Building Curves

[geek23ka]

!!!!

YOLO, laura.

would jennifer thompson go? has she ever gone to RUM? omg caitlyn trout!!! i was just watching a bunch of her videos last night.

[ilovethe80s]

RUM meet sound interesting
great write ups on your squat form and what you are doing to resolve issues. hope you find a solution to the hip pain, uneven loading and urge to look down.

as always amazed at what you are able to bare pain wise. u def love lifting

Thanks Bea! I think my knee issue was somewhat of an unlucky thing but the rest of what I have going on is all my own fault. I didn't rehab my knee properly and I believe this whole chain of events stems from that. It is really catching up with me now though so hopefully can make some progress on it

if you go, I'll come handle you. deal?

same for you B. 909 wrapped @ 148? doable

Omg, that would be amazing. And then if Bea is lifting and Tina wants to come too... this has the potential to be the best weekend ever lol.

eek! RUM! yes! Even I would make effort to see this.
Looking at the floor = pushing yourself away?

I know it's supposed to be a 'bad thing' to do, but I go through phases where it feels most comfortable to look down. I don't have a ton of experience not squatting in front of a mirror though, so maybe I'm just trying to avoid looking in the mirror.

I think you are right on with the pushing away. I felt like it was keeping me upright and back more inline at the time, and that I was able to drive away the floor better by looking at it. Really odd that it came out of nowhere, I can't think of anything else that I am doing differently to cause it.

!!!!

YOLO, laura.

would jennifer thompson go? has she ever gone to RUM? omg caitlyn trout!!! i was just watching a bunch of her videos last night.

I *think* JT sticks USAPL, I could be wrong though. . BTW your new profile pic -GORGEOUS!!

[ilovethe80s]

Last session, based on what I felt in my squats, I was sure that my right side was weaker and I should be concentrating on pushing more through there and doing more work on that side.

Findings at the masseuse yesterday show that I might be totally wrong, in which case I would be adding to the imbalance. Why does this have to be so friggin difficult lol.

The following shows my injury sites and which sides they fell on. The tension is on the surgery side, but the explosions happen (usually with very little warning) on the opposing side.



These are the results of tests done by both myself and my masseuse:

1. Muscle health (masseuse)
Right: Right glute has a lot of congestion/ adhesions but the rest of the of leg is healthy.
According to masseuse, my right ham is doing "outstandingly well" which leads me to believe that maybe I haven't been using it..... or maybe I have been using it primarily, and it is just better conditioned than the left
Left: Had more congestion in the leg muscles in comparison to right - with the exception of the glute, which was healthy
Muscles feel bungie-cord like, medial portion of hamstring really rough, but glute on that side is doing fine

2. External rotation/ foot fallout /degree of foot rotation when lying flat (by masseuse):
Left foot fallout was a lot steeper than the right, indicating that the adductors aren't holding up. Oddly, this is my tight addy side.

3. Glute bridge test (self)
Right seemed clearly stronger on this day
Left side fatigued faster and wobbled
* masseuse showed my right glute who was boss yesterday, did a ton of loosening there and I am still sore and loose feeling today, so testing could be skewed from that

4. Step up (self)
Right: Can step straight up on a box without a jump or rocking forward though there is pain in the currently enflamed upper quad on that side
Left: Can step straight up without a jump but not quite as easily.
Feeling pulling in the upper adductor and groin on the opposing side during each step.

Also, during squat sessions, my left foot ends up being up to 12 inches ahead of my right (staggered stance).
Sinking into a lunge is difficult and painfully tight through the left adductor with the left leg forward.

So out of this so far, I think it is obvious that my left hip flexor is tense and maybe because of that, the left glute isn't firing. But still unsure what is going on beyond that.

I do feel weight shifting around during the squat, it isn't just one leg dominating the whole time. So it is possible that I am coming up out of the squat baring down on one side and switching the pressure around to another side on the way up, maybe overloading my (currently inflamed) upper right thigh and that is why I am having these problems there.

I used to have this dramatic hip sway in my deadlift, and it isn't there any more. So something changed. I'm not sure it is for the better as I am still having these balance issues, but something must be different from what was going on before.

More trial and error this week I guess but I probably don't have a ton of room for more errors of the caliber I have been making lol.

Masseuse said shoulders were unhappy which I was expecting following the bench program I was running. They were bilaterally unhappy though so not nearly as perplexing as what goes on in the lower half.

[ilovethe80s]

Tried to fit this in between lacrosse practice and a kids party so had to cut a few things short.

Pull
Prewo:
iso contractions for hams/glutes working on equal contractions
Sl glute bridges

A. Front squat
1@175 RPE7
I felt the weight shifting around violently from side to side pre-squat. Stood under the bar for a while to focus and it was fine once I calmed down. Lit up the upper right thigh again but focusing on keeping weight on heels in next attempts seemed to diffuse it.

1@185@RPE8
had to stand under the bar even longer this time to calm down and distribute weight evenly.

1@190@RPE7 again (+5 PR)
came more naturally than the previous squats. I could have kept going but running out of time so cut the singles there for the day
Tech note: minor chest dipping forward coming out.

3 x 3 (135) RPE3 as slow as they needed to be to make sure I was pushing evenly throughout the movement

* when I was calm as opposed to psyched up, squats felt easier.

B. Snatch grip DL on 3" deficit 4 x 8
C. Single leg Suitcase DL 2 x 15
D. Ball ham curl (wanted unilateral but out of time) 2 x 15

I kept catching myself psyching up for each attempt, grab the bar aggressively, nerves and anxiety dominating, not really connected to what I was doing. Then I would rack it, take a few breaths, calm down, focus, realize that there is nothing to psyche up or get worked up over, breathe, stay mellow, and it goes just fine. I'll be very happy if this sticks and I am able to apply this outside of what I am doing now.

I haven't really done much maxing on front squats so 190 was a small PR. I am hesitant to even record PRs because I don't want it to turn into anxiety over feeling like I need to beat that next time. Every day is different so I just need to do my best for that day.


This is the first day i don't feel the need to eat so much. I haven't stopped eating all week. I walk around with a big mixing bowl and throw in a bunch of random food that does not even go together, top it off with vinaigrette and buffalo wing sauce and crush some cape cod potato chips on top and eat constantly.

[kaleida]

I like the body map thing SI joint injury...is it SI joint out of place, or something different?

[ilovethe80s]

I like the body map thing SI joint injury...is it SI joint out of place, or something different?

I never had x-rays done for it, but the si joint injury was like an explosion. It let on really suddenly, no warning or pain in that area ever at any point before. It was super inflamed, couldn't get out of bed or anything, the intense pain lasted a few weeks and then eased off over a month.

The things that happen on my right side are always sudden explosions with no preceding pain indicating that something sinister is about to go down. And my left side has all these chronically tight areas that don't want to unravel, but I don't have anything serious exploding on that side. So I have to believe that the tight side is pulling on the opposing side.

I was trying to push evenly yesterday through my deadlifts but I did get a little sloppy toward the end. My left hamstring is ridiculously sore today but my right is perfectly fine. My right glute is a little sore, but not the left glute. If I really am using more glute on one side and more hamstring on the other, I think repetitive motions like that would totally be twisting the si joint out of place.

I think it is a matter of finding out which muscles are not as active as they should be. Bringing them up should let the adductor and hip let go of this tightness and then hopefully both sides can do their job evenly and stop loading up other areas and exploding to compensate. But it is not as easy to figure it all out as I would have hoped lol.

[kaleida]

The sudden unexplained onset plus pulling muscles on the opposite side makes it sound like it could be SI joint out of place. I read that is really common on women for the SI joint to sublux and it has far-reaching effects everywhere when it's out of place. It could also explain why glute on one side seems less willing to activate...iliac crest too high compared to sacrum could put that glute in passive insufficiency more often because it needs to stretch farther when the hip is bent. And remember that "pop" you had a few weeks ago followed by easiest ever pain-free bench press triple? The pop could have been SI joint sliding back into place temporarily. I think you are on the right track with the glute work because glutes are an SI joint stabilizer, they pull down on the pelvis and back on the femur...tight glutes stabilize multiple joints down there !

[kaleida]

And my left side has all these chronically tight areas that don't want to unravel, but I don't have anything serious exploding on that side. So I have to believe that the tight side is pulling on the opposing side.

PS. I'm just going to throw this thought out there... it may or may not apply to your situation since our symptoms sound different, so feel free to ignore. But I thought it might be interesting anyway...

I managed to pull my SI joint out of place a few times during my hip correction stretches (usually when I'm trying to stretch a really tight quadratus lumborum cold - sometimes my SI joint gives in to the pressure while the muscle stays tight). And I noticed that I have a completely different set of muscles that feels tight with the SI joint in place vs. out of place - probably because the pelvis moved slightly, some muscles aren't used to the wrong positioning and some muscles aren't used to the correct positioning. So my thought is: what if the tight adductor and tight hip flexor are only tight because the pelvic bone that they attach to is slightly out of place? And whatever muscle pulled the SI joint out of place to begin with might not feel tight at all when SI joint is out of place, because the pelvic bone moved in the same direction it was pulling...

In my case quadratus lumborum doesn't feel tight at all when my SI joint is out of place - but it feels tight on every step when my SI joint is popped back into the right spot. If I sleep with a heating pad under my quadratus lumborum then it relaxes enough to let go of the pressure on my pelvic bone and then my SI joint seems more willing to pop back into place with a back twist or something like that. And I can stretch the tight muscle in the morning when it's thoroughly heated, without pulling my SI joint out of place.

I'm not sure if we have the same muscle pulling SI joint out of place - so many muscles attach to pelvis! but I wonder if something similar is happening, where the muscle that really needs to be stretched doesn't feel tight because it "succeeded" in its attempt to move the pelvic bone closer to itself?

[ilovethe80s]

The glute bridging was actually helping out quite a bit...when I was actually doing it haha, didn't work so well once I stopped. I dropped it for RSA, but I think the more squatting I do, the more bridging I need to do, not less.

Omg Janie these hip things are like a 'who done it' mystery lol. I think what you've suggested is very plausible.

I discovered that I can push my right hip all the way out to the side and stretch all the muscles in there easily. But my left side doesn't go out very far, and it wants to come forward a bit instead of sinking the weight to the side and settling a bit in the glute. I played with the left side yesterday afternoon, forcing it out and got some sharp pains in the opposing si joint (previous injury site). I was petrified that I re-injured it and almost skipped my daily squats last night, but the pain eased off within an hour.

When I push all the way out to the right I have an easy full ROM, but the fully extended position directly pains the currently irritated right upper quad area.

Between my bench accessory sets tonight, I tried pushing out the hip again (it is like when you have a zit and you know you shouldn't pop it but you just can't help it lol). I got an unexpected pop in the right si joint area (while pushing out to the left) and immediately felt relief in the adductor. After that, I could push my hip out almost as far as the right one, painlessly, and adductor tightness felt like a level 3 instead of 9. My hip had been clicking all night and it stopped after that. This was similar to the bench pop I got that night when everything felt so good.

I kept checking in my hip each time I woke last night, by pushing out to the sides. I got one more pop last night, which I am not sure yet if it was another good pop, or something snapping itself back into its previous miserable position.

I had been thinking that the tight muscles on the left were pulling on the the right, but WHY would they be so tight, and so easily relieved by a pop. I think you are right, the stronger glute on the right is pulling everything over to it.

I am guessing the chronology would have been:
1. Knee surgery = staying off left leg = less work for left glute
2. Right glute picks up the slack and gets stronger
3. Muscles on right side probably have a stronger pull on si joint, it starts shifting
4. Left hip flexor and adductor tight and painful due to inefficient left glute and overly dominant right glute further inhibiting it

I think there is something in stretching those muscles laterally (along with the glute work) since it is delivering pops as ROM increases, and it lights up all previous injury sites.

[ilovethe80s]

Bench Light
A. Beltless Squat to 230@RPE7.5
2 x 2 (185) right upper quad irritated yet it still wanted to take over the concentric
B. Light Bench 2 x 8 (105)
C. DB facing bench w fat Gripz extreme 2 x 15
D. Ohp 3 x 8
E. Lat pulldown 4 x 10

Squats were in slow mo because I was very relaxed, it was like yoga/meditation but for squats. 230 felt easy, but my right side got excited and came up way faster than the left in spite of my focusing on that left glute.

I went a little over my allotted 10 minutes for squat today because I took small jumps after 200, and I caught myself psyching up a few times and needed a moment to focus and relax. Anything over 200 I have a hard time not amping up for. It was nice to see that I could quietly descend into the squat, hang out there for a second totally comfortable then come back out, slow as a turtle, mind/muscle connection to feel for inconsistencies in the glute, sans any adrenalin or excess tension.

I think I should be okay to take adrenalin-fueled maxes AFTER I learn how to focus. Or I might just be a calm squatter, I'm really liking this. Had this been a regular rep work day, it would have been one of those 'forgot how to squat' days, my natural inclination is to approach squats like jumping off a cliff. Slowing it down, knowing there is nothing to psyche up about, making deliberate movements free of any heart flutters or emotion removed all the usual tech weirdness for me and squats feel easier, none of that panic in the hole.

With all my hernias I'm not to really be commended about squatting beltless, but I can't seem to stay calm and relaxed with the belt on.

[kaleida]

lol it is like a whodunit mystery! all those pops sound good to me...bigger ROM with no pain, and a specific movement you can do to align it...that sounds great

[NorwichGrad]

RPE 7.5..


That tells me you are more fine tuned with yourself now than before.. Nice work!

[kaleida]

I also have muscles that feel less tight after getting all the bones where they should be in my case it was my quads...with femur head too far forward in the hip socket I would get down into the bottom position of a squat and feel like my quads are being stretched painfully. But then once I snap them back into place there is no quad tightness in the same position. We are like Lego people lol we have to be assembled with all the parts snapped into place

[ilovethe80s]

lol it is like a whodunit mystery! all those pops sound good to me...bigger ROM with no pain, and a specific movement you can do to align it...that sounds great

I thought I had solved the mystery and then it came around to bite me lol. I am in hip popping hell! Will log the last couple of days in a few

RPE 7.5..


That tells me you are more fine tuned with yourself now than before.. Nice work!

Thanks Joel! Yeah, I need to reconnect with the squat instead of charging at it like a bull (and missing the squat lol)

[ilovethe80s]

A couple of nights ago: cycling 20 minutes
Last night: I the most obnoxious session ever with a huge 'pop!' at the top of every squat


Squat
A. Beltless Squat to 230@8RPE
Felt uneven loading in the legs, staggered stance and shin pain in right leg and friggin hip pop every single time

3x3 (175) @6RPE
Definitely felt a huge shift to right side on first set, but was light enough I could force it to come correct

2 x 5(165)@3RPE
I had more weight on the right for sure and should have made a bigger effort to correct. Kind of just went through the motions in that because I was so focused on gaining back some speed. This mellow approach has me super slow and delicate and pausing. No tempo to be seen.

D. Static lunge holding empty bar overhead 2 x 20

E. Glute bridge

A few days ago when I had that huge pop, I had the best day ever, it felt so floaty and free. It did some clicking later in the day for movements like bending over, pivoting, etc. By night, it felt really pinchy and was clicking constantly. I was the noisiest tooth fairy ever. So I didn't squat that night.

Next day, I am still clicking. I think bench would have been a problem but for my narrow, knee dominant squat, ROM was unaffected. So I squatted anyway and hip snapped about 2/3 of the way up on nearly every squat rep. Hip was not actually painful though, and oddly my adductor and hip flexor tension is around a level 2 from its usual 8/9.

I wrote down why I am daily squatting here incase anyone is interested, because I know that choices like that usually require some sort of explanation haha
http://diaryofadeadlifter.com/?cat=73

Also started a log of my hip's antics so I can pick up on patterns on what makes it function normally.
http://diaryofadeadlifter.com/?cat=72

I am baffled because I have no pain other than the annoying pop that is happening with just about every step I take.

[geek23ka]

i really wish i were smart and could waltz in with the solution to the hip snapping and popping. it's confounding. i'm glad you aren't having pain (and sounds like you are having less hip pain than before the popping started?)

i heard that snap at the top of your squat and it flipped me out. for me to hear it, that must be really loud to you!

does it help to hear that it looked like a lovely graceful squat?

[jpfaherty]

Bench
- Sl glute bridge
- Front squat to 155, felt the right IT band area and upper quad light up, pain down shin on right and down back of leg on left, staggered stance
- Front squat 2 x 2 @ 135, forcing my feet to line up and concentrating on contracting evenly and pushing evenly through both legs
- Triple paused bench 5 x 5 (115)
- Dip 3 x 12
- Cable Row 4 x 12
- Rack chin 4 x 12

Really trying to get a sense of exactly what is going on in my hip and if I should be actively trying to correct it or lay off of it and let it rest.

I'm thinking about RUM. Not sure how seriously I am thinking about it just yet, I haven't even presented the idea to my husband and other parties who would need to shuffle kids around for me all weekend. I'm nervous about bringing it up lol. Leaving the state for a meet kind of brings things to another level than me just lifting at night in my basement and taking off for a Saturday a couple of times per year. It feels like a far-fetched idea. But I really don't have any other hobbies or things that take time away from my family, so I am trying to get over the guilt aspect.

I guess the qualifying total last year for 132 was 740something, and this year they increased it by nearly 100 pounds - 826! This last meet, my total was 820. If I can't either pull my head out of my. a** and squat, or get 6 pounds from some other lift by my next meet in October, something is very wrong lol.

Catching up in here...

The RUM increase this year was insane lol

You should do the Arnold instead of RUM - We'll be going and Sam might even do the PL meet if she qualifies

PS - RUM would be awesome obvi ha

[kaleida]

I like the idea of working with heavier weight more often! I've been heading towards that too working up to one triple instead of 3x5, 3x5 or 5x5 felt like so much room for technique variation that I do not want, plus the pressure to guess what would be a perfect working set weight in advance when I have no idea how to guess that. If I ever need more volume I'd probably do something similar to what you're doing, working up to an everyday max in the 1-3 rep range... and then some backoff sets after I know what my hip is up to that day.

I'm lately not so sure that you "forget how to squat" ... I think there are just huge variations in how hard the weight feels when bones are in the right spot vs. not in the right spot ... at least that's how it feels on me! Some muscles go into passive insufficiency with the bones they attach to out of place, and then that muscle just can't help as much no matter how much we cue it. Example: my left glute, and on that side I might have femur head too far forward in the hip socket and left SI joint out of place with the left side of my pelvis higher ... both of those mean that my left glute has to stretch farther during hip flexion ...and there's a point where my left glute can't stay contracted if I go any deeper, it needs to relax out of necessity just to get in the right position. So sometimes I have left glute relaxing and right glute able to stay contracted all the way down, which definitely makes lighter weight feel harder. consistent mental cues = different result when the bones are in slightly different spots.

[SophieM]

Saw your meet video over the PL section and thought I'd stop in and say hello!

[izzygrant]

I love the daily max and backoff style with the built in autoregulation. I think you will too.

Catching up in here...

The RUM increase this year was insane lol

You should do the Arnold as well as RUM - We'll be going and Sam might even do the PL meet if she qualifies

PS - RUM would be awesome obvi ha

fify

at first I thought you meant the Raw Challenge and was all confused but then I remembered XPC added a raw with wraps division for next year. good call! you'lll have to drag her to one of the qualifiers though.

[ilovethe80s]

i really wish i were smart and could waltz in with the solution to the hip snapping and popping. it's confounding. i'm glad you aren't having pain (and sounds like you are having less hip pain than before the popping started?)

i heard that snap at the top of your squat and it flipped me out. for me to hear it, that must be really loud to you!

does it help to hear that it looked like a lovely graceful squat?

Yeah, the adductor and hip flexor pain has really dimmed down and my hip isn't as painful, but the snap is still going strong. I had such a great bench night last night, no pain at all on the bench, but far too annoying to squat. I give up. Lol.

And thank you re being graceful, lol. I've been squatting like the barbell and cage are made of glass, but it needs to start picking up some fire in the right places now

Catching up in here...

The RUM increase this year was insane lol

You should do the Arnold instead of RUM - We'll be going and Sam might even do the PL meet if she qualifies

PS - RUM would be awesome obvi ha

Yeah I know! I know more women are getting into powerlifting now so I can maybe a small increase in qualifying total, but that was kind of a lot. Only a handful of women in my weight class would be eligible, not sure about the other classes.

That total is for wrapped though, unwrapped is 50 pounds less. So If worse came to worse and my total hasn't buged in 5 months and I wanted to do RUM (though if my total is the same in 5 months I really deserve to stay home anyway haha) I can take off the wraps and only need to squat like 225. RPS just started noting who was in wraps vs sleeves in their raw modern division, so sleeves would still count as 'no wraps'. Good, because I wouldn't want to compete without any knee protection with my injury history. Doesn't do me any good to qualify if my remaining knee cartilage shoots into somebody's eyeball while I am squatting lol.

Sam staying 132? Looks like the qualifier for Arnold is 715 for Elite division, but 835 for Pro!? The only difference between pro and elite is elite has to pay 100 for a drug test. And that is for a total WITH wraps so if she is close and wants to go to Arnold, maybe she could wrap up? She has great tempo, I bet she'd get a lot of rebound out of them

I like the idea of working with heavier weight more often! I've been heading towards that too working up to one triple instead of 3x5, 3x5 or 5x5 felt like so much room for technique variation that I do not want, plus the pressure to guess what would be a perfect working set weight in advance when have no idea how to guess that. If I ever need more volume I'd probably do something similar to what you're doing, working up to an everyday max in the 1-3 rep range... and then some backoff sets after I know what my hip is up to that day.

I'm lately not so sure that you "forget how to squat" ... I think there are just huge variations in how hard the weight feels when bones are in the right spot vs. not in the right spot ... at least that's how it feels on me! Some muscles go into passive insufficiency with the bones they attach to out of place, and then that muscle just can't help as much no matter how much we cue it. Example: my left glute, and on that side I might have femur head too far forward in the hip socket and left SI joint out of place with the left side of my pelvis higher ... both of those mean that my left glute has to stretch farther during hip flexion ...and there's a point where my left glute can't stay contracted if I go any deeper, it needs to relax out of necessity just to get in the right position. So sometimes I have left glute relaxing and right glute able to stay contracted all the way down, which definitely makes lighter weight feel harder. consistent mental cues = different result when the bones are in slightly different spots.

Yes, I'm not taking my eyes off of how I handle heavier lifts this time around. Working up to my last meet, I took this long building phase where I didn't handle heavy weight at all for months. I don't think I need to do anything like that again anytime soon. I think I will be better served to stay in the groove this time.

I definitely believe that the constantly changing hips and affected muscles influence the 'squat fall apart' patterns.

Saw your meet video over the PL section and thought I'd stop in and say hello!

Hi! And good luck at your meet today!

I love the daily max and backoff style with the built in autoregulation. I think you will too.

fify

at first I thought you meant the Raw Challenge and was all confused but then I remembered XPC added a raw with wraps division for next year. good call! you'lll have to drag her to one of the qualifiers though.

I've done really well with the max/backoff approach before, the Chinese system was like that and I loved it. Eventually what happens is my technique gets pretty solid, PRs start coming rapidly, but then after a while they slow and I start getting unreasonably anxious over the day's max. Then I spend the bulk of my training time on the max, giving into nerves, and have no time or energy for much else. And at that point, I am happy to move on and go the other way, with %-based straight sets and NO heavies. But that is where my tech gets a little lazy, 'getting the reps in however'. And transitioning to heavier work for a meet takes me longer than anticipated. So now I know what not to do. Programming is always more difficult when all of your problems are mental

[ilovethe80s]

Bench
A. Front Squat -did one with empty bar and decided to skip- hip snapping
B. Triple-paused Bench with double count ( 1" off chest, chest, 1" off chest again, 2 count-hold each) 5 x 4 (128)
C. Dip 3 x 8
D. Cable row 4 x 10
E. Rack chin 4 x 10
F. Bb Glute bridge with 2-count hold 135x30
G. Single leg glute bridge with 2 count hold 1 x 20

In addition to the hip, the left knee is snapping now. it feels like something in the hip is pulling on it. Quite annoying. Something is obviously very out of place in the hip, so I skipped my max squat tonight. Sunday I am going to sumo and see if that snaps it back into place. If it is still out after that, chiro next week. My chiro is my sons Boy Scout leader so I am always embarrassed to show up to cub scouts and be snapping like bubble wrap and he asks why I have not been in lol.

Oddly, my leg drive on the bench was fantastic, and that is usually the thing that suffers the most when my hip acts up. I got a huge snap each time I exited the bench but didn't have the usual adductor and hip flexor pain/ tightness and benching went awesome. Would have been a great day to work to a max. I think I need to allow myself the opportunity to do that a little more often right now, test the waters when having a good day.

I love Jennifer Thompson's cue of getting on the tops of her shoulders and that has really been the only thing in my head benching lately. But it cracks me up that she says that because it doesn't look like she actually does that at all, she looks remarkably flat the bench.

[kaleida]

I am curious what moves the chiropractor does to align it if you end up going, I would love to have a few more "aggressive" alignment maneuvers that I could do when my usual ones don't work. Right now my backup plan is to cook certain things overnight with the heating pad (depending on what is stuck I'm either cooking my lower back to prevent something from pulling my pelvis up, or cooking the front of my hip sockets if my femurs are stuck too far forward in the socket) ... which does work on me... the only problem is it takes 8 hours. Maybe next time mine is stuck I should try a chiropractor too.

[ilovethe80s]

I am curious what moves the chiropractor does to align it if you end up going, I would love to have a few more "aggressive" alignment maneuvers that I could do when my usual ones don't work. Right now my backup plan is to cook certain things overnight with the heating pad (depending on what is stuck I'm either cooking my lower back to prevent something from pulling my pelvis up, or cooking the front of my hip sockets if my femurs are stuck too far forward in the socket) ... which does work on me... the only problem is it takes 8 hours. Maybe next time mine is stuck I should try a chiropractor too.

I started researching like crazy on the hip this morning and I will still visit the Chiro, but I think the heating pad, stretching and the masseuse are actually my best bet for this. I've been freaking out every session because I didn't know what the pop was and I was picturing it as something broken, but everything I am reading re a painless pop seems to indicate that it is harmless. Now I am seeing it as some sign of progress since my adductor and hip flexor have been painless ever since the hip started snapping. It would be really nice to have a functional hip AND no snap though lol.

[ilovethe80s]

Pull sort of (trying to snap hip back into place)
A. Front squat to just 3/150@RPE6 - both hip and knee snapping and knee had to be 'unsnapped' after each triple and getting increasingly uncomfortable. Unracked 185 but my hip and knee weren't cooperating so didn't continue.
B. Sumo 5 singles 30 seconds apart @325
C. Front squat again, paused 3 x 5 (135), feeling stuff out, sumos opened my hips a bit
D. Single leg Suitcase DL 3 x 12
E. Calves

I had high hopes for sumos snapping my hip back into place today. No such luck but it did loosen me up enough to externally rotate for squats for a change, which was kind of nice.

Didn't make it to the Chiro today in between kids drop offs and pickups and activities, probably won't get to go till Wednesday.


Bench Light
A. Beltless Squat to 225@RPE6 but hips terrible
3x3 (175)@RPE3
B. Light Bench 2 x 8 (105)
C. Floor Press w fat Gripz extreme 4 x 6
D. Ohp 3 x 8
E. Lat pulldown 4 x 10
F. Inverted Row x 50 total reps, sprinkled between pushes

Hips are such a buzz kill, I'd really like to be working at an8/8.5 for squats but was freaked out over the snapping. In my mind, I was picturing it as a crack in the femur head that is slowly cracking more and more down the bone, which is just horrible mental imagery when squatting.

After this morning's session and feeling pretty dissatisfied with the intensity of my squats, I hit up google. I was relieved to see that everything seems to indicate that the painless snaps are something to the effect of a muscle or tendon moving over a bony protrusion in the hip. That is a much better mental image than a crack.

It makes sense, the snapping started when I began opening up my left side to be even with my right, and ever since then the adductor and hip flexor pain has been relieved but this loud, painless snapping has come in its place. So maybe whatever needs to move isn't done moving yet, and I should keep up with the stretching and effort to strengthen the weaker side. A sign of progress, albeit rather obnoxious?

So, I am going to try and ignore the snaps for now. I don't want to lay off the squats, but I will try and stay off the bike in favor of conditioning sessions that incorporate stuff that is good for the hip.


My middle son's birthday is this weekend so he gave me the instructions for his cake. He would like a Mt. Rushmore-style scape carved into the side of the cake with Batman, Superman, Flash and Green lantern, with the Wolverine symbol on the top. This kid never asks for a thing but when he does, holy crap. Lol.

[jpfaherty]

God I just wish you had normal hips!! You're amazing with bum hips, imagine if you were healthy all the time!! Get better

PS - I can't even imagine trying to get sam to wrap up, she's such a creature of habit. She'll probably compete next at 123 again, but not sure. Not competing until November.

[ilovethe80s]

God I just wish you had normal hips!! You're amazing with bum hips, imagine if you were healthy all the time!! Get better

PS - I can't even imagine trying to get sam to wrap up, she's such a creature of habit. She'll probably compete next at 123 again, but not sure. Not competing until November.

Every session is an adventure with the hip, never know what is going to happen. It's been steering me toward autoregulation re squat training. It makes no sense to try and stick with these set %'s when my squat varies 50+ pounds depending on what kind of mood my hips are in. I think that programming style is a great choice for me right now anyway for many other reasons and probably would not have really considered it had the hip not been a problem, so there is a positive. Always a silver lining haha.

I'm sure Sam qualify with pounds to spare, ESP if she is going to be back in the 123s!

[wakechica]

I started researching like crazy on the hip this morning and I will still visit the Chiro, but I think the heating pad, stretching and the masseuse are actually my best bet for this. I've been freaking out every session because I didn't know what the pop was and I was picturing it as something broken, but everything I am reading re a painless pop seems to indicate that it is harmless. Now I am seeing it as some sign of progress since my adductor and hip flexor have been painless ever since the hip started snapping. It would be really nice to have a functional hip AND no snap though lol.

Sorry to hear you've got bum joints again I had PT for my shoulder in the USA and those heat mats are unreal. I wanted to buy one to have at home - we don't get anything like that over here. I just felt so relaxed after 15mins lying on a nice hot bed covered in hot mats! Makes the body so much easier to stretch and manipulate.

Have they checked to make sure your legs are the same length?

[ilovethe80s]

Sorry to hear you've got bum joints again I had PT for my shoulder in the USA and those heat mats are unreal. I wanted to buy one to have at home - we don't get anything like that over here. I just felt so relaxed after 15mins lying on a nice hot bed covered in hot mats! Makes the body so much easier to stretch and manipulate.

Have they checked to make sure your legs are the same length?

.

The heated mat sounds heavenly. You are right on the leg.. I am probably trying to fix muscle around bones that aren't even lining up right. My Chiro said that my hips are tilted and right leg is shorter, but I don't think it is like shorter like I have less leg on one side, I think it is shorter because of the tilted hips. I really should make it back in there.

[kaleida]

.

The heated mat sounds heavenly. You are right on the leg.. I am probably trying to fix muscle around bones that aren't even lining up right. My Chiro said that my hips are tilted and right leg is shorter, but I don't think it is like shorter like I have less leg on one side, I think it is shorter because of the tilted hips. I really should make it back in there.

I hope your chiropractor experience goes better than mine did! I think maybe I just expected too much from him, poor guy. I probably overwhelmed him with anatomical detail about my symptoms and how I'm managing it and then he said I shouldn't sleep on a heating pad but wouldn't tell me why, and it was all downhill from there. Next time I go to a chiropractor I think I'm going to keep it really really simple and easy... like "can you reset my SI joint?" and he will say "yes!" and then he will do that and I will be happy.