Month: October 2019

Today’s workout went pretty well. Switched the position of Deadlifts and Bent Over Rows so DLs come first since weight is getting heavier, definitely liked it better this way today. The BORs didn’t affect my spinal erectors as much coming second so I’ll stick with this order for a while. Also added in some Barbell Curls and Bench (well, chair really) Tricep Dips, as well as some Pushups again. Everything went smoothly and I even got done sooner since I didn’t feel like I needed to rest as much.

Weird thing though, at some point after the workout the back right of my head right where it joins the neck started getting a weird, intermittent semi-throbbing pain. It’s a very small diameter, sharp pain, not radiating beyond the size of a marble or so. Not sure if pinched nerve, tendon or connective tissue or what, but it’s unpleasant. May have done something wrong with the walking shoulder shrugs I used as a finisher today, but the pain didn’t start until maybe 1/2 hour to one hour after the workout was completed. The rest of me feels pretty good, if not a bit tired. Doing a thorough regimen of neck stretches doesn’t seem to exacerbate the pain.

Dr. Google seems to suggest a condition called Occipital Neuralgia or possibly an injury to one of the upper Trapezius or cervical extensor , etc. muscles, which may have indeed been brought on by the walking shoulder shrugs. Hopefully goes away soon. The pain is not that bad but it’s annoying.

Finished Friday barbell workout. Wasn’t the best workout I’ve ever had.

Decided to try working out a bit later in the day so I could eat a proper meal before lifting. Normally I have my wakeup shakeup, sit for an hour and a half or so then get to it. Around the time I was gonna start my workout today I started getting really drowsy, like I needed a 15-20 minute power nap, so I laid down and watched the ending of the international version of the Twin Peaks Pilot episode. Sorta drifted off a bit, and felt a bit better when it ended but not 100%.

Then, when warming up I was getting a grinding twinge in my right collarbone when loosening up the shoulders. Felt like something was out of whack and needed to pop.

Then, after doing the back squats I got this twinge in my lower-left abdomen, just above the groin. Didn’t start until a couple of minutes after the squats though, maybe tweaked something when moving the bench. Wasn’t really painful per se, and felt fine after about 20 minutes. Still a bit disconcerting.

Then, when doing the first set of bench press I was getting a twinge in my right shoulder and my right elbow nerve cluster was really acting up. Shoulder felt better on subsequent sets, elbow was a slight bit better but still not great. It’s been acting up a bit lately though, might be sleeping on my arm wrong since that tends to exacerbate the old elbow nerve injury.

Backed off the weight on the overhead press and deadlifts but increased reps and managed to increase overall volume on both so these went pretty well.

Then, sorta bailed on the farmer’s carry after three reps. Just didn’t really have it in me. Was actually feeling a slight bit nauseous but not from the workout itself.

So, overall a mediocre workout session, glad I did it, also glad it’s over. Still feeling a bit wonky, maybe even getting a little bug. Will probably try to workout before eating a proper meal from now on if I can though.

Think I’ve finally reached my real working weights. Good session today, however, my lumbar spinal erectors are absolutely bushed. Didn’t do the followup set(s) of ab-wheel rollouts or push/chinups today (EDIT: went ahead and did set of ab-wheel rollouts and chiunps a couple of hours later), gotta let the lumbar region rest.

Overall volume is continuing to increase, for now. Since the lower lumbar region is getting so worked now that I’m at heavier weights with the back squat, bent over row and deadlifts I might have to reduce session volume a bit and reorganize the program sooner than anticipated.

Also, gotta remember to always keep the head forward and neck neutral. Never look to the sides, or up or down while engaged with weight. It dawned on me when racking the barbell after a set of squats that turning the head to look at the rack while disengaging the barbell could very easily lead to serious spinal injury.

Did Monday’s workout, which marks the second workout with the new rack and bench. Since obtaining the barbell and weights I’ve been careful not to load up too much weight at once, gradually increasing weight while giving the tendons and joints a chance to acclimate to barbell work. Finally starting to get to weights that feel heavy.

With the new rack and bench comes a new order of exercises:

• PUL – Pullups
• ABW – Ab Wheel Rollouts
• BSQ – Back Squat
• BP – Bench Press
• BOR – Bent Over Row
• OHP – Overhead Press
• DL – Deadlift
• FC – Farmer’s Carry

The Pullups and Ab Wheel Rollouts are not really part of the routine proper, I do one small set of each as part of the warmup, then do a couple of sets after the main barbell session, maybe one set right after and another set later in the day.

Next comes the Back Squat. I do this big lift first because I want to be fresh for it and it doesn’t have much of a negative/tiring effect for the next few lifts. Not yet anyway since I’m not moving really heavy weight yet.

Next is the Bench press. I do this while my upper-body is still fresh because I’m moving a relatively large amount of weight and since the exercise is inherently more dangerous than the others I don’t want to have any upper-body fatigue at all.

Next is the Bent over row. Here is a complimentary pulling exercise for the Bench Press’s pushing. Since it employs different muscle groups than both the Bench Press and Overhead Press it fits nicely in between in order to break up similar pushing exercises, and to allow a longer recovery period in anticipation for the Overhead Press.

Next is the Overhead Press. Maybe 15 minutes have elapsed since the Bench Press while I was busy with the Bent Over Rows so my shoulders, triceps, upper pecs, etc. have had a chance to recover for a bit.

Next is the Deadlift. I do this as the final big lift because it’s low to the ground so if I have to bail from it the bar doesn’t have far to go and my body is already out of the way. Also, the legs have had a long break from the Back Squats and the back has had a break from the Bent Over Rows so I feel pretty fresh for the Deadlifts at this point. This will certainly change when I start moving more weight.

And finally the Farmer’s Carry. This is just to finish off the forearms and grip.

Total time is about 2 hours, and that includes about 15 minutes of warmup and longish rest periods between sets where I stretch, walk a bit, set up the bench and weights, etc. I haven’t had any symptoms of overtraining yet but it’s a possibility as the amount of volume I move increases so at some point I’m almost certainly going to need a new program. When I started this I anticipated four whole weeks then a reevaluation, so another five sessions from now and I’ll see how things are going.

I’ve improved the home gym situation somewhat.

Decided I’m not getting any younger and wanted a proper barbell setup with a squat rack and bench so, after searching around for options, settled on the Gold’s Gym XRS 20 bench and rack set. Purchased from homedepot.com for $180.49 shipped directly to Pambulon Heights HQ, which I consider a fair price for what it is. Took delivery on 2019-10-03, spent a few hours working on and off to get it assembled and cleared out the room in which it is located.

Now I can do a proper weight-lifting routine with bench-press and back squats. I would prefer if it did not have the leg attachment apparatus since I have no use for it but, unfortunately, it’s integrated with the rest of the bench.

Two other annoyances with the bench/rack:

1. The bench is about four inches too high off the ground so I can’t plant my feet while laying back on it as in a bench-press position. I can, however, place my feet on the front floor support so not all is lost.
2. The uprights on the rack can shift laterally a small amount due to the upper guide holes for the mounting bolts and screws being slightly too large leaving some room for play. Fortunately, it seems that this will not be a safety or durability issue in normal usage.

Also, the welds do not show the best workmanship, some parts are lazily tack-welded, others are just sloppy welds. Still, not really anticipating a durability or safety issue. And finally, the self-reaming/tapping screws failed to properly ream/tap the screw holes. It was *very* difficult to get the screws to fit into the holes due to thick powder-coating and very close tolerances of the drilled holes themselves. Would have been much easier had I drilled out larger holes and used different self-tapping screws but, alas, I had no drill or bits handy.

So, there it is. Already did one proper workout with it which went very well. Can’t wait to do more.