ExRx.net

Hello everyone!

I discovered the gym with my school rugby team, some twelve years ago now. Being better at shifting iron than with ball in hand, I quickly fell into powerlifting, which I did non-competitively for about 10 years (no competitions at uni or on my rock, otherwise I would have.) I've been consulting ExRx pretty much the whole time, but this is my first foray into the forum. The lift I'm most proud of was a double body-weight squat. I had a shoulder stabilisation op in January 2009, which I recovered from without losing too much strength, but the wind had been taken out of my sails and I as started to concentrate more on career I switched from powerlifting to kettlebells. Kettlebells are fun. I like them. Unfortunately, my back doesn't. I have a low back problem (degenerating lumbar vertebrae) which was probably caused by a squat that went wrong (bad form) about ten years ago. Having spent most of my life walking round with one leg longer than the other probably didn't help either (I have been wearing a heel-raise for several years now to level things off.) Since I started a new job a year and a half ago I've not really 'had time' for the gym.

However, this is not a pity parade!

I'm pretty certain my back has been worse since I stopped going to the gym. Between that and the simple fact I miss the exercise, the high, and the people, I'm going to get back up there.

My training goals now are:
- Core strength, to help protect my back and generally improve posture (KBs are superb for this, alas).
- 'Functional strength', i.e. useful strength/muscular stamina (unlike what powerlifting gives you!)

Where I would like your advice is on how to achieve this, as it is quite different from my experience. I'm thinking some combination of bodyweight exercises and dumbbell work might answer, but I'd like to hear others ideas. Happy to clarify anything or answer questions.

Thanks,
Chez

read this:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... training_1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

that should help with your core

A couple of things:
Your background indicates you have a good knowledge of training.
You have injuries in which only you know your limits.
You sound burned out of the whole 'gym' thing.

With the aboved information - this is probably the only advice I can give you. Try a bunch of stuff - re-ignite some sort of passion.

I've told my story several times, but I'll give the shortened version here. I was a runner for 5 years before I got burned out and relized how much I hated it. I had lifted during that time period, but I didn't start to get serious until about 2007 when I really focussed in on my training.

Don't be embarassed to try yoga. Do strongman - hell try and compete, but don't get stupid with your injury and let your ego get in the way. Buy a Prowler, make a slosh pipe and put a chin-up bar in the backyard and get after it. Just modify what you do. Hell, try bike riding - you might find nervana in endurance sports.

What I'm getting at, is when you lose your passion for something, you might have to find something else. Thinking more about it, try strongman stuff. It sounds up your alley.

robertscott wrote:read this:

(URL removed due to n00bie permissions)

that should help with your core

Thanks, that looks very interesting. I'm going to give that a go.

hoosegow wrote: Don't be embarassed to try yoga. Do strongman - hell try and compete, but don't get stupid with your injury and let your ego get in the way. Buy a Prowler, make a slosh pipe and put a chin-up bar in the backyard and get after it. Just modify what you do. Hell, try bike riding - you might find nervana in endurance sports.

I have thought about yoga (my hamstring flexibility is horrible) but here I confess to abject cowardice. Strongman training looks interesting (after a quick googling) I'll keep it in mind as something to work towards once I'm happy with my back. As for finding nirvana in endurance events...? I used to joke that I chose powerlifting because I could put in 30 seconds effort and sit down for five minutes!

I'm definitely open to trying new stuff, just hoping people will suggest things (as you have...)

Chezyr wrote:I'm definitely open to trying new stuff, just hoping people will suggest things (as you have...)

I have no personal experience with crossfit, but judging by the little I know it might suit you.

With what little I know, I would stay away from Crossfit - or at least stay away from any of the weightlifting aspects of Crossfit. He has a bad back. Doing 50 reps at 225 of squats as fast as you can is an injury waiting to happen.

hoosegow wrote:Doing 50 reps at 225 of squats as fast as you can is an injury waiting to happen.

+1.

Squats are awesome, but I would never put them in a sentence with "as fast as you can."

Unfortunately I can't squat any more After my shoulder op there isn't enough flexibility to comfortably hold the bar, even if I extend my grip out to the plates.

There are other squat variations you can do. Hip belt squats are a good choice.