Checking In (Month 9?)

So here's the scoop... nothing too exciting.

1) I've managed to find a sustainable system for my workouts. I go to the gym right after work every Tuesday and Thursday, and do the same routine as previously outlined. I'm up to 8 pound weights, and as a whole feel much more fit than before. As a whole I am injured less and more active on a regular basis. I try to exercise both Saturday and Sunday as well (by swimming or another activity).

2) Activities such as bike riding and paintball are feasible and I have been playing regularly.

I have also added new elements to my routine, including a run at the end of each day:

Tuesday:
- Superset: Bicep Curls (2x10) + "Lawnmower" Rows (2x10) - 15 lb dumbells
- One arm dumbell military presses - 15 lbs (need to move up)
- Tricep Pull-Downs (2x10) - 70 lbs
- Pull-Downs (2x10) - 80 lbs
- Pushups (15 reps, 20 reps)
- Planks (2x)

Thursday:
- Butt-Burners (yeah, yeah... 2x10) - 4 lbs
- Rows (new, weight not yet established)
- Pushups (15 reps, 20 reps)
- Planks (2x)

Since I'm finally sustaining a workout without hurting anything, I'm not totally solid on what to do each day (besides the Physical Therapy routine). Tuesday is solid. Thursday is in construction. I'm currently lacking a mid-back exercise like rows and upper pec exercises. But everything will be added slowly and carefully. Yes. I actually learned my lesson.

When I can comfortably use 10 lb dumbells for my physical therapy routine and can comfortably do 20 pushups per set I will consider new exercises such as Dumbell Bench Press and light Dead Lifts. I look forward to lifting more normally... and hope I don't screw this up again :)

Current Weight: 150 lbs

the fire burns once again

I have not posted in a very very very long time, I had all but given up my quest for true fitness and good health until recently. I have decided that given my personality (and its flaws) I have a very hard time with sticking to things that are not scheduled or structured. This has been an ongoing struggle with most things in my life, but I have decided to try something which I have not had the opportunity to do by normal means for some time. I am starting a food delivery program to help me with the nutrition part of getting in shape. This way I will have a consultant who will check up on me and give me some help in the structure and organizational areas which were lacking in my previous attempts. The few times in which i considered myself to be in good shape took place only with programs involving mentors or partners which helped keep motivation levels high. I feel that this is required for me..at least for a jump start into a serious effort.

Updates soon..

Month 6 (Almost) Complete

Apologies for the hiatus! I'm not dead yet, but the captin might be.

Over the past two and a half months I've completed my Physical Therapy prescription and kept on the routine in my own time. I'll go into further detail regarding a breakdown of the exercises and everything that I have learned at another time, so for now I'll provide an overview of accomplishments and an outline of my current routine.

Accomplishments:
1) My knees are much stronger, in fact they are hardly sore at all!
2) My shoulder literally popped itself back into shape. After months of being tight and motion-hampered, I now have full range of motion in my right shoulder and have been slowly building strength.
3) My back is no longer bothered by day-to-day activities.
4) I have returned to swimming and hiking without significant impairment.

Sounds like a pretty successful run, huh? I'm very happy that things have turned out as well as they have, but I'm still not back to "normal". There is still work to be done, and unfortunately I don't heal as quickly as I used to. Apparently the springiness of youth is over :(

Challenges:
1) There is still a long way to go before I can return to normal weight lifting. My knees may be in decent shape but my shoulder and upper body are now in pretty weak physical condition. I have been mainly training lower body and core strength, so there will need to be slow and steady effort put into strengthening my arms and upper torso.
2) My lower back is still sensitive to twisting movements and heavy lifting & pushing. There will still be a bit of work to do here, too. My current routine is working well, so patience and gradual additions to the workout are all that can be done for now.

CURRENT ROUTINE:

Daily Mat Exercises:

Single Leg-to-Chest Stretches (each side) 2 x 10 reps
Both Legs-to-Chest Stretches 2 x 10 reps
Exercise Ball Leg Twists (each side) 2 x 10 reps
Wall-Hamstring Stretch (each leg)
Bug on its Back (?) 2 x 10 reps
Kneeling Balance Thing (?) 2 x 10 reps
Bridges 2 x 10 reps

Twice-Weekly Weight Exercises:

(These are all using dumbells)
Weighted Punches (horse stance) 10 x 5 lbs
Weighted Punches (forward stance, each leg) 10 x 5 lbs
Planted Lunge Reaches (?) (outer, each leg) 10 x 5 lbs
Planted Lunge Reaches (?) (inner, each leg) 10 x 5 lbs
Golf Squats (?) (each shoulder, alternating) 10 x 5 lbs
Hamstring Stretches (each leg) 10 x 5 lbs
4-point Lunge-and-Reaches 5 x 5 lbs
5-point Balance Extensions (complete all reps on one side at a time) 5 x 5 lbs
3-point Squat-and-Reaches 5 x 5 lbs
Track Lunges (outer)
Track Lunges (inner)
Track Weighted Punches
Backward Marches

I am looking to add a number of dumbell exercises, push-ups, and pull ups as soon as I am fit enough to do them without injury. I also swim one to two times per week, increasing laps based on the rule of 3 -- if it hasn't hurt me the last 3 times, it's safe to move up gently.

Month 3 Complete - Retrospect & PT

So ends month 3 in a belated way. This post is going to be different than the previous because my lower back is still injured and I'm going through Physical Therapy to get all of my quirks figured out and resolved. As I said in earlier posts, you can't undervalue the importance of expert advice, especially in the case of injury. I've been trying to fix all of my problems on my own, and the results have revealed my lack of training. It was pretty scary when the therapist was testing the extent of my injury and made my right foot go numb from a certain back position.

My condition is relatively minor like always, and has to do with weak stabilizers in my core and a general lack of flexibility. I've always stressed having strong core muscles before doing the more complicated exercises (like dead lifts), but I was impatient and overestimated my level of fitness. Also my lack of lower-body exercises (due to agitated knees), I likely overlooked a number of important exercises. Now my lower back is "excessively mobile", which means my spine is not being well-supported by proper musculature and is causing strain to imbalanced muscle groups and some nerves.

Perhaps this time in my life will be known as the "years of injury" :) At least when everything's said and done I'll be a self-made expert on joint failure.

In this past month I've had two doctor visits regarding my physical health, and will be on a 2-3 day per week routine of Physical Therapy starting Monday. I've learned some new stretches and imbalances in my physique, and will be working to get things back on track.

New Shoulder Stretches/Exercises:

Spider Crawl:
Stand perpendicular to a wall, with your selected arm a shoulder width away. "Crawl" with your hand up the wall until there is tension or a feeling of stretching in the shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds. If your arm is normal you'll be able to reach a full extension without any pain. I was told to repeat this 10 times a day, but that seems a bit much. I'm shooting for five for the time being. Currently my right arm (bad shoulder) can only move about 2/3 of the way up the wall.

Back & Forward Arm Circles:
Swing your arm at a controlled speed in a side circle (low to high) without shrugging your shoulders. Do this forward 10 times and backwards 10 times. Repeat 10 times (?) a day (seems a bit much). For this exercise, I noticed that my forward motion on my bad shoulder is significantly better than the backward, which might be attributed to all the swimming I've been doing. It's interesting to think about, and a little astonishing at how inflexible I am with the reverse movement (it's at about 60% range of motion).

I've also been doing the stretches below as instructed by my orthopedist (back in December). They have been very helpful.




Physical Therapy - Meeting 1 Overview

I'm awaiting my PT doc's take-home routine, so for the time being I'll share what happened in our first session. I'll try to remember as much as I can :) This list will refine itself over time.

-- Laying Down
Heat
Arches (back)
Shoulder Raises (abs)
Lying exercise ball twists (obliques, abs)
Knee-to-chest-raises

-- Standing
Balancing leg extensions - 4 quadrants
Balanced leg extensions (higher raise) - 5 quadrants
Forward marching (opposite arm/leg)
Backward marching (opposite arm/leg)
Crab Walk w/ punching
10 punches (repeat w/ each leg forward)
One legged stool steps (repeat w/ each leg)
Calf Stretches
Exercise bike (5 min)
Lunges (lean forward, then reach back)

Ongoing Posts:

I hope to catalog all of the activities, exercises, stretches and techniques I learn through PT so they can be used for future mishaps. It's great to be able to learn from someone who you can count on... and with my shoddy memory this blog will serve as the perfect repository of rehab and strengthening information :)

Month 2 Complete - Looking Back

Here I am again, looking back to report "ups and downs", but the slope is slowly and surely upward. My routine is not what I wanted it to be when I first laid plans two months ago, but I can at least say it is working. Even though it may not be as rapid as I had hoped, regaining strength and flexibility in my knees and shoulder is a very nice thing.

The biggest changes I've made this month are regular upper and lower body stretches, and a routine based on how I feel rather than strict 1 or 2 day resting periods. If you don't feel recuperated, chances are higher of injury. My knee stretches have made a world of difference in my day-to-day activities and I can feel them strengthening every week.

ACHIEVEMENTS
1) Improved Flexibility in Knees.
2) Small but sure improvement in overall strength.
3) Now able to do push-ups without pain (hopefully this will continue)
4) Swimming strength/endurance increased.
5) Overall joint pain has significantly decreased.
6) Attained a better sense of rest time, when to stop, and how to keep exercising without injury.

SETBACKS
1) Tweaked my back doing standing military presses with bad form. It is getting back to normal.
2) Emotional unsteadiness last month (which should be better now) disrupted diet.
3) Excessive workload last month also resulted in irregular lifting sessions.

GOALS FOR MONTH 3
1) Continue current routine (updated below)
2) Work up to three comfortable sessions a week (right now it is 2-3)
3) Strengthen back/core
4) Improve with push-ups to the extent that 20 in a row is comfortable and without sensation of strain.
5) Regulate diet, maintain weight of 155, attempt to increase mass (but this is still not the primary objective).

GOOD READING FROM MONTH 2
1) Shoulder Savers pt 3:
Although I am not quite able to use these exercises at the moment, this is the logical progression from pt2 and has a lot of interesting advice and movements to keep your shoulders from becoming like mine :)

2) Push-ups, Face-pulls, and Shrugs... for Strong and Healthy Shoulders!:
This article touches on some of the least-appreciated and yet most beneficial exercises for your shoulders. I've been doing light bench presses for the past two months to strengthen my pecs and get the general motion down for my tight right side, but I had NO IDEA how much a difference push-ups make. My pecs and shoulders are more sore right now than they have been since I restarted lifting in January. Give this thing a read and respect your push-ups!

CURRENT ROUTINE:

Day 1:
Pushups
Bench Press (if necessary)
Incline DB Bench Press
Straight Cable Rows
Bicep 7-7-7's
Skull Crushers
Lat Pull-downs
Scapular Plane Lateral Raises (with shrug)

Day 2:
Stretches
Planks
Reverse Crunch
Swimming (20+ lengths freestyle)

Day 3:
Still figuring out a solid plan for this one. Lately I've been repeating Day 1 or Day 2 depending on the way the order lies. As I am able to do more exercises it will be easier to split them up.

update

It has been a long time since my last post, and I feel bad for not posting more frequently. These first few months have been full of ups and downs as far as workout schedule and weight fluctuations. I originally started out my diet/workout plan at around 239 lbs. I am now around 227 lbs. A little over 10 lbs in a month and a half is not too bad, however I feel that this progress is a little slower then expected. I have changed my diet significantly from what i was eating previously (over the Thanksgiving/Christmas break), however I have not taken the extreme route yet, which I am saving for later stages in this whole getting in shape plan.
My workouts have not been very consistent in frequency or intensity however I have discovered something for myself which may just be a rediscovery of what I thought I knew during high school. Although lots of reps might not be ideal when attempting to gain significant muscle mass, it does seem to make my workouts A lot more intense and does amp up my metabolism noticeably. I have done several workouts recently that consisted of around 5 different exercises that focused on major muscle group movements. I do 50 reps of each exercises not worrying about how i should divide them into sets, but rather with the intention of just getting to 50 whatever way i could.

An example of this would be starting out by trying to do 5 sets of 10 with a moderately high intensity weight. If it gets too hard at some point then you drop down to sets of 5, but you do more. So if you do 2 sets of 10 then decide to go down to 5 reps each set, you would now have 6 more sets of 5. I did this routine for back squats, half squats, overhead barbell press, overhead dumbbell press, and single arm rows.

I also recently added a boxing/taekwando cardio variation into my workout schedual. As of now I am very disorganized so I am trying to create a better structure while testing different things out. Also For people who are hard weight losers like myself. and are willing/have the means to be very strict with their diet, this link should be of interest to you.
http://www.t-nation.com/readPhysClin.do?id=1824537

Upcoming Posts

I've been very busy with work and I recently tweaked my back (bad form on standing military press), so I haven't had time to make a lot of posts. I'm also taking this week off from lifting, but I'll be back to light exercises next week.

Here's what's going to happen for the next month or so: due to the realization that I'm in a lot worse of physical shape than I thought I was, I'm going to return to a core and shoulder stabilization program to make sure all my joints and muscles are ready for larger lifts. This will change some elements of my program, but not everything.

Here are some articles I'm currently reading. More to report when things slow down in the office.

http://www.t-nation.com/...e.do?id=1764218
http://www.t-nation.com/...e.do?id=1765943

Month 1 Complete -- Looking Back

So ends the first month back into weight lifting. This was a month of ups and downs, reminders of how sore week one is if you have been slacking off, and a lesson in sticking with your plans.

The most obvious thing you'll notice when you start lifting after a long hiatus is how sore it is after your first full-body workout. My entire body, especially my legs, were totally destroyed for the first week after only one or two sessions. Week two took almost another week to recover. The recuperation time seemed to reduce by a third every week. My flexibility began at a completely unacceptable level. I could hardly do the motions of dead-lifts properly, and my legs were shaking from weakness and unaccustomed strain. It was really pretty pathetic, but everyone starts this way, and in a matter of weeks your body learns to coordinate with your exercises.

Nonetheless, it felt great to be back in the gym. Even when I was sore and tired for days, and almost fell asleep numerous times at work, the feeling of strength returning was really something. Unfortunately this also made me lose sight of my goals, and I started to increase weight and decrease recovery time on week four. Guess what the result was? I hurt my shoulder again.

However, unlike the last time this happened, I'm going to stick to my guns and maintain a logical progression back to full strength. I'm considering a physical therapist or a personal trainer if I am hurting for another week (it has been one week so far). I have been doing gentle stretches as recommended by my orthopedist, and I'll be doing extremely light weights only as permitted by pain and logic. It will be tough to fight the urge to lift what I want to, but recovery is more important. Of course, this changes my original goals for month two, but you need to deal with problems as they arise.

RECAP - Month 1:

+ POSITIVE
- Regained majority of flexibility for exercises, especially lower back.
- Arm strength is evening, right arm has become noticeably stronger.
- Knee strength and pain has improved. Jogging is OK for 5-8+ minutes. Moving up slowly.
- Swimming strength has increased significantly.
- Original shoulder pain has decreased significantly.
- Diet somewhat improved.
- Maintained 2-3 workout days per week.
- Created workout split that works well for my current level of fitness.

- NEGATIVE
- Re-injured shoulder
- Minor lower back pain -- possibly from posture, which has been bad lately
- Diet has improved to a degree, but since injury and unfortunate personal events it has been shaky for weeks four and five.

GOALS for Month 2:

It's important for goals to be simple, to the point, and few in number. If you have fewer new goals it is harder to neglect them -- so choose what is important, make it specific, and stick to it!

1) Recuperate shoulder while not neglecting other aspects of health and fitness. If it does not heal significantly by week six, see a professional and potentially sign up for training or physical therapy.

2) Learn proper knee rehabilitation exercises, and continue to bring knees back to health. Be able to jog or run for 10-15 minutes without pain.

3) REMAIN FOCUSED ON HEALING -- Do not try to lift any more than I was in month one, keep diet healthy, get enough sleep, deal with stress in a productive manner. I very much wanted to begin normal exercises by month 2, but it is important to listen to your body and not strain yourself.

Modifying the Split. Again.

In my last workout, I realized what should have been an obvious problem: there were too many damn exercises on Day 3 than I could seriously complete.

Due to bad diet on Sunday (I missed lunch and my pre-workout "meal"), I had to cut the workout in half. If you have no fuel in the tank, you don't go anywhere. Pretty simple. But even after trying to complete the missing portion of my exercise the next day, I was too sore for external rotation exercises and the cable row. It became apparent that Mr. Waterbury had a point and I seriously needed to better divvy up the split.

Also, as you may have read in Shoulder Savers, dedicating too many exercises in a day to your shoulders may actually be detrimental. The truth in this was shown to me last night, when I reached a point that felt like my absolute limit short of injury.

So here's the updated rational: Since I'm really only lifting twice a week (for the time being - I don't want to get too gung-ho until my shoulder and knees are normal), I'm not going to be seriously able to work out my whole body more than once. I intended to move back toward the 3-day a week, full body cycle -- but not for a while.


UPDATED SPLIT:

Day 1: Chest / Shoulders (compound) / Lower-Back / Abs / Cardio: Walking
Day 2: Legs / Arms / Abs / Cardio: Swimming
Day 3: Chest / Upper-Back / Shoulders (isolated) / Abs / Cardio: Walking

(2-3 day rest after cycle completes)

diet started

Ok, today I started my serious diet..I have not put together a detailed plan as of yet but I am starting off with a basic high protein low carb diet until I get it more organized. This week my goal is to get in at least 4 healthy meals a day.

Today so far I have had 4 boiled eggs for breakfast and a protein shake after my run. I am planing on having a chicken salad soon and then another shake before bed.

New Split

I'm going to refine my split -- it was a bit unbalanced and needed optimization. Legs are still lacking, but that's in progress according to what my knees will tolerate.

---
Day 1: Chest / Arms / Upper-Back / Lower-Back / Cardio: Walking
Day 2: Legs / Abs / Cardio: Swimming
Day 3: Chest / Shoulders / Upper-Back / Arms / Abs / Cardio: Walking

---
Chest
Flat Bench Press
Incline DB Bench Press

Arms
Bicep Curls
Bicep 7-7-7's
Skull Crushers

Shoulders
Pull-downs (switching to pull-ups when strength returns)
Standing Military Press
Scapular Plane Lateral Raises
External Rotation Exercises

Upper Back/Traps
Yates Rows
One-Arm Rows
Plate Raises

Lower Back/Hips
Dead Lifts
Good-Mornings

Legs
Leg Extensions
Knee Strengthening & Recovery Exercises

Abs
Reverse Crunches
Bicycle Kicks
Oblique Twisting Weight Thing

Shoulder & Knee Recuperation for Hypochondriacs

So, here's the short story of how my shoulder and knees got screwed up, stayed screwed up, and are now improving. This is a story of poor training, poor technique, and a poor mentality. Keep those three things in check and you should be able to avoid my recent situation.

In June of last year (2007), I began on an intensive weight-lifting program to recoup my mass and strength losses from the stressful conclusion of my college career. This was a 3-4 day per week workout based on the Chad Waterbury's Harbinger Hypertrophy routine. [http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=508031]

In summary, this routine involves a total body workout every day, with four compound exercises (selected from a series targeting chest, back, deltoids, quads, or lower back/hips) and two isolated exercises (selected from a series for biceps, triceps, deltoids, hamstrings, or calves) targeted on a daily basis. The idea behind this is to keep all of your muscles groups constantly active without being too punished by extended sessions. Waterbury realized that people tend to slow down or flare out after 6 intensive exercises. If you can put 100% of your energy into a small number of essential lifts, then you get the most from your money. There's no limit to how many exercises you do in a day, but you'll find that 6-8 is enough to burn you out when you're always working a large number of muscle groups.

Sound good? There's one more aspect to this routine that makes it really clever: you have to vary your reps, sets, rest time, and order of exercises every week for 8 weeks until you start over. It's not as hard as you think, and it makes a lot of sense when you understand his reasoning. If you've ever worked out for an extended program (let's say 4-6+ months), chances are you'll have experienced a slow-down in muscular strength and growth. Waterbury makes a simple argument to why this happens: Your body is built to adapt, and it optimizes itself to your routine. If you keep the routine seemingly random, your muscles have to keep guessing and will continue to grow.

Unfortunately, I got a little too excited and had to learn a few lessons.

LESSON 1: Know your limits

So, I was on this program for over two months and it was working rapidly. From an out-of-shape beginning, I moved up in weight to the maximum I've ever dead-lifted and squatted. My shoulders and chest were building up at a slower pace, but seemed OK until I increased my weight and lowered the reps to try and expedite my growth. I had hurt myself doing similar weight in the past, but took my chances and did it anyway. Within two weeks I tore something in my shoulder from incline benching, agitated my knees squatting, and worsened things by continuing to lift without consulting a doctor. My two key joints had been disabled, and that pretty-much killed things for my weight-lifting goals.

LESSON 2: Don't be afraid to see your doctor

It took me five months to see a doctor, and my knees and shoulder remained frail and restricted for the entire course. I had tried to diagnose my own problem and figured that if I did not use my shoulder it would heal itself. Month after month, I watched the slow decline of my strength, energy, weight, and appetite, and often lingered in feelings of hopelessness. When I finally talked to an orthopedist, he pointed out that I had very common, very minor injuries but my lack of motion and exercise had made them remain that way! He gave me a series of stretches to do, and within a few weeks my shoulder was moving like normal.

LESSON 3: Be patient

I learned a very important lesson from this experience: don't rush your body's growth, and never assume you are in better shape than you really are. I jumped straight into an intensive regimen without conditioning myself. There are an endless number of exercises out there to prepare your body for weight lifting and strengthen the joints people hurt the most (knees and shoulders).

----
SHOULDER STRENGTHENING & BEST PRACTICES

There are many simple ways to keep your shoulders strong and out of harm's way. Most people do their bench presses in an unsafe manner. Are you? Check out this series.

T-Nation: Shoulder Savers (pt.1)
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1053531

T-Nation:Shoulder Savers (pt.2)
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1055409
---

KNEE RECUPERATION & EXERCISES

Since the dawn of time, man has fucked up his knees. Here's my (in progress) collection of how to put them back together. Never doubt the healing power of simple, ordinary movements like a 10 minute walk.

Knee Pain Exercises
http://www.bigkneepain.com/knee-exercises.html
---

Note that I'm still healing, so until I'm back to normal these lists will grow and suggestions will be made and voided according to how they work for me. If you know of anything to add, please do.

Starting Off

Here we go again, starting another (hopefully permanent) program to get in shape, stay in shape, and become a better looking and feeling person. In my next few posts I'll talk about the major obstacles that stopped me before and the things that helped me start lifting again. This post is more of my introduction, which will state my objectives and outline my program for the first month.

This time I'm starting with a handicap - not only am I weak as hell, but my right/shoulder/torso has atrophied from disuse. I had a shoulder injury 5 months ago that I had hoped would heal on its own, but until I saw a doctor in December there was little progress. My knees were also irritated from lifting more than I had trained my body to handle. I tried to keep exercising as I could, which came down to a very light swimming program. As a result, I've got a lot of catching up to do before I even hit square one.

Current weight (as of Jan 13, 2008): 153 pounds.
Best weight (Dec 2006): 166 pounds.
Objective - 175 pounds.

The Program:

Currently, my goals are less about building mass and specific muscle groups than they are rehabilitation. I've lost a lot of flexibility, energy, and strength so my previous workouts would not be possible in my present condition.


Weekly Goal: 2-3 Sessions (spread by availability)

My current routine is not very structured, and I realize this is not ideal. I'll be working on breaking up my exercises in a better manner.

So far I have gone back and forth with the current cycle:

Day 1: Chest/Back/Shoulders/Arms/Legs/Abs/Cardio (walking)
Day 2: Chest/Back/Legs/Cardio (swimming)

As my strength improves and the number of exercises increases as well, this will not be possible to maintain. As for now, my body has been re-adjusting to the strains of lifting, and the weight I have been doing has been minimal. There is a disturbing difference in strength between the two sides of my body, and I'd like that to even out before I perform heavier weights.

I'll be looking into a better routine for month two.

Exercises (12-15 reps):

Chest:
Flat Bench Press
Incline Dumbell Bench Press
Pushups

Back:
Dead-lifts
Yates Rows
One-Armed Rows

Shoulders:
Pull-Downs
Cable-Rows
Scapular Plane Lateral Raises
Exterior Rotation Exercises
Standing Military Press

Arms:
Bicep Curls
Skull Crushers

Legs: *
Leg Extensions
* need to find more knee strengthening exercises, can't do much else until then.

Abs:*
Reverse Crunches
Bicycle Kicks
Weighted Oblique Twist Thing

Cardio:
10 min walk/jog (helps knees)
Freestyle Swim (500 meters currently)

"The Captin Doooooes"

Ok, here is my first post on this blog and it is going to be a doozy. It has been a long time since I have been to the gym, let alone touched an exercise device, so i am going to start my exercise program with a pretty simple lifting schedule of 3 times a week. Monday Wednesday and Friday. I am going to keep to this particular routine for 2 months before I even consider changing it up, just so I can see what is working and what is not.

Monday: Max Effort Upper Body

1) Incline or reg barbell bench press Work up to max set of 5 reps
2) Flat dumbbell bench press 3 sets of 10
3) Chest Supported rows 4 sets of 10
4) Rope pulls to throat 3 sets of 15
5) Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 15


Wednesday: Lower Body

1) Max effort Rack Pulls Work up to max set of 5 reps
2) Single leg squats, back leg elevated 3 sets of 10
3) Ham curls 3 sets of 10
4) Captains of Crush 3 sets of max reps each hand


Friday: Repetition Upper Body

1) Barbell bench press (work up to 3 sets of max reps)1 min rest inbetween
2) Rope Push downs 3 sets of 15
3) Lat pull downs 4 sets of 10
4) Lateral Raises 3 sets of 10
5) Hammer curls 3 sets of 10
6) abs extravaganza no rest ab exercises ( will vary)


So far this is what I am planing on doing for 2 months. My next post will be a rough outline explaining how I will approach diet and progress checks.

~Captin