dmw

[dmw]

Put today's delayed lower body off until tomorrow. Too much shit going on.

[dmw]

Sunday April 13

Squat

3 sets of 8 @ 135

Cleans

5 x 135
3 x 185
2 x 205

Deadlift

5 x 315
1 x 405

seated calf raises

Almost didn't go in because my legs hurt so much. I feel better now, but the single at 405 was harder than it should have been, so I chose to fight another day. I am really looking forward to a day where I can go in and everything feels good.

[Matthew]

Too bad the dumbbell bench is no good.
The only other suggestion I had was push ups. Try all kinds of different hand positions, including next to each other/on top of each other. See if that takes the work (and the pain) out of the shoulder area.

How are you going to set up next week, since you put thursday off to friday and friday off to sunday?

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Too bad the dumbbell bench is no good.
The only other suggestion I had was push ups. Try all kinds of different hand positions, including next to each other/on top of each other. See if that takes the work (and the pain) out of the shoulder area.

How are you going to set up next week, since you put thursday off to friday and friday off to sunday?

That's a good question! I'll probably try and see if I can get right back on schedule. I have a softball tournament this weekend, so if I stay behind I would have to miss a day.

[dmw]

After thinking it over last night, I've decided to shut it down for a week again and see if I can get healthy. I also have a lot of school and work and dad stuff going on this week anyway. I'm not happy about this, and am really upset at how much my strength levels have stalled or regressed in the past month or so. Hopefully I'll soon be back where I was late last year. So it goes.

[Ian Kay]

I'm wondering if you have some scapular locking issues. Sometimes on dips, the 'sagging into the bars' position itself locks your scaps back. On any kind of bench: barbell, dumbbell, close, wide... you have to consciously slam those scaps back and down.

Perhaps that's why sometimes lighter weight is ok too... you can stay locked. But once you get into higher reps or higher weight, your form loosens, and the scaps probably start moving around, leaving your shoulder open for the bad stuff.

Just a thought!

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Ian Kay

I'm wondering if you have some scapular locking issues. Sometimes on dips, the 'sagging into the bars' position itself locks your scaps back. On any kind of bench: barbell, dumbbell, close, wide... you have to consciously slam those scaps back and down.

Perhaps that's why sometimes lighter weight is ok too... you can stay locked. But once you get into higher reps or higher weight, your form loosens, and the scaps probably start moving around, leaving your shoulder open for the bad stuff.

Just a thought!

I really think it's tendinitis because there's pain if I stretch certain ways as well. I'm so convinced I'm going to wait a little longer b/c the only thing that's cured that with me before is time. IF it keeps hurting I'm going to go to the doctor.

The sad thing is if I could get an anti-inflammatory scrip it would probably heel in no time. However, a family doc is not likely to give me something just so I can get back to benching.

[Ian Kay]

Originally Posted by dmw

I really think it's tendinitis because there's pain if I stretch certain ways as well. I'm so convinced I'm going to wait a little longer b/c the only thing that's cured that with me before is time. IF it keeps hurting I'm going to go to the doctor.

The sad thing is if I could get an anti-inflammatory scrip it would probably heel in no time. However, a family doc is not likely to give me something just so I can get back to benching.

I have no doubt that you have inflammation... but I'm saying the cause of the inflammation might be the lack of scapular stabilization. If it happens regularly (the scap movement during heavy pressing) then eventually you'll end up with some inflammation that won't go away easily. Perhaps the dips lock you into the position and stop the 'rubbing', wherever it may be. Also, even with prescription-strength anti-inflammatories, it doesn't fix the source of the problem, thus not preventing it from happening again.

That's all I was saying.

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Ian Kay

I have no doubt that you have inflammation... but I'm saying the cause of the inflammation might be the lack of scapular stabilization. If it happens regularly (the scap movement during heavy pressing) then eventually you'll end up with some inflammation that won't go away easily. Perhaps the dips lock you into the position and stop the 'rubbing', wherever it may be. Also, even with prescription-strength anti-inflammatories, it doesn't fix the source of the problem, thus not preventing it from happening again.

That's all I was saying.

Well, maybe you are right, though I don't know much about that kind of stuff. Would that problem also cause pain stretching, swinging a baseball bat, and overhead pressing?

When I bench, I spend a lot of time setting up with the shoulder blades pulled together.

[Ian Kay]

Originally Posted by dmw

Well, maybe you are right, though I don't know much about that kind of stuff. Would that problem also cause pain stretching, swinging a baseball bat, and overhead pressing?

When I bench, I spend a lot of time setting up with the shoulder blades pulled together.

The pain itself could be felt while doing all sorts of things. But the pain is simply the result of the problem. Like if you cut your foot on a piece of glass... it would hurt to walk, but it's not walking that was the source problem, it was the glass.

Even if you set up properly, you can lose the scapular positioning mid-lift. Especially with heavier weight.

Keep in mind that I'm only speculating as to the cause. The fact that you can do dips without pain is what made me wonder. Another possibility is that you go to parallel on the dips, not deep. This would mimick a floor press instead of a to-the-chest press, and thus would take stress off the shoulder.

[dmw]

Originally Posted by Ian Kay

The pain itself could be felt while doing all sorts of things. But the pain is simply the result of the problem. Like if you cut your foot on a piece of glass... it would hurt to walk, but it's not walking that was the source problem, it was the glass.

Even if you set up properly, you can lose the scapular positioning mid-lift. Especially with heavier weight.

Keep in mind that I'm only speculating as to the cause. The fact that you can do dips without pain is what made me wonder.

Well, I appreciate you input and will certainly do some research and see if it's a possibility.

[liftintexas]

dropping in, man. sorry to hear that you're still up against some injuries/pain. hope it resolves quickly.

[dmw]

Originally Posted by liftintexas

dropping in, man. sorry to hear that you're still up against some injuries/pain. hope it resolves quickly.

Thanks. It makes me mad to look back at how good things were going when I started this log! Hope all is well with you.

[dmw]

Well, I have a new plan. In the midst of this week off, I don't know if my shoulder's better or not b/c generally it doesn't hurt if I'm not benching or OH pressing. I will test it Monday. If it's not better, I'm going to do dips / chins on Mon and Thur. Then I'll do squat dominant workout Tue and Dead dominant Fri.

On dip / chin day I'll do rotator stuff if there's no pain.

I can't take the weightlifting class after all, so at least I won't have to do some cookie cutter program for a class.

[dmw]

Monday, April 21

Chins and dips supersetted at bodyweight-

x 8
x 8
x 8
x 4
x 4
x 4


facepulls @ 80

x 8
x 8

cable crossovers @ 50

x 8
x 8

abs

[liftintexas]

how was the pain level?

[dmw]

Originally Posted by liftintexas

how was the pain level?

Doesn't hurt at all on dips. It hurts on bench and overhead stuff only. It feels better in general now, but I'm pretty in tune with my body and I don't feel like it's 100%. I hate not benching and I hate doing chins and dips, but I'm going to do them for a while and keep working on squats and deads on other days.

I'm trying to tell myself I've benched my whole life, so it won't kill me to take some time off.

[liftintexas]

sounds like a smart move, but I understand the feeling of not doing all you want - hard to do.