Raining_again Posted November 15, 2012 Posted November 15, 2012 Is it your lower back? I hurt mine a several months ago and basically had to stop everything and start my lifting from scratch again, so be careful. Lower back injuries really seem to linger for a long time for me. I have started deadlifting again (back up to 100kg now) and even though I'm focussing on form more than ever I still feel some discomfort for a few days after. Is it those high rep clean and presses that's stressing your back? If so using dumbbells held by your side instead of the Vipr might take some stress of your lower back. I have a back problem anyway, my discs slipped out and were undiagnosed for a long time. Because of that the muscles in my back are weaker. Think it's just something I have to do to get through it and build up the muscle strength again. It's not a pain as in damage, it's like a pulled muscle only not quite as acute, like a really bad post workout ache. I think you could be right about the vipr but I know the kettlebells also cause this kind of ache too. Guess I'll just keep going carefully. I'm not at the gym today as I'm dosed with a bad cold, so I won't be in til Saturday now (as Friday is a fasting day for me, no gym) so I've had a good big rest break. Might try something different and do a spin class on Saturday, batter the legs a bit instead of the back lol :P
pratty Posted November 15, 2012 Posted November 15, 2012 I have a back problem anyway, my discs slipped out and were undiagnosed for a long time. Because of that the muscles in my back are weaker. Think it's just something I have to do to get through it and build up the muscle strength again. It's not a pain as in damage, it's like a pulled muscle only not quite as acute, like a really bad post workout ache. I think you could be right about the vipr but I know the kettlebells also cause this kind of ache too. Guess I'll just keep going carefully. I'm not at the gym today as I'm dosed with a bad cold, so I won't be in til Saturday now (as Friday is a fasting day for me, no gym) so I've had a good big rest break. Might try something different and do a spin class on Saturday, batter the legs a bit instead of the back lol :P Ah, well maybe it's just a one off pull and you just need a little rest, and you'll be fine to continue with the Vipr. You know I never knew what a Vipr was until I read your routine, you learn something everyday. I spared my back and gave the deadlift a rest tonight, and front squatted instead.
Raining_again Posted November 15, 2012 Posted November 15, 2012 It's pretty new to the exercise masses I think. My fitness first gym only got them in this year I'd only tried them for the first time last Saturday! I do like them though. I feel like I have a lot more control with a log shaped weight rather than a very dense kettlebell or dumbbell. It's a lot easier to keep the correct form because the weight is distributed better I think. Whereas you have to have a lot of strength in your hands/fingers with a kettlebell or dumbbell (I've got terrible lack of strength in my hands, just another one to work on!!) My back does feel lots better, just a bit tight generally. Normally I train today but can't with this cold, so I just did 30 Kb swings to keep the muscles working a little. Nothing huge and did it with relative ease... I've noticed lately that my body is completely changing. I'm getting a lot more dense and a lot less flabby, (although still flabby enough haha) and lumps and bums are decreasing all over the place. I'm getting to a place where I've not been before. 3 sizes down, from a 26 to a 20 I have before and after pics that I'll post the next time I'm on le computer
jayseven Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Adding yoga to your routine could be a good idea! Helps to strengthen and loosen up muscles. RE: Weight loss.... I've gained probably a stone since being in Australia (!!). Giving up smoking provided a noticable jump, but I've gotten lazy recently. Need to get on top of it (and see a doctor so I can discover whether bobbing my head about is making my eyes worse or not. Complicated/long, depressing story).
MindFreak Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Lower back injuries really seem to linger for a long time for me. I have started deadlifting again (back up to 100kg now) and even though I'm focussing on form more than ever I still feel some discomfort for a few days after. It's not like the soreness you experience from other types of lifting? For I feel DL in my lower back too but in the good way where you have just used your muscles.
Raining_again Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Adding yoga to your routine could be a good idea! Helps to strengthen and loosen up muscles. RE: Weight loss.... I've gained probably a stone since being in Australia (!!). Giving up smoking provided a noticable jump' date=' but I've gotten lazy recently. Need to get on top of it (and see a doctor so I can discover whether bobbing my head about is making my eyes worse or not. Complicated/long, depressing story).[/quote'] My gym does a yoga class so I might give it a try. If you want to talk about it with someone, youre welcome to give a eye sympathiser like myself a shout hope things get better for you. My back feels lots better today. Almost all but gone. But I'm spewing green shite from my sinuses at the moment. Blehhhhh. I doubt I'll be better for tomorrows gym session the diet is completely on the spot but just annoyed that I can't go to the gym!!
Caris Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 @ipaul is a absolute beast now from going to the gym, you guys should ask him for before and after pictures.
pratty Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 (edited) It's not like the soreness you experience from other types of lifting? For I feel DL in my lower back too but in the good way where you have just used your muscles. No it's more of a lingering pain. For a while after I first did it bending over to pick things up was quite painful. I had to pick things up golfer style raising one leg off the ground to take the pressure off my back. I'm not certain how I hurt it, it was probably deadlifting as I used to deadlift almost every workout and often did a lot of reps in total per session. Ironically at the time my lower back felt bulletproof, I used to deadlift without any lower back soreness, not even the 'good' kind. But at the time I was also tying out the barbell hack squat so it might have been that. Mentioning it last night reminded me about just how little I stretch. Since I can remember I've also had a slightly twisted pelvis, when I stand casually I sometimes catch myself turning my torso to the left even though I'm facing forward. Possibly I have uneven legs as a result. So last night I did some hip streches which I hadn't done in ages, I don't know if it was just a placebo effect but my back seemed to feel a lot better almost immediately, so I'm going to make the effort to do them every day. The stretches I did were the "warrior stretch", a wide squat stretch and something called the "happy baby". Apparently the squat stretch and the happy baby also stretch the lower back as well as the hips. Edited November 16, 2012 by pratty
MindFreak Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 No it's more of a lingering pain. For a while after I first did it bending over to pick things up was quite painful. I had to pick things up golfer style raising one leg off the ground to take the pressure off my back. I'm not certain how I hurt it, it was probably deadlifting as I used to deadlift almost every workout and often did a lot of reps in total per session. Ironically at the time my lower back felt bulletproof, I used to deadlift without any lower back soreness, not even the 'good' kind. But at the time I was always tying out the barbell hack squat so it might have been that. Mentioning it last night reminded me about just how little I stretch. Since I can remember I've also had a slightly twisted pelvis, when I stand casually I sometimes catch myself turning my torso to the left even though I'm facing forward. Possibly I have uneven legs as a result. So last night I did some hip streches which I hadn't done in ages, I don't know if it was just a placebo effect but my back seemed to feel a lot better almost immediately, so I'm going to make the effort to do them every day. The stretches I did were the "warrior stretch", a wide squat stretch and something called the "happy baby". Apparently the squat stretch and the happy baby also stretch the lower back as well as the hips. Ah, reminds me of someone I train with. He suddenly had some pains in his back and it was because his back was too trained much! Like when people train their abs too much so they walk about bent over, he was like that but only in the back. I've never met that before but it makes sense. Have you considered doing more core training? Planks, sit-ups, (cross) mountain climbers, etc.? That might help. I myself never stretch after any workout. But that's because I am quite hypermobile and thus I don't need to get flexible. In fact, I mustn't! Furthermore, stretching out doesn't help anything but it feels good - kinda like massage. Actually, if you stretch out after a weight lifting workout you may damage your progress by tearing the muscles further apart. (Or so I've heard.)
pratty Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Ah, reminds me of someone I train with. He suddenly had some pains in his back and it was because his back was too trained much! Like when people train their abs too much so they walk about bent over, he was like that but only in the back. I've never met that before but it makes sense. Have you considered doing more core training? Planks, sit-ups, (cross) mountain climbers, etc.? That might help. I myself never stretch after any workout. But that's because I am quite hypermobile and thus I don't need to get flexible. In fact, I mustn't! Furthermore, stretching out doesn't help anything but it feels good - kinda like massage. Actually, if you stretch out after a weight lifting workout you may damage your progress by tearing the muscles further apart. (Or so I've heard.) I never used to stretch at all, just out of lazyness really. I don't really warm up or warm down either. The only warm up of sorts I might do is on the deadlift where i sometimes do a light-ish set or two, that's about it. The hip stetches I've just done lately weren't done straight after my workout though, I was thinking about doing them just a random times during the day. I don't do any specific core work as I thought deads, squats and overhead press would be sufficient, but funny you mention it as I had just started to do single dumbbell presses to alternate with my regular barbell press, which works the core quite well, especially the sides. The thing is I find isolation ab work incrediblly boring and the time spent on sit ups etc could be spent on more beneficial excercises. Maybe the turkish get up would be something I should also do.
MindFreak Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 I never used to stretch at all, just out of lazyness really. I don't really warm up or warm down either. The only warm up of sorts I might do is on the deadlift where i sometimes do a light-ish set or two, that's about it. Warming up is really essential. Just 5 minutes of joint loosening and some jumping just to prepare the body would be enough. And then some light sets. I usually do about 20-40-60 kg with 10 reps each to warm up and then make the jump to the 90's when deadlifting. The thing is I find isolation ab work incrediblly boring and the time spent on sit ups etc could be spent on more beneficial excercises. Maybe the turkish get up would be something I should also do. Well, plank is incredible all-round. It works your entire abdomen region from the hips to the arms (holding yourself). Also Russian twists works a good portion of the abdomen and thus isn't an isolation exercise. TGU are OK but I find them quite irritating and they don't seem so beneficial. The "back plank" or Superman-plank are good too. If you can hold a plank for more than 1:30 put 5 kg (or more) on your back.
pratty Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Warming up is really essential. Just 5 minutes of joint loosening and some jumping just to prepare the body would be enough. And then some light sets. I usually do about 20-40-60 kg with 10 reps each to warm up and then make the jump to the 90's when deadlifting. Yeah I should warm up more really, the last deadlift 'warmup' I did started at 80kg, just because that's what I left the bar at. I'm so lazy. Well, plank is incredible all-round. It works your entire abdomen region from the hips to the arms (holding yourself). Also Russian twists works a good portion of the abdomen and thus isn't an isolation exercise. TGU are OK but I find them quite irritating and they don't seem so beneficial. The "back plank" or Superman-plank are good too. If you can hold a plank for more than 1:30 put 5 kg (or more) on your back. The only plankish thing I've been doing is pushups which I've started doing again, and before that I was playing around with isometric pushup holds. I do respect the plank as an exercise it's just I have a pretty minimalist philosophy to training where I try to cram in as much benefit into an exercise as possible (only 2-3 exercises per workout), which is why specific core work has been overlooked. What I might do though do some planks with my stretches.
MindFreak Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Yeah I should warm up more really, the last deadlift 'warmup' I did started at 80kg, just because that's what I left the bar at. I'm so lazy. The only plankish thing I've been doing is pushups which I've started doing again, and before that I was playing around with isometric pushup holds. I do respect the plank as an exercise it's just I have a pretty minimalist philosophy to training where I try to cram in as much benefit into an exercise as possible (only 2-3 exercises per workout), which is why specific core work has been overlooked. What I might do though do some planks with my stretches. How about planking while resting between sets? Basically, you only need to rest the muscles you really need in the workout so doing something else in the meantime is effective in every way. And push-ups / pull-ups / plank are perfect in between sets of deadlifts.
Jon Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 Warming up is essential. You should really stretch to get the muscles lose and a do a bit of cardio to get the blood pumping. I'm continually amazed how many fools go straight into heavy lifts once they've entered the gym. As for abs exercise, sit up are a complete waste of time that put far too much undue stress on your lower backs. You want to do a combination of isolation exercises that attack the different areas of your abdominal muscles. My typical ab circuit consists of hanging leg raises, planks/side planks, crunches, bicycle kicks and reverse crunches. All those exercises target different areas and they worked very well for me.
pratty Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 I'm continually amazed how many fools go straight into heavy lifts once they've entered the gym. Agree on sit ups, I remember at school there was test we did in PE where we had to see how many sit ups we could do in a minute. Even then I argued with the teacher that it was a stupid thing to do, flopping around on the ground like fish out of water, wrecking our backs doing rushed sit ups with sloppy form. How about planking while resting between sets? I never thought of that, I might give that a go, thanks.
Raining_again Posted November 16, 2012 Posted November 16, 2012 @Raining_again http://www.leangains.com/2012/10/train-like-man-look-like-goddess.html Found this today randomly. Thought you might like it. Apologies in the advance for the writers terrible writing skills! Just quoting this again, ive been pondering for a while, and came to the conclusion that the postergirl for this blog post is what I'm aiming for. She literally is a goddess. Thanks for bringing it to my attention charlie! Now I've got a real vision of where I want to be. Sure I couldn't be any further than that at the moment but it's a real incentive to keep doing what I believed to be right (that women should train like men) and just emphasises the success you can have with that type of training. I managed to get a 9kg kettlebell from a colleague today, so I'm gonna hit the ground running and get onto training with it instead of my 8kg. I wouldve liked 10 but this one was free :p hopefully the jump from 9 to 12 will be more manageable once I'm really comfortable with the 9.
Raining_again Posted November 17, 2012 Posted November 17, 2012 3.1 down this week wahhhhheeeeeyyyy 32.1 in 17 weeks!
pratty Posted November 17, 2012 Posted November 17, 2012 3.1 down this week wahhhhheeeeeyyyy 32.1 in 17 weeks! Awesome, congrats!
Raining_again Posted November 17, 2012 Posted November 17, 2012 So I pretty much don't own any clothes that fit now, asides the sammich tee that I bought from @Eenuh....so I'll be rocking that a lot in the coming few weeks Just as a reference, it's an xl, and I used to be in 3xl
Raining_again Posted November 21, 2012 Posted November 21, 2012 Chest infection, no training for over a week Eating hasn't been great but not totally derailed. Was consuming a lot of honey on my sun/mon fast (for medicinal purposes) so I can't see me losing weight this week, with that and no training. Determined to have a good fast today (started last night) to keep myself on a even keel. I haven't been this sick in a very long time but pleased that I've sorta managed to keep a hold on things eating wise. Normally I'd be like fuck it and just be eating everything and anything and put on 4 or 5 lbs! Would be pleased if I managed to stay the same this week. Currently 1.5lbs up but a good fast should see to that..
MindFreak Posted November 21, 2012 Posted November 21, 2012 Chest infection, no training for over a week Aww, bummer. But if you can (or may) then just walk. Walk, walk, walk. Spend 1.5 hours walking every day until you can train again.
Raining_again Posted November 21, 2012 Posted November 21, 2012 Aww, bummer. But if you can (or may) then just walk. Walk, walk, walk. Spend 1.5 hours walking every day until you can train again. I did an hours walk today and spent most of it coughing my lungs out.. Fun... My mum and sister had it both, were quite sick but not rendered bedridden like I've been. That's autoimmune conditions for you... moving into the third week of this vileness and I don't really feel that much better. I'm just worn out from all the coughing and lack of sleep....
pratty Posted November 23, 2012 Posted November 23, 2012 Well I've come to the conclusion that deadlifts are going to have to take a rest, again. I think my lower back is only going to get worse. A few days ago I worked up to 105kg x 3 which felt fine at the time, but my back was a wreck later, although some tennis ball rolling and stretching has helped some. Reading up online it could be that I have a disc problem, but over dominant lower back muscles and tight hips could be the main culprit. As adivsed by Mindfreak abs/core work is probably the solution so that's going to be my main focus for now. I did some experimenting with some different excersies and stretches today: I found the TGU was working my shoulder more than my midsection so I probably won't keep it as the time could be better spent elsewhere I think. Planks were okay, more of an all round core worker and I probably felt them more in my hamstrings and lower back than my abs but I'll keep it. I think goblet squats are definite keeper. Worked up to a couple of sets with a 32.5kg dumbbell which really hit the abs hard. I need to work on getting a lower depth with my big bulky db though. Single dumbbell presses will be also kept, especially if I have to give up using the barbell altogether while my back heals. Did sets of 8-10. I didn't do many reps but single dumbbell deadlifts might even be possible, though maybe I probably shouldn't push my luck. I hate lunges but maybe I'll have to do them for extra legwork. They might help stretch my hips actually. I also did a stomach vacum type excercise which is supposed to hit the more internal core muscles or something, couldn't hurt to at least do it randomly whenever I'm waiting for a bus or something. My next season was supposed to include push press and front squats, but as I need to clean the bar, I'm wondering if I'm better off leaving the heavy stuff for now and just doing the core based stuff.
Raining_again Posted November 27, 2012 Posted November 27, 2012 My arse hurts, and so do my lungs... Lol First time back in the gym since I got this chest infection... Still feeling a bit rough but I know it's for the best. Need to get right into it again and not loosen the reigns before Christmas. Worked out a somewhat bastardised formula to estimate my progress. Weight x reps --------------- = weight pm Time So I sum all my weight x reps, then divide by time in minutes for whole session. (I dont time each individual set because that would be too much work) For my suspension training I divide my current weight by 4 and use it as the weight (probably not wholly accurate but it's enough for comparisons sake). So if I get faster, or use heavier weights, I should improve my score. And if i lose weight i need to work faster with the suspension training. It relies on your body weight as resistance, so less body weight makes it easier. Currently at 115.5 kg per minute over a 28:33 time period. Gonna compare calories per minute as well when I get my polar watch working. So I'm pretty motivated to kick ass at the moment. Bought some decent ON gold standard whey in my local gym shop today... Helpful when you know the owner and she gives you a 2.2kg tub for £40!
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