Force training under varied conditions

Triple post tonight. I'm in a pretty good mood and still hopped-up on caffeine.

The tendon at the shoulder for my short head of the biceps is irritated. I noticed this several hours after my DL session when I cooled down. When my biceps was bothering me months earlier it was both this area and the distal tendon that I noticed. The eccentric preacher curls did a good job with the distal tendon but I'm not sure if it's the greatest exercise for the medio-proximal tendon.

I'm almost positive it's because my shoulders are dragged down by the weight of the bar on my heaviest DLs. When I drop the weight you can see my shoulders pop back to their neutral position. When I lower my shoulders with no load in my hands I can recreate the pain.

I'm wondering what's the best way to rehab this. This is a part of the body that I don't know much about. I'd welcome input from anyone reading this.

Crap I should have been training better to prevent this.

I'm thinking there's a flexibility component to this. The short head is tighter and the load isn't distributed properly?

I don't really like saying things like, "I'm gonna" or "I will" but maybe if I write this down it will help solidify my plan of action and prevent me from relapsing into injury. I feel like I'm at the verge of breaking.

I am starting to believe that the cure to my tendonitis issues is just getting in way better condition. Monty taught me to throw a few punches last night and my bicep has felt great since then (sure it's only been 12 hours so I'm keeping my fingers crossed). Similarly my quad tendon seemed to respond best to running over everything else (including rest).

So, I'M GONNA/I WILL take a month off from the weightroom and work on the heavy bag and run around. And when I get back into lifting I should keep elements of this in my weekly plan. It's good to be a balanced athlete. I believe there are advantages to using all types of exercise.

Peace

There is also a title boxing gym in Iowa City that you can do workouts based solely off of a heavy bag and stuff. Could be worthwhile to check out.

It could be that the conditioning will help; but I'm not sure it will help fix the source of your problem. Generally, I find ballistic movements (like boxing) hard on irritated tendons and joints. I'm inclined to think that the relief you felt was more from getting blood flow in the area than anything else. I did notice that on your 420 deadlifts your shoulders are pulled down pretty far, and I think this could be some of the source of your pain. How is your upper back/thoracic back/trap strength and conditioning? I wonder if focusing on this area would help keep your shoulders in line and consequently relieve the stress in your biceps. I'm not an expert though, and I think you should follow your instinct on where to take your training.

Yeah it surprises me and I would have thought that too about the ballistic stuff like running/boxing but if it works it works whatever the reason may be. I'll proceed conservatively without adding too many unknowns to try and figure it out.

I think I need to take some time and really look at the anatomy of the shoulders/upper back. It's something I've never gotten familiar with.

I was thinking the same thing about my shoulders getting dragged down when I DL. So, my first thought was to train the elevation/depression with loads in both direction: like do shrugs and also get on dip bars and do the same motion with my shoulders but obviously the vector of the load is opposite.

It may be more complicated than this. That's why I need to actually learn the anatomy.

Thanks for the comment!

For what it's worth, I think there is a lot of value to dynamic/ballistic motions for powerlifting and any sort of barbell strength training. Being able to move in a wide variety of directions and angles is super important for anybody and just having an alternate training stimulus can be very helpful.

stop rep whoring chris : )

wut

up voted ur last two posts cause i liked them

I prefer the term "fake internet points hoarder", but karma whore will do just fine.

This was kinda shitty: I showed up and start jogging around for about 5 minutes and a groundskeeper shows up and tells me the court is closed. I asked him for 5 more minutes so I had about 10 minutes from walking out of my car to getting back in. Really I just wanted to video myself because I have no idea what it looks like. I think I'm just gonna have to go up with two hands because this stupid lay-up-and-turn-your-hand-around thing is costing me several inches in reach and I put it up when I'm already coming down.

Took these screen shots to illustrate my issues. First pic is the highest point in my jump. I definitely think I'm getting high enough to slam it better but the way I put it up is awful. I tried to take a second pic that's the same distance from the camera so it's not too distorted but I failed. The goal was to see how close I am to jumping over my own head. The comparison here is giving me way too much credit. I'm a couple feet further back I'd guess. However that line on the court isn't the baseline; it's the free throw line.

Angle makes it hard to tell, but you look like you're getting high enough to slam it in with a little more authority.

I'm just gonna have to go up with two hands. People always tell me this but I never listen. Looking at it on video helps me see why.

Uh I really donno what just happened but I just pulled 500lbs. I was feeling tired and I was gonna go to sleep and all of the sudden i decided to try for a 1RM. Warmups felt like dogshit. Everything over 400 moved really slow. I wasn't really operating normally; I tried to use my car keys to open up Magni and I really struggled adding up the plates. But I did it!!!!!!

Sorry about the excessive psyching and shitty camera angle:



EDIT: Crap I donno if the bar moved down a hair when it got stuck. Someone might have to tell me if this would would be legit at a meet.

Fuck I think this wouldn't count under the strictest interpretation of the rules. This is disappointing.

I think it's fine, but it's hard to tell. In a competition, you wouldn't be wearing pants, either, and it's a little easier to lock out a weight when you've got baby powder on bare thighs.

Regardless, congrats on the PR. Count it and know that there will be no doubt once you're able to pull it a little faster.

Thanks Kyle!

So now that I have this out of the way I really don't think I'll contradict myself (said I would take time off). Going to Colorado tomorrow which should be very --ahem-- relaxing. I hope I can knock out my tendonitis and get 3 months training in before a meet in November (I'm considering NASA and UPA). To be redundant, it's a HUGE relief to get this.

I'm not sure whether I'll do full power or DL only. I'm pretty torn about training my upper body lol. I think my entire body will need to get stronger or I'll hurt myself going above 500. But I really don't want to gain much weight.

Of course I'd like a better upper body (aesthetics/vanity/PL total) but I'd rather jump high and I'm not sure it's possible to do both. I know people say lean body gains won't hurt athleticism but there's gotta be a reason high jumpers are all like 6'4", 150lbs (or lighter!). I was looking up high school records in Iowa and this one guy wound up being a two sport athlete at Iowa (football/high jump). Well they put a bunch of weight on him and he peaked his jumping in HS.

And I have been such an idiot about training. I've managed to string together some alright progressions and increase my DL and also my squat for a short period, but other than this I've done nothing.

Partially I was acting crazy because of the nerve damage but I believe that's all over with. I mean it changed me structurally: the glute is not the same shape and doesn't have as much fullness as it inserts into the IT band, but I'm feeling the tension better, and I am feeling really optimistic.

I'm probably going to train these one leg dunks in a really simple way until I start lifting again and see what happens.

Sorry about the long-winded, rambling post; I've been trying to limit these.

I'm really hoping everyone does well who's doing the UPA meet that's coming up. I'm getting nervous too lol

Think I'm gonna see a physical therapist because while my quad tendon isn't getting any worse it's not really getting any better and it's been like this for a month. I'm starting to maybe notice a little atrophy versus the other leg and the longer it stays like this the more chronic it becomes with scar tissue, etc. If anyone knows a good PT let me know.

I feel like an idiot for not trying this sooner. Eccentric pistol squats are working extremely well for my quad tendon. Hell, I might do a whole block of eccentric training with half a dozen or so exercises for my whole body: pistols, ghr, achilles, biceps, et al. Also been stretching my quads. Might be noticing a reduction in crepitus.

I wish I had videoed myself today. I never video the good sessions. I've been doing something like this recently, and this is exactly what I did just now:

Warm up lap on track
Practice dunking on track going up with two hands
Dunk on 9'9.5" rim
Dunk on 10" rim
eccentric pistols 10 reps each leg
stretch quadriceps 20-30 seconds each leg

I have been trying to go up with two hands because I can't hold onto the ball with one hand. What seems to work a little better is going up with two hands and switching to one hand at the last instant. I used a new, sticky ball which helps significantly. The difference between a sticky ball and a smooth rubber ball is like night and day. I think I am going to apply something to the ball so it remains sticky.

If I feel like things are not "easy" I'm not going to get up very high. I can't rush the last two steps, although planting my take off leg a little closer seems to help. I can't think too much though during the actual sequence. I think I need to cut the volume on individual seances and do them much more frequently. Why do 30 jumps in one session, wear my self out, and have to recovery longer instead of getting 10 quality reps three times as often, with good recovery and the potential for stimulating subsequent sessions? I believe that the stimulation effect is huge.

People who say, "just squat" are so wrong. I want to shake these people. (Are you listening Rippetoe?) Eccentric pistols have worked magic on my quad tendon. I really believe stretching my quads as reduced my crepitus by a large margin.

Peace

Just saw a video of Harry Aikines-Aryeetey power clean 375lbs.



FML