Cam's Log

[Cam Ogle]

04/03/19

Deadmill- backwards- 
5 x 60s
Poliquin step up- 3" box + heel elevation- sets of 5
20, 40, 50, 60, 70

Incline DB Bench- 
15kg DBs x 10 x 2
Chins-
bw x 3, 3

Stretching-
Head 2 Tow (H2T)- 72 pulses/side
Couch Stretch- 36 pulses
Wall piriformis- 90s/side
Wall middle splits- 2 mins
H2T- 72 pulses/side
Couch Stretch 36 pulses
Pigeon pose- 90s/side
Pancake- 2 mins 
H2T- 72 pulses/side
Couch Stretch 36 pulses

Have a cold/flu thing so am doing the absolute minimum. Training felt good. So did the stretching. Tired AF though. 

[Cam Ogle]

Log Reactivated.

Kind of wish I had added more pictures here. I can see the training but had no idea of actually where I was at during this time. Since then I have taken 2 steps forward and 1 step back a few times. A bit of circle work and although I have trained the entire time I am not too much further down the road. One issue I have identified is my degrees of adjustment when wanting to fix something or try something new. Instead of minor, quantifiable adjustments I have made major 90 degree turns and sometimes 180s. That's a big lesson for me to make micro adjustments to any training I'm doing which will build on top of what I already have rather than effectively starting again on a different foundation. 

Two main highlights from the last two and a half years: Fixed my knee and ankle pain for good thanks to Ben Patrick (kneesovertoesguy). Got an almost balls to floor front split back and chin to floor pancake in Feb this year thanks to Lucas Aaron. I do feel I fell outside of their respective boxes with my goals which is why I moved on with my training. Now I'm back here and looking to fix some issues before attacking the rest of 2021. Two main things I need to fix, which go hand in hand, are forward head posture and anterior pelvic tilt. Both causing their own issues but the head forward posture is giving me neck and right shoulder problems.  I had a laughable encounter with a chiropractor last week which lead me straight back to Kit's videos and the jaw/neck one is a winner and has an immediate impact. 

From there the goals are to become the single most flexible 41 year old I can be. Get my pike, H2T and side splits. I still have a calves to floor front split pretty much cold so no doubt that will come good as well. Then it's just about pairing that with training martial arts and once the upper body is capabll to get into calisthenics (handstands, levers, etc). 

Most important thing for me to remember is to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Deadlifts fixed my dodgy ankles 15 years ago, split squats and stretching fixed my dodgy knees, ballistic stretching got me significant flexibility gains in a pretty short period of time. These need to remain. Major work to be done on the upper body which has always been my weak point. 

Immediate plans are to continue working on the jaw, neck and chest while at the same time strenghening the upper back. I'm well aware of the "don't layer tension over more tension" but feel that training is better than no training during this time. The same applies for the lower body. Getting some serious work into the HFs whilst getting some good work into the hams and glutes. Other training will be to keep strong, get some good volume and make those minor adjustments along the way. And pictures! I will add more pictures and videos to track more closely this time. 

Hope everyone is well and enjoying various stages of lockdown too. 

[Cam Ogle]

Went and saw my physio yesterday. Was a very interesting appointment.  I had gone to a chiro a couple of weeks before that and he was atrocious. Did the usual assessment, took some x-rays and then doing an adjustment. In the second appointment he told me mhy neck had a less than idea amount of C curve and that my lower back had too much curve. That these things would take 2-3 years to fix and that I needed to start seeing him for twice weekly adjustments for 6 weeks (at $70 a pop) and then once a week from there. Also, that if I missed an appointment it wouldn't work. I asked him point blank if this was just a result of my posture and that if I had stood up straighter (I was slouching slightly in the x-rays) the results would have been different. He said no. I also asked him if stretching certain areas and strenghening others would be more beneficial. He also said no. None of this I believed of course. I had gone to see him for neck and shoulder pain. He said I likely had a rotator cuff tear but he would look at that again after the 6 weeks of adjustments. 

Now, my physio laughed so hard at this but was also pretty shocked that this kind of treatment still exists. She confirmed no rotator cuff tear but a strain and also a supraspinatus strain. Both of these placed additional load and work onto my scaps, upper back, neck and chest which was why everytrhing was sore. Great news is that I'm now only looking at a couple of weeks of rehab. 

I'm now understanding what Kit means by layering tension over tension. I've been hammering my upper back and scaps when really they're already overloaded because of the shoulder. I am kind of at a loss as to what to do now with upper body training though. Do I just complete the shoulder rehab, fast forward 2 weeks and then resume other upper body work? Do I still include some other upper body training to keep those areas going? IDK. I'm leaning towards just doing the rehab and seeing where I'm at in 2 weeks time. 

For lower body though this training block will be forward bend/compression focused. I will still hit other areas as to not neglect the overall picture but the bulk of the attention will be on compression. Starting with a four week block and then reassessing. I have it in mind to run with this for 8-12 weeks before moving on though. In the past I have been too quick to change and I want to make these positions a real strength before I do. I also figure that my front splits will not go backwards while working on compression and that when I decide to move onto H2T it will be a much shorter transition that it otherwise would have been.

Any thoughts or feedback is much appreciated.

*Edit- still deciding whether or not to put a google review in on that chiro. I feel I should because not as many people are as skeptical as I am. On the fence at the moment. 

[Pat (pogo69)]

4 minutes ago, Cam Ogle said:

I'm leaning towards just doing the rehab and seeing where I'm at in 2 weeks time.

That would be my preference (in a "do what I say, not what I do" kind of way).  After injuring my shoulder a few months ago, I tried the "heavily reduced load/ROM training in parallel with rehab" approach, and all it did was hinder my recovery.

Two weeks is a blink of an eye.  You're unlikely to lose much, any of which will be quickly regained; particularly if your rehab follows a sensible progression of load and ROM.

[Kit_L]

On 8/13/2021 at 6:38 PM, Cam Ogle said:

forward head posture and anterior pelvic tilt

There's a very effective, extremely simple assistance exercise for this: sitting or standing, let your chest slightly and tuck your tail slightly and lengthen your spine as much as you can, and once you are as long as you can be simply draw your chin back towards your neck purely horizontally – you will feel this in the sub occipitals, primarily. Much of head-forward posture is simply a habit – and retracting the chin and you're like this is an excellent way to remind yourself of what good posture looks and feels like.

WRT anterior pelvic tilt, please post an image of your cold front splits, not trying too hard to correct or to go too deep. I'll explain once you can post.

[Cam Ogle]

2 hours ago, Pat (pogo69) said:

That would be my preference (in a "do what I say, not what I do" kind of way).  After injuring my shoulder a few months ago, I tried the "heavily reduced load/ROM training in parallel with rehab" approach, and all it did was hinder my recovery.

Two weeks is a blink of an eye.  You're unlikely to lose much, any of which will be quickly regained; particularly if your rehab follows a sensible progression of load and ROM.

Thanks mate. I agree that its the smart play. Will be a good opporunity to really focus on my compression too. 

[Cam Ogle]

1 hour ago, Kit_L said:

There's a very effective, extremely simple assistance exercise for this: sitting or standing, let your chest slightly and tuck your tail slightly and lengthen your spine as much as you can, and once you are as long as you can be simply draw your chin back towards your neck purely horizontally – you will feel this in the sub occipital primarily. Much of head-forward posture is simply a habit – and retracting the chin and you're like this is an excellent way to remind yourself of what good posture looks and feels like.

Thanks Kit. This is great. I always thought is was a postural issue and this exercise is a great reminder. 

[Cam Ogle]

On 8/18/2021 at 12:26 PM, Kit_L said:

WRT anterior pelvic tilt, please post an image of your cold front splits, not trying too hard to correct or to go too deep. I'll explain once you can post.

Hey @Kit_L. Here's my front splits. Cold. Let me know if these angles are ok. I can reshoot if you need jumper out of the way, etc. 

[Cam Ogle]

18/08/21

Deadlifts- top set at 110 for 5

DB RDL- Glute focus- slight round back- no extension at top- 3x15 @ 12, 20, 30kg (calf stretch in between sets)

Seated Compression- Single Leg Lifts- 3x10 with 3s pause at top

Jefferson Curl- 4x5@20kg with 10s pause on last rep of each set

Pike Test- 60s

Couch Stretch- 2min/side

Rear knee elevated HF stretch- 3x60s @ 12, 20, 30kg

Long Lunge- 1x30s each

 

Notes: Pretty good session. I'm doing some experimenting at the moment so there's going to be some moving parts to this before I refine it. Legs felt like butter after this session. Fatigued but smooth. I need more calf stretching/strenghening and will keep the weight on J curls the same but increase the pause hold time at the end.  I felt some good movement on the last set when the nervy pain started to shift. Lots of testing and feeling out but certainly not pushing it. 

Did do my shoulder rehab earlier in the day too. R shoulder was horrible this morning but quite good after the rehab. 

Otherwise I weigh 103 right now. That's too much. First stop is sub 100 then 95 and finally 90. Sub 100 by Monday next week though. Stop eating too many carbs and I will lose 4-5kg of water in a couple of days. That will be a nice kicker to start. 

[Cam Ogle]

20/08/2021

Back Squat- top set of 3 @ 100.

ATG Style Split Squat- 3 x 5 @ bw, 20, 30

SL Good Morning- 2 x 8 @ bw, 10, 

Hammer Curls- 2 x 12 @ 6s

French Press- 2 x 12 @ 10

Elbows- DB Rotations- DB only- no additional weight for 2 x 12/side

Couch Stretch- 2 min/side

Pec Stretch- Played around with some different hang variations. Didn't work out too well. Not a great stretch.

Long lunge- 30s/side. 

 

Once again legs felt great after this. Definite fatigue but no unusual soreness. Great depth on squats. Included some light arm work as I have had golfers elbow in the last 12 months which is returning slightly and is no doubt related to bicep tendon which is related to shoulder injury and neck. Need to build in some hypertrophy work for the arms alonside some stretching. Next session going to expand my warm up to include wrist and bodyline work. Found the old Monkey Gym printout from a few years back and will go back to using that. All in all feeling good. 

Diet needs some work though. Working, home schooling and all this lockdown business have me running in 17 different directions. Just need to do a little better every day and not worry about perfection. Will get there.  

[Kit_L]

Cam,

That's an excellent depth cold, but it also shows me that your quads and hip flexors are, relative to your hamstrings, still tight. I posted an excellent solo quads and hip flexor stretch the other day, and I will link to it below. I think there's some confusion about how loose one's hip flexors need to be – I think they need to be much closer to your hamstrings' capacity to length than most people do. The reason is that if your hip flexors are relatively tight (IOW, relative to your tension elsewhere in the body), then the anterior pelvic tilt will accompany this. We have noticed in literally thousands of students that when they siege the hip flexors and quads over time, the postural alignment changes all by itself – the body literally grows away from the feet towards the ceiling. Tight hip flexors can cause both an anterior pelvic tilt and in some people increase kyphosis, but most commonly the head forward post to you referred to in your post above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhoaPgQ0YAQ

Why don't we test my theory? We can see your depth in the front splits in the images above. Please try the exercise I have linked to, trying to get your heels close to the bottom as possible as well (I left that additional challenge out of the video because I wanted more beginners to try it and I didn't want to look too hard) and trying to get both hips as close to the floor as possible with the leg in the folded position, and then unfold the back leg and see what your front beds look like then. I think you'll be surprised. Do all contractions twice – so that's pulling the back leg forward while the lower leg is unfolded (1), folding the back leg up and pulling the folded back leg's knee forward is the second, and the third is to try and straighten the back leg. I don't think the order of doing the last two is important, so play with it.

[Cam Ogle]

@Kit_L I got in the gym this afternoon and just tried this. It's been a few days since my cold check in as I've done plenty of quad and hamstring work since then. Results speak for themselves. (it was a total of about 4 and a half minutes of work per leg). Pics below.

I followed the instructions and held each position for at least 30s before moving on and using any contractions. I did two 5s contractions in each position followed by 10s rest held that position for a bit and moved on. I have a significant amount of quad tightness. Especially the outer quad. I could and perhaps should have held certain positions for longer but to be honest I was slightly unprepared for the pain that was coming my way lol. 

I also had a pretty decent amount of hamstring tightness from this week being the first real week back of exercise. Even with that it's a pretty significant difference. 

How often would you suggest I can implement these? Can I do them everyday?

   

[Kit_L]

16 hours ago, Cam Ogle said:

I have a significant amount of quad tightness. Especially the outer quad. I could and perhaps should have held certain positions for longer but to be honest I was slightly unprepared for the pain that was coming my way lol. 

Hahaha! Yes, those quads are tight (but this is all relative; tight only relative to your excellent flexibility). If you have someone to help, you can supercharge this sensation (but you might not want to!) by asking a partner to place a hand horizontally on the back leg, just below the gluteal fold, and gently grip the iliac crest of the front leg's hip, before you get into the full stretch position, and square your hips. This will concentrate the stretch in rectus femoris beautifully.

Another way of doing this is to repeat all contractions a few times, trying to square each time, and trying to get deeper while the leg is still folded.

Absolutely NO to:

16 hours ago, Cam Ogle said:

Can I do them everyday?

I'm sure (I hope, anyway) you were just kidding—one of the fundamental principles of our work is that recovery is where all the adaptation happens – and that takes nutrition, rest, and time. Do the strong sequence, finishing off with front splits, once a week. You will make faster progress that way. Of course you can limber every day – but reserve the contractions and trying for real depth increases for once a week.

[Cam Ogle]

1 hour ago, Kit_L said:

Hahaha! Yes, those quads are tight (but this is all relative; tight only relative to your excellent flexibility). If you have someone to help, you can supercharge this sensation (but you might not want to!) by asking a partner to place a hand horizontally on the back leg, just below the gluteal fold, and gently grip the iliac crest of the front leg's hip, before you get into the full stretch position, and square your hips. This will concentrate the stretch in rectus femoris beautifully.

Another way of doing this is to repeat all contractions a few times, trying to square each time, and trying to get deeper while the leg is still folded.

Thanks again Kit. That's actually a great point you make about the relative tightness. I know that I am naturally quite flexible which can make it harder for me to be patient. I also know I probably need more strength and stability than most people might.

I may also give it a few tries before getting someone else involved. I think I can push well past where I was yeterday with a bit of mental preparation going in.

Haha yes I know I can't do it everyday. I just had such a great feeling with that right leg forward. Next time I will do this post workout when I am warm. 

[Cam Ogle]

Struggled with consistency this week. Work + home schooling is a completely full load and I let myself get overwhelmed this week. 

Saturday 28/08/21

Morning Hapkido Class. 60 minutes of solo work. Had to pull my punches and be careful due to shoulder but the rest was a welcomed difference in my training. These online sessions are available all week and I want to hit at least 3-4 each week from here on in.

Sunday 29/08/21

Warm Up Stretches- plantar fascia, tibialis, calf, SL pike, couch, leaning lat and pec. 

Deadlifts- bar x 5, 60 x 5, 80 x 3, 100 x 3, 120 x 1, 130 x 1, 140 x 1 (had no particular plan and decided on a single- RPE of about 7.5)

Front Splits focused session- SL GM + SL seated Compression, Kit's quad + hip combo, long lunge x 60s/side, front splits check in x 60s/side

Both legs were definitely lower than last week. Right leg forward is almost flat- albeit with very unsquared hips.

[Cam Ogle]

@Kit_L I am hoping you may be able to help with something. When I am in a max effort front split I often get a scratching/catching sensation (like the warning before a muscle tears) on the outside of the calf of the front leg. It never eventuates to anything but does prevent me from maintaining this position for more than 5-10s. Once I retreat from that position it completely goes away without any lingering effects. Any ideas on what may be behind this?

[Kit_L]

Cam, if you have any anatomy texts, you can search on the sciatic nerve – it splits behind the knee from memory and one part of the split is tethered to the outer edge of the tibia by a loop of ligament. I'm on the boat at the moment, so I may have to correct this post because I don't have any anatomy books in front of me, and I may not have this detail right. It could simply be that that part of the nerve cannot slide properly through the loop – and if you're loose enough to bend forwards and massage that exact spot where you feel that restriction, you may find that it lets go.

Also, looking at the last photograph you posted of your front splits, I suggest two things: one, put some kind of a bolster or deformable support underneath your hips crosswise, and work at getting your hips square – at the moment you're losing a huge fraction of the psoas stretch because the hips have rotated out of the way – but it's not just psoas, it is the outer hamstring as well – you can see this clearly because of the way your hips are opening out in the direction of the back leg. This action significantly lessens the stretch on both the muscles I mention. If you put yourself on a bolster, square your hips before you sink down, and do your contractions with perfectly square hips, that exercise is going to feel completely different.

[Cam Ogle]

3 hours ago, Kit_L said:

Cam, if you have any anatomy texts, you can search on the sciatic nerve – it splits behind the knee from memory and one part of the split is tethered to the outer edge of the tibia by a loop of ligament. I'm on the boat at the moment, so I may have to correct this post because I don't have any anatomy books in front of me, and I may not have this detail right. It could simply be that that part of the nerve cannot slide properly through the loop – and if you're loose enough to bend forwards and massage that exact spot where you feel that restriction, you may find that it lets go.

Also, looking at the last photograph you posted of your front splits, I suggest two things: one, put some kind of a bolster or deformable support underneath your hips crosswise, and work at getting your hips square – at the moment you're losing a huge fraction of the psoas stretch because the hips have rotated out of the way – but it's not just psoas, it is the outer hamstring as well – you can see this clearly because of the way your hips are opening out in the direction of the back leg. This action significantly lessens the stretch on both the muscles I mention. If you put yourself on a bolster, square your hips before you sink down, and do your contractions with perfectly square hips, that exercise is going to feel completely different.

Thanks Kit. That's a great pick up. Just having a look at some anatomy pictures I can see it runs into the peroneal nerve and lateral sural cutaneous nerve. Most likely the latter is in the area that provides that sensation. 

Also, yes I can see I am cheating the stretch somewhat (a lot haha). Especially with opening the hips and turning that back leg out. I will back it off and keep them as square as I can. Don't have a bolster but I do have some old couch cushions that may suit. I would suggest this may offset the calf pain for the moment too. 

[Kit_L]

Selecting the right cushion is key – it needs to be able to  deform, but support you at the same time – so needs to be really firm. You'll work it out. By the way, the way you are doing splits with the back leg turned out is how dancers do them – so not a problem per se. If you want to stretch the outer hamstring or the hip flexors though, what your body is doing is avoiding stretching just those muscles by turning the back leg out. Again, no problem – it is only a question of efficient vs. less efficient, with respect to what we are trying to do.

[Cam Ogle]

2 hours ago, Kit_L said:

Selecting the right cushion is key – it needs to be able to  deform, but support you at the same time – so needs to be really firm. You'll work it out. By the way, the way you are doing splits with the back leg turned out is how dancers do them – so not a problem per se. If you want to stretch the outer hamstring or the hip flexors though, what your body is doing is avoiding stretching just those muscles by turning the back leg out. Again, no problem – it is only a question of efficient vs. less efficient, with respect to what we are trying to do.

Perrhaps the only thing I have in common with a dancer haha. 

Ideally I am aiming for square hips and whether I get there or not is kind of irrelevant. With my body the way it is I think its important to get into those areas that I am unconsciously trying to avoid. 

[Cam Ogle]

Have still been training the last two week but rather ad hoc around some vertigo, a couple of sprained ankles and my ongoing right shoulder issues. Into more of a detailed plan now and also with the clear vision to slow everything down. Not the physical training part but my expectations and setting of goals. 

 

13/09/2021

Squat – 5 x 8 @ 70

 

FRONT SPLIT

1.a) 1/4 ATG SPLIT SQUAT- 4 1/4 reps equals one rep. Complete 5 each leg.

1.b) LONG LUNGE PULSE- 10- 4 sec hold on each rep

1.c) HERO POSE- 10s

 x 3

2. FRONT SPLIT CHECK-IN- 1x60s

Really kept the back leg and hips straight. Depth was obviously compromised but that's ok. 

[Cam Ogle]

14/09/2021

Bench Press- 5 x 8 @ 40kg - shoulder held up well. Will be able to progress this nicely. 

 

BACK BRIDGE

1.a) ROS FRENCH PRESS- 3x5- 4 1/4 reps equals 1 rep

1.b) CROSS BENCH PULLOVER 3x5- 4 second hold on each rep.

1.c) TRUNK EXTENSION 3x5

1.d) BACK BRIDGE HOLD 3x10s -elevate legs - shoulder not up to this though