Matt Moran's Training Log

[dsc]

Matt,
Hope your station gets a squat rack. I tried front squats and found them really uncomfortable and hard to do.

You're making great progress. Keep it up

[mattmoran]

Thanks for the comment DSC. I actually really enjoy the front squats. But I know I'm going to have to switch eventually.

Yesterday was busy, so I didn't get to go for a walk. Oh well. I did manage some stretches.

At the station today. Attempted to walk/jog outside. Twice.
The first time I got a little more than a mile in 10:24 and got a call.
After finishing that call I tried again and got 2.1 miles in 21:11 and caught another call. I guess I'm done.
I'll stretch later, probably before bed.

I've signed up for my first 5k of the season, in two weeks. It's supposed to be along the fox river. Should be fun.

[mattmoran]

Workout A today.

I had a tough time today. I think it's cause I didn't get enough sleep last night. Yeah, that's what I'll tell myself...

Warmed up 5 minutes on the treadmill @ 6mph.

Body Squats, 2x5
Front Squats, 1x5 @ 45 lbs.
Front Squats, 1x4 @ 65 lbs.
Front Squats, 1x3 @ 85 lbs.
Front Squats, 1x2 @ 105 lbs.
Front Squats, 5x5 @ 115 lbs.

Squats were tough today. It wasn't just picking the weight up and putting it on my shoulders (which I love doing). It took some real effort to get the weight out of the hole toward the end of the fourth & fifth sets. It's kind of embarrassing that I'm having this much trouble and I'm not even close to my body weight yet.

Bench Press, 5x5 @ 80 lbs.
At least this is still easy.

Inverted Rows, 12, 11, 9.
This is an improvement in terms of total volume, although the count on my first set was lower than last time.

Dips, 13, 12, 9.
Still using the dip station with the closer handles. Rep counts not as good as last time. I was pretty wiped at this point.

Reverse crunches, 3x12.
The thought of holding myself up for vertical hip raises was just too much. I'm sure my abs could have handled it, but not my arms.

Stretched for 15 minutes.

Now maybe I'll take a nap.

[atypical1]

Never underestimate the importance of rest. You're doing great so far and I wouldn't sweat the squats being heavy as that's getting to be a lot of weight to pick up. Methinks you'll need a squat rack soon!

james

[mattmoran]

Thanks for the comment james. Yeah, I'm going to need a squat rack soon. I'm hoping to hold out for another 2 weeks or so and see if we are getting one for the station.

At the station today. Walk/jogged behind the station for 55 minutes. 4.8 miles.

[mattmoran]

Workout B today.

Warmed up on the treadmill, 5 minutes @ 6mph.

Body Squats, 2x5
Front Squats, 1x5 @ 45 lbs.
Front Squats, 1x4 @ 65 lbs.
Front Squats, 1x3 @ 85 lbs.
Front Squats, 1x2 @ 105 lbs.
Front Squats, 5x5 @ 120 lbs.

Things got kind of interesting on the last set of squats. First I missed the clean. The bar didn't quite get up to my shoulder on the left side. That's never happened before, but I guess it was bound to eventually as the weights get heavier. So I set the weight back down, and walked around the gym for another minute to rest and psych myself up. When I cleaned it again the bar went up higher than my nose, and I had a brief fear that it was going to hit me in the face.
I had no trouble getting the weight up during the squats. They didn't even feel as heavy as last workout (when the weight was only 115 instead of 120). However, on the 3rd rep of set 5 I felt a pop in my right knee. There was no pain, and I was able to finish the set with no problem. There is still no pain, but it feels kind of funny. I don't know how to describe it exactly, maybe it's just psychosomatic. I have full range of motion and strength without pain. But something definitely happened. I"ll just have a pay attention to it I guess. I have no clue why my knee popped. My form was good, as far as I can tell.

OHP, 5x5 @ 80 lbs.
The last rep of the last set was very challenging and slow, but I did it. I can't stall now, I'm still 100 lbs. shy of my goal!

Deadlift, 1x5 @ 155
Deadlift, 1x5 @ 165

I did the set at 155, put the weights away, went back to the printout of my spreadsheet and realized I had done the wrong weight. No wonder they felt easy! So I went back and did it at 165. Should be over my body weight before the end of April.

Chin-ups, 8, 7, 5.
No progress on the reps, but like the pull-ups last week, I feel like I'm pulling myself higher on the bar. So that's something anyway.

Prone Bridge, 55 seconds
Right Side Bridge, 55 seconds
Left Side Bridge, 55 seconds
Prone Bridge, 55 seconds.

I'm going to be at a minute for each of these next workout B. Does it make sense to keep adding 5 seconds? Or should I do something else to make them more challenging?

Stretched for 15 minutes.

Total workout time, including warm up and stretching was 1 hour, 38 minutes. Definitely starting to stretch the rests periods out as the weights get higher. I use a countdown timer between the squat sets to make sure my rests aren't more than 4 minutes.

This was workout 16 since I started.

[mattmoran]

I definitely did something to my knee. It doesn't seem to be serious. I get twinges of pain when I crouch down to do something. Now I need to figure out what to do about it. Ice & elevation for now. Probably I'll switch to the elliptical machine instead of running for a little while. I think I should buy some new running shoes. And I think I'll deload my squats by 20%.

I'll just have to see how this goes I guess. This is incredibly frustrating.

[mattmoran]

I did my walk, 3.7 miles, 70 minutes.

Took it easy on the knee today. It still hurts when I try to do squat type motions (twinge of pain when I sit back into a chair, etc.) I'm going to have a doctor friend of mine take a look at my knee tomorrow. I'm sure it's not seriously injured, probably just micro-tears on the ligament. But still a serious wake up call. I might not be squatting for a while, until I can do so again without pain. Then I'm going to reduce the weight by quite a bit and not build it up so fast. I may also scale down my running goals. I may have to walk the 5k I signed up for next weekend and build up to jogging 5k type distances again.

Quite a frustrating setback.

[mattmoran]

At the station today.

My doctor friend looked at my knee. He poked, pulled, pushed and twisted and concluded that I did not tear anything. He said the pop was probably one of the tendons or ligaments in my knee rolling over the head of my femur or tibia, and that the ligament or tendon is probably strained. He recommended buying new running shoes (2 pairs so I can alternate them) and backing down on the squats. He recommended not doing them at all for the next couple of days, or if I can tollerate it to do them with no weight. Once my knee is pain free I can start adding weight again, but he cautioned to take it slowly.

So that's my plan, I'll see how body squats go tomorrow, and add weight slowly from there. On reflexion, I was probably adding weight too fast (especially when combined with the fatigue of the ramped up running).

I really enjoy lifting weights, and I enjoy the effect that it has had on my body so far. The thought that I had messed things up was very upsetting. I'm going to slow it down. I'm 37 years old. I should be past thinking I'm immortal or invulnerable, and I want to be able to lift weights for at least the next 40 years. What's my hurry?

Walked today. No more running until I get new shoes. Did 2.85 miles in 47 minutes before being interrupted by a call. I've been stretching periodically, especially my quads, hamstrings & calves.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's SL workout, even though I know it's going to be modified.

[mattmoran]

Wow. Rough night last night. I had very little energy for my workout today.

Warmed up 5 minutes on the elliptical machine.

For squats I just did 5x5 body squats. I did each rep very slowly, pushing what I could do without discomfort. With each rep my range of motion increased, which was very encouraging.

Bench Press, 1x5 @ 45 lbs.
Bench Press, 5x5 @ 85 lbs.

Inverted Row, 13, 11, 10

Dips, 11, 10, 9

Vertical Hip Raises, 3x12.

Stretched for 15 minutes.

Kind of a low point in my program, mentally. Got to take it slowly and press on. Things will get better, then I'll have to remember not to go overboard.

[mattmoran]

I've been stretching a few times a day, hoping that will help my knee. It's still an issue, but improving.

Walked 3.8 miles, 67 minutes.

[BenH]

Sorry to hear about your knee. Keep stretching and make sure it's good and warm before working out. I don't know if you usually work out in shorts, but maybe switch to sweatpants to help keep the legs warm.

[Kathy]

Hi Matt,
Sorry to hear about the knee-hope it heals quickly. I have been following your log since I signed up for a 5k too. The idea was to get myself to run but it is not working as well as I'd hoped! I admire your dedication!

If you want to progress the bridges, you could put your toes on a medicine ball and do them. Once you got that down, do one legged on the ball. Maybe use a basketball/football if no med. ball at the station. For side bridges, lift your top leg so your top foot is a few inches elevated. Just some ideas. I work out with a trainer periodically and she LOVES these and can make them more difficult in so many ways

Cheers

[mattmoran]

BenH, thanks for the comment. I usually do wear shorts when I lift. They are more comfortable, especially for the squats. The workout room at the station is pretty consitently 72 degrees, hopefully I'll be all right. Ironically, the day I injured my knee I was lifting in sweats.

Kathy, thanks for the suggestions about the bridges. I'll try them! Next workout I'll be at 60 seconds, which seems like a good number to stop incrementing. After that I'll try the medicine ball idea.

At the station today. Did 42 minutes on the eliptical, got interrupted by a call. (My goal was 45 mintues, so close enough.) I would rather have been walking outside, but it's a miserable cold, rainy spring day today. I definitely worked up more of a sweat than I would have walking.

After the call I stretched for 15 minutes. My knee is feeling good. I'm going to continue with the body squats tomorrow though. I dont' want to get lulled into a false sense of security and agrivate my injury.

[BenH]

Gotcha. My gym is often quite cool, and I've found that sweatpants help keep my knees warm. They're nice for deadlifts too, as they can help keep the bar from scraping your legs. For bridges, try doing them with your hands on a fitness ball like you were going to do incline pushups on it. The pressure of keeping the ball from rolling around under your hands is pretty intense.