[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by JP10

Oh yeah I am feeling the soy today for sure. I'm not going to deep dive into my bowel movements like UncleWede, but I will say that my intestines are quite pissed.

Why all the negativity around soy? Personally, it seems the easiest form of protein for me personally to assimilate


Plus, who doesn't like moobs????

[JP10]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

their pb kashi is so hella good - be nice if they could ditch the soy though

Yeah the PB Kashi is dangerous. I made the mistake of hitting that kashi hard again last night. I am paying for it this morning lol. I'm about through my 2 boxes though, so itll be good when it is gone.

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

Isn't it just beauty bark and twigs in a bag

Yeah but tasty bark and twigs haha.

[Mingwan]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

15-20 minutes of specific stretches before getting out of bed and 15-20 minutes of specific stretches before bed (while in bed) for about 2 months, religiously, completely fixed my piriformis pain. After getting an MRI, it was shown that one of my lower back discs were bulging and it was triggering the pain. The pain was terrible, like a tooth ace but in my leg from below glute to down the toward my calf.

I also had pain in my forearm. I have stopped overtraining my biceps and forearms and I also make sure that when I am holding a dumbell or barbell or pullup bar, my thumb is wrapped around the bar, no more pain. Not sure if you by chance have any small children, but if you do, make sure that when you pick them up you are using your bicep, not your forearm. Same goes for holding them, use your bicep not your forearm.

What stretches were you doing? Maybe I haven't been doing the right stretches, or I'm over or under stretching. There was a period where I spent 2 weeks doing rigorous stretching and it only seemed to make my piriformis syndrome worse.

I'll try wrapping my thumb around the bars or handles. I have a tendency to not do that.

Originally Posted by JP10

I'll second florida's comment in regards to the stretching. I had to rehab my lower back for near 6 months when I had sciatic nerve pain, it was awful. Some days I struggled to tie my shoes. Mingwan what kind of shape are you in currently if you do not mind me asking? I tend to attempt everything possible before I move to a more drastic treatment, thus if maybe losing a few pounds could provide some relief I would do that as well as the stretching first and foremost. The right front delt/upper pec pain sounds like more of a mobility issue to me. I'll get forearm cramping as well, but I usually just chalk that up to hydration.

It is difficult to recommend BPC-157 without knowing all that you attempted so far. The good news is that it is not like it can drastically affect your hormones or something to that regard (unlike PEDs). It is known to help with anti-inflammation, as well as other great affects. So in my eyes (again not a recommendation), it is relatively safe and effective. Another item I can not speak to is in regards to lasting affects of using BPC-157. It may be like a bandaid to an extent, unfortunately my experience with it is quite limited. Again, know of guys that have used it and stated that they were recovering, but it is difficult to determine how much of that reaction was due to placebo.

I'm not nearly in the shape I used to be, but I'm not overweight or anything like that. Since covid, I've lost about 20lbs. I'm pretty active. Workout for about 1.5-2hrs 4 times a week, and walk about 3-4 miles a day with my dog 4-5 times a week.

I guess I kind of feel like I'm in a trap. I think a big contributor to my lower back tightness and piriformis syndrome are my hamstrings. They're tight af. It's embarrassing how poor my flexibility. I legit can't bend over with my legs and back straight past 45 degrees without my hamstrings feeling super tight and causing tingling sensations in my feet. I also have a slight anterior pelvic tilt as well and I know the recommendation for that is not to stretch the hamstrings....So i guess a good starter in addition to doing what floridaorange suggested would be loosen my hamstrings up without making my anterior pelvic tilt worse.

I figured if BPC 157 was actually to be effective, I could use it as a bandaid to maybe reduce possible inflammation to help speed up recovery.

[floridaorange]

The stretches were given to me by an Orthopedic office after going in and being shown how. I can hear the despair in your response - because i'm familiar with it. Go see an orthopedic clinic. I wish i had gone sooner. There's about 10 different stretches - you do 4 sets of 10 seconds per leg. Here are some not all of them. GL!

https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/vide...tica-stretches

[floridaorange]

Originally Posted by Mingwan

What stretches were you doing? Maybe I haven't been doing the right stretches, or I'm over or under stretching. There was a period where I spent 2 weeks doing rigorous stretching and it only seemed to make my piriformis syndrome worse.

I'll try wrapping my thumb around the bars or handles. I have a tendency to not do that.

I'm not nearly in the shape I used to be, but I'm not overweight or anything like that. Since covid, I've lost about 20lbs. I'm pretty active. Workout for about 1.5-2hrs 4 times a week, and walk about 3-4 miles a day with my dog 4-5 times a week.

I guess I kind of feel like I'm in a trap. I think a big contributor to my lower back tightness and piriformis syndrome are my hamstrings. They're tight af. It's embarrassing how poor my flexibility. I legit can't bend over with my legs and back straight past 45 degrees without my hamstrings feeling super tight and causing tingling sensations in my feet. I also have a slight anterior pelvic tilt as well and I know the recommendation for that is not to stretch the hamstrings....So i guess a good starter in addition to doing what floridaorange suggested would be loosen my hamstrings up without making my anterior pelvic tilt worse.

I figured if BPC 157 was actually to be effective, I could use it as a bandaid to maybe reduce possible inflammation to help speed up recovery.

Originally Posted by Mingwan

What stretches were you doing? Maybe I haven't been doing the right stretches, or I'm over or under stretching. There was a period where I spent 2 weeks doing rigorous stretching and it only seemed to make my piriformis syndrome worse.

I'll try wrapping my thumb around the bars or handles. I have a tendency to not do that.

I'm not nearly in the shape I used to be, but I'm not overweight or anything like that. Since covid, I've lost about 20lbs. I'm pretty active. Workout for about 1.5-2hrs 4 times a week, and walk about 3-4 miles a day with my dog 4-5 times a week.

I guess I kind of feel like I'm in a trap. I think a big contributor to my lower back tightness and piriformis syndrome are my hamstrings. They're tight af. It's embarrassing how poor my flexibility. I legit can't bend over with my legs and back straight past 45 degrees without my hamstrings feeling super tight and causing tingling sensations in my feet. I also have a slight anterior pelvic tilt as well and I know the recommendation for that is not to stretch the hamstrings....So i guess a good starter in addition to doing what floridaorange suggested would be loosen my hamstrings up without making my anterior pelvic tilt worse.

I figured if BPC 157 was actually to be effective, I could use it as a bandaid to maybe reduce possible inflammation to help speed up recovery.

Also while part of the issue is likely tight hamstrings - the other issue is your core strength. As we age muscles atrophy, once the core becomes weak - the lower back tends to follow. Strengthening the core, proper posture while sitting, balancing out your body and the opposing/supportive muscles to the tight areas is critical.

[chassis]

Pool day, swam a bit more than a mile. Felt good. Deltoid feels good. Need to watch the lower lumbar disc. Today it was fine.

[Mingwan]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

Also while part of the issue is likely tight hamstrings - the other issue is your core strength. As we age muscles atrophy, once the core becomes weak - the lower back tends to follow. Strengthening the core, proper posture while sitting, balancing out your body and the opposing/supportive muscles to the tight areas is critical.

Yep, posture is definitely something I need to continue working on. My posture is so compromised at this point that it’s actually uncomfortable to sit in a proper posture.

[chassis]

Pool day. A bit more than a mile. Cardio felt good. Ortho system has other ideas...

Humerus to scapula, or scapula to clavicle joints, are stiff when I start swimming, but loosen up by mid-workout. Also, trapezius mid-fibers to C7/T1 area has given me trouble for many years and it is sore lately. Root cause, I think, is poor form which led to injury when weightlifting years ago. It works itself out during the workout but at the start there is some discomfort.

[1MOREMOD]

Picked up cable machine from Costco for home gym

[JP10]

Got back in the gym this morning after a rough weekend of wedding activities. Felt good to be back, although I was pretty tired overall. Need another night of decent sleep as the weekend did not provide much of that haha. Today was back/tricep day, everything went solid for the most part, although I do feel like I strained something in my bicep. Going to be continuing to re-hydrate the next day or so, Wouldn't go as far to say I am about to start cutting, but plan to bring the calories down this week to an extent.

[King Rudi]

Dying to get in the gym today. I've been bulking since October and feel like my shoulders aren't as big as I would like for them to be. So, I did what any modern day gentleman would do; I went to YouTube. Some new movements I'm gonna try out tonight and see how bad I can hate life for an hour.

[chassis]

Pool day. A bit more than 1 mile swim as usual. Felt good. Might take a week off and give the skin a break from the chlorine. Also one shoulder feels a little over exerted so a week off will help there as well.

I haven't done a good hike in the woods lately, hopefully it will be above freezing next week to make hiking more appealing.

[1MOREMOD]

Dealing with what feels like hip impingement all week. Not sure what's going on can do squats and regular leg movement but moving leg laterally or back not good. Assembled this today.