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Tossing Weight With Torobestia: Powerlifting Log

Swanson52 said:
Got damn it, this sucks. I hope es no tear buddy.
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Heh, I hope it's not, either.

Honestly, I think I've been doing a poor job at being proactive with my shoulder health. I'm not entirely sure why I let my ego push me to incorporate BB flat benching so soon after my shoulder healed up instead of either slapping on a slingshot (ok, maybe that's a poor idea considering the origin of this journey) or using reverse grip, swiss bar, or football bar bench. To be fair, my avoidance of the swiss bar for bench was due to the fact I can't do DB benching, and the grip is the same so I made a leap in my head to equate the two even though they're so different.

If this is not a tear but is related to shoulder instability and my shoulder rolling forward out of the socket, I need to tackle this issue more directly. It appears I need to unload my teres minor and infra and start strengthening the subscapularis, as these 2 conditions combined can cause exactly what I'm feeling. So this is something I will begin to prioritize starting today while building my pressing via swiss sOHP and swiss, reverse grip, and/or football bar benching.
 
Sean1332 , I know you probably have issues completely different than mine, but I thought I'd mention this on this page and tag you since you have shoulder issues. Having a proper diagnosis is seriously important before embarking on a rehab plan. Before my first break from lifting to rehab my shoulder back in Dec/Jan, I was doing those cuban presses, triple threats, L-lateral raises, etc. All those exercises load the same muscles that may have caused what I have right now (if it's in fact not a labrum tear of some sort). Now I have to do the reverse, lol.
 
Proper diagnosis as in X-ray/MRI? Or what my Chiro says? Just clarifying.

And I really do appreciate the concern. I hope yours isn't a tear, man.
 
Sean1332 said:
Proper diagnosis as in X-ray/MRI? Or what my Chiro says? Just clarifying.
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Whatever is right, haha. I guess what I'm trying to say is to be wary of self diagnosing, which I know you didn't do considering the money you shelled out seeking therapy and seeing Tom Gentilcore.
 
The one thing that would be nice is easier ways to get sports doctors for diagnosis. Like when Smoker went for his shoulder the doctor told him "I'm not sure, could be a tear. We can set up a surgery where I will go in and IF something is wrong I can fix it."

Not saying I disagree at all Toro. I actually admire how you will go and seek professionals and not be stubborn like most guys(myself included). Any tips for people reading(or even just me) as where to go and not to go?
 
Torobestia said:
Whatever is right, haha. I guess what I'm trying to say is to be wary of self diagnosing, which I know you didn't do considering the money you shelled out seeking therapy and seeing Tom Gentilcore.
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Well, you're statement is very true though. The only thing that was addressed by anyone with a college degree, was the depressed shoulders (Tony G). Everything else was a guess based on symptoms (AC joint, shoulder tilt) The Chiro verified those claims, I just didn't realize HOW bad my shoulders were out of position until he started moving my arms around. I'm pretty sure all my self-rehabbing only relieved pain and helped gain mobility, and not address the root issue: posture. I told the chiro "if I so this thing, I can mobility" He responded with: Do it all you want, but you aren't fixing anything permanently.

Have you seen your chiro yet?
 
rob112 said:
The one thing that would be nice is easier ways to get sports doctors for diagnosis. Like when Smoker went for his shoulder the doctor told him "I'm not sure, could be a tear. We can set up a surgery where I will go in and IF something is wrong I can fix it."

Not saying I disagree at all Toro. I actually admire how you will go and seek professionals and not be stubborn like most guys(myself included). Any tips for people reading(or even just me) as where to go and not to go?
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I would definitely not resort to invasive procedures for a diagnosis unless something is horribly wrong, like you're unable to perform every-day activities like reaching for the shampoo, or combing your hair, putting on a pair of boxers, etc, and other alternatives have been exhausted. I'd be scared as hell if my doc told me what that doc told smoker, haha. What I'm trying to say is that for those of us who aren't anatomy experts, it's very important to read, be well informed, ask questions when we're with a doctor or other expert, but to definitely see a professional instead of simply relying on your own diagnosis. Even professional doctors have their own doctors.
 
Sean1332 said:
Well, you're statement is very true though. The only thing that was addressed by anyone with a college degree, was the depressed shoulders (Tony G). Everything else was a guess based on symptoms (AC joint, shoulder tilt) The Chiro verified those claims, I just didn't realize HOW bad my shoulders were out of position until he started moving my arms around. I'm pretty sure all my self-rehabbing only relieved pain and helped gain mobility, and not address the root issue: posture. I told the chiro "if I so this thing, I can mobility" He responded with: Do it all you want, but you aren't fixing anything permanently.

Have you seen your chiro yet?
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Not for my shoulder, no. Now that you mention it I will put in a request to see the other chiro there who is the shoulder guy (my guy deals more with neck and lower back).

Here's another case of problems caused by self-diagnoses. As I mentioned about my deadlifts, I felt soreness in my hip flexor. My inclination was to stertch my quads and hip flexors. However, what I have seems to be anterior glide syndrome (might also have the equivalent in my shoulder). What can aggravate this? Stretching your quad and hip flexor. Supposedly you can still do some exercises but you have to modify your workout to include far more glute strengthening and activation drills.
 
There's Cressey article I posted before where he mentioned to not stretch your hip flexors and to leave them alone. I'll look for it. May be applicable?
 
Sean1332 said:
There's Cressey article I posted before where he mentioned to not stretch your hip flexors and to leave them alone. I'll look for it. May be applicable?
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That's where I found out about it. That and a post he made on a Tnation thread.
 
14/04/08

LOWER

1. Abs 3x10 each
-In and Outs
-Moving Front Plank
-Moving Side Planks
-McGill Situps

2. Joint Mobility x10 each direction
-Neck
-Shoulders
-Small Arms
-Big Arms
-Hip Circles
-Good Mornings (did these x20)
-Trunk Circles
-Quadruped Bent Leg Raises
-Quadruped Bent Leg Circles
-Quadruped Straight Leg Raises

3. Hill sprints, 10 rounds with walking back down a longer, shallower incline as my only rest. Seems like keeping yourself moving is key to not feeling like death.

My core warmup drill was embarrassing. Athletes do that to just warm up. That was like a full-on workout for me, lol.

I don't know if anyone here is an expert on this or on yoga, but let me throw this out to you. On the "in and outs," I have trouble keeping my knees together as I bring my legs/knees to my chest. This is also true for when I try to sit on the floor and sit my chest on my knees. It's basically impossible, so any time I sit on the floor I sit native american style. Anyone know what's probably causing this?
 
Possible poor internal rotation from having strong-ass external rotators of the hip? To be clear, that's a wild-ass guess.
 
herderdude said:
Possible poor internal rotation from having strong-ass external rotators of the hip? To be clear, that's a wild-ass guess.
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I think that's fairly reasonable. It's just interesting because this has been the case my whole life, definitely before I even started lifting.
 
Torobestia said:
I think that's fairly reasonable. It's just interesting because this has been the case my whole life, definitely before I even started lifting.
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Hell, if it's been going on that long, it could even be your bony structure in the hips. Though as discussed earlier today, I'm no authority on the matter
 
So, I'm pretty much completely done with 90% of bench variations for a while now. I tried a number and they all sucked. Except there was one that didn't suck.

14/04/09

UPPER

REVERSE GRIP BENCH
135-5
185-5
185+52lb chain-5
225-1,5 <-- took chain off here, only had chain for 1 set while a friend worked in
250-5
275-3 <-- tried for a second set, but it just felt "off" so I stopped

SEATED ROWS (double D-handles)
230-3x10 <-- last set used some body english

VBAR LAT PULLDOWNS
180-15,15

SINGLE ARM ROPE TRI PULLDOWNS
60x15; 70x15

I did reverse grip after working up on swiss bar and football bar, both of which had my shoulder screaming at around 185lb. RGBP didn't hurt my shoulder at all. In fact, I did feel shoulder discomfort but I'd bet money it was all related to the previous nonsense. Wrists were very comfortable. My grip was SUPER wide, though. Like my fingers were touching the uprights, lol. Also, I am extremely loose at the bottom. It's really awkward to bring the bar down, but it's nice to push the bar up.

Also, my lat is tight as f. It's really annoying because it's a stretch of muscle from the distal to proximal insertion, but it's only about a pencil's-width thick. Must definitely be a nerve thing, I think.

That's all. I have some hope.
 
Swanson52 said:
All this RGBP makes me want to try it out.
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You should, it's pretty sweet. I kind of hate that I might be too f'd up to bench regularly without surgery but I'll put it off as long as I can, and hopefully I can put it off until I get a higher paying job.
 
14/04/11

LOWER

-Super squat hip mob pre
-3x10 ab circuit: in and outs, front moving plank, side moving plank, mcgill situps
-10 rep joint mobility/circles in neck, shoulders, small and big arm circles, good mornings, trunk circles, hip circles, quadruped bent knee raises/hip circles/straight leg kicks
-KB goblet squat, single leg deadlifts

DEADLIFTS
225-5
315-4
405-2
455-1
495-1
315-3

BSS (weight listed is total weight)
+60-4x10 <-- was hard cardiovascular-wise, I'm so out of shape

GHR
BW (hands behind hips)-10
BW (hands at chest)-10
BW (alternate hands in air and hands on chest)-10

Done.

So I have a hard time squatting still. I can't upload this damn vid from my tablet for some reason, but here's the skinny. As I approach the hole of the squat and am getting near parallel, my hips are tilted and not even with my left side being higher in the air than my right. At the same time, my left leg is flaring out to a sumo position with the knee waaaaay out (flaring past toes), whereas my right side my leg doesn't flare as much and my knee more or less tracks with my toes. So clearly my left hip muscles, I would think, are not causing issues. I also have pain squatting behind my left knee (the one ultra flared out and high relative to my right side), and when I do high stepups or the single leg squats with left leg as the rear elevated leg the VMO feels tight and kind of hurts. So, since my left hip is clearly mobile at least in terms of the glute muscles, and my glutes are activated, do I say this is a leg tightness problem? I also wonder if my back is screwed up. Hmm. Anyways, I had planned to squat today but didnt. Chose to deadlift and do single leg squat accessory.
 
So, chiro did some labrum tear tests (not exhaustive), but the three he did showed no signs of any damage or strength differential between my two arms. Weird. Yet I still have great pain flat benching. I tried to do some 3-4" off chest pin presses, but when I got to 225 my shoulder couldn't even tolerate it. I was advised by the chiro to lay off of activities that aggravate my shoulder. This was an explorational activity, but don't plan on seeing me do competition bench variations for the next few weeks. It'll basically be RG variations and overhead pressing.

14/04/16

UPPER

Simple 6, neck stretches, special lat stretch

SWISS sOHP
45-5
95-5
120-5,5,5,5,5,7 <-- 2 minutes between sets
Left maybe 2 reps, for sure 1, in the tank last set, not a grinder

PIN PRESS - failed, shoulder hurt from this

NG PULLUPS
BW-5,5,5

TRICEP PUSHDOWNS superset NG PULLUPS
90x10, 100x8, 120x6,6
+26-4,3,3

OVERHEAD VBAR TRICEP PUSH(DOWN?) superset PULLOVER
150-19,19
210-8,6 <-- bothered shoulder a bit, but relatively easy movement

DB SCAPTIONS superset REAR DELT FLYS (back of palms facing each other)
15-15,15,12
105-15,15,15

Sad about the benching, but the standing overhead press was great. I felt good on it. Triceps feeling really pumped right now. I should have done more but the overhead vbar tricep things are hard as hell to setup on your own, meaning it's hard to get the weight in position to start and it's hard to get it in position to end.
 
Looks like some pretty good workouts despite the pain though. Where exactly does it hurt you? I'm just wondering if we have a similar issue.
 
The chiro have any ideas on what is going on? Great news you did good the tear test and also had a nice work out.
 
rob112 said:
The chiro have any ideas on what is going on? Great news you did good the tear test and also had a nice work out.
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Wow, looks like whatever my last post was got deleted. I swear I responded - I blame my phone. He didn't seem to have any other suggestions other than it was related to the reverse neck arch.

I have an assessment scheduled with another guy, and I might schedule new scans again to see if things have changed depending on how the assessment goes. I can't shake this feeling like my shoulder is not sitting in the socket well for one reason or another (don't want to get into it atm, it'd be a long post).
 
14/04/20

UPPER

Simple 6, some extra, different lat stretches/wall slides

REVERSE GRIP BENCH PRESS
135-10
185-5
215-5
220-6x5 <-- 2 minutes between sets

FOOTBALL SKULLCRUSHERS superset HIGH, FLARED DB ROW
105-12,12,10,11
85-10,10,12,12

OH BAND SINGLE-HAND TRICEP EXTENSION superset DB CURL
mini choked on bottom of rack-24,20,16
40-10,10,10

Had a very great pump everywhere. Shoulder felt real funny doing the reverse grip benches towards the end. It wasn't pain, but it felt like it was moving around and actually not even sitting in the socket at all, lol. Stupid thing. That said bench moved very easily.
 
Repeat of my hill sprints.

- Did core warmup, 3x10, consisting of 1) in and outs, 2) moving front plank, 3) moving side plank, and 4) mcgill situps

- joint mobility x10 in each direction for neck, shoulders, small arm circles, big arm circles, hip circles, goodmornings (did these x20), trunk circles, lunges

- hill sprints x10, rest was walking down the hill. Still applying ~92-95% effort each time, and I've started walking back about half my laps backwards to not continuously load my quads.
 
14/04/24

UPPER

Simple 6, special lat stretch, warmed up neck, shoulders, trunk, hips and hamstrings

SWISS sOHP
45-10
95-5
115-2
125-2
135-4x5 <-- 3 minutes between sets, last set 5th rep was a grinder but no cheating. Probably could have used a longer rest period

NG PULLUPS
BW (263) - 5,6,6,3,3,3*,3*,3*
*for the asterisked sets I did some isometric holds at the top for 3-5 seconds each

JM PRESS
45x10, 95x8, 135x8, 185x5, 185x4 + tricep latbar pushdown 120x8

SINGLE-ARM BTN TRICEP EXTENSION superset PULLOVER
85-5, 7+5 with both arms together
205-6,8

DB SCAPTIONS superset REAR DELT FLYS
20-12,12,12
120-12,12,12

JM bothered my shoulder a little bit. That's all there is for now.
 
Nice pressing Toro. All of this scap work will hopefully help you out big time with increasing ROM and building strength. Good stuff.
 
rob112 said:
Nice pressing Toro. All of this scap work will hopefully help you out big time with increasing ROM and building strength. Good stuff.
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Thanks man. It's good to be back at it with at least something. I know this is a volume PR for sOHP, so that's nice. Re my shoulders, I forgot to mention I went to an evaluation with this guy who does something between ART and Graston (manual soft tissue therapy). He said my rotator cuffs were very strong and my mobility is fairly good, so at least my prospects for recovery seem to be good. I think I need to really start focusing more on mfr on my shoulders around where he hit me, like the coracoid process, long head of the bicep, and my shoulder itself. Easier said than done, though, lol.
 
On one hand it is awesome you are doing great, and on the other it is like "what the hell is going on!?" Haha. You seem to have a good plan though and are going to great lengths to fix this. Kudos to you.
 
14/04/30

UPPER

Simple 6, special lat stretch

REVERSE GRIP BENCH PRESS
135-10
185-5
205-2
230-2
245-5,5,5,7 <-- 3 minutes between sets, 1-2 reps left in tank last set

FOOTBALL SKULLCRUSHERS superset HIGH INCLINE, FLARED DB ROW
115-10,10,10,9
95-12,12,12,12

OH BAND TRI EXTENSION superset DB CURLS
blue band-14,9,10
45-10,10,9

LAT RAISES
30-12,12
started bothering my trap/infraspinatus on second set, probably because I was shrugging these a bit. I wont do these again, not like this anyways.

Very, very happy today. I had zero pain or discomfort throughout my workout, at least until after the lat raises. Things seem to be moving in a positive direction. Also, no feeling of the shoulder rolling around in the socket like last time, lol.
 
Torobestia said:
Very, very happy today. I had zero pain or discomfort throughout my workout, at least until after the lat raises. Things seem to be moving in a positive direction. Also, no feeling of the shoulder rolling around in the socket like last time, lol.
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Good to hear big guy
 
14/05/02

LOWER

Super squat hip sequence pre, Limber 11 (ITB, adductors, quads, and rectus femoris were TIGHT. Hip flexors and piriformis were already flexible)

SQUATS
135-5
225-4
275-10x5 <-- 60-90 seconds rest between sets

DB BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT
70-7 <-- total weight, reps per leg shown. It was too hard for my quads, they were completely burnt out, so I stopped

REVERSE HYPERS
180-3x12

CORE GIANT SET 3x10
-in and outs
-moving front plank
-mcgill situps

Christ, I was completely done after the squats. Took about a 10-20 minute breathing break before proceeding to the rest of my workout which I decided to cut early. I took my supplementary work seriously but I didn't have enough to really crush it. First barbell squat workout in 2 months, and it's actually my first squat workout in 4 months if you exclude the 1 day where I couldn't even get to my working set because my hip hurt during warmups. Not too shabby.
 
Sean1332 said:
Good work getting back into it. Always sucks.
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Thanks, man. I also made the mistake of not bringing something to film with, which was a poor mistake. I'll try to get some film next time to see depth and to see if I am shifting around. I certainly didnt feel like I was shifting around today, not after having done limber 11.
 
Bad Doms, and it's only the first day. I dread tomorrow, lol.
 
14/05/05

UPPER

Simple 6, joint mobility

SWISS sOHP
45-8
85-5
105-3
125-2
135-1,1
150-4
150-6 <-- PR

NG PULLUPS superset JM PRESS
+26-3,2,2+1,2
135x8, 185x6, 205x4,3

SINGLE ARM BTN TRI EXTENSION superset WG LAT PULLDOWN
85-6,7,7
200-6,6,4

DB SCAPTIONS superset REAR DELT FLYS
25-3x10
135-3x10

[video=youtube;6zGywdO-Drk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zGywdO-Drk[/video]

God, I've been needing a PR real bad lately. Glad to have gotten a good one like this.
 
Breaking out the RED font, uh oh! Good work toro.
 
14/05/14

UPPER

Simple 6 (modified the chest stretch so that I'm only holding on to a rack by my hand and not supporting any other part of my body on it, and it feels more effective)

INCLINE BENCH (2-3 min rest max between sets)
95-8
135-5
185-6,6
205-4,4
Mechanical Dropset (no rest)
205x5, 3-boardx2, 4-boardx3, 5-boardx3
Chest felt 55" large

FOOTBALL SKULLCRUSHERS
125-6,6,5

HIGH INCLINE FLARED DB ROWS
105-12,12,10

OH BAND TRI EXT superset DB CURLS
blue band-14,9,8
50-8,8,8

FACEPULLS (2 second eccentric)
75-10 rest-pause 5 rest-pause 4

Went in planning on a less aggressive workout, but the inclines felt alright so I decided to play around with it and see how much I could push it.
 
aceroni said:
I really like that board drop set toro.

Solid rows too
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It has my chest feeling all sorts of new things right about now.
 
DAMN GOOD LOG BRO!! Im still trying to catch up to what this has to offer. Great detailed info so far. Thanks for sharing bro!
 
HardCore1 said:
DAMN GOOD LOG BRO!! Im still trying to catch up to what this has to offer. Great detailed info so far. Thanks for sharing bro!
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Hey HC. Thanks. I wish I could offer more, but I hit several road blocks early this year that have set me back a lot, and honestly I'm still dealing with a few of them. I've also been experiencing some other real life stuff I'd rather not get into here. I've just developed all these physical, mental, and emotional roadblocks and haven't really been accomplishing a lot here. I swear I am trying, though. I will work harder to be back into a regular something by June.
 
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