Exercise and Fitness - high intensity interval posting

[Iskaral Pust]

This afternoon was lower body: squats, deadlifts, calf press, leg extension and leg curl.  My squat increased from 200-250-250-220-220 to 200-250-270-250-220 and felt great.  Deadlifts back to 300lbs.  If I work really hard I may be able to keep pace in lbs with Luke's kg.

[Iskaral Pust]

I've had a niggling stiffness for a few weeks at my left hip where my quad connects with my glute.  I can feel it as I'm lowering myself in squats but it eases after my warm up sets.  I do the cross-over leg stretches but must not be working the right spot.  My massage therapist worked on it last session and it was very painful. 

Any recommendations for better stretches in that area?

[lessthanluke]

4 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I've had a niggling stiffness for a few weeks at my left hip where my quad connects with my glute.  I can feel it as I'm lowering myself in squats but it eases after my warm up sets.  I do the cross-over leg stretches but must not be working the right spot.  My massage therapist worked on it last session and it was very painful. 

Any recommendations for better stretches in that area?

No specific stretches but might be worth investing in a hip circle.

http://www.howmuchyabench.net/shop/hip-circles/hip-circle/

I use it before every lower body session.

Hip Circle 101

Really helps with tightness in the hip/glute area.

[Iskaral Pust]

Thanks Luke, I had not heard of that before. 

[sperry]

Well, went to the doctor to go over MRI results.  MRI was clean, so his best guess at this point is a nerve strain.  He said 3 to 6 months expected recovery time, and should regain 95+% of original functionality. In the mean time, I can workout do most things without risk of reaggravating, despite the fact that the arm is still weaker than usual and has some radial numbness in the thumb.

 

So, I checked the the crossfit program for the day, and it was a full cardio session with kettle bell swings, different types of lunges, jogging, and some split grip rows.  There was also an overhead dumbbell press, which I didnt' feel comfortable with, so I did pushups instead. I didn't push it on the weight at all, but my arm held up okay.  Unfortunately, my conditioning is completely shot and I only made it two thirds of the way through the workout before I ended up puking and had to call it quits.

 

2 hours later, and I feel okay. My fingers in the affected arm hurt and feel a little stiff, and my arm is fatigued, but overall doesn't feel too out of whack. Hopefully I'll feel okay in the morning.

[Iskaral Pust]

I've never exercised to the point of puking.  I must be a wimp.  I start to black out, my muscles get shaky and feel like they'll just collapse, but no puking; except for that one time when we had an early soccer game the morning after prom and only 7 of us turned up.  We all puked during that game but, in fairness, most of us had been drinking all night right up to 2-3 hours before kick-off.

[ens362]

19 days out from my fight. Had a good hour long mitt session today then did 10, 90 yard sprints at max effort. Takes me about 12 seconds to do the sprint then I rest of the remainder of the minute and take off again as soon as the clock hits the next minute. 

Going through a deeeeeeeeeep stretching session right now.

[Iskaral Pust]

This evening after work was an upper body session: shoulder press, wide lat pull down, lat raises, arms, chest press and sit-ups.  It went great.  

Only problem is that shoulder press now feels too easy at max available weights (2x50lbs dumbbells and 160lbs on the shoulder press machine).  I don't think a Smith machine is viable for shoulder press though.  I'm agitating for a free barbell system here.  

[sperry]

4 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I've never exercised to the point of puking.  I must be a wimp.  I start to black out, my muscles get shaky and feel like they'll just collapse, but no puking; except for that one time when we had an early soccer game the morning after prom and only 7 of us turned up.  We all puked during that game but, in fairness, most of us had been drinking all night right up to 2-3 hours before kick-off.

 

Puking is due to lack of conditioning, not muscle failure.  At least in my case.

[baxus]

9 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I've never exercised to the point of puking.

Niether have I, though I came rather close to it on pretty much every erg test I've ever done.

As rowers say - nothing is ever as comfortable as the floor after a 2k erg test  

[Iskaral Pust]

7 hours ago, baxus said:

Niether have I, though I came rather close to it on pretty much every erg test I've ever done.

As rowers say - nothing is ever as comfortable as the floor after a 2k erg test  

That resonates.  After every heavy rowing 5k session on the erg, I basically rolled off the machine and gulped and heaved for air until my vision returned.  Although it only actually went black right after I stopped, not during.

And I wasn't rowing at a pace close to you or HBH.

[aceluby]

Had a great few days of classes, but have come down w/ a virus.  Supposed to play softball tonight, but I'm going to take it off, rest, and get some things done around the house.  Mucinex and Sudafed for the next few days until this passes.  Hopefully I caught it early enough.  Should be back on the saddle by Friday.

[sperry]

Day two back, and it went decent again.  Didn't even puke this time (although it was a much less cardio focused workout).

[Iskaral Pust]

Nice, sperry.  Keep it up.

This morning was a lower body session.  I expected to lose some ground -- sluggish early morning, no breakfast prior, etc -- but it went really well.  My squats and deadlifts were the same as Sunday, despite midweek usually being a slight drop-off from weekend.  I even added some push-ups at the end to shock my upper body.  It was agony.  I could do only 25 & 15 before my burning deltoids gave up (usually I would do 30, 30, 20).  I think being depleted after a heavy legs session, plus only 36 hours after a heavy deltoids day, meant my body was pretty surprised to handle push-ups too.  Plus the heat and humidity here at the time meant I was even more depleted at the finish.  Summer conditions make workouts more grueling, but it's a good seasonal challenge.

I kind of tried Luke's suggestion for the hip stiffness.  Instead of the leg bands, I used the womanish leg weight machine (seriously, has any other man ever used this?) that offers resistance for spreading and closing legs.  I alternated with each set of squats and started at light weights and progressing upward, only using resistance for spreading the legs (which the machine claims is part of the abductor, but every muscle chart shows as the tensor fasciae latae).  It really seemed to help.  I may add this to my legs routine to make sure I'm not neglecting the side-to-side muscles.

The only downside to early morning workouts is that I was ridiculously pumped up (I don't know how my upper body got so pumped too from just a few push-ups) and I was worried that I looked like some hulking monstrosity as i arrived at the office.  Aesthetics aside, it's a great way to start the day once I overcome the early sluggish feeling.

Thursday is a rest day for a long day of travel.

[lessthanluke]

I use that machine whenever I am in a gym that has one! They look ridiculous but hit muscles its hard to target otherwise. so don't feel too silly hah.

[Iskaral Pust]

4 hours ago, lessthanluke said:

I use that machine whenever I am in a gym that has one! They look ridiculous but hit muscles its hard to target otherwise. so don't feel too silly hah.

Now I'm in good company.  It did seem helpful.  I'm secure enough in my manliness to be the only guy there who uses it. 

[sperry]

Two straight days of about a billion kettle bell swings mixed in with assorted dumbbell squats and presses and I can barely move. Still, feels great to be back at it.  Don't want to push it, so I'm goign to take off til Monday to give my muscles a little time to recover.   Will probably jog on Saturday morning to get some of my conditioning back, but that's it.

[Iskaral Pust]

This evening was an early start to the weekend.  I did an upper body session -- bench press, etc -- that I would normally do on a Saturday.  All went well.  I added some reps on bench press, despite the humidity and a bad week of sleep sapping my strength.  I almost blacked out after clean & press at the end.  I reminded the building staff to turn up the air conditioning now that the hot, humid weather has returned.

Since it's a long weekend here, I may try for four consecutive days in the gym Friday through Monday.  I'm not sure if it's a good idea to skip rest days like that but I'll see how I'm feeling Sunday/Monday.

[Iskaral Pust]

I have some quick questions for the group on protein supplements.  For background, Muscle Milk has worked really well for me.  I use it as a protein-heavy meal replacement for breakfast almost every day and for lunch most days, plus as a recovery drink after a workout if it would be a long wait until a meal.  I tried Combat Crunch protein bars because of their great reviews but I find that I need to drink a ton of water (30+ ounces) as I digest them or else they leave me parched; like waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night parched.

Do others find that milkshakes are generally digested better?  Are there better bars available? (sometimes they're more convenient than a shake)  I use the core Muscle Milk shake, which is half protein and half fats/sugars -- should I use something that is protein only instead?

[Iskaral Pust]

Saturday turned out to be a rest day for some family activities.  Today was a lower body session.  Alles gut.