AK's Journal

Yeah i'm going to play it conservative on the pressing work this week and bring my grip out a tad on squats and see if it's any better.

Tempted to say it might be the tricep tendon or something similar. It seems to be dips and pushdowns that really brought it on last week, so i'm wondering if it's where the tricep's fully lengthened (i.e parallel elbows or lower for dips, around the starting position for pushdowns) it's causing a problem.

Also looking at another split this week to cut legs up into two sessions as i hate doing them together LOL;

Weds - Quads/Calves
Thurs - Chest/Tri's
Sat - Back
Sun- Hams, Delts, Bi's

Means i'll probably be unable to do RDL's for hams if i'm doing DL's the day before but should shorten my quads session a bit, the last two sessions has been nearly 2 hours from getting in the gym to leaivng. Will see how i feel on Wednesday.

Can you not take a different approach with the RDL, use them more as 'assistance' rather than caning them heavy

Yeah thats a fair point - i'm just wondering how much i'll actually get out of them if i'm DL'ing saturday and RDL'ing sunday.

Probably just up the reps a bit after doing some other stuff, we'll see this week. Who knows it might actually work really well!

Quads/Calves

Mobility work, foam rolling.

Back Squat

130kgx12
120kgx12
100kgx15

Leg Extensions

3 plates x12
4 plates x15

Hack Squat

75kgx11 - Stuck at the bottom on 12
50kgx15, rest pause for 15 breaths, another 5.

Lunges

15kgx20 paces

James' 3 minute calf workout

Peg 16, 8, 4, assorted other stuff as usual.

Stretching and core work to finish.

Better showing than last week but Back squats are going out for a bit, at least for the first exercise.

The lower bar position seems to be putting too much compression on my thoracic spine and generally things have been far too backy the last two weeks. My back's not playing up any worse than usual currently, but i'm nipping this in the bud before i blow a gasket and put myself out of any squatting for a while.

Next week will be Fronts and i'll stick with these for a while and see how things go. I may look to review my diet too - although i'm still dropping weight quite well (this morning i was 201 - down from 218 in the new year), the two days of low carbs (<100g) before hitting the hardest session of the week is leaving me pretty battered after just the first exercise.

All in all not a bad session, i feel fcuked, just the squats annoying me a bit now!

I'm a big fan of Fronties, only tried BS once in about 7 years I reckon now, my back doesn't tollerate them at all (or didn't anyway and I won't risk it now).

Bummer tho, dude, never nice when you have to sacrifice a lift you know is a good one (whether you like it or not LOL) but good to have you in the FS camp now

As much as i love Backies i know deep down realistically i don't have the biomechanics to use them properly to get some quad growth going, squatting around or wider than shoulder with is never going to batter them as much as someone with short legs who can go narrow.

At least with fronties i can (hopefully) get a bit more bang for my buck with a similar if not slightly narrower stance and being able to really sit into it and get some decent progression going.

Just have to think long term about my back, going into a profession where i'm bending down and needing mobility without exception i cannot afford to put it out again.

For quad growth you still can't go wrong with FS. All they lack is that extra posterior chain emphasis that you get with BS really but who needs a big arse

Makes for comfy sitting if nothing else.

Im in the same position re: back squats. I've generally got long limbs and whenever i do back squats i tend to lean forward too much in order to make depth. I've torn my sacro-iliac ligaments on the right side during a heavy set, despite working on hamstring flexibility/tight hip flexors. Guess i have an awful biomechanical build for back squats.

Since then i've stuck to back front squats and had no problems since (touchwood).

Jimbo

I hope you mean you've stuck to front squats Jim??

I'm pretty sure thats where my niggle lies, the pain location is essentially in the SI region and i may ask one of my lecturers for a quick diagnosis soon so at least i know what it is.

The only silver lining is it makes deadlifting a breeze

Corrected - front squats!

Do you get classic symptoms of SI joint dysfunction after a flare up? Trouble putting on socks/turning over in bed?

Jimbo

No such things as bad biomechanics for squating. Merely bad technique for an individuals limb proportions etc!

But for purely quad development the frontie will be better for most and are a dam fine lift full stop!

Yeah pretty much - first thing in the morning for around 10-15 mins theres a fair whack of pain on one side which makes for no fun in bending down, putting socks on. Turning over in bed isn't too bad normally.

Once i've been up and mobile for a while i'm generally OK though as the inflammatory fluid has moved out of the tissues (or so i've been told!). If i don't sleep properly for more than 2 nights in a row it comes on for much longer.

Have you had any particularly bad episodes? Last year i had 2x ~3 month recoveries, learnt my lesson after that not to push it!

iaink


No such things as bad biomechanics for squating. Merely bad technique for an individuals limb proportions etc!

But for purely quad development the frontie will be better for most and are a dam fine lift full stop!

Yeah thats a fair point. If i ever go for a period of PL training i'll just sod the quad development and go nice and wide!

... off cousre if people have a pre-exhisting condition/pathology then possibly no form of back squating will be good for them? 

Difficult to say depending on the pathology i guess!

Anything around the lower spine and hips will almost always cause a problem when you start working towards weights where you'll start finding weak links, from a muscular/biomechanical/non-contractile structure point of view.

Back squats put more torque on the lower back than fronts, shooty uppy hips or a poor arch will throw all the force onto the SI joint and/or lumbar region. Repeat for many reps and many sets and eventually something will give way.

I've had appx 3-4 bad episodes over the past 3 years or so, the most recent being the most severe as i ended up in spasm and lop sided, and then re-injured it twice

Jimbo

Ditto you guys. I used to regularly find myself with severe mobility issues after BS and DLing when my back was a problem. All my extra PWO work (be it stretching, rolling or simple TVA work) has got me DLing again but back squats, oh no.

Did you ever get a formal diagnosis for your problems DV? I remember you were very very careful when bringing DL's back into your routine (as was i) but i suppose now things are a little less worrysome, for want of a better word.

I originally had 2 slipped and 2 compressed discs when I was 20/21 which, as you do at that age, I left to the point I could hardly wak or even just stand still straight (IIRC they stated I was probably about 6 months from being in a wheelchair but I don't know how much of that was to just make a point TBH).

I think thereafter it was just repercussions of what I had done there. I would keep getting facets locking in the lower regions, there was some SI issues stemming from various hip flexors and extensors etc with strength and flexibility imbalances. Some poor posture and just general bad maintenance of my problems.

Add it all together and it wasn't much fun at all until I stopped BS and DL ~7 years ago. Thankfully I have now managed to keep on top of things and *touch wood* have minimal problems.