Squat

72.6kg

Squat
70kg 3x5

Weight personal best since injury. Will try hit better depth next time.

Leg press
160kg 3x10

No more half foam roller!

Post-session slight lower back pain on the left, but fairly mild. Not bad enough for me to worry. Quads kill though!

Deadlift

73.25kg

Deadlift
90kg 6

Grip failed on rep 5. Might need to start training grip again. Almost getting back to 120kg (3RM) pre-injury!

Leg press (90 degrees, feet together)
100kg 5x10

Goblet squat
20kg 5x10

Arms with Oscar

Standing curl
10kg 2x10

Bent over concentration curl
10kg 3x10

Reverse tricep extension (supinated grip)
17.5kg 3x10

Torsonator bent over row
30kg 3x10

Decline sit up

Focused on squeezing at the start and end of the movement for all exercises.

Core and Legs with Oscar

71.55kg

Jackknife (flat bench)
3x15

Superset (3x):
Unilateral leg curl
30kg 10
Unilateral lunge
15kg DB 10

Leg press (90 degrees, feet together)
90kg 2x10

24kg KB swing

---

Decline sit up
3x15

Deadlift with Oscar

Deadlift
80kg 10

Note: Changing grip each rep - mixed, pronated, reverse mixed.

Hip thrust (feet on swiss ball)
3x10 each leg

---

Floor dumbbell press
8kg 3x15

Bicep and Back

Seated bicep curl (55 degrees)

7kg 3x6

Dumbbell row (slow)

20kg 10/15/10

Reverse barbell curl

Superset barbell curl

20kg 3x6

Decline sit up

20

Back

71.8kg

Deadlift (mat pull)

80kg 5

90kg 1+2

80kg 2x5

Kroc row (3/4 ROM)

12.5kg 10

15kg 2x10

25kg

T bar row (chest supported)

10kg 10

20kg 10

41.25kg 2x10

Core with Oscar

71.45kg

Jackknife (flat bench)

Flat back leg raise on decline

Decline sit up 20kg bar on front squat hold

Flat bench cycling 2x100

---

Rope face pull

40kg 30

50kg 20

60kg 15

Fantastic session. Absolutely fatigued. 

Core

71.8kg

Kneeling cable crunch
70kg 5x20

Note: No need to rest mid-set!

Decline sit up
3x15

Legs with Oscar

70.95kg

Squat
40kg 3x10

Adductor superset abductor (using ankle wrap)
5kg cables 3x10

Deadlift
50kg 3x10

Single leg leg press (90 degrees)
60kg 1x10

Arms with Oscar

71.15kg

Upright dumbbell row (warm up)

Alternating dumbbell curl (to opposite nipple)
10kg

Superset: 20kg half bar reverse curl

Standing cable curl (using 2 separate cables and handles)
20kg

Seated bicep curl (55 degrees)
5kg

Tricep pressdown flat back
15kg 10

Superset: 7kg dumbbell kickback 20

---

Lateral raise machine (half reps)
5kg 20
15kg 10

Note: Uncomfortable.

Decline sit up 20

Note: Lower ab cramped!

Chest press (half reps)
25kg 2x15

Legs

Leg press
120kg 5x10

Sumo squat on smith machine
40kg 3x10

Glute press
55kg 3x12

Standing calf raise
55kg/45kg/35kg drop set
10/10/10
10/8/8
10/6/6

Strong DOMS even 4 days after!

Chest with Oscar

Swiss ball dumbbell press

Floor dumbbell press

Hammer Strength upright incline press (one arm at a time)

Technogym chest press

Assisted chin up

All with much reduced ROM.

Rear Delt and Core

Rope face pull
40kg 3x30

Kneeling cable crunch
70kg 3x20

No more pain in the back during crunches!

Cross post from ETI: Hyper-mobile shoulders pt. 2

Back to Lyn today! She got me to rotate my arms outwards and she actually saw improvements in my shoulders (!!). Looks like my scapula (I think) is controlling the movement of my left arm up properly now, and the ball of my shoulder isn't pushing out too much, except for the last bit of ROM. Not sure if I've mentioned this but my left shoulder is worse than my right and I think she's not too concerned about my right.

I mentioned that I get radiating soreness in my left shoulder, the area where the lat meets the rear delt. She said that's because the ball is pushing against something. I wish I could give a better explanation but I'm shit when it comes to anatomy. She gave me a bit of treatment (the usual rub around the shoulder blade area).

I have now been given another exercise: dumbbell rows. I start from a relaxed position with my arm fully stretched out (like during a Kroc row). I then "set" my shoulders (slight pull in shoulder blades, and then slight shrug) and row. My arm should only go parallel to my body, unlike the usual dumbbell row where I aim to contract my shoulder blades. She said that I can do the usual dumbbell rows with heavy weights still. The goal of this exercise is to reset my central nervous system. I am told to start with a 1kg weight, then eventually 1.5kg, 2kg and 3kg.

So I am now doing the following exercises. I do not need to do them in sequence.

1. Dumbbell shrug (supinated) - 2kg (from 0.5kg a month ago)
2. Side lying external rotation - 1kg (from 0.5kg when this topic was made)
3. Band external rotation - Red band (I have been told to use a green band to wrap around my shoulders, but use a red one for doing the external rotation. Green is heavier than red by the way.)
4. Dumbbell row - 1kg

Next appointment is in 3 weeks.

Arms / Rear Delts

71.5kg

Rope face pull
45kg 30
40kg 2x30

Note: Weight was set incorrectly for second set. Thought I would stick to the same weight for the third set so I wouldn't need to rest-pause mid-set.

Dumbbell kickback
8kg 3x10

Tricep pressdown (flat back)
20kg 3x10

Preacher curl
25kg 3x10

Note: Assistance needed for last few reps.

I am going to start most upper body sessions with the rope face pull from now on to work on improving my posterior shoulder stability.

Legs

Leg press with half foam roller

100kg 5x10

Sumo squat on smith machine

40kg 3x10

Glute press

45kg 3x20

Minimal lower back pain during leg press. Fine with all other exercises. Loving the Technogym glute machine. I think it is great for reaching fatigue at the end of a session. Focused on a lot of control during the eccentric. 

Upper posterior with Oscar

71.95kg

Deadlift

50kg

External rotation (dumbbell)

6kg 20

Superset barbell shrug

50kg 15

TRX row (unilateral)

Note: Back pain. 

TRX rows 1x30

Hang cleans with Oscar

Hang clean for technique 

---

Rope face pulls

45kg 3x30

Looong chat with Oscar regarding training. Current goals should be: recovery first, strength and maintenance second. 

Lifetime personal records

Just a record of my PR/PBs so far. Interested to see how I fare after shoulder and lower back rehab. 

I should really focus on the things that I can do at full capacity now. They should be the rope face pull for my rear delts and the chest supported row for my lats. Building a strong posterior should help me aplenty once I am allowed to do the other movements. 

Squat 80kg 5

Deadlift 120kg 1

Mat pull 125kg 1

Bench 60kg 5

Seated press 47.5kg 5

Leg press 200kg 10 

Chest supported row 40kg 10

Rope face pull 45kg 30+10+10

Legs with Oscar

Leg press (half foam roller behind back)

80kg

Bench squat 

60kg

Smith machine sumo squat

40kg

Farmer's walk (stairs)

24kg KB

Deadlift

40kg

Note: No pain when I push hips further out. Now using double overhand grip. 

Another leg session with lower back issues. With adequate warm up I think I can deadlift heavy. 

Thoughts

Training with restricted exercises is dreadful. Let's see what movements I can train.

Squat
Goblet squat
Kettlebell swing
Sit up

Note: Goblet squat for full ROM training and also to improve technique.

Deadlift
Glute ham raise
Lunge
Sit up

Note: Thinking of kettlebell lunges to take load off spine, but if grip fails, smith machine might be a decent alternative.

Hang clean
Kroc row
Chest supported row
Rope face pull
Shrug

Note: Unfamiliar with hang cleans, but this could be the huge ballistic movement I need at this point.

Seated dumbbell curl
Tricep pushdown
Chest press 
Calf raise
Side lateral raise (bent arms)

Note: All the small muscle groups I need to hit, plus chest press.

Back with Oscar

72.1kg

Curl to external rotation 

10kg 

Hammer Strength iso-lateral high row (supinated)

40kg

Seated high cable row (feet elevated)

45kg

Note: Used two separate handles instead of V-handle to train stabilisers. 

Technogym upper back row supinated

30kg

First upper body session since diagnosis and knowing about exercises I shouldn't do from Ross. 

Cross post from ETI: Hyper-mobile shoulders

Posting about this here in case this information is useful to the lifters here.

Some background

I have been lifting for 2 years. I got rotator cuff impingement a year ago, and it was bothering me in a lot of things, e.g. bench, push ups, curls, press, etc. That became less of a problem around March this year, after seeing a physiotherapist. I rehabbed using band rotations.

However, I was still experiencing a lot of shoulder issues. I get a lot of clunking and clicking especially in my left shoulder when doing lateral raises. I started benching powerlifting style and that took a lot of the pain away from my front deltoids, but my right front deltoid would still click (even today) when I bench. I would get tightness in my shoulders (front, mid and rear) the day after benching. Overhead pressing is fine though, but I get a lot of high pitch sliding and clicking sounds during the movement. No pain, however.

A month ago, I decided to see my physiotherapist again. The clicking in my left shoulder was really bothering me outside of the gym. I get clicking around my front delt area when I put on my T-shirt, when I reach over to the passenger's seat to open the door, etc. I was told that it is a tendon flicking over. My physio referred me to see a shoulder specialist, who is well renowned. Her page: https://www.lynwatsonshoulderphysio.com.au/practitioner.php?id_practitioner=22

Diagnosis

I saw Lyn 2 weeks ago and turns out I have hypermobile shoulders. This means my shoulder blades are sitting very low in my body. My shoulders are loose and unstable in the posterior. This has been there forever (if I am not mistaken, 40% of the population has this condition, to a certain extent), but it hadn't been stressed until I started lifting.

I have been advised to stay away from exercises where:

- my arms go behind me (e.g. parallel bar dips)

- my arms are extended out straight (e.g. flys, lateral raises, front raises)

- my body weight is on my arms (e.g. push ups, planks)

- I am pushing (e.g. bench)

- my arms are overhead (e.g. OHP, chin ups, skull crushers)

I have been told that I can however do machine presses with partial ROM (without extending my arms fully). 

Lyn recently submitted a paper about this for her doctorate and it is undergoing review, which is why there is not much information about this on the Internet. Apparently the clinic has treated a few people with similar conditions with much success.

Rehab

Oh, so the goal is to get my shoulder blades to sit higher up my body by (I am paraphrasing here) teaching my body to activate the right shoulder muscles. 

I was given the following exercise to do for a week:

1. 0.5kg dumbbell shrug with palm facing forward, and shoulder blade retracted. One arm at a time for 20 reps.

After that, I saw another physio from her clinic (as advised by her), and I have been given the following exercises which I have started doing:

1. 1kg dumbbell shrug as above.

2. 0.5kg external rotation while laying on my side (5 second hold up the top at 45 degrees, and then back down to parallel to floor).

3. Band external rotation, with a band round my shoulder and another that I hold onto. The bands join up at the same point, e.g. a door handle. I do an external rotation to a 45 degree angle, and hold for 5 seconds.

All these exercises for 10 to 20 reps.

I have been told that our aim is to get to 4kg for exercise 1 and 2 without fatigue at 20 reps. 

Not sure if anyone is interested in this, but I find this intriguing because it changes the way I train so much. The rehab programme is estimated to take around 3 months. No benching and pressing until I am done with it. 

Photo 1: Relaxed

Photo 2: Right shoulder shrugged. 

Legs

70.8kg

Calf raise 45 deg leg press

80kg 3x20

Hammer Strength deadlift (2 5kg plates elevated)

60kg 5x10

Standing calf raise 

45kg 3x20

Hamstring curl

30kg 2x10/8+1

Legs

70.95kg

Rotary calf 

40kg 3x20

Leg extension (unilateral)

30kg 3x10

Calf raise (45 deg leg press)

120kg 2x20

100kg 20

Chin up

Total: 20

Legs with Oscar

70.75kg

Deadlift (smith machine)
40kg

Note: Standing on platform.

KB swings
24kg for reps

Squat (flat back on smith machine, feet touching)
50kg

Deadlift (Hammer Strength lunge machine)
60kg

No pain during exercises. But now at 11:30pm (2 hours after session), I'm feeling a bit of pull on the left side of my lower back. Don't think it is anything too negative.

Chest and Shoulders with Oscar

Hammer Strength shrugs

Leaning smith machine press 40kg

Pec fly restricted ROM 35kg

Shoulders

Side lateral raise

5kg 3x20

TRX rows

12/20/20

Shoulders

Side lateral raise

5kg 3x20

TRX rows

12/20/20

Chest

71.25kg

Bench 

62.5kg 5/5/4(1 rep stolen)/5/4

Note: Butt was off bench for last reps. Someone assisted me for last rep of third set ugh. 

Incline DB press 30deg 

20kg 8/9/7

Decline smith 

50kg 10/10/7/6/4

Drop 10kg 5 

Pec fly 

30kg 10/7+3/7+1

Note: Weight lowered from 35kg. 

Lat pulldown pullover

15kg 12

Bodyweight squat

50

HS pullover

40kg 5

Chin up (pronated)

Total: 65

Note: Don't think pec fly is a good assistance exercise. Might just completely scrap it. 

Back

Kroc Row

12.5kg 10

15kg 2x10

25kg 17+1/17+1

Chin ups

50

Chest supported row

10kg 10

20kg 10

40kg 2x10

Chin up

25

Total: 75

Shoulders

72.3kg

Chin up

Total: 20

Seated barbell press

47.5kg 5/5/5/4/4

Seated DB press

15kg 9+1/8+1/7+1

DB side lateral raise

5kg 3x20

Note: Seated, then standing for assistance. 

Face pull 

45kg 30+10+10/30+10+10 

Shoulders

72.3kg

AM training

Chin up

Total: 20

Seated barbell press

47.5kg 5/5/5/4/4

Seated DB press

15kg 9+1/8+1/7+1

DB side lateral raise

5kg 3x20

Note: Seated, then standing for assistance. 

Face pull 

45kg 30+10+10/30+10+10

 ---

PM training

Squat
70kg 5

Note: Testing the waters after osteopath treatment. Slight pain in lower back at this weight.

Monkey bar muscle ups

Note: Off a platform at the playground.

---

Alice suggested a mild lumbar disc injury. She says I should be fine after a few weeks.

Core

Turkish get ups
6kg 3x8

Superset Turkish sit ups
6kg 8

Knee raise
3x20

Plank
1 minute
10 second rest
1 minute

Arms with Oscar

71.4kg

Standing EZ bar curl

45kg incl bar 3x8

Note: Assistance needed. 

Supinated inverted rows

3x10

Tricep cable kickback

10kg 3x10

Vertical dip

3x10

Lat pulldown pullover 

10kg

Standing EZ bar reverse curl

Bar 3x10

Pronated pull up 

27

Turkish get up

6kg KB

Legs with Oscar

72.1kg

Turkish get up

10kg KB 5 

Superset Turkish sit up

10kg KB 5

Squat

60kg for technique and reps 

Oscar said my left knee is flaring out too much. Suggests that I require adductor training for 3 weeks at 3x20. 

Chest

Bench 

60kg 5x5

Incline DB press 30deg 

20kg 9/8/9

Decline smith 

50kg 10/9+1/8+1/6+1/5

Pec fly 

35kg 8+1/5+1/5+1

Chin up (pronated)

Total: 62

Finally benching 60kg! Felt good too and had decent leg drive towards the end. Not convinced that the pec fly is doing much for strength. I am only incorporating it for hypertrophy without having to recruit shoulders and triceps. 

Forearms started twitching towards the last few reps of pull ups. I do quite like the pronated grip, allows for more back movement and keeps tension in my lats. 

Back

Continuing Matt Kroc's back routine 

Deadlift (on block)

60kg 3x10

Note: Slight pull near glute during eccentric. No significant pain though. 

Kroc row

12.5kg 10

15kg 10

25kg 15

Note: Definitely needed 2 minute rest between hands for working set!

Lat pulldown

20kg 10

30kg 10

Chin up

50

Chest supported row

10kg 10

20kg 10

38.75kg 2x10

Smith machine shrug

Bar 10

40kg 10

60kg 10

80kg 3x10

Note: Decided to not do 90kg which I did sloppily last session. Instead opted for 3 sets at 80kg. 

Chin up

50

Total: 100 chin ups

Abductor

30kg 2x50

Legs with Oscar

70.95kg

Goblet sumo squat 

17.5kg 3x10

Calf raise on HS 90 leg press 

70kg

Rotary calf 

50kg 3x30

Bench steps 

10kg plates ea

I asked to train legs even with lower back pain. Oscar designed a fantastic programme I thought. Goblet squats took stress off my spine, while getting me focused on keeping a straight spine. 

Calf raises required assistance on rotary calf machine. Burned like crazy. 

Lower back is a little sore now but not too bad. Should be able to start training deadlifts soon. Or perhaps mat pulls to restrict ROM. 

Arm with Oscar

71.3kg

15kg half bar skull crusher 

8kg DB kickback (3x superset)

Tricep dip 3x10

HS pullover 3x8

Barbell curl 3x8

Chin up (slow concentric) 3x4

Legs

71.5kg

Front squat
60kg 3x5

Leg press
200kg 3x10

Standing calf raise
45kg 20
Drop set to 5kg

Osteopath Alice said that my lower back is fine and as long as a movement does not hurt I can do it. Felt pain during back squat warm ups so I switched to front squats for my working sets. Did not feel pain during my working sets, but my lower back was really sore afterwards. It does not feel good at all at the moment.

Drop sets were brutal at 10:30am in the morning...

Chest with Oscar

70.8kg

Incline bench
50kg 2x8

Hammer Strength chest press
40kg each 3x10

Note: Big focus on eccentric.

DB flat bench
17.5kg 3x10

Assisted pull ups
2x10

Note: These killed because I did back the day before.

Wide grip push ups
20

Back

Continuing Matt Kroc's back routine 

No deadlifting because of lower back issues. 

Kroc row

12.5kg 10

15kg 10

25kg 2x10

Lat pulldown

20kg 10

30kg 10

Chin up

50

Chest supported row

10kg 10

20kg 10

37.5kg 2x10

Smith machine shrug

Bar 10

40kg 10

60kg 10

80kg 10

90kg 10

Smith machine deadlift

Bar 10

40kg 10

60kg 2x10

Chin up

30

Total: 80 chin ups 

Chin ups were brutal. The 50 were actually harder than the 30 because of the Kroc rows. 

No back pain during deadlifts. I do like the smith machine shrugs, might have to set the bar lower next time so it is easier for me to push it up without aggravating my back. 

Shoulders and upper back with Oscar

Jerk

40kg 5

Trouble catching the bar on the eccentric.  

Chest supported row (neutral grip)

30kg 5 

Focus on slow concentric and eccentric. 

Behind the neck pulldown

50kg 8

Kettlebell jerks

14kg 8

Back to back shoulders! Behind the neck pulldowns feel great. Probably a good exercise to include in my training. Hate jerks. 

Shoulders

70.5kg

Chin up

Total: 40

Seated barbell press

45kg 5x5

Note: 3-4 minute rests. 

Seated DB press

15kg 10/8+2/9+1

DB side lateral raise (straight arm)

6kg 3x10

Note: Focused on slow eccentric and hold up the top. 

Face pull 

45kg 30+10+10/20+10+10+10

Note: Fatiguing because end of session. 

5x5 is really helping with strength gains for my presses. Will continue with this even if it means "failing" certain days. 

Shoulder clicking isn't too bad during lateral raises. Loving the face pulls. Burns like mad. Next time perhaps try the same weight but less rest pauses. 

Arms with Oscar

Half bar curl 

20kg 3x10 

Note: First 5 of each set are slow. 

Parallel bar dip

10kg with assistance 2x10

Hand stand push up hold

Wide grip pull up

2x5

---

Close grip bench

40kg 3x10

Face pull

40kg 50

(60kg 12RM)

Can't recruit triceps very well doing close grip bench. Felt a lot in my anterior delts instead. Might be worth doing it in a decline from now on. 

Face pulls were good. Should start doing high rep sets instead of low rep heavies. Really felt the burn.  

Back

71.05kg

Trying out Matt Kroc's back workout:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt-krocs-kroc-row-back-workout.html

Deadlift
6x20kg / 5x60kg / 4x80kg
40kg 2x4

Note: Lower back is uncomfortable and sore. Training singles was a bad idea I think. Skipped working sets.

Kroc row
10x10kg / 10x12.5kg / 10x15kg
25kg 6

Lat pulldown
10x20kg / 10x30kg

Chin ups
Total: 50

Chest supported row
10x10kg / 10x20kg
35kg 2x10

Left out shrugs.

First time doing Kroc rows (or DB rows for that matter). Warm ups felt good, working sets were light. Had to be cautious of lower back. Chin ups got exhausting, and took around 15 minutes or more. Was able to go heavy with chest supported row, new PB.

Chest

71.4kg

Bench 57.5kg 5x5

30 degree incline DB press
20kg DB 10/5+2/6+1

Decline bench (smith)
50kg 3x10

Pec fly
35kg 3x10

Happy with my bench. I think the reset from 60kg 3x5 to 55kg 5x5 has really helped with my confidence and strength. Next session will be 60kg 5x5, time to break my plateau!

I think the creatine is retaining water, hence the fast weight gain.

Calves with Oscar

71kg

Leg press for warm up

90 degree calf raise
140kg 6 drop 100kg 10
120kg 6 drop 80kg 10

Standing calf raise
45kg 2x10

Standing barbell calf raise (smith)
15kg 10

Shoulders

Seated press

45kg 5/5/5/4/4

Seated DB press

15kg 8+2/8+2/7+2+1

Seated side lateral raise

7kg 10

6kg 2x10

Face rope pull

30kg (50% 12RM) 50

Legs with Oscar

69.8kg

Squat

80kg 3x5

For depth with assistance. 

Walking lunge

20kg DB

Grip kept failing. Felt lunges up to my glutes and hamstrings. 

Leg press

140kg 8

280kg 3 

Assistance needed for 280kg. 

Felt good over all. Squat depth improved compared to when I squatted this for the first time months ago.