maccaz 2018 prep log

[maccaz]

Good day. 

 

Can walk with almost no pain. Can bend over touch my shins. Can put heels on 2.5kg plates and squat to depth  (no weight obviously ) can bend over and set up with imaginary deadlift bar. Can pick up my chihuahua (tiny) and do normal shit like dishes and and get in car etc.

 

All of these things feel fine, maybe a tiny twinge of pain if i move in an abnormal way but thats fine im being careful.

 

From literally being crippled on friday to being 80% healed today is excellent I think.  I had banked on being bed ridden for a few more days

 

Only issue now is my hamstrings and glutes are brutal tight. My right glute is firm to touch its so bad.  I'm going to see physio and get remedial massage on Wednesday and sus a long term plan to improve my mobility and general physical condition as im about as flexible as a brick which no doubt contributed to this. 

[maccaz]

healing well. most bizarre injury. friday/saturday i couldnt get out of bed, right now i could go and do my openers comfortably i reckon.

still not doing competition, too foolish, dont mind im excited to go watch and catch up with everyone whos competing. 

 

submitted request to do nationals, hopefully that works out.

 

i'll be in NZ 8th april to 12th april mostly in tauranga, so hopefully catch up with realtalk and anyone else thats around.

 

plan is to see physio this week, start getting regular as in weekly remedial massage, and get back in the gym straight after nz trip for a approx. 14 week prep for nationals.

 

 

 

 

[Realtalk]

Wicked bro. Yep catch up for sure.

[maccaz]

saw physio

 

diagnosis is sprained facet joint, easy diagnosis he reckoned and easy fix, rest and the tissue will heal in a week or two. im allowed to bodyweight squat for a week, then light squats for a week, and by 3rd week i should be back to normal. its a type of injury where im not going to make it any worse by training, but it wont be comfortable and will delay healing so better to rest.

 

next bit is more of a concern. he did some mobility tests and was legit amazed at my lack of mobility. worst was ankles, closely followed by hips. he said "your ankles are as bad as they can possibly get"

 

hes given me a heap of instructions and mobility exercises to hammer for the next 4 weeks then we re-assess.

 

goal is to make squatting much more comfortable and natural and easy, with no restriction from tightness in any area, he thinks this will be much safer for my back, and also probably make me more efficient and able to direct strength more usefully rather than fighting for depth/setup.

 

good news, but work to be done.

 

 

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

awesome man! good to hear. not gonna be in auckland at all, what you even gonna do in that random as town of tauranga?

 

 

also chuck up the mobility exercises bro. curious to see what a real physio recommends. mine gave me the type of shit that was on the gym walls everywhere.

[maccaz]

rehab day 1

 

hip flexor kneeling stretch

30seconds x 2 each side

 

banded ankle stretch

30seconds x 2 each side

 

calf ankle stretch

40reps x 2 each side

 

vacuum hold

30 seconds x 5

 

alternating leg "deadbugs"

failure x 3

 

bridge (but unlike normal bridge, alternating 10 seconds full of air and braced, with 10seconds more relaxed. brutal)

2 x fail

 

this will be my 4x a day routine to loosen ankles and hips and strengthen transverse abdominals

 

after I was done with that I did

 

body weight squat

5 x 10 heels on plates

easy obviously but just a bit nerve racking worried about my back, will get much easier as it gets more completely healed

 

 bench press (feet just loosely touching ground, flat back, no drive or anything)

bar x lots

60 x 10

80kg 5 x 10 pump.com

 

 

 

felt good to be back in the gym, awesome team atmosphere everyone wanting to catch up and see how im doing etc etc as few of them were there when I hurt myself and others heard about it so was cool to get back in and talk to people and get moving again and be normal.

 

I think 1 week from now is realistic to start light squats

 

I have the benefit of knowing 3 people who have had this specific injury and healed well and are all good powerlifters and have been able to contribute to what the physio has given me to do.

 

[maccaz]

same rehab routine as yesterday. feel a bit better than yesterday.

still getting the odd twinge of pain when doing certain things but overall im improving every day.

 

 

 

Also made the tough decision to work with tom lilley for rehab and gpc nationals.

 

It was tough as fck decision as wookie is a genius and has helped me progress so much, but im at a point now where my form is not good (understatement) and rather than ingrain it any further (or hurt myself again) I have decided i will work with tom who is very well regarded in form correction and that side of things. 

 

I can't thank wookie enough for the help since august, I would still be going nowhere on Sheiko if not for his help, have learned heaps, especially not to be a pussy when squatting lol.

 

If anyone is looking for powerlifting programming I highly highly recommend Wookie, and i wouldnt consider leaving if it wasn't for my own issues and injury needing more directed attention + the benefit of Tom being present at most GPC competitions in Australia.

 

A good measure is I started with Jono with 202.5/112.5/230

I had planned to go 255+/132.5/255+ in Vic states this weekend until I hurt myself. That is with an injury in the middle forcing 4 weeks off. that is a 97.5kg total increase in 7 months. Can't argue with that.

 

 

[Realtalk]

Fair enough. Tbh though injuries just happen I strained my hamstring on 180kg deadlift and my form is pretty good. I tore my pec and had learnt from best bencher in NZ so my form was good. Injuries just happen, was 70kg lol. You could ugly good morning 70kg with ease so I think was probably just ready to go. Everyone gets injuried, I think Thomas Lilley injuried right now? Good luck. look forward to more gains anyway.

 

everyone gets injuried. Maybe you pulled something in your deadlift then it blew out in the Squats after. So you could have actually done the damage on the deadlift

[maccaz]

Just now, Realtalk said:

Fair enough. Tbh though injuries just happen I strained my hamstring on 180kg deadlift and my form is pretty good. I tore my pec and had learnt from best bencher in NZ so my form was good. Injuries just happen, was 70kg lol. You could ugly good morning 70kg with ease so I think was probably just ready to go. Everyone gets injuried, I think Thomas Lilley injuried right now? Good luck. look forward to more gains anyway.

 

everyone gets injuried. Maybe you pulled something in your deadlift then it blew out in the Squats after. So you could have actually done the damage on the deadlift

Yeah for sure i agree. Doesnt matter whos coaching you, shit will break. I have a pretty solid idea how it happened and was fatigued from deadlift. Rushing because boss man at gym was waiting round to wrap my knees at top sets. Tight as legs and ass from deadlifts etc etc was just a combo of things. 

 

For someone like you where your form is very good (probably perfect squat and dead at least?) already it prob doesnt matter who coaches you as i doubt you need many pointers..im always feeling a bit off in terms of form because I don't 100% know the best way to do things so im changing shit often, inconsistent. 

 

[Realtalk]

Wasn't posting that to brag my form is good well cause it's not perfect. Was just saying that it happens to everyone. Anyway excited for you and your next step. Keep the updates coming!

[Monarchking]

I feel that my body has a limit. And at some point it just blows out. For me, it's taken a while to recognise the signs and be one step ahead of killing myslef. Listen to the coach inside you, not the athlete, that's what has helped me avoid snapping. Hard at times..

[maccaz]

caught up with thomas on the weekend and went over a few very early/basic pointers for my squat, where im going wrong, got a couple things to work on when i go squat light tonight.

back is 99.9% healed i reckon.

 

glad that physio and thomas both have same opinion on how i hurt myself, how what i did contributed to the injury, and how to improve to avoid it happening again (and as a bonus the the changes will improve my squat in general too)

 

went to watch gpc states on saturday, pretty cool, saw a girl get 2nd biggest australian womens total ever behind Chleo, her 240kg deadlift looked bout as easy as my 240kg.

 

caught a cold so didnt catch the heavier classes on sunday, but few guys at my gym were competing so got updates all day.

 

kind of getting a better understanding of the different strategies people use on the day, and i gotta say, i think its retarded to take a yolo big 3rd deadlift that you know you aren't going to take, just because you think the comp atmosphere is going to give it to you, it doesnt seem to work most of the time.

biggest total is made of 9/9

 

 

[Monarchking]

Lol at yolo jumps, made me lol...

When stalking the girls IPF meets, seen a few athletes consistently take yolo jumps on 2-3rd attempts on all lifts because thier "coach" always decided the numbers, and this is after dam heavy opener..don't think I ever seen those girls go 9/9 and "we" always beat them just sticking to a plan, and altering it very slightly depending on placement or bar speed. 

I obviously don't have much experience myslef on the platform, but it's good to know your limits or your training partners/etc so you can get as muh out if it as possible. Maybe I'm to conservative I don't know, but missing lifts in the gym is bad enough. But I can also understand people not wanting to leave a meet and feel regret..

[Monarchking]

Btw. Good to hear you're feeling better.  Jelly of recovery time..

[maccaz]

16 minutes ago, MK said:

Btw. Good to hear you're feeling better.  Jelly of recovery time..

thx bro. got lucky. its an unusual injury in that pain is excrutiating but heals pretty quick.

its not like hip that wasnt that sore but lingered for months

[maccaz]

Back into it gently

 

squat

bar x lots

65kg 2x3

95kg 2x3

125kg 2x3

 

will post video 

 

bench press

bar x lots

60 x 10

80x 5

100x 5

110 x 8 pb. Easy. I'm in a deloaded state I guess

 

squat felt good. No pain

 

[maccaz]

125x3 from last night. obviously weight in insignificant,. just getting used to the movement again

 

 

new coach had a few comments right away based on the few videos i sent of squats and bench yesterday, and is doing a full assessment which i should get in next few days.  as expected there is a lot to work on/fix (everything)

 

will deadlift light tonight then in nz for 5 days then start prep

 

[maccaz]

Just another nothing testing the waters session before I go away for 5 days so nothing planned. 

 

Bench

bar x lots

70x5 

90x 5

100x3 

120x1 

132.5 x 1 touch and go pb

135 x 0 just lost groove could have redone and prob got it but no rush

 

deadlift

70 x lots

120 x  lots 

160 5x3 

 

all felt sweet. No trace of injury. 

[HarryB]

Were you cycling pre injury and did you cease or keep on or??? 

[maccaz]

6 minutes ago, HarryB said:

Were you cycling pre injury and did you cease or keep on or??? 

continued taking creatine as planned as I wanted to minimise the harm missing some training would have. Is that sound logic or do people generally stop when injured ? 

[HarryB]

Nope I think continuing is prudent as it assists in healing. Was just asking the question. 

[Realtalk]

back into it!

[Monarchking]

Have you hired an online coach?

[maccaz]

thanks team

here are videos of today

 

132.5kg bench press (massive bounce lol may as well have been slingshot)

and 160 x 4 (youtube video cos longer than 15sec) - strong maths on title

 

 

[PETN]

140 bench soon