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Did the MRI scan and went to the doctor again.
Nothing new, things are exactly like we expected. No herniation, just an early stage and small scale degeneration of the last disc. All other discs are in perfect condition, back alignment and posture is great, nerves canal is 100% intact and doctor characterized it "very thick and healthy". The degeneration doesn't have projections on any nerves. I was lucky, it was small and i caught it early. If i don't re-injure it, the degeneration will dehydrate and shrink and the disk will come back to its original state and ill be considered healed.
Now the bad news. As Andrew said, i have to be conservative. Very conservative. That's new to me, and it is kinda hard to accept. No more basketball this year. Doctor said no free weights too, unless i am sitting or lying on a bench. Running and skiing is fine. Sucks but could be much worse and anyway it is what it is and i gotta do what i gotta do.

Ok so what's next?
As i already said , bye bye basketball for this year, reevaluate things next September.
New gym goals : #1 will be to build a badass core to support my spine better. And since i can't do much sports training i'll switch it to BB style split, get a little swole maybe, just for fun.
New sport focus : running. Next race is end of April, if things go well id like to be able to do a 5K @100% there. Ill ease into it though. Start with walking, switch to light jogging, gradually get to running again.
Those are all draft thoughts. I'll study a lot to structure and tweak my 'rehab' plan during the holidays ( very suiting that i have 2 weeks of rest ahead ). Ill post thoughts & plans. But anyone that has any interesting/valuable info/advice/knowledge, im all ears.

bump, happy new year friends!

My back thing feels @100% now. It doesn't mean i am 100% but that's how it feels. I can do whatever i like in everyday activities without any hesitation and i haven't felt the slightest bugging doing something. Of course i am still cautious whenever i have to lift something heavy to do that in proper form, but i can still do it and it is pain-free.
However the degeneration was there so i intend to stick with the previous post plan and stay conservative. I haven't been able to find much stuff about training with disc degeneration ( note, that is the early stage of a herniation/bulge, not to be confused with degenerative disc decease with it something totally different and serious. ). I found many articles about training with bulge/herniation but they weren't very helpful, they were either too optimistic or too pessimistic, but to be more accurate I'd call them simplifying, like don't do anything, or do everything that doesn't hurt, come on!

So, the training plan goes as following:

Monday:
Chest: 4x10 bench, 3x12 incline DB fly or Peck Deck
Biceps: seated DB curl, 3x12 seated barbell preacher curl.
Core: 3x20 seated weighted crunches machine, 3x20 seated weighted back extensions machine.

Tuesday:
Cardio: 30-45' worth , start conservative, gradually push to explore limits
Core: Planks , lying back extensions

Wednesday:
Back: 4xF pull-ups, 3x12 seated chest supported rows.
Triceps: 3x12 rope pull-downs , 3x12 skull crushers.
Core: 3x20 leg raise , 3x20 45' hyper-extensions ( not sure about that, explore if safe )

Thursday: Repeat Tuesday

Friday/Saturday: uncertain of the order, i like lifting Saturdays because good food and rest but according to this plan its more suitable to lift Friday.
Anyway one the two days will be again cardio&core and the other will be:
Shoulders: 4x10 Seated DB OHP , 3x12 shrugs or seated/lateral raises
LEGS: no idea what to do. knee extensions/leg curs seem dumb, after 10 years of squats&DLs i can't relate to them. Lunges should be fine as second exercise. But main? Leg press is a no. Single leg squats? very light high volume limited ROM squats? HELP!
Core: I'd like to have some side stuff too. What should i do? Anti rotational stuff? Side bends? Medicine ball twists? HELP!

Sunday: off

Plan's target : Build bionic core. Use increased cardio to get fit/get rid of fat/get better at running. Since only one leg day since ever, use the extra upper lifts to get strong arms/back to support waist even more in everyday stuff.

Please provide any thoughts/tweaks on that plan. Specifically on my HELP points.
Also about cardio, now that the weather still sucks and the back is probably still tender, most of it will be in the gym. What should i use? Treadmill? Elliptic? 'Seated' bike? 'normal' bike?
Anything else?

4 January 2019

Bodyweight@session : ~82,5kg , what! the! fuck!
Soreness : chest, pecks, biceps, triceps, forearms, traps, abs
Injuries/aches : none

DEAD HANG PULLUPS:
7@BW
6@BW
6@BW
6@BW
-Rusty+sore all over made those very weak.

SEATED CHEST SUPPORTED ROWS:
12@25kg
12@25kg
12@25kg

TRICEPS ROPE PUSHDOWN:
10@80lbs
10@80lbs
10@80lbs
10@80lbs

SKULL CRUSHERS:
12@20kg
12@20kg
12@20kg
-This is fine doing but picking/leaving the bar is not so convenient for back. Might cancel.

SLANT BENCH LEG RAISE:
15@BW
15@BW
15@BW

45 DEGREES BACK EXTENSION:
12@BW
12@BW
12@BW

Not able to do 20 reps in any of those exercises. Oh well, no rush. No bugging at all in back extensions, that's good!

^^^^
Thanks acole! Hanging ( straight & lateral) leg raises is something i had in mind but im too weak for them now. As for legs, I had already gone to the gym when i read your message, interesting session:

5 January 2019

Bodyweight@session : ~84,5kg , it is all over the place, i gotta wait for it to stabilize
Soreness : little bit of everything except legs
Injuries/aches : none

SQUAT:
10@20kg
10@30kg
10@40kg
10@50kg
-Squats already, yay! Super careful, keeping back tight and arched all the time, stopping at the depth that i would lean forward or lose my arch, that landed somewhere below half and parallel.
Delighted!!! I don't care for a big squat now as acole said, i will keep progressing those 10s, maybe use slower eccentrics if bar begins to feel too heavy on back.

DB LUNGE:
8 each leg @ 10kg each hand
8 each leg @ 10kg each hand
8 each leg @ 10kg each hand
-No back stress at all.

SEATED NEUTRAL GRIP DB OHP:
10@12kg each hand
10@12kg each hand
10@12kg each hand
10@12kg each hand
-Was a bit afraid of them but no problems here too.

SEATED LATERAL RAISE MACHINE:
12@10kg
12@15kg
10@20kg
-Seated DB fly didn't work (mechanics felt off ) and i didn't want to risk standing ( 6'5'' wingspan creates some serious torque force on waist ) so machine it is.

STANDING CABLE TORSO TWISTS:
12 each side @ 35lbs
12 each side @ 35lbs
12 each side @ 35lbs
-That is a very nice one, enjoyed it. Not sure i remember the load right, it was the 2nd plate, will check next time i go to gym.

So it looks like i am much better than i was afraid. Got to squat, lunge, OHP, without any sign of bugging. Of course, when i will feel the pain it will be too late, so i have to stay conservative, but the overall sense is very encouraging. Not changing anything though. I will build that bionic core. Will progress this 3-days program i did above, add cardio days in between, do that until mid March ( ~10 weeks ) and then switch it to 5K race prep ( race is 14 April ).
 

^^^^ Yes, it is going good so far. Lets hope it stays that way.

10 January 2019

Bodyweight@session : ~83kg
Soreness : none
Injuries/aches : none

BENCH PRESS:
10@50kg ( +5 kg )
10@50kg ( +5 kg )
9@50kg ( +5 kg ) , ( -1 rep )
9@50kg ( +5 kg ) , ( -1 rep )

INCLINE BENCH DB FLY:
12@12kg per hand ( +2 kg per hand )
12@12kg per hand ( +2 kg per hand )
12@12kg per hand ( +2 kg per hand )

SEATED DB CURL:
10 each hand @ 14kg ( +2 kg per hand )
10 each hand @ 14kg ( +2 kg per hand )
8 each hand @ 14kg ( +2 kg per hand ) , ( -2 reps )
8 each hand @ 14kg ( +2 kg per hand ) , ( -2 reps )

SEATED EZ BAR PREACHER CURL:
12@22,5kg ( +2,5 kg )
10@22,5kg ( +2,5 kg ) , ( -2 reps )
10@22,5kg ( +2,5 kg ) , ( -2 reps )

SEATED CRUNCHES MACHINE:
20@50lbs
20@50lbs
20@50lbs
-5lbs increments is broken, can only do 15lbs jumps so didn't do it this time.

SEATED BACK EXTENSION MACHINE:
20@65lbs ( +15 lbs )
20@65lbs ( +15 lbs )
20@65lbs ( +15 lbs )
-50lbs was too conservative last time, even 65 was rather too easy.

Rough week, kinda sick, some extra social stuff, took me till Thursday to get back to the gym.
Very nice progress, added weight everywhere even though i missed a few reps.

15 January 2019

Bodyweight@session : ~84,5kg
Soreness : lats, traps, some triceps, core ( mostly abs and some back )
Injuries/aches : none

TREADMILL:
30 minutes @ 1% incline , 3.75km

ELBOW SUPPORTED TUCK LEG RAISES:
18@BW
18@BW
15@BW
-Was doing those alternating, 1 left , 1 straight, 1 right.

CONTRALATERAL SUPERMAN:
20@BW
20@BW
20@BW
-This is a very nice one, enjoyed it.

First running/athletic activity since back injury!!! 
Was playing around with speed, checking my condition, this was more like a testing session that a running one. I got up to 9kmh which i maintained for 5 minutes easy. Was good for more speed and more pushing duration but decided to keep it easy and see how it feels next day, no rush to push.
Generally i was delighted to find my cardiovascular and muscular system in much better running shape than what i was afraid after this long off.
Even more delighted for not having even the slightest bugging on back or anything when i was running and next day that i am logging now. Very confident to go out and run normally again right away but the weather ain't good ( at nights that i run now it is around 0 celsium / 35 Farenheit plus some strong winds ), so gonna stick with treadmill for a while i guess.

BTW, what is your view on this 1% incline thing? I remember it was supposed to be more natural and you should always run like that and never at 0 incline. Is that valid or is it one of those old deprecated gym myths?

I heard about this 1% incline thing, they say it closely imitates outdoor running.

https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20799025/what-incline-should-i-use-on-my-treadmill/

I don't understand the science behind it, but I guess it makes sense in terms of wind resistance.

I do the majority of my TM running with a 1 incline as well. I sometimes drop it for the last 5 minutes of an effort when im going to increase the speed a lot. The idea behind the 1% is that it compensates for the mechanical advantage of running in place as opposed to against the conditions. FWIW if you do most of your running with an incline you can always drop it for a PR attempt or something and get some small boost. So for training it's something you can just add and then turn off when you need a PR. Idk. I think mechanically it might be more beneficial as well in terms of form but i have no idea if that's actually the case or just running dogma.