Monday, July 06, 2015

80% Military press ( 95 lbs), Box pistols, floor pushups(!) sled, kb rows



This is a freakin' miracle. Two days ago I couldn't move my left arm in any direction with out the elbow screaming at me and today I did the entire workout as I planned. The stupid elbow was "out" from those reverse grip pushups and really didn't calm down until todays training.

It was feeling better yesterday and I could hang no problem and spent a decent amount of time in updog on the floor( that helped stretchout the wrist flexors ). Stretched and hung today too and got some rocktape on it which also helped.

But I had no idea I could press til I started the workout. I thought it might be position specific and it was. The swings on saturday showed me that. it's still tender but definitely going in the right direction

Military press
stick x 5
bar x 5 x 2
65 x 5
75 x 5
85 x 3
95 x 3 x 8 sets ( 80%)

these were strong and fast and the elbow did not hurt at all in the rack! very weird but I am grateful

Airborne lunges/ box pistols/

tried the airborne lunges but it just didn't feel right. wore the oly shoe and that helped a little but not enough. Tried holding on, setting a support for my rear leg but I had a hard time keeping the rear leg straight and not touching  the foot before the knee. Weird. Leg felt fine but it just wasn't right.

Then I tried pistol squats while standing on a box and that worked great! Held onto the power rack upright but barely used them. this I think could work really well. Did  five sets of five on let and 3 sets of 3 on right.

Floor pushups
 6 sets of 10!!!

Now this is hard to believe but getting my  shoulders ahead of the wrist took the pressure off the elbow and distributed the load. I think the rev grips put ALL the pressure on my elbow.
I was going to do 10 sets of 10 but decided not to be too greedy.
SO pumped and happy I can do pushups I can't tell you!

Sled pull
4 sets of 250 ft

strong

KB row
16 kg x 10 x 3 sets

no problem here either.
Thank God.

That constant pain brought me right back to the last 15 years of my knee and back pain and I do NOT want to visit there again. No matter what.

Hung for 4 sets of 15 seconds after the workout too. getting way easier. both grips.

Even did some light snatches to see whether that was the issue with the elbow and my left shoulder position seemed better than ever!?!

I think my torque from all the years of asymmetry is slowly working it's way out of my body. It's been in my shoulders and worked it's way into the elbow. Hopefully it will be cast out and I'll be square plumb and neutral again soon!

datsit
NeverQuit!

2 comments:

Monika said...

I found your blog through Tracy's blog. From reading some blog posts, it sounds like you've had health problems from a life long? strength training.
What is interesting to me is, that you know what to do to get your body working again.
Would you say, that what you do is, what one would get from a physiotherapist?

I've only been doing strength training and kettlebell training for roughly three month now ( thanks to Tracy!).

As I'm 50, my knees are complaining doing squats, and sometimes my elbow hurts, even though I try to do everything in the best form possible.

Is there a chance to get past the pain in the knees?

Anyway, I'm so impressed by everything you do! It's very motivating to read about your progress. Thanks for posting!

Mark Reifkind said...

Hi Monika

No health problems just too very bad joint injuries from gymnastics accidents when I was very young ( 18 and 21)
Unfortunately most physical therapist are not very good at all at being creative nor getting one back to real activity. the great ones are but they are hard to find.
And yes, most of the time I find knee pain is related ( if one has not been diagnosed with torn meniscus, arthritis etc) by making sure the muscle tissue quality is good ( check out my bodymaintenance course ) flexibility and mobility is good and that movement patterns are correct.

start with a foam roller on the IT band,quadriceps and hamstrings. and learn how to stretch well.

thanks for commenting and your kind words!
Mark

155 x 3 x 5, 160 x 3 x 5, 20 kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 40, 35

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