Reid's Offseason Journey to become a Natural Pro

[The Solution]

Decided to go to a different gym today with a friend. Man, I was just feeling achy and tired all over. Managed 3 sets of 5 with the 90s on DB flat press which I've done before, but this time was probably only 8.5 RPE. My right shoulder where the pec inserts just really started bothering me though so I didn't any incline sets. I just had a deload so in theory I should be pretty fresh. Maybe I need to tone down the volume or intensity a little bit? I don't want to be running myself into the ground.

I should also say, I still get a little stressed about getting off my macros to go out to eat or to have a few drinks. I don't let bodybuilding ever prevent from participating in those things now but it still stressed me out to think about.

Maybe its one of those days man.. it happens.. dont stress over it.
Moderation is key, a few drinks here and there jump on it tomorrow you will be A ok man..

[Reid456]

Maybe its one of those days man.. it happens.. dont stress over it.
Moderation is key, a few drinks here and there jump on it tomorrow you will be A ok man..

Yeah it's just my personality type. I'm either all-out for something or not. I find trouble finding a point where I can balance everything nicely.

[Reid456]

Had a lot of fun with friends and family this past weekend at graduation (I graduate after next semester) but now it's time to focus more on being an athlete. I feel ever since the contest prep, I just still haven't gotten back to my normal self, but I'm not giving up. I think that not having a real fitness community here is really hurting me. All the motivation that I have has to come from inside me, which makes me stronger, but it's really hard sometimes to do something that no one else in my life really cares about or understands. But such is the journey that I choose. Sorry, it seems like I post a bunch of depressing stuff here but it's just a good place to vent. I'm actually quite happy in life right now!

In the mail today I got Kelly Starrett's recent book "Becoming a Supple Leopard". I think I might order some bands here soon and really start to focus a lot more on mobility. My hip flexor issue is still there but the chiropractor is helping and I'm getting an X-ray to make sure everything is okay with the bone in my joint. Just took some C4 preworkout that I got recently so I'll let you know how that works for me. I've never been a huge believer in pre-workouts because I'd rather not rely on them to get a good workout but they are nice to have every now and then. My face is actually tingling right now, haha.

[The Solution]

heard a lot of good things about that book what is it about (have not done a lot of research) and see my FB flooded with people buying it.
Them BA tingles and nitrates from C4! Enjoy it brother, what flavor?

[Reid456]

heard a lot of good things about that book what is it about (have not done a lot of research) and see my FB flooded with people buying it.
Them BA tingles and nitrates from C4! Enjoy it brother, what flavor?

I got fruit punch. It's not bad, but then again I could care less about what it tastes like because it takes like 30 seconds to drink.

I worked up to 315x1 on squats today and while it didn't feel too heavy, the hip flexor definitely was hurting. 295 was like butter but 315 hurt a lot more.

[Reid456]

Well boys, I have some bad news. I got my X-rays on my hip back and the doctor told me that I have hip impingement syndrome. This is just a structural thing that I was born with that never really became an issue until now. He also told me that deep squatting and any movement where I'm going to be in full hip flexion is probably going to be out.... It sounded like he meant for good but I'm not ready to accept that yet. Also, I may have actually torn my labrum but its unclear if thats the case. So I'm just going to keep working on foam rolling, stretching, resting and hope for the best.

[Ccm644]

Sorry to hear about the results

Not the best news but at least you know exactly what it is

Even know its a knock, im sure your work with or around it to keep achieving

Take care

[MikeWines]

Man, sorry to hear about the news. If it is indeed congenital, at least you know it wasn't anything you did and it was just the way God made you. At least it's not arthritis or some form of cancer, you can train around impingement. I hope the rest and rolling help though, injuries are no fun.

[jpfaherty]

Jeez Reid you're falling apart brah! Get better

PS - I'm in the same boat as you with having no one but myself to motivate me in the gym. I've been working with out a workout partner for a LONG time! Only recently has my wife gotten into it, which has been awesome, but I'm still pushing myself for the most part. It will/does make you stronger bro. That's part of the reason why I put so much effort into my logs, I have no one in real life to talk shop with really. If you ever need to talk about anything hit me up on FB bud.

[Reid456]

Jeez Reid you're falling apart brah! Get better

PS - I'm in the same boat as you with having no one but myself to motivate me in the gym. I've been working with out a workout partner for a LONG time! Only recently has my wife gotten into it, which has been awesome, but I'm still pushing myself for the most part. It will/does make you stronger bro. That's part of the reason why I put so much effort into my logs, I have no one in real life to talk shop with really. If you ever need to talk about anything hit me up on FB bud.

Hey thanks, JP. I really appreciate it. I do feel like I'm falling apart sometimes! So now at the position where I need to figure out how I'm going to train legs. I might never be able to squat to parallel or past parallel again in my life without pain. So at this point I'm thinking I'm going to base leg training around lunges, sprints, maybe some low ROM leg press and/or hack squats, RDLs, maybe deadlifts.

[Reid456]

Right now I'm just doing typically 3 workouts a week pretty much all upper body. I'm making gains each and every week on most of my lifts which is awesome. A little slightly bad news: I'm up to 169lbs. I just got off of my nutrition for like a week. But it's not a big deal. I can do a minicut if needed. Somehow I'm still really vascular, especially during my workouts. I'm hoping that my pain in my hip will just go away and I'm still doing stretches for it and just generally getting a lot of rest for it.

[The Solution]

Right now I'm just doing typically 3 workouts a week pretty much all upper body. I'm making gains each and every week on most of my lifts which is awesome. A little slightly bad news: I'm up to 169lbs. I just got off of my nutrition for like a week. But it's not a big deal. I can do a minicut if needed. Somehow I'm still really vascular, especially during my workouts. I'm hoping that my pain in my hip will just go away and I'm still doing stretches for it and just generally getting a lot of rest for it.

Gather yourself brother. Hit those macros and log that food. Just like you have been doing day in and day out.
Whats causing you to slip up?

[Reid456]

Gather yourself brother. Hit those macros and log that food. Just like you have been doing day in and day out.
Whats causing you to slip up?

I'm back on my game now. I'm just kind of frustrated with my hip injury issue and that caused me to lose some motivation. Things just don't feel right when I can't do leg workouts. I live for those workouts! But this is just a temporary road block, I'll get past it.

[bigryan03]

I'm back on my game now. I'm just kind of frustrated with my hip injury issue and that caused me to lose some motivation. Things just don't feel right when I can't do leg workouts. I live for those workouts! But this is just a temporary road block, I'll get past it.

Exactly dude, temporary road block. Try stay positive because you'll likely come back fine. Think about some occlusion to keep the muscle were it is while you reduce the loading on it.

[Reid456]

Threw away some old protein tubs today.... (some of these are still full)



Baked potato w/ ground turkey + yellow squash


11F/76C/38P

Forgot how good squash was.

[deltpecx]

Oats and canned goods on the floor...You need more cupboard space..

Glad to hear you got passed the hip issue...

I had hip and lower back issues for over 20 years..there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[Reid456]

Oats and canned goods on the floor...You need more cupboard space..

Glad to hear you got passed the hip issue...

I had hip and lower back issues for over 20 years..there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Eh I'm not passed it yet. I've been doing a lot of mobility work but it still hurt when I got up to 185 today on squats. It might be a long road but I'm doing everything I can. I'm just trying to be patient.

Yeah, I live with 5 other guys and that's not my shelf. I get the top shelf

[deltpecx]

Eh I'm not passed it yet. I've been doing a lot of mobility work but it still hurt when I got up to 185 today on squats. It might be a long road but I'm doing everything I can. I'm just trying to be patient.

Yeah, I live with 5 other guys and that's not my shelf. I get the top shelf

My bad I misread your previous post.

[Reid456]

My bad I misread your previous post.

It's all good! I've been reading Kelly Starrett's Becoming a Supple Leopard and it's definitely redefined my squat form and how I think about and keep up with mobilization. I highly recommend it. It's like a handbook for any type of ROM, muscle or joint pain that you are having and doesn't just offer band-aids but cures.

[deltpecx]

... mobilization....

What's that? Oh yeah something I had a long, long time ago...

[Reid456]

What's that? Oh yeah something I had a long, long time ago...

You can still have it!

[TheNaturalOak]

You can still have it!

I pre-ordered mine book in Jan. It got here a couple weeks and I've been so busy with prep / life that I honestly havent opened it yet.

I can only imagine it lives up to the hype. I've been following KStar for some time now.

Just because the dr says you probably shouldnt squat anymore... you really plan on throwing in the towel? I'm not one of those guys who are "no excuses" or "must sacrifice everything to progress" because everyones situations different and there are always things that need to be adjusted/worked around. On the other hand, I know Drs/ptherapists always try to cover their ass, therefor they refrain from saying "go ahead and squat" and you end up hurting yourself following their advice. You were squatting b4 right? Im not sure I would be so fast to throw that exercise out!

[Reid456]

I pre-ordered mine book in Jan. It got here a couple weeks and I've been so busy with prep / life that I honestly havent opened it yet.

I can only imagine it lives up to the hype. I've been following KStar for some time now.

Just because the dr says you probably shouldnt squat anymore... you really plan on throwing in the towel? I'm not one of those guys who are "no excuses" or "must sacrifice everything to progress" because everyones situations different and there are always things that need to be adjusted/worked around. On the other hand, I know Drs/ptherapists always try to cover their ass, therefor they refrain from saying "go ahead and squat" and you end up hurting yourself following their advice. You were squatting b4 right? Im not sure I would be so fast to throw that exercise out!

Oh I'm doing my best to get back to it. I can do 135 pain free but starting to get heavier than that it still hurts. I just hope its not a torn labrum or something like that. And luckily it doesn't affect my day-to-day life. Right now I'm just trying to do a lot of mobilization work and relearn my squat form to utilize my glutes more. After reading the squat section of Kstar's book I realized I had been squatting kind of wrong.

[The Solution]

Really hope the injury does come around for the better brother, what were your thoughts on the cor-performance whey?

[Reid456]

Really hope the injury does come around for the better brother, what were your thoughts on the cor-performance whey?

I've had cinnamon swirl before and its really good! CnC is kind of meh so far and the vanilla is very good.

[TheNaturalOak]

Oh I'm doing my best to get back to it. I can do 135 pain free but starting to get heavier than that it still hurts. I just hope its not a torn labrum or something like that. And luckily it doesn't affect my day-to-day life. Right now I'm just trying to do a lot of mobilization work and relearn my squat form to utilize my glutes more. After reading the squat section of Kstar's book I realized I had been squatting kind of wrong.

Glad to see ya still looking for ways around it.

Just wanted to make sure you didnt chalk your hands up b.c dr. said squatting bad :P

[Reid456]

Hey guys, it's been a little over a week so I thought I'd give a quick update. Things have been going pretty well in life, just started my summer chemistry research and it's a lot of fun so far but a lot of work. Training has been going well and I've actually convinced one of my housemates to go lifting with me so I've been showing him the ropes. This week was a deload week and I'm ready to hit it hard again starting Monday. I still haven't really tried any squats but I've been training legs through whatever means that I can that doesn't cause pain; mainly lunges, dealifts, machine exercises. Bodyweight has been hanging out around 168lbs recently and hopefully I'll stay under 170 for most of the summer.

[jpfaherty]

Mind paraphrasing what you changed in your squat based on supple leopard recommendations?

[Reid456]

Mind paraphrasing what you changed in your squat based on supple leopard recommendations?

Mainly keeping my toes pointed almost straight rather than pointed out and focusing on screwing my feet into the ground to create an arch in the foot. And by changed, I mean I need to change those things once I can squat pain free again.

[Reid456]

Hey dudes, my life has taken a little turn from being so focused on bodybuilding and I'm feeling a lot more happy now. I stopped tracking macros so closely (or even at all some days) but my weight has still been hanging out around 168lbs. I actually lost a little bit when I stopped tracking macros religiously. It just wasn't working well with my life and it became more of a stressor than something that was uber important for me to do especially because its offseason and I'm still only 15lbs over stage weight. I'm still training hard but my hip is still giving me a lot of trouble. I might need to get an MRI or something but I really just don't want to deal with that right now.