17 Jun Tucker: The plot thickens

I learned another couple neat things about myself this last week, and by neat, I mean things I’ll have to work on in order to get fully healthy.

First – I did some burpees for fun the other day and noticed a popping in my hip. I talked to Paul about it and he said it was probably my Psoas or hip flexor being really tight. He suggested I try laying on a small medicine ball to massage and loosen it up….. And wouldn’t ya know it, the pain was excruciating. I could feel it all the way over on the opposite side of my lower back, just from putting the ball into my lower abdomen. I believe this gives me a much more clear sense of what’s going on in my core and knee – pelvis is rotated and locked up, psoas is too tight, psoas pulls on quad, knee takes the extra force, knee gets tendinitis.

Second – I went to see the doctor again for another consultation, this time about my shoulders. One shoulder has been bad since I hurt it playing high school football, and on the other side I feel like I’ve got a pinched nerve and it’s been giving me numbness and pain in my hand for almost a year off and on. Luckily he didn’t seem too worried about the one I hurt during football, he thought it might just be a case of bursitis or an impingement but he’s still not sure. (hopefully no surgery necessary), and he thinks I have some pinched nerves in the Brachial Plexus group, which is a group of nerves that goes from the spine down to the arm. I’m currently waiting to get on MRI on the bad one, so hopefully I’ll have an answer pretty soon.

As far as lifting – I’ve been trying to stay away from anything that involves my elbow or direct quad work this week. My elbow and knee feel much more opened up since trying things out with the new physical therapist, so I don’t want to risk taking two steps forward and one step back. I did a lot of posterior chain work for my calves, hams, glutes and lower back, lots of raises for my shoulders, and different reverse flies and pullovers for my back. As usual, I’ve been doing a ton of different core. After warming up I’m keeping the rest periods short, doing 4-5 sets per exercise and 10-15 reps per set.

Workout 1

McGill Big 3, clamshells, banded side walks, single leg glute bridges, goblet squats, plank variations etc.

Single leg calf raises

Single leg seated hamstring curls

Single leg stiff leg dead lifts

Sumo dead lifts

Abductor and adductor machine

Supermans lying on the ground

Workout 2

McGill Big 3, banded pull aparts, around the world with 25lb plate over my head, T-Spine mobility, deadbugs etc.

Single arm Cable pullover

Single arm decline DB pullover

DB reverse flies

Cable side raises

DB front raises

Single arm DB upright

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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.

Latest posts by Tucker Loken (see all)

• Tucker: Another Normal Log Update - March 1, 2019
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• Tucker: Making Do - February 4, 2019