foam roll your lats lay on your back, bring your feet up to your butt, like your knees pointing upward, then take the lacrosse ball and put it in your trap, use your feet and lift your hips. see jesus. this is awful but effective. this too. the thing is you have to do it every day.
goddamn squats finally coming along. usapl meet got moved to november, so maybe i won't totally embarrass myself.
So I was asked to take part in a research study at my university. It's a Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) study and it entails squatting to a daily max, followed by volume based on that number (5 sets of either doubles or triples) followed by optional easy bench work for 37 days. I'm on day 4 and I already feel beat to shit. I'm going to have to up my calorie intake a lot to not simply break down. Apparently if you keep at it by day 10 or so your body begins to acclimate. Lord I hope so because I got shit to do and honestly all I want to do is eat and sleep.
I am told via rep that my shin splints for a sub 3 mile run are due to my shoes. I assume shin splints, never had them before but I have very bad pain in the muscles along my shins, especially when flexing my foot so that my toes point up. My shoes are comfy but old and not really stellar shoes to start with (Nike Downshifter 5). I do not intend on running daily. I am more of a once a week to a couple times a month person. I do not really enjoy running but I'd like to also not kill myself on the occasions that I do go out. How does one go about picking a running shoe? I was always under the impression that less is more and that a thinner, more minimalistic shoe that contours to your foot is better for you. I'm all ears though. I probably need to get some inserts for the sneakers I wear to work while I'm at it but one problem at a time.
It..kinda is? The thing with minimalist shoes is that you have to train your foot to wear them, and to be strong enough to wear them. Shin splints - stride issues are a HUGE cause of shin splints. Study POSE running, that may help a lot. That said, a couple of people I've coached who had chronic splints actually wound up being diagnosed with compartment syndrome. Their calves were all muscular and huge, and that pulled the fascia super tight. One of the girls wound up having surgery a month ago.
I'll add on to what shim said, in that if it is compartment syndrome, then the shoe won't make a difference. However, the wrong shoe is by far the most common cause for shin splints. A lot of times, this is exacerbated by folks who typically run either on a treadmill or always flat, and then go out and do some hills. (Hard pounding going downhill, typically.) The reason why I suspect it's your shoes, is because besides bad shoes, over use is the next most common cause for shin splints. So, if you simply went out and ran less than 3 - 4 miles, I doubt over use is the cause. So, back to the shoes: either worn out shoes or shoes that don't properly control over-pronating are the most likely offender, though over-supinating can contribute. Shoe Advisor (Recently, several studies have shown that over-pronation can be a problem, but "normal" pronation is nothing to worry about.) If you just run in whatever, then the shoes themselves may be so old that the sole and cushion is worn down. Or, they were never intended for distance running at all, and are some kind of cross-training shoe, basketall shoe, tennis shoe, or sneaker. If you actually have running shoes (not shoes that you run in, but actual shoes designed for running), and they are less than 10 years old, the soles may not appear worn down because the rubber is better. But, the interior cushion and footbed may be worn down. If you actually have running shoes, and they aren't very old, then it's likely you have the wrong shoe for your foot strike and/or stride. Personally, I don't think Pose running is your solution. If you aren't a regular, long distance, competitive runner or haven't battled injuries in the past, you may not want to put the time into working on Pose technique. (Plus, that is much more effective with a coach or someone videoing you to work on that - something you may also not want to do, if you just want to go out and jog a little bit every now and then.) Outside of that, you can research which shoe is best for your footstrike but the best way is to have someone at a specialty running store fit you with the right shoe. These folks can watch your natural running gait on a treadmill or the sidewalk, and using a computer footbed scanner thingy, to get you in the right shoe. This is TOTALLY worth for anybody planning on running with any regularity. You pay a little more, but once you get in the right type of shoe, you can always reorder from somewhere online when you need new shoes. There are several stores like this in Georgia: Phidippides in the Atlanta area and Run Fit Sports in the middle Georgia area. In AL, MS or LA, you could try Run-N-Tri Company. (Mobile, Gulfport, Slidell) As far as the minimalist thing goes, that answer is: it depends. Minimal shoe (or even running barefoot) can help with things like plantar fasciitus. Some people can benefit from a really stable shoe, some people from a really cushiony shoe and so on.
Judging by what you are saying about pain in your tibialis muscles (along the shins) you probably will get the most immediate benefit by foam rolling and/or deep tissue massaging those muscles, your calves, and while you're at it working on your gluts, because most people are chronically under active there as well. After that, find a shoe that you enjoy running in that isn't so beat up and go for it. With regards to building mileage, it is best not to add more than 5-10% a week. This could mean doing two two mile runs rather than one three mile one a week, and going from there, or anything like that.
I have a foam roller and used it, it did help. Then today I went to Tri-n-Run or whatever the store is called and they did the video of my jogging gait. You were right, ROM. I over-pronate plus I have high arches. I got some Asics that were expensive as crap but I'll be able to get them cheaper elsewhere next time. Y'all rock!
Over the past two years I've done a 6 week linear 5/3/1 squat progression, then done a shortened Smolov cycle, then hit the 20 rep squat cycle...All to varying degrees of efficacy. I liked all of them and since it was done over the course of recovery from a couple of injuries...I was not unhappy with the results at all (as a matter of fact that 20 rep thing was fucking awful, but...very effective...but awful...). Anyway. I say all of THAT to say that day 1 of starting the Texas method - for whatever reason I don't know - kicked me in the ass. I hate stairs. And standing. And sitting. And walking. And driving. It's bizarre. Everyone else was dying with Smolov and I was just annoyed. With this...I don't want my jeans to touch my legs. Hate everything.
Another mediocre day of cleans, (Stuck at 205lbs because I can't scoot under the bar fast enough) and I'm convinced that I actually need to shell out the money to get a coach. There's a gym in downtown Portland that is $100 a month for unlimited coaching, which is hilariously low compared to the $70 a session the dipshit personal trainer at the local gym was trying to charge. I might even pick up snatch while I'm at it; I've been too pussy to try it by myself.
So the squat study is now over. 37 straight days of squatting to a daily max, followed by volume work. Increased from a day 1 217.5 kg max to a day 37 241 kg max. A 23 kg increase is not bad, although I wonder now that I'm switching to a regular program how much I'll keep for my upcoming meet. Guess I'll find out in November.
I'm having a hell of a time consuming enough calories for my size. I'm 6'6" 235 lbs and need to consume roughly 5,000 calories a day to get to my goal of 250 lean. I found some calorie shakes on Amazon for people going through chemo and anorexics. Seems a bit extreme but anything beats eating 7-8 meals a day. Anyone have any suggestions for packing on weight that's a little more practical than eating several cups of rice a day?
So in news nobody but me likely gives a shit about. The world championships for weightlifting (snatch, clean and jerk) were held over the weekend and the 105 kg (231 lbs) class was absolutely insane. The world record for the C&J was broken 3 times on the final lifts, once by Ruslan Nurudinov (239 kg) then by David Bedzhanyan (240 kg) and finally by Ilya Ilyin (242 kg). To make it even more impressive, Ilyin did that after failing 239. Motherfucker holds up 532 pounds over his head like it's nothing because fuck you that's why.
Helping out at the meet this weekend has really been good for me. I got the competition bug in me again. Back to work.
So about three months ago I started learning the compound lifts. I've found I really like it and look forward to the workout. I finally feel like I've progressed enough to not embarrass myself by posting here. Today was squat day. I weigh about 113-115 and my max I've done so far is 135. I was working on not rounding my back but I'm still struggling with parallel. I was with my trainer and thought I didn't go low enough and she said it was fine, so that kind of messed with my head. So this was my workout today: This is my first set of 5. My first one was eh, but I think they got a little better. My phone doesn't have a video timer so you have to watch me set up. Soorrryyyy. I also thought the 130 felt pretty easy. So I'm hoping to try a new max there shortly.
I've started doing a quick foam roll of each of my main leg muscles and my lats every night. It takes me five minutes and is possibly the greatest addition I've made to my exercise regime in my adult life.
Yeah, I have to actually do some dynamic stretching before squatting. I find it not necessary when I bench or deadlift, but if I don't before squatting, I have pain down the front of my thighs (psoas maybe?). I've heard some good things about foam rolling, some swear by it, others can leave it. But people that love it, say it really works for them.