Well, a year has gone by (that happened fast!) and overall I’m in a better place than I was last year, although I have not stepped foot inside my gym (I did join and was going 2-3 times a week for a while) in a couple of months. I have been running 3-5 times a week, going for 45-60 minutes. In addition, been riding my bike a day or two a week as well.
So, I’ve been active but certainly not stronger. I’m not beating myself up over it because I know that doesn’t do me any good. I can make excuses (work, moved again, work) but at the end of the day, I wasn’t making lifting enough of a priority.
If I’m being honest with myself, a lot of this is anxiety-related. There’s the fear I won’t be able to lift like I once did, and the fear that something may go wrong due to the health issues I’ve had. A year ago I couldn’t admit to that fact, so it feels good typing it out now.
There is still a lot of work physically and mentally to be done, but I know I’m in a better head space than this time a year ago, so doing the work in the gym is only a matter of driving to the gym, getting out of the car and picking up some iron.
I started back with Total body work for the first 2 weeks going about 2 times a week and only doing 2-3 sets of 10 reps light for each muscle. This helped me deal with the recovery. Otherwise I would be sore for a week. Then once recovery was back to 2-3 days, I went to a split and did 2 movements for 4-5 sets each going heavier.
Glad to hear things are getting back on track, man.
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
There’s the fear I won’t be able to lift like I once did, and the fear that something may go wrong due to the health issues I’ve had. A year ago I couldn’t admit to that fact, so it feels good typing it out now.[/quote]
It might be worth reading about what Dave Tate went through, just for a bit of reference and maybe another perspective. His issues were tons of physical problems, but the general way that he had to completely start over with a new approach might useful:
I’m definitely not saying to pick up the training plan he laid out, just to get the idea that it’s totally okay to “start over” as a beginner or beginner-ish, if shit happens that makes it necessary.
I also really like Dan John’s Work-Rest-Play-Pray concept for explaining that it’s 100% okay to have lifting as a priority, as long as it’s part of a balanced life.
If you have time, it might help if you can get back to posting around here again. Talking shop, talking training, getting/giving advice whenever, might all help to get your head back in the game. No pressure at all though. (No, but seriously, post more. You’re pretty much guaranteed to have the most spectacular Join Date to Post Count ratio if you do).
[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
Glad to hear things are getting back on track, man.
[quote]Djwlfpack wrote:
There’s the fear I won’t be able to lift like I once did, and the fear that something may go wrong due to the health issues I’ve had. A year ago I couldn’t admit to that fact, so it feels good typing it out now.[/quote]
It might be worth reading about what Dave Tate went through, just for a bit of reference and maybe another perspective. His issues were tons of physical problems, but the general way that he had to completely start over with a new approach might useful:
I’m definitely not saying to pick up the training plan he laid out, just to get the idea that it’s totally okay to “start over” as a beginner or beginner-ish, if shit happens that makes it necessary.
I also really like Dan John’s Work-Rest-Play-Pray concept for explaining that it’s 100% okay to have lifting as a priority, as long as it’s part of a balanced life.
If you have time, it might help if you can get back to posting around here again. Talking shop, talking training, getting/giving advice whenever, might all help to get your head back in the game. No pressure at all though. (No, but seriously, post more. You’re pretty much guaranteed to have the most spectacular Join Date to Post Count ratio if you do). ;)[/quote]
Thanks for the links, Chris.
I am going to make a concerted effort to post here on a consistent basis. My post count is over 2k; I was very active back in the day!
[quote]Rockscar wrote:
Good deal. I know the routine too.
I started back with Total body work for the first 2 weeks going about 2 times a week and only doing 2-3 sets of 10 reps light for each muscle. This helped me deal with the recovery. Otherwise I would be sore for a week. Then once recovery was back to 2-3 days, I went to a split and did 2 movements for 4-5 sets each going heavier.
It just takes the want man, get back into it.
[/quote]
Another familiar face! Thanks for the rely, man.
Yeah, looking back over the last year, I think I didn’t account for the DOMS from not lifting for a while, and started off too heavy. This time I’ll dial it back for a couple of weeks to get into the groove and then bump up the intensity.
Lots of good advice in here, so all I have to add is: take it one day at a time, be patient and rebuild.
Until 2010 I’ve been very strong in all areas of life, from then on my health took a nosedive. It took me a few years to nail down the culprits. While some of them were severe health issues, the one detracting factor I ignored for a long time was my own expectation management. Bottom line: I had to reform my whole approach of chasing down goals. Both in my training and in my career.
Nowadays, I’m putting in a measly 30 - 40 min training a day (as opposed to ~ 20 hours a week just a few years back). My former self would’ve bristled at this, implied a severe case of pussy-itis and would’ve just soldiered through his old routine. ‘Luckily’, my health wouldn’t allow it, so I was forced to reevaluate my general approach of getting things done. Well, apparently, sometimes less is more and I’ve more muscle than I ever had (still not where I used to be on a raw fitness level, though. But I’ll get there. Eventually.)
Another vote for TBT. Focus on increasing reps and adding weight to the bar. Stick with basic barbell exercises. Mix up the rep ranges, with one day focusing on a 12-15 range.
Look a small, gradual changes to your diet. Start with eliminating 1 bad food a week. Take baby steps so you don’t put added stress on yourself and overwhelm yourself. Focus first on TBT with adequate protein, and create a log and make small tweaks from there.
