Striving Towards the Ideal Body — Part VI
This is part six in my journey towards an ideal physique. Here is part I if you wish to read from the beginning.
In my journey at this point I was religiously lifting three times a week; squats every day and increments of 5 pounds on each lift. I’d say I was doing alright. I had had some setbacks and didn’t hesitate to take deloads and sometimes start over from the bar. I kept my ego outside the gym before going in. The squat rack was my sacred space and my body was my temple.
I was lifting pretty heavy weights as you can see in the video above which is a twice body-weight lift from the ground. Note that I had to do it twice as the guy who was supposed to take a video the first time didn’t hit record. So technically it was a double. I was really stoked and proud of my strength gains.
Unfortunately at this time I also injured my hip. I was doing everything by the book but my body is lopsided because I broke my ankle a few years ago. So it tries to overcompensate on one side. This overcompensation made my squats and deadlifts torsional movements on my right side. The hip wasn’t very serious; I took a break, stretched and started with the bar again.
However, it started to bother me again. I knew that my pelvis was tilted and my body wasn’t taking the load evenly. I decided to go to a chiropractor. He seemed knowledgeable and told me that I lean on my left which was true. He also recommended a few tricks and tips for better posture. I felt a lot better than before (probably placebo effect).
I was quick to notice that the three squat sessions a week were a little bit of a stretch for me. I also noticed that I would get winded very easily if I did anything else like hiking, running etc. So at this point I decided to switch from a 5x5 beginner lifting routine to an intermediate routine — Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1. This required lifting four days a week and a lift per day. This was a whole lot easier on my body.
This change made all the difference in the world. I wasn’t lifting as many times. I wasn’t as exhausted anymore. I didn’t feel plateaued. I felt stronger than ever. Mind you I was still lopsided in my body posture while lifting and this was going to have consequences down the road.
Read part seven here.
