A Tale Told by an Idiot

[EricK]

Thu, 3/28/24

202

Deadlift:
225 x 8 x 2, 275 x 5 (DOH)

RDL:
275 x 8 x 3 (straps)

Not feeling it but wanted to do something before having a protein drink.

[EricK]

I messed up my arm on Thursday at a ninja challenge themed playground with my son. I guess getting carried away with myself and trying to show off, I did a running jump to grab onto a horizontal cargo net. My right arm has had some pain building up over the past week or so, probably from raising volume and intensity too quickly, and the dumb meat head flying grab maneuver really didn't help. I don't think I tore anything but the pain was so intense that I fell, saw stars and could barely use my arm at all on Friday or Saturday. Sunday and today it only feels a little tender when I flex under tension or raise my arm to the front.

Proof that one may get too old to jump through an obstacle course before one is old enough to realize it. Anyway, this very log starts off with a long battle with some kind of bench-related tendonopathy that caused me to spin my wheels and eventually give up in frustration for some period of time. So I'd like to see if I can do better this time.

I think, obviously, a break from any heavy work and maybe working up towards some higher volume at very light loads? I dunno. Even though I have experience with this shit, I don't have much experience fixing or recovering from it... I know I can still run and probably still do lower body lifts but I'm not sure how to aid recovery and then build back up to something.

[mgil]

Do you have a PT you can trust? I found this to be a blessing in my old age.

[DanCR]

@EricK, hopefully presuming that you didn't tear anything, empty bar, add weight each session unless and until it's a problem.

You're going to atrophy just a bit during this because the weights will be, for a minute, too light to maintain your current level of strength and muscle. To combat that / cut down on it to the greatest extent possible, I recommend two things:

1. Ignoring my usual scoffing at the idea of perfect form, in this case you actually do want perfect form, including a controlled eccentric and flexing everything on the eccentric and concentric as a bodybuilder would. You might even consider dispensing with the lockout for a bit and keeping constant tension.

2. The temptation for anyone doing this from an SS background is to work back up with the standard 3x5. Don't do that. Go with 3x10 or, if that drives you crazy, at least 3x8. In my experience coming back from several injuries/surgeries, 3x5 will work your strength back up, but neglects the muscle that you want to rebuild. Doing that will result in stalling and, potentially worse yet, more injury. Ask me how I know. I'm not saying don't ever drop down into a strength rep range; I just would avoid it until you've worked back up to weights that actually require it.

[FilmBuff]

@EricK, hopefully presuming that you didn't tear anything, empty bar, add weight each session unless and until it's a problem.

You're going to atrophy just a bit during this because the weights will be, for a minute, too light to maintain your current level of strength and muscle. To combat that / cut down on it to the greatest extent possible, I recommend two things:

1. Ignoring my usual scoffing at the idea of perfect form, in this case you actually do want perfect form, including a controlled eccentric and flexing everything on the eccentric and concentric as a bodybuilder would. You might even consider dispensing with the lockout for a bit and keeping constant tension.

2. The temptation for anyone doing this from an SS background is to work back up with the standard 3x5. Don't do that. Go with 3x10 or, if that drives you crazy, at least 3x8. In my experience coming back from several injuries/surgeries, 3x5 will work your strength back up, but neglects the muscle that you want to rebuild. Doing that will result in stalling and, potentially worse yet, more injury. Ask me how I know. I'm not saying don't ever drop down into a strength rep range; I just would avoid it until you've worked back up to weights that actually require it.

I’d echo this plus just using a rating of perceived tolerance at very low RPE and moderate volumes as you figure out what aggravates it and seeing how it feels the days after working it. A PT or online consult could be helpful too. I’ve made good progress with my shoulder just by implementing stuff I found on the e3 rehab YouTube channel, so I’m sure their consults would be effective too. You need to balance challenging the area to adapt but without pushing too hard too fast. It’s a balancing game and there can be regressions during progress, but if you go at it from a systematic approach you’ll get back to baseline.

[cole]

oh man, at least you were being fun dad. im just a grump that says "sure ill play with you, but im not running, jumping or bending down." i know all too well my physical limitations at this point.

I would agree with pretty much everything @DCR says and also the RPT mentioned by @FilmBuff . dont let ego load the bar, and forget about your current RPE baseline and just do session by session RPT. its taken me 7 years to learn like 2 things about rehab, and RPT is the way to go. Good luck

[MailmanMuscle]

FWIW I’ve had a messed up left shoulder for years, ever since I a torn labrum in 2011 (I think). In my experience, all of the above is good advice.

[EricK]

Do you have a PT you can trust? I found this to be a blessing in my old age.

How much is my wife paying you? She actually had some good experience with a local one when she developed hip issues (eventually getting it replaced). She says I need to stretch more... I have to admit that I'm totally ignorant about the mechanics of seeing a PT. I suppose it depends on one's plan/coverage, but I imagine I'd have to get a referral which also means I need to get a doctor who might then refer me. Probably not a bad idea considering I'm probably at least prehypertensive... Gee getting old sure is glamorous in't it?

@EricK, hopefully presuming that you didn't tear anything, empty bar, add weight each session unless and until it's a problem.

You're going to atrophy just a bit during this because the weights will be, for a minute, too light to maintain your current level of strength and muscle. To combat that / cut down on it to the greatest extent possible, I recommend two things:

1. Ignoring my usual scoffing at the idea of perfect form, in this case you actually do want perfect form, including a controlled eccentric and flexing everything on the eccentric and concentric as a bodybuilder would. You might even consider dispensing with the lockout for a bit and keeping constant tension.

2. The temptation for anyone doing this from an SS background is to work back up with the standard 3x5. Don't do that. Go with 3x10 or, if that drives you crazy, at least 3x8. In my experience coming back from several injuries/surgeries, 3x5 will work your strength back up, but neglects the muscle that you want to rebuild. Doing that will result in stalling and, potentially worse yet, more injury. Ask me how I know. I'm not saying don't ever drop down into a strength rep range; I just would avoid it until you've worked back up to weights that actually require it.

I’d echo [DCR's comments] plus just using a rating of perceived tolerance at very low RPE and moderate volumes as you figure out what aggravates it and seeing how it feels the days after working it. A PT or online consult could be helpful too. I’ve made good progress with my shoulder just by implementing stuff I found on the e3 rehab YouTube channel, so I’m sure their consults would be effective too. You need to balance challenging the area to adapt but without pushing too hard too fast. It’s a balancing game and there can be regressions during progress, but if you go at it from a systematic approach you’ll get back to baseline.

Thanks, guys. This sounds like a good plan. It's misleading that the pain isn't all the time now and I have a history of just jumping right back into training or taking a brief foray into moderate weight, higher rep stuff before going back into training where I left off. I'm already taking some days of total rest (lifting wise) but will use this approach bench and curls when I get back to it. It might even give me a chance to get serious about running and weight loss...

oh man, at least you were being fun dad. im just a grump that says "sure ill play with you, but im not running, jumping or bending down." i know all too well my physical limitations at this point.

I would agree with pretty much everything @DCR says and also the RPT mentioned by @FilmBuff . dont let ego load the bar, and forget about your current RPE baseline and just do session by session RPT. its taken me 7 years to learn like 2 things about rehab, and RPT is the way to go. Good luck

I can be a grump far too often, too... Last night my son tried to show me a "magic" trick by putting an applesauce cup into a regular cup filled with water to give the illusion of a false bottom and all I could focus on was how much water he spilled all over the floor and how close he was to dropping the cup because he held it weird to conceal the trick... I felt bad afterwards and told him so. But yeah, when it comes to meat head stuff, I'm game! I joined him in a school show of scripted dances and really hurt my ankle doing a mock jump rope move (embarrassingly, I did not jump high or hard at all, I guess I just lost the ability to hop repeatedly without warming up my ankles for 20 minutes...).

FWIW I’ve had a messed up left shoulder for years, ever since I a torn labrum in 2011 (I think). In my experience, all of the above is good advice.

Thank you. I am glad to hear that one can still lift as successfully as you have after a torn labrum. I'm pretty sure my issue is just tendinitis, so hopefully I can recover as long as I'm not too stupid.

[EricK]

Tue, 4/2/24

201.5

Forgot to include guitar:
1:30
-Blue Sky by the Allman Brothers, specifically the intro lick; it's iconic and fun.
-Over the Hills and Far Away, by Led Zeppelin; also an iconic, fun riff.
-Nothing Else Matters; I got a little discouraged with how difficult the whole song is, but want to get back to working on it.

Treadmill:
45:00, 595 cal, 4.50 mi

I didn't have much excuse to skip exercise yesterday but I did want to take a couple days before starting rehabbing my shoulder and elbow. I don't have any reason to suspect that I can't squat, but deadlift might be iffy with my elbow (it's on the supinated side). So maybe I'll keep it light or use straps. Possible silver lining is that without worrying about much upper body stuff maybe I can actually make some progress losing weight (?)...

I have been thinking about a strategy for the run on the 20th. My friend indicated he plans for this to be a social event, so he expects to run for a while then take breaks. I don't know how fast he plans to run the whole 16 mile trail, but I figure I can run for 45-50 minutes, walk or rest for 10-15, and be done in 3 or 4 hours. At least at my current fitness level. My legs will be tender for a few days, probably but I won't kill myself with that approach (I think). If that's too slow for the group, I can (maybe) adjust upwards a bit. Either way I have to tell my wife what time to meet me at Harper's Ferry otherwise I will have to cling to some flotsam and ride the river back home...

[KarlM]

oh man, at least you were being fun dad. im just a grump that says "sure ill play with you, but im not running, jumping or bending down." i know all too well my physical limitations at this point.

Got a good chuckle out of this one.

Sending @EricK good healing vibes through the aether!

[EricK]

Thu, 4/4/24

199.3

Guitar:
1:00
-Over the Hills and Far Away
-Norwegian Wood

Squat:
135 x 5, 225 x 5 x 3

First set at 225 felt pretty awful last set felt like air squats

BB Curl / Bench:
45 x [ 10, 10 ] x 3

Elbow and pec don't hurt most of the time but it will come up occasionally when moving my arm.

Treadmill:
34:00, 494 cal, 3.77 mi

I've been exceedingly lazy cautious this week and felt like I should start doing something...

oh man, at least you were being fun dad. im just a grump that says "sure ill play with you, but im not running, jumping or bending down." i know all too well my physical limitations at this point.

Got a good chuckle out of this one.

Sending EricK good healing vibes through the aether!

Thanks, Karl! Feeling a lot better, I just need to build back up without re-aggravating my joints...

[EricK]

Sat, 4/6/24

197.4

Guitar:
1:00
-Over the Hills and Far Away
-Layla
-Schism
All have lots of hammer ons and pull offs which are fun and sound cool.

Push ups / BB curl: 35 / 45 x 12
Push ups / DB curl: [ 35 / 25 ea. x 12 ] x 3

At least I did something.

I don't notice any pain in my shoulder for the most part, but I could feel it in my elbow on the curls. Not quite pain, but considering how light it was the fact that it felt uncomfortable is telling. It seems located at the bicep insertion. I really don't want to give up on curls and chin ups because one, I want to see if I can get back up to 25+ chins/pullups and two, I've never really done a lot of direct arm work and want to see how I respond to it (apart from tendonitis...).

I also have to admit that I'm slacking on my running but I'm still not too worried about at least finishing in less than 4 hours. Perhaps I'm being too flippant.

[augeleven]

Sorry to hear about your arm, man.

Over the Hills and far away is a fun jam. It would be a fun ( and laughably tedious) expert to try to sing and play that one with all the hammer-ons and what not. I would probably have to start at like 10 bpm.

[EricK]

Mon, 4/8/24

199.6 because of my doctorate of mathology from Gary's Online Skool of Dope Doctorates, I have deduced that gaining 2 pounds over the weekend is better than gaining 6 pounds.

Squat / pullup:
W/u (no belt) - 135 x 8 / BW x 5, 225 x 8 / BW x 5, 275 x 8 / BW x 5
Worksets - [ 315 x 5 / BW x 8 ] x 3

Trying a different angle by doing pullups instead of chinups and I was pretty strict and slow with the reps. No pain.

Bench / curl:
[ 135 x 10 / 62 x 12 ] x 3

Again, strict and slow with reps, kept tension the whole time. Kept my elbows stapled in my torso for the curls. No pain.

Treadmill:
27:00, 385 cal, 2.90 mi

Ironically, I've felt much better (no pain) for the past few days and worked out without pain, then I threw the ball for the dog and that hurt my elbow. Ha. Not bad, just surprising and annoying. I think I'm on the mend, just gonna keep adding weight slowly and work back up to where I was, keeping form pretty strict.

Sorry to hear about your arm, man.

Over the Hills and far away is a fun jam. It would be a fun ( and laughably tedious) expert to try to sing and play that one with all the hammer-ons and what not. I would probably have to start at like 10 bpm.

Oh yeah, I don't have (m)any delusions of playing and singing it, I just figured it's a nice, challenging song that helps me keep improving finger accuracy and speed.

[EricK]

My son and I are about to finish the Harry Potter series and I want to keep reading with him. Any suggestions on books? He's 8.

[lheugh]

My son and I are about to finish the Harry Potter series and I want to keep reading with him. Any suggestions on books? He's 8.

Hmm, The Inheritance Cycle is a comparable book series in terms of age demographic (if you don't mind a fair bit more pages per book). The Archibald Lox series is also suitable (with less pages per book than Harry Potter).

[EricK]

My son and I are about to finish the Harry Potter series and I want to keep reading with him. Any suggestions on books? He's 8.

Hmm, The Inheritance Cycle is a comparable book series in terms of age demographic (if you don't mind a fair bit more pages per book). The Archibald Lox series is also suitable (with less pages per book than Harry Potter).

I have not heard of either of those. Thank you!

[Clearwater47]

My son and I are about to finish the Harry Potter series and I want to keep reading with him. Any suggestions on books? He's 8.

Hmm, The Inheritance Cycle is a comparable book series in terms of age demographic (if you don't mind a fair bit more pages per book). The Archibald Lox series is also suitable (with less pages per book than Harry Potter).

My son and I are about to finish the Harry Potter series and I want to keep reading with him. Any suggestions on books? He's 8.

Yes. I'll second this recommendation. This is what we jumped to after HP and he enjoyed it enough that he wanted to read it on his own. He's still not finished it 5 years later, lol, but that's another story...

[broseph]

My kids really liked Hatchet and Holes. (Kids are 8 and 10, also we only read books that start with H apparently).

[EricK]

Tue, 4/9/24

197.7



Press / BB row:
135 x [ 6, 12 ] x 4

Deadlift / dip:
225 x 8 / BW x 8
315 x 5 / BW x 8
365 (belt, o/u) x 5
RDL (straps) / dip: [ 295 x 8 / BW x 8 ] x 2

Strict and slow on dips. Felt it a little but not painful.

Treadmill:
26:00, 353 cal, 2.68 mi

My son and I are about to finish the Harry Potter series and I want to keep reading with him. Any suggestions on books? He's 8.

Hmm, The Inheritance Cycle is a comparable book series in terms of age demographic (if you don't mind a fair bit more pages per book). The Archibald Lox series is also suitable (with less pages per book than Harry Potter).

My son and I are about to finish the Harry Potter series and I want to keep reading with him. Any suggestions on books? He's 8.

Yes. I'll second this recommendation. This is what we jumped to after HP and he enjoyed it enough that he wanted to read it on his own. He's still not finished it 5 years later, lol, but that's another story...

Which one? (I'm not familiar with either.)

My kids really liked Hatchet and Holes. (Kids are 8 and 10, also we only read books that start with H apparently).

Gotta go with what you know.