My Year With 3J - a journey into fitness

Great work...keep it up. Remember, though with 3j's reverse pyramiding that you should be at failure at the last rep or two of each set. I see you're sticking closely to the recommended rep ranges but those are implied...failure is assumed. For example, my reverse pyramid sets look like 20, 5, 6, 9, 16, etc. The purpose, at least from my understanding, is to get the maximal benefit from both high and low rep training - most importantly hypertrophy, which is best achieved during failure.

Yep, you are correct. I just write the numbers the same for simplicity sake so I can copy and paste them. :) I raise or lower the weight to ensure I fail at the end, as you said is needed.
 
Another update.

I saw my chiropractor this morning and he went over the MRI report with me in detail. The C7 bulge is the most egregious, but two others are bulging slightly as well. Also, and this is the worse part, the space between the vertebrae has reduced, making that hole that the nerves come out of smaller than it should be. At the C7 location, the bone is actually touching the nerve bundle slightly. He said it is almost a guarantee that this is also causing the pain in my hand and he would be surprised if I actually have carpal tunnel.

In good news, the vertebra that kept slipping out of alignment (about halfway down my back) is staying put and my right arm radius is spinning freely and as it should. They have been this way for 3 weeks now, so confidence is high they will stay working and in place as they are meant to be.

I am shifting to every 10 days with the chiropractor until orthopedics says what needs to be done.
 
How long are your rest periods between sets? I was thinking about trying out this reverse pyramid stuff myself. Time for some new rep schemes
 
How long are your rest periods between sets? I was thinking about trying out this reverse pyramid stuff myself. Time for some new rep schemes

Technically, I think I can rest up to 30 seconds between sets...but I only actually rest the length of time it takes to swap out the weights. Remember that the weight is done TO FAILURE every set.
 
Ouch! That sounds horribly painful. I love it :D

Do you do this on assistance exercise's aswell, or just the main lift's?
 
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I was quite proud of myself today (yesterday, since it is after midnight). I went to the gym in the morning and did 30 mins of moderate cardio and then went BACK to the gym in the evening and did leg day. I also raised ALL my leg day weights by 5 pounds. I am not doing squats due to my current injury, though.

I actually feel very good about myself for doing that...I am going to see if I can incorporate that into a routine schedule. On the days where I cannot do normal workouts due to my injury, I will just do two sessions of cardio. :)
 
Wow, two days without any anti-inflammatories and no pain killers is showing me just how amazing Celecoxib (Celebrex) really is as an anti-inflammatory. The pain I am now in is terrible, I would place it at an 8 on the pain scale, with retrograde intrarenal surgery (aka kidney scoping, where they pass a water and fiber optics tube up your penis and THROUGH your prostate and into your kidney to have a look around) as a 10. Now that I am fully feeling the pain, I am quickly turning into an angry person...
 
I am out of surgery and doing quite well. I am an optimist at heart and even I am surprised by how well I am doing.
 
Thanks! This log will be slow for the next month or so I'm sure due to limitations on what I can do. But after that it's going to light on fire as I continue to work with 3J and reshape myself into the ultimate man.

3J has been amazing throughout the entire entire ordeal. Giving great advice on what to talk about with the doctor and making sure I get second opinions which I might not have thought of on my own. When you buy his dervices you get the complete deal.
 
Due to being, essentially sedentary, 3J has dropped me to a 2000 cal per day diet. Here is my current daily workout routine:

I have a set of exercises I have to do twice a day. I added to it some to complete the whole body workout. Every exercise is performed 30 times, twice a day.

Sitting:
Rounded Foot Lifts - Start with foot on heel and roll it forward onto toes, rounding the foot as it progresses forward.
Shoulder Circles backwards then forwards
Centerline Flexes - you know that "hinge" in your rib cage where you can bend it and make the ribs concave, then bend the other way and make the back concave? Do each of them 30 times.
Bicep Curls - 3 pounds
Tricep Curls - 3 pounds

Standing:
Calf Raises
Ballet Movements - With all weight on left leg, move right leg to the side and tap the toe lightly, then bring back to center. Move the right leg backwards and tap the toe lightly, bring back to center. Do each leg 30 times.
Skull Crushers - 3 pounds

0.4 mile brisk walk, twice a day.
 
I have upped my brisk walk to 0.8 miles, twice a day. Any day now and I will be in the Boston Marathon.


Or not...
 
I hit the gym today for the first time in weeks. I have always been cleared to do any kind of leg exercises, provided they do not impact the back at all, so no squats or such. I did some pretty heavy leg work, used isolation machines to work my triceps and biceps without moving the shoulders or back, and even did 20 minutes on the elliptical, keeping the heart rate to about 125bpm. I have been told I can do light cardio and so I kept it light. They want me to keep increasing my time and speed that I do cardio, slowly of course.

I feel the most alive I have felt in a long time. I did not realize just how much I enjoyed working out! It had started to become a routine, and maybe a little bit of drudgery too. Not any more, this has shown me that I really DO LOVE working out and that it makes me feel truly alive.

I cannot wait to be fully cleared to start slowly ramping up my weights again. In 2 days the neck brace comes off and I will be cleared for 10 pounds of lifting. Not too long after that I should be cleared for unlimited lifting, based on listening to my body. EVERYONE in our lifestyle (who is not an idiot) already listens to their body. Sure, sometimes we ignore it, but we listen. I plan on not ignoring it, too much at stake. But the future looks bright and promising. In another year I will be all but unrecognizable, that is how much I am going to change my body. 3J will keep me on the straight and narrow and prevent me from being stupid with it, of course, and together we will turn me into someone women half my age look at with desire. :)
 
5/17/16

As previously stated, I was released for unlimited cardio and unlimited isolation exercises (provided they do not impact the spine or neck at all), and unlimited leg exercises (again, no spine use - so no squats). For anything that impacts the spine, I am limited to 10 pounds max for now. I have been slowly upping my weights as I get back into the swing of things. I am doing an entire body workout Monday through Wednesday, Thursday is my normal leg day, and Friday is entire body workout again. I am doing 20 minutes of 140bpm average heart rate each day except Thursday. I take Saturday and Sunday off, or use them as make up days. Here are my weights moved (in pounds):

Chest
Flat Bench Press: 15, 4, 6, 8, 20 - 100, 135, 110, 100, 50
Flat Bench Flys: 20, 20, 20 - 20, 20, 17.5

Back
Narrow Grip Rows: 15, 4, 6, 8, 20 - 100, 145, 120, 75, 45

Shoulders
Military Press: 15, 4, 6, 8, 20 - 10 for each
Side Lateral Raises: 15, 4, 6, 8, 20 - 10 for each
Front Lateral Raises: 15, 4, 6, 8, 20 - 10 for each
Shrugs: 20, 15, 20 - 10 for each

Legs
Incline Leg Press: 15, 4, 6, 8 - 200, 250, 210, 200
Leg Extensions: 15, 4, 6, 8 - 175, 235, 190, 175
Leg Curls: 15, 4, 6, 8 - 145, 190, 160, 145
Calf Raises (done on a stepper to increase drop distance): 20, 20, 20 - Body Weight +10

Arms
Machine Bicep Curls (one arm at a time): 10 reps at 75, drop 15 pounds (one plate) and do 10 more reps, continue until at lightest weight for 20 reps
Machine Tricep (one arm at a time): 10 reps at 50, drop 10 pounds (one plate) and do 10 more reps, continue until at lightest weight for 20 reps


One of the problems with a spinal issue at the C7 vertebrae in the neck is a significant loss of strength in the right tricep. I can easily move more weight with my left tricep, but I do not want to make it larger until the right catches up.
 
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05/22/15

Been a while since I posted stats, so I will at the end. I had some trouble this week, bad trouble. I apparently pushed some bad air into my test bottle and contaminated it. First time ever for me for this and I have been doing it for 3 years now. My bottle was 3/4 empty, so I know it was my fault, though inadvertent. I injected Wednesday and Thursday is leg day. I beat the crap out of my legs on Thursday. On Friday, my right leg hurt in a localized area, so I figured it was a muscle knot of some sort. Did some massaging and used a roller and it broke apart some, hurt like hell doing it but that is expected, and felt some relief. It returned Saturday and I did the same thing. I injected again on Sunday, into the other leg, and by Tuesday it also hurt. Meanwhile my right leg was slowly feeling better. Of course, no leg day in the middle, so I knew it had to be the injection. Instead of using the roller, I let it be. It turned into a large knot that was hot and red. But just like the right leg, the left leg felt mostly better by Friday. Today, neither one hurts at all. I tossed that bottle. This affected my work outs last week, but I still did whatever I could.

So I ended up losing no weight, but I did not gain any either, so I classify it as a win...and I still have both legs, so no amputation needed. Given my luck currently, that could have happened!

I feel stronger and I think my muscles look more defined than they have in the last few weeks. Just need to get rid of this stubborn belly fat and I will be a happy camper. My bicep/triceps got larger (slightly), which is good. The right tricep will not activate at anything over 50 pounds yet (51 pounds might as well be 510 pounds with as far as I can move it). This is 10 pounds heavier than before the surgery, so I am optimistic it will increase as the swelling goes down. Surgeon says 3 to 4 months of swelling still, I am hoping the healing drugs I am taking cuts that in half.

Onto the stats:

Weight: 192
Neck: 16.5
Chest: 40
Stomach: 34.5
Waist Line: 35
Biceps: L: 12.75 R: 12.5
Thighs: L: 24 R: 24
Calves: L: 15 R: 15
Forearms: L: 12 R: 12
 
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