Frank (2/11): RTS Intensity, Elbow Pain

My elbows felt a little funky yesterday and today, but I decided to train anyway because the meet's coming up.

Bench Press
5x45, 5x95, 5x135, 3x185, 1x225
Called it quits after I almost dropped the bar on my head because of the pain in my elbows. I still managed to press it easily, but there was no way I would be doing my working sets (270-275) today.

Dumbbell Bench: 2x8@100
I was hoping that these would be OK since dumbbell benches usually feel fine, but these hurt too. No go.

I also tried to do some cable rows, but I can't really grip anything right now. I think I must have twisted my elbows during squats on Tuesday when my form broke down. For now, I'm going to take some NSAIDs, ice my elbows, and get some rest. I look forward to benching 200 at the meet...

The elbow thing has been a recurring problem, and I'm not sure how to solve it. I remember the first time it got this bad was after a heavy squat day, much like this time, and I'm thinking that I might be getting injured because I lack the chest and shoulder flexibility to get my arms in the proper position during squats. I will have to think about this more, but in the meantime, some extra stretching and mobility work can't hurt.

Aaron 11/27

• Front Squat

135x3's

One Arm DB Press
50lbs x2
55lbs x2
60lbs x2
65lbs x2
70lbs x1

So this morning as I was stretching my shoulder, it starting hurting like hell. I guess I re-injured it. I'm never going to do broomstick/band stretches DC style again, and it sucks that my back is awkward, my groin is still funky, and my shoulder is back in intense recovery. I haven't benched in 25 days, squatted heavy in 20 days, and deadlifted heavy in 14 days. You can imagine how I feel. There isn't much left to say except, avoid injury at all costs. I haven't had a real workout in a month...

On that note...

Rhodestown

Veronica: Aug 21 - squat (retry)

--squat: 13 sets of 5, some empty bar, some 25lb (practice) bar
--cardio: running outdoors, 2 miles
--stretching: 1 yoga class

I am still trying to learn correct form for squats, and today's attempt went much better than yesterday's! (I didn't give up and leave.) Once I got over the geekiness of having a webcam at the gym, it was excellent to be able to review each rep in slow motion. I took "Starting Strength" with me and tried to follow those instructions word-for-word.

There must be some mistake in my form, though, because tonight I am lying down with a bunch of lower back pain. Fortunately, icing my back, ice cream, and good music on the internet can distract me from this.

Here are the last 3 reps with the empty bar:





Tips, anybody?

My next task is to brainstorm about which style to learn, and whether to go back to a trainer who I met in April (she's kind of pricey & far away but a great teacher).

Frank (8/9): Heavy Lower DISASTER (meet -2 weeks)

Back Squat: 5@135, 3@185, 225, 1@275, 315, 345, (1, F)@345, 5@315, 2@315
Deadlift: 5@135, 3@225, 315, 1@365, 405, 455, F@475(!)

Squats were terrible. I wanted to double or triple my opener (345), but I didn't feel confident enough in the first set. For the second set at 345, I asked Gordon to count down (2, 1, up) as I approached parallel, but this made me start slowing down in the hole, where I'm the weakest, and I couldn't get the second rep. To make up for this I decided to do a few more reps at 315, but I lost pressure on the last rep of the 5-rep set and didn't feel good enough to do more than 2 on the second set.

I also managed to injure myself on the deadlifts. My back was already feeling a little tight from the squats, probably because I lost pressure on the 315s, which must have taxed my lower back muscles. The lighter weights felt fine. As I tried to pull the 475, I felt a sharp pain on the right side of my lower back, which convinced me to drop the bar and lie down for a bit. That was the end of that workout...

I'm at home icing it right now. I will probably continue on/off icing for the rest of the day and will take some ibuprofen as well. Hopefully this isn't a serious injury and I'll still be able to compete in two weeks. If it's just a minor strain, two weeks should be plenty of time to recover. If not, I suppose I can always just bench.