Nanette the Intermidiot

[chromoly]

I'm Nanette, I've been lifting since 2015. Female, 28 years old, 5'3.5", 61 kilos (plus or minus some). I've competed at -63 kg and -67.5 kg in a handful of meets.

My best lifts to date are:
Low Bar Squat 117.5 kg x 1 in competition
High Bar Squat 105 kg x 1 in competition
Front Squat 185 lbs x 1
Overhead Press 100 lbs x 1
Bench 135 lbs x 1 and 60 kg x 1 in competition
Deadlift 157.5 kg x 1 in competition

I've been struggling with on-again-off-again hip problems since spring 2017: due to a CAM-type femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), I have a partial thickness tear in my left hip labrum with a partial detachment. The left labrum tear was diagnosed with MRI, but I was also clinically diagnosed with a labrum tear in my right hip. During the MRI they also discovered bone edema in the left femoral head. I spent a fairly significant chunk of 2017 rehabbing my left hip.

Aside from lifting, I am a workaholic spend my time playing with big magnets, eating burritos bigger than my head, riding bicycles, hanging out with my dog, and occasionally climbing up and down walls.

Prior to the hip problems, I had been competed in a few meets:

SpoilerShow

November 2015, Novice Meet
Squat 160/ 180 /200x
Bench 45 (only benched the bar due to a wrist injury)
Deadlift 225/ 245/ 260
Total 485 lbs @ 132.0 lbs

February 2016, USAPL Raw Spartan Championships
Squat 85/ 92.5/ 97.5x
Bench 42.5/ 47.5/ 50
Deadlift 102.5/ 120/ 127.5
Total: 270 kg @ 60.7 kg
Wilks 298

April 2016, USAPL CA State Championships
Squat 87.5/ 95/ 97.5
Bench 42.5/ 50/ 52.5x
Deadlift 117.5/ 127.5/ 137.5
Total 285 kg @ 60.9 kg
Wilks 314

October 2016, Starting Strength Fall Classic
Squat 98/ 104/ 110x
Overhead Press 38/ 41/ 42
Deadlift 125/ 137/ 150
Total 296 kg @ 60.2 kg
WIlks 329

January 2017, USAPL Juggernaut Open
Squat 107.5/ 112.5/ 115
Bench 50/ 52.5/ 55
Deadlift 130/ 142.5/ 155
Total 325 kg @ 61.09 kg.
Wilks 357 and qualified for USAPL Raw Nationals

In March I started to develop hip pain and I trained through it anyway and competed:

SpoilerShow

April 2017, Starting Strength Spring Challenge
Squat 108/ 115/ 117
Press 42/43/44
Deadlift 130/140/150
Total 311 kg @ 65.5 kg
Wilks 329

Then I got too hurt to keep squatting and bi-lateral hip labrum tears and a bone edema were diagnosed. I spent several months not squatting heavy, and being in terrible pain if I sat too long. At some point I was able to start front squatting without pain, then high bar squatting without pain.

Post-Rehab Meets:

SpoilerShow

October 2017, USSF Fall Classic
High Bar Squat 93/ 100/ 105
Press 37/ 40/ 42
Deadlift 130/ 140/ 150
Total 297 kg @ 61.5 kg
Wilks 324.9

Right before the October meet, I broke my middle finger of my left hand, which really affected my hook grip for an extended period.

Sometime in mid-November I was consistently able to low bar squat sans pain, so I competed next squatting low bar.

SpoilerShow

December 2017, USAPL Norcal Open Winter Classic
Squat 97.5x/ 105/ 115
Bench 52.5/ 57.5*/ 60*
Deadlift 140x/ 150/ 157.5
Total 332.5 kg @ 62.9 kg
Wilks 357.5

A lot of life stuff occurred in 2018, so my strength and competitive goals took a huge backseat to my life. I plan to start competing again in 2019, and I’d like to match or exceed my best total (maybe even at a lower weight class?) by that point.

Long term goals: I really want to press my bodyweight (or a plate, whichever weighs more!) over my head, and achieve a 400 Wilks.

[chromoly]

OK, so I just mailed in my check for the USAPL Norcal Open Winter Classic. I am now just a little over 13 weeks out(!)

I can't set any expectations for this meet right now; I don't even know if I'll be able to low bar without hip pain. I briefly considered signing up for a USPA meet, but my USAPL membership is still active and I didn't want to pay meet + membership fees.

Hopefully my finger heals soon. Once the doctor clears me to lift again, I already have a training plan in place.

[Manveer]

Signed up for a meet with a broken finger. Ballsy.

[chromoly]

Signed up for a meet with a broken finger. Ballsy.

I'll have more information next week on how well the finger is healing. But I find myself OK doing stuff without the buddy tape now if I'm careful, so I have faith in my ability to lift (even if it's not heavy) in 6.5 weeks at the Fall Classic, and definitely something a little less light in 13 at the USAPL meet.

[chromoly]

I got bored of sitting around and not doing anything. I went to the gym today with the mind that I would do what I could. My rule for myself going into it was "no bar overhead", since I can't grip properly and I didn't want to end up as an IRL gym fail.

I also bought myself a pair of the Reebok Legacy Lifters over Labor Day weekend, and I really wanted to try them out. Too soon to tell much about them, but I did feel like I was more upright in my FS today.

Front Squat
3 x 160 @ 8; index finger on bar only
1 x 160 @ 10; b/c straps (upon video review I realize that my feelings about this were all wrong-- this shit looked ez)
I was using a single finger to stabilize my front rack position. This was fine up until my working weight, when the bar started to slip down and my index fingers weren't enough to stabilize. I didn't want to injure myself, so I switched to straps for the second set, which didn't go well at all (according to my feelings).


So I decided to
High Bar Back Squat (HBBS)
1 x 185 @ 10??
3 x 185 @
3 x 5 x 155 @ 8, 8, 7
Squats got easier as I went on; a sign that it's been too long since I last squatted. Surprisingly, a weird loose grip for high bar was fine for my finger.

Deadlift with lifters and straps because grip
5 x 45
5 x 135
3 x 185
1 x 205
2 x 3 x 225 @ 6, 6?
Didn't want to push it too hard, being that I took 17 days off. Loading plates today was quite cumbersome though. I don't normally wish for a deadlift jack, but today I wished I had one.

And then some fun machine stuff because I didn't want to push myself too hard but felt kind of bored:
BW Hyperextensions: 3 x 10
Leg Press: 3 x 10 x 50 lbs added (taking it light and easy so I'm not too too sore tomorrow)
Calf Raises: 2 x 10 x 50
Assorted Strict DB Rows (with straps, ahhh!): sets of 10 and 8 depending on the weight (I didn't even log this stuff)
DB Bench: 3 x 10 x 20 lbs (I figured I could always drop the DB and it wouldn't kill me the same way a barbell bench would
Seated Rows: sets of 8
Face Pulls: 10 x 15, 2 x 10 x 10

[chromoly]

I've officially been cleared to lift !!!

[Chebass88]

Awesome! Though does this mean no more giving the finger to everyone involuntarily?

[chromoly]

Awesome! Though does this mean no more giving the finger to everyone involuntarily?

I haven't been involuntarily giving the finger to everyone. It's definitely voluntary. All jokes aside, I have not used a splint in a few days. I am buddy taping my middle finger to my ring finger, which provides more flexibility in what I can do.

Doctor told me up to 12 weeks to fully heal. #ded But he, a former competitive Crossfit athlete (I just googled him, 5'11", 220lbs, back squat 365, deadlift 445, c&j lmao2plaet) told me that it'd be OK to bench press with suicide grip so, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[damufunman]

Glad finger's coming along! Was gonna suggest a dead wedge to help with plate loading, not sure if you're into that or not though. I find it helpful for unloading since I don't have a jack (or deadlift enough to justify one yet).

[chromoly]

Glad finger's coming along! Was gonna suggest a dead wedge to help with plate loading, not sure if you're into that or not though. I find it helpful for unloading since I don't have a jack (or deadlift enough to justify one yet).

Thanks! I'm glad the finger is healing. I just use a change plate instead of a dead wedge. It's still annoying to get the last plate off the bar unless you have a full deadlift jack though. The more annoying part is that I'm trying to grip a plate with my left thumb, index finger, and pinky. My right hand is fully functional, but I regularly need more than one hand to load/unload larger plates.

[fishwife]

What kind of a break is it?

[chromoly]

What kind of a break is it?

Left hand (non-dominant hand): at the proximal interphalangel joint of my middle finger, there's an avulsion fracture. Nothing was dislocated or displaced, fortunately, so no surgery required.

2.5 weeks post injury I have significantly reduced pain and swelling is down. But I still have limited ROM as far as flexion goes, e.g., I can make a fist with my left hand but not a tight fist. Rx is to keep buddy-taping the finger to my ring finger for another week or two, then try to regain some more mobility.

When this is all done, I predict my left hand grip will be even weaker than it was pre-injury. I'll need to invest in grippers to regain grip strength so I can pull heavy again in competition.

[slowmotion]

Good to hear the finger is healing properly and quickly, Nanette! Is it healing faster than expected? Can you put any weight on it?

[fishwife]

Left hand (non-dominant hand): at the proximal interphalangel joint of my middle finger, there's an avulsion fracture. Nothing was dislocated or displaced, fortunately, so no surgery required.

I had avulsion fractures at the same joint on the index and middle fingers of my right hand many years back. They swelled up like grey-purple sausages. My martial arts teacher, who is also a traditional Chinese med. practitioner, declared that, if it was broken, it wasn't broken enough to worry and had me opening and closing my fist through full finger ROM (well, as close as I could get with how swollen they were) right away. Hurt like a mofo, but he insisted that was the right course of action.

A doc in my class (cardio, not ortho) was skeptical and suggested I should go get an x-ray, and my primary doc agreed, which is how I discovered the diagnosis. Because it was my dominant hand, he referred me to a hand specialist. The hand guy informed me at the time that they don't even splint these sorts of injuries anymore and have better rehab results when patients are made to use the hand normally and move the joint through the full ROM right away. He even gave me the ok to deadlift as long as it was within my pain tolerance. At that point, I was already about a week out from the injury, so I just went back to the gym and used straps for pulling movements until it wasn't agonizing to not use them. I was doing a lot of grip-intensive stuff due to MA, and I don't recall it affecting my grip strength much at all once it healed, even without special exercises.

Not saying this is applicable to your injury, but this is just to report that this type of injury wasn't a big deal in my personal experience, and disability was of very short duration for me. I actually had to search my records to remember which hand it was to write this post (I've had a LOT of hand injuries over the years), so obviously there's been no arthritic consequences or anything for me despite having moved the fingers around a ton even immediately after the injury. 13 weeks should be plenty of time to get the finger and hand back to snuff.

[chromoly]

Good to hear the finger is healing properly and quickly, Nanette! Is it healing faster than expected? Can you put any weight on it?

I think the healing time is normal for what I have. The fracture was pretty minor, but the swelling was pretty bad. I have been using it to type, and when I'm holding stuff, but not much else (see below)

The hand guy informed me at the time that they don't even splint these sorts of injuries anymore and have better rehab results when patients are made to use the hand normally and move the joint through the full ROM right away. He even gave me the ok to deadlift as long as it was within my pain tolerance. At that point, I was already about a week out from the injury, so I just went back to the gym and used straps for pulling movements until it wasn't agonizing to not use them. I was doing a lot of grip-intensive stuff due to MA, and I don't recall it affecting my grip strength much at all once it healed, even without special exercises.

Not saying this is applicable to your injury, but this is just to report that this type of injury wasn't a big deal in my personal experience, and disability was of very short duration for me. I actually had to search my records to remember which hand it was to write this post (I've had a LOT of hand injuries over the years), so obviously there's been no arthritic consequences or anything for me despite having moved the fingers around a ton even immediately after the injury. 13 weeks should be plenty of time to get the finger and hand back to snuff.

I am glad it turned out to not be a big deal in your case!

I know that for many injuries (typically with sprains) nowadays, they have people try to move as much as possible to get blood flowing through the area, and retain as much ROM as possible. That's partially why they recommended buddy tape for my finger instead of a splint. I think for the first week or so, the tape was there to make sure it started healing correctly. Now, the tape is more to remind me to be careful with my hand and not do anything dumb.

However, as it stands, I can't bend my finger all the way. I have full ab/adduction and extension, but flexion is limited in the PIP joint right now. The sports med doc gave me clearance to lift. I could probably deadlift without straps right now, but I would be limited by my ability to hold on to the weight rather than my back. Hook grip is out of the question for now, since I can't press down on my thumb tightly enough.

[KOTJ]

Throwing shit out: start gripping dumbbells and increase weight to something difficult. Do static holds...do this every lifting day at the end of the session.

[chromoly]

Throwing shit out: start gripping dumbbells and increase weight to something difficult. Do static holds...do this every lifting day at the end of the session.

Thanks for the suggestions! I will try these ideas and report back after a few session with how it goes.

Finger update: I have full range of motion again. It still feels stiff and a little bit painful though. Will make liberal use of straps as necessary for now.

[Lmeadows]

Dude! Body weight Press would be a huge accomplishment. May the force be with you on that goal. Following along and look forward to see how things go. Broken fingers are a bitch.

[damufunman]

Just LP your 2-finger deadlift: https://youtu.be/diwy8SPY72I?t=10m43s

[chromoly]

Just LP your 2-finger deadlift: https://youtu.be/diwy8SPY72I?t=10m43s

LOL. I do quite enjoy the anabolic acrobat's videos. Certainly one of the more entertaining YouTube lifters in my opinion.

Dude! Body weight Press would be a huge accomplishment. May the force be with you on that goal. Following along and look forward to see how things go. Broken fingers are a bitch.

Thanks L! It will be a long time until I achieve a bodyweight press. But slow and steady wins the race, or at least... finishes the race?

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Sunday 9/24/17
BW: 132.5
Waistline is also smaller, as measured by my ability to fit into a smaller belt hole. On the one hand, I am somewhat pleased given that ~2 years ago I weighed the same and my waist was 2.5 inches larger (yay body recomposition). On the other hand, I am not pleased because my lifts have all decreased.

HBBS
205 x 1 @ 8?
215 x 0 @ F; two technical flaws with this one 1) didn't stay tight, 2) let myself get way forward of mid foot in the hole
185 x 3 @ F; got two easily but hit the same bar path issue on the way up on the third
165 x 3 @ 9 (no belt), 8, 8, 9
135 x 5
Still lifting in the Reebok Legacy Lifters. They definitely feel a little different than the Romaleo 2s. I'm going to switch back to the Romaleo 2s for the rest of my meet prep.

While I was warming up, I did try low bar squatting, but something in my right (not the injured left hip!) was annoyed so I stopped after lmao1plaet.

Press
80 x 1
85 x 1
90 x 1 @ 9.75; slightly light-headed but not too bad
92.5 x 1 @ 10; blacked out and had to take a step while I was lowering the bar to not topple over
45 x 10 x 2 @ 6...?, 8...? I am never sure how to gauge RPE for sets of 10
I did these in my flat shoes. Definitely feel less stable in them, and prefer lifting shoes. My annoying lightheaded/blacking out with heavy OHP is back. Maybe more food and water next time before I lift. Pleased that I am able to still press > 90% with all this weight loss.

Deadlift with hook grip(!) in flat shoes and belt
235 x 1
265 x 1
285 x F; dropped the bar 1 inch off the floor
285 x F; used straps to mitigate grip issue but I couldn't even break the bar off the floor
185 x 5 x 2; RDLs
135 x 5 x 3; with slow eccentric
Pulling in flats is stupidly easy after pulling in heels all summer. Not accustomed to belt though, and I had difficulty setting my back.

Today's bro-stuff was face pulls.

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I am five weeks out from the Fall Classic. Meet prep plan is to start running up a linear progression and just see how it goes.