29 Jan 2015 - Finding the inner anger to turn things around

29 Jan
0600 hrs
I had a slight epiphany on the way to the gym. Actually the girl gave me a talking to the other night and it has started to sink in. Yeah I have been training. But I have been holding back a little. I have been feeling sorry for myself. Giving up before I even have the hip surgery. Well that is not me and never has been. Time to find the anger and the rage. I am scared. Of course I am. I am 38 and looking at hip surgery. A bunch of other minor shit has been acting up. I am feeling like time has caught up to me and I am out of time to do everything I wanted to do. Well I am going to keep trying until it is a for sure thing that I have to give all those other goals up for sure. In the mean time I will do what I have always done. What my grandfather taught me. Grow a bigger set of nuts and just get it done. Endure. Work through it. Pain and Fatigue has a way of making cowards out of us all. Sometimes we simply need to be reminded of who we are. Then it is a matter of just simply getting back in the fight.

Chest Supported Rear Delt Rows 2 x 40 x 20 lbs
Condensed Warm up to get things rolling. I will do this again next week with 30 lbs.
Bench
1 x 25 x Bar
1 x 11 x 80
1 x 5 x 100
1 x 5 x 120
1 x 5 x 150
1 x 3 x 170
1 x 1 x 190
6 x 3 x 140
The triples at the end moved very well today. I was angry, I was intense, I had everything locked in and the bar moved very fast.
With this new bench grip width it seems things have clicked for me really fast. Minimal shoulder issues. The single with 190 moved so fast my spotter was surprised when I did not do more reps. Following the plan and it is working. No reason to mess with it. Everything felt locked in and tight today. Using a little bit focused, intense, anger helped as well.
Neck Crunch 4 x 25 x 25 lbs
Done through out. It is Throat Punch Thursday after all.

Building Traps and a Neck like Wolverine. 

Db Row (no rest L to R repeat) 
4 x 11 x 85
1 x 7 x 85
I had only planned on doing 4 non-stop sets but "found the rage" and busted out one more set of seven. Next week I mix things up, thinking probably Med-Heavy Mountain Dog Rows. Doing these sets non stop with a semi heavy weight really dis-spells any early morning demons.

Towel Neck Extensions 1 x 13 x 25 lbs
When the Db rows were finished I went back in time a little. I took the towel I was using for neck crunches, strung it through the 25 lbs plate, bit the towel hard and did a set of Neck Extensions.

I don't look nearly as cool as Stevie P doing these. When I did them it looked more like a circus trick.
Superset
Face Pull (EFS Strap)
1 x 20 x 80
1 x 20 x 75
2 x 20 x 65
Tricep Pushdowns (EFS Strap)
1 x 11 x 80
1 x 11 x 75
2 x 11 x 65

ITWY 2 x 15 x 2.5 (multiple pauses /holds at top position throughout)

JL Plank 2 x 25 sec
Side Plank 2 x 25 sec (L&R)
Hip Ext (On bench) 1 x 25 (L&R)

Worked in some Prehab stuff because quite simply I have been neglecting it in the evenings so I will get it done while I still in the gym. I tried the Hip Extension on a bench today for extra ROM. It felt pretty good. Got the idea from a "fitness chick" they have way too many ideas on how to do glute work it seems.

Down but NEVER out of the Fight. 

1123 hrs 
Prowler
2 x 20 m x 180 (4 Plates)
2 x 20 m x 270 (6 Plates)
2 x 12 m x 360 (8 Plates)
2 x 12 m x 270 (6 Plates)
GHR 1 x 31 reps
Total session was about 20 min and rest was all less than 3 min between pushes or change in weight. Working some short conditioning in to the week. I decided I had to do at least one set of GHR before leaving. Mid set I decided to see what my GHR Max was. I stopped about 2 reps shy of absolute failure.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Started

28 Jan 2015 - Re-Examining and Adjusting the volume

27 Jan 
1335 hrs

Early morning timing for work so I went in after lunch to train Squats. My schedule is shifted for the rest of the week (except Wednesday routine of swimming) and I will finish on Saturday this week. Solid session on this day. Something to this middle of the day trg stuff everyone seems to tell me all about.
Warm Up:
GHR 2 x 13 
Banded Side Step 2 x 20+reps x Black EFS Band
Head Harness 2 x 17 x 35

SSB Box Squats
2 x 21 x Bar (Black Band around Knees)
1 x 7 x 140
1 x 5 x 175
1 x 5 x 210
1 x 5 x 260
1 x 3 x 295
1 x 1 x 330
5 x 5 x 260

The Single with 330 felt heavy on my back but moved very well. The Back off sets only did sets of 5 to conserve a little bit of energy. Still not entirely sure why I was so tire last weekend and training till Saturday I wanted to not burn all my energy today. Little pieces to build on the bigger puzzle.

Head Harness 2 x 17 x 35
GHR 2 x 13
2 sets in the Warm Ups and 2 sets post squats before moving onto God Mornings

SSB Good Mornings 3 x 11 x 115
Felt solid again this week I have decided I will cut my assistance work mostly down to sets of 3 for the next 5 weeks. Then when I shift gears to weak points and more conditioning I will bump the number of sets back up to 5 or maybe more.

Weighted Abs 3 x 17 x 75 lbs (slightly less weight worked on having a harder Abdominal contraction)
Chuck V Back Ext 2 x 15 x Red EFS Band & 5.3 Kg Med Ball
Less weight on the Abs used 90 lbs actually on the first set and was not feeling it. Sometimes it is not all about moving mass amounts of weight. No trophy or competitions for heavier weighted Ab trg.I had a super low back pump after the second set of Chuck V Back Ext so I was good with that. I rocked fast, tight and full Back Extensions with a short hold on the last rep.

28 Jan
1158 hrs

Swimming Alternating Flutter board w/Front Crawl  25 min

Still not count laps. For the first 20 min I tried to move /swim as relaxed and efficient as I could. For the last five minutes I picked up the pace and instead of my normal short flutter kick I opened it up a little and "power kicked". Also tried to concentrate on keep a tight transverse Abdominal wall for the whole swim, things felt a lot more solid. Now if I can get my kick turn off the wall I would be soaring through my laps.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

26 Jan 2015 -Still not Benching on a Monday.

26 Jan 
0555 hrs
Friday I still felt tired. The fatigue seemed to stretch to my whole body for the better part of the weekend. I did start to feel more myself by late Sunday but opted to keep the rest going until today. The FLU has been ripping around. Don't know if this is the precursor or what. I will keep the Vitamin C high and push my sleep harder. I need more sleep any how.

Banded Shoulder Series 2 x 13 x Red EFS Band
Scarecrow's 2 x 13 x Red EFS Band
This simple series is continuing to prove to be the activation and warm up my shoulders seemed to need.
OH Press
1 x 21 x Bar
1 x 11 x 65
1 x 5 x 80
1 x 5 x 90
1 x 3 x 105
1 x 3 x 120
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 15 x 105
Changed my grip slightly which puts my elbows /forearms under the bar. Seems to be a little easier on my bicep tendon and the pressing  felt strong(er). The weight continues to feel heavier than it should but at least the bar is moving smooth and quick. One drop off AMRAP set with the first working set. Reducing the volume slightly but keeping the intensity up is proving healthier for my bicep tendon as well.
Pull Ups
5 x 9 reps
5 x 5 reps
I could tell by the end of the second set that doing 10 x 9 in 30 min was out of the question today. The 5th set of 9 reps happened around 20 min and even that was a struggle so I dropped the sets to 5 reps and cut my rest down to 1.5 min or less for the remainder. Next session 6 x 9 and 4 x 5. Pull the Pull Ups forward little by little. (bad cliche I know)

Super set
Wide Bar Rear Delt Rows 
1 x 20 x 90
2 x 20 x 85
Tricep Pushdowns (straight bar w/Fat Gripz)
1 x 90 x 17
1 x 85 x 17
1 x 85 x 15

ITWY's 2 x 15 x 2.5
Oly Bar curl (AMRAP) 1 x 130 reps x Bar
Assistance and Supplemental work to finish up the session. Messing with the Delt Row weight to try and get a better, harder, contraction through my upper back.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

21 Jan 2015 - Short Swim, and initial Hip Research for options

21 Jan 
1200 hrs

Swimming Alt Front Crawl /Flutter Board w/Fins
20 min

Today's pace was closer to 1 min laps. Decent enough as the last few laps my technique falls to shit near the end of the lap due to fatigue. No morning session. I opted to get an extra 1.5 hrs sleep and eat a nice Bfast of 5 eggs (whole because anything less is folly) and 1/2 lbs Bacon. Set me up well for the day.


Hip Research:
So looking into a few different ideas to push past the surgeon when I do get to see him.

1.  Platelet Rich Plasma - Basically they take your blood, centriguge it, reinject it into the site that needs to be repaired /heal quicker. NOT an option for my hip. I have found nothing linking this to Hip surgeries. Lots of stuff for Knees and Shoulders (which seems to be especially effective). Used for Soft tissue repairs that are minor.

 It may be a solution in a few years when my bicep tendon, wear&tear, and age catch up to me. This therapy is still experimental,used mostly in knees and shoulders. The research is still not conclusive but I have seen a few people receive this and it has worked amazing. Has Also worked in the knee for arthritic pain as well

2. CarGel - Relatively new in Canada repairing cartilage in the Hip . Heather Moyse recently had it used in her Hip repair. Heather Moyse Blog Story about Hip Surgery.
She is a two time gold medalist in women's bobsled and a Team Canada Rugby player.
 Usage of the Cargel is to assist the repair of the cartilage (which I am missing on my Pelvis and Femoral Head) but it does add considerable time to the initial stages of recovery.

You have to keep both eyes OPEN.

It is ultimately up to the surgeon obviously but I like to go in with both eyes open and have all the options on the table. It is how I ended up with the Patellar graft for my ACL. The longer I wait to see him the more research time I have.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

20 Jan 2015 - The gentle rumbling of a storm on the horizon

20 Jan 
0603 hrs

Chest Supported Rear Delt Rows 4 x 20 x 30 lbs
Neck Crunch (done throughout) 5 x 25 x 25 lbs
Bench
1 x 25 x Bar
1 x 5 x 80
1 x 5 x 105
1 x 5 x 125
1 x 3 x 145
1 x 3 x 165
1 x 3 x 185
6 x 2 x 145
1 x 5 x 145

Everything is moving forward with my Bench little by little. The last few back of sets that I am using as Dynamic work seem to get easier, I always seem to find my groove and set up. Making my last few sets faster. I think I may have a better handle on my Bicep tendon so I will work on that over the next few days. I also plan on see an RMT in the next few weeks to maybe work on it as well.

DB Rows (No Rest) 4 x 9 x 80 lbs
One more week of Db Rows in this fashion and then I will switch things up. I must say these really suck and I really don't get excited about doing them. Today I was blowing snot bubbles on the last set. They are a lot of fun for sure.

Seated Face Pulls 3 x 20 x 65
Tricep Push Downs (EFS Strap)  
2 x 17 x 65
1 x 11 x 65
ITWY's 2 x 15 x 5 lbs
Some simple exercises to round things out for the session.

Notes: 
-Oddity in the gym. I have seen this same dude the last two days. He wears short running shorts and really long T-shirts, So um, yeah, most of the time it looks like he is wearing just a T-Shirt. it comes across as really creepy.

-Saw the Dr. He said the same thing as the PT. Stay in maintenance mode. My blood work came back normal so the inflammation and swelling in my hip that showed up on the MRI is normal. I don't have any secondary issues. So now I wait for an appointment with the surgeon.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

19 Jan 2015 - because even numbers are evil.

19 Jan
0605 hrs
So I would like to say it was planned but I really did only do odd numbered reps today. JL Holdsworth talked about doing odd reps instead of even reps about a year ago in his training Log. It does mind fuck you a little and sometimes it actually gives you a slight break. Today I just seemed to only do odd numbers of reps.

Banded Side steps  2 x 20+ x Black EFS Band
GHR 2 x 9

SSB Box Squat
2 x 21 x Bar
1 x 11 x 140
1 x 5 x 175
1 x 5 x 210
1 x 3 x 245
1 x 3 x 280
1 x 3 x 315

Squat went smooth. Left Hip felt like it was definitely off today. It was only the last set with 315 that everything suddenly felt clumsy and awkward, at least the first 2 reps, then I paused at the top and sorted my body out. I think I was getting in my own head a little. I made a point of puling down hard on the handles, engaging the lats, "turtling" my Head & Neck, and pushing into my Belt. Other than the last set where only rep 3 felt solid. When I was swimming at lunch my lats were on fire, probably tired from this I think.

Superset
SSB Box Squat  4 x 9 x 245
Head Harness 4 x 17 x 44 lbs (KB)
GHR 3 x 9
I just sort of decided to plow through this. I did not race from exercise to exercise but there was not a lot of rest. Just wanted to get it done.

SSB Good Morning  5 x 11 x 105 lbs
So apparently I completely tossed my slow progression plan today. I read 30 lbs in my trg log and rather than loading 30 lbs on the bar I put 30 lbs a side. Which in this case was not a big deal thankfully. Everything felt good and solid. I will go back to the 10 lbs increases next week. I know I am capable of a lot more but the point for now is to build and stretch things up slowly.  I guess today at this point I had low blood sugar or something.

Weighted ABs (45 sec rest) 3 x 21 x 85 lbs (God solid reps and Ab contractions)
Chuck V Back extensions 
2 x 15 x 5 Kg Med ball & Red EFS Mini Bands
1 x 13 x 5 Kg Med ball & Red EFS Mini Bands
I am really falling in love with these back extensions. Last set I just died at 13, so i dropped everything and busted out 3 more reps to finish out the session.

1130 hrs

Swimming - Front Crawl 15 min
I was sharing the lane today so I was swimming on avg about 5 sec /Lap faster than I had intended. I went about 5 min before I had to take a 1 min break. From there I swam a Lap /1 min rest. Focused on trying to pull hard with the arms and finish the stroke completely. No fins today, but I could tell they are paying off. I was able to kick continuously with ease. My lats as I mentioned earlier felt like they were on fire the last 2 laps.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)

16 Jan 2015- Finishing the week out and a little basic anatomy

16 Jan
0540 hrs

Banded Shoulder Series 2 x 13 x Red EFS Mini Band
Scarecrows 2 x 13 x Red EFS Mini Band
Head Harness 1 x 50 x 25 lbs

OH Press
1 x 20 x Bar
1 x 11 x 60
1 x 5 x 75
1 x 5 x 85
1 x 5 x 100
1 x 5 x 110
1 x 6 x 125
1 x 15 x 100
No Bicep irritation this week. The warm up with the bands seemed to loosen my rotators and shoulders blades and make muscles fire properly. The AMRAP of 15 reps  with 100 lbs was solid and strict. I may have had more but it would have gotten ugly.

Pull Ups (Total time 29 min)
8 x 8
1 x 7
1 x 6
So definitely back in the swing of things with the Pull Ups. I will make another run at 10 sets of 8 reps next week. I was very close. Strong reps right until the 9th set and things fell off slightly.

Wide Bar Rear Delt Rows (to Chin) 3 x 20 x 75 lbs
Wide V-Bar Pull downs (w/Fat Gripz) 
1 x 15 x 90
1 x 13 x 90
1 x 21 x 21
With the Rows and Pull downs I alternated between exercises trying to wait 1 min between sets. Usually I would get bored and start early. I dropped the weight on the pulldowns because I have been trying to keep my shoulders back and upper back tight while doing Pushdowns and Pulldowns. Fatigue was setting in and I preferred to do stricter reps over more weight. I wanted the pumped up tricep not to simply move weight today.

It is Friday. Time for a Steve-wiser!

ITWY's 2 x 15 x 2.5 lbs
Oly Bar Curl 1 x 121 x Bar
Curls SUCKED today. The fact I hung on till 121 reps was pure embracing the suck. It started to hurt at rep 30 and the suck-i-tude only increased from there. Some weeks you just have to fight the bar mentally. The after effect of this? My Bicep tendon feels great.

Between my buddies reacting to my lack of a beard (had to shave completely for work) and their shenanigans I had a great laugh. Much needed laughter.

So I have accomplished my schedule within the normal 5 day scheduled period. Which means the weekend off! I will do some glute work and planks but nothing worthy to write about. My body is injured and does require rest. I did go back later today. I did a few short sets of back ext, side bends, and glute work. Then I stretched as best as I am able currently

Anatomy Basics (Hip Version):
So things are a little easier to understand as to exactly what I have currently going on in my hip a quick anatomy session. I am also researching other possible solutions to assist my surgery. I will present everything when I see the surgeon and I will talk about some of it in the coming weeks. I want to have an idea what my options are before I see the surgeon which is what I did with the ACL repair. The Hip is not quite as straight forward, but still straight forward in a lot of ways. This is not a hip rebuild. Just a clean up job.

The MRI did not show any tears in the Labrum. But I am missing Articular Cartilage on the femoral head and in the Acetabulum. Lack of cartilage means an increase of bone on bone contact. FUN!
 The Bone spurs are around the Femoral Head. My Femoral Head is also not concave (round) anymore. There was signs of extra fluid in the hip but that should be a non-issue. unless it comes back and then I will be riding the Pain train.

This Picture directly explains my restriction, or Femoral Acetabular Impingemnet (FAI). Due to the Bone spurs on the "front" of my Femoral head and on the "front" of my Pelvis any internal rotation and bending is severely restricted. In a feet parallel stance I can only raise my left leg about 12 inches off the ground. This is why I have to wide stance squat, I need to make room in my hip. But ultimately if I squat to low and /or if there is tightness anywhere in my pelvis then my pelvic bone "shoots Under" way before it should.

There were no Labral tears on the MRI but my physio has told me it is common for the tears to not show up on an MRI. The Surgeon will find them if/ when he goes into repair my hip.

Keep Moving Forward, Keep Getting Strong(er)