8.25.06
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Q: Joe,
I hope this email finds you in good health. (Hopefully the back is feeling better.) This brings me to my question: have you dealt with other injuries? If so, how did you deal with them? I'm having some shoulder issues and i'm unsure when to rest, rehab or just suck it up.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Doug
A: Doug,
I appreciate your concern regarding my health, but you caught me on a bad week. My last back surgery was a year and a half ago and it screwed me up BIGTIME! I’m in constant pain every second of the day and I can barely take it anymore! I just got back from a visit with one of the best neurologists in the world. He reviewed my post-surgical MRI & CAT scan with me. The bottom line is that my body is FU*KED UP…not just from this past surgery, either. The MRI revealed some things I wasn’t even aware of! Here are some highlights from the MRI & CAT scan…
I have 2 teaspoon-sized holes in my sacrum from when I had my tumor removed 10 years ago (I had an osteoid-osteoma which is a benign tumor of the bone). The “holes” have filled with scar tissue, fluid and other crap that still causes a lot of pain and malfunction. There is also cortical irregularity, cortical thickening and scalloping of the lateral margin of my sacrum. I still have no feeling over my hip and halfway down my thigh from where the incision is. (During the 1st surgery, they cut me open from the front so you can only imagine the damage that was done to the musculature that they cut through to get to my spine!)
Much to my surprise, my T12-L1 vertebrae have fused together. I never had too much pain at this level, yet the disk is completely gone and my body healed itself by fusing those levels together. I also have anterior spurring at this level, as well as L1-L2 level.
My L4-L5 nerve root is still severely swollen from my last surgery (I had 35% of my disk removed and the nerve was VERY irritated in the process.) The nerve root is about 3X the size of an average nerve root! This causes a tremendous amount of pain. I have absolutely NO tibialis anterior on that side because of the nerve swelling/damage. (The tibialis has completely atrophied because it is not being innervated from the nerve.)
Even with all of the above problems, the MAIN source of my pain may be coming from my sacroiliac joint or facet joints. I have a special CAT scan scheduled for this week that takes 1mm “slices” of the joint to see what’s going on.
Besides the incredible back pain, I have separated both of my AC joints twice and I’ve had 3 cortisone shots in EACH shoulder. (They won’t give me anymore shots.) The MRI of my shoulders revealed multiple bone spurs surrounding each joint as well. (I can no longer lower a barbell in the barbell bench press. My shoulders are basically “bone-on-bone” at this point.)
*I also counted all of the other injections that I’ve had over the past 10 years…I counted over 30 shots that have included nerve blocks, radiofrequency injections, cortisone shots as well as other shit that I can’t even remember!
My point is not to bore you with my problems or make you feel sorry for me; my point is that you should TAKE EVERY NECESSARY STEP TO KEEP YOUR BODY HEALTHY! You only have one body and being in pain SUCKS! If you treat your pain when it first starts, you may end up saving yourself from much more serious problems later on in life. Some things you can’t help (like my tumor), but do everything in your power to prevent the injuries that you can…and only have surgery after you have tried EVERYTHING else!
Sorry for my little rant (although it was good therapy for me!); now let’s get onto your question…
I’m not a doctor so I can’t give you medical advice; plus, you’re pretty vague with regards to your “shoulder issues” so it’s tough for me to help you without getting more specific info from you. My best (general) advice for you is, “If it hurts, DON’T do it!” Take it from me; trying to “work through the pain” will end up screwing you up MORE in the future!
As far as your shoulders are concerned, it can’t hurt to incorporate 1-2 external rotator cuff strengthening exercises twice a week into your workouts. Also, I suggest performing the below 3 stretches EVERYDAY…
Internal rotation stretch
Pec stretch
Lat stretch
Staying flexible in the above 3 stretches will drastically reduce stress on your shoulder joints!
If you ONLY lift weights and never work on your flexibility/mobility, you WILL eventually fu*k up your body!!
Be smart,
Joe D.
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Q: Hey coach,
I've been reading your training messages for a long time and have tried to
incorporate them into my work out. I'm a junior in high school at CB East in
PA. I play soccer and my coach is looking for speed. I'm 135 pounds at
5'10'' so you see I haven't got much muscle on me. What would you suggest to increase my speed and quickness?
Thanks for everything you're doing,
Devon
A: Devon,
First off, you are definitely a skinny bastard so getting STRONGER will help with your speed in and of itself! My “Westside for Skinny Bastards” template is tailor-made for athletes like you! I suggest you perform a Max-Effort upper body workout, a lower body workout and a Repetition upper body workout. Depending on what time of the year it is will determine how many strength training workouts per week that you should perform. (I would suggest that you perform 2 full body workouts during the in-season.)
As far as specific speed workouts are concerned, you should first understand these interesting facts regarding the game of soccer…
MOST of the game is spent jogging, walking or standing around
About 20% of the game is spent sprinting
You spend the LEAST amount of time during the game with the ball
NIKE research revealed that the portion of the game that was most important in determining the outcome was the 20% of the game that the player spent SPRINTING!
If you watch THE PLAYER (NOT the game) next time you go to a soccer game, you will see the above 4 statements to be true.
Knowing all this, I would suggest that you perform 3 different running workouts during the off-season. Each workout should have a different focus. They are:
1) Sprint training (10-30 yard focus)
2) Agility/Change of Direction training
3) “Tempo” runs or Aerobic intervals (jog a lap/walk a lap, etc.)
One of the best head butts I’ve ever seen took place on the soccer field!
Joe D.
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Q: Hey Joe,
I read a lot of your success stories. I can see how you have a lot of kids following your program. But, I want to tell you I am not too happy about my 16 year old son's progress. Yes, he has gotten bigger and stronger, but he can not move. At 15 he was 5'10" 190 lbs. and was a pretty good athlete, started both ways in football and was a starter in basketball. Since on your program, he is now 6'1"248 lbs.-big and strong, but can't move. All he does is lift and eat a lot of protein. He never runs, no cardio, no quickness. He says those things are not good to do, straight from you and your friends at t-nation and elite fitness systems. He played linebacker last year but now he is too slow, they put him on the line. He was actually better at basketball, but now he would not be able to get up and down the court more than a couple times. I would appreciate if you guys would tell your young athletes how important it is to maintain their speed and quickness, no matter what sport they want to excel in. To me, there is too much emphasis on strength, not quickness.
Thank you for your time,
Concerned father of Cory (superiorathlete on t-nation)
A: Please tell me where I said that running & quickness training were not good to do. Those words have NEVER come out of my mouth. I make a LIVING getting athletes faster & quicker; speed & quickness training is a big part of our program. (Any athlete that has trained with us knows that.)
Unfortunately, this is another case of someone misunderstanding what they read on the internet. I have said that during the INITIAL STAGES OF THE OFF-SEASON, strength training, rehabbing injuries & nutrition are MORE IMPORTANT than running & conditioning. Those are the things that "build the foundation" for a fast athlete. As the weeks & months go on and the season gets closer, the emphasis should switch from strength training to speed training, quickness training & conditioning (while trying to MAINTAIN strength).
I'm sorry you have misunderstood some of my philosophies.
P.S. If your son really gained 58 POUNDS, he's eating more than just protein! As a parent of a 16-year-old kid, YOU are responsible for the food that's in your fridge!
And since you're blaming "my program" for making him slower, can I also take credit for making him taller? After all, he went from 5'10" to 6'01" on "My program" so I guess I can claim that my program makes athletes taller too?!
Get my point??
Joe D.
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Q: Joe D -
I've been doing your WS4SB program for 2 months now and it is by far the best program that I've ever done! I have gained 11 pounds so far and all of my lifts have gone up. My one concern is on upper body repetition days - I have a huge drop off on the 2nd & 3rd sets of my rep exercise. For example, I was doing incline DB benches last Friday and I got 31 reps on the 1st set, 12 reps on the 2nd set and only 4 reps on the 3rd set!! I'm following your protocols word for word. Is this normal?
Tim
A: Tim,
Yes, your drop-off is very common. In the original "Westside for Skinny Bastards" article I prescribed only 60-second rest intervals in between Rep sets on your main lift. The short rest interval worked fine for our beginners and most of our female clientele. BUT, we have increased the rest periods for repetition exercises since the original article was written. Our younger, less experienced athletes get 60-90 seconds between sets. Our more advanced athletes now get 2-3 minutes between rep sets. Basically, the stronger you are, the more rest you get (although we never give more than 3 minutes rest in between Rep sets).
Live & learn
Joe D.
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