brikis98's crossfit journal

[SociallyChallenged]

Not yet. I probably should, but every time I've gone - for a shoulder issue, back pain, hamstring injury, knee issue - I've been given the same damn "give it rest" advice.

My compromise was this: no barbell training until February. If it hasn't healed by then, go see someone. The tough question is who? GP? Chiro? Some sort of back specialist (how do I find one)?

Well, it honestly depends. If you're quite concerned, going to the orthopedic surgeon is the best to get imaging (x-rays, MRI) right out of the gate. In addition, they tend to be pretty easy to say, "Hey, I know I have this injury, I want to pursue conservative therapy immediately. Could you give me a prescription for physical therapy?" In my experience, they will always give you one, unless you are debilitated by pain. Then they'll require imaging first. With that, you can ask them about a physical therapy clinic around you. Some have their own physical therapy clinics, which is illegal in the state of CA so I'm not sure I'd go there. Some know of good physical therapists and will go ahead and give you their info. Either way, you need to get a general prescription that says "Physical therapy" on it. You'll bring that to whoever you see so that they can bill your insurance.

You can see a GP and they'll give you a prescription as well, but if you actually want imaging, they'll take longer. Again, if you tell them you want a prescription for PT, they'll most likely give it to you.

I don't have anything against chiropractors, but I don't support manipulations, especially with disc injury. You need selective mobilization, postural re-training (likely), stretching exercises, and strengthening exercises. The only field I know that does that consistently is physical therapy.

 

[brikis98]

Well, it honestly depends. If you're quite concerned, going to the orthopedic surgeon is the best to get imaging (x-rays, MRI) right out of the gate. In addition, they tend to be pretty easy to say, "Hey, I know I have this injury, I want to pursue conservative therapy immediately. Could you give me a prescription for physical therapy?" In my experience, they will always give you one, unless you are debilitated by pain. Then they'll require imaging first. With that, you can ask them about a physical therapy clinic around you. Some have their own physical therapy clinics, which is illegal in the state of CA so I'm not sure I'd go there. Some know of good physical therapists and will go ahead and give you their info. Either way, you need to get a general prescription that says "Physical therapy" on it. You'll bring that to whoever you see so that they can bill your insurance.

You can see a GP and they'll give you a prescription as well, but if you actually want imaging, they'll take longer. Again, if you tell them you want a prescription for PT, they'll most likely give it to you.

I don't have anything against chiropractors, but I don't support manipulations, especially with disc injury. You need selective mobilization, postural re-training (likely), stretching exercises, and strengthening exercises. The only field I know that does that consistently is physical therapy.

Thanks for the info. my back has been feeling just fine the last week, so for now I'll let it heal as-is. In February, I'll carefully try to put some load on the back and see how it feels. If there are signs that it's still not healed, I'll do as you say and head to an orthopedic surgeon and get some PT.

 

[brikis98]

Tabata Something Else: 8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, for total reps, for each of the following exercises:
* Burpees, jump and touch the ~8' ceiling each rep
* Air squats
* Sit-ups
* Push-ups

Results:
* 45 burpees
* 120 air squats
* 74 sit-ups
* 98 push-ups

Half-assed this a little bit, as I did the workout while watching the football games this Sunday.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Thanks for the info. my back has been feeling just fine the last week, so for now I'll let it heal as-is. In February, I'll carefully try to put some load on the back and see how it feels. If there are signs that it's still not healed, I'll do as you say and head to an orthopedic surgeon and get some PT.

That sounds fair. I hope everything clears up. Work that hip mobility!

 

[brikis98]

I did a few workouts during this time period, but I didn't write them down, so I can only remember two:

8 rounds of:
Run 400 meters
Rest 90 seconds

Result: ran all 8 rounds on a treadmill at 10mph. The last few were pretty damn tiring.

Seven rounds for time of:
7 chest-to-bar pull-ups
7 vertical jumps to ~18" above max reach
7 burpees

Time: don't remember

Fever: on Saturday, January 29, I came down with a very high fever. I was burning up, felt cold, was sweating like crazy, and had a massive headache. The only good thing that came out of it was that my girlfriend made me chicken soup to help me feel better. It worked, because by Sunday I was more or less back to normal.

 

[brikis98]

6 rounds for time of:
Run 400m
25 burpees

Time: 25:05

 

[brikis98]

Strict pull-ups: 3x10
Rope climbs: 6 ascents using legs
Front squat: 95x10, 135x5, 185x3x5
Overhead press: 95x5, 135x3x5

It's February, so I decided to give some barbell lifts a try for the first time in over a month to see if my back had healed. I picked some exercises that should be relatively easy for the back and very light weights as a precaution.

Doing the front squat was nerve racking. The good news is that I didn't feel any pain. The bad news is that I did feel something. Hard to describe if it was instability, twitchiness, me thinking about my back too much, or just the muscles working for the first time in a while. At any rate, it feels fine now, but tomorrow will be the real test. If it hurts, it may be time for some PT.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Strict pull-ups: 3x10
Rope climbs: 6 ascents using legs
Front squat: 95x10, 135x5, 185x3x5
Overhead press: 95x5, 135x3x5

It's February, so I decided to give some barbell lifts a try for the first time in over a month to see if my back had healed. I picked some exercises that should be relatively easy for the back and very light weights as a precaution.

Doing the front squat was nerve racking. The good news is that I didn't feel any pain. The bad news is that I did feel something. Hard to describe if it was instability, twitchiness, me thinking about my back too much, or just the muscles working for the first time in a while. At any rate, it feels fine now, but tomorrow will be the real test. If it hurts, it may be time for some PT.

As you come back, lighten up the front squats and increase the reps to 10-15. When you get injured, things go through several stages of healing. I think you're in the stage where you need to begin putting tension on the damaged tissue again, but at a much lower intensity. Start with the bar, work up to 95lbs. If you don't feel anything there, keep it at that weight. Add 10lbs each time you do a workout. Same thing with deadlift - start light. Even 135lbs might be too much. The goal is to get some blood flow, induce some tension, and stimulate the healing process. It may take a little longer than you want, but it may help you avoid cessation of CF and lifting. Plus, think of it as time for neural gains. Coordination from light weight and high reps does solidify your motor program

 

[brikis98]

"Rahoi"
Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
24 inch Box Jump, 12 reps (Sub: all I had available was a ~20" high bench)
95 pound Thruster, 6 reps (Sub: did thrusters with 2x45lb DBs)
6 Bar-facing burpees (Sub: stood the DB on its side and jumped over that for each burpee)

Rounds completed: 8

Had to make lots of subs to do the workout at the office gym, but I think my version was close enough. The box jumps were a lot easier, the thrusters with DBs are a bit harder, and the DB on its side was probably taller than a barbell, so those were also a bit tougher. Finished with a buzzer beater, landing my last burpee rep of round 8 at the last second, and then collapsing on the floor to catch my breath.

 

[brikis98]

Front squat: 95x10, 135x5, 185x5, 205x3x5

Back was still shaky, but definitely less than last time. My legs breezed through it.

For time:
30 Handstand push-ups
40 Pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1.5 poods
60 Sit-ups
70 Burpees

Time: 18:00 (PR)

I've done this workout once before, back on 11/20/08. I beat my previous time by 9+ minutes. Nice.

Back extensions: 3x15

 

[brikis98]

As you come back, lighten up the front squats and increase the reps to 10-15. When you get injured, things go through several stages of healing. I think you're in the stage where you need to begin putting tension on the damaged tissue again, but at a much lower intensity. Start with the bar, work up to 95lbs. If you don't feel anything there, keep it at that weight. Add 10lbs each time you do a workout. Same thing with deadlift - start light. Even 135lbs might be too much. The goal is to get some blood flow, induce some tension, and stimulate the healing process. It may take a little longer than you want, but it may help you avoid cessation of CF and lifting. Plus, think of it as time for neural gains. Coordination from light weight and high reps does solidify your motor program

Hm, you're probably right. I actually went even heavier last workout, and there was no pain, but it was nerve-wracking and felt weird. The good news is that I'm doing front squats, which put less strain on my back than deadlift or back squat... but I'm probably rushing it too much.

I'll drop back down a bit for the next workout or two and do sets of 10. I suck at high rep front squats, so maybe this will be a good thing to work on anyway.

 

[brikis98]

"Wood"
5 Rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters (Sub: ran on a treadmill)
10 Burpee box jumps, 24" box (Sub: tallest available item was a ~20" bench)
95 pound Sumo-deadlift high-pull, 10 reps (Sub: KB-style swings, fully overhead, with a 55lb DB)
95 pound Thruster, 10 reps (Sub: thrusters with 2x45lb DBs)
Rest 1 minute

Total time: 28:30

Another workout at the tiny office gym, which means a whole lot of substitutions. I think my version ended up a bit easier overall, as the running and burpee box-jumps were easier versions, SDHP vs. swings was about equal, and thrusters with DB's are slightly harder. Nevertheless, the workout destroyed me and my time was comparable to what people posted on the mainsite, so I think the effect is largely the same.

 

[brikis98]

Strict pull-ups: 4x11
Front squat: 95x10, 135x10, 185x3x10
Overhead press: 95x5, 135x5, 155x3x5
Back extensions: 4x15

Good strength day. Dropped the weight and upped the reps on front squats. Back felt a bit stronger yet again, but there was still some sort of weird "sensation" that I can't quite place. Not sure if it's the muscles learning to deal with load again, something slightly swollen, a vertebrae out of place that needs a chiro adjustment, or me just being too paranoid. Having said that, the sets of 10 were damn easy, and there was no pain, so I'll bump the weight for next time.

 

[brikis98]

Run: 6x250m, 30 seconds rest between rounds; 4x400m, 1 minute rest between rounds; 2x800m, 2 minutes rest between rounds. (Sub: ran on a treadmill)

Result:
250m@9.0mph
250m@10.0mph
250m@10.5mph
250m@11.0mph
250m@11.5mph
250m@12.0mph
400m@9.0mph
400m@9.5mph
400m@10.0mph
400m@10.5mph
800m@7.5mph
800m@8.5mph

 

[brikis98]

Front squat: 95x10, 135x10, 185x10, 195x10, 205x10
Overhead press: 95x5, 135x5, 155x5, 160x5, 165x5
Romain deadlifts: 45x10, 65x10, 95x10, 115x10, 135x10
Muscle-ups: 10x1
Strict pull-ups: 3x12, 1x10

Still some sort of weird sensation/pressure in my lower back when doing front squats. It's not pain and I don't feel it at all once I finish squatting, but it just doesn't feel quite right. The RDL were the first "pulling" motion I've done since the injury. They felt great: in fact, unlike front squats, they did not include any weird sensation.

10, 8, 6, 4, 2 reps for time of:
70lb KB swings
Burpees

Time: ?

Didn't write down this workout and I don't remember my time. It was a very short workout - something like 4 minutes - and I mostly did it to see how my back handled heavy KB swings. The good news is that they felt great. The bad news is that I fatigued quickly.

 

[brikis98]

Run: 8x400m, 90 seconds rest between rounds (Ran on an olympic track)

Round 1: 1:35
Round 2: 1:31
Round 3: 1:30
Round 4: 1:28
Round 5: 1:30
Round 7: 1:36
Round 8: 1:35
Round 9: 1:38

The goal was to maintain a 1:30 pace. I'm terrible at pacing myself, but was fairly close on this workout. Still amazing how much more my legs fatigue when running outside compared to running on a treadmill.

 

[brikis98]

Front squat: 95x10, 135x10, 185x10, 205x10, 215x10
Overhead press: 95x5, 135x5, 155x5, 165x2x5, 165x3xF

Front squat is same story as the last few times: the legs found it easy, no pain in the back, but still an odd pressure-like sensation. Overhead press was awfully tough and I couldn't get through a 3x5 @165, failing on the fourth rep of the last set.

Seven rounds for time of: (Sub: did only 5 rounds)
225 pound Deadlift, 7 reps (Sub: scaled down to 135lbs)
7 L-pull-ups

Time: 5:58

Some very easy deadlift work to see how my back would take it. They felt great. L pull-ups were better than usual too, though the last set was all singles.

 

[brikis98]

Haven't updated my journal in a week, but I've been doing workouts the entire time.

For time:
Row 2K
50 Wall-ball shots, 20 pound ball
Row 1K
35 Wall-ball shots, 20 pound ball
Row 500 meters
20 Wall-ball shots, 20 pound ball

Time: ~23:00

Good workout. Can't remember the exact time, but it was in the 23 minute range. A CF class was blocking most of the wall where we normally do wall-ball, so I had to use an angled climbing wall that had lots of pegs on it. This meant my throws had to be more accurate than normal, which is always a good skill to practice.

 

[brikis98]

Front squat: 95x10, 135x10, 185x10, 205x10, 225x3x10
Bench press: 95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5

My back is feeling pretty good. Front squats weren't too tough. Did bench press for the first time in ages, which also felt easy.

Three rounds for time of:
275 pound Deadlift, 10 reps (Sub: 185lb deadlift)
50 Double-unders

Time: ~6:00

Still working my way back into things, so I kept the deadlift weight low. The high rep workout felt great on my back.

 

[brikis98]

Hypermobile ribs

Had a chiropractor appointment for a weird issue that has been developing the last couple months: a rib that seems to pop out of place in my back, between the left scapula and spine, when I'm lying down. I've actually had this for years, but it used to be very rare, happening a few times a year. For some reason, it has gotten much worse, and now I have it almost every night.

In fact, it's gotten so bad that I can't sleep on my left side, or I'll wake up with a dull pain which becomes a sharp pain if I try to take a deep breath. I have to sit up and rotate my shoulder around until the rib feels like it has popped back in.

The chiro looked at it and said that the spine in that area was likely a bit misaligned so the rib was not able to get into the proper position. Unfortunately, after working on it for 45 minutes, she wasn't able to make much of an improvement. She said that the muscles in my back are too thick and tight and she wasn't able to apply enough force to realign things.

So now I have a recommendation for some male chiropractor who is supposed to be stronger and should be able to perform the necessary adjustments. Joy.

 

[brikis98]

Eight rounds for time of:
10 Burpees
15 Jumping alternating lunges
20 Double-unders
25 yard Shuttle sprint (5 x 5 yards)
Rest 90 seconds

Round 1: 1:40
Round 2: 1:30
Round 3: 1:28
Round 4: 1:48
Round 5: 1:36
Round 6: 1:45
Round 7: 1:40
Round 8: 1:38

Lots of jumping in this one; the quads and calves take a beating. For some reason, my timing was a bit off on double-unders today, so the faster times are primarily when I hit all 20 in a row and the slower ones were when I had a few misses.

 

[brikis98]

Squat: 95x10, 135x10, 185x3x10
Overhead press: 95x5, 135x5, 155x5, 165x3x5
Deadlift: 95x10, 135x10, 185x10, 205x10
Strict pull-ups: 3x12

Did back squats for the first time since I hurt my back. They felt great. I also did more light weight, high rep deadlifts as rehab work.

Five rounds for time of:
12 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
12 Toes-to-bar

Time: 7:00

Blasted through the first 3 rounds in 3 minutes, but hit failure on the toes-to-bar after that, lost the ability to kip on them, and the last 2 rounds took 4 minutes.

 

[brikis98]

Run: ~4.5 mile hill run at Arastradero preserve with my girlfriend.

Time: ~49 minutes

First run in a while for my girlfriend, so she was feeling out of shape and had to take a couple breaks. I did a final ~1.4 mile loop by myself at the end at a much faster pace, which was a pretty good hill sprint-ish workout.

 

[brikis98]

Squat: 95x10, 135x10, 185x10, 205x3x10
Bench press: 95x5, 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 235x5
Weighted pull-ups: BWx5, 25x5, 40x5, 50x5, 55x5, 60x5
Deadlift: 95x10, 135x10, 185x10, 225x10, 265x10

More low weight, high rep rehab work with back squats and deadlift. Both felt great.

Tennis: 1.5 hours

 

[brikis98]

Run: 10x200m, 60s rest between rounds (Ran on a high school outdoor track)

Round 1: 42.0
Round 2: 41.0
Round 3: 38.5
Round 4: 37.3
Round 5: 38.1
Round 6: 39.5
Round 7: 41.7
Round 8: 42.7
Round 9: 44.5
Round 10: 40.8

All of the above are self-timed with my iPhone, so accuracy/precision is probably +/- 5 seconds while I fumbled to hit the "lap" button on the touch screen.

Two observations from today's running:

1. I'm slow as hell. I'm sure my legs are fatigued from all the high rep squatting and deadlifting, but still, I'm a turtle.

2. When I'm doing track running, I cannot seem to relax. Playing tennis yesterday, I felt much more fluid and natural while sprinting around. Granted, tennis distances are much shorter, but I feel like my body goes rigid on a track and I fatigue very quickly. Not sure how to fix that.