20
Feb/10
1

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.

Filed under: Author, Exercises
Comments (1) Trackbacks (0)
  1. Mark Martinez
    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

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