Recovery after major shoulder repair

[fittofattofit]

Monday bumped

Monday 19th May 2014

10 weeks 4 days post op ... repair of ruptured distal biceps tendon

173lbs

Squats with the PT

warm-up ... banded seated knee abductions
10 x 3 second pauses ... yellow band
10 x 3 second pauses ... orange band
Seated with a band looped twice
Spread the knees as wide as possible; hold for 3 seconds

warm-up ... banded side steps
10 steps left, 10 steps right ... yellow band
10 steps left, 10 steps right ... orange band
standing with a band looped around the hands and feet
Side step maintaining straight legs = gluteus minimus

put on knee sleeves

Squats
5 x 70kg (154lbs)
5 x 100kg (220lbs)
5 x 120kg (264lbs)
5 x 140kg (308lbs)
5 x 147.5kg (325lbs)
5 rep PR and no ginders

Superset
Bulgarian Split Squats
8 x 50kg (110lbs) each leg
6 x 60kg (132lbs) each leg
6 x 60kg (132lbs) each leg
BB ... rear foot on 18" step
With Hanging Jack knives
10
10
10

Superset
Box squats
18" box
8 x 100kg (220lbs)
5 x 120kg (264lbs)
5 x 120kg (264lbs)
with GHRs
12
12
12

Thoracic rotations/hamstring stretches

55 minutes



The session:
Squats
100kg x 5 .... easy
120kg x 5 .... still easy
140kg x 5 .... felt heavy on the walkout but no trouble on any of the reps
147.5kg x 5 .... rolled forward slightly on the 3rd rep. Steadied and the 4th rep felt great. No grinders on any of the reps
I felt that I had more but I'm glad to leave something in the tank

Bulgarian Split Squats
These are always more difficult with a BB than with DBs/KBs but they are a great challenge for stability through the knees. JP kept reminding me to keep my chest up .. if I do that then they felt pretty easy. He said my stability and strength on the single legged work is so much better than it was

Box squats
These were speed reps off the box, so squat to the box, maintain position, then power up. 120kg felt good

Summary
A 5RM so what can I say ... I had some left in the tank and I kept good form. The accessory work is feeling good as well.

And I got sent this photo from saturday night .. myself with both of my daughters

[fittofattofit]

Congrats on the recognition Andrew. Must be pretty satisfying especially after transitioning your career this year.
Huge squats still with PRs coming every day. Your legs are going to blow up at this rate.

Thanks Jeff ...I've put in a lot of hard work over the years so it was nice to be acknowledged
And I'm extremely pleased with the way the squats are going ... I think the main difference has been a change in mental attitude where I now know that I can get a 3pps+ squat without blowing my knee or back, and that mental approach is helping me to keep good form. If only I could have that same mental switch with my deadlifts

Tuesday 20th May 2014

10 weeks 5 days post op ... 173lbs

Back

Yates rows
10 x bar
10 x 60kg (132lbs)
10 x 80kg (176lbs)
10 x 100kg (220lbs)
10 x 110kg (242lbs)
10 x 110kg (242lbs)
10 x 110kg (242lbs)
10 x 110kg (242lbs)
10 x 110kg (242lbs)
16 x 100kg (220lbs)
16 x 100kg (220lbs)
It was great to do rows again.
First time in 14 weeks

Seated cable rows
10 x 90kg (198lbs)
10 x 90kg (198lbs)
10 x 90kg (198lbs)
10 x 90kg (198lbs)
10 x 90kg (198lbs)
Tempo 3:2:3

Reverse pec deck rear delt flyes
10 x 47kg (104lbs)
10 x 47kg (104lbs)
10 x 47kg (104lbs)
10 x 47kg (104lbs)
10 x 47kg (104lbs)

50 minutes

Legs feel great after yesterday's session ... my hammies feel full and I've got good quad and glute DOMS My knees have almost no pain either. Lately the heavy squats have been leaving my knees relatively unscathed so that in itself makes me feel that my form has improved and I've shifted the load away form my knees and back to my hips
Today was my first day doing BB rows in 14 weeks. I went tentatively at first with the Yates rows to test my biceps tendon repair but it was all good. I was surprised that the bar felt as light as it did. I really wanted to do Pendlays but the explosive nature of the lift might not be the best thing for the biceps yet. If I pull up well after this then I'll add them back next week .. probably going lighter at 80kg before working my way back up to 100kg reps. I upped the weight on the cable rows as well. It was a good session and it was great to feel the lats working again. My next big challenge will be deads on Thursday

[fittofattofit]

Wednesday 21st May 2014

10 weeks 6 day post-op .... distal biceps tendon repair

172lbs

Upper body


BB bench press
6 x 60kg (132lbs)
6 x 60kg (132lbs)
6 x 60kg (132lbs)
6 x 60kg (132lbs)
6 x 60kg (132lbs)
6 x 60kg (132lbs)
Keeping it strict

EZ bar curls .. occlusion of both upper arms
30 x 20kg (44lbs)
25 x 20kg (44lbs)
20 x 20kg (44lbs)
15 x 20kg (44lbs)
12 x 20kg (44lbs)
Tempo 3:2:3
30 seconds between sets

Standing cable flyes
12 x 30lbs each side
10 x 40lbs each side
8 x 50lbs each side
8 x 50lbs each side
8 x 50lbs each side
Strict. Squeezing pecs in the middle

Cable triceps press-downs ... occlusion of both upper arms
BPak style
30 x 40lbs ... 30 x 40lbs ... 30 x 40lbs
30 x 40lbs ... 30 x 40lbs ... 30 x 40lbs
25 x 40lbs ... 25 x 40lbs ... 25 x 40lbs
20 x 40lbs ... 20 x 40lbs ... 20 x 40lbs
30 seconds between sets
Arms were exploding

Assisted pull-ups ... wide grip
10 x BW-80lbs
10 x BW-80lbs
9 x BW-80lbs
7 x BW-80lbs
7 x BW-80lbs
9 x BW-90lbs
Tempo 3:2:3
Focus on scapular mobility

50 minutes

I was on-call last night and had a sh!tty 3 hours interrupted sleep. I didn't really feel like going to the gym but I was awake at 5am so I steeled myself for a quick session. Tomorrow will be a deadlift session with JP so I figured I'd make this an upper body session and play with 'occlusion' again. I used tourniquets on both arms and did a curling set .. total time occluded 5 minutes, and a triceps set using the Ben Pakulski pushdown regime ... total time occluded 7 minutes. I have to say that my arms are toasted. The good thing though is that the site of the biceps tendon repair didn't hurt at all. The session was short enough but it felt worthwhile. I took a pic afterwards ...



You can see that the peak on the right biceps is quite a lot smaller than the left and that there is now about a 1cm longer gap between the elbow and the muscle belly where the tendon was reattached. Hopefully that might even out visually over time. If you look closely at the right forearm near the elbow you can also see the scar from the surgery. Now that I'm getting back into the lifting I feel that I'm regaining mass ... I'm still pretty fat at the moment (kept up the cals during the recovery) but I'm hoping to lean up and get a bit more defined for the beach vacation in Bali in 5 weeks time .. I am leaving my run at dieting a little late though. I just love me my food and beer too much

[RealityKings]

Is it me or are those Bench Presses slowly getting heavier
Also the difference in peaks isn't bad at all. Looking good Fit. Take me to Bali please.

[RyouBakua]

man, youve been OWNING those squats lately

and im glad the bicep held up well to the pendlays

And I got sent this photo from saturday night .. myself with both of my daughters

[/center]

straight classy right there

[fittofattofit]

Is it me or are those Bench Presses slowly getting heavier

it's true ... the benches are slowly (very slowly) getting heavier. Still pussy weights but at least my shoulders aren't grumbling

Also the difference in peaks isn't bad at all. Looking good Fit. Take me to Bali please.

My arms are still about an inch less than they were at my biggest and that's kind of depressing because I'm not sure if I'll ever get it back due to the change in the leverages of the reimplanted tendons
I like Bali and it's only 5 hours from Adelaide
I assume that you're not in Antarctica .. are you in Tassie?

man, youve been OWNING those squats lately

and im glad the bicep held up well to the pendlays

Thanks Ryou ... I've even been enjoying the squatting. Deads, however, is another story: I'm already getting a little nervous ahead of tomorrow

straight classy right there

[viennafat]

Nice freaking work, Andrew. All of it!
Mirin that 5 rep Squat PR.

You sure you're not on any "medication" to help speed up the healing process which may be assisting in the gym?
If so, please recommend.

Upper body work is looking solid, as well.
I tried a set of occlusion curls a couple of days ago.
Felt like I was going to tear something, but got a nice arm pump.


Congrats on the award!
That is fantastic news and I'm sure made you feel great. That's a great honour and recognition.

The only downside was when I was called an 'older statesman' in the citation

lol

Should've ripped off your tuxedo and started doing some pistol squats on the stage.
Then yelled: "150KG for 5 clean ass reps. Who's an older statesman now, kunt!? "

[BabyOilBrah]

excellent benching man! Strong work all around, how did you like the occlusion work? Sick nasty pump I bet.

[moshvr]

Should've ripped off your tuxedo and started doing some pistol squats on the stage.
Then yelled: "150KG for 5 clean ass reps. Who's an older statesman now, kunt!? "

LOL

Great benching work Andrew. Nice to see that creeping back up for you.

Arms really don't look THAT different considering. Great job keeping up with training

[fittofattofit]

Nice freaking work, Andrew. All of it!
Mirin that 5 rep Squat PR.

You sure you're not on any "medication" to help speed up the healing process which may be assisting in the gym?
If so, please recommend. : D

One thing I did do this time is that I didn't cut back the cals when my activity level dropped. After the other ops, I cut back to prevent the fat piling on but I lost so much mass. I stayed fat this time ... there's truth in the saying that 'there's nothing more anabolic than food'

Upper body work is looking solid, as well.
I tried a set of occlusion curls a couple of days ago. : D
Felt like I was going to tear something, but got a nice arm pump.

Dayumm they feel like they work!

Congrats on the award!
That is fantastic news and I'm sure made you feel great. That's a great honour and recognition.

lol

Should've ripped off your tuxedo and started doing some pistol squats on the stage.
Then yelled: "150KG for 5 clean ass reps. Who's an older statesman now, kunt!? "

Thanks Tom ... it would have been my Ned Flanders moment

excellent benching man! Strong work all around, how did you like the occlusion work? Sick nasty pump I bet.

Thanks Mike .. I know it's not much but I'm hoping to see some progression this year of I can keep my shoulder safe
The occlusion work was great ... honestly, my arms were burning after each exercise, but I've often had good burns going on before. The difference is that my bis and tris are solidly sore 16 hours later and still feeling pumped! I thought later that I should have thrown in a 3rd occlusion exercise with the tourniquet around the elbow for some wrist curls. Arms would have felt like dropping off!

LOL

Great benching work Andrew. Nice to see that creeping back up for you.

Arms really don't look THAT different considering. Great job keeping up with training

Thanks Michael. My right arm was always a half inch bigger so the difference is worse than it seems but at least I feel that I can train arms now without stressing that biceps repair

[RealityKings]

it's true ... the benches are slowly (very slowly) getting heavier. Still pussy weights but at least my shoulders aren't grumbling


My arms are still about an inch less than they were at my biggest and that's kind of depressing because I'm not sure if I'll ever get it back due to the change in the leverages of the reimplanted tendons
I like Bali and it's only 5 hours from Adelaide
I assume that you're not in Antarctica .. are you in Tassie?

Is there even such a thing as pussy weight after your injury? Hell, I don't think so man. Most people wouldn't even think about stepping into a gym after something like that. You're doing really well (As is evident by a PR every other day ).
Haha, live in Sydney. Funny thing, I've traveled most of Europe and such but I've never stepped foot in Adelaide. Been down to the Coast and Melbourne quite a few times though.

[GinjaNinja85]

Nice upper session Andrew. I just thought, I don't remember you ever logging overhead press. Do you do it? And if you do, do you have to avoid goinf heavy like bench?

[fgfan1]

Your workouts are looking pretty intense. I keep seeing more and more ideas for things to include in my own training.

[rallyum]

It's been 1 year + 1 day since our unfortunate meeting, you owe me $800 in gap + $3 for a bag of peas, thanks

I hope your trainer anaerobically kills you today

Thanks Mike .. I know it's not much but I'm hoping to see some progression this year of I can keep my shoulder safe
The occlusion work was great ... honestly, my arms were burning after each exercise, but I've often had good burns going on before. The difference is that my bis and tris are solidly sore 16 hours later and still feeling pumped! I thought later that I should have thrown in a 3rd occlusion exercise with the tourniquet around the elbow for some wrist curls. Arms would have felt like dropping off!

Yeah that's the cool thing i've noticed about occlusion too, pump usually lasts me until the end of the next day - think it's to do with the glyc depletion then supercomp afterwards. Either that or we've broken something/doing irreversible damage to our arms :/

[fittofattofit]

Is there even such a thing as pussy weight after your injury? Hell, I don't think so man. Most people wouldn't even think about stepping into a gym after something like that. You're doing really well (As is evident by a PR every other day ).

Thanks ... unfortunately I can't help but reflect back a few years when I could bench 120kg for reps and think that despite my accumulated injuries that I'm being a real pussy and I should just stick with a progression and bump that bench. Fortunately I've discovered good form with my squatting: I've always had strong legs and been reasonable solid but until now it never translated into decent numbers. Deads today will sort me out

Haha, live in Sydney. Funny thing, I've traveled most of Europe and such but I've never stepped foot in Adelaide. Been down to the Coast and Melbourne quite a few times though.

Melburnians tend to visit because of the footy and an easy 8 hour drive whereas you Sydneysiders never come to SA

Nice upper session Andrew. I just thought, I don't remember you ever logging overhead press. Do you do it? And if you do, do you have to avoid goinf heavy like bench?

Thanks Mike .. I did some OHPs the other day but my shoulders reminded me why I don't go there ... really crunchy and grindy and I compensate for lack of shoulder mobility by going into thoracic and lumbar hyperextension which makes my facet joint pain go to sh!te. I'll stick to pull-ups, pull-downs and rows but OHPs are gone

Your workouts are looking pretty intense. I keep seeing more and more ideas for things to include in my own training.

Thanks fgf .. you should try the occlusion training because I know it would fit in with the way you like to push yourself

It's been 1 year + 1 day since our unfortunate meeting, you owe me $800 in gap + $3 for a bag of peas, thanks

You mean yesterday was our anniversary .. that's what you get for meeting internet randoms (especially from west of the Mullet Proof fence ... we're all latent serial killers you know)

I hope your trainer anaerobically kills you today

I suspect that I'll be starting with deads for triples and finishing with the Prowlers so I'm expecting a near death experience

Yeah that's the cool thing i've noticed about occlusion too, pump usually lasts me until the end of the next day - think it's to do with the glyc depletion then supercomp afterwards. Either that or we've broken something/doing irreversible damage to our arms :/

I'd been reading about it and I saw that you'd been doing it but I was a bit halfarsed about it the first few times. Yesterday I did the curls and the BPak extensions and went to failure. Today my bis and tris have the best DOMS I can remember and my arms still look swole

And WTF at 80kg x 100 reps non-stop ... living on lactate! I hope you threw up afterwards
Have you got to work out with Tim yet? A victory for Aus?

[Swuuu]

I feel that I've made a transition with my squatting and just got very comfortable with my form .. I'm staying upright and keeping the weight back through my hips so that if I fail I fail in the hole and not by folding forwards. My legs are feeling strong at the moment even though when I walk out with the bar weighing 140+kg it feels stupid heavy on my shoulders. I would have easily got a 6th rep today and that puts me at 171kg on my 1RM calculator ... not that that means much but at least I no longer consider that a 4pps squat is impossible

the form is looking sexy . Wait forget that I said that. Yea I shutter at the thought of falling forwards during squats. That would be pretty scary. Im sure your legs has to be strong from all the leg work you have been doing lately. Probably been squatting even more than you were before the surgery right? And thats scary too haha. Im sure youll get the 4PPS man.

Thanks .. I put in a lot of hard work for a long time

Glad you got the acknowledgement for it fit . Get any award when you got home? lol


I bet it did feel better to do those rows man. Im used to seeing plenty of those and squats and deads from you. Hows the back feeling after those? Gonna be sore as fuk? haha. Your biceps really dont look that bad btw. Give it a little more training and im sure they will be more even.

[fittofattofit]

the form is looking sexy ; ). Wait forget that I said that. Yea I shutter at the thought of falling forwards during squats. That would be pretty scary. Im sure your legs has to be strong from all the leg work you have been doing lately. Probably been squatting even more than you were before the surgery right? And thats scary too haha. Im sure youll get the 4PPS man.

My best 5 rep squat before hand was 297 but this week I got 325, and my upper legs are breaking the tape at over 26"
4pps would be kinda cool but I'm not in a hurry

Glad you got the acknowledgement for it fit . Get any award when you got home? ; ) lol

In a way ... Mrs. Fit is in Ireland with her mum so I had to thank myself

I bet it did feel better to do those rows man. Im used to seeing plenty of those and squats and deads from you. Hows the back feeling after those? Gonna be sore as fuk? haha. Your biceps really dont look that bad btw. Give it a little more training and im sure they will be more even.

It was great to do the rows and my back felt good. You can expect to see some more volume back work appearing from now on

Thursday 22nd May 2014

11 weeks post-op ... repair of ruptured distal biceps tendon

171.5lbs

Deads ... PT session


Kettle Bell Sumo deadlifts ... warm ups
10 x 32kg (71lb) KB
10 x 32kg (71lb) KB
5 second down; pause; explode up

Glute and hammie stretches


Banded deficit Deadlifts ... speed reps
Yellow band. 2" deficit. Full reset
5 x 50kg (110lbs)
5 x 80kg (176lbs)
5 x 110kg (242lbs)
5 x 130kg (286lbs)
4 x 140kg (308lbs)
Lower back was toast
Just could not do that 5th rep at 140kg


Superset
BB Step ups to 18" box
16 x 60kg (132lbs)
12 x 70kg (154lbs)
8 x 75kg (165lbs)
with Good Mornings
12 x 60kg (132lbs)
10 x 70kg (154lbs)
8 x 75kg (165lbs)
Strong arch, soft knees, break at the hip


Weighted single legged squats
Standing on an 18" box.
Lowering until free foot touches the ground
8 x left, then 8 x right
8 x left, then 8 x right
8 x left, then 8 x right
Quads burning


Superset
Prowler pushes
40m x (50kg sled+80kg added) = 130kg/286lbs
40m x (50kg sled+80kg added) = 130kg/286lbs
40m x (50kg sled+80kg added) = 130kg/286lbs
With reverse hyperextensions
10 x BW
10 x BW
10 x BW
erectors, hammies and glutes


Thoracic rotations/hamstring stretches

55 minutes


The session:
Banded Deficit Deadlifts ... speed reps
This was the set-up:


Standing on a 2" bumper plate. The yellow band was underneath the plate, hooked around the collars of the bar, so that there was quite a lot of additional resistance from the floor and increasing resistance as I pulled to lock out. Reps were speed reps, so power up on the concentric, slow down on the eccentric, and full reset. The idea was to help me with speed from the floor and JP was watching closely to make sure that I kept the lower back arch tight.
This was a great exercise and by the time I'd done 130kg x 5 my glutes, hammies and lower back were working hard. I kept good form for the 140kg x 4 but when I reset for the 5th, the low back fatigue hit me and I just could not bring myself to pull it

BB Step-ups supersetted with Good Mornings
The step-ups were to an 18" box. Look ahead, core tight, pull the bar down to the traps. Form was good for all reps
Good mornings: Low back flat, core tight, soft knees, toes up to keep the weight through the heels, break at the hip and bend forward

Single leg squats ... 10kg weighted vest
Standing on an 18" box with one leg and dropping to touch the toe of the other foot on the floor. Had to concentrate on keeping the knees tracking squarely. Nearly fell over a few times on the first set

Prowlers supersetted with reverse hyperextensions
Prowler pushes were flatfooted to keep the drive through the glutes and hammies.
The reverse hypers were like this but lying across some stacked box jump boxes and with a pause at the top of each rep
My glutes, hammies and spinal erectors were dead



Summary
This was a great session. The banded deficits really forced me to work on form and speed from the ground and I had to really engage the glutes to lockout against the extra resistance. JP said he was impressed how quickly I've got back my PC strength despite it being nearly 3 months with no deads

After the session I went for my fortnightly massage ... I was so physically tired that I could barely stay awake despite him digging his elbows into my hammies and glutes . I'm thinking steak and eggs for dinner and then an early night!

[GinjaNinja85]

Tired... Steak... Early night..

You sound like me!

Ps. It works

[rallyum]

And WTF at 80kg x 100 reps non-stop ... living on lactate! I hope you threw up afterwards
Have you got to work out with Tim yet? A victory for Aus?

Nup, next week - Bangkok atm

And doubt it lol, benching Monday

Lulz, what was hard was not trying to smash in the face of the fat PT i had to share the rack with (he deliberately ran over to squat with me when he saw me come in) then proceeded to smirk and remark the whole time how light i was going whilest quarter squatting 4 plates. At one point he asked me what i did and told him "plumber" to which he scoffed and replied, "i'm a PT - i change lives for a living". Then when i finally think i got away from him, he sees me pull out some tourniquets and runs over to chat to me again, feigning interest then telling me how he could've squatted more but his knee hurts. All at 5am in the morning on limited sleep

edit: and then he tried to sell me protein

[fittofattofit]

Tired... Steak... Early night..

You sound like me!

Ps. It works

Ha .... it did. I had a great sleep and couldn't even be bothered to get out of bed to train. I decided I'm having a rest day

Nup, next week - Bangkok atm

Interesting times

And doubt it lol, benching Monday

You'd get the max bench but I know Tim's a volume monster. Pity you can't do occlusion training for the pecs
You'll have to get him squatting

Lulz, what was hard was not trying to smash in the face of the fat PT i had to share the rack with (he deliberately ran over to squat with me when he saw me come in) then proceeded to smirk and remark the whole time how light i was going whilest quarter squatting 4 plates. At one point he asked me what i did and told him "plumber" to which he scoffed and replied, "i'm a PT - i change lives for a living". Then when i finally think i got away from him, he sees me pull out some tourniquets and runs over to chat to me again, feigning interest then telling me how he could've squatted more but his knee hurts. All at 5am in the morning on limited sleep

You change taps for a living and he changes lives
You should have had a syringe of sux with you.

edit: and then he tried to sell me protein

He thinks you're his homie now

edit: just read the reason for your edit. Need a coffee now to wash the refluxed shake out of my mouth

[RyouBakua]

Banded... deficit... Deadlifts...

you crazy man



but Weighted single legged squats?!?

how much you get up to with those?

[fittofattofit]

Banded... deficit... Deadlifts...

you crazy man

And they were hard enough at 110kg. 130kg and I was seriously fatiguing but kept good form. 140kg and I died

but Weighted single legged squats?!?

how much you get up to with those?

I wore a 10kg/22lb vest ... when my quads were already tired after the step-ups, putting that extra load on the one leg meant that if I lost the tension through the knee I was gone! He had a 30kg vest but I said NFW!

[RyouBakua]

And they were hard enough at 110kg. 130kg and I was seriously fatiguing but kept good form. 140kg and I died

I wore a 10kg/22lb vest ... when my quads were already tired after the step-ups, putting that extra load on the one leg meant that if I lost the tension through the knee I was gone! He had a 30kg vest but I said NFW!

ah, i see it. my bad. eyes went straight to the prowlers

a 30kg vest would be insane!

[rallyum]

Ha .... it did. I had a great sleep and couldn't even be bothered to get out of bed to train. I decided I'm having a rest day

Kudos, srs

Interesting times

Pity that isn't happening here atm...

You change taps for a living and he changes lives
You should have had a syringe of sux with you.

World wouldn't have missed him

He thinks you're his homie now

edit: just read the reason for your edit. Need a coffee now to wash the refluxed shake out of my mouth

It was missing the plastic bag touch

Don't lie, you'd love me to intubate you

[fittofattofit]

Kudos, srs

I've got leg and butt DOMS, my lats and lower back are toasty and my arms are still swole after the occlusion stuff on Wednesday. This morning the k-pop queen said I should listen to my body. I told her: 'all I hear is snap, crackle and pop'
I figured I could do with a day off

Pity that isn't happening here atm...

At least we have News Limited to keep the bastards honest . Rupert for GG ... or is it Rolf, I get them confused

World wouldn't have missed him

It was missing the plastic bag touch

Send him to SA .. we/ll find a barrel big enough

Don't lie, you'd love me to intubate you

From which direction ..... nh .....

[Clabuilder91]

Mirin' those Speed Deficit Deads! I wish I had some bands and chains to try some time as I have always been intrigued by them eheh. Those single leg Squats are a killer exercises, I remember when I was doing them and I started to hate them alongside with Bulgarian Split Squats...two killer exercises ahaha.

I have never tried Good Morning but I think I may give a shot at them

[BabyOilBrah]

sweet deficit pulls, pushed that low back to the limit andrew. Was amazing to see you hitting GM's later on in the workout too. Posterior chain just took a beating, that's what I like to see.

[fittofattofit]

Mirin' those Speed Deficit Deads! I wish I had some bands and chains to try some time as I have always been intrigued by them eheh. Those single leg Squats are a killer exercises, I remember when I was doing them and I started to hate them alongside with Bulgarian Split Squats...two killer exercises ahaha.

I have never tried Good Morning but I think I may give a shot at them

Thanks Claudio! The banded, deficit, speed deads were a novel exercise for me but it was an ideal one for getting me to work on my form issues. Bands are cheap so I'd buy your own set: I keep two bands in my gym bag which I use for pull-aparts, arm work and stretches
I used to hate all the single leg exercises but that was because they were so hard .. my main problem I think was that my VMOs (teardrops) were very weak in comparison to my lateral quads and that this made my knees track badly and become painful. Those single leg lifts have taught me to track my knees properly and I actually enjoy them now.
The GMs are a great exercise if you do them properly

sweet deficit pulls, pushed that low back to the limit andrew. Was amazing to see you hitting GM's later on in the workout too. Posterior chain just took a beating, that's what I like to see.

Those banded pulls really got the PC muscles working in unison and my form held together until that last rep. One good thing about moving on to the GMs after that was that my PC was so fatigued that the only way I could manage to do them was by 'grabbing' my breath and locking down my core. It made me realise that I hadn't been doing that with my GMs before, so another cue for me next time (and a reminder for when I deadlift)
Hopefully the PC conditioning will help me get close to a PB next time we go for the big single

[TheBeastTyler]

Sounds like you had an intense session. Those banded speed deadlifts sound crazy haha

[fittofattofit]

Sounds like you had an intense session. Those banded speed deadlifts sound crazy haha

Thanks ... there was no way I could have done the banded speed deads if he'd said start at 140kg but we built up to it with minute rests between sets and I was surprised how much speed I was able to generate off the floor as well as how good the form went. They were so intense though that once I hit the wall with them there was no coming back for that extra rep

Saturday 24th May 2014

11 weeks 2 days post-op ... repair of ruptured distal biceps tendon

172lbs

Squats

Squats
10 x bar
10 x 60kg (132lbs)
5 x 100kg (220lbs)
5 x 110kg (242lbs)
5 x 120kg (264lbs)
5 x 130kg (286lbs)
4 x 130kg (286lbs)
3 x 130kg (286lbs)
3 x 130kg (286lbs)
3 x 130kg (286lbs)
3 x 130kg (286lbs)
3 x 130kg (286lbs)
10 x 100kg (220lbs)
Wanted to do 7 x 5 x 130kg
Messed around and lost the 5th rep, 2nd set
Downhill from there

Bench press
10 x 50kg (110lbs)
8 x 60kg (132lbs)
7 x 60kg (132lbs)
6 x 60kg (132lbs)
5 x 60kg (132lbs)
5 x 60kg (132lbs)
5 x 60kg (132lbs)
Strict. Shoulders OK

Band pull-aparts
Thick purple band
20, 15, 12, 12, 12, 10
Rear delts and rhomboids

Wide grip pull-downs
12 x 140lbs
12 x 140lbs
10 x 140lbs
10 x 140lbs
8 x 140lbs ... 8 x 100lbs ... 8 x 70lbs drop set
Tempo 3:2:3

Roman chair sit-ups
20, 20, 20

90 minutes

The squats
After yesterday's rest day .... my first since the 27th April .. I went in to the gym with the plan to squat 7 x 5 x 130kg. The first set of 5 felt great ... good form and at least another two unspotted reps left in the tank. The second set felt good as well but I'd gripped the bar slightly off centre and it felt loose, so I jiggled it on my shoulders after the 4th rep, sunk down in the hole for the 5th and got stuck. I had to dump the weight off my back. There was plenty of noise but it was all very controlled. I had to offload the bar and reset it on the rack but then my first rep on the next set felt very tentative. I didn't go down quick enough, didn't get the rebound and really only felt comfortable with 3 reps thereafter. I probably should have manned up and started adding the other reps back in but I'd lost my mojo
It's always very different for me squatting in my regular gym as compared to squatting with JP .. with JP I squat away from the rack, there are no mirrors, there are no distractions form anyone else and I've got the security blanket of a spotter. Just the presence of mirrors directly in front of me throws off my focus and gets my head position wrong .. to avoid that I face the other way in the rack and look into the gym but then I'm often looking directly at other people who are looking at me. It's interesting to me lifting in different set-ups can change the dynamics of your lifts. I was planning for 10 x 43 x 140kg next week but I'll stick with the 7 x 5 x 130kg for now

The rest
Afterwards I did some chest and shoulder work ... I must have entered some space-time vortex ... no way did it feel like I was there 90 minutes and it may even have been longer. I didn't really talk to anyone although I did help spot a trainer at the gym, but otherwise I must have spent a huge amount of time between sets in the rack .. I feel like I lost half an hour somewhere ... maybe there were a few exercises that I've forgotten. Is this what happens when dementia sets in?

Physio
I saw the physio yesterday. He's very happy with how my biceps tendon repair is going and I've gained more ROM in supination ... now at 19º away from normal. He said that from next Thursday at 12 weeks post-op I can start resistance work on the biceps ... he said to do curls with a 1kg DB for 2 weeks, then 2kg DB until week 16
Does this mean that I've been non-compliant again?

And my wife returns from Ireland tonight. That means I'll have to eat my vegetables again