IGX "...overflowing with foulmouthed ignorance."

Currently, I train clients 5-6 days a week and have had a hard time fitting in workouts, but am getting back into a regular routine.

Stats:

37 yr old female
5'8"
128 lbs
1 rm's
Backsquat: 146 lbs
overhead Press: 80 lbs
Bench Press: 105 lbs
Deadlift: 205 lbs
Clean and Jerk: 110 lbs
Clean: 115 lbs
Snatch: 85 lbs
Pullups: 6 consecutive dead hang

I have had a hard time increasing my squat, most likely due to some pelvic instability as I have hip dysplasia. This is the limiting factor in my cleans as I can power clean my top weights, I simply can't stand up underneath anything heavier. I added ten lbs to it over the past three months by adding in back-off sets. I would like to avoid a future hip replacement (runs in the family) so pelvic stability is a training goal.

I am a USA Weightlifting coach and would like to get my numbers up, but overall, am more interested in skill development and coaching my lifters. (They are much stronger than I and are doing quite well). My squat will probably be the key to improving my numbers.

I have been suffering from shoulder and elbow pain at night that seems to get worse from pulling movements. O-lifts and pullups seem to irritate these the most. I have been taking Zyflamed and fish oil.

Lately, I have been focusing mainly on increasing my squat, presses, and deadlift while using kettlebells and strongman-esque circuits for conditioning. Sandbags and sprinting are especially prevalent here. I have also been working on increasing my running distance. My clients and I are planning on doing the Warrior Dash in October.

I'm trying to get better at coaching myself, but have a hard time when I hit a wall and don't know what to do with myself. I don't play any sports currently, but help one of my training partners teach Krav-style self-defense and work out with him doing fight training and conditioning twice a week. I also have children and play with them outside a lot in addition to doing a lot of yard work.

I would really appreciate any insight anyone might have into my squat problem.

Monday, April 5th:

Just getting back from vacation, feeling a bit tired and out of shape, so starting with some circuits to get my feet wet.

Warmup, dynamic. (squats, lunges, spiderman crawl, knee hugs, arm circles, club bell swings, etc.)

Front Squats 10 @ 45
Dumbbell curl to overhead Press 10 @ 20 lbs each
Romanian Deadlifts 10 @ 75
3 rounds, rest one minute between rounds

Sandbag hill sprints, 40 yards, 1 each minute for 8 minutes, 35 lbs

Hanging knee raises (front 10, side 10 each), hanging from pullup bar

Real training begins on Wednesday.

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I was doing oly-lifting and strict linear strength with 5x5's up until a year ago (for about 6 months). I then did CF for 4 months and lost a lot of strength. I got back to doing 5x5's and Oly-lifting, with more focus on the Oly-lifting, but my numbers plateaued. I tried to implement 5-3-1, but my schedule (and children) make it hard to do it consistently. I may give it another go in a couple of weeks.

What seems to be working on my heavy strength days is to find a max where I can do sets across with 3-5 reps. When my reps drop off below 3, I do one or two back-off sets until I find a weight where I can still get 5 reps. I try and get between 25-30 total reps on these days.

Wednesday, April 7th: (All weights are in lbs)

Trained clients, warmed up demonstrating plyo drills and core work.

Back Squat:
Weight -reps/reps/reps

45-5
95-5
115-5
135-3/2
125-3
115-5

Overhead Press:

35-5
55-5
70-3/3/3/2
65-4
60-5

Power Cleans:

55-3
75-3
85-2/2/2/2

Rested about 45 minutes and then did 1 hour of self-defense training and conditioning.

Skill training 45 minutes: fight stance and outside defense, groin and knee kicks, bracketing up

Conditioning drills:

Groin kick/squat ladder:
From fight stance, deliver 1 groin kick, do 1 squat on balls of feet
Repeat with 1 kick, 2 squats, up to 8 rounds.
Switch legs, repeat.

Strikes and burpees:
2 hammer strikes, 1 burpee (sans pushup)
8 rounds

Knee kicks/circle low
Bracket up, 2 right knee kicks, pause, bracket 2 left knee kicks
Circle low on balls of feet around room
4 rounds, change directions after 2nd round

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My suggestion for your hip would be to look into prolotherapy aka proliferative injection therapy aka regenerative injection therapy (RIT) for your hip.

The most recent improvement to the above therapies is "plasma rich platelet injection prolotherapy".

Thanks, I looked at a couple of sites and its very interesting.

I was a breech baby and was born with displaced hips. I sub-luxed my right one doing squats after my second baby was born (lesson: don't lift heavy when pregnant or breast-feeding), but it got better over time just doing bodyweight work. I started lifting heavy (relatively) again after I weaned my third baby and it wasn't until I hit my plateau that I noticed that I wobble sideways under heavy weight (I videotaped myself for a friend to review). I also have an exagerated hip sway when I walk. I think they are just loose, but I've never had them visualized via X-ray or other.

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Fixing "loose" joints (tightening tendons and ligaments) is what prolo is best suited for. I know of nothing else that can do this.

Do some adductor work as advocated by Thomas Kurz (google).
That kung fu circuit stuff is not too good.
You need to look into some Band work with JS bands as well. Strength in extreme ranges.

I have more ideas, but let some of the others chime in.

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"There is only one God, and he doesn't dress like that". - - Captain America

Thanks, I'll look into the link and look forward to hearing any other input you have.

The self-defense training was with my coach. He's a long time wrestler/grappler/close quarters combat guy and likes to incorporate wrestling and striking drills at the end of sessions to build endurance. His style is mainly Krav with high guard boxing and wrestling thrown in for good measure. The conditioning drills are basically striking practice in an exhausted state which he believes improves the mental aspects of maintaining correct stance and conserving energy in the fight. I know you have a lot of knowledge on this subject so I'm curious as to your point of view.

Another note about my weird squat issue: I can do over 100 air squats in a set and they never make me sore. I can also squat 85 lbs for 25 reps. Its just the upper ranges where I can't increase the reps. I squat ass to ankles most of the time and at the very least get well below parallel.

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I'd box squat ala Jack Reape ( PL54 ) with sets of three's with those hips of yours.

Practicing skill exhausted is controversial, as is practicing skill as a conditioning exercise. Skills should be done fresh. Sometimes ( check with Fatcat on this ) they get you exhausted in BJJ so you rely on technique rather than strength.

For combative conditioning. Lift for strength, do cardio for endurance. If you have limited recovery ( lots of sparring, etc ) do circuits twice per week. Your fighting is the conditioning. As Dan John says,,... Our goal is to keep the goal the goal.

If you want stronger hips. Squat to a box ( refer to Reape or Garm or T200 for that stuff ). You can do Lizard/Dragon/Tiger crawls with a weight vest and dumbells.

Attack alignment issues with John Hinds ridiculously simple Eischen's Yoga.

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"There is only one God, and he doesn't dress like that". - - Captain America

Thank you. I really appreciate your input. I watched Dan John's video clip with that quote and it is something I need to work on for myself. (And I would love to see the full lecture.) I often think I need to pursue several goals at once, but I always do better with a single goal in mind.

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Chase two rabbits and you don't catch either of them.

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"There is only one God, and he doesn't dress like that". - - Captain America

Quads and glutes are sore today.

Took a mile walk with youngest son, ended up carrying him (and his bears) for the last half mile.

Stacked a half cord of wood out back, seemed to alleviate some of the DOMS.

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Still sore today through the hips and glutes.

Deadlift

45-5
85-5
115-5
135-5
155-8/6/6/6/5/3

Stacked more firewood, dug out firepit (4-5 wheelbarrows full of dirt), carried 30 paver bricks (15-20 lbs) in sets of two from truck to out back (about 100 yards) to stack around pit.

And then, roasted marshmallows with the kids.

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Took a 5 mile canoe trip with my dad this morning. He was in one canoe with my daughter, I was in the other one with the two boys. Downriver was fun, upriver was exhausting. But, the last time I did this, last summer, I was using the rower every other day and doing kipping pullups. My shoulders were hurting and even though I was in a canoe with my dad, I had to take breaks because the pain would force me to stop. Today, I paddled by myself with "assistance" from either a four year old or six year old (depending on who was in the bow) and had no pain and my shoulders never "burned". Aside from being hungry as a bear, I didn't really feel any stress from the paddling. I haven't been on a rower in 4 months and stopped kipping over 7 months ago.

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Kipping does wonders doesn't it?
You could do the old Ted Williams Sears Barbell Course with jogging and do better than that Crossfit methodology.

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"There is only one God, and he doesn't dress like that". - - Captain America

No kidding, eh? I kipped for three months and lost the ability to snatch without severe elbow pain. I stopped doing CF in September of last year after tearing an ab muscle and went back to keeping my strength and conditioning separate. Its amazing how much better I feel AND perform.

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2 mile beach and hill run. Sand can do a number on one's calves.

I am traveling and will not be able to get back to the iron until Thursday.

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Jet lag sucks. Got a migraine on Thursday and another one on Sunday. Did not really feel very good at all until today.

Warm-up: walking lunges, leg swings, squats, overhead squats, shoulder mobility with club bells, 3x10 snatches with empty bar

Barbell Complexes, 5 rounds
With 20 kg bar
5 front squats
5 hang power cleans
5 push presses
5 back squats

Pullups, 8-7-7 (with partner assistance for 3 reps past failure)

Core circuit:
Reverse situps 15-12
Medicine ball situps 15-15
Medicine ball oblique situps 10-10 (each side)
2 rounds

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My upper back is feeling bruised today, I'll put off squatting until Friday.

Warm-up: Ran two laps around house, overhead squats, club bells, body rows

Deadlifts:

wu: empty bar
10 @ 65
10 @ 85
3x10 @ 105

Sandbag cleans over alternating shoulders, 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. 6 rounds. 40 lb bag, average of 11 reps per round.

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Warmup, serpentine hill runs, dynamic warmup.

Back squat (ata):
45 x 5
75 x 5
95 x 10 x 3 sets

Conditioning, not for time, 1 minute rest between exercises as needed
(except squats, I'm not a pansy,):
20 burpees
20 hanging knee raises
20 squats
20 sandbag half moons (20 lb bag)
20 full contact twists (50 lbs)
20 Kettlebell swings (20 lbs)
20 Pushups

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My training today was the result of training clients for two hours and demonstrating barbell complexes. But, it was a good interval workout. The rest of my day is booked solid.

Warmup: Jog, squats, lunges, Russian twists, horizontal body rows.

Barbell Complex:

5 Deadlifts
5 clean grip snatches
5 front squats
5 push press
5 back squat

2 rounds @ 30 lbs
3 rounds @ 45 lbs

Rest

3 rounds @ 35 lbs

Rest

3 rounds @ 35 lbs

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7 pm, April 26th

Weightlifting Practice

Power cleans
35/3
65/3
85/3
95/2
105/2/2/2

Split Jerk
35/3
65/3
85/3
95/3/3/3

Snatch to double overhead squat (Full snatch, then stand and squat the bar two more times)

55 x 5

Barbell rollouts, 3x10
Hangingin knee raises 3x10

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Today, April 27th.

3 mile jog with stroller

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Trained with my clients this morning. It was fun and mainly cardio.

Warm-up:

Jog up and down hills. High knees, butt kicks, walking lunges, high knee hugs, quad stretches, leg swings.

8 hill sprints (40 yards), on the minute.

Cardio circuits 10 reps of each (each side for isolateral work)

Step ups (20 lb dumbbells, 20 inch step)
TRX pushups
Kettlebell deadlift, 50 lbs
Barbell curls, 21 lbs.
Weighted situps, 15 lbs overhead
5 rounds (not for time )

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Friday, April 30

Did a challenge with 2 of the women I train, just for fun.

First part: Back squat 15 kg bar for max reps in three rounds with 2 minutes recovery between rounds

30-35-40

Second part: 15 kg bar overhead anyhow, max reps for 1 minute x 3 with 2 minutes recovery between rounds

33-31-37

Saturday, May 1st

Did sandbag drills with some family members I trained.

40 lb bag, deadlift x's 5, bear hug and walk 40 yards, clean and shoulder, alternating shoulders x's 10, bear hug and walk back

Sunday, May 2nd, traps are sore.

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Monday's workout:

AM: warm-up, running mobility drills, etc.

6 400 meter runs

1-2 minutes rest in between.

Tried to keep times under 1:38 (time set on first run)


PM

Weightlifting practice, Snatches to 1RM (33 kg), C & J to 1RM (49 kg)

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