Q&A – 39

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PR Friday

Post your god damn training updates and PRs to the god damn comments, god damn it (relevant). Also, I would like you to share any injuries you’ve had in the past year. Explain what it was, how it happened, and how long it took to recover from.

In other news, look at this Russian girl’s benching arch:

Weekly Challenge

Last week you were tasked with doing side planks after training. None of you probably did this, but it’s one of the more important things you can do for both prehab and rehabbing — especially for lower back, S/I injuries, and psoas tweaks and injuries. Thanks for not participating.

Next Week’s Challenge: See how much butter you can eat in a day. In a week. Use this opportunity to increase your butter intake. I suggest Kerrygold Butter because it’s grass fed (this link will let you know if it’s sold near you). If you’ve been sore, achy, and not recovering well, the added fat calories will go. Use the measurement on the packaging to quantify your intake. Put it on potatoes, vegetables, and cook things in it (I’ve even heard of people putting it in their coffee…seems weird). Eating butter makes you gorilla-like.

Week In Review

The female post focused on the peculiarities of female hormones with respect to training. It provided some context as to why women have a lower 1RM ceiling and why they can handle more work. Then I tackled the “MWOD says no icing” issue by looking at the arguments, research, and discussing it with lots of physiologists and PTs. The following day I provided protocols for icing depending on the injury in the context of a full rehab program. It’s a near comprehensive source on how to rehab training related injuries.

Q&A

Justin,

I’m a recent reader of yours. I’m also in my third week of Stronglifts 5×5 and I am conflicted on whether to use front squats ion place of the back squats. I’ve been reading through the back logs of 70’s Big, talktomejohnnie.com, and some of Mark Rippetoe’s stuff and you all extoll the virtues of the back squat. On several occasions, typically in response to a question on programming, you have been adamant about training for a persons particular sport. Mine happens to be rock climbing, sport climbing to be precise. A friend recently sent me a link to a Steve Maxwell article in which he demonizes the back squat in favor of other squatting forms (eg; front squats, goblet squats, pistols, etc.). In particular he states that combatives, gymnasts, and rock climbers would all do better with a different type of squat. It threw me for a loop and has me thinking, “Maybe I shouldn’t be doing back squats. Maybe front squats would be more beneficial.” Especially if one of my reasons for training is a sport he specifically lists. Should I switch to fronts in place of backs? Do a hybrid of the 5×5 alternating between the two? Cycle one then the other? He mentions in another article, touting the virtues of the pistol squat, that back squats would lead to flexibility issues, a big negative for climbers.

 

Male | 32 | 5′-10″ | 165-170-lbs | BS 190×5 | FS 165×5 | Press 100×5 | Bench 100×5 | DL 230×5

 

Thank you for 70’sBig.com and your time.

Sincerely,

Jonathan G

 

Dear Jonathan,

I can understand your confusion. Let me point out that just because Steve Maxwell doesn’t know how to coach any type of back squat or mobility work to maintain or improve the flexibility of his trainees doesn’t mean that the back squat shouldn’t be used. I can only conclude these two things — that he is not good at coaching the back squat or sucks at coaching ‘mobility’ — because it’s not the case. I can back squat a decent amount, well over twice my body weight, yet I can get up on a wall and have the mobility to climb it. I may not be very good technically, and my mass or weight will be problematic in truly excelling, but my mobility is not going to be the limiting factor.

Now, n=1 is never a good argument, but strong squatters with good, athletic mobility are very common. I would accept his argument if it said, “The back squat puts too much mass on a climber, and therefore he should avoid it because it will inhibit his sport,” then I could understand that. You can be a better trainee than what Steve thinks you can be; you can be strong in a squat and still have good mobility. There are plenty of resources to use like this website or Mobility WOD.

So, no, I don’t think that you  need to front squat instead of the back squat, and you certainly shouldn’t do fucking goblet squats over them unless you just want to be weak and small. If you want to be strong and small, then keep the reps-per-set low (under three reps) to avoid the mass gain, but understand if you’re a beginner you will have a bit of mass gain regardless. If you aren’t silly with your diet, you can remain or become lean, and this will help your bodyweight to strength ratio for climbing.

Keep in mind that strength is what will provide the capacity for you to endure in your sport. Continue climbing as you lift, but if you squatted 300, 350, or 400 and were within ten pounds of your current body weight, you would have a larger capacity for climbing.

Lastly, I’m not a fan of Stronglifts in general or in the context of you using lifting for rock climbing.

 

Hi Justin, I’ve bought book 1, and have a question:

Figure 2.5 (attached for ease of reference), says that, when pressing on Monday/Friday, benching is done on Wednesday. However, it says “light” bench. When benching is on Monday/Friday, pressing is done “medium” on Wednesday (Edit: image is below)

 

So, why the difference, and what percentages would you shoot for for the “light” and “medium”.

Thanks for writing a great book and for continually putting out quality information on your site!

 

–Brian

Dear Brian,

The reason I made bench light and pressing medium is because benching is more stressful than pressing. Light benching and medium pressing are closer to each other in stress imparted on the structures. “Light” percentages are probably around 70% and “medium” is probably gonna be 75 to 80%. Keep in mind that these are ball park figures and your true intent on the light day is to not interfere with the Intensity Day. Also, for early stage Texas Method users, they won’t really work off of percentages because their hypothetical 1RMs and percentages will change every week. Keep the Light Day benches and presses where you aren’t going to be sore for Friday.

 

Hey man, great ice post. Impressive work. I’d love to hear what you think about this:

 

http://www.allthingsgym.com/2012/08/car-polisher-next-level-self-myofascial-release/

 

After I saw this I went out and bought a $20 buffer to see what it was about and hit my legs hard. I’m in the middle of a new linear 3×5 program since switching to high bar and usually feel a lot of doms in my legs. I squatted yesterday and feel almost nothing today. My joints feel a little achy but that’s it. I think the buffer worked? My diet didn’t change, my schedule didn’t change. I even got a little less sleep than usual. The only thing I can think of is maybe I spent more time with the buffer than I do with a foam roller because I was excited to try it. Totally possible but I would love to hear what you think.

 

Thanks.

–Caleb

 

Dear Caleb,

It’s not surprising that Clint Darden’s “hardware store sander” suggestion is helpful. There is research that shows how massage is beneficial to reducing Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), which is the standard soreness you feel a day or two after training. Sports massages have been around for decades and are used because they help the muscle recover better (check out this clip of Werner Gunthor getting a massage in the midst of his training montage. As a side note, the minute or so after this starting point had a huge effect on my summer clothing style a few years ago, especially the beach scene).

This is the reason why the “self myofascial” release revolution got so popular a few years ago and it’s continued into what we now just sum up as “mobility”. The vibrating sander that Clint and you have used allows you to work on your muscles in a similar way to break up adhesions or fascia, or just generally apply a massage to increase blood flow and healing. Other tools like foam rolling, PVC rolling, The Stick, and a Theracane can all accomplish similar results. Let this be a reminder to serious, competitive trainees that comprehensive rehab and recovery will better prepare you to lift. That’s one reason why professional athletes can do what they do, because they have people automating this process and doing it for them.

 

 

@70sBig can you help me understand why blood vessels pop during lifts and any health problems that it may cause. Thank you!

 

Dear Matt,

When a person lifts properly, they are holding their breath and using the Vasalva Maneuver in order to increase the intra-abdominal and thoracic pressure. It provides a pneumatic brace against the spine and helps strengthen the torso to transmit force more effectively. Doing the Vasalva will increase blood pressure, but it’s something that our bodies adapt to, especially with a gradual progression that most beginner’s will go through. Some people erroneously point to the increase in pressure in the cerebrospinal fluid, but there is an equalizing of pressure up through the spine and around the brain, so this isn’t an issue (Starting Strength has an excerpt about this).

The reason blood vessels rupture, and produce tiny red dots on skin that is relatively thin (shoulders, neck, face, and eyes) is because the blood vessels are not adapted to the higher pressure. There have been several instances in my life where I come back from a short break (5 to 14 days) from lifting and pop a few blood vessels. This is usually associated with higher intensity (i.e. heavier weights) and the reason why if you try a heavy deadlift or squat without the intensity adaptation and strain very hard, chances are good that you’ll pop a few of them.

Keep in mind that when I say “blood vessels”, I mean small capillaries. And, no, this isn’t a big deal. It can happen with normal, non-training people (if they strain very hard pushing their car or dropping a deuce), but their cardiovascular systems are not trained to handle higher pressures and therefore it will take less to rupture the vessels in someone who doesn’t lift. Don’t worry about them occurring, but do worry about the more likely scenario: that you’ll pass out from not being adapted to the pressure change. To avoid this, just let out some air through grunting during the grinding portion of a lift.

105 thoughts on “Q&A – 39”

  1. Injury:

    I get a deep pain in my antecubital region at the bottom of the bench sometimes. I also feel it when I need to open jars for the wife. It’s very difficult to find motions that exacerbate it, except the two listed, and it can get bad enough that my elbows kind of “give out” at the bottom of the bench and I end up bouncing the bar off my chest- which is not my typical benching protocol.

    If I widen my grip and give up external rotation, the pain subsides, but I hate risking shoulder injury with such rotation.

  2. Thank you all for the responses to my question on lifting for climbing. I’ve taken it all in will continue with the back squat in my LP. I’ve been following mobilityWOD.com for a while now and plan to keep at that. Stretching and mobility has always been in my toolbox as a climber, no reason to neglect it in my strength training.

    One thing in Justin’s response does have me curious though. His closing remark,

    “Lastly, I’m not a fan of Stronglifts in general or in the context of you using lifting for rock climbing.”

    Justin, are you saying I should not lift for my strength training. I don’t think you are. So what are you more in favor of? SS, GSLP, CFFB or similar? You say in your TM part 1 post (01/06/11) that starting out someone should follow a LP then transition to something more intermdiate (TM, 5/3/1, etc). Thank you again for your time.

    By the way here is a video of a recent send of mine. While not a climbing “PR” for me, I hope you all enjoy.

    Sincerely,

    Jonathan G.

    • I’m not Justin, but I can tell you that as far as LPs go Stronglifts doesn’t last very long before the volume crushes you into the ground and you stop making gains. Greyskull or Starting Strength would make sense considering the numbers you’re at. If I were you I’d consider Greyskull because of the inclusion of chins.

      Of course, if you’re really serious, you could email Justin about a programming consult. :)

      • I am considering a consult once I stall out on an LP and need something more tailor made. Right now I just wanna get a strong base down, maybe hit some of those numbers Justin mentioned for my body weight +/-. I’ve never really been exposed to barbell work (only in te last 6-12 mos.), don’t want to make rookie mistakes.

    • John G…

      Check out Rob Miller’s website http://www.granitepage.com/

      If you don’t know who Rob Miller is, well, first and foremost he is a fantastic climber. Big Wall Free Climbing is his chosen discipline on the rock, and he is well known in that arena.

      http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=20345&page=1

      In a weird turn of fate, he was introduced to Greg Glassman by Mark Twight (you BETTER have fucking heard of both of them!) and ended up owning a Crossfit Gym in Santa Cruz. After flirting w/ CF and even competing in a CF Games, (all the while climbing at a very high standard) evolved his training to a more simplistic model, finally finding Rip and SS in the process.

      Anyway, long story short, these days Rob is a good strength coach who advocates the LB Back Squat for EVERYONE (climbers included.) His reasons are many, but one he stressed to me personally was about the pure STRESS of the lift, and the low bar’s unique ability to load all structures the most/heaviest. In that regard, it’s efficiency is unparalleled if your goal is to get strong.

      anyway, if you haven’t checked out Rob, you should do so…and you could also send him an e-mail perhaps, he’s a nice enough guy. Tell him Vic from Bishop, CA sent you!

      alternatively, you could check out Gym Jones…and follow their advice and programs for technical climbers…

      Just pointing out some resources you may not have known about!

      You ever find yourself in Bishop, look me up…we’ll lift and climb! vic@crossfitbishop.com

      • all that said, I still front squat quite a bit. I have snatch and clean and jerk goals that are important to me, so front squatting is a a no brainer for that…

        but I also fine much utility in training your mid back and abs (CORE) to be strong as shit. Heavy front squats do that. More stability in your trunk translates to steep terrain so well. I’m not saying back squats dont, but front squats have a unique core demand in my experience. Also, you need those quads for the approaches, brah!

  3. I’m almost certain I have impingement syndrome in my left shoulder and probably some subacromial bursitis. I’ve been asking around for chriopractors who deal with athletes.

    • 1, chiropractic is quackery. 2, chiropractic is based on the idea that all illnesses and injuries are caused by subluxations of the spine. That’s going to do SFA for your shoulder. Their positive outcomes, if they are ever really anything more than the placebo effect come from massage and little else.

  4. 405×1 squat
    260×1 bench
    505×1 deadlift
    215×1 press

    230 bw

    Bench my weakest lift is lagging behind as usual.

    Almost at my goals of 200 300 400 500

  5. Friday morning:
    Hang power clean & press: 125 lbs x 5 singles otm
    Squat: 265 x 5 singles otm

    Friday night: my coed team played best 2 of 3 for our softball league championship. We played all 3 games, 21 innings over 3 humid hours, and we won the title. It was epic.

    Injuries:
    2005 I suffered 2 displaced fractures of my left tibial plateau playing semi pro football. Basically, I caught a pop pass, linebacker hit my right side hard enough my left heel struck the ground before I could unlock my left knee and the pressure was too much for my tibia, so it split into 3 pieces like a lumberjack splitting firewood. Yes, I walked off the field under my own power. After a plate, 8 screws and 10 weeks of non weight bearin, reclaiming ROM was #1, got it, but I squatted, cleaned and sprinted too soon. I was too eager beaver to get back. No set backs, but I could have done better because my athleticism was sloppy all of 2006. I should have done RDLs as my heavy movement to keep my hip strength, single leg movements until my leg strength was back to even Stevens, and basic footwork drills for skill.

    Pulled a hammie this summer, but that’s nothing.

  6. How did you i didnt do the side planks? Anyway back in 03 in pulled some muscles in my back, dislocated my shoulder and got a concussion from falling about 15 to 20 ft while fast roping out of a chopper. Took about three weeks to not feel like total crap, month and a half for the ego to heal and about six months to get back to full speed without lingering discomfort.

  7. Deadlift – 450×5
    Bench – 225x1x5
    Squat Technique PR – 315×5

    Couple weeks ago I failed 222.5x1x5 on bench, so this was nice. Last rep was pretty tough.

    DL didn’t feel too hard, but I made a few form error. Let the bar drift forward on the third rep, which messed up my rhythm on the last two. Also, on the last rep my left hand started to give up on me so I ended up hitching to lockout. Second time this has happened. I think I’m just not squeezing the bar hard enough. Gonna try to pull 500 next ID, which happens to fall on my birthday. I’m secretly hoping I’ll end up pulling more than one rep, but I won’t cry too much if I only get one. May try 315×20 squats too; I’ll be doing them after pulling, so that should be nice.

    Slowly working my way back up with squats. This set looked absolutely gorgeous. Best set of high bar I’ve ever done, by far. Doing tons of pause squats was a good idea. My hips are feeling good too, which is a nice change, and I should be hitting some PR’s in 4-6 weeks if all goes well.

    School starts in a couple weeks, so I’m going to be transitioning to a split template as my current sessions are too long.

  9. forgot to write about my knee, well it seems i do not own acl anymore;) or it had not been torn complet. i havent done anything more with it than exercise, squating three times a week = good knees.

  10. Why are there other Caleb’s asking questions and signing them “Caleb”. Don’t make me go highlander …

    Side planks: did em’. Will keep doin em’.

    Injuries:

    — Low back (deadlifting with hyperlordosis, rehabbed through correcting hyperlordosis and took it slow. Only gets “tweaked” every now and again — like late last year or earlier this year had a weird sciatica pain that was fixed through “flossing” a la stuart mcgill — usually things are great till I go “I’m fixed now, I can lay off mobility/prehab work)

    — Right Groin — still fixing — getting stronger every day.

    That’s really all that’s injured from lifting … (got a wrist injury from taekwondo, no relevant)

    P.S. Russian girl is hot.

  11. Pressed 170 lbs 5×3, my 1RM was 160 just a couple of months ago. The last rep felt truly like the last rep I could do, so I’m thinking I either need more rest between sets or I am about to hit a plateau on SS. While not a PR, my deadlifts feel awesome even though I am only doing them every other week. I think all the squatting is helping out there.

  12. Finally squatted 500 lbs yesterday after 1.5 years of great progress, 1 year of injury, 6 months of getting back into it, and another 1.5 years of great progress….one more milestone on the road to 600. Hoping for more progress and as little injury as possible.

    Last November I popped something in my lower back on the right side (SI joint maybe) while training deadlifts (the weight was 525 lbs) in preparation for a meet on December 10th. It took just about 4 weeks for it to feel somewhat decent. I competed anyway and still hit a meet PR on deadlifts. During those 4 weeks, I pulled 315 for lots of doubles anytime it was a scheduled deadlift session. The week before the meet I pulled 365. At the meet I pulled 530…no problem.

  13. Speaking of injuries, was following a clean down for the next rep and managed to get my index finger jammed really good when the bar rebounded off the platform. Obviously took my mind off what I was doing there.

    Anyway, it’s blue and swollen and I can’t bend it much. :-/

    Whoops. Hopefully it’s just well bruised.

  14. I watched Gangs Of New York this weekend. I immediately went to the kitchen and sharpened by butcher knife, and now keep a brick under my pillow.

    #readytobrawl

  15. The only PR’s this week pressing 122.5lbs for a triple(shoulda been for 5)
    and weighted chins +20lbs 5,5,2. PR’s but also failures haha.
    I did the side planks and they help with my S/I pain on my left side so Ima keep doin em.
    As far as injuries go, ive tweaked my S/I joint to the point where I couldnt squat for a week and I had all that yucky elbow shit people get from bad low-bar grip. i tried a few times to change my grip and each time it would be good a few months then start getting inflamed again, so now i just high bar

  16. Totally forgot the side-planks and probably would really benefit. I’ll start tonight. I already eat a lot of great, grass-fed raw butter.

    Deadlift PR: 355×5

  19. Late to the party, but finally a decent PR after a long road back. Tore my PCL a while back, and just now am getting back to where I was before that injury. PCL may never fully heal, but everything around it seems like it is compensating. Post-injury PR was Squat 370×5.

  20. My training has not been anything impressive as I’ve had to travel for work some and have had a lot of my time taken up by moving and preparing to get married this weekend. I did this last week:

    8/23/2012
    Squat: 275 2×5
    FS: 225 2×3
    Bench: 225 3×5

    8/24/2012
    DL: 425 6×1; 315 3×5
    OHP: 135 5, 5, 3
    Row: 195 3×5
    Curl: 70 1×12, 35 lb dumbless 2×12

    Nothing exciting, just maintaining strength. I’ll be able to lift twice this week. Wedding is on Sunday. I’ll probably lift the day after the wedding and then maybe once or twice during our two-week honeymoon vacation.

  21. I feel the need to post an injury comment because that’s all I’ve been this year. All were rugby injuries.

    Two tackles gone badly resulted in 4 dislocated vertebrae and disconnected rib heads that attached to them. It took three sports medicine doctors and a chiropractor to figure out what was wrong with it since all I knew was that they were pinching nerves. Took 3 months of absolutely NO physical activity and having everything snapped back into place 3 times a week.

    2nd tackle gone badly resulted in tearing every ligament in my ankle. I was told I’d be in a boot for 3 months minimum but I asked them to not put me in one and just give me crutches. With very aggressive stretching, rehab, and icing, I was off them in 3 DAYS. It’s been three months and I still don’t have full range of motion, but I can run and squat normally again.

    Last was a torn IT band from cutting too hard on that leg. I’ve been told its a basically permanent injury. But after 2 months of physical therapy and 6 months of just waiting, it rarely hurts.

  22. No PR’s for me, but I do want to thank Caleb for posting the random orbital polisher info. I hit myself a bit too hard last night with it, but am really looking forward to my squat, press session tonight. Thanks again.

  23. Injury post? Finally one i can contribute to. I’ll note that all of my injurys are self diagnosed (using tinternet), no docs involved. Probably not the best idea but whats done is done. In the last year or two i have had too many injuries for my liking.

    Fractured left radius (oct 2011 – december): happened playing football..you know..kicking a ball with my feet, not throwing it. About 3 months without any lifting.
    Left spinal erector area: just a minor strain but happened a few times and stopped me from doing anything standing for a few weeks each time.
    Runners knee: reoccuring pain thrice in my right knee, have it now in my left knee. Im guessing terrible ankle mobility is the cause. working on it. Can last from a week to a few months, i didnt address it at all until recently, which is probably why its a reoccuring injury.
    Right achilles: dropped a bar down on it when trying to learn to snatch. My own stupid fault.

    Those aside, i cant dip because of terrible collarbone pain, im pretty sure that one isnt my fault tho.

  24. Well, just pulled my hamstring doing 40 meter repeats! No, idea how long its going to take to heal. Just had a meager DL PR of 400 lbs at 170 BW.

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