That went quite well!

I was a little nervous because my shoulders were feeling weird – the same sort of weird that is precursor to the arm pain issues. I know what was causing it — too much “sitting up in bed” and reading. Being propped up, shoulders get rounded forward, arms not in the best position, and it contributes to the problem. So I was a little nervous things would flare up.

Fortunately no flare up. I warmed up my shoulders well, and made sure to have that crush-grip on the bar the entire time. That makes a big difference at keeping everything tight, which then helps everything tremendously.

The 220 set flew up like it was nothing, which told me I was going to smash the 245 easily. And I did. I was quite happy about that.

BTW, Kroc Rows, when you get into such high reps? They are a bitch. 🙂

All in all, a very good session.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO)

• Bench Press
  • bar x 5
  • 105 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 155 x 3
  • 195 x 5
  • 220 x 5
  • 245 x 5
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 15e x 15
  • 15e x 15
  • 15e x 15
  • 15e x 15
• Kroc Rows (superset with bench work sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 30e
• Curl-Grip Pulldowns (superset with bench BBB sets)
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 10
  • 125 x 10
• Pushdowns
  • 95 x 20
  • 95 x 20
  • 95 x 15

Heavy week.

Still on 5’s PRO. And I’d be lying if this didn’t mess with my head a bit. My knee issues, getting back to heavier weights, for more reps, etc. it all messes with my head a bit. I look at the numbers on paper and know I can do it, but still. Nevertheless, I kinda appreciate it some, because I have to do it anyways. Yeah, maybe I’m a little nervous, a little scared, but you go anyways. Good life stuff here, as cheesy as that sounds.

Knees are feeling MUCH better. The PT work isn’t fun, but it sure seems to be making a difference. I’m moving quite well and the knees are feeling good. As a result, today was supposed to go to 310 but man… so close. So I went ahead for 315 because 3 wheels are fun.

The 5th rep was almost a bust — I lost my tightness out of the hole and hit the sticking point hard. Powered through it and got it. But lesson learned on tightness.

I am enjoying the single-leg leg press. I think keeping it lighter and more focused is going to be good for my rehab and my quads overall. I keep my feet at a shoulder-width distance, tho it’s one-leg (i.e. I don’t center the one leg). Toes are straight up, a little high on the platform, and I curl my toes up so that all the push is through my heels — that seems to hit things (e.g. the VMO) just right. I am able to go through a full-range of motion, tho maybe the first rep of the first set I cut it a hair short as I adjust. Still, this is much better than before!

Leg extensions are still undecided. Today instead of a toes out I kept them vertical and that felt a lot better and actually like it was hitting VMO better (despite the bro-science). So, I’ll keep them around a little bit to continue to see. I suspect they may be good for me.

I enjoyed NOT supersetting the front-plate raises — I get more quality work.

Spent about 10 minutes on the bike afterwards.

Anyways, things are feeling ok. I’m looking forward to this heavy week, then next week doing the 7th Week Protocol deload. After that, 3 weeks on… something. Kinda “anchor-ish” to use 5/3/1 Forever lingo, but again in light of my knee situation I need to think about how to adjust it. Kinda TBD.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO)

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 195 x 3
  • 245 x 5
  • 275 x 5
  • 315 x 5
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked (15 reps each set)
• 1-Leg leg press
  • 90 x 10e (1 plate)
  • 90 x 10e (1 plate)
  • 90 x 10e (1 plate)
  • 90 x 10e (1 plate)
  • 90 x 10e (1 plate)
• 10-Leg Leg Extensions
  • 30 x 10e
  • 30 x 10e
  • 30 x 10e
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 35 x 20
  • 35 x 18
  • 35 x 16
  • 35 x 14
  • 35 x 13
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 12

My knees continue to feel better, but I’m not pushing it — still not going to do leg work on my upper-body days. The addition of the PT work plus stationary biking afterwards is enough for now.

So – more back work!

Pressing itself is good. I have long struggled with a good setup that enables me to stay tight but also manage dizzy/pressure. I think I’m getting it. Basically after unracking I can hold body position but just let air out and take a breath in. Yes, that risks losing tightness and position, but I’m willing to trade-off for not passing out. 🙂 So far tho I’ve been able to manage it well, and I look at it this way. If I am weak in my ability to hold it, I’ll just keep working on it and get stronger — even if I have to take a few steps back to get me there.

Everything else tho went well and groovy today. Nothing exciting.

12 minutes on the bike afterwards. Each session I’m trying a slightly lower seat position to see what affect that has on my VMO and so far it seems to be a positive affect (hits it harder, feel more burn/tired in the VMO than anywhere else). So this is good.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO)

• Press
  • bar x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 90 x 5
  • 110 x 3
  • 125 x 5
  • 145 x 5
  • 160 x 5
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
  • 90 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with press warm-up sets)
  • 15e x 15
  • 15e x 15
  • 15e x 15
  • 15e x 15
• Normal-grip Pulldowns (superset with press work sets)
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
  • 135 x 12
• Barbell Rows (superset with press BBB sets)
  • 165 x 8
  • 165 x 8
  • 165 x 8
  • 165 x 8
• Lying Triceps Extensions
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 10

I continue to experiment with things to improve my knees.

All my PT work is to be around strengtening the VMO and glute min. Something like hack squats would be awesome, but my gym doesn’t have a hack squat machine. I thought about barbell hacks, but that requires rather a low start position, which is part of my problem right now. I could start off boxes, but then that would be a hard limit on ROM. BUT the gym does have a belt squat setup on a rack, so why not give that a try.

I’ve never used a belt squat before, so I spent a little time just playing around to get the feel for things. Again, with the desire to target the VMO I did:

• narrow stance (about shoulder-width)
• toes pointed forward
• lift the toes, to really emphasize pushing through the heels
• and sit back

I sat back into the belt letting it hold me up, and doing so put my feet very far forward of my body — so I wasn’t squatting over them but behind them. And so, this is similar to a hack squat position and movement.

I started very light to help me figure things out. Certainly the sets I did were not a bunch of work, but I got the feel for it. I think it could be quite useful to me, and I’m going to continue with it.

For sure, my knees are starting to feel better. It’s not 100% – like right now as I sit and type this, there’s some ache in my left knee. But I expect that having just worked the heck out of things. But I am waking up in the morning now with no stiffness, no nothing. I can get right out of bed and squat down with little trouble. This is progress!

So I’ll keep working on the prescribed PT work, and continue working to find assistance lifts to help me out. Onwards.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO)

• Deadlift
  • 175 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 260 x 3
  • 305 x 5
  • 350 x 5
  • 390 x 5
• Band Pullaparts (superset with deadlift warmups and work)
  • Not tracked, but 15 reps each set.
• Belt Squats
  • 25 x 12
  • 50 x 12
  • 75 x 12
  • 100 x 12
• Upright rows
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 10
• Seated Leg Curls
  • 120 x 12
  • 120 x 10
  • 120 x 9
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 11

Rode the bike for 12 minutes.

Today was good.

So all the knee things, but it doesn’t really affect today. One minor thing is of course adding the rehab work to my warm up and cool down, and then no more bodyweight leg work (back work instead). I hope to maybe add the leg work back in, but that’ll have to come after things are better.

All in all, things rolling well. I’m actually enjoying the added back work.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO)

• Bench Press
  • bar x 10
  • 105 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 155 x 3
  • 180 x 5
  • 210 x 5
  • 235 x 5
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 15e x 12
  • 15e x 12
  • 15e x 12
  • 15e x 12
• Kroc Rows (superset with bench work sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 27e
• Curl-Grip Pulldowns (superset with bench BBB sets)
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 12
  • 125 x 11
  • 125 x 10
• Pushdowns
  • 95 x 20
  • 95 x 17
  • 95 x 13

And then time on the bike, and my rehab work.

Well… things are going to change.

I had my MRI on my knee. I had a PT session. Bottom line: no tears or anything really bad. Basically I’ve lost a decent amount of cartilage, and now I’m inflaming the hell out of it. Why? Looks like muscle imbalances have really pulled my knee caps off track, so they’re not moving “in the groove” of the joint and everything’s grinding. It’s been years in the making, and just happens to be coming to a head now.

The PT session looked at a few things, considered my situation, goals, etc. and saw what wasn’t working on me. Basically I’ve really strengthened particular muscles from all the squats and deadlifts, but other antagonists didn’t get the same treatment — thus the pulling. So, the first pass at this is to give me a bunch of exercises to do to try to correct that. I will do these every day and see how it goes. If my condition improves, great; keep doing the exercises for the rest of my life. 😉 If it doesn’t improve, then we’ll revisit.

So, there are the daily exercises. On gym days, I’ll do them as a part of my warmup. On my off-days, I’ll just do them at home.

But then, there’s gym work.

It has to change.

I’m still not 100% settled on what that change will be. But I know a few things. I don’t see upper body work (bench day, press day) changing at all. Squat and deadlift days will change. I will still squat and still deadlift as I do for main work. All other work changes to help support, strengthen, and bring up these obvious weak points. Trouble is, I’m not 100% sure exactly what will work — and can be done with the equipment/facilities I have available.

For example, a hack squat machine would be awesome, but the gym doesn’t have one. So what to do?

Anyways, today I tried some simple things: single-leg leg presses (which is actually something the PT suggested, tho they had a hack-squat-like machine — I had to use a leg press), single-leg extensions.

I think the single less presses are going to be good. I start slow and light and will work my way up — this is certainly more about quality of the movement.

Leg extensions? Not sure. I felt more irritation in the knees during this, so it may not work well for me. Not sure yet.

That said, I think what may come next week is a different approach. Maybe something like front squats with a very light weight and maybe heels up, so I can keep my torso as upright as possible and really hit the VMO — but still heavy enough that I’m hitting that 5-10 rep range (tho I’m sure I’ll have to work to that regardless). Then follow with the 1-leg leg presses for up to maybe 20 reps each leg.

Then deadlift day. What just hit me, as I was writing this, is I may try barbell hack squats for my supplemental, then let my assistance work be for other things like hams and glutes. TBD.

Anyways — point is that things are going to have to change, but it’s all good. It’ll be some experimentation to get me there.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Squat (superset with band pullaparts)
  • bar x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 195 x 3
  • 230 x 5
  • 260 x 5
  • 295 x 5
• Band Pullaparts
  • Not tracked, but 15 reps each
• 1-Leg Leg Press (superset with front plate raises)
  • empty sled x 10e
  • empty sled x 10e
  • empty sled x 10e
  • empty sled x 10e
• Front Plate Raises (all the way overhead)
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 20
  • 25 x 20
• 1-Leg Leg Extensions
  • 30 x 10e
  • 30 x 10e
  • 30 x 10e
  • 30 x 10e
• Stair Calves
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 15
  • 70 x 12

Today’s a little different.

Last night I went to see Slayer (with Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth, and Testament). Tired from the show, only a few hours of sleep, so I didn’t really feel like doing a hard session — no need to dig my recovery hole too deep. I was thinking to “jack shit” the session, but that I’d see how it went.

I had a second thought: try sumo.

I am not really built for sumo, but I’ve done it before for a change. I wanted to see how my knees took to it. So I decided my BBB sets would be pulled sumo (work sets were conventional). Also, I wouldn’t really work it — just enough reps so I could get a feel for the movement. This wasn’t about actually getting in reps or work, but more about exploring the movement relative to my knees and other issues.

It wasn’t bad, but I’m not sure. I could only get so far down. Was it flexibility? Familiarity? Stability? Knees hitting “about that critical angle”? Maybe a little of all. So there was a bit more back-raise than there probably should be, but overall things weren’t too bad. Hard to say if it’d be worth considering – but as I start PT for my knees, I’ll talk with the therapist about it.

Anyways, I took it kinda easy today. Did the work, got out.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Deadlift
  • 175 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 260 x 3
  • 285 x 5
  • 325 x 5
  • 370 x 5
• Band Pullaparts (superset with deadlift warmups and work)
  • Not tracked, but 15 reps per set.
• Sumo Deadlift (for BBB)
  • 225 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 225 x 5
  • 225 x 5
• Upright rows (superset with BBB sets)
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 12
  • 105 x 11
  • 105 x 10

Then 13 minutes on the bike

Today was good. I really missed pressing so I’m glad to be back at it.

It also feels like pressing is going to be good to my shoulders and upper back, regarding my pain issues. I do have to be mindful — I can’t ego lift here, I have to ensure head through and that the shoulders shrug a bit at the top. But precisely that is what should be helping me out (vs. say a press with a nice layback that’s basically like an upright incline (bench) press).

I admit some confidence issues here. I haven’t lifted heavy in too long. I haven’t pressed in ages. When I started the 5’s PRO I felt the 5’s might be too much come the 3rd (1+) week. On paper it worked: if I can 1RM 195, 5 repping 165 should be cake. Sure enough it was, but still… I had confidence issues. Which is also kinda silly because what’s the worst? I miss. But that’s also the thing: I shouldn’t miss, especially this first cycle — everything should be easy. Mostly if I did fail it would be pointing to not starting out correctly. But hey, so far so good!

I didn’t do split squats today. My MRI for my knees is later today, so why push it.

I continue to enjoy lying triceps extensions, with my head off the bench and the bar going back behind my head — great stretch, and it feels really good.

Anyways – first cycle of getting back to heavier lifting and 5/3/1-based methodologies down. Next week starts the 2nd part of the 6-week cycle: squat and deadlift go up 10#, press & bench press go up 5#, but everything else remains in terms of exercises and approach (still 5’s PRO and all that). I will say that depending on how the knee stuff goes with the doctor, I might wind up changing a little bit; we’ll see. But the plan is to stay the course.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Press
  • bar x 5
  • 70 x 5
  • 85 x 5
  • 105 x 5 (was in a nice groove, kept going for 2 more reps)
  • 130 x 5
  • 150 x 5
  • 165 x 5
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
  • 85 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with press warm-up sets)
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
• Normal-grip Pulldowns (superset with press work sets)
  • 130 x 12
  • 130 x 12
  • 130 x 12
• Lying Triceps Extensions
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 12
  • 70 x 10
• Slant Board Sit-ups
  • 22 x 15
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 9

Pretty good day.

Benching went well. I am going into these heavier sessions with some trepidation, and I realized why: past injury. Whenever I’ve gotten to heavier weights, it’s when injury or things like the arm pain set in. So I’m a little wary: will the pain come back? since it’s a shoulder issue, am I risking a different (and worse) injury, especially if I don’t keep tight (as I’ve realized doing that – the crush grip – really helps mitigate things)? It’s not that I can’t move the weight, it’s just the fear of injury again.

It’ll be interesting in the coming weeks: next cycle, weights go up; cycle after that, weights go up and start to touch more so in places I’ve not been before. It’s actually exciting, and yeah… a little fear of the weights is good, especially when you overcome.

Anyways, benching was fine. Focusing on the crush grip does really help, and I was much better about maintaining that throughout the rep, as I’ve had a habit of loosening up during the descent. During the BBB sets I really worked on tucking the elbows and better drive out.

I did NOT lunge today; I’ll come back to that.

Everything else was just everything else. Reasonable assistance work.

I saw the orthopedic doc yesterday about my knees. Cursory examination looks like it may be a knee cartilage issue. No immediate signs of things like a tear or other worse problems, which is good. I’ll be getting an MRI in a few days to get a better picture of things, and then we’ll go from there.

One thing doc suggested I do between now and then is spend 20-30 minutes/day on a spin bike. So ok, I started that today. Only did 10 minutes, because the lower quads started to feel it. Interesting sensation, as normal stationary bikes don’t hit me like that, but I guess the angle in the spin bike… Anyways, I’ll work up to it. We’ll see how this fares for me.

5/3/1 (Based on: Forever, BBB, 5’s PRO

• Bench Press
  • bar x 5
  • 100 x 5
  • 135 x 5
  • 155 x 3
  • 190 x 5
  • 215 x 5
  • 240 x 5
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
  • 135 x 10
• Bent-over Lateral Raises (superset with bench warm-up sets)
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
  • 12e x 15
• Kroc Rows (superset with bench work sets)
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 10e
  • 60 x 23e
• Pushdowns
  • 85 x 20
  • 85 x 20
  • 85 x 20
• Slant Board Sit-ups
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 12
  • 22 x 9