brikis98's crossfit journal

[brikis98]

6 rounds for time:
Run 400m (Ran on a treadmill)
6 goblet squats w/ 45lb dumbell
6 handstand push-ups
6 broad jumps of 6+ feet each

Time: 22:00

 

[brikis98]

Power clean & jerk: 128x5, 178x3, 198x2, 218x1, 238x1, 248x1, 258x1 (PR), 268x1 (PR), 273xF, 273xF, 218x3

The 268 single tied my power clean PR, is 10lbs short of my jerk PR, but is by far the most weight I've clean & jerked in one "rep". The limiting factor on 273 was the power clean; I would've done full cleans, but I was nervous about doing super deep, ballistic front squats after the knee pain I had Sunday.

Bear Complex
7 sets of the following sequence:
* Power Clean
* Front Squat
* Push Press
* Back Squat
* Push Press

5 rounds, work up to max load. There is no time component: you can rest as much as needed between rounds and anytime during the sequence, but the bar may not rest on the ground during a round. That is, once you start a round, you may not rest the bar on the ground until all 7 sets are completed.

Round 1: 88lbs
Round 2: 108lbs
Round 3: 128lbs
Round 4: 138lbs
Round 5: 148lbs

First time trying the bear complex. It's tougher than it looks. It amounts to 14 squats, 14 push presses, and 7 power cleans per round, which really does a number on your quads and traps. However, it's the inability to set the bar down that wears you down. Even having the relatively light weight sitting on your back seems fatiguing and I couldn't find any position where I could rest my grip.

 

[saied129]

great!!!!

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Hm, I must've missed the post about your knee pain. Where on the knee are you getting it? Is it under the kneecap? Inside of the knee, outside of the knee? Front or back? Is it just with the back squat or with other movements as well (running, rowing, clean)?

 

[brikis98]

Hm, I must've missed the post about your knee pain. Where on the knee are you getting it? Is it under the kneecap? Inside of the knee, outside of the knee? Front or back? Is it just with the back squat or with other movements as well (running, rowing, clean)?

Will be updating the journal with a few more workouts shortly, but here's what I've learned about the knee pain the last few days:

* The pain only happens on back squats. Air squats, heavy front squats, and just about everything else feels totally fine. This makes it very likely to be a technique issue.

* I don't have good enough awareness/knowledge of my knee to locate the pain. It's fairly sharp and seems to be in the very middle of the knee. If I had to guess from this image, I'd say it's the ACL or PCL, but I can't say for certain.

* I had a couple folks at the gym watch me back squat for a few painful sets with 95lbs and the one issue they were able to spot was that my knees were coming forward a lot. I found that pointing my feet out more on air squats kept my knees back more, but I didn't want to keep grinding on my knees, so I'll have to try this out with weight next time.

 

[brikis98]

Tabata run: 8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. (Ran on a treadmill)

I completed all 8 rounds at 8.5mph with an incline of 12.

New PR, I believe. After a few minutes of rest:

4 rounds for time:
4 Turkish get-ups, 40lb DB
8 broad jumps, ~8' each
16 push-ups

Time: 13:02

Fun mix of a slow, coordination/balance based movement, an explosive movement, and a muscular endurance movement.

 

[brikis98]

Hang power snatch: 88x3, 108x3, 128x2x1, 148x2x1, 158x2x1, 168x2x1, 178x2x1
Power snatch: 128x15
Front squat: 128x5, 178x5, 218x3, 248x3, 268x3, 278x3

Haven't done snatches in a while. Decided to just focus on the second pull. The bar was getting too far away from my body, so I had to jump forward to catch it. Did a set of 15 at the end to force myself to be efficient with the movement. Front squats felt fine on the knees. I tried to do back squats with 95lbs and it hurt. Must be a technique issue.

5 rounds for time:
10 pull-ups
10 burpees
10 KB swings, 50lbs

Time: 6:13

 

[brikis98]

Run: a relaxing, untimed, 4 mile hill run at Arastradero Preserve with my girlfriend.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Will be updating the journal with a few more workouts shortly, but here's what I've learned about the knee pain the last few days:

* The pain only happens on back squats. Air squats, heavy front squats, and just about everything else feels totally fine. This makes it very likely to be a technique issue.

* I don't have good enough awareness/knowledge of my knee to locate the pain. It's fairly sharp and seems to be in the very middle of the knee. If I had to guess from this image, I'd say it's the ACL or PCL, but I can't say for certain.

* I had a couple folks at the gym watch me back squat for a few painful sets with 95lbs and the one issue they were able to spot was that my knees were coming forward a lot. I found that pointing my feet out more on air squats kept my knees back more, but I didn't want to keep grinding on my knees, so I'll have to try this out with weight next time.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a technique issue, but could be inherent to the back squat itself. Since the weight is on the back of you, it requires increased hip flexion to hit parallel. Because the hip is connected to everything else, it also requires increased knee flexion typically. So you may be hitting the pain under load in a large amount of knee flexion.

You say it feels like the middle of your knee - does it feel really deep or does it feel like it could be just under your knee cap? Do you have a history of knee injury or trauma? Does the knee feel unstable at all?

How deep are you going in your back squats? How deep are you when you get your pain? Are you in the bottom of the squat/descending/ascending? If you're going ATG, you may consider going to a little less depth and really activate your glutes/hamstrings. That may act twofold by stabilizing the knee itself and by reducing the ROM it has to go through.

 

[brikis98]

You say it feels like the middle of your knee - does it feel really deep or does it feel like it could be just under your knee cap?

Hard to tell, to be honest. I'd guess deeper in the knee, but the shot of pain spreads fast, so it's hard to locate it exactly.

Do you have a history of knee injury or trauma?

None at all.

Does the knee feel unstable at all?

Not sure what that would feel like. For everything other other than back squats, my knees feel like they always have.

How deep are you going in your back squats? How deep are you when you get your pain? Are you in the bottom of the squat/descending/ascending? If you're going ATG, you may consider going to a little less depth and really activate your glutes/hamstrings. That may act twofold by stabilizing the knee itself and by reducing the ROM it has to go through.

When my knees weren't hurting, I'd squat a couple inches below parallel. Now that they are hurting, the pain comes in during the descent and starts before I can get to parallel. On some reps, I was able to get to parallel, but on others it hurt too much and I had to stop a couple inches high.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Hard to tell, to be honest. I'd guess deeper in the knee, but the shot of pain spreads fast, so it's hard to locate it exactly.

None at all.

Not sure what that would feel like. For everything other other than back squats, my knees feel like they always have.

When my knees weren't hurting, I'd squat a couple inches below parallel. Now that they are hurting, the pain comes in during the descent and starts before I can get to parallel. On some reps, I was able to get to parallel, but on others it hurt too much and I had to stop a couple inches high.

Ok, so pretty quick onset and alleviation then... Well, you'd know exactly what unstable felt like if you truly had it. You're fine then. Ok, so at or slightly above parallel now.

This is one of the things Kelly Starrett actually talks about in his mobilitywod for military personnel who have to be cramped up on a plane/helicopter for hours on end. In high degrees of knee flexion, you actually get a lot of shear force at the knee. This affects the stabilizing ligaments (mainly ACL), but also significantly affects the menisci. Do you have hyperextension of your knee? Does your heel go to your butt when lying face up? Your squat form may have gotten the best of you momentarily. If you focus on your front squat, take some time off from your back squat, and return to it in a few weeks at body weight and go from there, you may have some success. However, you'll have to re-work your back squat a little bit to reduce the extent of the knee flexion. Also, have you ever had trouble with your knees caving inward? Could also affect things, especially going toward the bottom of the squat.

 

[brikis98]

Do you have hyperextension of your knee?

Not positive this is what you're asking, but if you mean "does my knee go past straight?", then no, it doesn't.

Does your heel go to your butt when lying face up?

Again, not positive I'm following, but I find that my knees feel a lot of pressure if I try to do the seated hero pose and when cold, I actually have trouble getting my butt down to my heels. Once I'm warmed up a bit, I can sit on the heels and lean back a bit, but definitely can't go all the way back to do do the full lying/sleeping version.

Also, have you ever had trouble with your knees caving inward?

Not that I'm aware of. I'm usually pretty good at keeping my knees out, something confirmed by the guys that watched me squat the other day and see the knee forward issue.

 

[brikis98]

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x1xinjury

Pulled my back on a warm-up set. Not sure if it's a muscle, tendon, or disc, but it's low in the spine, seems to be deep inside (ie, on the side of the spine facing the organs and not the skin), and is unpleasant. Between the knee pain and this back injury, I feel like 90 year old man

 

[Pantlegz]

back injuries suck. I'm just now getting over mine from a few months ago... Good luck, take it easy and don't try to rush it like I did. It's not worth it.

 

[brikis98]

back injuries suck. I'm just now getting over mine from a few months ago... Good luck, take it easy and don't try to rush it like I did. It's not worth it.

Sadly, this is not my first back injury. I got a bad one several years ago, which is actually what got me into Crossfit originally. I used to only do strength training, but the back injury meant I couldn't lift heavy for a while and I thought I'd try some of the conditioning work, gymnastics, and high rep movements in CF and gradually rebuild strength. This worked well, though I had some minor back tweaks while I did CF as well. This is the first serious-feeling back injury I've gotten while doing CF, though I've also had a hamstring pull, adductor tear, hip injury, shoulder issues, etc.

The worst part about this isn't the pain; it's the fact that it's going to set me back again and I'm going to have to work my way up through the weights again. I wish fitness wouldn't disappear so damn quickly, as I'm getting really sick of going through the same weight progression over and over again over the years.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Not positive this is what you're asking, but if you mean "does my knee go past straight?", then no, it doesn't.

Again, not positive I'm following, but I find that my knees feel a lot of pressure if I try to do the seated hero pose and when cold, I actually have trouble getting my butt down to my heels. Once I'm warmed up a bit, I can sit on the heels and lean back a bit, but definitely can't go all the way back to do do the full lying/sleeping version.

Not that I'm aware of. I'm usually pretty good at keeping my knees out, something confirmed by the guys that watched me squat the other day and see the knee forward issue.

Oop, sorry for the terminology. I think of you at a pretty high level so sometimes I don't know what terms to use and what not to use. The knee hyperextension - yes, that's exactly what I meant. That's good that you don't.

Ok, that's some information that's useful. That hints to me that you may have some slight ligamentous/capsule tightness limiting full flexion. In end ranges of motion, the quality of movement can be affected by the length of the ligaments/capsule. I've noticed that some people can get the ROM, but it doesn't feel great to them. Once they mobilize (in your case, not very much), they notice their end range just feels more comfortable. You could do some light stretching in that seated hero pose, but prior to the sensation of pressure. Do you feel any stretch or tightness along with the pressure? If not, ignore what I've been saying. If so, you could be in that seated hero pose (with something between the back of your thigh and calf preventing you from getting to the uncomfortable range) and just rest there for a minute. See how that changes your symptoms. Lemme know how it goes. If you're gonna be in the SoCal area in the near future, I could do a full blown eval if the pain sticks around free of charge.

I figured as much - people whose knees cave in get pain pretty quickly with CF. Plus I didn't expect it with your build and form on other exercises.

 

[brikis98]

Run: 3 mile hill run at Arastradero preserve. Untimed. Ran with my girlfriend: even though we only run together once per week, she's getting better very quickly. No pauses at all this time. Back and knees felt fine the whole time.

 

[brikis98]

Tennis: 1 hour of tennis. Back and knees felt fine.

 

[brikis98]

Hip and back extensions: 4x20
Air squats: 4x20

Barbell step-ups, 20" box (reps per leg): 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5
Toes to bar: 4x9

Push-ups: 4x20
Pull-ups: 4x10

Took a week off from the gym after the back injury. Came back today with light or bodyweight exercises, with pairs of exercises supersetted together to save time. Got a great pump in my back from the back extensions with the goal of flushing as much blood through the area as possible. Step-ups were actually pretty tough at 155 as I'm not used to unilateral work. Everything else was easy. Back felt decent, but the knees were stiff after the air squats.

 

[brikis98]

5 rounds for time of:
Run 800m
Superman rock, 20 reps
Hollow rock, 20 reps

Time: 27:30

More back/core rehab. Felt pretty good. Knees felt much better today than yesterday.

 

[brikis98]

The combination of trying to give my knees & back some time to heal, a crazy work schedule near the end of the year, and a trip back to my parents' house for the holidays, means I only got in 1 or 2 workouts the last couple weeks. I started back at the gym today, doing yesterday's mainsite WoD with a friend of mine at the YMCA.

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
18 Box jumps, 24" box (Sub: biggest box at this YMCA was 20", so I used that)
15 Toes to bar
12 Pull-ups

Rounds completed: 5

Pretty tough workout, but the hardest part was the pull-up bar at the YMCA: it's thin and has knurling, so it really tore up my hands. Even though it wasn't that many reps, I had a tear on the right hand 1.5 rounds in, a tear on the left 2.5 rounds in, and a blood blister 3.5 rounds in. Before long, I couldn't hold onto the bar for more than 1-3 reps on the toes-to-bar and pull-ups, which slowed me down considerably. I'm sure I could get in 1-2 more rounds with a normal pull-up bar.

 

[brikis98]

For time:
10 Muscle-ups (Sub: did muscle-ups on a pull-up bar)
75 pound Push press, 100 reps
Row 1000 meters

Time: 10:30

Did another mainsite WoD with a buddy of mine at the YMCA. Fun times.

 

[brikis98]

Three rounds for time of:
Row 1000 meters
Run 800 meters (Ran on a treadmill)

Time: 28:20

 

[brikis98]

"Hidalgo"
For time:
Run 2 miles
Rest 2 minutes
135 pound Squat clean, 20 reps (Sub: due to back issues, just did front squats)
20 Box jump, 24" box (Sub: biggest box at the YMCA is 20", so I used that)
20 Walking lunge steps with 45lb plate held overhead
20 Box jump, 24" box (Sub: biggest box at the YMCA is 20", so I used that)
135 pound Squat clean, 20 reps (Sub: due to back issues, just did front squats)
Rest 2 minutes
Run 2 miles

Time: 52:49

Even the front squats hurt my back and it's feeling pretty tender now. I'm guessing I have a herniated disc, as it doesn't feel nor heal like the muscular/ligament issues I've had before. I think I'm just going to have to give it a lot of time while I do solely conditioning-style workouts.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

"Hidalgo"
For time:
Run 2 miles
Rest 2 minutes
135 pound Squat clean, 20 reps (Sub: due to back issues, just did front squats)
20 Box jump, 24" box (Sub: biggest box at the YMCA is 20", so I used that)
20 Walking lunge steps with 45lb plate held overhead
20 Box jump, 24" box (Sub: biggest box at the YMCA is 20", so I used that)
135 pound Squat clean, 20 reps (Sub: due to back issues, just did front squats)
Rest 2 minutes
Run 2 miles

Time: 52:49

Even the front squats hurt my back and it's feeling pretty tender now. I'm guessing I have a herniated disc, as it doesn't feel nor heal like the muscular/ligament issues I've had before. I think I'm just going to have to give it a lot of time while I do solely conditioning-style workouts.

Are there any movements in daily life that are especially aggravating? Bending over mostly through your back? Sitting with poor posture (slumped position)? If it truly is a herniated disc, then you will want to avoid anything that promotes excessive spine flexion or intraabdominal pressure (so no Valsalva).