Finally. You aren’t getting any younger.
Good luck man. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I think that’s the right move.
Out of surgery…so far so good. Sore as hell but getting around fairly decently. It is really stiff still so standing up and sitting are a bit of a challenge, and my calves are sore as shit for some reason (weird). But overall the surgeon said it went exactly as he had planned. Optimism.
lol nice
Day 4 Update:
-All body functions are back to normal. Apparently not eating for 24 hours followed by anesthesia and narcotics is a recipe for poor plumbing all the way around. I think I lost 10 pounds in the past day haha
-Back is still somewhat sore but hardly noticeable unless I am in a weird position. The narcotics are helping in that regard.
-Mobility is coming back. I am able to squat down without discomfort. Any sort of hinging where my lower body is straight and my upper body is angled forward is a bit uncomfortable so I am trying to limit that as much as possible. Managed to do the dishes and clean up around the house some today. Went for a mile or so walk yesterday, and a half mile today just to get some movement in and out of the house.
-Still can’t shower. Apparently the incisions can’t get wet for 7 days, which is just disgusting. I am going to put some saran wrap around it here in a few minutes and hope for the best. I can’t take the smell anymore, and I’m sure my girlfriend is considering leaving me.
Overall I would say things are right on track. My plan is to take it easy for the next 2 weeks, then head back to the gym and start upperbody stuff that doens’t load the spine. Hopefully by the first week of August I will be moving very light weights around and able to hinge. Plan to start normal training at the first of September, slowly working my way back up to where I was and beyond.
Lots of great news, man. Happy for you.
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
-Still can’t shower. Apparently the incisions can’t get wet for 7 days, which is just disgusting. I am going to put some saran wrap around it here in a few minutes and hope for the best. I can’t take the smell anymore, and I’m sure my girlfriend is considering leaving me.
[/quote]
LOL be careful
Quick update…I am moving around fine…in fact I would say that there is no barrier at all there. I pretty much come and go as I want and went back to work today after telworking the past two days.
Stopped taking the pain meds on Tuesday and haven’t had any pain to speak of in normal situations.
Back is still a little tight, which is to be expected and it is somewhat painful when I try to hinge at the hips, but that is getting better.
I’m thinking I will still take it easy next week and try to move around as much as possible, maybe go walk on the treadmill or something and then get back to LIGHT weights the following week. I am going to the beach here in 3 weeks though so that will obviously cut into working out, but after that I should be able to get back into the swing of things.
One more quick update…I didn’t get back to lifting light this week like I had hoped. After doing pretty well in Week 1 and fairly good in Week 2, I had a set back in Week 3 with a few spasms and sciatica flare ups. I had gone down to Orlando to watch my girl compete in the USAPL Raw Nationals (she got 2nd place btw with a high 8’s total) and we rented a car and headed up to Daytona one of the days we were down there. Apparently drinking a case of beer and trying to body surf at 285 pounds 2 weeks after back surgery isn’t the best idea. I didn’t really tweak it, but it hadn’t been used like that in a while and rebelled a bit on me. Plus I got a nasty ass sunburn, as you can tell in the picture.
My buddy that went to lift too had some douchey ass cut off Under Armor shirts and I thought it would be funny to wear one around. I kinda liked it…we went to get some lunch about a mile from the car and it was cloudy so I figured we were cool so I didn’t put on any sunscreen. The sun came out while we were there and I started getting hammered so the walk back was slow and apparently my fragile skin saw a bit too much of the sun during that time and I ended up lobstery.
Anyways, my doc told me to take it easy this week. I am doing much better now, and haven’t had any pain int he past few days. Basically moving around however I want to now. Was able to climb up and under my Jeep to work on it a couple days ago…I think I am definitely ready to get back to it.
heading to the beach next week with my girl and her family and my mom and brother, so taht will be pretty cool. Plan on getting back into it when we get back. Stay tuned…
[quote]VTBalla34 wrote:
Also i found my life’s philosophy whilst at the beach…[/quote]
Yes, you’re Snorlax.
the funny part is you still look like a powerlifter
8/19/13
Lots of foam rolling and stretching
Squats: Bodyx5, 45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 185x2
Elliptical: 15 minutes
Got back to the gym tonight finally. Tried to squat and it didn’t go so well. I was having a lot of pain in my upper glute over the past couple weeks in certain positions, and the squats aggravated it bad. It really started to flare up on the last set so I just stopped it at 2 reps instead of trying to force it stupidly.
I’m not sure at this point if it is related to my back injury not healing properly, or if it’s just realllllly tight from inactivity over these past few months. I’m really hoping it’s the latter and once I start moving again it will start to loosen up a bit and get all greased up. It FEELS like it might just be a tight piriormis, so I am going to really focus on that with the foam roller and a lax ball if I can stand it.
Did just a bit of cardio on the elliptical to try and get some blood flowing to the area hoping it would loosen up. feeling pretty decent tight but I’m sure I will have DOMS tomorrow lol
Going to be doing some sort of full body workout my girl is putting together for me for tomorrow. She made me a deal that she would handle all my training and nutrtion for the next 2 weeks i I didn’t complain,l and if it didn’t work she would never bother me about it again.
We got engaged at the beach btw…that was cool
You have to do the mobility work, man. I might as well congratulate on here as well lol.
8/20/13
30 minute walk with the dog…uphill both ways
May do some stretching/foam rolling here in a few…or may just eat dinner and sit on the couch and be lazy
Hip/glute feels a quite a bit better today after the walk…hopefully loosening up a bit
Congrats on getting engaged. Getting / being married is awesome.
185 x2? Maybe she can show you a thing or two about squatting too? Just joking big guy. Good luck with the recovery.
haha that’s not a joke if its true man…she is going to be out-squatting me for the foreseeable future. I just hope my bench is enough to still give me the edge on the Total lol
8/21/13
Elliptical: 15 minutes
Foam roll glutes hard
Circuit (all x10):
Bodyweight Squat
Pushup
Bodyweight Lunges
Lat Pulldowns
Made it through this circuit two times before the left glute flared up again. This sucker is really pissing me off. Decided to end when it flares up. Just gonna try to keep adding to it each time for now.
I am also going to focus on mobility stuff until I feel comfortable with that…may even do the v-diet with beginner workouts…who knows
Back in the saddle
Been working on loosening up my hip using De Franco’s Agile 8 as well as focused foam rolling on the piriformis area. I haven’t done it as much as I should, but what I have done seems to be helping. I was able to workout tonight pain free for the first time since I don’t know when…
I decided to do the V-Diet and start out slow…like real slow…with the Beginner workout. This is humorously enough the exact same way I started my T-Nation weightlifting career way back in March 2009, so I figure it can’t be all bad. I was squatting 500+ less than a year later, so maybe starting out slow is the right idea. The workouts are designed such that I think they will be easy on the hip and allow me to ease back into what I want to do. After the 4 weeks are up, I will decide where I wanna go from there.
My girl is also doing it, plus we have a wedding to go to in Dominican Republic 5 weeks from now, so why not get in shape for it? She started Monday, I started today (Wednesday). We are already looking forward to our HSM this weekend. Gonna crush some Chipotle.
First day was pretty decent. No real hunger cravings (other than Chipotle) and the shakes went down smoothly. I am adding 2 extra scoops of MD per day since I weigh about 290 and the menu is designed for someone who tops out at 265.
Workout 1 - 9/11/13
50 total reps of each, 45 seconds rest
Romanian Deadlifts (185#): 14, 12, 10, 6, 4, 4
Lat High Rows (in place of pulldowns) (90#): 16, 13, 12, 9
OHP (95): 16, 10, 5 <—Arms cramped up
Ab Wheel (3x10)
NEPA: 30 minutes walk on treadmill at 2.5 mph (lol) with 2.5 degree incline
This was the high rep workout. Basically a weight that represents your 14-16 rep max, and do it until you complete all 50 reps with 45 seconds rest in between. Since I have no idea what my 14-16 rep max was (who does?) I just guesstimated. 185 was good for the RDL’s since I am easing back into it. The limiting factor there ended up being grip. That many reps ended up crushing my hands.
90# was too light for the high row. i will probably add 50# next time for 140# total and see how that feels.
OHP started off fine but my arms crapped out quick and were cramped all to hell by the third set. Stopped here. Goal for next week will be to make it through all 50 reps at same weight.
Finished off with 3x10 on Ab WHeel. These are supposed to be side planks, but I think planks are useless so hit the ab wheel instead. I think hitting my core should help to alleviate the hip pain and loosen that area up.
Finished off with an easy walk on the treadmill. My heart was racing. Even after 30 minutes I was still over 135 BPM. I guess not working out for 4 months makes Nate out of shape, huh?
I was pretty pleased with how the workout went, mainly the fact taht I didn’t have any undue pain during the entire workout. That is a major acccomplishment for me at this point and will be a great building point going forward.
NEPA tomorrow is all and workout again on Friday. Probably won’t log days that aren’t workout days because they’re boring.
Also taking pictures and measurements tomorrow, but I probably won’t post them until I make some progress. Thing ain’t pretty right now.
Onward, hoe…
Hell yea
Oh yes.
9/12/13
NEPA: 45 minutes treadmill @ 2.5 degree incline & 3 mph
Kept my heart rate right around 130 most of the time. Hips are feeling pretty decent, still obviously a bit tight just without the pain. Progress.
Starting weight is going to be 289.0. That is on morning of Day 2, so it was probably 1-2 pounds more on Day 1 but I forgot to weigh myself so just starting there. Took my starting pics tonight as well. They are not pretty. Will do my measurements tomorrow morning, before my first shake. Only going to track biceps, waist (navel), waist (hips), and quads (maybe…I always have trouble measuring them consistently).