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Harry Bizzle
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by Harry Bizzle » Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:03 am

I squatted 105kg for 5x5 on Thursday and my hamstrings are still sore. I think this is about as far as I'll get without adding more food in.

I can't deadlift today as a result, which is kind of annoying. Maybe I should have done more active recovery over the past few days.

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Rocsteady
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by Rocsteady » Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:32 am

Had an MRI scan and it's not good - got a broken disc in my lower back. Quite impressed I was deadlifting double my bodyweight with that although also slightly mortified, definitely not doctor recommended.

Now I need to figure out what I can still lift safely. Running long distances is apparently forever off the cards.

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That's not a growth
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by That's not a growth » Fri Sep 25, 2020 10:53 am

You've just been casually walking around with a broken back? Any idea how it happened or how long ago?

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by Rocsteady » Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:09 am

Casually walking is a stretch, the last year has been very painful!

Not sure. This time last year after deadlifting I could barely walk for over a month - was having to work lying down and building up my walks so one day I would go round the block, the next I would walk for 5 mins, then 10, etc.

Since then it's eased a bit, I do a lot of stretches and core exercises every day so I think my lower back muscles have helped compensate, although I'm having issues with them now too as they've been taking a far greater load than they should for a long time.

I've been having lower back problems on and off for a decade so don't know how it's developed. These last few months, even bending down has been extremely painful so it's definitely (generally) worsened over time.

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Grumpy David
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by Grumpy David » Fri Sep 25, 2020 11:30 am

Rocsteady wrote:Had an MRI scan and it's not good - got a broken disc in my lower back. Quite impressed I was deadlifting double my bodyweight with that although also slightly mortified, definitely not doctor recommended.

Now I need to figure out what I can still lift safely. Running long distances is apparently forever off the cards.


JFC! I thought my slipped discs were painful (L5 S1 and L4 something or other). I couldn't even tolerate bodyweight deadlifts (even 60kg felt off even).

Yet with a broken disc you were doing double bodyweight deadlifts. :dread:

I developed Sciatica which literally ruined the best part of a year of my life and I didn't bother to return to a gym for about 4 years.

I always found there were mixed messages. Either bed rest or do regular walks.

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Swimming seems like the obvious rehab exercise but be careful with kicking off the wall. I found backstroke was by far the most comfortable swimming style too.

I wouldn't touch weights for a while, if the disc bulge leads to touching the sciatic nerve you will experience a pain that is hard to put into words and no one can truly understand how bad it is. I've had mothers tell me their sciatica was worse than childbirth!

I'd take a Vitamin D tablet and even consider somewhat frequent sunbeds too. Not sure on the effectiveness but low Vitamin D for a long period of time weakens bones and can cause Osteoporosis. So I assume high vitamin D might speed up recovery of the skeletal structure.

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by Rocsteady » Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:39 pm

Grumpy David wrote:
Rocsteady wrote:Had an MRI scan and it's not good - got a broken disc in my lower back. Quite impressed I was deadlifting double my bodyweight with that although also slightly mortified, definitely not doctor recommended.

Now I need to figure out what I can still lift safely. Running long distances is apparently forever off the cards.


JFC! I thought my slipped discs were painful (L5 S1 and L4 something or other). I couldn't even tolerate bodyweight deadlifts (even 60kg felt off even).

Yet with a broken disc you were doing double bodyweight deadlifts. :dread:

I developed Sciatica which literally ruined the best part of a year of my life and I didn't bother to return to a gym for about 4 years.

I always found there were mixed messages. Either bed rest or do regular walks.

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Swimming seems like the obvious rehab exercise but be careful with kicking off the wall. I found backstroke was by far the most comfortable swimming style too.

I wouldn't touch weights for a while, if the disc bulge leads to touching the sciatic nerve you will experience a pain that is hard to put into words and no one can truly understand how bad it is. I've had mothers tell me their sciatica was worse than childbirth!

I'd take a Vitamin D tablet and even consider somewhat frequent sunbeds too. Not sure on the effectiveness but low Vitamin D for a long period of time weakens bones and can cause Osteoporosis. So I assume high vitamin D might speed up recovery of the skeletal structure.

My problems are in the L5 S1 as well.

The dr did recommend swimming but I find it extremely boring so that's not top of my list. Need to get a better bike for cycling around with.

How are you now? What can you lift etc?

For upper body I should be fine as pull ups, chin ups and dips, plus being careful on the bench, should work.

Lower body I'm paranoid though.

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by Rocsteady » Fri Sep 25, 2020 12:43 pm

Couple days ago I was deadlifting 90kg and it didn't feel great so stopped at that point.

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Grumpy David
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by Grumpy David » Fri Sep 25, 2020 1:08 pm

Rocsteady wrote:How are you now? What can you lift etc?

For upper body I should be fine as pull ups, chin ups and dips, plus being careful on the bench, should work.

Lower body I'm paranoid though.


I unfortunately tweaked my back (fairly certain a fairly mild disc protrusion) at the end of August when I failed on a bench press rep, so I've taken it easy currently.

If you had asked me before then I'd have said no impact on my day to day life or during weightlifting but I primarily focus on upper body due to paranoia.

I had to give up squats entirely years ago though as every time I went above 85kg it started the weird dull ache feeling.

Wasn't so bad with deadlifts but swapped to Trap Bar deadlifts and had no issues. However the bench press tweak means I've stopped this for at least another month (6 to 8 weeks min for disc protrusions to heal).

Best lifts are 120kg bench press as a 1rm but I've never pushed deadlifts since getting my recovery. I had to learn to be content with slow progress and never pushing the weights up too high. 120kg flies up but I'd rather not go beyond that. Volume is better than Intensity.

Overhead press is surprisingly alright but definitely one to focus on technique and volume rather than pushing the weight. I've done 67.5kg 5x5 as my best on this but lockdown plus tweaked back means I'm just focusing on 50kg and doing more sets and reps for now.

Pull ups are no issue and feel great.

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by Rocsteady » Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:01 pm

120 bench is great with that, I can really feel my back at 80 lately.

Do you know how you initially slipped your discs btw?

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by Grumpy David » Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:46 pm

Rocsteady wrote:120 bench is great with that, I can really feel my back at 80 lately.

Do you know how you initially slipped your discs btw?


Tbf that 120kg bench press was 2 years ago now. I usually bench alone so can't risk doing 1RM too often. Pre lockdown I was doing 100kg 5x5.

Back in 2008 to 2011, I was squatting more or less 3x a week and by 2011 I was easily squatting 150kg 3x5. I was also doing Powercleans which I think is what did it since its a much more aggressive movement. I think the bar landed unevenly on me and created a jolt that went through my spine. That would have been around November 2011.

I remember a dull ache and it kept coming and going when I'd take a week off the gym to let it heal and then return etc. Eventually I quit the gym around February 2012 as the pain wasn't going away. Pain was more noticeable when sitting and not really something I noticed when walking or standing.

Didn't particularly notice it much at this stage since was only doing walking, no proper exercise. Spent a few months working in the USA in a somewhat physical role (swim teacher for autistic children) and had no issues from memory. Visited family and joined the young cousins at one of those awesome trampoline parks. Miiiiistake. Woke up the next day feeling like an old man.

Gradually went away but when I thought it was better, I went swimming thinking that wouldn't hurt but I must have done something weird because the next day I woke up with sciatica from my spine down to my left foot.

Took about 2 and a half years before I decided to try swimming again. Had no issues and then went 3x a week. Lost all the weight I gained. Then 2016 summer, returned to the gym. Very minor dull ache on squats that happened when I went slightly heavy so just binned that off but no issues with upper body stuff. No issues for 4 years until last month where I had no spotter and strawberry floated up the final rep causing a bit of mild pain since then.

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by Jenuall » Fri Sep 25, 2020 3:49 pm

Sciatica is truly strawberry floating awful. I suffered with it on and off for a year about 18 months ago it is easily the most painful thing I have ever experienced.

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by Rocsteady » Fri Sep 25, 2020 4:47 pm

Grumpy David wrote:
Rocsteady wrote:120 bench is great with that, I can really feel my back at 80 lately.

Do you know how you initially slipped your discs btw?


Tbf that 120kg bench press was 2 years ago now. I usually bench alone so can't risk doing 1RM too often. Pre lockdown I was doing 100kg 5x5.

Back in 2008 to 2011, I was squatting more or less 3x a week and by 2011 I was easily squatting 150kg 3x5. I was also doing Powercleans which I think is what did it since its a much more aggressive movement. I think the bar landed unevenly on me and created a jolt that went through my spine. That would have been around November 2011.

I remember a dull ache and it kept coming and going when I'd take a week off the gym to let it heal and then return etc. Eventually I quit the gym around February 2012 as the pain wasn't going away. Pain was more noticeable when sitting and not really something I noticed when walking or standing.

Didn't particularly notice it much at this stage since was only doing walking, no proper exercise. Spent a few months working in the USA in a somewhat physical role (swim teacher for autistic children) and had no issues from memory. Visited family and joined the young cousins at one of those awesome trampoline parks. Miiiiistake. Woke up the next day feeling like an old man.

Gradually went away but when I thought it was better, I went swimming thinking that wouldn't hurt but I must have done something weird because the next day I woke up with sciatica from my spine down to my left foot.

Took about 2 and a half years before I decided to try swimming again. Had no issues and then went 3x a week. Lost all the weight I gained. Then 2016 summer, returned to the gym. Very minor dull ache on squats that happened when I went slightly heavy so just binned that off but no issues with upper body stuff. No issues for 4 years until last month where I had no spotter and strawberry floated up the final rep causing a bit of mild pain since then.

strawberry float man, that's up and down.

I'm just glad I finally started to get diagnosed rather than ignore the pain as I've been doing otherwise for years. Should've done it way earlier but still. It's reassuring that you've managed to still get some weights done despite it all.

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by Rocsteady » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:36 am

Could barely walk again today, pulling my shoes off was almost impossible. Incredibly painful. Will have to switch these over to the depression thread soon, making me strawberry floating miserable.

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Harry Bizzle
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by Harry Bizzle » Mon Oct 12, 2020 1:02 pm

Currently hitting (at 5x5) - 80kg bench, 107.5kg squat and 127.5kg DL. I think the squat is topping out, but DL and bench have room to go, but I'm going to start adding some food in anyway. At the moment I'm getting a lot of cardio in from my day job - something like 70 flights of stairs, if my Apple Watch is to be believed.

I've just been eating whatever I want and holding at about 78.5-79kg, but am going to start adding calories. I'm not really sure how many to add - I think 500 in the past has been a bit too much, and I just got fat. The other complicating factor is that I'm not counting calories at the moment, but I do tend to eat pretty similar portions and snacks for most meals. I think I might just change my breakfast from oats and a protein shake to scrambled eggs on toast, which should add about 300 calories and see what happens.

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Rocsteady
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by Rocsteady » Mon Oct 12, 2020 1:32 pm

I'm getting good upper body definition again as I've been hitting the dips, pulls, chins, etc hard. Beginning to get that real gym bro shape - all upper body mass and zero lower body work.

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by Rocsteady » Thu Oct 15, 2020 4:36 pm

The pain is real - gyms are closing in Poland again. To be fair at least I can do most workouts in my neighbourhood now, just need to break into the play park that's been cordoned off so I can do dips and pulls/chins :shifty:

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Harry Bizzle
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by Harry Bizzle » Thu Oct 22, 2020 11:22 am

This is probably one for BOH - I've not been happy with my 5x5 squats, as they've been getting harder I feel like my form isn't as good and I've had a high rep here and there. Yesterday, I switched from squatting 5x5 at what I feel is my 5RM, to squatting lighter for 3x8, yesterday. Much deeper and I felt a lot more quad activation. I'm wondering if I should just be deloading my 5x5 weight and either squatting like this or should I still be squatting PL style (i.e. just past parallel), but take any high reps or form breakdown as a failure to hit the 5x5 that session?

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by Tomous » Mon Nov 09, 2020 4:20 pm

Anyone got any recommendations for decent site to buy weight plates from?

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Ste
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by Ste » Wed Nov 18, 2020 2:59 pm

First post in this thread. Don't really consider myself a gym person but have pretty much always had weights at home which I use weekly as a way of making me feel better about indulging at the weekend.

I'm always buying gooseberry fool off Amazon and recently bought a iHuniu Power Twister.

I initially got a 40kg one, which thinking about it, when my heaviest dumbell is only 20kg was a little optimistic. I could barely do it!

Now got a 30kg which I can mange a few reps with (I like things that you just pick up and quickly bash a few reps out with). After using it I've never felt pain/muscle ache in my arms like it.

Was wondering if anyone else uses one and what they think of it? Might be worth considering for those who really miss the gym in lockdown.

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by Rocsteady » Wed Nov 18, 2020 4:55 pm

Hadn't heard of that. Looks as though it's just working your arms?

Gyms have been closed for a while but haven't even been doing home workouts. Focussed purely on planking like a maniac every day. Finally starting to improve my back a little. Hoping to start training again from January - this is the longest I've had off in over a decade.

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