Return to the gym

I TRIED to return to the gym but the holidays hasn’t been too good for me, so starting next year, I’m on a roll to hit the meat market! WISH ME LUCK!

Wish me good luck ;-)

you always say to yourself tomorrow :) and it’s not happening :)

soooooonnnn

Back and chest, some tri’s,25 mins. of cardio, and stretching. Shoulders, bi’s and calves tomorrow, legs on Monday. Slowly getting back to my old self.

The staph infection in my arm has healed to a point where I can now go back. This whole past week has been a serious pain in the a…ummm…arm. I’m thinking tomorrow will be a light day at work, so I might try and bolt at lunch and do some cardio.

...of recovering from two torn ligaments in my hip, courtesy of my insanely poor judgment to do dead lifts, I went back today. 45 minutes of cardio on the elliptical trainer and 15 minutes of light weights. Both the hip and back feel fine, and it was nice to get back to Ropeman’s gym. We’ll try it again tomorrow.

I had an ass-busting workout during lunch today and I felt like I was going to die when I got home. It was awesome. I felt like I had reconnected with a long, lost side of my inner psyche. For the first time in nine years, I was able to have an ass-busting workout and not have to worry about nerve pain in my back.

For those precious few of you who have been following the ongoing saga of my spine surgery and subsequent recovery, you will no doubt admonish me not to “over do it”. I can assure you that, despite the intensity of my workout, I was well within the bounds of good judgment (an area I am otherwise relatively unfamiliar with).

While I may never bench press 435lbs again, the sheer enjoyment of being able to exercise without pain has made me very, very happy.

This was a quasi-emotional experience. After so many months (and really, years) of being crippled by back pain, I went to my gym and lifted weights this afternoon. Yes, I was very careful, yes,I wore my power lifting belt, and no,I did not lift anything “heavy”, with the understanding that “heavy” is a relative term.

This was a very, very important step in my recovery. Just five months ago I could have never imagined that I’d be back in the gym. In fact, five months ago I was not a 100% sure I’d ever walk like a normal person again. I am so incredibly lucky to have a second chance.

My back was killing me this past Sunday and Monday. There was no nerve pain (thank God), but my lower back muscles just ached something evil. I think I slept on them wrong Sat. night and that’s probably what aggrivated them. I have to volunteer at the shelter tomorrow, so we’ll shoot for Friday.