Went in today, did some more squats and random machines with no real intensity. 20-30%. Hopefully recovery speeds up
I’ll tell you one thing. I’m actually pretty chilled about it. After my wrist injury everything felt like a disaster even when I thought I might only miss a week or two (ended up being 6 months of careful rehab). With this, my mentality is way stronger. Yeah I still think it’s a very minor injury, but it’s never good to get.
After ~16 days of “deloading” ahem, I went in today to see how that lat feels. I managed some bench at 70kg for 3x10 slow reps. My lat was okayish but I could feel that I shouldn’t push it too much. DB Shoulder Press was fine (switched back to 2-handed now my wrists better, now is the best time to do that I feel). Did a few bodyweight dips but the station was wobbly so left it alone, can’t have that instability when I’m trying to nurse an injury.
Went to do some chest supported DB rows, just grabbed some super light dumbells, did a few reps, checked my form in the mirror, retracted my shoulders, did a couple more and it did NOT feel good. Hopefully it was just a warning sign and not made anything worse. I managed to then do some slow reps of 50kg on the cable row for 2 x 20. Finished off with just a single set of 20 on the close-grip neutral pulldown. I’m hoping that because I was able to do those I haven’t made anything worse. It feels very irritated at the moment but I am FUCKING PRAYING that’s just the nature of rehabbing/recovering the injury.
Hey dude how’s things going? In the words of staind, ‘it’s been a while’. You still training etc?
I’m on the outside, I’m looking in! (in the words of Staind!)
I appreciate you checking in, genuinely thankful for it. Have a lot going on. Dads dementia + Parkinsons getting worse, and my partner and I are just about to move house. When it comes to training I don’t know where my head or philosophy is at right now. I’ve had such bad luck this year with an old football injury coming back to haunt me, the wrist thing, and now the lat which I keep being stupid with thinking it’s fine and then doing silly things like forgetting about it when I pick up some boxes whilst packing and getting little tweaks. I somehow didn’t even think about it whilst moving a fridge and then of course regretted it after when it flared up again. I know how to manage these things but have just been really stupid with it. I don’t know what I want from the gym anymore and this has very much been a backward year - that I am trying to take lessons from.
I imagine you’re struggling a bit, too? It seems a hand/wrist injury has messed us both up this year. Hope recovery is going as planned. I’d recommend getting a little resistance band to do light strengthing in each direction when you’re able to, I got a “grip” training pack from Amazon for around 15quid that definitely sped up the process too, although I understand the injuries are perhaps very different.
Where’s your head at man?
Aww, buddy!! You’ll find your groove again. Hang in there!
Sorry about your woes 
That’s a lot to have on your plate right now, so I understand why training falls below other priorities. Thanks for being honest. I can’t think of too more stressful things than moving house and having a poorly parent.
Dementia is horrid, it’s so sad to so see someone you love lose part of them and struggle so much. I really sorry you’ve got so much on.
I’m struggling massively to be honest, my wrist is really painful and I’m really limited in what I can help with at home and my stress gym time (which is my stress relief).
I think I’ve also started reading too much again and getting a little stuck in my head about what training programmes to do when I recover as I just feel time is ticking away. My diet has been poor since my wrist and I’ve definitely added some fat as I’ve not been training and just feel shit.
Part of that is I haven’t really been seeing my lad mates (just coz of work and life admin), so haven’t had that time to chat things through.
In simple terms I think I’ve taken really poor care of myself this last month and a bit. I’ve not rested enough and out too much pressure on myself.
I really hope you get the house move out the way smoothly and can get one less stress in your life while your injuries clear up.
I hear you. People all give great messages like “turn your setbacks into comebacks”, “time to smash >insert another body part <”, or to still train the uninjured side. I am not doubting these messages, they are super important but it doesn’t make it any easier when progress, strength, and aesthetics have been such a big part of your life for so long. You know those messages are true, but the mental battle makes it difficult. I’m the same as you, other things in my life start to slip when I can’t train how I like. Been boozing a bit, having regular takeaways etc, but worse of all I’ve been extremely negative in my thought patterns.
At the risk of sounding cliche, this is temporary and you will get through it, and I need to keep telling myself the same thing. I’ve actually started to despise gym culture and despite still absorbing similar content, I can feel my drive switching away from it. I am determined to make a positive out of my current situation. My lat is not going to be a long-term concern, but my adductor is making me afraid to do any legs right now and it even occasionally hurts a great deal when I walk - which makes me useless when trying to coach the girls football. Rehab is not working at all and I may need to look into some kind of surgery.
My wrist injury made me focus on losing that extra 20lbs I’d been carrying since my dreamer bulk. Long-term that must be a blessing.
I’ve started actually doing a bit of regular cardio in my current situation which I endeavor to keep up, but I think the lesson this time around for me is I’m not trying to be a powerlifter OR a bodybuilder, why am I drawing such inspiration and putting so much of my headspace into it? I can be dedicated and move forward in strength and aesthetics without micromanaging so much, constantly toying with different ideas. Enjoyment is KEY and I need to fall in love with the gym again without worrying about my insecurities.
The only reason you and I read so much is because we love it, and this topsy-turving you like to do serves nothing but to hinder progress. I believe reading Andy Bakers Upper Lower Hypertrophy could solve this for you as it did for me. It completely silenced my overthinking a long time ago. It’s not a program, but a teaching of a method that will allow you to see how many of the hypertrophy programs you see aren’t unique and all follow the same principles in slightly different packages. By the end you’ll be able to come up with something YOU want, that YOU believe in, that YOU’LL enjoy. That time you gain back can then be spent on more productive things.
I pretty much don’t bump into any of my lad mates either, I lost most of them when I stopped going out drinking and realized that the majority of them weren’t really friends but acquaintances. I can’t shake the feeling of I’m moaning too much if I try to open up to any of the guys in my life as we’ve all got complex things going on. I definitely need to talk though as I’ve been a right wet wipe these past few weeks.
All the best man.
I’m back in the gym. Half way through my second week back.
Cannot believe how weak I got. It’s crazy how 2-4 months can make such a difference. I know that 2-4 months is a strange measure of time off, but intermittent 1-2 sessions here or there and then a month off kind of thing happening makes it difficult to really say how long my layoff really was. I’ve got my mojo back now though, and the time to go in the mornings 3-4x a week again. Still rehabbing my adductor, and slowly fixing my lat injury which should have been only a couple of weeks thing …but kept getting extended whilst moving house picking up shit, and trivial shit like walking the dog. Now I’m back in the gym recovery is happening super quick. Not concerned in the slightest right now.
I walked in last week only able to cable row 15-20kg for around 20 reps before feeling like I’m gonna mess something up. Just yesterday I did 40kg x 25 reps, exactly the same with bench. It’s demoralizing of course, but with glorious muscle memory the dial is being pushed up quite quickly - if only it was always this easy! 40kg x 25 may very well become 60kg x 20 in a couple more weeks. I’ll slowly work down in my rep range and I’m sure I feel pleasantly surprised where I end for a 5-10 rep sets not long from now. Shoulders and vertical pulling hasn’t been great so far as I’ve had to work the range of motion back just under my armpit. It’s coming though. That last proper training session of 60kg x 8 seated OHP is looking at me but I’m hopeful I’ll be back there soon.
Currently doing a makeshift 3-4x full body i’ll alter based on how recovery of different bodyparts are feeling. Started off just 1 set per muscle group each session, this week i’ve done 2 sets per muscle group. If recoverys good then 3 sets next week. 2 weeks almost done, another 2 weeks and I’m optimistic I’ll be back to pretty standard training with most of my gains back. Might need an extra couple of weeks but see how it goes.
Good to see you back.
Don’t sweat it, enjoy the gains
Guess who’s back, back again!
Glad to see you back dude. I’ve been waiting.
Let us know your full body routine.
Thanks guys. I appreciate it.
First two weeks I’ve just been doing Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
A/B Full Body rotation (so the week could start on an A or a B) all staying in the 20-30 rep range right now. It’s nothing special or original, just playing it by ear of recovery. Rotating movements each session.
A might be something like
Bench Press
Machine Shoulder Press
Cable Row
Leg extension
Leg curl
Biceps exercise
Triceps exercise
B might be
TBDLs or RDL
Leg Press
Dumbell Press
A compound vertical press (DB or Barbell)
Vertical Row (lat pulldowns right now)
Biceps exercise
Triceps exercise
There’s not much thinking involved, just making sure I’m hitting all the main movement patterns over the course of the week. It’s really not taking much at the moment to get a really good stimulus. Over time I’ll evolve it to more of a Whole Body/Upper Lower hybrid type thing 4x/week.
My cocker spaniel decided to jump on me with my arm at an awkward angle yesterday morning and I felt a big twinge in the area of my original lat injury/just below or behind my armpit. Been feeling some inflammation rushing in and feel stiff this morning with a lot of tingling… but it’s pain-free at rest. Hope it’s just a minor aggravation and tomorrow I’ll be able to train as normal. My luck is awful at the moment - just as I’m gaining some momentum and feeling stronger. Haha - what is actually wrong with me? 
You’re a footballer? 
Lol, made of paper right now. Maybe it’s revealed to me that some of the rotator cuff muscles were involved in the lat injury and this was just a warning saying “Hey dude, you gotta do more priming shit on that area too”. I feel a little stiff but the pain is very minor. Maybe if I quit coaching girls football I’ll start to toughen up and feel invincible again. 
I wouldn’t quit coaching.
Probably better to turn up to coaching in a white vest with a fag on the go, a can of special brew in your hands and a dirty moustache.
Now that’s a real man.
We play some matches deep in the Welsh valleys, some of the girls are turning up like that!
Sounds like 3rd team rugby. I used to play with a bloke who’d stash a bottle of Newcastle Brown in the water bottles at at half time would chug away
Not tracking my workouts (I don’t feel beating the log book is too necessary when coming back from a layoff - I let my body do the talking on the day), but I’ve been going to the gym 2-4x/week.
Half way through my 5th week back, strength coming back fast. Even in a cut I’m adding weight each week whilst mostly staying in the same rep range. Just a 400-500 deficit as I don’t want to hinder muscle memory too much. There’s no way I would have dieted these few more pounds off without injury and a layoff, so this is the gift I am finding. Being able to not worry about my old numbers and to progress so fast without my long-term “bulk, bulk must get stronger, cutting is just wasting time not progressively overloading” attitude , will have me finally reach a bodyfat percentage I will hopefully look somewhat aesthetic in
Beginning of last year I believe I was 205lbs at my “biggest and strongest”. This morning I weighed in at 173lbs. I don’t know how I’ll end up looking as it’s impossible to know how flat I am when muscle memory is removing both the physical and psychological effect. I’m not interested in getting too lean, I was small all my life, big in a tshirt had always been the goal (which I got too lost in as I added a ton of fat with no care as long as the weight on the bar went up). Having a more typical range to bulk and cut into will have me telling myself I’ve made massive progress as a result of the layoff.
Update: 18 days later on from my last post, weighed in at just slightly under another 3lbs down (now 170.4lbs). Add the 3 days to make up the complete 3 weeks and 0.4lb, and it looks like a perfect steady 1lb/week weight loss. I’ve been able to continue adding weight to every lift each week whilst leaning out. 170lbs was the goal I set in my head, but I’m still finding dieting easy and my performance is still increasing each week so I may as well keep going for a few more weeks eh?
The hardest thing is dealing with feeling flat, but salt and timing my carbs are helping a little with that. I know I could probably do with a refeed but my ease of the diet and performance increasing makes me feel like it’s just be a wasted day I could have spent losing another little bit of fat. My former 125lb self is getting some “small” insecurities coming back but I feel SO MUCH BETTER day to day not carrying around all that extra bodyweight. I put more effort into getting up to 205lbs than I’ve put into anything in my life, fuelled by my percieved inadequacies and all I felt at the end of it was sloppy. It wasn’t all for nothing though as I’m now almost as lean as I was when I started but with 45 extra pounds of body weight. That feels awesome to me.
Weight loss can never be linear, been holding around 172lb since my last post about reaching 170.4lb. I trust the process and know I’ll see below 170 soon.
For the first time since returning to the gym, one of my lifts didn’t go up (lat pulldowns), and progress on seated DB press was a hard grind for a +1. Not sure about my plan of action now. I did plan to go for another 3-4 weeks (totaling a 12 week cut, currently entering the 8th week) so I’ll be lean “enough” and not have to think about fat for a long while. Another part of me says blitz 2 weeks, add a load of walking then return to a lean bulk.
And then another part of me thinks eat maintainance for a week then go for another 3 weeks. This is just the usual overthinking I do when it comes to this stuff. I’m still finding the diet itself easy, but if todays anything to go by then my strength gains are definitely slowing. Will see how legs/back goes on Wednesday.
169.8lb today. I knew it’d come! Currently absorbing far too much content trying to figure out what I want to do next.
I have a ton of old strength to still come back so believe I can lean out whilst eating at maintenance or a slight surplus. I thought my decision was made… but the mirror today showed me some definition in my chest - I NEVER see definition in my chest. I still feel flat and fat but everyone talks about this period being the hardest part of getting lean. I’m fighting my old small insecurities super hard right now. I don’t know if it’s what I really want, but I am so close.