Feb/103
First Day Back at the Gym after 6 Months
Today is my first day back at the gym. I took off about 6 months due to pinched nerves in my lumbar spine. I used to be big into heavy weights and building strength. I was younger then and had different goals. I have changed my goals since my injury and just decided to exercise for overall health, stay in shape, and to take care of my back. I eliminated squats, deadlifts, clean and jerks, and the snatch from my routine. I’m trying not to do anything that will compress my spine.
Since this is my first day back, I decided to do a simple light weight full body workout just to get back into the swing of things.
I first started off with 10 minutes on the elliptical. I decided to give up jogging because it’s a high impact exercise. I’m trying to minimize any extra stress to my lower back.
I then did the following exercises:
- Bench Press
- Leg Press Machine
- Shoulder Press
- Bicep Curls
- Tricep Press
- Calf Raises
- Situps
- Bent Over Rows
- Deadlifts (very light weight, slow, feet close)
I did each exercise for 2 sets of 12 reps. I did not go to failure. I’m just trying not to injure myself by jumping back into things too quickly.
After I finished my workout, I laid down on a decline bench and stretched and decompressed my spine.
Well I’ll keep all of you updated on my progress. Thanks for reading.
Calendar
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jan | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | ||||
Pages
Recent Posts
Archives
- January 2011 (1)
- July 2010 (1)
- May 2010 (1)
- February 2010 (10)
- January 2010 (2)
- November 2009 (2)
5:55 AM on March 6th, 2010
Dude dips & pull-ups, killer exercises for functional strength and a great built. My favorites to start out with (other than squats) – I like to attack the heavy-hitter exercises first thing… then the rest of the workout seems like a breeze (or, on few days, if I skip the rest of the workout for some silly reason I would’ve still hit substantial muscle fibers)
Not sure why you’re demotivated though. Brian brings up an important factor “lifestyle.” For me, gym workouts had a whole different purpose (& new found motivation) when I started wakeboarding. Find something you like, stack it up… even if 1 day a week.
Mark Martinez
your hypergain test lab
8:36 PM on March 20th, 2011
I too was injured for the past few months and have been out of the gym since the injury. My physician made me wear a cast for 2 months and then walk with crutches for an additional 2 months because of my lower leg injury. I hope I can get back into the swing of things with as much motivation as you did. I’m afraid that when I first start I’ll be gasping for some oxygen just to keep from passing out… lol. Let’s hope it won’t be as difficult as I fear it may be.
10:52 AM on July 11th, 2011
I can relate to most of these posts following years of heavy weight training, lack of warmups and stretching, and now a history of injuries and back problems.
Then I recently discovered Pilates, and within three short months the back problems have all but disappeared. I also always thought that Pilates was not for men – not according to the New Zealand All blacks rugby team – and that the exercises were all performed laying on mats. Not the case. It’s tough, and boy does it work, without those niggly injuries and aching the next day.
A real Pilates convert.