02 Nov I should follow the workouts I give people

I’ve been taking it easy the last couple months since falling ill to mono. It’s been an interesting road back, complete with thinking that I was fine for several weeks and then waking up with a sore throat and the same symptoms all over again for a few days not too long ago. It’s been just under 4 months since the symptoms started coming on, which is longer than most people have it but not unheard of. Since I’m sick, of being sick I just decided to get back to it and do the damn thing, and get into the gym and go light. The only thing I’m working on right now is just moving some weight around and getting my muscles and tendons used to being stimulated again. This week, I decided to follow along with a client I’m working with right now on the workout I sent him.

He’s primarily a powerlifter, but he’s got a several week gap between off season programs and meet prep, so I gave him a bodybuilding style program to work on. We could have filled the time with another mini cycle, but he’s been getting some nagging hip pain off and on, so I decided I’d rather give him something that won’t tax his joints as much by pre exhausting with isolation movements before moving on to the big 3.

I’ve got a couple reasons for doing this –

First, he just won’t be able to use as much weight when he lifts so he won’t irritate the injury.

Second, since his hip pain is only on one side, it’s definitely from some kind of asymmetry in the way he’s moving. Once the muscles are fatigued and stimulated, it’s much easier to feel every little thing going on during the movement. This way he can really work on improving body awareness and figuring out where the issue is coming from. It’s been really helpful for him these last couple weeks because the feeling in his hamstring and hip on one side is very different from the other, and he tends to lean to one side more so when he is fatigued, so it shows him what he needs to work on.

Squat/leg day

Leg ext 15,12,10 – drop set

Leg curl 15,12,10 – drop set

Leg press 12,10,8

Squats – SSB squats, no hip pain allowed 10,8,6

Back squats 3×3 with 135 lbs. Work form and move slow in order to find imbalances.

Single leg stiff dead lifts with back foot on bench 12,12,12

The single leg stiff leg dead lifts were what really did me in. I’m already working on a lot of stability stuff that needs to catch up, and this was killer. I was shaking all over the place using a 30 lb dumbbell. My hamstrings and glutes were beat for several days afterwards.

We didn’t do anything fancy or technical, just getting through a few exercises, pushing it when we needed to, and making sure every rep was perfect. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make gains, stimulate the muscle and work on technique.

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Tucker Loken

Tucker Loken is a Bodybuilder turned Powerlifter turned Powerbuilder from Eugene, Oregon. He did his first bodybuilding show when he was still in high school, and has been training male and female competitors for shows since 2011. Several years ago he decided to take a step away from his normal routine and learn how to get strong. He worked with Brian for 9 months, added 200 pounds to his raw total and qualified as an Elite lifter in the 220 pound weight class. He returned back to bodybuilding much stronger and now incorporates the 10/20/Life philosophy into his training to keep himself healthy and making continual progress in the Big 3 as well as adding size and shaping his physique. Now part of Team PRS, he brings his unique expertise of nutritional knowledge and how to balance Bodybuilding with Powerlifting to help athletes achieve their best potential.

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