Ortho back tweaker log

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1

Intro:
Age: 25yo
Height: 6ft 6
Weight: 119.9kg

Background:

  1. Played a lot of sport as a teenager/early 20s, despite being terrible at sports.
  2. Stopped sport in the last few years due to multiple injuries (ligament tears, fx etc) and lack of free time due to work commitments
  3. Have been training in the gym for many years.
  4. However, I haven’t been able to train in the gym consistently for more than 3-4 consecutive months due to injuries, loss of interest, travel, the pandemic and not prioritising training
  5. My best S/B/D numbers for 3x5 (1x5 for D) after 3 months of training was 140kg/105kg/175kg
  6. My main issue that I’ve been dealing with is an 8 year history of chronic fluctuating back pain alongside 2 herniated lumbar discs

Recent Training History:

  1. I took over 2 years off training for some of the reasons listed above (to be pedantic, I went to the gym for 2 weeks prior to COVID)
  2. I returned in mid 2021 and started with SS (which I previously ran multiple times) and started with very light weights.
  3. I tweaked my back on 3 occasions since mid 2021
  4. The first tweak occurred after 6 weeks of training. I subsequently took 6 weeks off of all training due to life reasons and the pain+stiffness
  5. This was followed by another tweak 3 weeks after returning to training. I kept training with this tweak for a few weeks but stopped squatting and deadlifting from the floor.
  6. I had to take 3 weeks off due to getting COVID and an unrelated health issue
  7. I tweaked my back last week after doing very light rack pulls. This was only my 3rd session back training after COVID
  8. I kept moving/stretching/training for the days following this tweak despite intense pain and stiffness
  9. The pain and stiffness have mostly resolved - extremely light tempo RDLs have helped
  10. These past few months have been incredibly frustrating. Prior to my hiatus from the gym in 2019, my back would only be painful and stiff when I wasn’t training. Whenever I was squatting and deadlifting, my back felt great. Now, it seems that squatting and deadlifting are hurting my back.

Short Term Goals:

  1. Try not to tweak my back again
  2. Lose 15-20kg in the next 6 months
  3. Actually train for more than 3-4 consecutive months
  4. Return to deadlifting from the floor
  5. I’m not too concerned with how strong I’ll be in the next 3-6 months
  6. I’m also not too concerned with back squatting again. I used to enjoy squatting but if I can leg press without tweaking my back again, I’ll be happy

Current Training Plan:
Fri:
OHP - 3x5
RDL - 3x10 (will adjust as the weeks go on)
Chins - hit the rep goal in as few sets as possible
Planks - 3 x 30s
Airbike - 10 mins LISS

Sun:
Bench - 3x5
RDL - 3x10 (will adjust as the weeks go on)
Rows - 3x5
Planks - 3 sets but increase each set by 5s compared to the previous session

Tue:
OHP - 3x5
RDL - 3x10 (will adjust as the weeks go on)
Chins - hit the rep goal in as few sets as possible
Planks - 3 sets but increase each set by 5s compared to the previous session
Airbike - increase by 1 min compared to the previous session

  1. When I can do 3x90s on planks, I’ll add in side planks. When I get really good at side planks, I’ll start adding weight to my planks and buy an ab wheel
  2. When I work up to 20 mins on the Airbike, I’ll do 1 LISS session per week (increase by 1 min until I get to 30 mins) and 1 HIIT session per week (10 mins)
  3. W/r/t my upper body lifts, I’ll keep adding weight until I stall then switch to a 4-day TM then switch to the Bridge. I know both SSNLP and a 4-day TM are not recommended by BBM but I was happy with my progress each time I did SSNLP and when I ran a 4-day TM for a few weeks back in 2018.
  4. I’m not going to think about what I’ll do after the Bridge. For the moment, I’m just going to focus on turning up for each session and managing my back pain.
2

Sun (Jan 23rd 2022):
OHP: 47.5kg x 3 x 5
RDL: 30kg x 2 x 10 (3-0-3)
Pendlay Row: 60kg x 1 x 5 → weight felt very light but even the warm up sets were irritating my back a lot. Will switch to dumbbell rows
Planks: 40s x 1, 38s x 1, 30s x 1 (30s rest each set)
Back Pain: Felt good throughout the day but is a bit painful and stiff after the rows

3

Mon (Jan 24th 2022):
Weight: 121.5kg
I think this might be a bodyweight fluctuation as I weighed 119.2kg on Saturday morning. I ate a lot of pancakes late last night so maybe I just retained a bunch of water, idk.
Admittedly, I wasn’t disciplined enough with my nutrition last week.
Will be more accurate with MFP this week.

4

Tue (Jan 25th 2022):
Bench: 75kg x 3 x 5
RDL: 30kg x 3 x 10
Chins: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (15)
Planks: 45s, 43s, 30s (30-45s rest)
Airbike: 12 mins (will start increasing by 2 mins per session instead of 1 min per session from next week)

5

Fri (Jan 28th 2022):
OHP: 50kg x 3 x 5
RDL: 35kg x 2 x 10 (superset with chins)
Chins: 6, 3, 2, 2, 3 (superset with RDLs)
Planks: 50s x 1, 38s x 1, 18s x 1 (30s rest each set)
Airbike: 14 mins, LISS-MISS

  1. Session was very rushed today as I had to get it done in 25 mins
  2. Got 4 hours of sleep as well which didn’t help
6

Sun (Jan 30th 2022):
Bench: 77.5kg x 3 x 5
RDL: 40kg x 3 x 10
DB Row: 30kg x 3 x 5
Planks: 55s x 1, 41s x 1, 30s x 1 (30s-40s rest each set)

7

Mon (Jan 31st 2022):
Weight: 119.8kg (-1.7kg)

  1. I was very accurate and disciplined with my nutrition for most of this week. Logged everything into MFP. I was 119.5kg on Friday morning.
  2. However, I got the booster on Friday which wiped me out on Saturday. I stayed in bed all day and only ate junk food.
  3. I felt a bit sick on Sunday as well so I ended up going slightly over my calories with some junkfood.
  4. Definitely an improvement on the last few weeks but will ensure not to go over my calories this Sat+Sun
8

Tue (Feb 1st 2022):
OHP: 51kg x 3 x 5
RDL: 45kg x 3 x 10
Chins: 6, 4, 3, 2, 2
Planks: 60s x 1, 20s x 1 → might switch to 30s weighted planks
Airbike: 16 mins, LISS-MISS

9

Fri (Feb 4th 2022):
Bench: 80kg x 3 x 5
RDL: 50kg x 3 x 10 → will transition back to deadlifts from 1.5 inch off the floor by alternating RDLs and DLs
Chins: 7, 4.9 (got it to eye level), 3, 3, 1 (18)
Leg extension: 45kg x 3 x 8 → machine was pretty bad, will use leg press from now on, provided it doesn’t hurt my back
Planks: 65s x 1, 15s x 1
Airbike: 18 mins, LISS-MISS

10

Sun (Feb 6th 2022):
OHP: 52.5kg x 3 x 5 (last set = RPE 10)
DL: 70kg x 1 x 5 → felt very easy, no back pain
DB Row: 35kg x 3 x 5
Weighted Planks: 10kg x 30s x 3

11

Mon (Feb 7th 2022):
Weight: 118.5kg (-1.3kg vs last week; -3.0kg overall)

12

Tue (Feb 8th 2022):
Bench: 82.5kg x 3 x 5
RDL: 55kg x 3 x 10
Chins: 5+2 (grip slipped after rep 5), 5, 3, 3, 1 (19)
Planks: 63s, 28s, 20s
Airbike: 20mins, LISS

13

Fri (Feb 11th 2022):
OHP: 53.5kg x 3 x 5
DL: 80kg x 1 x 5
Chins: 7, 5, 4, 3, 3, 1 (20)
Planks: 15kg x 30s x 2
Airbike: 10 mins, HIIT (10s on, 110s off)

14

Sun (Feb 13th 2022):
Bench: 85kg x 3 x 5 (last set = RPE 10)
RDL: 60kg x 1 x 10 → back started cramping so decided to stop. Will just DL x2/week until the Bridge 1.0
Leg Press: 160kg x 3 x 8
DB Row: 37.5kg x 3 x 5
Planks: 65s, 26s, 20s
BB Curl: 30kg x 10, 9, 8

15

Mon (Feb 14th 2022):
Weight: 117.6kg (-0.9kg vs last week; -3.9kg overall)

16

Wed (Feb 16th 2022):
OHP: 55kg x 3 x 5
DL: 90kg x 1 x 5
Chins: 7+1 (grip slipped after rep 7), 5, 5, 3 (21)
Leg Press: 180kg x 3 x 8

Had a 24 hour shift so I couldn’t go to the gym on Tuesday.
Ran out of time on Wednesday so I couldn’t do planks nor airbike

17

Fri (Feb 18th 2022):
Bench: 87.5kg x 2 x 5, 87.5kg x 1 x 3, 80kg x 1 x 2 → all 3 sets felt off for some reason
DL: 95kg x 1 x 5
Chins: 6+2, 5, 3, 3, 2 (21)

Didn’t feel good today. Also, was short on time so couldn’t do Leg press, planks nor airbike.
If I fail OHP on Sunday and fail bench again on Tuesday, I will switch to the Bridge 1.0

18

Mon (Feb 21st 2022):

  1. Was post 36 hour shift on Sunday so had to skip the Sunday session and just go straight to the Bridge 1.0 on Monday for my upper body lifts and GPP, DL twice a week, and leg press x3/wk.
  2. My work schedule is quite erratic at the moment so I’ll try to fit in all the work throughout the week.
  3. I have previously finished SS after 3 months with much higher numbers, but I don’t care about my numbers atm. Losing weight and keeping my back healthy are my main priorities

Bridge 1.0 Week 1, Day 1
CGP: 70kg x 5 @7, 75kg x 5 @8, 80kg x 5 @9 → accidentally did 5 reps instead of 4 (e1RM = 95.2kg)
DL: 100kg x 1 x 5
LP: 200kg x 3 x 8
BB curls: 30kg x 1 x 12, x 1 x 10, x 1 x 8

Weight: 117.2kg (-0.4kg vs last week, -4.3kg overall)

  1. I didn’t track my food with MFP towards the end of the week and overindulged on junkfood.
  2. I might increase my calories by 100-200 cal so I will be more compliant
19

Wed (Feb 23rd 2022) - Bridge 1.0 Week 1, Day 2:
OHP: 45kg x 5 @6, 47.5kg x 5 @7, 50kg x 5 @8-8.5 (e1RM = 59.5kg)
BB Row: 50kg x 8 @ 6, 60kg x 8 @ 7, 70kg x 8 @ 8
LP: 205kg x 3 x 8
Chins (GPP - 7 mins): 5 (2 min rest), 5 (2m), 4 (1m 30s), 2 (1m 15s), 2 (18 total reps)
Planks (GPP - 7 mins): 45s (1m 30s), 30s (1m 30s), 30s (1m 30s), 30s
Airbike (HIIT): 12mins total (10s sprint, 110s moderate pace)

20

Fri (Feb 25th 2022) - Bridge 1.0 Week 1, Day 3:
1ct Paused Bench: 72.5kg x 5 @7, 77.5kg x 5 @8, 80kg x 5 @9 (e1RM = 91.2kg) → my sets @7 and @8 were tng as I completely forgot it was paused bench
DL: 105kg x 1 x 5
LP: 210kg x 2 x 8 - ran out of time

Workout was post 12 hour shift