Cycle #5 **Week 1 Day 1**
5/3/1 Press: 3x55, 3x65, 3x75 BBB Press: 10x55 + 10x55 + 7x55 + 7x55 + 5x55 Dips: 4x3 reps *Core: * 5xF Situps + 2x10 Lying Leg Raises + 10xBW Back Extensions + 10x10lb Back Extensions *Conditioning: * 1 mile @ 2.9 spd
Cycle #5 **Week 1 Day 1**
First day back in the gym. Couldn't be any happier. But, on that same token, I'm a bit saddened from getting a bit weaker with my almost 3 week long absence. Warm-ups will be key with every work out. No excuses. If I manage to get in the gym late and don't have much time, I'll still make sure to do my warm-ups and just get the core lift done, no accessories. Same thing with cooling down.
I've also dialed back my cycle to cycle 5 number to ensure I'm not starting too fast- even cycle 5 numbers seem a bit much. I'll definitely have to be very careful with the squat and deadlift as these lifts involve the lower back and posterior chain heavily.
5/3/1 Press: 5x55, 5x65, 5x75
Pretty easy. Elbows flared out. Leaned back a bit more and used a forward jerking movement to initiate the bar travel instead of doing the more traditional strict press from a standstill.
Dips: 8/6/5
Did these between my pressing sets. Gotta do more of them.
Seated DB Press: 9x30lb + 8x25lb + 9x20lb
Shoulders were pretty beat by now. Had a very, very tough time cranking these out. A strong indicator of my loss of strength in the overhead pressing.
*Conditioning: * 0.5 mile 5.4 spd treadmill
Managed to induce my first ever exercise-related injury this past Monday. I hadn't exercises consistently prior to that gym day. Finding new gyms combined with road trips and visiting friends pushed me away from my regular routine. Anyway, while doing box jumps, I managed to injure my lower back. I can only describe the sensation as feeling like something getting dislodged in my lower back. I immediately felt pressure in my low back and moving around and even just walking around would sometimes cause spasms. I could barely bend over. And the intermittent spasms would sometimes cause me to buckle and almost fall down.
Went to the doctor yesterday and initial diagnosis is indicating that there are no herniated conditions yet, so that was a relief. Although, they still have to look at the X-rays that were taken to find out for sure. I'm currently not allowed to do any running, heavy lifting or any impact related activities (jumping) for 10 days. Two Alleves twice a day for the 10 days and I report again to see if the problem is still persisting.
I'll have to say that I my low back does feel slightly better compared to yesterday. I have a bit more mobility and getting up out of a seated position is much easier than yesterday. Yesterday, I literally had to push my upper body up because my low back just would not stay tight and get my body upright.
With regards to exercise, I think I'm going to dial back my lifts in anticipation of recovering from this injury. I will also be making sure I spend at least 10-20 minutes solely for warming up. I think I could have avoided this injury had I sufficiently warmed myself up. Jumping right into plyometrics without any stretching of the low back is just a bad idea.