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Oddly enough, my wife just asked me if I wanted to have her schedule a massage for me as she works at a salon and day spa...Perhaps I will take her up on that. I'll see about picking up some CissusRX (suggestions where I should get this from for a good price?) and IcyHot for pre-workout.

I don't feel much for "sharp" pain, instead it is aches and general tightness. Do you see any point in me visiting an ortho now or do you think they will just advise rest at this point based on my symptoms?

Thanks for your help Rob!

Edit: I went with a bulk cissus at a good price - So we will see how this treats me.

Good suggestion from the wife. I'd also consult the yellow pages for the Happy Endings massage parlors in your area. You never know when you'll need a backup plan..

If you have good insurance then yes, I'd pay a doc a visit. It may or may not be an ortho. Look up A.R.T. practitioners in your area. A.R.T. stands for Active Release Technique's and is a very aggressive form of "rolfing" or massage with the elbows, knees etc.

Extremely painful but I have heard it does MIRACULOUS things for people. More ideas in my head so if those don't work, let me know. Burn It Up! kicks in later today so I'll have more ideas for you then if you need them

Massage was absolutely awesome! Hurt so good on some of those knots and it's something I'll probably have to do again. I also have an appointment with an ortho set for next Thursday, so we'll see what they have to say. Cissus is on the way...What is the suggested dosing per day? I have read that ~3g/day at 1g with three meals is appropriate - Sound about right?

I ran a bit less than that, but I'd start with label directions and go from there. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Glad the massage tip was of value

So I had max day yesterday and hit 400 on squat (PR) and 375 on DL (PR). I was very pleased with both lifts and am excited to see where they go from here! I am thinking that 425 on squat and 400 on deads would be sweeeet.

My deadlift has consistently been lower than my squat (I just started deadlifting this year) and I find that bizarre. It leads me to believe that I may have issues with my deadlift form or something???

Next I need to take a look at setting up my GLP run. I am really looking forward to it.

Also, weight was up another .7lbs, so I am increasing weight at a rate that I am very comfortable with for now.

Edit: I just got my GLP workouts all figured out for both squat and DL, so now I am ready to rock. How do people feel about inserting two EDTs in workouts where energy allows?

Great work!

I personally recommend 2 EDT blocks on upper body days and just 1 on lower.

REASON: The EDT lower body block is 2 compound movements. Keep in mind this is AFTER your GLP sets. Takes a LOT out of you!

Sounds good Rob - I will aim for two EDT blocks on deadlift days and one EDT block on squat days.

Would Hack Squat/Leg Press be a suitable EDT to perform on Squat days? Also, do people generally alternate lifts they do for EDT or keep them consistent (i.e. WO #1 EDT = Hack/Press, WO #2 EDT = Press/Lunge, etc.).

Also, is it encouraged to keep stretch movements in play during GLP. If so, would I perform the stretch movement immediately after each of the six sets (and follow the rep requirement of the GLP set)?

Thanks!

Hack and Leg Sled wouldn't be optimal (two quad based movements). Something like this though, would:

Leg Sled
Romanian Deadlifts

With respect to your stretch position movements, this is a pick 'em. You can either work them into your EDT blocks (as above with RDL's) OR separate them out into a separate portion AFTER the big BB lifts.

I'm more an more inclined to consolidate withing EDT lately...

OK - Would you suggest doing RDLs if my upper days are centered around DL? Any other options you would suggest?

Hmmm confused as to why upper body days would be centered around DL.

Let's assume there's a good reason though and look at another solution:

Hack Squats
Leg sled performed with feet HIGH on the platform, relatively close together and pushing from the heels.

This will ensure a quad dominant compound movement (hacks) followed by a hamstring movement (compound - leg sled). You don't quite get the amount of loaded stretch with those but the overload is assured.

Alternatively, you could perform the following:

Leg sled (regular foot placement, shoulder width in the middle of the platform). In this rendition, largely quad dominant
Glute ham raise

If your gym doesn't have one of these, you can try setting something up on a lat pulldown by hooking the ankles under the pads and facing away from the maching OR having someone hold your ankles as you attempt to perform them manually.

Not easy and humbling to say the least. Still, a worthwhile addition. I only wish reverse hyperextension machines were more prevalent in gyms...

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the suggestions. The reason I was thinking DL for my core lift on upper days was due to my shoulder issue that is yet unresolved (my dr. appt. is Thursday). Do you have a different suggestion?

Ah, I see.

The key to these shoulder issues is twofold:

1.) Identifying movements that don't hurt it and working on those and/or
2.) Focusing on a rehab program for them as we go on the OFFENSIVE in other areas.

Some ideas on recovery modalities for the shoulder:

https://bodybuildingsupplements.com/phpB ... .php?t=886

Sled dragging is a BIG part of the equation. If you don't have one, please consider either building one of buying one. Dragging forwards mimicking a bench press, curl and especially front raise type of movement does wonders. For every front drag though, please incorporate a rearward drag mimicking an upright row, "pull apart" type movement and low row to ensure shoulder balance.

In combination with the above it'll go a LONG way to restoring blood flow to the injured area, bringing fresh new blood in to heal and removing waste products. It will do all of this with ZERO eccentric damage to the muscle usually seen with weight training (i.e. lowering of the weight causing no mal-adaptive muscle damage). One time purchase, lifetime of use/gains.

https://www.flexcart.com/members/eliteft ... m=PD&pid=8

Just like The Blueprint

I see. So to ensure understanding, you would suggest that, rather than perform deadlifts (with other more traditional upper body lifts during EDTs) on upper body days, I identify a lift that I can handle (it seems like Incline DB or Decline Barbell/Machine might be a lift I could work with). I guess I was assuming I would use deadlift on those days as that was the lift for which I established my max during the first five training sessions of Feast (in addition to squat).

So perhaps on leg days I do squat for GLP with Leg press and RDL for EDT.

Then upper body days, rather than do DL as my GLP lift, I would do something like incline DB or decline BB with EDTs of something like Lat pulls/Military press (if doable) and Skullcrushers/Incline DB Curls? If this is the case, should I just estimate my max on the chest lift for GLP calculation? Also, instead of a chest lift could my GLP lift be something like Bent over rows or Lat pulldowns instead?

Sorry for all the questions...Just want to get this sorted out before my upper body workout on Thursday. Will update later, but today's leg workout was awesome...I absolutely killed it. Thanks!