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Post Surgery Log


Rick Walker

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The aches and pains are becoming a thing of the past. I don't want to thank you bastards that told me to try some stretching and mobility/rehab work, but I have to. Between that and the constant ice, I have managed to get myself back to nearly 100%. And my deadlift just keeps going up. That's what is important. I am not going to be a used to guy. Some can only talk about strength while others are in their own dungeons bending bars.

I have 2 vehicles in the garage. They are telling me the red beast will be done today...something tells me that's a pipe dream. I am going to have to train alone...both of my workout partners are out today. Sometimes that is best. Nothing but screaming death metal, the clanging of weights, your own demons. I always deadlift alone for that reason. There is solace in solitude.

After all the bullsh*t I have been through, I am still doing it. If you aren't, what the hell is your excuse? Coffee...a few minutes of Despicable Me with the kids, and when the wife gets home from the store I will be headed to the garage to tear it up.

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He asked me if I ran...really? You see a lot of 230 pound guys who run distance?

I have a 240lb coworker that runs 3-5 miles per day for some reason.

If I'm running then it's big and I'm out of ammo. I'd say you have a similar mentality.

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Heath-

If I'm running more than 50 or so yards, than I must be out of ammo, threw the gun, threw my extra magazines, and my truck broke down!! I had my pants off and he could clearly see my 30" quads and knew the pain was from squatting, so it was strange that he asked that. Doctors. Just when I think I am weird.

Yesterday:

-Plate loaded overhead press: 140 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Rack pulls from knees, no straps: worked up to 745. It was hard, I wont lie.

-Shrugs: 505 x10, x10, x10 no belt.

-Side raises: 20s x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Farmer shrugs: 450 x20, x20, x20.

-DB OH presses: 60s x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

Today:

-Wide stance belt squats: 180 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-DB leg curls on decline bench: 40 x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Leg ext: 90 x 145 secs, x 120 secs.

-Band leg curls: x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Plate loaded bench machine calves: 90 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Deadlift squats: bar set at bottom position of deadlift pull, 225 x5, 315x3, 405 x3, x3, x3. These were pretty hard and I had to put my belt on. I am going to do these every other week.

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Bullets are heavy - put them into the other guy and let him carry the darn things :)

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He asked me if I ran...really? You see a lot of 230 pound guys who run distance?

I have a 240lb coworker that runs 3-5 miles per day for some reason.

If I'm running then it's big and I'm out of ammo. I'd say you have a similar mentality.

I'm 230 and I sometimes run a few paces to catch my train...

That's about it though. :whistel

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Day off today and I have to run to Twinsburg, OH tomorrow so I will get 2 days of rest. Much needed. My legs actually feel really good all things considered. My low back was fatigued from the not planned rack pulls and the bottom up deadlift squats. Feels good this morning though and the feeling good makes me NOT want to take time off. The mind, it toys with me so.

Have to give some bragging rights to my 11 year old. Last night he jumped to a 22" box. No biggee, right? Well he did it wearing a 40 pound weight vest. He also did several single leg jumps to the 22" box without the vest on. In between jumps he did Zercher squats, back squats, and 1-shoulder squats with a 60 pound log I cut, sanded, and painted black. He is all go with no quit in him. He continues to amaze me every single day. I can't wait to watch him this year in baseball and football. He moves up to the next league in both sports, so he will be the youngster again. Big year for football, he will be 11 on the 11-13 league. They just started letting 13 year olds in last year, but they have a weight cut off of 150, so it isn't too bad.

I have to venture out into the cold today and get a ton of coal. This will be my 3rd ton this year. Last year I burned through 6 ton so I guess this year has been a bit better. Tomorrow it is supposed to be -35 wind chills. Awesome. So glad I got that electric fan heater in the gym. It makes it warm enough to lift in a t-shirt even when it is negative temps.

My business name has been approved and our business if officially legal and ready to do business in PA. I am awaiting the equipment to arrive and I have my t-shirt guy doing 3 mock-ups for me, so look for some sweet ts pretty soon. Also have some decals ordered and if I like the way they look, I will have them available as well.

I never realized how much of a pain in the ass website design, Facebook design, and all the legal mumbo-jumbo is You guys running your own business I now have a better understanding and I respect the hell out of you. Thank God my wife is good with the book keeping. She is really the brains behind this operation, I am just a grunt!

So much to do you almost get overwhelmed.

My hope is to also get some of my prototype equipment out there and offer quality, strong stuff at a price that the regular man can afford. I am in negotiations with some fabricators and it amazes me how cheaply you can make a pair of squat stands that will stand up to 1000s of pounds of weight and not flinch. Makes me wonder why when you search online, companies want your first born! I have some good ideas for equipment designed to increase the deadlift. I just need to get a prototype made and drop it off the roof of my house to make sure it stands up to my standards!

Plumber is here...gotta jet. Hope your day is full of actions that lead you one step closer to your goals. Remember, you have 86,400 seconds in a day. Use them to improve yourself and your situation.

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Wednesday I unloaded 2500 pounds of coal from the back of my truck into my garage shovel load by shovel load, so it was a decent rest day workout. Was in Twinsburg, OH yesterday, had an appointment with my heart doc. All is well, numbers are good, despite being heavier and lifting and doing ZERO cardio my numbers are all up. Strange. it seems when I do cardio I harm myself more than I do good. My doc said that isn't the case, my sudden cardiac deaths are random, but I don't know. Seems strange that I have gained weight and started lifting heavy again and now my heart numbers are all up.

At any rate:

-Plate loaded machine bench: 150 x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs. Still rehabbing this pec. Taking it nice and slow, I have no bench plans.

-Behind the neck pull-downs: 90 x 60 secs (no pain), so 140 x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Heavy EFS band fly: x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Light band pull-aparts: x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Plate loaded decline bench: 170 x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Low row: 200 x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

Done. Deadlifting tomorrow. My son hit 116 reps with 135 in the deadlift tonight in 20 minutes. The kid he lifts with did 115 with 95. My son won again!

Both my vehicles are home from the garage. Thank God my wife's 3rd row crossover is still running! LOL! The red beast will be painted in April and then the graphic artist will have at it. It is going to look bad as hell. I gave a fiberglass skull to my bud to tribal out and I am going to mount it on the hood once its all done.

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-Seated plate loaded OH press: 160 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Cable shrugs: 320 x60 secs, x60 seconds. I have missed these. They whack the traps!

-Side raise with mini band: stood in middle of band and did side raises with 1 band x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Band shrugs: heavy bands doubled over and stood on, one under each foot. Put single handle cable attachment on and did x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs. Felt awesome and really isolated the traps.

-Side and front partial raises: light band x10, x10, x10 each direction.

-Seated OH presses: 60s x10, x10, x10.

Then spent an hour getting my training partners car off of my rocks. We got buried in snow and he tried to back down my crazy driveway in his car. He got sideways and went over my giant rocks and over my light pole. We broke 2 tow straps but the third held and we ripped him out of there. The underside of his car took an ass whooping from the rocks!!

-Deadlifts: no belt wearing 40 pound weight vest, 460x5, 470x4, 480x3, 490x2, 500x1.

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that's a good price 10 bucks for 2 days Planet Fitness is lame you could have always signed up and then use it when you travel but it's good to go to a nicer gym if you have one near you

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Leg day. Was up at 0500 and had my kids to the batting cages by 0545 despite getting several inches of snow. Growing up in Northern PA on a farm you learn how to navigate the snow pretty quick and it boggles my mind how many people end up upside down and sideways that have lived in PA their whole lives. I passed a guy yesterday driving a Charger. Smart car choice when you live in the snow belt!!

My Trooper friend is working midnights and I get multiple pics a night of tractor trailers and other vehicles wrapped around guard rails, trees, and each other. If you cannot navigate in the snow, do us all a favor and find a hotel for the night. You might just save a life. And just because you are driving a monster truck doesn't mean you can drive 65 in 8" of snow. Bad things are right around the corner for you.

Casey is just taking the cover off the ball at 65 mph. I bet he hits 98% or better of them. He is a much better athlete than I was and I better stay on my toes or he is going to be much stronger than me too!!

Everything feels good from last nights deadlifts. I think next deadlift workout I will give 600 a go and see where I am. The deadlift meet is late April and I want the heaviest pull of the meet, so I have some work to do, but I gotta keep the ego in check and stay the course. Slow and steady.

Gotta ice this patellar tendon sometime today. Lifting at 4 pm. Back to website construction and Facebook construction. Ugh. I hate doing this stuff. Should have paid someone to do it for me!

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-Wide stance hip squats: 190 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-DB leg curls: 45 x 60 secs, x60 secs, 40 x60 secs, x60 secs.

-DB Lunges, back leg up on slanted plyo box: 60s x 10 reps, x 10 reps, x 10 reps. Each leg, all 5 second eccentrics. This blew my legs up all the way around. Gotta keep doing these, there has to be some carry over.

Waiting on dinner.

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Bis and tris today. Nothing to write home about due to this increasingly annoying and painful brachialradialis tendonitis. I go this Friday to see the PA and I am going to basically tell him to give me the needle or else. I'm not worried about that tendon tearing. It isn't like I am curling 400 pounds! I just want to be able to do arms again without the pain and shut down factor. I did get my new supra curl bar cable attachment which works great for triceps. You can do all kinds of angles with it. Looking forward to using it tomorrow for lat work.

4 of my kettle bells showed up today too. Should be nice torture devices for my clients. I have a late appointment today so my son wont be lifting. I wont get back to the house until after 7 pm and he will have to go with momma to gymnastics. My doc is going to need to pump up the volume on the meds as I get increasingly more agitated.

Back and chest tomorrow.

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-Plate loaded bench machine: 160 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs. Still continuing to rehab this pec. Seems to be doing better every day.

-Pull-downs with supra-grip cable attachment: 140 x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs using 4 different hand positions. This attachment whoops your ass!

-DB presses: 50 x10, x9, x7 done like this:

Giving credit where credit is due...

-Low rows with supra bar: 190 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Band flys: bands attached to caged, on knees on flat bench leaning into bands: average bands x60 secs, x60 secs, light bands x 60 secs.

-Lying rows: average bands attached to cage, Fatgripz on bands, laying flat on bench and pulling bands down to chest: x 60 secs, x 60 secs, x60 secs.

-Band good mornings: brand new Elite Fitness strong band, standing on it, looped up and over head x 20, x20, x20.

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-Plate loaded bench machine: 160 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs. Still continuing to rehab this pec. Seems to be doing better every day.

-Pull-downs with supra-grip cable attachment: 140 x 60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs using 4 different hand positions. This attachment whoops your ass!

-DB presses: 50 x10, x9, x7 done like this:

Giving credit where credit is due...

-Low rows with supra bar: 190 x60 secs, x60 secs, x60 secs.

-Band flys: bands attached to caged, on knees on flat bench leaning into bands: average bands x60 secs, x60 secs, light bands x 60 secs.

-Lying rows: average bands attached to cage, Fatgripz on bands, laying flat on bench and pulling bands down to chest: x 60 secs, x 60 secs, x60 secs.

-Band good mornings: brand new Elite Fitness strong band, standing on it, looped up and over head x 20, x20, x2

Db presses looked hardcore I gotta try that out!

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Yeah, I'm glad I found them. They were super tough! Kudos to the dude in the video using 70s!

Roman Chair has arrived. Put it together, nice unit considering it was less than $100. I can also do a modified reverse hyper with it as well with heavy band tension so I have more tools in the tool box to up my deadlift!

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-Plate loaded military press machine: 170 x60 S, x60 S, x60 S, X60 S.

-Shrugs: 515 x10, x10, x10

-Light band pull-aparts: x60 S, X60 S, x60 S.

-1-arm shrugs: used barbell, 135 x10, x10,x10.

-Front raises: mini bands wrapped around wrist and standing on them x60 S, x60 S, x60 S

-Modified reverse hypers: average + light band: x15, x15, x15.

Notice every workout on off cycles I do something to help my deadlift...

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Notice every workout on off cycles I do something to help my deadlift...

Hi Rick,

What would your personal top three be for deadlift assistance?

I'm currently not deadlifting because I hurt my back a bit a couple of weeks ago, but I am doing: romanian deadlifts, goodmornings and barbell rows to maintain strenght. Do you think this will work?

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You hurt your back but you can still do Rom deads and good mornings?

My top 3 assistance exercises for deadlifts are:

-Supermans (back ext with the plate held out in front of you so in the extended position you look like super man)

-Wide stance handle or belt squats

-Glute-ham raises

Honorable mention (in no particular order):

-Power shrugs

-low rows

-reverse hypers

-band resisted good mornings

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You hurt your back but you can still do Rom deads and good mornings?

Yes I understand that doesn't sound very credible. :getlost: I sort of felt a crunching in my back during a medium intensity deadlift and after that my back was a bit painfull but mostly just extremely stiff. Could hardly put on my socks and shoes for a couple of weeks. The pain is gone now but despite a lot of mobility stuff my back is still stiff. This doesn't really bother me with rom deads or goodmornings where you basically only bend from the hips, but when you add the bending the knees to pick up the barbell action it becomes a problem.

Thanks for the list of exercies. Never done any of them and never even heard of most of them. I will try the ones I don't need any special equipment to do.

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You hurt your back but you can still do Rom deads and good mornings?

Yes I understand that doesn't sound very credible. :getlost: I sort of felt a crunching in my back during a medium intensity deadlift and after that my back was a bit painfull but mostly just extremely stiff. Could hardly put on my socks and shoes for a couple of weeks. The pain is gone now but despite a lot of mobility stuff my back is still stiff. This doesn't really bother me with rom deads or goodmornings where you basically only bend from the hips, but when you add the bending the knees to pick up the barbell action it becomes a problem.

Thanks for the list of exercies. Never done any of them and never even heard of most of them. I will try the ones I don't need any special equipment to do.

You can do wide stance belt squats or handle squats with a weight belt and chain, or a chain and a v-grip handle. Just attach to the end of a barbell, put the other end in the corner with some dbs on it, attach the chain, and get to it. I have a video somewhere in my log of belt squats.

Supermans are done on a Roman Chair. If you don't have a roman chair or access to one, use a flat bench lifted up on some blocks in the front and have someone sit on your legs.

Glute-hams can be done by getting on your knees and having someone hold your lower legs down. Now just slowly lower your body towards the floor bending only at the knees. Don't expect to get too far down!

Power shrugs are basically a high pull like shrug.

Low rows are self explanatory. It was said the late great deadlifter Doyle Kenady (905 deadlift) did low rows with 1000 pounds!

Reverse-hypers can be done on a Roman chair.

Band resisted good mornings. Take a heavy band and stand on it, sit down and stretch it up over your head. Now stand up and do 20 rep good mornings.

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-Wide stance belt squats: 200 x 60 S, x60 S, x60 S, x60 S.

-Glute-hams: x60 S, x60 S, x60 S, x60 S.

-DB Lunges: 60 x 10, x10 each leg.

-DB leg curls: 45 x 60 S, x60 S, x60 S

Got a cortisone shot in my forearm today. The doc looked at me and said, "Just remember, I am your friend" then rolled in with a table, gauze, numbing spray, and huge needle full of a milk like substance. He rolled the table over to me and covered it. I propped my arm right up on it. He rubbed some cleaning solution on it and went to numb it and I told him, "No, just hit it". He gave me a puzzled look, grabbed my forearm, and jammed a 2" long pencil lead needle into my forearm. He moved it around 3 or 4 times and squeezed all the skim milk like substance into it. Afterwards he pulled the needle out and grabbed the gauze, than realized I wasn't bleeding. He couldn't even find the hole! He told me in all the years he has been doing this he has never seen someone not flinch and not make a sound. I told him he must be good because it didn't hurt a bit. After 6 heart surgeries, 2 of which I was not sedated for and felt everything including the laser as it burned the cells in my heart, you tend to build up a pain tolerance. Pain almost becomes normal, as sick as that sounds.

Couple days and I will test it out.

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Forearm is feeling better, but didn't want to push it with bis and tris today so I did:

-Roman chair back ext: average and light band, 5 sets of 10.

-Roman chair situps: 3 set of 15.

-Roman chair side sit-ups: 3 sets of 15 each side.

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Began the day by shoveling my 40 yard driveway clear of 8 inches of wet snow at 0650.

At 1200 I did deadlifts: 470x5, 480x4, 490x3, 500x2, 510x1 no belt. Added belt and did 600x1.

Chest and back with my training partner at 4:00 or so.

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Great job Rick, you're really fast off the floor!

Edited by Tom Scibelli
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