[amphibian]

Morgoth, on 22 May 2014 - 06:23 AM, said:

So, last year I decided I would get back into my shape of yore, though with some added muscle mass. It was going really well, I was improving rapidly both in endurance and strenght until around september when something happened in my lower back during my last rep of deadlifts.

Turns out I managed to gift myself with a spinal disc herniation in my lower back, or a slipped disc as it's also called. I've been doing physical therapy and all, but the way back into proper shape is grueling. It takes so little to regress and start feelign serious pain again. Just a slight slip up in technique and I'm out of it for days. It's incredibly frustrating, especially as this is a permanent injury. All I can do is work to aleviate the symptoms the best I can.

Did you consider surgery?

I've been lucky in that the only back injury I've had was a cracked sacroiliac joint incurred when a cousin let his end of a washing machine slip. It took probably a year to fully heal back up as I kept re-injuring it playing sports.

I've seen a few people with disc injuries slowly accumulate enough muscle around the disc that they can get through some pretty demanding workouts, but it did take a long time and some unusually smart workouts to get there.

[Slow Ben]

Hill Sprints


F me they are awesome. Insanely swamped with work right now and when I get home it's play with the kid time. So I have about 20 minutes to work out recently. And 20 minutes of Hill Sprints are a great friggin workout.


But damn I miss deadlifts.

[amphibian]

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE!

[tiam]

Havnt been the gym in about 2 weeks work plus tiredness/illness. Struggling to get motivated to go now. I prefer going late as the gyms quiet but still.

I am going and ill be starting with 75k OHP hell or high water

[amphibian]

Pack your gym bag at home, at the beginning of the day, and leave it in your car or cubicle (if you don't drive to work). Having it packed and ready to go is a huge thing in overcoming the "blah, I want to go home" feeling that we all, every one of us, deal with on a regular basis.

I'm almost always glad I went to the gym even if I didn't want to that day. The exercise and the routine being stuck to help me psychologically as well as physically.

[Coco with marshmallows]

amphibian, on 11 June 2014 - 08:28 PM, said:

Pack your gym bag at home, at the beginning of the day, and leave it in your car or cubicle (if you don't drive to work). Having it packed and ready to go is a huge thing in overcoming the "blah, I want to go home" feeling that we all, every one of us, deal with on a regular basis.

I'm almost always glad I went to the gym even if I didn't want to that day. The exercise and the routine being stuck to help me psychologically as well as physically.

Pretty much this. I go to the gym straight after work, and its on my way home. Having a crew of people to lift with helps hugely motivational wise - even if you feel sh**, you just go in to spot the others and do whatever you can manage for yourself. Knowing that you're needed for spotting = extra impetus to ensure you go.

[Morgoth]

amphibian, on 22 May 2014 - 02:34 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 22 May 2014 - 06:23 AM, said:

So, last year I decided I would get back into my shape of yore, though with some added muscle mass. It was going really well, I was improving rapidly both in endurance and strenght until around september when something happened in my lower back during my last rep of deadlifts.

Turns out I managed to gift myself with a spinal disc herniation in my lower back, or a slipped disc as it's also called. I've been doing physical therapy and all, but the way back into proper shape is grueling. It takes so little to regress and start feelign serious pain again. Just a slight slip up in technique and I'm out of it for days. It's incredibly frustrating, especially as this is a permanent injury. All I can do is work to aleviate the symptoms the best I can.

Did you consider surgery?

I've been lucky in that the only back injury I've had was a cracked sacroiliac joint incurred when a cousin let his end of a washing machine slip. It took probably a year to fully heal back up as I kept re-injuring it playing sports.

I've seen a few people with disc injuries slowly accumulate enough muscle around the disc that they can get through some pretty demanding workouts, but it did take a long time and some unusually smart workouts to get there.

Forgot I had posted here. I have considered surgery, but the consensus of my doctor, my physical therapist and my personal trainer is that it will reduce mobility in my lower back by a lot. Better to, as you say, build core muscle to alleviate. So that's what I'm trying to do. It's going slow, but I'm noticing a steady improvement. I've had a couple of regressions in that I've dones something wrong and developed an infection, but I finally see light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

On the positive side, the injury forces me to be diligent in going to the gym at least four times a week. If I start slacking the pain returns in no time at all.

[Gredfallan Ale]

tiam, on 11 June 2014 - 07:11 PM, said:

Havnt been the gym in about 2 weeks work plus tiredness/illness. Struggling to get motivated to go now. I prefer going late as the gyms quiet but still.

I am going and ill be starting with 75k OHP hell or high water

amphibian, on 11 June 2014 - 08:28 PM, said:

Pack your gym bag at home, at the beginning of the day, and leave it in your car or cubicle (if you don't drive to work). Having it packed and ready to go is a huge thing in overcoming the "blah, I want to go home" feeling that we all, every one of us, deal with on a regular basis.

I'm almost always glad I went to the gym even if I didn't want to that day. The exercise and the routine being stuck to help me psychologically as well as physically.

Something that helps me is to have a program.

I used to go to the gym three to four times a week, without a program or fixed schedule. After a while, that frequency dropped due to a high workload that drained most of my energy and motivation away. Pretty soon, I had a hard time motivating myself to go, especially as I was getting used to spend my time differently (reading, going out with friends, ...). Long story, short, I completely quit, with a suppressed voice at the back of my head whispering that I should actually resume my gym visits.

Nowadays, I don't visit a gym anymore, but I got back on my bike and I'm following a training program. I don't have to think or decide whether I actually want to go out anymore, as my program just says: Tomorrow it's Tuesday, you're scheduled for a 90 minute sprint interval training; don't think about it, just go!

[amphibian]

I'm doing wind sprints, calisthenics and more every Monday. It is seriously kicking my ass. I was never a big runner, just played soccer until I could run off/on for five hours at a time.

Then the rest of the five days a week are devoted to grappling and explosive strength.

I'm up to 200 lbs, but not a great composition even if my teammates are having a hard time dealing with me. Need to get back to 185 and be faster.

[Nicodimas]

@ amphibian

Spend 90 days on changing the way you eat.. Look here-->

http://forum.bodybui...php?t=121703981

I Run a 185p/150c/50f and reduce every other week carbs by 15 when cutting down about 50 carb's for two weeks max.
That makes me lose about 2-3 pounds a week..

I run 240P/185c/65f when bulking which I build up from whereever I am.

Find what works for you..and eat clean.

This post has been edited by Nicodimas: 07 October 2014 - 11:14 PM

[Coco with marshmallows]

Similar to Amph, got pretty heavy recently, almost 200lbs (90kg for the normal people ) and have now started the long slow process of cutting without losing much strength. weighed in at 88 kg this morning, so my plan of losing 1 kg / 2 lbs a week is okay so far (2 weeks in at least)

But god damn it's boring.

On the plus side, my lifting is going pretty well, hit some cracking squat numbers running the Big Texas method (best day was a 3 RM of 160 kg / 352 lbs) and boring old 5*5 and tapering on bench has hauled that up to a single 120 kg / 264 lbs (admittedly touch and go not paused)

Lamentably my deadlift is still (comparatively) bloody awful though.

Strongman training is pretty good too. Have done a 220kg / 485 lbs yoke over a 20 metre track (10 metres and dump, turn and come back) Also pushed a 210 kg / 462 lbs prowler over the same distance. I really like the strongman stuff, but sadly that's not at my main gym, its at one i only get to once every 2/3 weeks.

[amphibian]

Way to go!

I'm on a hiatus from serious exertion for a bit as my eyes heal up. Lots of walking and eventually agility drills in my future.

[Coco with marshmallows]

what happened to your eyes?

[Cause]

Just caught this thread.

After a very long Hiatus I tried to go back to gym. I'm trying to focus on general fitness, and building muscle. I figure if I can do those two things looking better and losing weight will naturally follow.

It was a bit disheartening to see how far back I have regressed, though not surprising.
Bench - 80 Kg max
Deadlift - 90 Kg max (I have always hated this exercise)
Squat - 100 kg, though I think I can do better

My big problem, though I realise its very much in part due how long its been since I have been exercising is delayed onset muscle soreness. Does anyone have any tips to prevent, reduce this?

Also does anyone take supplements? I used to regard them as either a waste of money or a crutch but a colleague of mine is always downing a protein shake of some kind and I have to say that over the last few months I have noticed a huge change in him.

This post has been edited by Cause: 02 November 2014 - 07:11 PM

[Binder of Demons]

The supplements thing is tricky depending on what you're refering to. But protein shakes can be helpful post workout to aid in muscle repair. And equally, having a shake during the day can help to stop you from eating bad foods if you're hungry (but you are still obviously consuming calories).

I found having a protein shake ready for immediately after intense training sessions helped me out a lot in terms of recovery. I used to be getting home over an hour after training and that wasn't ideal so having something ready to go was great.

As for delayed onset muscle soreness, you should try and do as much stretching and loosening up as you can at the end of your workout, and again the next day, even if you're not doing anything else. Basically get the muscles stretching somehow to get the blood flowing to them without but too much strain on them.

[Coco with marshmallows]

*2 on the stretching.

I'd recommend you get a foam roller if you haven't got one, and use it regularly.

[Slow Ben]

Coco with marshmallows said:

1414960289[/url]' post='1157879']
*2 on the stretching.

I'd recommend you get a foam roller if you haven't got one, and use it regularly.

Dear lord, so much this. Those things are fantasmic.


@Cause. Protein and Creatine are the only 2 I recommend. They're both relatively cheap and proven to be effective. If you're tying to build muscle, don't forget to add plenty of healthy carbs to your diet as well. So many people preach protein protein protein and neglect the impact carbs have on muscle buliding.

[amphibian]

Coco with marshmallows, on 02 November 2014 - 06:11 PM, said:

what happened to your eyes?

Laser eye surgery. They cut a three quarters circle in the tops of my eyes, peeled it back and zapped the eye with the laser to reshape it. The circle was then put back in, but it needs time to get fully settled - over a month of no serious exercise.

[Cause]

Also has anyone (specifically a make I guess) done Yoga? I find the promised benefits of enhanced flexibility, core strenght and balance very appealing but I am sceptical. Im interested in the exercise not the spiritual ascpect and wonder if it really delivers.

[amphibian]

Do hot yoga and it'll get you more flexible and improve your balance. Tiny bit of strength improvement if you aren't used to doing push ups, squats or headstands already.

Morgoth does it and I occasionally do some stuff to loosen up my back and hamstrings.

I dunno about core strength improvements unless the person literally did nothing for years beforehand.