First, a quick update on Sunday’s squat workout. The week before I had a lot of pain in my IT band, but I had been taking an anti-inflammatory all week, and I walked into the gym feeling good and ready to squat. I kept the suit off this time, since I was feeling zero pain, and I worked up to an easy triple with 297. Then we strapped on 330 for a final set, and on the first rep I felt my upper hamstring twang a bit, so I racked the weight. With so much time before I compete, no need to push it until something snaps completely.

Now, the reason I went over this is because I normally deadlift sumo style, meaning my feet are wide, wider than my squat stance. However, with my hammy still sore I switched to a conventional stance to take some of the pressure off of it. Last week we worked up to 330 for a triple, this week I planned on hitting a top set of 352, but that was so easy I upped it to 374 for a final set, and that was easy as well. So, long story short, I’m sticking to conventional deads for awhile. I just felt stronger in this stance.

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Solid workout today! Easy 5 reps with 275 and finished off with 220 for 15 reps! I still need the right shoulder to be tight, not loose like it feels now. It kind of feels like it’s not completely attached, but the pain is almost 100% gone, so that makes it easier to concentrate on the weight. The rest of the workout was good as well…We kept up a good pace and I increased the weight on each accessory exercise, and increased the reps wen possible, just to fatigue the muscle as much as I could.

Okay, a little setback. Evidently I have developed iliotibial band friction syndrome, which has started causing me sharp pain about halfway down in the squat. It hurt to go up the stairs all week, although the pain started to go away y Friday. I arrived at the gym early to put myself through a longer stretching session and allow myself more time to warm-up. It didn’t help. Now I’m researching ways to heal the band.The iliotibial (IT) band is a tough group of fibers that run along the outside of the thigh. The gluteal muscles and the tensor fascia lata muscle attach to the top, and the lower part attaches to the tibia, just below the knee. Looks like ice, specialized stretching, and a foam roller to roll over the area is the only way for it to heal (besides quitting whatever is causing the pain, which at this point won’t happen).

Shoulder coming along fine, now, but I did feel it all the way from my shoulder down to my wrist starting on my 2nd set. Moved my top set up to 265 x 5 reps. Looking on the video, it looks a lot easier than it felt. I still have not been feeling completely tight in my benches. I finished off with an easy down set of 20 reps with 198.

Believe it or not,  actually put in time on the bike today, thirty minutes worth, then I stretched for thirty minutes, just like to good old days, when I wasn’t injured, I was 25 pounds lighter, and much stronger. The stretching in particular felt good, I felt much better afterwards, not tight/stiff. Same regime on schedule everyday this week.

Time to put away the Hatfield bar and start doing regular squats. The shoulder was tight at first, with just the bar on my back, but after it loosened up, it felt fine, and I forgot that it was supposed to be injured. Still keeping it easy, no rush, not doing any heavy loads yet, or wearing any equipment other than a belt. I worked up to an easy set of 286 x 5 reps. Felt a little twinge in the left hip, or rather, where the upper thigh meets the hip on the outside, so I cut that one off about an inch high. Other than that, the weight was easy, and it felt good to do regular squats again. I’m going to hit a light bench workout tomorrow to loosen up, and then deadlift on Wednesday. Looking forward to a solid week on training. I’ll give you an update on diet and cardio tomorrow.

Best day yet or the shoulder! Very little pain. Hit 253 for 5 today, super easy, then a down set of 187 for 20 reps. As the video shows, both sets were very easy. The only time I felt very much in my right shoulder was the 1st set of incline DB presses, and only until I put myself in the right position, then it was fine.

Still sore from squatting on Sunday, so I stretched a little longer than normal to warm up. Funny thing about stretching. Back in the day, late 80’s, I stretched 2x a day, at least 30 minutes a session. Now, not so much, just 5-10 minutes before working out. I can tell a big difference, too. I spend the majority of my day stiff as hell now. I have to change my habits and stretch everyday, starting today.

Still trying to hang with the overhand grip. Today was the first sign of grip failure. On my last set of deads, 319 x 5, my grip was giving out on the 4th and 5th reps. I’ll probably switch to alt grip next week. I have small hands, so working the grip is essential to me. My sets and reps this week went as follows:

132 x 8 x 2 sets
197 x 5
231 x 5
275 x 5
319 x 5

Once I switch my grip, the weight will jump up a lot, it makes that much of a difference. My bodyweight is at 213 now, but I haven’t increased (or even started) my cardio like I intended.

Took the workout back out to Dave Jeffrey’s house, since we don’t have the Hatfield bar at the Patriot Fitness Center, plus Courtney and Tim can use the regular squat racks, since they are training for the Nationals in Rhode Island. Dave and I took it up to 300 for 8 reps today. The weight wasn’t heavy, but it seemed like a lot of reps. Might look to cut that down and start doing 5’s from here on out. We’ll see ho I feel next week, but I would rather go with lower reps (3-5) on the main lifts, 8-10 reps on the assistance work.