March to the Gym

canadianlbs

^^^ i do find scapular retraction and holding in the retracted position off a pullup bar is terrific for general upper back betterness. i keep them 'light' i.e. like rehab/accessory stuff, and normally i think i fall into 3x8ish rep schemes.

hanlonsk

Sometimes for me, form issues are a lack of triggering the muscles right, rather than a lack of strength. For a lot of shoulder upper back stuff, cues that have helped me are pinching shoulder blades together, or trying to put shoulderblades in my (mythical) back pockets. Both of those seem to help me get shoulders locked better.

I took Thursday as a rest day after the adventures in bench press. I also went to see my massage therapist friend. LEts just say I definitely was aware of my chesticles.

Friday, was conditioning. And let’s just say the first kB swings let me know above body part still had some complaints.

5 x the following
15kb swings @ 35 (trainer upped to 20 after first set, I learned I hate counting to 20)
Down and back yoke pushes. Yoke plus 50
Wallballs @10 -I was getting called on lack of depth so last 3 sets I put a ball behind me for depth check also.
10 bench leg raises


Today
Did my first 5k distance in months (it was intervals) but it was the first run in a while long enough to have a period of “hey, this is kinda ok” in between the “why am I doing this?” And “why am I still doing this?” Pieces.

Then I did squats (yes I’m aware I’m crazy- there was like 3 hours and some food in between at least)

5 x 45 Paused squats - I was pretty sure the day was in trouble at this set
5 x 50
5x65
3x75
5x95
3x105
3+ x 120 - I got 6. This is for sure a rep pr, and possibly a weight pr. I would have to look. I did employ a spotter for this set though, and if I had been lifting alone, I probably would have stopped at 4 or 5

Leg press
10 x 100
10 x 125
10 x 150

Lunges
1x down and back @ 15 lb dumbbells
2 x down and back @ 20 lb dumbbells
These actually weren’t as bad as I expected at the 20 lbs after running and squats

Hip thrusts
Per trainers instructions earlier in the week, the weight for these escalated quickly, which I will probably notice tomorrow
3 x 10 @ 65

In other news, ummmm romwod was telepathic... it’s like it knew I had been dumb and both ran and squatted today.

Also, I intended to make Thursday’s up, but 50 minutes??? Really??? Even if I thought I wouldn’t die... I don’t think my attention span is that long.

canadianlbs

two weeks (more?) of ignoring the rehab had pretty much left my hip back in the place that it started from.
then one afternoon of experimenting to try find a re-entry point has reduced the symptoms by about 50%. not even doing the drills. just trying to rediscover the right way of doing them.

krokador

hanlonsk wrote: »

hursday’s up, but 50 minutes??? Really??? Even if I thought I wouldn’t die... I don’t think my attention span is that long.

haha, I did it on Friday. I was so beat-up from my 2 previous day's workout, I figured it would be my "workout" of the day (it's not super strenuous physically). The 2 min spinal twists were awesome. And the 10 min forward fold. Well... I was a little surprised at myself but I stuck with it, and the breathing part, and the feeling at the end was great. Not to mention how limber and ready to go I was yesterday. I think a part of it is the mental part. And hey, if I can take 20 minutes in my day to meditate, why not do it while I stretch?

Sadly I've got a visit from my old friend the unhappy trap today. It wasn't hurting much if at all when I went to bed, so I must've slept on it wrong. But my neck sort of has been bothering me for a few days now that I think about it. So I'm adding neck strengthening to my upcoming shoulder routine. And some abs, while I'm at it. So that my lower back doesn't blow out anymore. I haz a plan!