PtReyesGreg's Workout Journal

[PtReyesGreg]

There's lots of great information in the bear's journal.

Definitely good stuff in the Bear's journal. Once my hip gets a little better I want to start trying some kettlebell lifts. His journal really got me interested in trying those out.

[Marius_Ursus]

Bamazav definitely knows his stuff.

[raynerd]

Great to see you back at it! Nice workout!

[PtReyesGreg]

Bamazav definitely knows his stuff.

That's definitely true. Btw, I might be shooting a question (or three) your way once I start up with some kettlebell moves. I'm thinking about replacing some of my running with kettlebell work this winter, to give my hip a better chance to recuperate.

[PtReyesGreg]

Great to see you back at it! Nice workout!

Ninja post! Thanks Shawn. It was definitely good to lift again. It was only a short break, but it felt like a LONG time.

[Marius_Ursus]

That's definitely true. Btw, I might be shooting a question (or three) your way once I start up with some kettlebell moves. I'm thinking about replacing some of my running with kettlebell work this winter, to give my hip a better chance to recuperate.

Anything I know I'll share. Anything I don't know I usually know where to ask.

[PtReyesGreg]

Anything I know I'll share. Anything I don't know I usually know where to ask.

Thanks Marius.

[PtReyesGreg]

Today during my lunch break I walked 2.47 in 50m:23s on the hilly trail at work. It was the first day in a week where it hasn't rained so I wanted to take advantage of that. Plus, it felt nice to loosen up my sore hip after sitting down all morning.

[InternetTuffGuy]

Hope you heal up quickly. Sounds like you're pacing yourself which is obviously smart. Ice that butt check brah.

[yaaar]

How's the butt?

[PtReyesGreg]

Hope you heal up quickly. Sounds like you're pacing yourself which is obviously smart. Ice that butt check brah.

Thanks ITG. Definitely trying to get better about pacing myself. Nothing feels quite like ice on the butt followed by a heating pad...torture might be the right word.

How's the butt?

As I told my son, it's broken. He said how do you know papa? I replied because it has a crack in it.

Seriously, though, its still painful but it's getting better. The hip tightens up on me big time when I sit at my desk, but that just gives me an excuse to get up every so often and walk around and stretch a little. When I'm doing my stretches I feel like one of those old guys you see at the park.

[Jbizzlechizzle]

Nice work being done here Pt. IN...

[PtReyesGreg]

Nice work being done here Pt. IN...

Welcome and thanks for checking in Jbizzle! I appreciate the compliment.

[yaaar]

Got you an xmas gift.

[PtReyesGreg]

Got you an xmas gift.

Excellent! Just what I've been wanting...

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Workout 1B (Medium) of cycle 1 of All Pro's Beginner Routine as follows:

Hypers 20-0, 20-0
Squats 8-120, 8-165, 8-205, 8-205 (Belted)
Fat Bar Bench Press 8-107, 8-143, 8-184, 8-184
DB Bent Over Rows 8-30, 8-40, 8-55, 8-55
Fat Bar Seated Military Press 8-96, 8-116, 8-116 (Belted)
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 8-125, 8-160, 8-160 (Belted)
Fat Bar Curls 8-60, 8-70, 8-70
Calf Raises 8-135, 8-135

Overall a good workout. Generally lighter than I'm used to but everything felt OK and my hip and back are feeling a little better so that's good.

My squat depth still isn't where I'd like it to be (see videos), but again I took it as low as I felt I could go...basically stopping at point where hip started to bark. A few times I went a little past the barking point and that also caused me to lean a little farther forward also. The workout on Friday will be the light workout so I'll work on it even more there.

I did Fat Bar Bench Press this time like I read about in a Dinosaur Training article. It advised to start in the bottom position so I did that...the only awkward thing there is crawling under the bar. Otherwise those felt good, so I think I'll keep doing them on the Medium and Light days to add some variety and do regular bench on heavy days. I think I'm going to also do that with MP and curls as well.

Here are the videos of the 2 work sets of squats and one work set of bench.







Also, today during my lunch break I hiked 2.72 miles in 57m:19s on the hilly trail at work. This is helping to loosen up my back and hips during the workday.

[yaaar]

We need to work on your squats!

I know your hip is jacked, but you could be doing a little bit better here. Not sure what your squats looked like before, have you video'd them before? I always try to watch squat videos and don't recall any in here.

What I notice first off... looks like your feet are way too close together, looks like they're pointing forward instead of out, and if you watch the bar path you're getting out on the front of your feet. All super easy fixes. Widening your stance will open your hips more and you'll be able to sit into the squat better. Probably good things to work on more when you're in better shape, but at the same time you've dropped the weight so that's always a great time to work things. Most important, don't hurt yourself further. Need to get your piraf... pirefom... your butt better.

Sorry I had only glanced over your All Pro's post, low on time. Spent more time on it finally! That's definitely one of the programs some people here like to run. Interesting to see how you like it. Not sure I could live without deadlifts right now, that seems to be the one lift that's really progressing for me at this point. All for the diversity though.

That bench video was hilarious, you need to fab up some monster jhooks for that. So many things I want to do, swiss bar is one of them. Not the same as the fat bar, but doing different types of bench is good all around. By the way, get your rain gear together... we've got some crazy stuff happening here right now... coming your way next!

[PtReyesGreg]

Thanks Wil. I appreciate your feedback on the squats. I know the form looks a bit different than what is usually recommended here, but there is a method to my madness. There is definitely a lot of room for me to improve but I don't think I'm as far off in the weeds as it might first appear.

My current squat form is the result of a combination of things. I used to squat with a wider stance with my toes pointed more outwards (a semi-powerlifting stance). I liked that stance and it allowed me to get lower in the hole. Doing that, though, I began to develop some pretty bad knee pain. I talked with a lifting coach who explained that with my frame (long legs, flat feet, and shortish trunk) I might be better off doing Olympic style squats, with my knees closer together. This type of squats focuses more on the quads which is what I'm mainly interested in working. In doing this my depth reduced some and my knee path started going out in front of my feet. Now, with my hip pain, that path forward is more exaggerated and that is definitely something I'm going to work to correct. The way I use to do that was to sit back more as I was descending but for the past week my hip hasn't allowed that. I'm hopeful that tomorrow with the lighter weights I'll be able to do better. Plus, I've been stretching more than I probably ever have...and it ain't fun.

Here is a good article that talks about the two styles of squats if you're interested in that:

http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-c...hich-is-better

I don't have any videos (well I do on one of my old computers but it will take me a while to track them down) of me doing the wider powerlifting style squats. Moving my stance closer together though did eliminate the knee pain which was a damn fine thing.

Pointing my toes straight ahead is something I started doing last week after my hip injury. Apparently if you stand with your toes out at an angle this it helps to cause the piriformis to shorten and tighten which then can lead to all the pain in the ass I've been having lately. I'm terrible about this...you can see my natural foot position in the bench press video...I've always pointed them out like that when I'm standing or walking or whatever and apparently I've been doing myself all sorts of harm with it. The solution for this according to the butt blogs is to try to do activities with your feet pointed forward. Thus, I've been giving it a try with the squats. Here is an article that talks about it, though I know this is probably more information about any of this than you, me, or anyone else probably wants to know.

http://blog.corewalking.com/butt-stu...us-piriformis/

Have you guys been getting drenched over where you are? I've seen forecasts that there will be 5-7 inches of rain up here today.

[yaaar]

Oh that was a highbar squat? Something I know nothing about.

Yea it's raining pretty good here. Montgomery BART has lost power, friends in Half Moon Bay have lost power. It's not terrible here, mostly wind but the rain's started in the past hour or so. I've got a 32' antenna on the top of the house, hoping it doesn't get blown away. The folks that are looking at 7-8" are in the north bay. We shoudl get some nice snow pack up in the Sierra's from this though.

[PtReyesGreg]

Oh that was a highbar squat? Something I know nothing about.

Yea it's raining pretty good here. Montgomery BART has lost power, friends in Half Moon Bay have lost power. It's not terrible here, mostly wind but the rain's started in the past hour or so. I've got a 32' antenna on the top of the house, hoping it doesn't get blown away. The folks that are looking at 7-8" are in the north bay. We shoudl get some nice snow pack up in the Sierra's from this though.

Yeah actually with my current situation I've been thinking about giving the low-bar powerlifting squats another try. I just really don't want the knee pain to come back. On the positive side, though, I never really had any hip troubles with those. Pick your poison I guess.

That does sound pretty intense in the North Bay. I'd hate to be in a BART station with no power...have to keep the old hand over the wallet. The guy in the cube next to me commutes here from Lake Tahoe, so he's taking the easy way out and working from home today. What he needs is the super urban assault Jeep like the pirate-mobile to get through the snow.

[mirroroferised]

Damn I'm getting way too far behind in the journals. Hope the injury isn't too severe man. Seems like you're back at it so that's great.

[raynerd]

Good to see you getting back in action Greg. I am sure that injury will be history soon with active recovery. Nice session.

[yaaar]

Did you guys survive the storm?!

They're talking about the Russian river creating by 3'!

[PtReyesGreg]

This morning I completed Workout 1C (Light) of cycle 1 of All Pro's Beginner Routine as follows:

Hypers 20-0, 20-0
Squats 8-108, 8-145, 8-180, 8-180 (Belted)
Bench Press 8-95, 8-125, 8-160, 8-160 (Belted)
DB Bent Over Rows 8-30, 8-40, 8-55, 8-55 (Belted)
Seated Military Press 8-95, 8-95 (Belted)
Stiff Leg Deadlifts 8-140, 8-140 (Belted)
Curls 8-60, 8-60 (Belted)
Calf Raises 8-135, 8-135 (Belted)

Pretty good (but easy) workout today. It was the light day of week 1 of All Pros so they don't get must easier than that. In any case, my hip is still sore so the slow progression and light starting week is just what I needed.

Also, I did pretty much everything belted today. I bought a new belt and I'm trying to break it in so I wanted to wear it more than necessary to try to get it formed to my body.

Here are the videos for all 4 of my squat sets. I have really been working on stretching although this morning I was in a hurry and didn't have time to do much stretching prior to lifting. Thus, my depth wasn't as good as it could have been. I am able to go deeper than I was last workout, though, despite some lingering hip pain and tightness. I'll keep doing my mobility work and trying to improve on that.

[PtReyesGreg]

Damn I'm getting way too far behind in the journals. Hope the injury isn't too severe man. Seems like you're back at it so that's great.

No worries. The injury is getting better. I think it's something I've been dealing with for years (a piriformis muscle weakness) and I just never knew exactly what was wrong. I've been working on my mobility and strengthening it so I'm back on track now. I did take a big step back on weight and change to a less aggressive program, but so far so good with that.

Good to see you getting back in action Greg. I am sure that injury will be history soon with active recovery. Nice session.

Thanks. Yeah, the mobility work and exercises seem to be paying off. The hip is still pretty sore, but MUCH better than it was. Just have to keep on keeping on...

Did you guys survive the storm?!

They're talking about the Russian river creating by 3'!

Yeah, so far so good. It's still raining right now but I think it should be passing pretty soon. I haven't been outside yet to see what it looks like but hopefully all the roads are OK on my way to work. They were worried about mud slides, etc., but so far so good. How are things down there in Hayward?

[Marius_Ursus]

Curls 8-60, 8-60 (Belted)

Protectin dem bicepts.

[PtReyesGreg]

Protectin dem bicepts.

Definitely. It did feel silly curly weight so low and with a belt nonetheless. I'm dedicated to following the plan (All Pros) as written though for at least 2 cycles...which isn't easy for me to do. It's a mental struggle for me to only have one heavy day a week after following the 5x5 progression for so long where I lifted my heaviest every workout and tried to increase weight each week. Once I get fully healed up I'll probably switch back.

And once my belt is broken in I plan on just using it for heavy squats, deadlifts, and OHP.

[Marius_Ursus]

Definitely. It did feel silly curly weight so low and with a belt nonetheless. I'm dedicated to following the plan (All Pros) as written though for at least 2 cycles...which isn't easy for me to do. It's a mental struggle for me to only have one heavy day a week after following the 5x5 progression for so long where I lifted my heaviest every workout and tried to increase weight each week. Once I get fully healed up I'll probably switch back.

And once my belt is broken in I plan on just using it for heavy squats, deadlifts, and OHP.

I just can't get my brain wrapped around using a belt for squatting under at least double body-weight. Do you have a pre-existing injury?

[Jbizzlechizzle]

Protectin dem bicepts.

And I bet he was doing them in the squat rack...

[PtReyesGreg]

And I bet he was doing them in the squat rack...

You know I was...of course it's my rack so I guess that's OK.