A back day

Short and sweet post.  Friday did some back stuff and a couple of sets of bi's.  Did everything in the squat rack (except squatting heh.)

4/27/12 - Friday
Barbell Rows - 4 sets
135x8 (warmup)
165x7
175x4
165x6
155x8

Barbell Shrugs - 4 sets
135x10 (warmup)
225x8
275x4
265x7
265x7

Barbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
45 (just the bar) x 8 (warmup)
65x8
75x8

Felt good.  Sunday was softball.  I didn't play that well, but we won a game and lost a game.  AND, afterwards I felt great.

Oh, other than my shitty shoulder, which I got an MRI on on Saturday.

Bench is still weird

Went to the gym on Wednesday and did some bench.  Not much discomfort in the wrist, but I felt unsteady with the bar.  I was going light, but was unable to pump out any 8 rep sets.  I'm thinking that my wrist is probably still a tad bit weak, and it's impacting my ability to press the bar.

I also did some more weighted chinups and cable triceps with the ropes.  The tricep stuff felt very uncomfortable.  I finished the sets but dropped the weight.

Here are the sets.

4/26/12 - Wednesday
Bench Press - 3 sets
95x10 (warmup)
135x6 (warmup)
175x7
175x6
165x7

Tricep Cable Pulldown - 3 sets
80x8 (warmup)
120x5 (discomfort)
100x7
100x6

Weighted Chinups - 3 sets
25x5
25x5
25x5

Wasn't too happy about bench or triceps, but I was glad about the chins.  I could have probably done a couple of more reps in there somewhere too.  I hope I can keep up the chinning, and do them a few times each week.

On another note - I'm still sore from softball on Sunday! Quads, glutes, calves.... almost everything about my legs is STILL sore, 4 days later.  I didn't mention it in my last post, but the 1st and 2nd days after the game were brutal.  Limping around and hunched over like an old man.  In theory, I'm supposed to be squatting on Friday, but we'll see how that goes.

Deadlifts on Saturday, Softball on Sunday

As the title suggests, I hit the gym on Saturday for some deadlifts.  During warmups I felt a little weird in the lower back, but I figure I was just working out some of the kinks.  It's been over a week since my last deadlift session.  Increased the weight to 285 for 2 sets, and 275 for the last set.  Grip was slipping, as usual.  But I fought through it.

Here are all the sets.

4/21/12 - Saturday

Deadlifts - 3 sets

135x8 (warmup)

225x6 (warmup)

285x5

285x5

275x5

I was going to do some curls, but the wrist felt weird, so I opted out.  

Sunday was softball.  We play 2 back to back games of 7 innings, 10 guys on the field (4 outfielders).  We had just enough guys, and I played left field.  As expected, my shoulder sucked.  Really, it sucked bad.  I could barely throw, and when I did it was all pain.  We lost both games, but we all had a blast.  Here are some highlights.

First off, there was a storm in the northeast on Sunday, so it was raining the entire time.  Not pouring, but windy and coming down hard.  I'm glad the ump let us play through it.

As a team, we had a TON of errors.  I'm not surprised, we barely practiced and most of the guys haven't even looked at a softball since last season.  I had an error in the outfield as I missed a ball that was hit over my head.  I tracked it down well, but didn't eye the ball into the glove.  I also had a diving miss, but I wouldn't call it an error.  

Batting, we did well.  Everyone on the team swung the bat well, and as a group we scored a ton of runs.  It was really our fielding that did us in.  But as I said, we all had a blast.  I can't wait for next weeks game.

Doctor Visit and a trip to the gym

The visit with the orthopedic surgeon went about how I expected.

Doctor: "What brings you here today?"
Me: It's my shoulder.  I feel intense pain during specific motions, like throwing.
Doctor: Okay, lets take a look.

Proceeds to move my arm in different positions to test mobility and what exactly causes the pain.


Doctor:  It seems like you have asdfjsdkl blah blah happening.  (Something about a bone in my shoulder pushing forward out of place as I move my arm forward, causing tension and pinching on one of my tendons)
Me:  Okay, what can we do to fix this?
Doctor: Get an MRI to be sure, then we can decide if you need physical therapy or something else.

Writes and hands me a script to get an MRI.


Me: Thanks, Doc.

In and out in 5 minutes.  But at least it confirmed that there's something wrong.  I need to get this MRI and I have an appointment back with him in 2 weeks.  THEN I'll begin physical therapy.  In the meantime, this Sunday I get to throw like a girl during my softball games.  I can't wait.  He also said to discontinue whatever act I'm doing that's aggravating it.  (aka don't play softball, and don't do military press at the gym)

After the appointment, I did indeed go to the gym.  No military press, but I did do some rows, shrugs and weighted chinups.  Here are the sets.

4/18/12 - Wednesday
Cable Rows (close grip) - 4 sets
90x10 (warmup)
120x8 (warmup)
165x6
180x6
180x6
180x6

Shrug Machine - 4-5 sets
90x10 (warmup)
180x10
270x8
270x8
270x10
180x10

Weighted Chins - 3 weak sets
25x5
25x3
25x3

Weird afternoon at the gym.  I left work early for the doctor's appointment, so when I got home and went to the gym, it was earlier than usual, around 5:30.  The place was ridiculously packed.  More packed than I have ever seen it.  Usually I get there at 6:30 or later, and I guess it usually thins out a little by that time.  Both squat racks, every free weight bench, and half of the machines were taken.  I literally had to wait a minute before even getting onto the cable row on the universal.  After shrugs, I couldn't even find a place to do chinups, so I actually went home and used my pullup bar there.  My wife got me a weight belt for Christmas so I've been using it sporadically.  Even still, I didn't do a great job with the chins.  I was all sorts of tired.

As for softball this weekend, I'm gonna try and throw sidearm.  It hurts other parts of my shoulder, but doesn't really aggravate the tendon that's hurting me now.  I won't have any power behind my throw, but it should get the job done.  It's that, or play 1st base.  I don't trust myself to dig balls out of the dirt, so I think outfield it is.

Back in the saddle again

Thaaaaaaaats right!  Squatted on Sunday, along with some light benching.  Legs felt fine, elbow felt mostly alright, and my wrist felt 95% fine.  Middle of my bench sets, I felt a little... something.  Not pain, not even really discomfort.... just something.  I couldn't put my finger on it, so I dropped the weight even further. My elbow was fine until I stupidly grabbed the ropes for the tricep cable pulldown exercise.  Did a warmup set, and then tried a regular "heavy" set.  I got through it alright, but felt some discomfort and decided to call it quits.

Squats went kind of well.  I jumped the weight up to 225, and after a shaky first set, I did 3 more there.  Here's all of my sets!

4/15/12 - Sunday
Squats - 4 sets
135x5 (warmup)
135x6 (warmup)
225x3 (ow)
225x5
225x5
225x4

Bench Press - 3 sets
95x8 (warmup)
135x8
165x8 (felt some weirdness)
135x10

Bent Barbell Bicep Curl - 2 sets
50x10 (warmup)
70x8
70x10

Tricep Rope Pulldown - 1 set
80x10 (warmup)
120x6 (some discomfort)

All in all, I was just happy to be back in the gym.  Taking almost a full week off is not cool.  I have an appointment Wednesday to look at my shoulder.  I'm scared shitless, and I'm also excited.  Maybe he'll be a magician and magically make me able to throw for our first game on Sunday.

Injuries Abound!

I went to the gym yesterday to bench... no good.  Not my shoulder even.  Evidently from swinging a softball bat 50+ times on Saturday screwed up my left wrist.  I didn't even feel the injury until I got under the bar and began to warm up.  10 reps at 95lbs hurt, but I was able to do it.  I couldn't even do 1 rep at 135.

So I figure I'll just do some chinups and rows.  Pulling shouldn't hurt my wrist, right?  Wrong.  I did 3 reps of bodyweight chinups, and my wrist was in pain.  Switched to pullups.  Wrist didn't really hurt, but my SHOULDER did!  I haven't done pullups in so long, I didn't realize the effect my shoulder injury would have on them.

So, I made the decision to walk out of the gym.  Instead of walking home, I went to the schoolyard around the corner from my house and did 10 short sprints.  They were probably about 7-8 seconds long each.  Nothing crazy, but I felt good afterwards.  At least I accomplished something.

But...weird thing.  As I was running, I was "pumping" my arms.  You know, the natural shit you do with your arms when you run?  Evidently I was pumping too hard, or maybe I just haven't sprinted in so long I wasn't used to it.  On my 9th sprint, I felt pain in my elbow.  Fucking ridiculous.  I did the 10th sprint and then walked home, practically clutching my elbow.  It really hurt!  At this point I'm pissed.  I feel like I'm the black knight from Monty Python.

Tis but a scratch!

Walked home, took a shower, and immediately iced it.  And iced my shoulder at the same time.  Kind of weird trying to keep 2 ice bags on my right shoulder and right elbow at the same time.  Kept em on there for 20 minutes.  In the morning, the elbow felt much better, but still a little tender.  I think I'm just gonna stay out of the gym for now, and once my legs are feeling alright I'll just do some squats.  Hopefully nothing else gets injured in the meantime.

Deadlifts again

Friday was deadlifts.  Increased the weight by 10lbs, and stayed with 3 sets of 6.  It was significantly harder this time, but it still felt great.  My grip wasn't too good, but I got it done.  The higher reps are more taxing on my grip, even with 50lbs less on the bar than what I normally lift.

I finished the workout with some shrugs and 2 sets of bicep curls.

More importantly, I had a small softball practice on Saturday.  It was just 3 people, but there was a problem.  The moment I threw the ball, I knew I was screwed.  My shoulder.  As I've been saying all along, there's something wrong with my shoulder.  It's bad.  To the point where I'm feeling EXTREME pain when I throw the ball.  I couldn't even warm up my arm, it hurt too much.

It's very specific, the pain I'm feeling, and what motions cause it.  When throwing, it's at the back of my windup, at the peak of the "cocking" motion, right as I move my arm forward with the ball.

Through googling, I think it's probably some form of shoulder impingement, something to do with my rotator cuff.  Since Saturday, I've been icing it multiple times a day, and doing some digging around in there, trying to apply pressure to the part that hurts.  Kind of to break up any scar tissue that's developed.  It's only been 2 days, but it feels marginally better at best.  Not really much improvement.  I'm going to continue to ice it and rub it down every day and see if it improves over the next week or so.   Season starts officially in 2 weeks.  My wife is making me an appointment today with a pain management center to get an official diagnosis on what the exact problem is.  I can google all I want, but I have medical insure:  I should get a doctors opinion.

Unfortunately though, the season starts in 2 weeks!  I play outfield, I need to be able to throw, even if it's weak.  I could switch it up and pitch or play 1st or 2nd base for now, but that really sucks.  I knew this would happen, and I let it happen anyway.

Anyway, here are the sets from Friday.

4/6/12 - Friday
Deadlifts - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
225x5 (warmup)
275x6
275x6
275x6

Shrug Machine - 4 sets
90x10 (warmup)
180x10
270x8
270x10
180x10

Bent Barbell Bicep Curls - 2 sets
70x8
70x8

Today I'm benching and I'm gonna be that guy doing "rotator cuff" exercises on the universal.  We'll see how it goes.

Building my bench back

Had a short session on Tuesday where I again did 3 sets of 8 on bench.  I followed it up with some actual weighted chinups.  It's been a while since I deviated from brocep curls.

Bench is doing good.  And I lost some weight over the past 2 weeks.  Maybe about 2-3lbs.  Nothing crazy, but it seems like I'm not really losing strength, which is what I was afraid of.

Here are the sets.

4/3/12 - Tuesday

Bench Press - 3 sets

95x10 (warmup)

135x6 (warmup)

175x8

165x8

165x8

Chin ups - 3 sets

0x5 (warmup, no weight)

25x5

25x4

25x4

Only 2 exercises, I probably should have done another push, like shoulders or triceps, or another pull, like shrugs or something.  Today is Friday, my back is a little sore, but I think I can pump out some deadlifts, especially since I don't plan on going crazy heavy.  Building myself back up on that one too.

Enjoy your holiday.

Quick Update

It's been a rough weekend.  This is a blog about lifting, and gaining strength.  I don't go into my personal life too often, because this blog functions for me as a personal escape from the stress of real life.  And a tracker for my success/failures at the gym.  Suffice it to say that this was a very rough weekend, personal life-wise.

I had a poor gym session on Friday.  Again, I failed to hit 20 reps at 195 on squat.  I've been eating a little bit less lately, and I know I ate shittily before the session.  I had a serious lack of motivation.. I even considered not going to the gym.

It's funny too.  As I stood back and looked at the bar I kept repeating "I will not fail this" in my head.  "I WILL get 20 reps, no matter how hard it gets."  I got myself focused, stepped to the bar and began.  1st 5 reps were rough, legs were already tired by 5.  By 8, my legs were burning.  By 10 I was struggling to even get the reps out.  By 13 I was ready to quit.  By 14 I was saying "oh god save me" in my head.  The 15th rep I almost failed completely, but managed to rack the weight.

So much for perseverance and "not failling."  The funny part was I was really angry at myself, but I couldn't tell if I was mad because I'm supposed to be mad when I fail, or if I really was angry.  It was a weird time.

Afterwards I did some barbell rows and then some bicep curls.  It made me feel a little better at least.

3/30/12 - Friday
Squats - 1 set
135x8 (warmup)
155x5 (warmup)
195x15

Barbell Rows - 3 sets
135x8 (warmup)
165x7
165x7
165x6

Bent Barbell Bicep Curls - 1 set
60x8 (warmup)
70x10

Straight Barbell Bicep Curl - 2 sets
65x10
75x6

The better news is that after taking off over the weekend, I hit up the gym Tuesday night, and I finally did some weighted chin ups.  Not TOO many, but enough to get me in the mood.  I'll post em up tomorrow.