Reduce hunger

Progress Report: my experimentation with Optimal Nutrition 100% whey protein powder

  So for the last approximately two months I've been sucking down Optimal Nutrition 100% whey protein while I work out.  The result: crap.


 These are records of my one rep max's. I rate them on a five point scale. 5 means I completed the lift with perfect form. 4 is a completed lift with noticeable shakiness. 3 is completing the lift 3/4 of the way up. 2 is half way up. 1 is a couple inches up. 0 is no noticeable separation between the weight and whatever the weight was resting on.


Gym  4/1/14 1120am
Seated bench press leverage handles set back approximately 3" behind plane of chest 250-4, 260-2
Stiff legged deadlift 425-1
Rack pull 485-1
Leg press life fitness one leg at a time
Left 50-4, 60-4
Right 50-4, 60-4
Free motion chest press seated with hand pulleys 180-0
Free motion Tricep extension 180-3
Free motion bicep curl seated 180-2

Gym Friday 115 pm  4/4/14
Seated shoulder press 165-1
Stiff legged deadlift 425-1
Pec fly life fitness machine  295-1
Tricep extension seated icarian machine 150-3
Leg press seated icarian machine 320-4, 340-1
Cybex machine lat row seated 230-1

Home Tuesday 4/8/14 1245 pm
Cambered bar bench press 215-1
Cambered bar bench press feet in the air 195-1
Stiff legged deadlift no belt 425-1
Rack pull no belt 505-3
Pause squat no belt 270-3, 295-3
Tricep extension on floor 105-1

Gym Friday 4/11/14 1115 am
Seated shoulder press life fitness machine 170-2
Pec fly free motion machine 200-4
Stiff legged deadlift 445-1
Leg press seated life fitness machine while wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 350-2
One legged leg press life fitness machine
Right 80-4
Left 80-4
Seated row cable machine 230-1
Tricep extension seated  life fitness free motion machine
200-1

Gym Tuesday 12 am 4/15/14
Leverage machine handles set 3" behind vertical plane of chest 270-1
Stiff legged deadlift 445-1
Rack pull 515-0
Leg press life fitness machine while wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 350-2 Chest press seated free motion cables 180-1
Tricep extension free motion machine 200-3
Seated bicep curl free motion machine 200-3

Gym Friday 4/18/14  3 pm
Shoulder press hoist machine 160-2, 170-1
Stiff legged deadlift 465-1
Pause squat wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 310-3
Lat row cable life fitness machine 260-2
Lat row life fitness machine  210-3, 230-1
Pec fly life fitness machine 265-1
Rope Tricep extension machine 100-2, 100-4, 115-1

Gym Tuesday 4/22/14 10 pm
Leverage chest press machine handles set 3" behind vertical plane of chest 280-1
Stiff legged deadlift 465-1
Rack pull 505-1
Free motion chest press cable 180-1
Free motion bicep curl cable seated 110-1, 110-3
Life fitness leg press machine while wearing inzer strongman knee sleeves 350-2
Free motion Tricep extension machine 200-4

Gym Friday 11 am 4/25/14
Hoist shoulder press 170-1
Conventional deadlift on rubberized foam flooring 475-1
Stiff legged deadlift 415-1
Lat row life fitness cable machine  260-2
Pec fly free motion machine 180-1
Technogym leg press one legged
Left 80-5, 100-1
Right 80-5, 100-1
Tricep extension standing rope on cable 115-1

Gym Monday 245 pm 4/28/14
Stiff legged deadlift 475-1
Rack pull 505-1
Leverage chest press 280-1
Life fitness seated leg press 350-2
Free motion machine chest press cable 180-2
Free motion bicep curl cable machine 120-1
Life fitness triceps pushdown 130-1


Home 5/1/14 Thursday 12 pm
Shoulder press seated 145-4, 175-1
Stiff legged deadlift 385-1, 435-1
Pendlay barbell row 295-2, 315-1
Pause squat 320-2
Pec fly dumbbells 30's-1
Tricep extension skull crusher 95-2

Gym Sunday 545 pm 5/4/14
Leverage chest press 300-1
Stiff legged deadlift 485-1
Kickstand squat
Left 285-4
Right 285-4
Rack pull 515-1
Life fitness chest press cable machine
200-0
Life fitness bicep curl cable machine 130-1
Life fitness Tricep machine rope pushdown
115-1

Home 5/8/14 12 pm Thursday
shoulder press seated 195-1
Conventional deadlift 465-1
Stiff legged deadlift 495-1
Pendlay barbell row 325-1
Pec fly dumbbells pair of:
35's-2
30's-3
Skull crushers Tricep extension barbell
95-1
Pause squat 365-1

Gym Sunday 5/11/14 1130 a.m.
Hoist chest press 160-2
Stiff legged deadlift 505-1
Icarian one legged leg press
Left 120-1, 140-1
Right 120-1, 140-1
Rack pull 525-0
Bicep curl free motion cable machine
140-1

Gym Wednesday 10 pm 5/14/14
Shoulder press seated 205-1
Conventional deadlift 1" deficit 455-1
Lat row life fitness machine 240-2
One hand deadlifts
Left 235-1
Right 235-1
Pec flyes pair of:
35's-2
Triceps pushdown straight bar 130-1
One legged life fitness machine leg press
Left 70-1
Right 70-1

Gym Sunday 5/18/14 10:30 a.m.
Hoist chest press 170-2
Stiff legged deadlift 505-1
Technogym one legged leg press
 Left 120-1
Right 120-1
Rope Tricep extension 115-1
Rack pull 525-1
Freemotion bicep curl machine  200-3
Freemotion chest press cable machine 190-1

Gym Wednesday 930 pm 5/21/14
Shoulder press life fitness machine 170-2, 190-2
One hand stiff legged deadlift
Left 285-1
Right 285-1
Lat row life fitness cable machine 260-2
Free motion Pec fly machine 290-1
Life fitness one legged leg press
Left 70-1
Right 70-1
One hand rope Tricep extension cable machine
Left 60-1
Right 60-1


The one noticeable generalization that can be gleaned from the numbers is that I made no real strength gains as a whole. Sure my chest press and shoulder press went up, but that was because I always start my workout with a chest press or shoulder press.  But the other lifts like the rack pulls or leg press or the tricep extension barely saw any gains.

As a matter of fact, almost always towards the last quarter of the training session I always felt kind of weak, and that feeling worsened later on in the last couple workouts to the point that I had trouble completing them due to weakness. Further, the last three training sessions I could feel my body going into a catabolic state which means my body was eating my muscles as an energy source to finish the session. This is the worst case scenario that could happen.

So I finally smartened up and quit the Optimal Nutrition protein when my supply ran out and went back to the protein that I know can sustain me through my workout:  the supposedly crap protein with all of its amino acid garbage proprietary blends.  They're all pretty much the same thing. I just happened to settle on some Myofusion protein not out of any informed decision but rather from the fact that it had some casein protein in it. Casein is supposed to be a slow release protein but I really don't know how true that is. Also it was marked down in price.

 Compare the two nutrition labels. The first is the Myofusion. The second is the Optimal Nutrition.

100% Whey Gold Double Rich Chocolate Supplement Facts

How do you read a supplement facts label?

Supplement Facts Serving Size  1 SCOOP Servings Per Container   28 Amount Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 120 Gm N/A* Calories From Fat 10 Gm N/A* Total Fat 1 Gm N/A* Saturated Fat 0.5 Gm N/A* TRANS FAT 0 Gm N/A* Cholesterol 30 Mg N/A* Sodium 60 Mg N/A* Total Carbohydrate 3 Gm N/A* Sugars 1 Gm N/A* Protein 24 Gm N/A* Vitamin A 0  N/A* Calcium 0  N/A* Vitamin C 0  N/A* Iron 0  N/A*

* Daily value not established Other Ingredients:
Protein Blend (Whey Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Whey Peptides), Natural and artificial flavors, cookie crumbs (enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, palm and palm kernel oil, cocoa (processed with alkali), high fructose corn syrup, corn flour, salt, dextrose, sodium bicarbonate, soya lecithin), salt, gum blend (cellulose gum, xanthan gum, carrageenan), lecithin, sucralose, aminogen, lactase.

 As you can see they both have the good wholesome artificial sweeteners and fillers. The big difference is the Myofusion has all the garbage protein amino acids blends that's supposedly used by these unscrupulous protein manufactures to boost the grams of protein per scoop. This is to be stingy with the more expensive whey protein and use the cheaper amino acids to boost the protein numbers. I got this idea from the guy below.





So I guess the Optimal Nutrition protein is supposed to be better, but for me the results were terrible.  I don't know why that's the case but I will definitely stay away from the 100% whey protein powder and choose a whey protein blended with casein and amino acids.

Incidentally here's my last workout on the Myofusion protein powder. I didn't hit many personal best records but at least I got through the workout without any feelings of weakness.

Progress Report

Here's my numbers from my Wednesday night workout:


Gym Wednesday 930 pm 5/21/14
Shoulder press life fitness machine 170-2, 190-2
One hand stiff legged deadlift
Left 285-1
Right 285-1
Lat row life fitness cable machine 260-2
Free motion Pec fly machine 290-1
Life fitness one legged leg press
Left 70-1
Right 70-1
One hand rope Tricep extension cable machine
Left 60-1
Right 60-1


Workout notes:

I still maintain that I'm stronger in the afternoon than I am at night, and this workout proves it. I really didn't see many gains and I didn't expect to either.

I tried stiff legged deadlifting with one hand again, and I ended up tweaking my left shoulder because I was going for a personal record like I always do, and my shoulder got pulled out of position by the heavy weight. Then when I tried going up with the weight I could feel my left shoulder popping out of its socket which has caused me nagging shoulder pain.

The only way I'm going to work my lower back is if I take shoulders out of the lift and begin alternating my stiff legged deadlift with a good morning for my next workout.  The good morning just has you rest the bar on the back of your neck. No need for the shoulders with a good morning.


Also I'm starting to get a little tendonitis in my elbows from doing tricep extensions, so my workaround is just to do tricep extensions on a cable machine using a rope attachment.  The roe allows a lot of play in the hands. This tends to put more focus on the wrists and shift it away from the elbows. Also I'll alternate on different workout days one handed rope tricep extensions on a cable machine with two handed rope tricep extensions.

Why this blog isn't called body aesthetics without steroids

First off I'm going to tell you I don't know jack about bodybuilding.  I don't care to know about it either. Sure, I'll mention a few things bodybuilders do when they train but to that extent I am very ignorant of bodybuilding.

Most of the time I'm bloated from and/either/or whey protein, beef, chicken, rice, Clif oatmeal bars.  I'm the furthest thing from pretty, and since I'm a dude I really don't care what I look like. If you do care maybe this isn't the right information for you

All I can guarantee you if you follow the instructions in this blog are strength and muscle. If you're looking to learn how to cut and lose body fat then this really isn't the place for you because if you train like me you're going to be hungry most  of the time.  If you're not gorging yourself with animal proteins after you workout, I can almost guarantee you won't see any muscle or strength gains.

Now if you haven't heard of Mark Bell you should.  This is his video on strength while losing fat.

Scooby's take on HIIT

This is Scooby. If you don't him, you should. He gives a lot of free advice on nutrition and training.

Progress Report: It was bound to happen.

What the workout numbers mean:

First off I only record my 1 rep max out set, so I list the weight I attempted in lbs. and then I list the rating I gave to the lift. On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 is barely lifting the weight off the ground or barely getting the bar away from my chest.  5 means I completed the lift with perfect form.  4 means I completed the lift but with terrible form and a lot of shakiness.  3 means I finished the lift about 3/4 of the way.  2 means I completed the lift about half way up.  0 means I couldn't even lift the weight so that there was no noticeable gap between the weight and whatever it was resting on.


Now look at my workout numbers.

Gym Sunday 5/18/14 10:30 a.m.
Hoist chest press 170-2
Stiff legged deadlift 505-1
Technogym one legged leg press
 Left 120-1
Right 120-1
Rope Tricep extension 115-1
Rack pull 525-1
Freemotion bicep curl machine  200-3
Freemotion chest press cable machine 190-1



Gym Wednesday 10 pm 5/14/14
Shoulder press seated 205-1
Conventional deadlift 1" deficit by standing on two 45 lb. weight plates 455-1
Lat row life fitness machine 240-2
One hand deadlifts using olympic barbell
Left 235-1
Right 235-1
Pec flyes pair of:
35's-2
Triceps pushdown straight bar 130-1
One legged life fitness machine leg press
Left 70-1
Right 70-1

Gym Sunday 5/11/14 1130 a.m.
Hoist chest press 160-2
Stiff legged deadlift 505-1
Icarian one legged leg press
Left 120-1, 140-1
Right 120-1, 140-1
Rack pull 525-0
Bicep curl free motion cable machine
140-1


On 5/14 I finally had to come up with a stiff legged deadlift variation because of nagging shoulder soreness. As you can see on 5/11 I attempted 505 lb. stiff legged deadlift.  After the workout and the days in between my next workout, my shoulders especially my left shoulder were sore, and the days between workouts I was constantly having to roll my shoulders around to get them to loosen up.  Since I didn't want that to happen again, on 5/14 I switched to a conventional deadlift because it alleviates stress on the shoulder by allowing more slack in the arms which gives the shoulders more room to swing back and down into your lats thus allowing a stable safe position to pull big weights.  The problem with that is the conventional deadlift really doesn't hit the lower back the way I want it to, so I came up with a one handed stiff leg deadlift variation. 

It was somewhat of a success.  I didn't hit any pr's in my stiff legged deadlift on 5/18 but I didn't lose any strength either compared to what I did on 5/11.  The reason it was a success was that after I did the one hand stiff leg deadlifts my shoulders weren't sore. The reason for that was because I was shifting my body to one side and allowing more slack in the arm I was lifting with and thus enabling the shoulder to be brought more backwards and packed down deeper into the lat.  Also I was pulling less weight with one hand and lifting from a different shoulder angle compared to a two handed stiff legged deadlift.  This helps with shoulder soreness alleviation as well.

I also like the intense side muscle recruitment from the one hand stiff legged deadlift.  This was my first time ever doing it and I could really feel my oblique and lumbar muscles respective to the side I was lifting from being contracted in almost severe tension.  I'm so used to deadlifting with two hands that the experience with deadlifting with one hand was foreign and almost counter intuitive because in a two handed deadlift you can feel the lumbar muscles on both sides of your back firing whereas with the one hand deadlift you get the right or left lumbar muscle fiber recruitment and a strong pull on the oblique muscle corresponding to the side you're lifting from.

There was a problem though.  The olympic bar is not the best bar to use when one hand deadlifting.  It's too long.  Some of my lifts were fine for the first couple inches off the ground, but then as I got further up the bar would tilt to one side and crash onto the ground. I think the next time I do one hand deadlifts, I'll be using a bicep curl bar.  Those are much shorter in length than the olympic bar, and they may prove to be more stable.  Also I had a tendency to line the bar up so that the middle of it was equidistant between my right and left shins.  The next time I'll try lining the bar so the middle of it is aligned offcenter from my stance so that my arm just has to reach straight down and pull straight up.  This will provide more stability by shortening the range of motion and thus not allowing the bar more to time waddle out of position and crash to the ground. 

But I just want to make it clear I didn't come up with this variation because I thought it would make me stronger.  I could've continued to doing stiff legged deadlifts and I would have continued to make gains just like in my squat. I could've continued doing squats and continued to make positive gains.  The only problem was that my hips and spine were taking a beating due to large amount of weight I was asking my spine and hips to support while I was back squatting, so I had to do variations of the squat that would allow my glutes and quads to get taxed while alleviating the stress on my spine and hips. That led to me doing one legged leg presses on sled type leg press machines and doing kickstand squats and doing hack squats.

So it's the same with the stiff legged deadlift.  It's great for lower back development but very hard on the shoulders because of the heavy weights you can pull with just your lumbar and hamstring muscles. I've heard of people doing weighted hyperextensions like the guy below.  I might try these at the gym just because it puts more focus on the lower back and doesn't rely so much on the legs to power the weight back up.  My thinking is that I should be able to pull less weight on the hyperextension than on the stiff legged deadlift thus allowing less taxation of the shoulder while still recruiting the lower back to make the lift.  It might work or not and the only way I'll be able to tell is if it leads to a gain in my stiff legged deadlift.

Progress report: the falsehood of the constant

In my training the one thing I've noticed is that there is no constant.  What I mean is what worked for you today might not work for you tomorrow.  What worked  for you six months ago might work for you again today.  So on and so forth.  You get the picture.

That's why I refuse to take any of my old posts down even if they no longer work for me.  If you read a post of mine and it got you to the next level in your lifts, then that was the right information for you at the right time but it doesn't mean it'll work for you the next time you lift. 

Case in point, I've recently begun having trouble digesting protein the day after I workout so I had to cut down my protein intake and increase my carbohydrate intake.  It's a simple solution. But am I going to take down any post of mine that recommends eating huge amounts of animal proteins the day after you train?  The answer is no because huge amounts of animal protein intake are the only things that will enable you to repair your muscles and make them grow, and just because it's not working for me right now doesn't mean it won't work for you.  Incidentally, I seem to be able to better digest animal protein far better on the second day after my training session. I have no clue why that's the case.

Anyways here is my training data:


What the workout numbers mean:

First off I only record my 1 rep max out set, so I list the weight I attempted in lbs. and then I list the rating I gave to the lift. On a scale of 1 to 5, 1 is barely lifting the weight off the ground or barely getting the bar away from my chest.  5 means I completed the lift with perfect form.  4 means I completed the lift but with terrible form and a lot of shakiness.  3 means I finished the lift about 3/4 of the way.  2 means I completed the lift about half way up.  0 means I couldn't even lift the weight so that there was no noticeable gap between the weight and whatever it was resting on.



Gym Sunday 5/11/14 1130 a.m.
Hoist chest press 160-2
Stiff legged deadlift 505-1
Icarian one legged leg press
Left 120-1, 140-1
Right 120-1, 140-1
Rack pull 525-0
Bicep curl free motion cable machine
140-1

 5/11/14 workout notes:

The biggest disappointment for this workout was the fact that I couldn't finish it.  At about the time I hit my biceps on the cable machine, I noticed my body was getting weak and consequently my lifts were getting weaker. I could feel my body going into a weird catabolic state.  My muscles were loosening up and losing their tightness.  It kind of felt like my body was using my muscles as a source of energy which is something you don't want to have happen.  You train to build your muscles not break them down and use them for energy.  So I quit the workout.  I didn't do tricep extensions or hit my chest again on the chest press cable machine.

I guess the reason I lost the energy to work out was that my carbohydrate intake wasn't enough on my feeding days prior to my workout and my breakfast before the workout didn't have enough animal protein to carry me through the workout.  The simple solution is to eat more carbs and have a more substantial breakfast with more animal protein before I workout.


I also suffered a small injury to my left shoulder while I was doing stiff legged deadlifts for 415 lbs.  The problem was that I wasn't setting my shoulders right before attempting the lift.  The trick to not wrecking your shoulders in any kind of deadlift is to sweep your shoulders back and pack them down while tensing your lats.  This provides the stability and sturdiness to pull huge amounts of weight without shoulder injury.

For some reason I took that lifting cue for granted and didn't pack my shoulders down enough into my back so now my left shoulder has been kind of sore for the past two days.  The fix to prevent the shoulder injury was to pack my shoulders down. It's a simple solution, and that's what I did and I went on to complete the workout. I even got into the 500 lb range for my rack pulls so it was a very minor injury but I should know better. 

Even though the stiff legged deadlift doesn't allow for much setup of the shoulders you can still pack your shoulders down enough into your back to prevent injury. I might even go back to doing conventional deadlifts again just to avoid repetitive movement injury potential and switch them between stiff legged deadlifts. 



Home 5/8/14 12 pm Thursday
shoulder press seated 195-1
Conventional deadlift 465-1
Stiff legged deadlift 495-1
Pendlay barbell row 325-1
Pec fly dumbbells pair of:
35's-2
30's-3
Skull crushers Tricep extension barbell
95-1
Pause squat 365-1

5/8/14 workout notes: 
My pause squats were getting  blasted up to the top thanks my recent addition of doing kickstand squats for my previous workout, so I went for a 365 lbs pause squat attempt and I completely missed the lift and let the bar fall off my back and crash onto the cross bars of the power rack. 

I don't know how people squat without a power rack or squat rack.  You need those crossbars to catch the bar in case you miss the lift.  Otherwise if you slide the bar off your shoulders it'll hit your spine on the way down.   I picked mine up for 300 dollars off of craigslist and that included 400 lbs of iron weight plates, an olympic barbell and dumbell handles.

Gym Sunday 545 pm 5/4/14
Leverage chest press 300-1
Stiff legged deadlift 485-1
Kickstand squat
Left leg 285-4
Right leg 285-4
Rack pull 515-1
Life fitness chest press cable machine
200-0
Life fitness bicep curl cable machine 130-1
Life fitness Tricep machine rope pushdown
115-1

Home 5/1/14 Thursday 12 pm
Shoulder press seated 145-4, 175-1
Stiff legged deadlift 385-1, 435-1
Pendlay barbell row 295-2, 315-1
Pause squat 320-2
Pec fly dumbbells 30's-1
Tricep extension skull crusher 95-2

My overall impression of my training program is that I'm doing what I'm expecting what I should do.  My gains are small but they're measureable so that's how I'm able to assess my increased progress in my lifts.  I'm slowly breaking into the 500 lb range in my deadlift.  I'm not that far off from getting into the 400 lb range for my squats, and my chest press is also inching its way upward to the 300 lb range. 

The only way I'm able to increase my poundage is that I don't demean the missed lift.  It's a stepping stone to my ultimate goals, and I've learned that over the years.  Before I came to that conclusion, I would always get upset because of my misses.  I would think that I was doing something wrong.  But that was the wrong attitude.  The missed lift is your single greatest tool in getting stronger.  That's why you rate your misses to track your progress. 

I always hear some crap about not missing the lift.  Usually people who say that are taking drugs to get strong.  They have the luxury of not missing their lifts because they make gains in whole numbers.  Each and every time they work out, they increase by 5 to 10 lbs or by adding more reps to their sets.  They do that at least until the drugs stop working and then they have to take more drugs.  Luckily, you don't have to worry about that downward spiral of drug taking.  You get strong just by working hard at the gym and eating beef. 

The funny thing the steroid freaks never talk about and it's a wonder they never mention it is that once you start taking growth hormone is your body stops producing its own supply for the rest of your life and you'll have to take the drugs to get strong until you breathe your last breath.  At $1200 a month for a supply of growth hormone, that could add up to hundreds of thousands dollars in a lifetime.

Here's my numbers from earlier this year:


Gym 1/25/14 Saturday 10 a.m.
Deadlift stiff legged 270-2
 Shoulder press seated 90-2
Pec fly machine 150-4
Tricep extension machine 150-2
Lat row cable machine 180-4
Seated leg press machine 250-1

Gym Thursday 1/23/14 130 pm
Seated bench leverage chest press machine 185- 2
Stiff legged deadlift 270-1
Pause squat 85-3
Rack pull 360-1
Tricep extensions standing cable machine 100-1
Bicep curl standing one hand
Left 20-1
Right 20-1

Lose fat while preserving muscle: HIIT workouts between strength training sessions

Rotator cuff workout for shoulder injury prevention

I like to do these with a ten pound weight before bench pressing, shoulder pressing, or pec flyes.  They really help to get the shoulders warmed up, and postworkout my shoulders don't feel so sore.

Inzer strongman knee sleeves: knee stabilizers while in the hole when squatting

So I bought a pair of inzer strongman knee sleeves for knee stability. You can check them out here.

I had previously been using SBD knee sleeves but after a couple workouts they stretched out and provided consequently very little support for my knees, so I switched to the inzer strongman knee sleeves.


 I have only used them for about a month but they seem to be holding up well.  They haven't lost their tightness and support around my knees, and they have Velcro straps that can be adjusted for even more support.





 I bought mine sort of small, so they fit snugly around my knees but that also constricts blood flow in the calves which also lends itself to a loss of power and strength.  My solution for this was to more standing up leg exercises such as kickstand squats and barbell hack squats, and do less leg presses where my legs are above my body.  Standing helps to keep the blood circulating.







 If you don't have the money to buy them, just go to Wal-Mart and get some knee wraps for ten dollars.

Shoulder press form

I see a lot of people doing this movement wrong. Whether you're standing or sitting down, the basic movement is to press the bar vertically and when the bar clears your head you crane your neck and head forward and the bar changes to arcing backward so when you're at the top of the lift the bar and your hands and arms are slightly behind the vertical plane of your torso. This prevents arching of the lower back which could result in lower spine injury.