Well, I crapped out last week. I felt the need for a deload, but instead I missed all but one workout. Today was no different, because I grossly underestimated how long a Sunday afternoon Costco trip would take. That’ll teach me
In my haste to do something at the gym, I realized the ski erg might be partly to blame for the return of some savage elbow tendonitis. I cut it after five minutes and hopped onto a different elliptical than I usually use. If my knee feels good enough tomorrow and fully good Tuesday, I’ll use this machine for some cardio sessions.
Incoming ponderings - I’m somewhat at a loss for what type of program to run. For the last few years, I’m most consistent and recover best when lifting every-other day. I don’t totally love exercising for 1.5 hours each session with lifting plus cardio, so I’m either going to alternate upper and lower body lifting and cardio, using ABCD workouts like I did in the summer of 2022, or I’ll do Washed-Up Meathead with two days of lower-body cardio, one day per week of lower-body lifting, and two upper body lifting days.
My concern with W-UM is that one day per week of leg lifting won’t be enough frequency to sufficiently strengthen my knee’s supporting musculature. On the flip side, biking and, hopefully, the elliptical have a modest strength component. Alternating upper/lower days in ABCD fashion would allow for one strength session every five days per body part, which would increase my legs’ frequency while slightly decreasing my elbows’ usage. It’d also force me to swim again to give my knees a day off after lifting.
Typing this up helped me clarify my thoughts; the obvious answer seems to be the ABCD lifting schedule. I plan to continue experimenting with leg exercises to find what hurts and what feels good. I’m really hoping to slowly add deadlifts, sled pushing, and belt squats into the mix. First thing’s first - exercise consistently again.
Squat and Bench Day 1 (squat could be substituted for another leg movement of your choice)
Deadlift and overhead Day 2.
For your deadlift supplemental work you could do something quad focused or even super set stiff leg deadlift (for hamstrings) with a quad movement like leg extensions or a single leg movement
On the third training day you do more of a bodybuilding pump style workout to do all the things you like doing that doesn’t fit into the other days. This will essentially be a fully body 3 days a week program but with one day more BB focused.
You can either put the third day at the end of the week, or use it to split up the twp heavier days.
That’s a good breakdown, and it would stimulate each muscle group more frequently than my previous proposal. I’ll see how my elbow feels tomorrow after tonight’s minimal upper body workout. I might need the greater rest for my joints for a month or two before doing a program that uses every major joint three times each week.
A fierce flu’s floating around, so I avoided exercise for a little while. I’ve also started a new job, which has left me smoked most days. Finally, my elbows are back to hurting all. the. time. which is not only discouraging but also leaves me wondering what the best course of action is.
I know I could do leg and cardio workouts, which would be much better than nothing, but if I can’t work my arms, what’s the point of any exercising?! I think I said the same about deadlifts a couple months ago… Moderate exercising will help counter the new-job stress, and it seems the recent flu didn’t catch me, so perhaps I’ll be ok to do something once again.
Thanks for checking in, CL; you prompted me to realize it’s ok to rest my upper body and do what I can while waiting for yet another nagging pain to pass.
Happy to hear the flu missed you, not so much about the elbows.
Congrats on the new job… I think.
Good to hear things are just complicated and will pass. You got this!
Single hip thrust - bw x 2 x 10
Performed as warm-up supersets with deadlift sets
Deadlifts
135 x 8
185 x 5
225 x 4
265 x 3
295 x 2
315 x 1
315 x 1
315 x 1
Humblingly hard. Slow, controlled reps with lots of hamstring and glute activation.
Roc-It single leg presses
100 x 20
120 x 20
140 x 20
Matrix elliptical
20:00, 1.00 mi, 25-75 incl, 8-10 resist
So, maybe I’ll be back long enough to tear down my fat levels and win the T-ransformation? Time will tell - it just felt good to exert myself again.
After a month-ish, I’m finally settling into my new paralegal job. So far I’m enjoying it, and the circumstantial totality is vastly superior to my last job. As the learning curve slightly decreases, my stress level should correlate, and the gym will become a greater priority.
Unfortunately, my elbows hurt all. the. time. even for simple tasks like picking up groceries, so I’ll probably have to take a couple months off upper-body lifting. My current plan is to swim twice a week instead of UB lifting. Life is weird, man.
Good advice, and that’s exactly what I’ve done. I had a torn meniscus scare which turned out to be moderate knee arthritis. While waiting for an MRI and its results, I was using the ski erg as an upper-body warm-up and for conditioning. Now, it’s right out! Thanks for popping in Em, you’re always enjoyable to interact with.
Ah yes, late-night forum reading is one of the better ways to fill sleeplessness. Definitely don’t resist piping up, or trumpeting, or other posting metaphors
