[quote]zenontheterrible wrote:
OOOOHMAGERRD CHOCOLATE!!!, hahah i’m happy for you that you can eat chocolate now[/quote]
Das ryte, mayne! Chocolate is probably the most beautiful substance known to mankind.
Damn, was just watching some videos from my 2012 log… I got fat as fuck ugh. Went from 89kg to 96, and while I definitely looked thicker and more muscular, I had a hell of a belly on me.
I should try to not replicate that.
25/10/14
Deadlift
10 x 3 x 82.5kg
Front Squat
5 x 62.5kg
5 x 62.5
Single Leg Calf Raise
15 x 20kg
15 x 20
Single Leg Squat
15, 15, 12
Kettlebell Swing
10 x 40kg
10 x 40
So I am continuing with light deadlifts and back squats, 10 sets of 3, adding 2.5kg per week. I think I will know when it gets too much for my core, if that time comes.
I don’t really feel deadlifts in my upper abdomen, which is the herniated part.
However, after two sets of front squats today, I realised they just aren’t sensible. I felt a bit of pain in my core and said fuck it, this is not worth the risk. Serge will be pleased to see me make this call!
So I pulled out an exercise I did a loooong time ago; single leg squats off a bench. Even at bodyweight these fried my quads. Will probably start including them on the regular.
Also did some kettlebell swings, and got someone to watch to make sure my hernia didn’t bulge during them. It did not, and I felt pretty much zero involvement in that area of my core - so I could have another exercise available to me :).
I do remember the 40kg KBS making my traps explode a couple of years ago - would be cool to have that happen again.
Good news that you may get your surgery early. Yessss Dairy milk is the business! You can keep all your expensive fancy chocs and just give me a 200g bar of Dairy milk 
Is there any kind of support you can wear to protect your hernia? I know when you have lower ones near the groin you can get hernia belts, so I was just wondering if there’s anything you could wear to help hold it in when your doing certain exercises?
Maybe even one of those back supports if you wore it a bit higher up? Just an idea really? Obv not to mean you could ignore your doc or push stupid amounts of weight, but just might give you extra reassurance.
[quote]Lift and Eat wrote:
Good news that you may get your surgery early. Yessss Dairy milk is the business! You can keep all your expensive fancy chocs and just give me a 200g bar of Dairy milk
Is there any kind of support you can wear to protect your hernia? I know when you have lower ones near the groin you can get hernia belts, so I was just wondering if there’s anything you could wear to help hold it in when your doing certain exercises? Maybe even one of those back supports if you wore it a bit higher up? Just an idea really? Obv not to mean you could ignore your doc or push stupid amounts of weight, but just might give you extra reassurance.
Haha I must admit I eat a fair bit of organic, top shelf type chocolate… but I also love cheap dairy milk. I’ve never met a chocolate I didn’t like.
Hmm yes I have pondered wearing something like that; indeed, a number of people who’ve had open surgery with subsequent hernias do wear supports. But I believe the goal in that case is to keep the intestines from bulging out.
Where that does not actually seem to be an issue for me; not sure why though? The most I get is a very slight bulge while sitting up or something, but it barely bulges out, just kinda pushes the skin a little. I don’t know, it’s pretty gross haha.
Definitely glad I don’t have like a massive fat hernia sticking out of me!
Would certainly consider wearing something like that if I did develop the above mentioned issues though.
27/10/14
Bench
8 x 75kg
8 x 75
8 x 75
5 x 75
DB Row
8 x 37.5kg
8 x 37.5
8 x 37.5
8 x 37.5
OHP
14 x 35kg
11 x 35
10 x 35
Rack Chin
15, 12, 10
Bicep Curl
15 x 20kg
Skull Crusher
18 x 12.5kg
BW 82.9kg
Weight still seems to be climbing quite fast, even on 3600-ish calories. I’ll reassess at the end of this week and dial it back even more if I feel the need. Really want to hit that .5kg target and no more or less.
I managed the same reps as my last bench session but with 2.5kg more on the bar, and was stronger in OHP also. So this is good progress, despite strength not being my goal.
One of my friends was just telling me how he bulked from 88kg to 105kg in 6 months, and is now cutting with an aim of 84kg… wtf? He’s also lost 6kg in two weeks haha. Ah well, power to him - will be interesting to see the results.
As for me, I have started having a quiet beer most days. Will need to keep an eye on that!
Looking forward to Halloween this Friday… will post a photo of my costume.
[quote]panzerfaust wrote:
25/10/14
However, after two sets of front squats today, I realised they just aren’t sensible. I felt a bit of pain in my core and said fuck it, this is not worth the risk. Serge will be pleased to see me make this call!
So I pulled out an exercise I did a loooong time ago; single leg squats off a bench. Even at bodyweight these fried my quads. Will probably start including them on the regular.[/quote]
Dodging front squats is definitely a good call, they’ll really tax your core - in fact it’s a good reminder I should really be doing them!
And single leg squats are aces…always love doing these.
28/10/14
Squat
10 x 3 x 85kg
Stiff Legged Deadlift
8 x 60kg
8 x 70
8 x 75
8 x 75
Single Leg Calf Raise
15 x 20kg
15 x 20
15 x 20
Kettlebell Swing
20 x 40kg
15 x 40
12 x 40
Bodyweight 82.9kg… ehhhhh… and this is on poverty calories of 3600! If I keep gaining weight at this rate I will drop it down a bit more for next week.
I graph my weight and right now I am well ahead of my target line. Not so cool! But hey, cooler than losing weight.
Since I am doing very minimalist leg days I’ve decided to finish them with kettlebell swings. Pretty much just to fill up the final few minutes of my 60 minute workout. I know it doesn’t look like 60 minutes worth of work, but my energy levels aren’t that extreme yet hah.
So far the light squats and deads aren’t troubling my core, so hopefully I can keep increasing these for a while. I’m kinda considering just doing 10 x 3 squats and 10 x 3 deads plus calf raises and kettlebell swings twice per week. Instead of the squat day and dead day I do now.
[quote]Warrioress wrote:
[quote]panzerfaust wrote:
25/10/14
However, after two sets of front squats today, I realised they just aren’t sensible. I felt a bit of pain in my core and said fuck it, this is not worth the risk. Serge will be pleased to see me make this call!
So I pulled out an exercise I did a loooong time ago; single leg squats off a bench. Even at bodyweight these fried my quads. Will probably start including them on the regular.[/quote]
Dodging front squats is definitely a good call, they’ll really tax your core - in fact it’s a good reminder I should really be doing them!
And single leg squats are aces…always love doing these.
[/quote]
Front squats are awesome, huh? I used to also enjoy front squat iso holds - they really crush the core.
It’s really strange to not have strength-related goals. Stupid hernia! In some ways it does take the stress off my workouts, though. I’m trying to view lifting more as a mechanism to trigger growth in my body, more than an ego battle within myself. It’s a bit tough as I’m a very goal-driven person. But I guess rebuilding a physique I enjoy inhabiting is a fairly solid goal right?
I’ve noticed my jeans are fitting a bit better already, which proves my low rep squats and deads are actually achieving something. So that’s cool. And everyone has been telling me I look bigger. So much nicer than the “fuck bro you’re skinny” I got through chemo.
Tomorrow I have an appointment with my GP to get bloods taken. My new anatomy is not very well designed for absorbing nutrients, so i want to make sure everything is at adequate levels. Any suggestions for what tests to get are welcome! Also I am getting my testosterone levels checked out, as I know chemo can damage them. Could be a positive spin-off if I could get a legal supply of HGH or Test haha.
30/10/14
Bench
6 x 80kg
6 x 80
6 x 80
4 x 80
DB Row
10 x 37.5kg
10 x 37.5
10 x 37.5
6 x 37.5
OHP
15 x 35kg
12 x 35
10 x 35
Rack Chin
15, 14, 10
Bicep Curl
15 x 20kg
14 x 20
Skull Crusher
18 x 12.5kg
15 x 12.5
BW 82.5kg
Weight down a couple hundred grams, just fluctuating water levels though. I am using a graph to monitor my daily weights and averages through the week; going really well so far.
Added more weight and or reps to everything today, was a great workout!
I decided to jump 5kg up on bench because my body was craving slightly lower reps.
Weight is 83 flat today.
I would say to get your vit D levels checked when you get your bloods done. Many people have insufficient levels (if not quite deficient) esp if you don’t get (or haven’t been getting) much sun recently. Vit D can impact on loads of functions in the body and its pretty easy to correct with supplementation.
don’t take test unless you wanna be taking it forevvvvver.
Yeah bro I requested Vit D as part of it. Really curious to get my results this week!
Zenon, I have heard test can stop natural production. But I’ll see what the docs say once I get my levels back. Could always run a cycle or two as an alternative. Never really considered gear before, but I am tempted now.
Pre-town Halloween selfie:
[photo]40596[/photo]
03/11/14
Deadlift
10 x 3 x 85kg
Squat
6 x 3 x 85kg
Single Leg Calf Raise
20 x 20kg
20 x 20
20 x 20
I am now going to do Squat 10x3, Deadlift 6x3 and vice versa twice a week. With some calf raises and if I feel energetic I’ll do kettlebell swings too.
BW was 84kg… fatboyin’ hard. Probably water retention from a boozy halloween.
04/11/14
Bench
8 x 80kg
8 x 80
6 x 80
6 x 80
DB Row
10 x 37.5kg
10 x 37.5
10 x 37.5
10 x 37.5
OHP
15 x 35kg
12 x 35
10 x 35
Rack Chin
15, 14, 10
Bicep Curl
15 x 20kg
13 x 20
Skull Crusher
20 x 12.5kg
16 x 12.5
BW 83.8kg
Still getting fat, but I’m moderately happy.
Really pleased with my bench reps today, though the other lifts suffered a little as a result.
I approached this workout with really bad fatigue so I’m happy with how it went.
Bloods came back all fairly within normal range. Testosterone is 14.9 nmol/L ( 9 - 25 )… so at the lower end of middle range. Not sure what to make of this.
Bodyweight is 83.5kg today. I seem to peak in the weekend and drop off during the week, must be the change in eating (and drinking) habits.
I’ve had a chat to a few pharma aficionados, and the general consensus seems to be that I’m better off regaining size the natural way. I’m considering booking an appointment at the local Men’s Clinic to discuss whether I’m a candidate for TRT.
It’s a bitch, like more often than not I feel so drained I don’t want to hit the weights. I still DO, but I suffer through the whole workout. I miss the feeling of energy and vigor, of mentally celebrating after I crush a PR or hit a new rep record. I don’t seem to finish my workouts feeling pumped any more, just drained and fucked up.
If only I knew whether my energy levels will continue to rise, or whether I’ve hit my new normal. Until recently I could feel constant improvement, now I just feel flat.
Wish I knew what my T levels were before I got sick. I mean there’s no point supplementing them beyond my natural state.
shrug
[quote]panzerfaust wrote:
Bodyweight is 83.5kg today. I seem to peak in the weekend and drop off during the week, must be the change in eating (and drinking) habits.
I’ve had a chat to a few pharma aficionados, and the general consensus seems to be that I’m better off regaining size the natural way. I’m considering booking an appointment at the local Men’s Clinic to discuss whether I’m a candidate for TRT.
It’s a bitch, like more often than not I feel so drained I don’t want to hit the weights. I still DO, but I suffer through the whole workout. I miss the feeling of energy and vigor, of mentally celebrating after I crush a PR or hit a new rep record. I don’t seem to finish my workouts feeling pumped any more, just drained and fucked up.
If only I knew whether my energy levels will continue to rise, or whether I’ve hit my new normal. Until recently I could feel constant improvement, now I just feel flat.
Wish I knew what my T levels were before I got sick. I mean there’s no point supplementing them beyond my natural state.
shrug[/quote]
I can’t remember how many cycles of which chemo you had, but I hear that energy levels can take a very long time to fully recover.
I would wait it out for a while longer and keep doing what you are doing. What time do you train? Have you considered moving your workout time around, if possible?
Energy is important, I haven’t been what you’ve been through, but I feel like I can somewhat relate to how it would feel like to lack that energy you described. I wonder if you can be doing something more or different during your workouts to help speed along this process of getting your mojo back.
Neural drive sessions - like what Thibs has written about…something like that? Just spitballin’ here.
At your T levels and with everything else considered, I would hold off at looking into TRT for now and maybe revisit in a year or so after you know you’ve given all those other systems enough time to come back on-line.
I hear what you said a few posts back about struggling with lifting without a goal. For me, the goal is to acheive maximum stimulation of the muscle I’m working. This type of goal is different, but it does anchor you “in the moment” quite nicely. For me, it’s brought a ton of enjoyment to lifting. Weights are like golf clubs to me…sometimes a 7-iron will do the trick, sometimes I need a driver. No attachment at all to the number on the side of the dumbbell (or in the case of normal meatheads, the side of the plate).
If you’re open to exploring it a bit, you might find that it would be a good fit for you. You are in a situation where optimum autoregulation would really have a huge impact on how fast you bounce all the way back (and beyond).
Great costume, by the way.
It’s great your results all came back normal - I guess a part of you was hoping for something to be out of whack to explain things - but I think Serge is right - it’s gonna take awhile longer for your systems to bounce back fully.
Keep doing what your doing - or maybe take this time to explore other ideas / forms of training (not sure what the heck Neural Drive Sessions are - but they sounds ace!)
Great Halloween costume, very dark - was a bit gutted I didn’t join in this year but I had a work thing on that night.
Speaking of dark - I think at some point I remember seeing a Goya as your avatar - or is my mind playing tricks?? Very cool if so.
I am also just spitballin’ but considering the load chemo places on your liver, kidneys, digestive system, endocrine system, etc. it’s not surprising you don’t feel like your old self yet. I have no idea how long it takes to recover from the beating, but your body is definitely somewhat broken still.