I openly admit that I am doubting myself. I don't believe I am purposely being negative, but I can't help but have lingering thoughts in the back of my mind that my injury is worse than it actually is right now.
First, let me be clear that if I am honest, I have not had any pain in my hip for a while now. I haven't had any pain working out or squatting down, etc. In fact, though I couldn't do it for quite a while, I am able to put my left foot up on my right leg to put my sock and shoe on with no issues. Every time I do this, though, I am reminded that it was this position that initially injured the hip in the first place. I just can't get it out of my head.
I can do barbell rows with no issues. I can do calves with no issues. I can lie back on a bench and sit up from a bench (lying position) and have no issues. I have been able to lie on my left side for quite a while, as well, and when I palpate the hip I feel nothing. I can logically deduce that I am healing quite well, but I still worry that I could be wrong.
For the above reasons, I am being very disciplined and sticking to my timeline of not training legs until mid-November. I should rephrase that because I am able to train my legs but with only a few, limited exercises. While using these exercises, I am being vigilant to make sure that weights aren't too high and that I am doing the movements very deliberately in case I feel something out of place.
As I have noted in prior coach logs, the 3 basic exercises that I can do without irritating the hip are:
1. seated leg curls
2. leg extension
3. sissy squats
I am still getting decent leg sessions accomplished and my legs are more sore from these training sessions than the sessions when I was able to squat, do hacks, leg presses, etc. Still, getting sore doesn't necessarily mean that I am providing maximum stimulation for maximum growth, of course. I'm basically just "getting by" while I wait it out until I can start pounding my legs again.
This last week I did feel comfortable enough to add another movement at the end of my current leg sessions: lunges. I am not using any weight (just body weight) and holding onto a smith machine bar while doing the sets. This at least allows for some hip and glute work and it offers me the opportunity to see how the hip feels and responds to low-intensity work for that area. I wasn't sure if my hip would be sore a day or two after this last leg session or not, but it ended up that there was no obvious irritation of the hip, at all. For the next 5 weeks, until I can start to do compound movements with weight again, I am going to keep the lunges in my plan, and I am going to increase the weights slightly every workout. I did only body weight this last week so next week I might hold a 10 or 15 pound weight and try to increase my reps. While I don't want to irritate the hip, I do want to make sure that I have the best idea that I can as to whether the hip is recovering well or not. This way, if everything feels good by mid-November, I will have more confidence in the hip vs. starting to "test" the hip at that point. I am saving time right now by testing it early while being very careful at the same time.
All of my upper body exercises are getting slightly stronger right now while on TRT. This is due in large part to the addition of more calories. I was having some hypo issues later in the week after my Thursday and Friday workouts where I would ingest my postworkout meal of carbs and protein, and then about 1.75 hours later would start to go hypo. I have rectified this problem by increasing carbs on Thursdays and Fridays to make sure this doesn't continue to happen. I have also increased my fat intake for 3 of my meals, as well. I am slowly ramping up my calories so that I don't add much body fat, but body fat has started to climb a bit. I am still in good condition for the off season, but I have been having whatever I want to eat on Saturdays and Sundays until it is time to buckle down and start training 100% on my legs in about 6 weeks. Keep in mind that I was in prep mode for about 6 months and my off season nutrition is as regimented as my prep phases. For this reason, taking 8 weeks or so to loosen up my diet on the weekends is enjoyable -- not as much for the fact that I get to eat more awesome food, but rather that I don't have to time my meals and choke down low-calorie meals for an extra day every week, right now. As much as I enjoy eating skipload foods, I much prefer my skipload days because I don't have to be as rigid with the timing of my meals.
I am hanging around 222-223 right now and holding decent condition at this weight. I am also incredibly full and the pumps and workouts are excellent. It would be awesome if I could get pumps like these and be as full as I am while dieting in a cut phase. lol Obviously, that can't happen but I can still wish for it.
I have yet to determine my precise approach to my off season training, including how I will structure my leg training as that will be the main focus for my off season. I have plenty of time so I am mulling over ideas and options for the next few weeks before I start to solidify the plan of attack. I want to be sure that I am 100% healed when I start back to training legs so that I can put this situation behind me and move forward.
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