to think about it. With hookgrip, I think you naturally want to tighten everything in the hand, which always helps trigger you to squeeze everything else.

The #1 cue I give people I don’t know to help improve performance on any lift is “squeeze the bar”, because it just helps everything a bit.
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Solid advice. Dave Tate teaches squeezing the bar on squats. Starting with a karate chop type start with the hand to the bar then rolling the hand down to the bar to get a full grip and squeeze it. I’ve also seen a lot of people preach squeezing the bar on bench or squeezing the pinkie to help tuck the elbows. There’s tons of cues for each lift but the easiest to teach is definitely squeezing the bar and keeping your body tight.
 
Weight: 210.0

Surprised I didn’t lose any more weight since I did 9k steps and my Fitbit said I burned 3900 kcal total, and I ate 2600kcal. Who knows.

Feeling much better during the day time. At night, my throat hurts so bad, and super stuffy/runny, and a cough clearing it all out for the first couple hours. At 9am now, I feel just about normal with only residual stuffiness.

Light-moderate upper body session today?
 
Light/moderate Upper workout:
Standing OHP top set 5x135
Pull-ups 4x4
CG Bench top set 5x155
Horizontal pull-up 3x5
DB Lateral Raises

Went pretty well, all things considered. I kind of held back so I made it through everything. No issues other than getting very hot at one point which was weird.
 
Weight: 209.0.

Woosh as @MrKleen73 calls it! Feeling a lot better again also. Sore throat about 80% better last night. Less chilled this morning. Sinuses draining a little better.

Deadlifts and arms later.
 
Deadlift Top Set 2 x 365
Leg Press Top Set 8 x 360
DB Curls 4 sets
Triceps Pressdowns 3 sets
Shrugs 3 sets

Still felt a little fatigue on the deadlifts and leg press, but my ACL repaired knee really doesn’t feel good. Set an appointment to see my physical therapist/chiropractor.

Do any of y’all feel super tight hamstrings when extending on leg press??
 
what kinda leg press are you using? it makes a HUGE difference to me. I have access to like 4 or 5 different ones and I really only like 2 of them.

GreenMachineX said:
Do any of y’all feel super tight hamstrings when extending on leg press??
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NO, not at all. for me the reason I do a lot of leg press (when I do them) at light weight is the fully eccentric portion as I bring the knees to the chest and stretch the hammies, adductors, warm up the knees, ankles, everythig really. at full extension the only concern I ever have is when I see dudes snapping into full lockout trying to blow their knee caps into the ceiling.

My wife has extremely tight hammies though, she and I have different issues in the squats. I can bend over and touch my toes but deal with very tight adductors. it would take her a month of yoga to do that lol . I usually warm up with straight legged deadlifts with an empty bar dropping it until the bar is on the ground with my fingers wrapped around it for a good stretch.
 
Dustin07 said:
what kinda leg press are you using? it makes a HUGE difference to me. I have access to like 4 or 5 different ones and I really only like 2 of them.


NO, not at all. for me the reason I do a lot of leg press (when I do them) at light weight is the fully eccentric portion as I bring the knees to the chest and stretch the hammies, adductors, warm up the knees, ankles, everythig really. at full extension the only concern I ever have is when I see dudes snapping into full lockout trying to blow their knee caps into the ceiling.

My wife has extremely tight hammies though, she and I have different issues in the squats. I can bend over and touch my toes but deal with very tight adductors. it would take her a month of yoga to do that lol . I usually warm up with straight legged deadlifts with an empty bar dropping it until the bar is on the ground with my fingers wrapped around it for a good stretch.
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I haven’t been doing leg press long enough to know which ones I prefer or which are which, except the one at the other gym I go to occasionally is best. The ones at my local Crunch are all similar.

I wonder if tight hamstrings are the source of my knee pain/instability now?
 
GreenMachineX said:
I wonder if tight hamstrings are the source of my knee pain/instability now?
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no idea but I wouldn't be surprised. I did start to google it and before I finished typing tight hamstrings it auto filled with knee pain though lol.

My preferred leg presses are pretty much always plate loaded. I feel like I get better engagement and can focus where I want to target with where I place my feet. gives me a good squish at the bottom when I need to stretch and warm things up too.

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Tight hammies can yank on both the knees as well as low back; it’s a common problem that jacks up many people (self-included). You definitely have to get them loosened up and keep them that way, as they will re-tighten after every lower body session, or activity really.

Stronger hammies add stability to the knee, but tight ones will hurt it. And unfortunately, making them stronger means they will get tighter after if you don’t mobilize them somehow.

I find a lot of bang for buck in things like empty bar RDLs like Dustin said, toe-touch stretches, split squats and couch stretches (especially rear foot-elevated on a bench), and one-leg deadlifts focusing on internal rotation of the hip (IE, when you drive the one leg back, make sure to keep your adductors close and don’t let the hip open up to make it easier). These are just bodyweight or with a very light weight, more for cueing focus, and can be done at home or preWO quickly as a dynamic lower warmup.
 
Dustin07 said:
no idea but I wouldn't be surprised. I did start to google it and before I finished typing tight hamstrings it auto filled with knee pain though lol.

My preferred leg presses are pretty much always plate loaded. I feel like I get better engagement and can focus where I want to target with where I place my feet. gives me a good squish at the bottom when I need to stretch and warm things up too.

View attachment 257888
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Oh, yes, all the leg presses I use are plate loaded.

I had more to say, but apparently it erased it and now I don’t remember at 5am lol
 
Weight: 208.8

I can tell I’m getting better by my sleep 😂 Waking up earlier then I need to again, but only by a few minutes so it’s ok. Sore throat gone, aches and chills gone. Sinus congestion bad, mild cough…only productive first thing in the morning though.
IMG_5392.webp
 
It really sounds like you're off to a great start in 2026 here. With a 208 sighting on the scale of you think about it... 199 is within reach pretty dang fast.

(I can't remember what your goal is )
 
Dustin07 said:
It really sounds like you're off to a great start in 2026 here. With a 208 sighting on the scale of you think about it... 199 is within reach pretty dang fast.

(I can't remember what your goal is )
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Thanks.

New adjusted goal is 195, which should put me about 20% BF. I need to do more recent measurements though, because the last waist measurements I did were after a big breakfast of 120g oats, pea protein and 4 eggs. That breakfast always bloats my stomach a bit.
 
I haven’t posted about this yet, but I’ve had issues with isolating my traps for a while now in training, which is why I do those super light cable shrugs. But, yesterday, I tried the shrug machine backwards like I’ve seen some do, and I was really able to isolate my traps without excessive forearms involvement and a great pump. They are thoroughly sore today also, so I’m pleased with this.

@Hyde About the knee issue…tight hamstrings can cause knee problems, which I have, but, we’ve also established my hamstrings are super weak, which could also contribute to knee pain and ACL tears. Any thoughts?
 
GreenMachineX said:
I haven’t posted about this yet, but I’ve had issues with isolating my traps for a while now in training, which is why I do those super light cable shrugs. But, yesterday, I tried the shrug machine backwards like I’ve seen some do, and I was really able to isolate my traps without excessive forearms involvement and a great pump. They are thoroughly sore today also, so I’m pleased with this.

@Hyde About the knee issue…tight hamstrings can cause knee problems, which I have, but, we’ve also established my hamstrings are super weak, which could also contribute to knee pain and ACL tears. Any thoughts?
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Definitely train them. Hams can get tight just from sitting etc, so you will always have to do some mobility - it’s definitely worth it to get them stronger.
 
Update: Weight 209.0 still.

BF: 23-24% using neck and waist measurements with weight in Grok’s Navy calculation.

If I can get to 195 without losing any lean mass, I should be 18% BF which is my goal.
 
olympic lifters tend to build pretty big traps since really at least half of the job is pulling up. you have snatch, and cleans, high pulls, etc. its one of the reasons I love to throw my power cleans in on those days but I admit its hard to "recommend" it without seeing you do the movement because one thing I notice with with a lot of unpracticed oly lifters is they tend to reverse curl the bar into a power clean instead of utilizing the explosive second pull (which honestly is full body, quads, hammies, core, traps, etc) and then both miss out on the trap engagement, and risk injury.

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GreenMachineX said:
New adjusted goal is 195, which should put me about 20% BF.
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seems pretty dang reasonable from where you are man. I was about 207-208 at peak, back down to 195 now and work towards 185 ish. I think unless you kick up gear use you're inevitably going to have some lean mass loss but taking your time as you know you're going to yield pretty damn good results overall.
 
Dustin07 said:
olympic lifters tend to build pretty big traps since really at least half of the job is pulling up. you have snatch, and cleans, high pulls, etc. its one of the reasons I love to throw my power cleans in on those days but I admit its hard to "recommend" it without seeing you do the movement because one thing I notice with with a lot of unpracticed oly lifters is they tend to reverse curl the bar into a power clean instead of utilizing the explosive second pull (which honestly is full body, quads, hammies, core, traps, etc) and then both miss out on the trap engagement, and risk injury.

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seems pretty dang reasonable from where you are man. I was about 207-208 at peak, back down to 195 now and work towards 185 ish. I think unless you kick up gear use you're inevitably going to have some lean mass loss but taking your time as you know you're going to yield pretty damn good results overall.
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So back in my 20’s, my entire pull workout was strictly power cleans, hang cleans, bb rows, pull-ups and farmers walks. I never perfected my power cleans form to go really heavy, but hook gripped back then around 185-205 for reps, and farmer walked 250lb per hand for 50m. My traps were my best asset back then. But these days, after the ACL injury and current knee thing, I’m just done with explosive stuff 😭

Thanks for the encouragement. I do think it is possible to hit this goal. Supposedly, if I can lose another 20-25 from where I am now, I could have the “golden ratio”.
 
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