Advice--recomp and strength

NovemberJune

I'm trying to set realistic goals and a realistic plan for myself and I'd love your help. My main goals are improving body composition and increasing strength.

strength....
I have hip bursitis. My x-rays are 100% healthy and my orthopedist says it's absolutely fine for me to lift but that I might eventually decide to change my activities to avoid pain and inflammation in my bursae He even used the phrase "as we get older..." I'm 29! :laugh: He prescribed a couple of rounds of NSAIDs which I completed and it was great but after going off of them, the problem returned. The side effects of staying on NSAIDs aren't worth taking it longer term than I already did for anyone who isn't familiar

Sometimes my hips are fine. Sometimes they just feel a bit uncomfortable. Sometimes they hurt enough that I can barely do dumbbell lunges. But that's rare fortunately.

I started with SL5x5 a year ago. I quit for a few months because of my hips. My chiro told me not to lift at all, not to even do body weight lunges. After having the same exact problems after a few months without lifting, I went to the orthopedic physician and started lifting again. I've since found out that my chiro is anti-lifting in general and tells everyone not to lift and just to walk or walk fast (which is what he told me).

I have always been really slow to gain strength. I did 5x5, then switched to 3x5 at your all's advice, deloads, etc. One problem is that I will get up to a certain weight, then my bursitis will act up, and I'll have to go down 20 lbs. It's like when my bursae are all inflammed, my glutes won't activate quite right. I can't get them to help at all. I feel that way because usually only one side will hurt at a time and I can tell that one glut is doing all the work and the other one nothing.

I think a trainer might help, assuming I could find a good one, but I really can't afford one.

Right now I'm thinking about doing 5/3/1. I don't mind only adding 5-10 lbs per month because that's how it's been going anyway. Right now my calculated 1 RMs are about Squat-125#, Bench-70#, Deadlift-135 (although I could do 3x5 at 135 last month), OHP-60. So relatively low. And I know typically people are lifting a lot heavier when they start 5/3/1.

My thinking for assistance work is squat day--3x10 squats, RDLs, and leg extensions, bench day--DB bench and DB rows, DL day--3x10 DLs, 3x10 DLs, BB lunges, OHP day--3x10 OHP, 3x10 DB bench, chin ups.

Basically this is what I'm doing already but I want to know if following Wendler's plan for progression makes sense for me.

body composition....
I've been between 131 and 135 for about 8 months, lifting, and progressing to higher weights whenever I can. I can see very small changes in thighs and a bit more progress in my stomach but otherwise the same. I'm ok with slooooooooow progress in body composition as well because i honestly feel great about my body as it is and anytime I decide to cut, my motivation lasts about 2 days and I get HUNGRY! Ideally, I'd love to have a bit less fat and a bit more muscle.

intake over the past 8 months (let me know if you want me to do the detailed version)=1968 calories, 106 g protein, 57 g fat, 276 g carbs.

So, my question is do you think doing 5/3/1 and continuing around maintenance calories is a plan that fits my goals to slowly recomp and gain strength? Sorry so looooooooooooong

bumblebums

I would bet my ice cream for the day that your knees slide forward at the bottom of your squat. Do you have a video where your toes and knees are visible from the side?

NovemberJune

I would bet my ice cream for the day that your knees slide forward at the bottom of your squat. Do you have a video where your toes and knees are visible from the side?

I finally got this! -- Hopefully. Photobucket is not fun from iPod touch :P

http://s1164.photobucket.com/user/NovemberJune/media/album/7C5B7DC0-7AE6-4053-A0D9-C567399D1FF7-15666-00000AF93CF585C1.mp4.html?sort=3&o=0

But, no, my toes aren't visible darn

Activities that usually bother my hips are running or anything high impact like jumping so I usually avoid those. Squatting never seems to hurt my hips, but if my hips are hurting, my performance suffers. My performance suffers a lot worse with deadlifts though, and RDLs to a lesser degree. I had quit squatting and dead lifting for a few months to see if that was making my problems worse and my hips seemed just as bad during that time. My gym was closed last week so I didn't squat or deadlift and did extra hilly walks and by the end of the week, my hips were hurting but better after the weekend.

Thanks bums

bumblebums

I would bet my ice cream for the day that your knees slide forward at the bottom of your squat. Do you have a video where your toes and knees are visible from the side?

I finally got this! -- Hopefully. Photobucket is not fun from iPod touch :P

http://s1164.photobucket.com/user/NovemberJune/media/album/7C5B7DC0-7AE6-4053-A0D9-C567399D1FF7-15666-00000AF93CF585C1.mp4.html?sort=3&o=0

But, no, my toes aren't visible darn

Activities that usually bother my hips are running or anything high impact like jumping so I usually avoid those. Squatting never seems to hurt my hips, but if my hips are hurting, my performance suffers. My performance suffers a lot worse with deadlifts though, and RDLs to a lesser degree. I had quit squatting and dead lifting for a few months to see if that was making my problems worse and my hips seemed just as bad during that time. My gym was closed last week so I didn't squat or deadlift and did extra hilly walks and by the end of the week, my hips were hurting but better after the weekend.

Thanks bums

Hmm. I do not know very much about high bar squats. (Which is what I am assuming you are trying to do--right? the bar is high, and your torso position is more in line with a high bar than a low bar squat.) But I can see that you are not quite hitting parallel here, which could be causing some of your problems. The posterior chain (especially the hamstrings and the gluteals) is not as involved in the high bar squat as in the low version, though, so if you really wanted to lift more weight, you might want to look into doing low bar.

As far as programming, it seems too early to me to move to periodization at your current stage... If your 1 RM is below body weight, then your progress is not stalling because you have exhausted the novice potential. Iron out technique issues, and you should be able to move along a linear progression for some time before you need to switch to an intermediate program.

Inflammation injuries of tendons and ligaments respond well to icing and rest. And to improved form that protects them from overuse. It sounds like you have done the rest part, so I would try form next.

Perhaps others will weigh in--although the squat video would get more comments in the technique thread.

Sarauk2sf

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