Today was about experimentation, and I learned a lot.

As I contend with my arm pain, the hypothesis of biceps tendonitis is weakening, or perhaps more accurately the hypothesis of this being a shoulder — rotator cuff — issue is gaining support. I read more, I study more, I am looking at my body, trying things, seeing how things fare. And while I still can’t say for certain what the issue is, it does seem more like a shoulder problem.

As a result, I’ve been trying things. I’m foam rolling my rotator cuff muscles (infraspinatus, supraspinatus, teres minor, etc.). I’m using a Thera-Cane on them while I’m in meeetings. It’s been hurting a lot, but it’s getting a little less painful. I’m checking my posture while I sit/work. It seems to be helping, but still too early to tell.

I also want to try some changes in my gym days, and today was a strong trial on some things.

First, no more supersetting pulling movements with pressing movements. Wendler recommends this, and with good reason, but I am wondering if it is contributing to my issues. Today I didn’t do it, and everything felt good. My hypothesis is they are small muscles, but important for stabilizing the pressing movements. The work is fatiguing them, and when I need to call on them for the pressing they just don’t have it. Probably not the case, but for sure NOT pulling between my pressing sets went nice today. But 1 day is not much data.

I’m going to try move dumbbell movements. That will generally mean lighter weights, but also more involvement of stabilizers. And then, when picking the movements to do, pick ones that help to work this aspect. So instead of close-grip bench, I did Arnold Press. That’s a DB movement, and the “Arnold” aspect puts in some shoulder external rotation. Instead of regular lateral raises, use the cable to add a little more constant tension and also the angle change to hit the infraspinatus a little more (thank you exrx.net).

I opted for chest-supported DB rows because again what it would hit. But with chest-supported I really have to use the back muscles to do the work — no chance of something else taking over and actually doing the work, thus I can ensure those upper back muscles actually get worked properly.

Interesting was the straight-arm lat pulldowns. I originally opted to do these when I was leaning towards arm issues — an exercise that doesn’t involve the biceps & forearms as much. But doing these now I realized — another shoulder rotation movement. I really felt it in the teres minor — basically right up where the “lat” comes into the arm pit. I consider this a good thing.

Tate Press was a desire to find something else triceps for variety. But I suspect I’ll be dumping this because I just didn’t get much out of it — my triceps didn’t feel much work, but my elbows did feel stress. I may give it another go just to see, but I’m not optimistic.

Anyways, bottom line: all the changes are done towards trying to continue to get the work I need, yet work within the bounds of the pain. And then, to try to overcome the pain and address the issues: if something is weak, if something needs better recovery work, whatever it may be, so long-term I don’t have these issues.

Other notes: a lot of the new movements I had no idea what weight to use, so I started low and worked up. Try to get the movement right, and find the groove. Better to start too light and all that.

5/3/1-based program

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 70 x 5
  • 90 x 5
  • 110 x 3
  • 115 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 155 x 7
• Arnold Press
  • 30e x 10
  • 30e x 10
  • 30e x 10
  • 30e x 10
  • 30e x 10
• Chest Supported DB Row
  • 30e x 10
  • 30e x 10
  • 35e x 10
  • 35e x 10
  • 40e x 10
• Straight-arm Lat Pulldowns
  • 40 x 12
  • 45 x 12
  • 50 x 12
  • 50 x 12
• Cable Lateral Raises
  • 20 x 12e
  • 20 x 12e
  • 20 x 12e
• Tate Press
  • 20 x 12
  • 30 x 12
  • 40 x 12
• DB Curls (alternate, neutral-to-supinated hand while curling)
  • 35e x 12
  • 35e x 10
  • 35e x 7

Today was alright.

I picked up a set of Jim Wendler’s lifting straps. I generally don’t use straps because I want my grip strength to also improve. But there certainly have been a few times when grip was the weak-point and I couldn’t work what I wanted to work (as well) because of it. So sometimes straps are useful. But I’ve generally hated most straps because 1. the material is so thick it really messes with your grip, 2. the wrist-loop is made via a loop which often gets pulled very tight under tension and causes problems unto itself. I didn’t pick Jim’s because Jim, but because of the design: fixed loop, thinner material. They arrived yesterday, just in time. 🙂

I used them for most of my deadlift sets. Again, I normally do NOT do this, but new toy and wanted to try it out. For sure the design was to my liking. Interesting thing tho? On my 4th and 5th sets I started to feel like my grip was actually weaker, and there was more pain in my brachioradialis. So on the last set I ditched the straps, went mixed grip, and life was good. Interesting data points, but not enough data to really draw any conclusions. That said, I think I’ll dig the straps. I generally won’t use them, but sometimes when/if they are called for, I’ll be happy they’re in my bag.

That said, cranked out 10 reps pretty well and good. But as I was working up, I started to think about some of my approaches — in light of how I’m trying to mod things up due to my injury, recovery needs, etc..

While the volume’s been acceptable, I think I’m going to scale it back. Instead of 4 sets of most all assistance work, I’ll do 3 and make more of each rep (maybe even slight weight increase). And while it didn’t really affect today, on my pressing days I do think I’ll look into 1. not supersetting the back work, 2. more DB work.

See, the more and more I dig into things, the more and more I’m thinking my arm pain isn’t arms or elbows, but shoulder. Rotator cuff stuff. My current hypothesis is by cutting out the supersetting of the shoulder/back work during my pressing, I won’t 1. inflame those muscles, 2. wear them out. Thus, when I need them for stabilizing during benching and pressing they will be good and fresh. Yes still warm-up the area, but don’t WORK the area. Press, then do back/shoulder work. It may not help, but I need to explore it.

I hum-hawed about DB work because while I suspect it could be better due to lighter weight, I also did wonder if it might make things work because it requires more stabilization and thus I just make things worse. Well, I don’t know for sure but I’m going to explore it. Because part of me is thinking that if in fact it is a stabilization issue, if it in fact it is rotator cuff muscles, then working to strengthen them more ought to be good. TBD.

I’ve also been doing a lot more to roll and massage out things like my infraspinatus, supraspinatus, teres minor. It hurts like hell, which is likely a sign of some problems. But it is getting and feeling better.

So… one day at a time.

5/3/1-based program

• Deadlift
  • 150 x 5
  • 190 x 5
  • 230 x 3
  • 245 x 5
  • 285 x 5
  • 325 x 10
• Walking Lunges
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 10e
  • 40 x 7e
• Leg Curls
  • 40 x 12
  • 40 x 12
  • 40 x 12
• Twisting Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 18
  • BW x 14
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12

Today wasn’t good.

I mean, I hit 220×10, which was nice. But that arm pain was back pretty seriously.

It actually started before I left the house. I put on the elbow sleeves and shortly thereafter the dull pain started. Was it because of the sleeves compressing things? Maybe. My elbows felt less than excited.

I started pressing, and doing just band pull-aparts in between sets. The biceps pain grew. By the 5th and 6th sets of benching, the pain wasn’t as bad as it was a couple weeks ago, but knocking on that door for sure. So I opted to stop pressing and didn’t even do much else. Just some light shrugs then some arm work — the arm work I wanted because I wanted to get some blood flow to the area.

Some interesting things:

First, a lot of the pain came from indirect biceps work — stabilization. Benching, even the pressdowns. But direct biceps work, not much pain. Yes a bit when I’d start out, but it actually felt pretty good to do things like curl. I did drop the weight significantly on the curls, because of how everything was feeling — just get some reps in.

Second, I noticed new pain up in my shoulder, especially in the infraspinatus and supraspinatus area. After I got home I did some more reading and it keeps coming up that the pain I’m dealing with of course COULD be tendonitis but may not be — it may be a shoulder issue. Given what I’ve been feeling, I suspect this could be my issue. When I look at the whole of everything, it starts to make some sense.

I mean, even considering my posture sitting all day at work, it starts to be a problem — and I can see how that could lead into this.

There’s just a lot of things — not everything that I can detail here — but lead me to think I’ve got a few issues going on. And what I need in addition to change-ups in my workouts, is more rehab work. I have not been religious about the lacrosse ball, but I should be. I have a Thera-Cane in my office, and I should use it to work on those back/shoulder muscles. Spend time every day stretching more. Heck, I started to think back to my Kuk Sool days and the “mohm puhl ki” body conditioning/warm-up exercises done there — some of those things I can’t do as fully as I did back then. But things like that work the whole body, and yeah, I suspect I need to get just as serious about recovery and rehab as I do about gym sessions.

Much for me to think about. From being overly attentive to my posture during the day, to more massage (ball, roller, cane), to more stretching and body usage work (e.g. yoga-ish stuff, mohm puhl ki, etc.). Whatever it takes to keep myself functional.

Oh, and one gym thing I’m going to try? I’m going to STOP supersetting pressing and pulling. I want to see if that may be contributing to my problems.

That all said, I’m still happy with 10 reps of 220 (even with the arm pain).

5/3/1-based program

• Bench Press (superset with band pull-aparts)
  • bar x whatever
  • 105 x 5
  • 130 x 5
  • 155 x 3
  • 170 x 5
  • 195 x 5
  • 220 x 10
• Shrugs
  • 135 x 15
  • 135 x 15
  • 135 x 15
  • 135 x 15
• Rope-Handle Pressdowns
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 12
  • 60 x 10
• BB Curls
  • 40 x 15
  • 40 x 15
  • 40 x 15
  • 40 x 15

Starting a new program variation, and it started out pretty well.

The intention here is to keep on track towards my PR goals to end the year, but modifying the work I do to contend with the arm pain/issues I’m having.

First, the new setup does seem to help. Yes it’s still weird to not have a full grip on the bar, but the false grip really isn’t too bad — it’s stronger and more stable than I expected. But it is difficult to get into it; I do need to warm up into it, stretch into it, but once I got going it worked pretty well. For sure I’m going to add “getting into that squat position” to my daily warm-up to help work on stretching my pecs/shoulders out. But all in all it worked out quite well today, as the first day using it with “real weight” on my back.

Second, the elbow sleeves do seem to help, because mucho warmth. The knees sleeves too. Hard to describe, because it’s not some huge difference, but for sure my knees just felt good. Happy with the new ST sleeves.

Third, and interesting side-effect of the new setup is I find my upper back is MUCH tighter. Makes sense, because basically my chest is “thrust” further forward to make this position happen. Welcome side-effect.

And so I squatted. 275 admittedly started to mess with my head a bit, but there’s no reason as I’ve squatted more than this for reps with no problem. Still, I think because I’m flirting in the 300’s now (e.g. this cycle’s 1+ will be 310#) and close to breaking my all-time PR (325#), things are creeping into my head. That said, I just told myself the usual: just 1 rep at a time, be tight, don’t worry about where you stop just keep going and see how far you get. After I did the required 5 reps, I found myself pausing between each rep for a couple good, deep breaths. Did I necessarily need? No, but I just wanted to do that to ensure I kept things flowing. I then stopped at 9 because I was actually getting a little light-headed from all the oxygen. 🙂 It was kinda cool to have pushed a little further. Very happy with 9 reps.

Then, there’s the change-up.

I am going to do RDL’s instead of straight-/stiff-leg deadlifts. In a lot of ways the same, but for sure there’s a different execution and mental approach. Again, I find Alan Thrall really good at teaching and explaining concepts, and a recent RDL video of his gave me a few cues and tips. So today I just picked a number and went, trying to be stricter and better about RDL form and execution. I actually lowered the weight to allow better focus on technique, but by then things were feeling worn out. Next week I’ll start lower and just focus on technique — even if it means a few sessions at a very light weight, I don’t care — I want to ensure I get the most out of this.

Then into hypers and boy… I just peeded out. The lower back and glutes said they had it.

Anyways, that’s that. My arms are feeling alright, the squatting went quite well. The equipment and technique changes seem to be positive and helping. All in all, good times.

5/3/1-based program

• Squats
  • bar x whatever
  • 135 x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 190 x 3
  • 210 x 5
  • 245 x 5
  • 275 x 9 (9RM PR)
• Romanian Deadlift
  • 185 x 8
  • 185 x 8
  • 185 x 8
  • 135 x 5
  • 135 x 5
• Hyperextensions
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 13
  • BW x 4
• Crunches
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 15
  • BW x 10
• Standing Calf Raises
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12

Finishing deload week. Elbow sleeves are good things.

So it’s just deload week, nothing really to report.

My arms are feeling better, but I’m not out of the woods. I do believe the elbow sleeves are helping, because man — warmth. Things to increase and maintain increased blood flow to the area is useful. I’ve also been rolling a lacrosse ball over my arms (biceps, forearms, elbow, triceps) while I work during the day (e.g. taking a break to think about something, or while attending a meeting).

When I start back into things next week, I will have an adjusted program, with choices made to try to contend with the arms. For example, I’m not going to be doing as many pulldowns in a week. Instead, I’ll be trying face-pulls as a pressing superset exercise. Plus, I am going to try straight-arm pulldowns so I can still get some lat work but hopefully minimize impacts to my arms. I will also call audibles, such as I intend for my “big assistance” exercise to still be 5 sets, but if I have to go 3 to avoid problems then I will. And while I have an approach set up, if I find out some new exercise isn’t helping (or is hurting), then I’ll change up.

Onwards.

My own massing template, based upon 5/3/1 SST and some Paul Carter principles

• Press
  • bar x whatever
  • 70 x 5 (superset with band pull-aparts)
  • 70 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 105 x 5
• Close-Grip Bench Press
  • 155 x 10 (sets superset with curl-grip pulldowns)
  • 155 x 10
• Face Pulls
  • 90 x 15
  • 90 x 15
• Lateral Raises
  • 20e x 12
  • 20e x 12
• Lying Triceps Extensions (superset with curls)
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12
• Close-grip EZ-bar Curls
  • 65 x 12
  • 65 x 12

Just a decent day. Deload, nothing to really write home about.

The knee sleeves are nice. Again, really crazy warmth and heat-retention with them (and sweat retention too!). They fit well, they don’t move, don’t ride up/down, comfortable. I really dig them.

Starting to have stronger thoughts about how I’ll be changing my programming for the next couple cycles, mostly towards helping deal with my arm pain issues. Haven’t finalized anything, but I need to soon.

Halloween candy is evil.

That is all.

My own massing template, based upon 5/3/1 SST and some Paul Carter principles

• Deadlift
  • 150 x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 185 x 5
  • 185 x 5
  • 220 x 5
  • 220 x 5
• Walking Lunges
  • BW x 12e
  • BW x 12e
• Twisting Crunches
  • BW x 20
  • BW x 20
• Seated Calf Raises
  • 55 x 12
  • 55 x 12