Blenderate's quest for 242 raw dominance

[Blenderate]

great to hear dude. I have been suggestiong an inversiontable for a long time, have you given one a try yet?

I will discuss it with the physical therapist when I see him. From what I've read, inversion therapy can make some kinds of back pain worse, so I'm not going to do it unless I either read some solid scientific support or get approval from somebody I trust who treats back pain professionally.

[Newbtime]

I will discuss it with the physical therapist when I see him. From what I've read, inversion therapy can make some kinds of back pain worse, so I'm not going to do it unless I either read some solid scientific support or get approval from somebody I trust who treats back pain professionally.

good idea....all i know is i wouldnt waste my time doing it if it didnt help me personally, im going to my spine specialist tomorrow for a follow up, ill ask him the same thing.

I was pretty surprised when you told us what the first doctor said to you... to me it didnt make sense.... you went from squatting 672 easily and pulling 688 with more in you in a full meet, to being so terrible you had to stop lifting, without really even doing much of anything that could be found extremely stressful - because you were dieting the whole time.

[BEhave]

I saw the second spinal orthopedist (let's call him "Doc 2") today. Got more x-rays. Doc 2 paints a completely different picture of my condition and options than Doc 1. He seems to think that with some daily physical therapy and maybe some cortisone, I have a good chance of continuing to lift heavy and compete.

Doc 2 also isn't sure that my problem was caused by heavy lifting. He said it could be congenital or could have been the result of a childhood injury (of which I had plenty).

It's mind blowing to me that two different doctors in the exact same specialty can take such different approaches to the same injury.

I have a script for an MRI, which Doc 2 will interpret to give me better guidance on the therapy.

Will yo look at that.....

[Metal Jerk]

my back is ****ed up too i feel your pain

[dtaps24]

I has a happy! Glad to hear it.

[Blenderate]

2010-11-12 Fri.

Pullup - 9, 8, 7, 6, 6

2010-11-13 Sat.

Standing press - 245x1, 265x0, 225x5

Superset:
Dumbbell fly - (50x10)x4
1-arm reverse fly - (30x8)x4

Circiuit, no rest:
Dip - (BW x AMRAP) x 3
Pushup - (BW x AMRAP) x 3
Dumbbell lateral raise - (20 x AMRAP) x 3

[Blenderate]

2010-11-14 Sun.

Pullup - 9, 8, 7, 7, 6
Kettlebell snatch - 70 x 88 in 5:00

[clorox_me]

what's your best strict press?

Good to hear about the back. Are you going to go get a 3rd opinion or just stick with doctor #2?

[Blenderate]

what's your best strict press?

255

Good to hear about the back. Are you going to go get a 3rd opinion or just stick with doctor #2?

I'm going to get the MRI first and then see what Doc 2 tells me. From what I read online, his diagnosis and treatment plan sounds a lot more reasonable.

[breathinglife]

Nice training. Your OH press is beastly. I can push press a lot, but can't do crap on strict press.

[Beastmode88]

255



I'm going to get the MRI first and then see what Doc 2 tells me. From what I read online, his diagnosis and treatment plan sounds a lot more reasonable.

i would make sure not to seek out and/or listen to only what you want to hear. you said doc #1 is rather qualified on the issue as well. just some thoughts.

[Blenderate]

i would make sure not to seek out and/or listen to only what you want to hear. you said doc #1 is rather qualified on the issue as well. just some thoughts.

Let me put it this way: Doc 1 basically gave me no options except to give up powerlifting. At least Doc 2 is willing to give me some treatment to keep me lifting. If the treatment ends up not working, I haven't lost anything except time.

[Heisman2]

Good attitude, Blenderate. Very unlikely your MRI will be so unique that Doc #2 misinterprets something. Interpreting MRIs is what these guys do, lol. Good luck with it, and in the meantime, very nice pressing!

[stallion78]

It is not surprising to me that two doctors gives totally different opinions.

I had a doctor tell me that I never should lift heavy. Of course this was a doctor that did not care for lifting himselves. Well, I disregarded his advice, and it is the best thing I've ever done.

However, if you can afford it, I'd taken even a third opinion, I'd contact the best specialists that deals with the athletes that competes for the US in the olympics, I am sure the US weightlifting team could give you some pointers.

It's just a suggestion, and it could of course cost a lot of money, and most of them time it is a question about exactly that.

And not to sound like a very negative person, but some professionals even if they have an education and a diploma, are not really good. There is a joke that goes something like: "What do you call someone that just barely passed their medical exam?" Doctor!

Keep going, and all the best.

[Blenderate]

2010-11-15 Mon.

AM
Pullup - 9, 8, 8, 7, 6

PM
Circuit:
Deadlift - 315x21, 315x15
Squat - 225x21, 225x15
Kettlebell swing - 70x21

I wanted to do 21-15-9 of all three movements for time, but I felt pretty close to throwing up and my hamstrings were super deep fried. I'll try to do the whole thing again next Monday.

[RAW87]

Hey man,

I feel your pain on being told not to lift any more. I recently had hip surgery. It looks like im due for hip replacements in 5-10 years. In surgery, one thing they did was remove all my cartilage in my right hip. the Doctor told me no squats, deadlifts, leg press, or lunges ever. Although I know his advice, I'm not sure if I will follow it or not. I am thinking about resuming squatting and deadlifting in a month or two when my hip is stronger. It is a tough process to dedice upon. You never know if you made the right decision or not until years later when youre either suffering the consiquenses or are perfectly fine.

[Blenderate]

2010-11-17 Wed.

Bench - (341x5)x3
Standing press - 165x13, 165x9, 165x4
Pullup - 6

I need to be doing my pullups at home early in the day, hours before I go to the gym, or I have nothing left in the tank for them.

[burt128]

Hey man,

I feel your pain on being told not to lift any more. I recently had hip surgery. It looks like im due for hip replacements in 5-10 years. In surgery, one thing they did was remove all my cartilage in my right hip. the Doctor told me no squats, deadlifts, leg press, or lunges ever. Although I know his advice, I'm not sure if I will follow it or not. I am thinking about resuming squatting and deadlifting in a month or two when my hip is stronger. It is a tough process to dedice upon. You never know if you made the right decision or not until years later when youre either suffering the consiquenses or are perfectly fine.

Look at getting hip resurfacing before you go for a full replacement. My wife had the resurfacing done and post-surgery has run two half marathons. Check out the "surfacehippy" group on Yahoo for more information. Sorry for the hijack.

[Blenderate]

2010-11-22 Mon.

Deadlift - 315x21, 315x15
Squat - 225x21
Kettlebell swing - 70x21

[Blenderate]

I've made a decision concerning RUM. I'm not going to do it. I have my MRI CD, but I can't see the doctor to take a look at it and start me on a therapy program until Dec. 7. There's not enough time for me to get healthy enough to lift heavy, and then get my strength back by the time I have to hit the platform.

[Newbtime]

You'll still be there cause Beka is competing right?

[Blenderate]

You'll still be there cause Beka is competing right?

She's not doing it, either, so we're not going.

[Newbtime]

Who is going to remind me to chalk my hands now



Sucks dude, was looking forward to see'in you.

[NephilimRising]

Andy

After looking at numerous ******** threads in the misc and seeing 15-16 year olds who are as developed as 25 year olds, I have concluded I need to get rid of all forms of xenoestrogens in my day to day activities. Seriously girls are starting puberty way earlier and guys are starting puberty much later, it's not a coincidence. What are good moisturizing creams that don't have estrogen mimicers?

[breathinglife]

I hope the therapy works well for you.

[Blenderate]

What are good moisturizing creams that don't have estrogen mimicers?

I have never used moisturizing cream in my life, so I really have no idea. I read something about a guy recently who threw out all of his conventional toiletries and replaced them with "natural" alternatives and didn't really suffer for it. I'm sure you could find more info with a Google search.

[TheOtherRuse]

I haven't been around in a while, so I wanted to respond to a couple of the recent topics in your blog.

First, I'm personally thrilled to just have qualified for Raw Unity. That was my goal, and now that I've met it, I feel less of a need to actually do the competition. Maybe next year, when I can come in stronger. The girls who will be competitive blow the qualifying totals out of the water, and I... Don't.

Second, no matter what Drs. 2 through X say, you still have the best squats on youtube. Platz who?

[Blenderate]

I haven't been around in a while, so I wanted to respond to a couple of the recent topics in your blog.

First, I'm personally thrilled to just have qualified for Raw Unity. That was my goal, and now that I've met it, I feel less of a need to actually do the competition. Maybe next year, when I can come in stronger. The girls who will be competitive blow the qualifying totals out of the water, and I... Don't.

Second, no matter what Drs. 2 through X say, you still have the best squats on youtube. Platz who?

Best wife ever.

[Blenderate]

So, I haven't really been training. Just some playing around with kettlebells and whatnot. I'm seeing orthopedist #2 tomorrow to discuss my MRI and treatment options. I've been having pain in my left elbow again, so I plan on seeing the arm/wrist specialist again. Plus, I've got other health problems that I don't really want to discuss here.

I feel like I complain an awful lot about my problems, but I really don't meant to complain; I'm just explaining my situation.

I went to the USAPL American Open this past weekend to support some of my friends and lifters from SSPT. You can see me here in Alex Kang's video at the 1:00 mark on the right side of the screen:



Alex is a good friend of mine who's made great progress in the 148 class over the past few years. He's going to nail a 500 single-ply squat really soon.

[Blenderate]

Back update:
- L5-S1 disk is degenerated and herniated
- L5 and S1 are hitting each other. This is probably the sharp pain that I feel when squatting a heavy weight.
- L4-L5 disk is slightly herniated, but not enough to cause problems
- I finished my course of 2400mg Ibuprofen per day for 3 weeks. It did nothing.
- I'm going to do at least a month of lumbar PT, twice per week. That has a 75% change of reversing the herniation and removing my pain. If that doesn't work, then the next option is a course of cortisone shots.

Arm update:
- My ROM has been slowly decreasing, and I've been getting an increasing amount of pain around the left elbow (the one where I had multiple surgeries). I'm going to see the surgeon who worked on me later this week to get some xrays and see what's going on. It's possible that this was caused by the daily pullups I had been doing.

Plans:
- Keep training, but keep the load on squats and deadlifts low enough that I can do at least 10 reps.
- Switch to sumo deadlifts, as they place less stress on my lumbar region.
- Take things one day at a time and see where I am in a few months.