From Surgery to Strength
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| ncedmonds |  | From Surgery to Strength | 29-07-2014 @ 20:12 |
 Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | Post Edited: 29.07.2014 @ 20:35 PM by ncedmonds Hi...Long-time watcher but posts very few and far between. However I've decided to start up a journal on here (had one about a year ago on another site) just to try and keep me motivated through a pretty mixed patch of training. I'm obviously not expecting copious responses, being new to the board etc, but will be grateful for any feedback/ideas/support. Background As a little background, in 2013 I placed 4th at the Royal Counties show in the novice class, and then 6th at the Tamworth Novice comp. I started uni last september and I play a lot of rugby so strongman stuff took a back seat. I keep training a lot but no strongman-specific stuff. I also heavily adjsuted the way I squatted around that time. In late October I seriously injured my wrist which meant I couldn't press for about 5weeks, but that strength came back more quickly, The biggie came in March when, a week after the biggest match of the season I tore the ACL in my left knee. Obviously I was off anything remotely lower-body from then until I had an operation in june. By some miracle, when they opened my knee up, they discovered that when it tore, a tiny, tiny fragment had remained intact and this strand had begun to regrow my ligament. By the time of the operation the surgeon estimated I had grown back to around 70% of the ACL. To give an idea of how little was left, none of the MRI scans I had following the injury showed any ACL present, so I count myself very lucky. EDIT: should add here that in the end the surgeon didn't do the full tendon/ACL graft, but cleaned up and repaired a lot of the collateral damage from the injury (meniscal tears etc) Anyway, I've just in the last couple of weeks begun squatting with a lot of balance work (as well as intense physio stuff, including the use of an alter-G, which is frankly one of the coolest pieces of kit I have ever seen/used), and this week I've started putting weights on the bar. I'm just going to work up slowly and see where my knee and lowerbody strength is at. Equally today was my first deadlift session, having not done any squats/deadlifts etc since march, so it's really nice to be back! I'm squatting every day for the moment while I am still using pretty light weights. Right sorry to ramble on a bit but I thought the background was somewhat necessary to explain why I'm working with such odd numbers. PBs Squat: 210kg (new style, almost olympic-esque. High bar. Had a 220 previously but that's gone now.) Bench: 162.5kg (Haven't max tested this in a while. Pretty certain I have a 170kg in there pretty happily) Deadlift: 270k OHP: 130kg Aims Obviously a main goal is to get my Lower-body strength back to where it was 6months ago. Long-term I want to get to a 250kg Squat and a 300kg Deadlift Mid/long-term I'm really pushing bench at the moment as it's my only really heavy lift right now and I would really really love to hit a 200kg bench. I am a strong presser compared to deadlifting (shortish arms...) so we'll see what happens. 150 overhead would be a nice benchmark at some point too... as an aside, I'm 19yo, and sitting at around 130kg. I imagine as I can now get back into sport I'll lose around 5kg of that as I spent much of last year between 120-125. Right more than enough for now, I'll post today's and yesterday's workouts shortly... | ||
| ncedmonds | | ... | 29-07-2014 @ 20:24 |
Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | Monday - 28/07/14: Bench Press I'm pressing 3x a week at the moment: Monday is main bench day, Wednesday is a more tricep/lockout-oriented day and Friday is more overhead. Rotator cuff warm-up circuit Bench Press 60kg x 10 100kg x 5 120kg x 3 150kg x 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 Incline Bench Press 120kg x 5 100kg x 10 Then the squats Bar x 10 60kg x 5 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 Bench felt really strong. second rep on the last two sets was hard work, but that's how it should be... Squats also felt really good to put some weight on the bar for the first time in too long! Tuesday - 29/07/14: Deadlifts/Upper Back Tuesdays and Thursdays are planned as Back-based days. Tuesdays focusing on Deadlifts and then some upper back stuff, and Thursdays based around rowing movements. Deadlifts 60kg x 8 100kg x 5 140kg x 3 170kg x 2 200kg x 1, 1, 1 140kg x 1, 1, 1 Rear Delt Flyes 3sets of 10 @ 10kg per hand was gonna do some shrugs but the back was pretty tired from the deadlifts so left the back stuff there. The 200kg deadlifts felt heavier than I expected. All DL were double overhand except the 200s and final 140s, so at least the grip is still there. The final 3 140s were really focusing on technique. When i exploded a bit more I found the bar flew much more easily, but I'm still building up strength/trust in my knee. Perhaps if i'd exploded through the 200s they'd have come up much quicker. Also had to do the whole lot beltless. f**k knows how/why but i could not for the life of me get the belt to sit right for these (been fine for the last months for bench..). It was always putting pressure in a n odd place or pinching something... very strange. then the day's squats: 60kg x 5 75kg x 5 90kg x 5 Gonna just keep upping the squat weights slowly until the knee hurts / strength isn't there. squats feeling really good tbh, even if I'm going a bit slower than normal to help my knee. hoping the deadlifting just needs getting back used to it. | ||
| ncedmonds | | ... | 30-07-2014 @ 23:27 |
Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | Wednesday - 30/07/14: Bench Lockout/Triceps/More Pressing Gains Daily Squats 60kg x 5 80kg x 5 100kg x 5 cannot tell you how nice it is to be into three figures with this, almost as nice as my first time jogging post-op. Movement felt great, used knee sleeves on the last set and the slight compression made all the difference to how the knee felt. don't want to use them on every set as exposing the knee a little bit on the lower weights will help with stability but 100+ i think I'll use them every time from now on. Board press (homemade boards made from ceiling tiles and gaffer tape, weirdly strong now they're compacted) -about 3.5-4inches off the chest 60kg x 10 100kg x 6 140kg x 5 180kg x 2 180s felt slightly harder than I expected but I'm posting this right after i've trained so it was a v late session, might have affected that slightly Close Grip Bench 100kg x 5 125kg x 3 140kg x 2 Skullcrushers 60kg x 5 some rotator cuff stuff all-in-all felt really good. All pressing movements are paused every rep unless there are more than 5 reps, in which case only the last rep is paused. | ||
| brownbear | | ... | 30-07-2014 @ 23:32 |
 Morrisons - rump - 7£ Member 2206, 11578 posts SQ 228, BP 150, DL 260638.0 kgs @ 98kgs UnEq | strong stuff mate thats a big board press | ||
| ironcolin | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 07:44 |
Member 2552, 848 posts SQ 190, BP 160, DL 220570.0 kgs @ 90kgs UnEq | welcome to the site. s**t what happened with the knee mate, hope you have a speedy and full recovery. are you increasing the squats weight every day? | ||
| ncedmonds | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 18:02 |
Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | brownbear said:strong stuff mate thats a big board press cheers, I had quite a while where the only thing I was able to do in the gym was benching movements, and chest-supported rows, to add a bit of variety i changed up the way I benched each session, so got a few good weeks of lockout training in. Only downside is I now have to get the 4inches off my chest up to the same strength... | ||
| ncedmonds | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 18:04 |
Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | ironcolin said:welcome to the site. s**t what happened with the knee mate, hope you have a speedy and full recovery. are you increasing the squats weight every day? Thanks, Yeah, rugby has its hazards. First serious injury I've ever had though so I guess i've been lucky up until now. Yeah I'm increasing the top set of 5 by 10kg a day at the moment. Gonna continue that until I get up to about 140 (providing all is well, certainly feels that the strength is there for that), and then I'll re-evaluate. Saw Physio again this morning and after getting up to running at 100% bodyweight he's given me the complete all-clear to build up fully, which is good news  | ||
| ncedmonds | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 18:12 |
Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | Went up to physio this morning, had half an hour on the anti-gravity treadmill where we increased the weight I was running on from 90%-95% then to 100% in ten minute intervals, so I've got the all clear to build up running on grass/streets now. My dog will appreciate this too, I'm sure, as he's used to me running him around the block when I'm home! Thursday - 31/07/14: Back (rows) Daily Squats 60kg x 5 85kg x 5 110kg x 5 felt really strong. Knee sleeves start sliding down at the top (stay still on the calf) after about 3 reps which is a little odd. they're a nice tightness though. Might be to do with the skins I had underneath perhaps. All beltless still. Going to keep the belt off until I need it, all good core-building. ----- Bent-over Row not a huge fan of this, but allows me to move a bit of weight around so hey 100kg x 5 140kg x 3,3,3 Underhand Bent-over Row these always feel like I get a much better use out of my lats 100kg x 8, 8, 8 One-arm DB Row 65kg x 8(each arm), 8(each arm) Upright Row 50kg x 12 Bicep Curls Don't often train Biceps directly, but since I'm pressing a lot, I might throw some in after this session more regularly, just to balance the tris 50kg x 5 Dropset into 40kg x 9 done. | ||
| ironcolin | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 19:36 |
Member 2552, 848 posts SQ 190, BP 160, DL 220570.0 kgs @ 90kgs UnEq | Cool, I just thought they were quite big jumps quickly after such injury but you will know your own body and feel if anything isn't quite right. If it were me personally is be doing it in smaller increments and slower. | ||
| adillon10 | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 20:02 |
Member 3863, 1275 posts SQ 155, BP 110, DL 182447.0 kgs @ 75kgs UnEq | Go well with your recovery mate, you're a strong f**ker! | ||
| ncedmonds | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 20:28 |
Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | ironcolin said:Cool, I just thought they were quite big jumps quickly after such injury but you will know your own body and feel if anything isn't quite right. If it were me personally is be doing it in smaller increments and slower. Well I spoke to my physio about it earlier. I've been on physio for 6weeks now with a silly amount of one leg squats on flat and unstable surfaces so my knee is fairly accustomed to the movement now. He basically said that gym movements should not be an issue, so long as I stop as soon as there is a hint of it being uncomfortable. It's sudden twists and change of direction that is the next stage of rehab, and building the strength back up in the knee is actually beneficial at this point. Got to remember my top working set today was still only at 50% of what I've done before, and the injury was halfway through working up to a pb as well. When I'm at 140/150 top set I'm going to slow it down. I won't squat heavy every day, so I'll switch in lighter sessions, and probably increase the weight by say 5kg every other heavy session. But all this is dependent obviously on how the knee feels as the weights progress. For the moment though I'm still up and down in the squats with relative ease and the movement is smooth so I'm gonna keep going Hope this somewhat explains why I'm not too concerned about upping the squat weights quickish at the moment | ||
| ironcolin | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 20:36 |
Member 2552, 848 posts SQ 190, BP 160, DL 220570.0 kgs @ 90kgs UnEq | Cool cool, hope the journal keeps you motivated, as said above, you're a strong lad. | ||
| ncedmonds | | ... | 31-07-2014 @ 20:51 |
Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | Post Edited: 31.07.2014 @ 23:39 PM by ncedmonds ironcolin said:Cool cool, hope the journal keeps you motivated, as said above, you're a strong lad. Cheers mate. Helped last time, I think it's the accountability of it. You kinda feel obligated to update the journal so you have to do the work! So fingers crossed | ||
| JackRevans | | ... | 01-08-2014 @ 13:48 |
 'There was also a sausage in my mouth.' Member 2477, 16481 posts SQ 190, BP 130, DL 235555.0 kgs @ 83kgs UnEq | good luck with the recovery and swole gains | ||
| ncedmonds | | ... | 01-08-2014 @ 23:36 |
Member 4343, 50 posts SQ 232.5, BP 191, DL 270693.5 kgs @ 135kgs UnEq | Post Edited: 02.08.2014 @ 00:08 AM by ncedmonds Friday - 01/08/2014: Overhead WorkSpent the whole day putting fencing up at the parents' new house, and then had to pick them up late, so due to a combination of being a bit tired and time constraints kept it short and sweet. Strict OHP 40kg x 10 60kg x 8 80kg x 5 100kg x 3 110kg x 1 PB (never actually really tried strict pressing above 100kg so claiming this for now! reckon there's more in there though) 80kg x 10 Side Lateral Raises 10kg (per hand) x 15 Rear Delt Flyes 10kg (per hand) x 20 Daily Squats 60kg x 5 90kg x 5 120kg x 5 All felt good, strict Overhead felt really strong. First time I've done standing overhead stuff in months as I was worried about the stability on my knee but no issues which is good. squats again all good. 120 x 5 beginning to challenge strength a little bit, but still nice and smooth. after 5 days continuous squatting I'm going to stay light for the weekend and pick up again on monday with a top set of 120 or 130 (see how I feel). So just going to do more sets/reps at 60-80k for tomorrow and sunday. | ||