CMG's Log (6', 190lbs, HLM, HPS, Montana, Climbing)

[cgeorg]

Ran out of time yesterday. Lots of DOMS today from SGDLs.

2023-01-18

Bouldering
5 warmups up to v2
v3 flash pockets, not bad, fingers still kinda cold
v4 flash slopers, big moves, awkward top. felt great to flash
v4 failx2 crimpy no idea what to do about 2/3 through. good burns
comp crimp couldn't start
comp flash weird technical probably v3 or 4
v4 fail overhung crimpish, projected for a bit but couldn't get past a spot about 2/3 and nothing near it to climb up for intel. I'm happy with the progres I made between burns
v6 got a couple moves, was cool even to start this, had to hop up into a heel hook

[cgeorg]

PT canceled, had to stay home for her sick kid. oh well. Might do shoulder/fingers tonight after bowling, we'll see.

[Hardartery]

PT canceled, had to stay home for her sick kid. oh well. Might do shoulder/fingers tonight after bowling, we'll see.

Well, that's disappointing. I discovered that incline bench really drills right into the hurt on me, don't know about you.

[cgeorg]

PT canceled, had to stay home for her sick kid. oh well. Might do shoulder/fingers tonight after bowling, we'll see.

Well, that's disappointing. I discovered that incline bench really drills right into the hurt on me, don't know about you.

I have a pretty limited home gym setup right now, I'd have to figure something out... Next time I'm at the climbing gym I'm pretty sure they have incline benches, I can check that out. Light OHP has felt fine, bench has felt... not like it directly hits the pain, but it just feels kinda risky the whole time.

[Hardartery]

PT canceled, had to stay home for her sick kid. oh well. Might do shoulder/fingers tonight after bowling, we'll see.

Well, that's disappointing. I discovered that incline bench really drills right into the hurt on me, don't know about you.

I have a pretty limited home gym setup right now, I'd have to figure something out... Next time I'm at the climbing gym I'm pretty sure they have incline benches, I can check that out. Light OHP has felt fine, bench has felt... not like it directly hits the pain, but it just feels kinda risky the whole time.

That is the same for me. Direct overhead stuff was fine, flat bench felt fine aside from the crunchy feeling when it started to get heavy. It just hurt a lot that night and the next day after flat bench and the incline was like I was hitting the pain with a hammer, but was actually less sore last night and today than after flat benching.

[cgeorg]

Well, that's disappointing. I discovered that incline bench really drills right into the hurt on me, don't know about you.

I have a pretty limited home gym setup right now, I'd have to figure something out... Next time I'm at the climbing gym I'm pretty sure they have incline benches, I can check that out. Light OHP has felt fine, bench has felt... not like it directly hits the pain, but it just feels kinda risky the whole time.

That is the same for me. Direct overhead stuff was fine, flat bench felt fine aside from the crunchy feeling when it started to get heavy. It just hurt a lot that night and the next day after flat bench and the incline was like I was hitting the pain with a hammer, but was actually less sore last night and today than after flat benching.

What angle are you using, and have you tried different ones?

[Hardartery]

There is one incline bench, so that's the angle. No idea what that angle is, maybe 45 degrees.

[Hardartery]

I think what I have is subacromial impingement syndromeor maaybe subacromial bursitis, but I'm pretty sure that it's just impingement. I just did some stretching with a light band and the pain went to maybe a 1 in certain positions and zero otherwise.

[cgeorg]

Didn't do fingers or shoulders yesterday

2023-01-20

DB Incline Press (board press?)
~45degrees x25lbs x10
~45degrees x25lbs x12
~60degrees x25lbs x10
~30degrees x25lbs x10

As you can see from my setup,

my barbell was occupied, so I was maxed out on dumbbells for this. Didn't really feel different than OHP or bench in my shoulder, so... hmm.

No-hangs 20mm edge, 10s EMOM
Half-crimp x37lbs x10

First few felt a little tough, was cruising by the end.

----

I think what I have is subacromial impingement syndromeor maaybe subacromial bursitis, but I'm pretty sure that it's just impingement. I just did some stretching with a light band and the pain went to maybe a 1 in certain positions and zero otherwise.

Yeah, I think bursitis ends up leading to impingement, so it could be either? Have you tried any dead hangs from a bar to stretch it out?

[Hardartery]

Didn't do fingers or shoulders yesterday

2023-01-20

DB Incline Press (board press?)
~45degrees x25lbs x10
~45degrees x25lbs x12
~60degrees x25lbs x10
~30degrees x25lbs x10

my barbell was occupied, so I was maxed out on dumbbells for this. Didn't really feel different than OHP or bench in my shoulder, so... hmm.

No-hangs 20mm edge, 10s EMOM
Half-crimp x37lbs x10

First few felt a little tough, was cruising by the end.

----

I think what I have is subacromial impingement syndromeor maaybe subacromial bursitis, but I'm pretty sure that it's just impingement. I just did some stretching with a light band and the pain went to maybe a 1 in certain positions and zero otherwise.

Yeah, I think bursitis ends up leading to impingement, so it could be either? Have you tried any dead hangs from a bar to stretch it out?

I have not tried hangs recently, but I might. The stuff from the PT has been only marginally helpful for my shoulders, it was not stuff for impingement but it hasn't helped much with the ROM issues it is meant for. I looked online and the same basic stuff is prescribed for impingement, so not really helpful so far. The crunchiness is a thing, I'm scared to know what exactly I was crushing to produce that sound I'm hoping it was just gas in the joint being released. I'm down to the conclusion that it requires a certain amount of weight to trigger it in me because the muscles just aren't pumping up enough at lower weight to cause the impingement during the lift.
The stretch that actually seems to help a lot involves a light band around a pole behind me. I take one end in each hand and walk forward a little with my arms at full extension to the sides, the band tension pulls my hands back and stretches out the delts and pecs. Pulsing the stretch helps massively, by which I mean letting it stretch for a 5 count and then contracting the muscles for a 3-5 count and then relaxing them and letting them stretch out for another 5. Rinse and repeat. When the tension from the band dissipates I move forward away from the pole a little. The further back my hands get the better the shoulder feels afterwards. I know that I have arthritis, probably bursitis as well as osteo arthritis and definitely bone spurs in the left shoulder at a minimum. I should have done lighter flyes last session and concentrated on the stretch, I believe more and more that my shoulder health and flexibility was good in my younger days just because of my having done a lot of that and achieved a good ROM from the stretch.
Edit to add video demonstrating my terrible description.

[cgeorg]

Did a bunch of home reno stuff over the weekend, and didn't fit anything in yesterday. Got it in tonight though.

2023-01-24

Shoulder stuff
Dead hangs x a bunch
A stretch like hardartery x a bunch
Some stretching holding the band with my arm across my stomach/chest and rotating away from it
Externals and Abductions x light band x 12 x 1

For all of this I felt it more in the back of my shoulder and boy oh boy did I feel it.

No-hangs 20mm edge, 12s EMOM
Half-crimp x38lbs x10

This part was good but I was also basically peaked.

Did a bit more shoulder stretching after this, and I'm curious how this is going to feel in the morning. I was bowling before this sesh, and pinched my ring finger between two balls which necessitated some ibuprofen, so I was riding an NSAID (and a few beer) high and the stretching was still pretty rough.

[cgeorg]

PT canceled again yesterday morning, she was out sick. Next appt is scheduled for Monday.

2023-01-26

Warmup included some shoulder stretching

Bouldering
4 v0-1
v2
v3
comp v4 failed, hopped back on where I fell and failed about 1/3 from the top
comp v4 I couldn't get more than 1 move on, took a while to figure out the beta for the start.
comp ?? solid caver, got about halfway and fell, tried again but couldn't get more than 1 more move
comp ?? flash, fun slab to overhang out of the side of the cave. prob v3, maybe v4
v4 sent 2nd go, crimpy and slightly overhung. fun
comp v4 failed a couple times, getting tired
flashed problem of the week, balancy slab on triangle volumes

Top rope
5.11+ fail on 2nd move x2. It looked doable from the ground but the holds were all super slopy
5.10+ flash, climbed decently
5.9 flash pump kicking in good
5.6 flash super pumped but the holds are so big I could do it for a while.

No rest between the last 3. I was sweating through my chalk, the problem of the week volumes had visible sweat smears on them after I was done. All in all a pretty good and fun session.

[cgeorg]

Came down with a respiratory infection Friday, woke up with a very sore throat and some coughing and general mind fog. Saturday the whole fever, flu chills, nausea, headache that's only fixed by vomiting, etc. Sunday just a cough and sore throat. Today, just a sore throat, but I had a colonoscopy scheduled so I went and got a COVID test and the line was red within 2 minutes. So, no PT today, if I'm negative by Thursday I can do that one. Colonoscopy pushed back a week.

On the bright side, my shoulder has felt very good the past few days of not doing anything. I can even lay on my right side with no issues. I'll probably do some finger stuff today.

[cgeorg]

2023-01-30

No-hangs 20mm edge, 12s EMOM
Half-crimp x39lbs x10

punch in, punch out

[cgeorg]

2023-01-31

Shoulder Rehab
Driveway shoveling w/right arm push 15'x50'ish

About 2 inches and it seems to have been below freezing since before the snow started so this was actually one of the more pleasant shovelings I've done.

[cgeorg]

2023-01-31

No-hangs 20mm edge, 12s EMOM
Half-crimp x40lbs x10

A little tougher near the end, but I think I was overgripping early.

Also got in some swings with the 6 iron, working on hip stuff. I like where it's going. A few more sessions to drill it in then check on wrists or short wedge consistency.

[cgeorg]

Tested negative yesterday morning, should be good to go for PT tomorrow and the butt scope Tuesday. My shoulder was hurting a bit when I woke up Friday and Saturday mornings, but didn't click or do anything weird during dead-hang warmups or any of the climbing.

2023-02-05

Top rope
5.8
5.11a Got it in 3 pieces. I messed up the beta (at least) twice, and both falls were due to that. But, I think I would have pumped out before the top even with proper beta. Hard to classify this one, crimpy I suppose but also lots of side pulls and some gaston-type stuff.
5.10c Got it in 2 parts, made it about 80% of the way but just got too pumped. I don't remember the details on this one.
5.10b Flash, I had some nice footwork, a few nice high heels that really helped in a few places. Big decent semi-slopers iirc.
5.10c Done in 2 parts. Kinda crimpy, most of the holds were trying to emulate real rock with little cracks/edges.
5.10c Done in 3 parts, sloppy. Big round slopers for the most part
5.10a 3 parts so pumped. Big easy pinches and edges with a little bit of COG management.

I sucked really bad at finding rests while on the wall. Going v0 v1 v2 5.6 5.8 >>>> 5.11a was probably not the best warmup. I do have the "I was sick for a week" excuse.

[cgeorg]

PT thinks it's impingement in the subacromion area, probably caused by being I'm too strong in the front (ok she actually said I'm just stronger in the front than the back and probably used a medical term), pulling my humerus forward in the socket. The posterior "don't let me push your arm" tests were pathetic on both sides. Thursday we start into exercises and manual manipulation. Based on the eval, I like her and am looking forward to working with her. Seems smart, thorough, and non-fear mongering. And, she used to work right next to an older climbing gym that shut down, and has worked with a lot of climbers so that's cool.

Super colon blow prep starts in 30 min.

[cgeorg]

The colonoscopy (both prep and procedure) was fine. I've been bad at rehab and finger stuff, in that I haven't really done them.

2023-02-09

PT
Some overhead stretching, and thoracic spine stretching on a foam roller
Kneeling shoulder extensions x10x2 (start in front, bring hands down to sides) (harder on triceps than shoulders)
Kneeling shoulder abduction x10x2 (start in front, bring hands out to T) (not bad)
Prone scap liftovers x8ishx2 (lay on belly hands by sides, sweep them out and up to overhead, then back) (v hard)
Shoulder flexion serratus things x10x2 (hands low in front with band around wrists, pulse the band in and out while raising arms to near overhead then back down) (v v hard)

The T-spine stretching basically finishes with a crunch back to starting position and I was sore from those the next day, weaksauce. There was generally a good bit of shaking during bracing which made me feel bad.

Hit some balls at the range later. Starting my backswing with the hips is coming more naturally, but I still really need to concentrate on uncoiling to keep from just sliding my weight over through impact. There is a strong correlation between uncoiling and actually starting the ball on my target line.

2023-02-10

Boulder
v0, v1, v0, v2-3, v2-3
v3 2nd go. Tapped my toe on the first move the first time. Overhung, tough feet early
A bunch of fruitless trying on a comp circuit problem
v3 flash. Overhung with a shoulder move on each side
v5 fail a few times, couldn't get a big rock over move.
Failing on some other hard stuff @10
v3 flash. Overhung fine holds 7-8
v3 flash. Slight overhang juggy crimps, big moves. @6
v3 flash. Wave wall big moves then crimps at the end @10

Autobelay top rope
5.11- flash. A couple of really big mantles and a little stretchy sidepull move. @9 because of 1 of the mantles
5.11+ nope. Couldn't get past the first few moves
5.9 flash. Slab balance kinda tough more like .10a I think @6
5.10- flash. Small decent holds with a small overhung section, and a couple non-incut holds near the top. @7-8

Everything is flash or fail lately. Need to find some stuff to project and project it.

2023-02-12

Shoulder rehab
Serratus things x10x3
Kneeling shoulder extensions x10x2
Kneeling shoulder abduction x10x2

----

Wednesday looks nice enough to golf but I won't be able to. Soon.

[cgeorg]

2023-02-13

PT
Foam roller stretches (laying w/roller down the spine, one was arms out in jesus pose, one was that with elbows bent 90 degrees upwards)
External rotation isometrics x10x2 (hold arm in external rotation position straight out in front, walk away from the band anchor til it's an isometric, hold 10s, walk it back, that's 1 rep)
"Rotator cuff robot" x10x2 (starting in the isometric position above, keeping the elbow locked in, raise your arm 90 degrees so you end up in "cop shining a flashlight" pose, then back down)
Banded wall clock x8x1 (band around wrists, narrow pushup position on the wall. Move one hand out to 1:30, center, 3:00, center, 4:30, center, that's a rep)

I think foam roller stretches from today could use a little weight, especially the 2nd one. My forearm doesn't have enough mass to counteract the tightness.

I recently saw the rotator cuff robot in a warmup routine from a climber, Shauna Coxsey I think. I was supposed to walk it out to a distance where'd get around 10 reps, and nailed it. Getting better at gauging how easy rep 1 needs to be for rep 10 to be possible.

I hate being under load for extended periods of time. At least it has high specificity for climbing.

It takes all of my mental and physical energy to get my lower traps activated. TBH I dislike doing most of these exercises but I've also known I need to be doing stuff like this for climbing so... Accountability is good.