Sorry this is long, I wanted to get as much of what Coach Ball said as possible. I would like to know your take on this seeing as you guys are actually doctors. I wasn’t expecting to have this sort of training complexity so soon. Plus, I have no idea how to effectively use RPE, although I suppose that is the most efficient way to deal with inflammation flair ups. Thanks ahead of time for any feedback! (Sorry to Coach Ball if he did not want this public)
"There are a few principles that I’d recommend adhering to given the realities of curveballs thrown at you from Lyme. To recap:
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Don’t push through pain that gets worse as you warm up. Acute inflammatory situations (ones that feel intense/lingering as opposed to normal soreness that sometimes comes from training) should be allowed to resolve without doing further tissue damage.
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Base the program around accumulating volume at lower intensities vs. driving intensity up on the LP. It sounded like your body was more sensitive to intensity - the nagging tissue pulls, low back pain, etc would pop up as intensity increased. That’s something to keep an eye on. To note, lots of the time people will have minor bouts of pain, but they will feel BETTER as you warm up for the day. (For example, if someone has some back stiffness from sitting all day at work or having some tweak while working the lawn etc, it’ll often go away or feel much better after we start moving.)
Stated another way, you’ll have to learn your body’s signals for what is okay to work through, and what will get WORSE if you push through it. Lyme sucks, and you’ve got a lot of bullshit to deal with, but you damn well can still get strong and succeed, you’ll just have to be mindful and consistent. You’re certainly dedicated enough, just don’t get greedy/impatient as most 19 year olds are predisposed to do ;).
For programming your presses, I’m a huuuuuuge fan of the following modified Texas Method split - adding 2.5lbs per two week cycle.
Week 1
Monday (Overhead Press Volume Day)
Overhead Press 5 sets of 5 at 90% of last Press Intensity Day
Wednesday (Light Bench Day)
Paused Bench Press 3-4 sets of 5 at 70-75% of last bench intensity day
Friday (Overhead Press Intensity Day)
Press 3 sets of 3 at 2.5lbs more than last Press Intensity Day
Week 2
Monday (Volume Day)
Bench Press 5 sets of 5 at 90% of last Press Intensity Day
Wednesday (Light Overhead Press Day)
Press 3-4 sets of 5 at 80% of last overhead press intensity day
Friday (Overhead Press Intensity Day)
Bench Press 3 sets of 3 at 2.5lbs more than last Bench Press Intensity Day
For your lower body lifts, I’d recommend you switch to an A. A volume based RPE program (like “The Bridge”) or some sort of volume based version of a program like the Starr Method (Heavy/Light/Medium). This will allow you account for the realities of the unpredictable/random bullshit Lyme throws at you, and especially your back. If you’re going to stay at intensities low enough to not further irritate your back, you HAVE to do more volume in order to progress. I highly recommend you read The Bridge.
Starr Method is some sort of Heavy/Light/Medium like this:
Squat:
Monday:
3 sets of 5. Play them by ear.
Wednesday:
Work up to 3 sets of 5 at 75-80% of Monday. Warm up with ALL sets of 5 rather than titrating warm up reps.
Friday:
Work up to 3 sets of 5 at 85-90% of Monday. Warm up with ALL sets of 5 rather than titrating warm up reps.
You could run your deadlifts kind of like that:
Monday:
Deadlift as normal
Wednesday:
Paused Deads 3-4x5 (start around 60% of Heavy Deadlift weight and go up from there week to week)
Friday:
Barbell Rows
1 set of 8 at RPE 6
1 set of 8 at RPE 7
3 sets of 8 RPE 8"