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
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
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
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
Friday, February 1, 2008
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)