Archive for October, 2023

Yes I am going hard to keep going.

I took up the Hippensteel stretching regimen & have also looked into Gold Medal Bodies, Hyperbolic stretching, Foundation training, Yin Yoga, Convict Conditioning etc.

In other words I am working on general athleticism, flexibility & mobility in addition to the good old weights.

I stopped running & replaced it with Stairmaster
I stopped deadlift & replaced it with Pullup & Dips
I also started the ATG program and have my keen eye on Pacific Rim athletics

So thats it dont give up – try harder.

Yeah all of my wordpress blogs got infected with malware. Months ago & I hired a guy to fix it but he did a half pie job so for now this blog is working again.

Much has happened since last year. I moved away from Nelson as it was pretty boring & I was only there to escape COVID lockdowns. Meanwhile Auckland city has gone to the pack so I am with family up north for a while.

I was convinced my back issues were soft tissue caused by lipomas. Sadly this was wishful thinking. I got an MRI and have spinal degeneration in my lumbar. Basically 2 compressed disks and a vertebrae with bone spurs.

Seeing this on the MRI kind of made me sick to my stomach but there you go a 55 year old is likely to have it.

Immediately I stopped deadlifting and leg press. I also started the Hippensteel stretching program in earnest.

Now I can do a full quad stretch & get on to my back on the floor. Also good progress in other moves. In fact I am doing ROM I have not done since I was 19 in some moves.

This has essentially stopped all back pain during the day. Also I do dead hangs daily. At night it started to hurt a little but nothing like it was when I was still deadlifting.

Now I sleep on my side with a pillow between my knees or flat on my back. Works for me.

My spine is fucked and will never repair by itself.