Training Log

youraveragehorticulturist said:

Looking back, this is a mess.

My problem was an imbalance in my legs and hips, which led to bad lifting technique, which just increased the imbalances. I couldn't maintain good positions, and really overused my mid-back area while under-using my glutes, hamstrings and abs. So I've been trying to do things to reinforce good positioning and technique, using short ranges of motion or "easy" exercises so I can target the muscle groups I've been neglecting. Also, I've been doing some moves to challenge my hips and back to stay in position.

A workout goes like...

-Easy rehab type exercises for the glutes, hips and psoas

-Some slightly tougher ab and low back moves, usually preformed back to back in a superset.

-Isometric Bar Holds. These are just top, bottom, or middle positions of the olympic lifts, held for 8 or 10 seconds. The idea is that cleans and snatches are awesome exercises, but I'm not mobile enough to go through those long ranges of motion. So I've been doing the holds to "practice" different parts of the lifts, concentrating on really driving my hips in without extending my back. Also I haven't been doing many big, compound lifts so these let me at least get my hands on the barbell.

-Press/Pull Exercises that challenge the hips. Monday I do pushups and inverted rows. They work the chest and back, but you have to hold your trunk in position to stop hip extension/flexion. Wednesday 1 arm half kneeling press and 1 arm shrugg. These work the shoulders and traps, but you have to really use the obliques hips and glutes to keep your back straight. Friday I do 1 arm bench press and 1 arm half kneeling row. These work chest and back and are both anti-rotation exercises for the mid section.

-Legs. My legs are shit right now I've been doing the Peterson step up because its about the easiest 1 leg exercise there is. Right now I can barely squat an empty barbell or do a lunge. I've been making progress on the step ups though, so hopefully I'm close.

Everything else is just sort of fluff. These workouts are kind of boring, so sometimes I've got to do some curls and shruggs to stay SWOLE. I started with 3 full body workouts a week, with a handful of exercises, shooting for 3 sets of 10 on most lifts. 2nd week and bumped it to 4 sets and went to the gym an extra time to do arms. Next week I want to do 5 sets of 10 on my 3 full body rehab bullshit days and add as much extra work as I can. If I'm not working too intensely at least I can do lots of volume.

Hopefully all this will work and I'll be able to squat and power clean soon, without doing them for weeks, as if by magic. Fingers Crossed!

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