Thurs, 4 Oct 18
Upper Assistance
Everything is going well in terms of fixing my shoulder and the EliteFTS econo core blaster I got this week will definitely help and is a welcome addition to my garage gym. I've had access to one for so long in places I've worked and borrowed one from a friend for a long time and only occasionally used it in my own training. After working with Dr. Teddy Willsey and Dr. Wesley Wang at Healthy Baller for my final clinical affiliation though, I now see it as a necessity and following a conversation with my good amigo and Fresno State S&C Coach, Nick O'Brien, I realized I needed to get one ASAP so I did.
Now for the man pain and the lesson. I got my flu shot this morning from the Rite Aid pharmacy near me. I have gotten the flu shot occasionally in the past if I was going to be around children (my "nieces" and others) on a regular basis and ever year for the past 6 years due to working in health care. I have almost always gotten it from a doctor or a nurse except for last year when I went to the same Rite Aid and it was administered by a pharmacist with no problems. This year though, the pharmacist (a different one from last time) jammed the needle into my shoulder and hit me just right to cause a deep tendon reflex in my deltoid. It didn't even occur to me to ask for it in my right shoulder instead of my left because I've never had an issue with flu shots making me sore before. This time though, I felt like I immediately started to get a heavy, uncomfortable feeling in my left delt. This would go on to somewhat effect my training today so lesson learned - when I need a shot, don't get it from the pharmacy, at least not the one I went to.
Half Kneeling Landmine Press/Neutral Grip Lat Pulldowns
15ea x 25/10x100
10ea x 45/10x125
10ea x 55/10x125
10ea x 65/10x135
I wasn't sure how my shoulder would feel with the single arm landmine presses so I started light and worked up. The shoulder was great, but by the time I got up to 65 lbs, it felt like max effort work for my psoas on the side with my knee up to stabilize my trunk during the presses. I actually had to take a break for each arm around the 8th rep because of cramping. And lat pulldowns felt much stronger and more stable than last week, to the point that my notes on what weight to start at and then progress to were not heavy enough.
Single Arm Seated Cable Rows/DB Shrugs
3x{10ea x 100/30 sec hold + 10ea x 80} - 3 sec negative on rows and3 sec hold on shrugs
American Bar OH Shrugs/Side Lying External Rotation
20x85/20 sec hold + 10ea x 5
20x105/10ea x 5
20x125/---
Overhead shrugs keep getting easier/stronger, but I had to stop the ER after the second set because my left shoulder was sore as f@ck from the flu shot and it was noticeably affecting my strength, ROM, and how quickly I was fatiguing, even with dropping the initial 20 sec hold on the second set. Thankfully, this was the only thing I really noticed it on to the point that it made me alter what I was doing.
Incline Reverse Crunches/ABC Hypers
20xBW/10xBW
20xBW/10x10 (behind head)
20xBW/10x25 (chest)
I don't like the ABC hypers with my arms crossed over my chest, so I will need to stick with weight behind my head or neck for these. I'll try again next week with either more reps or using a curl bar instead of plate weight, but if I can't get it to where I'm feeling properly fatigued then I'll switch to a different variation. Also, it looks like my lower body day core work is now moved to my upper assistance day indefinitely because it works better for me.