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Post Info TOPIC: BobW's Log
BobW


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Posts: 327
Date:
3/26: Nothing good here
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Last night I did something fairly bad to my left calf:  while doing some drags up the hill, moving pretty fast, something went wrong.  I hesitate to attempt to further identify the nature of the problem, but let's call it a pull.  It's painful, last night I couldn't really walk, and today wasn't a heck of a lot better.  I really can't put any weight on my toes.
 
With that said, I attempted to train.  I wrapped that cow up with a knee wrap very tightly, and took it easy.
 
Log Clean & Press
 
I played around more than anything here.  Worked on form with a full lap, but couldn't really do much with the calf issue.  I did end moving 170lbs, which was clearly the limit of what my wrapped forearm would tolerate.
 
Then played around with one motioning the log, just to get some blood moving.
 
Switched back to full laps, and the calf immediately started to let me know I was done.
 
Incline Bench
 
Wasn't expecting much; my forearm is still painful from Tuesday.  I wasn't off the mark:  just repping out with the bar hurt a little bit too much.
 
Incline Log Press
 
More play than anything - I wanted to see if a neutral grip, without having to control a dumbell, was any forearm-friendlier than the bar's pronated grip.
 
It was, a bit, and I repped out with the log.
 
 
Total Training Time: 35 minutes
 
Attitude is not great right now.  I'm really not happy about this calf pull, nor the lack of healing on the forearm's part.
 
Time to trade this body in for a newer model, I think.
 


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DaneKelley


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Date:
RE: BobW's Log
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speed looks good on those farmers bud, get your head up and tighen your abs and breathe short breathes

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BobW


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Date:
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DaneKelley wrote:

speed looks good on those farmers bud, get your head up and tighen your abs and breathe short breathes



 Good points.

Not being defensive, but that's the first time I've done farmer's without a belt, and yeah, I see what you're saying  about breathing and abs for sure.  Put a belt on, and it's much easier to maintain form.

Practice, practice.

Thanks Dane!



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BobW


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Date:
Forecast: 47 & Grumpy
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Not much to post right now.

Good session with Doc Zak; a lot of emphasis on the forearm & bicep, trying to get that freed up, and of course the newly injured calf.

The calf is just "knotted up".  Don't know how else to explain it, there's just sections of the calf that are ropelike and painfully tight.  We worked through these, with a lot of pain, and got some movement, but...Doc says "You're gonna have some down time."

Per his instructions, I tried walking, keeping a normal gait, and walking through the pain in the calf.  I did a 45 minute walk with the puppies, and covered what we normally cover in 20 minutes.  Every step was pain.

I guess it's play it by ear for now.

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BobW


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Date:
RE: BobW's Log
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Quite a bit to catch up on, and that will have to wait until later.

Today's training went better than I could have hoped. Warmed up with log cleans & pressing.

Log Lockouts in Rack: 2x12x120;1x12x140,170,190,210/8.5;200/8
  • Forearm was ok for these; kept the ROM limited nicely

Tarp Bar DL's: 1x8x135,225,315,405,500/8,475/8

  • Nice bar speed
  • Calf didn't bother me, forearm didn't bother me (straps)

Back Extensions: 2x10x45;1x10x60

  • So, the problem here was actually fatigue in the forearm and holding the weight
  • Back felt fine

 

Total Training time: 90 minutes

Distracted, tired, and injured, I really didn't think I'd do anything worthwhile, but the trap bar work was OK.

 

 

 



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BobW


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Date:
Catching Up, The Week In Review
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Whew.

So, on Wednesday, I pulled my calf. That significantly changed my training for We, Th, Fr, & Sa. Combined with the still injured forearm, I'm extremely frustrated. Add in the fact that it seems like this is the way every aspect of my life is going these days, and I'm beyond frustrated.

Friday's ART/Chiro

Doc Zak spent a lot of time on the left arm, working through the forearm & upper arm. Managed to get things loosened up quite a bit, and a lot of the tension eased out. Then it was time for the left calf, and talking to baby Jebus: a whole lot of intense pain, and Doc managed to restore a good bit of motion, but still hurts to walk normally. Doc told me to walk through the pain, but to expect down time from training.

After that, we hit core issues: hammies, adductors, hip flexors, glutes, rectus femoris, neck, and the low back on the flexion/distraction table.

Overall, body feels pretty good, except for the injuries.

Got home, took it easy for a bit, and then out for a walk with the puppies. The route that normally takes us 20-25 minutes took 45 minutes, but I walked with a normal gait through the pain the entire way.


Thinking it through

I've talked with Doc Z, Coach Mike, and Shaf about all this, gone over and over it in my little head, and really don't know what I think at this point.

I'm guessing that I won't be competing at the Oil City contest. I'm very disappointed by this, but realistically, I just don't have enough time to train for it, and I'm not healthy. I'm having a very difficult time dealing with this emotionally, but I guess this is part of the whole "athletic" thing.

The problem I see is that I injured this forearm a solid 8 weeks ago; I still can't use it to full capacity - not even close. Even taking it easy, I experience significant pain, especially the days following a training session. I've taken time completely off, and that doesn't seem to help.

So.

I guess the plan is to reduce volume for a bit, and do even more rehab stuff for the forearm.

I'm not happy with this at all. I don't see any alternative.

The good news, all things being relative, is that the calf seems to be coming around quickly. I was able to at least train some stuff yesterday, and mobility was increased and pain decreased on just about everything. Ditto for today; I got out for a walk, and was able to almost walk normally for part of the walk, with no pain.

But: I don't know that I'll be able to do any calf-intensive training. I think full range conventional DL's are not doable; I'm pretty sure tire work is not doable; and stone work is probably out the door as well.

Of course, those are probably eliminated anyhow by the forearm issue.

I'm in a very bad place mentally / emotionally.

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BobW


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Posts: 327
Date:
Session 31
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Farmers Waddle (40 feet): 2x135; 1x185,235,245/8,235/8
  • Belted.  Really focused on grip, breathing, keeping head up.  Form was much "tighter" with the belt.
  • Calf hurt just a little bit at the end; wore a knees sleeve pulled down to keep it warm
  • Forearm seemed fine; grip was probably a little weak, but keeping the runs short helped in that department

Seated Military Press (+50c): 2x12x45;1x12x65,75/8

  • Only wrapped forearm for the last set; felt ok, a little pain here and there
  • Numbers are a little down from what I should be able to do; I think it has a lot to do with bar drive and the forearm

Log Row: 1x8x120,170,190,220

  • Forearm started to hurt on the final set

Stone (220lb): 1x3xlap; 1x1x50"

  • Forearm felt very "iffy" as soon as I tried to move from the lap; I attempted this on each of the lapped reps, but stopped short each time, a couple times I got partway up before chickening out

 

Total Training Time: 85 minutes

A solid session.

Coach Mike has cut back the volume a bit, and I think that shows in training time, as well as in the way I feel after training.   Definitely more "in the tank" at the end of today's session, and it was a fairly full session.

I probably did a little too much; the calf & forearm, a couple hours post workout, are hurting more than I'd like.  I have to remember that I'm also back on the strong anti-inflammatories, and that means quite a bit of pain is being masked anyhow.

Got out for a wind-down walk with the puppies, spent about 30 minutes.  Really focused on pushing off with the left calf, and making sure to maintain a full ROM and normal gait.



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MikeGagne


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Date:
RE: BobW's Log
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Hey Bob. Good to see you having some great workouts. Your heart and determination
are very admirable. I hope your calf and forearm heal up soon. I'll pray for you.
I know how it is, my hammy is still tight. Wish I could squat but I know it wont help.
Take care Bob. Keep it up.

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BobW


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Posts: 327
Date:
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MikeGagne wrote:

Hey Bob. Good to see you having some great workouts. Your heart and determination
are very admirable. I hope your calf and forearm heal up soon. I'll pray for you.
I know how it is, my hammy is still tight. Wish I could squat but I know it wont help.
Take care Bob. Keep it up.


Thanks, Mike!

 



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BobW


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Posts: 327
Date:
4/1: Rehab
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Deviated significantly from the program tonight, but I hope for the better.
 
I was feeling beat up  today, and the calf was problematic.  The forearm was beyond problematic, doing nothing but giving me grief all day at work.  I was seriously afraid that I pushed too hard last night.
 
So, rather than fighting to find a way to do GPP work that would get my heart rate to 168, I got out for a walk with the puppies.
 
Mucho good news here:  I was able to push and do my loop in ~25 minutes; this was taking me 45 min or more since the calf injury.

smile

 
I did some lower body stretching, including the calf, immediately after walking. 
 
After getting back home, I noticed that the calf wasn't troubling me in walking around.  Stairs brought out a little tightness/pain, but hugely improved overall.
 
Did some band stretching for the forearm, based on videos posted by Dick Hartzell on YouTube; after doing these, my forearm felt much better.  I'm not as concerned that I pushed too hard yesterday.
 
Last but not least, I played with my horse massager - The Thumper Equine Pro.  I avoided my injured areas, not wanting to stress them, but managed to get a good bit of the rest of my body, sans back.  Spent a total of 50 minutes or so, and really started to get a feel for using it.
 
I like it, a lot.  It definitely relaxes the soft tissue, and any DOMs / tightness really gets minimized.  It's also just easier to move.

Total Rehab Time: 90 minutes.
 
I talked with one of my advisors today, Sarah, and she helped me think through some of the emotions I'm struggling to understand and put in perspective.  One emotion that I'm experiencing is fear:  I'm afraid that I'm going to be stuck in "rehab training" yet again, and that all the progress I've been making is going to cease.
 
I'm not sure (yet) that understanding my fear makes it any less real or pervasive.  But, the first step in conquering fear is understanding it.  Now I simply need to convince myself that I'm not going to be stuck in rehab training for any significant period of time, and that my progress will pick back up.


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BobW


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Date:
4/2: Session 32
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Incremental improvements, but improvement nonetheless, and welcome.  I started the session with plenty of band traction stretching for the left arm, and then did some log work to get the blood flowing.
 
Log Clean & Press: 2x3x120;1x3x140,170,190/8;2x3x180/8
  • Forearm issues: drive was clearly impacted, and transfer from legs to arms / log was not good
  • Cleans were OK, arm ended this exercise being a little tender

MakeShift Grappler DeadLift: 1x3x1/hand,2,3;1x2x4,5/hand

  • Stuck two bars against the back wall.  At least mimics the feel of lifting into something solid, but far from ideal
  • Found that I could do better facing the weight; given the setup, I couldn't face away and get the foot position I needed
  • The forward position was OK, I learned to "fall" into the lift and really drive it up
  • The pick is just a little too low, and the calf is a little bit inflexible - but at this rate, the calf will be ready next week
  • Very hard to get straps around the ends

Lunges: 1x8xbw;x45lb;x100lb

  • Kind of the big surprise of the session:  calf was mobile enough that I could do these with little problem aside from normal mobility issues

Steep Incline Bench: 1x12xbar;95,135/9;1x6x135/9

  • Guess my bench still sucks, lol
  • Forearm had good ROM - touched bar to chest every rep, no major pain, but some discomfort by the end
  • Again: the harder / faster I drove from the bottom position, the more discomfort

Total Training Time: 95 minutes

 

Happy enough with this performance; I didn't expect to break 170 on the log press, I thought the forearm would stop me from cleaning anything more.  So, improvement over last week, and getting close to working weight.

I'm really going to have to address the drive / bar speed issue once the forearm can tolerate it. 

The guys at EliteBarbell are making me a setup to mimic a car DL, complete with 16" high handles.  I'm looking forward to this, I think it will work out much better than two bars against the wall.

All things considered:  I was able to do every exercise on the list today.  Maybe not to 100% working weight, but I'm happy that I could even do the full ROM on each lift. 

w00t.gif

So, post-workout, the calf feels fine.  The forearm is a little achy / tight / painful.



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TRON


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Date:
RE: BobW's Log
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Awesome Bob
Great to hear that you are getting better

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BobW


Senior Member

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Posts: 327
Date:
4/3: ART/Chiro/GPP/Prehab
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Wow.

Great session today with Mr. Focus aka Doc Zak. We started with the left calf, and worked through some of the remaining trauma. In 10 minutes, I had regained so much flexibility and ROM that it was functioning better than the right calf.

Talk about building a new body.

Then it was "game on" for the left forearm. Started with the wrist, and hello, a huge stretch out of the hole that left me blinking. Worked through just about every piece of soft tissue in the forearm, then moved to upper arm. 10 minutes or so, and it was put to bed.

(As I type this up, some 6 hours later, my forearm feels better than it has in weeks. So, yeah, game on.)

Then it was our core work: hammies, adductors, rectus femoris, hip flexors, hip rotators, neck, and then flexion distraction work on the spine.

Walked in feeling a little sore and beat up, left feeling like a teenager.
 
Started with a moderate pace hike with the puppies.  Got nice and warmed up; the calf felt really good.
 
Then did JumpStretch work on the left forearm, and tossed in some PNF stretches.  Once that felt nice and loose, I moved on to:
 
LandMines: 1x10xbar,1x10x25
Seated Rows, Neutral Grip: 2x10x4w + choked black band
Ab Wheel: 2x10
Stick Stretches for the internal rotators
Side Lying External Rotation, 3x10
Swiss Ball Spinal Traction - spine was so tractioned out from chiropractic, this was not even felt.
 
I'm going to finish up with the Thumper Equine Pro Massage prior to bed.
 


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BobW


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Posts: 327
Date:
RE: BobW's Log
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TRON wrote:

Awesome Bob
Great to hear that you are getting better



 Thanks Chris.

I estimate the calf is 80% healthy; the forearm 70%.  Still a bit more rehab to go.



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DaneKelley


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Posts: 78
Date:
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bob im sorry to see that things aren't going the way you want them too. Dont give up if strongman is something you want to do keep at it an sooner or later things will happen. I dont really know your situation. i do know a few things but know nothing about it. does that make sense? didnt think so. i know pain my friend it sucks but if you can learn to work around it and in some cases through it you will acomplish your goals. keep at it and if you need anything feel free to ask me

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