12-30-12 to 1-4-13

Happy New Year!
Sunday
The usual warm up
Seated BB cleans (from the floor); 3x8
1a. DE floor press w/swiss bar and fat grips (medium and wide grip) 7x5/50%
1b. Face pulls w/bands 5x10

2. Bandbell bar bench press 2x20/90 close and 140 x 16 wide

3a. Low row 8x8
3b triceps press downs w/GBs 7x10

Monday
The usual warm up
1. Rack pull (pin 1) worked up to 515x1 (pr),then 525x1 "quite possibly the ugliest pull I have ever made"

2. Reverse hyper 3x20/90, 180, 240

Wednesday
Very late in the evening - probably should have not lifted...
1a. Floor press w/fat bar medium grip (lying on a thick foam pad) worked up to 305x1 then 225x5x2 sets
1b. Pull-a-parts 5x20

2a. Triceps extensions w/swiss bar 4x8
2b. Press downs w/GBs 3x15

Thursday
Foam rolling
1a. Single arm DB bench press worked up to an easy 85x5/side
1b. reverse grip pull downs w/EZ bar 6x10

2. Tri-set of front/side/rear delt raise 3x20

*Tried the SA bench press strictly b/c I read that "acceptable standards" for the exercise were 85x5 for HS/college males and 35x10 for HS females. The "gold standard" according to the Wake Forest S&C coach for his male athletes is 150-pounds x 5 reps...per side.

Friday
Tire swings 2x20 (alternating R/L sides in sets of 5 reps)
Overhead cable side bends and GHR and Light band GM 3x10 each

1. DE deadlift (conventional) work up to 336 x 1 x 6 sets w/ <45s br=""> *The last 2 weeks my training has sucked. Dust mode, a practically total lack of motivation and it's like pulling teeth to get going. And I know that this can/may/will bite me in the ass in the long run.

Over the last 8 weeks or so the astute reader may have noticed that I have been doing a lot of shoulder pre/re-hab exercises as a priority in my training. It has helped alleviated some of the pain but not all. The frustrating thing has been that I feel/felt strong(er) but cannot demonstrate it when pressing because it hurts so bad I cannot correctly perform the exercise(s) and I have noticed a lack of stability in the shoulder under a heavy load.

I have been using a lot of DB and reduced range of motion exercises (or reverse band and shirt work - which feels fine actually, especially the latter) and doubled if not tripled the ratio of posterior to anterior upper body work. This has all helped to a small degree.

I went to my doctor in early December and he sent me for x-rays which looked fine. I was referred to an orthopedist who suggested I had tendonitis and recommended 4 weeks of PT. If that doesn't work he said he's order an MRI and go from there.

In the meantime, I read a Mike Boyle piece on the difference between tendonitis and tendonosis (which I had never heard of) and think that may actually be closer to the truth. Distinctions between the 2 include age (over 40), lack of a single incident that caused the problem (leading one to distinguish that it may be a repetitive use injury) and the symptoms that seem more like what I am experiencing (the length of time I have been experiencing the problem and a lack of swelling for example. In which case, anti-inflammatories can actually weaken the tendons as commonly prescribed in cases of tendonitis). Deep tissue massage therapy can often be prescribed because it will stimulate healing of the tissues and avoidance of the movement patterns (temporarily) that may have caused the problem in the first place.

So, the journey continues.

Stay strong,
Ed T.