2004 archives (page 10)

The weather was the kind of cloudy stuffy concoction that leaves you sweating profusely without even seeing the sun’s sidekick Ray. By extension, everybody was walking around the gym looking mighty soaked. I jumped right in and had the usual with dessert, while having distorted fantasies of training in the rain.

200th entry. Time flies, again and again.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Please note that this workout was powered by pasta carbonara.

Scott has an interesting update on Bruce Lee’s good morning injury that goes into deeper detail on matters such as his recovery process than his earlier entry. Based on his reading of the process, he wisely suggests that he should add more low back work to his routine, which has evolved into a very powerlifting oriented mode over the last months, and goes on to note that

[Bruce Lee’s injury] certainly doesn’t dissuade me from using Good Mornings to their fullest extent. As with any exercise, Good Mornings are only dangerous if performed incorrectly (which may be due to tiredness or a brief loss of concentration, as much as poor technique); although there is a little more at stake than with other exercises such as a Barbell Curl.

Although I think Scott has the right idea here and I agree with the general gist of his statement, I would like to add that proper form boils down to a lot more, specifically neurological and muscle balance issues, than outwardly doing the exercise 110% correctly. Based on these observations, I think I have fairly good grounds for urging some caution with this exercise, while offering my own good morning injury as a good example of what happens when one goes too heavy on them too soon. This is a long one, so bear with me.

Acquired joint control

Let me begin by using McGill’s discussion of an injury that occurred while he was conducting a study on deadlifting powerlifters (Cholewicki, J. and McGill, S.M. 1992: Lumbar posterior ligament involvement during extremely heavy lifts estimated from fluoroscopic measurements. Journal of Biomechanics, 25(1): 17-28).

[U]sing video fluoroscopy for a sagittal view of the lumbar spine, we investigated the mechanics of power lifters’ spines while they [dead]lifted extremely heavy loads. [..] During the lifts, although the lifters appeared outwardly to have a very flexed spine, in fact, the lumbar joints were 2-3 degrees per joint from full flexion. [..] This explains how they could lift such magnificent loads (up to 210 kg, or approximately 462 lb) without sustaining the injuries that are suspected to be linked with full lumbar flexion. [..] However, during the execution of a lift, one lifter reported discomfort and pain. Upon examination of the video fluoroscopy records, one of the lumbar joints (specifically, the L2-L3 joint) reached the full flexion calibrated angle, while all other joints maintained their static position (2-3 degrees short of full flexion). The spine buckled and caused injury. [..] [T]his unique occurrence appears to have been due to an inappropriate sequencing of muscle forces (or a temporary loss of motor control wisdom).
McGill, Stuart (2002): Low Back Disorders, Human Kinetics: pp. 124-125.

Although only round-backed/hunched over good mornings seriously flexes the spine (bending over), it is quite clear that the difference between injury and success can boil down to such small matters as keeping correct form on the vertebrae level itself by skillfully contracting each joint. This kind of form is not visible to the naked eye and is to a high degree an acquired neurological skill that becomes exponentially more vital the more vulnerable a position the spine is in. And in the case of a good morning, the spine is in an extremely vulnerable position indeed (even compared to a deadlift).

Structural imbalances in the spine

Furthermore, as Vincent Scelfo has pointed out, injury can also be caused when there are small misalignments in the vertebrae, especially in the upper back. When I went to see the osteopath in April following the good morning injury, my upper spine was indeed a mess. I was also told that this is very common with people who lift weights. In my case, three of the upper back vertebrae had locked up preventing full motion of these joints. Outwardly the form might look divine, but if the spine is not properly aligned things can easily go awry when you bend forward with a barbell on your back.

Muscle imbalances in both strength and endurance

Imbalances between the large surface muscles is also asking for trouble. For instance, strong hamstrings and a strong static abdominal contraction is needed to keep the package properly together. Otherwise, you will not be able to sustain the proper position in the good morning with heavy loads, even if you think you are outwardly following the exercise instructions to aT. As Louie Simmons puts it in the context of the squat, you need to be biomechanically sound.

To become biomechanically sound, you must have proper muscle control. Very few people have great form. If your back is weak, you will bend over, causing bad form. If your glutes and hamstrings are weak, it is hard to sit back properly. If your abs are weak, you will be weak in the bottom and fold over.
Louie Simmons: Analyzing Your Squat Workouts.

The stabilizing core muscles around the spine also need to be strong enough to support the individual vertebrae during the lift, especially in the eventuality that the major surface muscles can’t cope with the load. After discussing the deadlifting injury reported above, the authors go on to note that the risk of this kind of injury increases when there is high force developed by the large surface muscles, but only low forces generated by the small intersegmental muscles (i.e. the core muscles are weak) OR even when all muscle forces were low (such as when picking up a pencil from the floor) following a demanding job. Bringing the core muscle strength and endurance up is precisely what the rehabilitation for my good morning injury is all about, as my therapist feels I have weak core muscles compared to the large surface muscles (based on my initial performance on the stability ball exercises I tend to agree…).

What needs to be realized when discussing muscle imbalances in regard to the good morning is that a lot of the supporting muscle tension required is of a static nature. For example, much depends on whether you can maintain a strong supporting contraction of the abs during the length of the set, i.e. muscle endurance. Absolute strength, i.e. how much weight you can crunch, matters a lot less in this regard. A couple of days ago, I was rewatching the Squatting Secrets video. On the tape, Louie talks about how both setting up for the squat and squatting itself requires continuously flexed abs. His remedy? Weighted straight-legged sit-ups in a low pulley with a static hold at the top (if you think sit-ups are all bad, you might want to read this entry).

Indeed, low muscle endurance of the stabilizing muscles correlates with a higher injury risk in many studies, although I am not quite sure how applicable the results are to max lifts. For example, in another study by McGill et al. they state that

[P]eople, from patients to athletes, must be able to maintain sufficient stability in all activities - with low, but continuous, muscle activation. Thus, maintaining a stability ‘margin of safety’ when performing tasks, particularly the tasks of daily living, is not compromised by insufficient strength but probably insufficient endurance, and probably insufficient control. [..] Having strong abdominals does not necessarily provide the prophylactic effect that had been hoped for - but several works suggest that endurable muscles reduce the risk of future back troubles.
McGill SM, Grenier S, Kavcic N, Cholewicki J. 2003: Coordination of muscle activity to assure stability of the lumbar spine. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2003 Aug;13(4):353-9.

… Breathing

Interestingly enough, in yet another study discussed in McGill’s book (Cholewicki J, McGill SM.: Mechanical stability of the in vivo lumbar spine: implications for injury and chronic low back pain. Clin Biomech 1996 Jan;11(1):1-15.), elevated breathing was also linked to bad motor control.

In our clinical testing we observed similarly inappropriate motor patterns in some men who were challenged by holding a load in the hands while breathing 10% CO2 to elevate breathing. (Challenged breathing causes some of the spine-supporting musculature to drop to inappropriately low levels in some people[..]). These deficient motor control mechanisms will heighten biomechanical susceptibility to injury or reinjury.
McGill, Stuart (2002): Low Back Disorders, Human Kinetics: pp. 126.

CONCLUSION

Based on the above observations, I would make the following tentative recommendations for the good morning. Take them for what they are; loud late night musings and blatantly broad generalizations of a man who is neither a doctor nor a powerlifting guru. In the final analysis, it is you who is ultimately responsible for how you decide to approach the good morning, if at all. This is how I would do it based on my current understanding. Comments and corrections are welcome!

1. Fine grained motor control comes only with a great deal of practice, so it is imperative that one does the exercise for some time with perfect form while not going so heavy as to risk injury due to the very lack of this control in the first place. This of course applies to all exercises to a varying degree, but with the good morning it is especially critical due to the vulnerable position. Perhaps a full year of doing the exercise with sub-maximal weights, say 50-70% of your hypothetical good morning max, before starting to go to failure?

2. Lack of strength in some of the major supporting muscles, such as the hamstrings, and weak core muscles, such as the multifidus, greatly increase the risk of injury. Furthermore, a lack of strength endurance (on the order of 30-60 seconds or so, this is no marathon) in these same muscles also increases the likelihood of injury. Therefore, both the strength and short time endurance of these muscles should be improved before going heavy on the good morning. This strengthening can probably be accomplished by doing a well-balanced routine during the year of doing sub-maximal good mornings. It is critically important that this routine includes not only absolute and dynamic strength exercises (glute ham raises, pull throughs, reverse hypers etc.) but also static exercises (ab holds etc.) AND core muscle exercises (recall that they are only activated when we are about to lose our balance, so this means labile environment training, i.e. stability/swiss balls, balance boards etc.). GPP, such as sled dragging, à la Westside should also beneficial in building up local endurance in a powerlifting specific way.

3. Consider seeing a joint mobility specialist every once in a while (the osteopath suggested once every few months I think) to see if your spine needs to be adjusted as having misaligned vertebrae will increase the risk of injury, especially in the good morning. As misaligned vertebrae are often related to muscle tension, massage of tight muscles should also be beneficial (the more often the better).

4. Don’t do very high reps on the good morning as it will make you more tired, and will hence make you breathe quicker, which has been proven to decrease motor control. I’ve seen the same recommendation made along pretty much the same lines for the deadlift, i.e. keep the reps low to keep form good. How low to go is perhaps subjective, but perhaps no more than five reps a set. A few quality reps with 100% concentration will always be safer than 20 reps done in a sloppy fashion.

If we assume that these recommendations are valid, then it is painfully clear how unprepared I was to start going heavy on the good morning within a month of making the transition to powerlifting. As per the advice of my therapist, I am now making up for that by strengthening the core muscles, but there is indeed still much to be done on this front.

At this point, I am still unsure about whether I will ever again do good mornings for singles or even triples. Looking through the entries of my pre-injury max lifts on the good morning, fear of the lift shines through.

Decided to go for good mornings, but stop well short of ripping my back in two.
9 June 2003: 2 @ 80 kg/177 lbs

A triple at 90 kg/199 pounds was about as much as I dared to do without a power rack.
16 June 2003: 3 @ 90 kg/199 pounds

Rechecking the exercise description at Elite Fitness, where it says to stop “slightly above parallel”, makes me think that perhaps I should stop a little earlier. Going down that deep is plain scary.
22 September 2003: 3 @ 95 kg/210 lbs

After watching the Westside deadlift video, I came to understand that good mornings are done with pushing the glutes back and slightly bending the legs instead of just going down like a jack knife with straight legs. It sure feels about 5% less dangerous to do them the former way…
10 November 2003: 5 @ 100 kg/221 lbs

The thing is that good mornings felt nice and dandy up to about 80 kg/177 lbs, i.e. about 10 kg/22 lbs less than bodyweight. Anything heavier than that, and the strain on the lower back put me in fear zone. No matter, I would just acknowledge the fear and go for it. Still, this makes me want to add a final parting thought:

5. If you constantly fear injury on the good morning, it will happen sooner or later. By following the previous advice, perhaps you can rationally conclude that the exercise is now safe (it should feel a lot safer too if your supporting muscles etc. are freaky strong), and go for it. Perhaps this is the ultimate indicator of when you are ready to max on the good morning?

Going to our neighboring country for the weekend, so no rehab work on Sunday.

After seeing nothing but one Swedish buffet after another for three days, it was good to get back to the gym. Having massaged my left shoulder into submission, I decided to mess with my bench. Frequented the usual neighborhood, with a stiff single at 95 kg/210 lbs. Then jumped straight into three-board presses with a close grip. 100 kg/221 lbs was easy enough, but 105 kg/232 lbs jammed just after lift off. Same old story. Am seriously thinking about giving JM Blakley’s 4x6 program a go to reinject some structure into my benching. With my singles being stuck, perhaps I should focus on upping my 6RM for a while. JM’s program also has heavy singles built-in, so unlike the Prilepin bench program I did in March/April, I am hoping that this would allow me to retain the touch for heavy weight. After all, the program of the man who coined “If you think there are plateaus you’re wrong!” can’t be all wrong.

I’ve come to eagerly anticipate the visits to the back clinic and today was no different. The usual preliminaries had me report that I’ve felt some minor morning pain on the right side of the low back when moving between beds this summer, but that otherwise rehab work was fun and progress very tangible.

High on today’s agenda was to determine whether the muscles on both sides of my lower back where now contracting equally or whether the right side still had problems. The therapist kept her hands on my low back while I was going through the exercises from the previous rehab program and was as pleased as I was; the contraction was now good on both sides, although she noted that I still had less muscle mass on the right side. This, in combination with the occasional lingering pain, proves that I am not quite among the living yet, but she felt that I could soon start working on my squats and deadlifts again. I am to begin with an empty bar and slowly move back up. Hurrah! She also thought my decision to begin doing lunges was sound.

Then for the fun part: new exercises! Out came the balance board again, and she asked me to try standing on it with one leg. After the initial disbelief, I was surprised at how relatively easy it was; yes, I was waving both arms and legs frantically, but this was not Mission Impossible (come to think of it, it wasn’t no Around the World in 80 days either). Quelle surprise when she told me we were going to start doing exercises this way. She handed me a small dumbell and had me do small circles with it going in different directions, again to make the core muscles work harder to keep me from falling off. I lost my footing a couple of times, especially when I tried standing on the right leg with the dumbell in my left hand. She said that this is probably because I am left legged and right handed. Left legged? Never thought of that. I indeed seem to be left legged: this is the leg I use when I need to jump high, this is the leg I’d rather find myself standing on a balance board with, and this is the leg that used to deliver the strongest kicks in my martial arts heyday.

The fun didn’t stop here. Bending over to touch the board with the opposite hand was next, again done standing one-legged. I was not a graceful sight. This was also the first time that the therapist started apologizing for being a bit rusty as she hadn’t done these exercises in a while. As this tune was repeated during later exercises again, I knew that I was indeed being bumped up to the advanced level. I’m starting to think that if therapy is boring it is the wrong kind of therapy; these exercises are among the most fun things I’ve ever done in a gym. Lunges next, where I was to use the free leg to step back into a lunge and then explode back up.

Then it was time for stability ball fun. She got up on a ball straddling it on all fours, and then proceeded to extend one leg back and the opposite arm forward. This was harder than it looked. Walk outs next. Recall that my first rehab program combined them with a straight arm and leg lift, while the second program introduced a twisting component by having me rotate the trunk by lifting one arm out to the side. Now I was to induce rotation by letting the ball slide sideways and rotate in against the movement by lifting the outermost leg. This was a fairly hard thing to do since the ball was not merely unstable but also in motion. It was still something of a shock to find this exercise listed as ‘Olympic level’ in Rick Jemmett’s excellent Spinal Stabilization book.

Fun fun fun. Side bends on the stability ball were not too hard, after a stable enough position was found with feet braced against a wall that is. She wanted me to tell her when the exercise started becoming difficult. This was around the ten rep mark bending towards the right, but much higher for the left, which is consistent with my general injury pattern.

Remember the neural mobilization exercise? After she determined that I had no problems with it anymore, she asked me to try it holding my toes. No pain, so am to do this for reps of ten. Regarding the old exercises, she noted that I am doing them quite explosively (hey, I like to think I am a powerlifter). Nothing wrong with that, but she said that it would be good if I did one set of both the low cable/plate twists and the hyperextensions slowly to stress the muscles differently. Point well taken after I tried.

As we were done with the consultation, she told me that the physician’s referral still allowed for one more visit within a few weeks if I wanted. As far as she is concerned there is no longer any direct need for consultation, but I was welcome to visit the clinic if I wanted to. As I’ve come to view this whole core training thing as a long term project, I told her that I will probably come see her in a few months just for the sake of getting some new ideas to play with. A few hours later, Sanna and I were leaving Helsinki behind on a train bound for the summer cottage and Toffe’s Gym.

To get some space for today’s amateur acrobatics, I dragged my balance board, stability ball, a 3 kg/7 lbs dumbell and a 10 kg/22 lbs plate down to our large wooden platform originally built for my brother’s table tennis needs. He used to compete on the national level dragging home quite a few trophies at that, but now my dad uses it as a work platform to make wood chips out of branches for his gardening needs. After pushing some of the debris aside, setting up the camera and igniting Motörhead’s live album I Got Mine, bought today for a couple of euros on a sale, I was finally ready to have a virgin go at my new rehab program. It was 11.40pm, but saw none of the bats that sometime swirl around decimating the needlessly large mosquito population.

The one-legged balance board exercises were difficult, but, like yesterday, I managed to do a few reps even standing on the more shaky right leg. I did as many as I could in a row and kept going until I got the needed reps. When it was time for walk outs I changed pace with another metal umlaut band that I also bought cheap, Queensrÿche’s Rage for Order. This was also when dusk started setting in, which come low plate twists made for bad light conditions. At the height of summer you can’t really see any difference between night and day (midnight-2am is your average cloudy afternoon, further north the sun shines), but now the beautiful summer nights are slowly giving way for the pitch black nights of August here at latitude 63° 4′ 0N. Did the neural mobilization exercise out on the quay where the light was better. Had to wrap a plastic bag around my feet to get them to slide easily against the wooden boards.

Even if the nights are getting darker, the water is only getting warmer now that we finally got some summer temperatures here in Finland. It did not take much mental preparation to jump into the 20 degrees Celsius water. A gentle steam danced on the calm water as it met the chilly air.

The video (4.2MB) is here. If it gives you a good laugh, all the better. There is one mistake in the clip; it says the lunges are alternated, but obviously they are done single-legged. Since I’m on dial-up, I’m too lazy to fix it.

The Saginaw News has a piece on our favorite chiropractor and NAP world-record holder Vince Scelfo. He sure has the right attitude to lifting:

“I think now I’ll continue competing as long as I can,” Scelfo said. “I see no reason why I can’t keep going for a long time. If I can keep myself relatively injury-free, why not? There was a lifter in Northville who was 68 and I’ve heard of a man in his 80s.”

The piece also says that Vince has plans for a quarterly symposium, Keys to Increasing Strength, in which he plans to cover the concepts of body balance along with training and nutrition. The article has his phone number if you are interested. I’ve never met Vince, but based on our e-mail correspondence and his generous advice, I think nobody would regret attending. If I were any closer, I would sign up now. How’s that for a hint?

Thanks to Scott for letting me know about this article that came up on a Google News search for powerlifting.

Decided to do a 180 degree and switch to JM Blakley’s 4x6 program for the bench as I threatened before. Not an easy decision as I love the singles oriented Westside system, but as I have been unable to increase my 1RM in months on most exercises it is time I tried something else. Even though my max is stuck, I think I stand a good chance of adding some weight for reps. As it is now, I think my 6RM for the bench is around 77.5 kg/171 lbs-80 kg/177 lbs. Now if I could get that up in the 85 kg/188 lbs-90 kg/199 lbs range over the next few months it should give me a solid base to finally tip my 97.5 kg/216 lbs single over the 100 kg/221 lbs hill. Only time will tell if this was a good move. The worst thing that can happen is nothing, which is pretty much what is happening now.

This also means that I say goodbye to the chains for a while before they really got a chance to prove their worth. With only one speed workout remaining here at Toffe’s Gym before I begin working again, this is probably a sound decision for now as using chains in the gym in Helsinki is out of the question. I’ve played with the idea of moving to a gym with chains, but quite frankly, I would love to put some more weight on my bench without resorting to using them as much as I like rattling them around.

Began with the accessory day, which requires that I do two accessory exercises for the bench in the 4x6 fashion, i.e. begin with a weight I can handle for six reps on the first set and then work with this weight until I can do four sets of six after which the weight is bumped up one notch. The JM press was a natural choice, but had a tormented time trying to decide whether to pick floor presses or bradford presses for the second exercise. Finally decided in favor of the bradfords, but as soon as they go stale I hit the floor. My weight choices were right on the money for both exercises with the first set of six being an all-out effort. Next week I return to these and simply try to add at least one rep somewhere in the three sets that clocked in below the magic 6 rep mark. Structure”R”Us. In that spirit I close with a few quotes from the man himself with the hope that they will instill the proper spirit among the troops before they change their mind and run back to camp Westside prematurely.

What’s the fastest way to a big bench? I get asked that all the time. “What’s your rush?” I respond. Building a big bench (or any substantial amount of strength in any lift) requires time. But nobody wants to hear that and nobody wants to wait. […] Do less?better. Put all your energy into totally mastering a few things rather than making almost un-noticeable headway in many things. Keep it simple and show real, tangible progress in only one thing. This allows you to put all your energy in a concentrated area. Once you’ve seen substantial gains, move the focus to another aspect. One thing at a time you see growth. After a while you will have it covered! I know this sounds like the whole “it takes time thing” again but really, like a great wine or a fine cigar, some things will not be rushed!
J.M. Blakley’s Top Tips For The Bench Press

Those of you who read this closely will no doubt see some contrast with the Westside smorgasbord approach. In the final analysis, the philosophical differences are intimately tied to different approaches to loading. The central nervous system can’t handle loads above 90% of max for more than 2-3 weeks on any given exercise; Westside solves this by constantly rotating exercises thus allowing max weights to be used constantly, while Blakley tackles this by not going that heavy in the first place instead electing to let each exercise work its magic for as long as it works for reps of 3-6 before switching with some heavy bench singles every week in the 85% or so territory. I can’t deny that I feel more sympathy with the first approach, but when big steps don’t work taking baby steps might just be worth trying.

In my quest for spinal stability and grip strength my calves have disappeared in the shadows. From here on I pledge to remedy that. After some lunges and the standard rehab work, I thus removed the plastic that has protected my homemade wooden donkey calf machine from the last two winters. It looked as solid as the day it was built. Quite a lot of weight can be moved on this one, so worked up to four sets at 226.8 kg/501 lbs, which is about as much as I can load on it unless I get more big plates. Back in my bodybuilding days, when there were less plates at Toffe’s Gym, I used to have the nearest person jump on my back for extra resistance. But with only a few workouts left here this summer I don’t think that will be an option.

And now for something completely different… NOT! A clip (1.29MB).

Although somewhat later than planned, a suitable opportunity to embark on the power rack and bench upgrade for Toffe’s Gym finally presented itself as a neighbor was kind enough to lend us his trailer. Yesterday, after driving off a decade of metal junk and other waste to the tip, we took a detour via the junkyard. As I had bought my chain there a few weeks ago, I knew the owner had a batch of suitable iron pipes for sale dirt cheap. Besides costing a mere fourth of the retail price, the only difference between the junkyard and the hardware store was that these came with a very thin layer of surface rust. After a quick polish and a layer of paint, they will be as good as new.

For the power rack I bought 60x60mm/2.4x2.4″ pipe with a 3mm/0.1″ wall thickness for the main frame, two pieces of 30mm/1.2″ iron rod for the support pins, and some larger pipe and thick strips for the adjustable uprights. In a gothic twist, I decided I wanted a monstrous bench and bought a 100x150mm/3.9x5.9″ pipe with a whopping 10mm/0.4″ wall thickness for its main frame. I suspect the finished bench will weigh close to 50 kg/111 lbs, but in return it should be safe to use even for those 400 kg/884 lbs benches that I like to do in my dreams. In fact, another customer I spoke to was buying the same pipe for use as the main support beam for a large roof… The junkyard guy was willing to cut the pipes into pieces according to my requirements for free, but since he used gas the rough edges will need to be trimmed before welding. At a total of 140 euro, the price was not half bad considering that I should now only need some paint and bench padding. An hour and a boat ride later, the pieces lay spread out on the wooden platform I use for my ball work. As both triceps and delts were still tender from the initial shock of the first Blakley accessory day on Friday, this was all the exercising I did.

Today it was time for the lumber yard. Dad needed material for renovating the interior of our old wooden boat, a former life boat on cruiser, and I needed boards for the base of the power rack. I found some suitable 97x20mm/3.8x0.8″ boards at a suitable discount price of 0.8 euro per meter/3.2 feet plus some 155x55mm/6.1x2.2″ support beams for some 3 euro per meter/3.2 feet. Paid 40 euro for all 50 meters/164 feet of wood. Everything is impregnated and should thus easily last for a decade or three. As I loaded the boards on the trailer I had flashbacks of when I slugged my lumber around using public transport. Life is easy now.

On Sunday, the welding timetable is going to be agreed on as another of our neighbors is going to come over. He has his own construction company and has agreed to send over a welder to both replace some windows in our main house and weld the gym equipment. Sunday is also the day Sanna and I need to go back to Helsinki as my vacation is over, but the plan is for me to come back some weekend to assemble everything. Needless to say, I need to prepare some very clear instructions for the welder so I don’t return to find the uprights welded upside down or the rack sawed down to a midgety 1 meter. I will do some preparatory work on the platform in the next few days - since the rack is going to be secured with concrete underneath the base I cannot do too much before the rack is welded and put in place. Plans etc. will appear later.