Thin Crust Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Nice lifts! I finally saw a specialist about my back... turns out I have something called facet joint arthritis, otherwise known as facet syndrome. No bueno. My discs are fine but the joints in my lower back are inflamed. It explains a LOT about so many things, and I'm really happy we figured it out. Currently taking some very strong anti-inflammatories, after which I'll be on slightly weaker (but still prescription) stuff to get the inflammation under control, and then it's back to physical therapy. Definitely disruptive to my workouts too, but I'd rather heal up than be at 80% capacity for years. If you are worried about price at all, prescription strength anti-inflammatories AKA Celebrex, is just standard ibuprofen but a higher dose (800mg) In other words, if you buy a $2.50 bottle of generic ibuprofen and take 4 200mg tablets, you are taking the same as 1 prescription Celebrex. Just in case you needed it...... I'm also excited for basketball tonight. With my luck I'm going to jam another finger. Tomorrow, I'm going to see a doctor about my jammed thumb that I injured 3 months ago but is still swelled and hurts. Well, that and also for a fungus on my hand been there for 1.5 years, a heel pain that has been there for 1.3 years, my back that has been hurting for 2 months, and an odd fatigue with my legs. I have also been taking a picture of myself every 2 weeks for the last few months. I wonder if I should show the progress here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Currently finishing up a round of Prednisone which unfortunately is ALSO messing with my lifts. Took like 30 pounds off my bench :/ But I'll bounce back. After that I'm going to be on Celebrex for awhile. I can't take most OTC stuff because I'm also on blood thinners, and many NSAIDS have bad interactions with those. Otherwise it would be Ibuprofen errday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Splint Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I'm starting to think we need to change the group name to "Sick/Injured Club ahoy." zykO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin Crust Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Spoke with the doctor today. She left me in the waiting room for over an hour. Can't blame her though, it was very busy in there. She wants me to have ligament reattachment surgery on my thumb. Strangely, after looking at my xray, she asked if I had an old injury on my right thumb..... the old injury was on my left thumb. However, that did not affect her diagnosis on my injury as torn ligaments do not show on xrays. But after hearing this, I decided to opt for the MRI before undergoing surgery. After all, my patients come to me all the time with faulty knee and hip replacements. Despite all this, she never even thought to talk about my other 5 problems that I came in with. We'll see if I should even bother to follow up with them on these issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zykO Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I'm starting to think we need to change the group name to "Sick/Injured Club ahoy." might not be a bad idea lol speaking of which... this hydroxycut i'm pluggin into my cut cycle is regularly maxing me out at 185-190 bpm during my workouts... which is fine when i'm running but is really not fine when i'm doing assorted "supplemental" Insanity exercises am i goings to dieeeee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zykO Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Spoke with the doctor today. She left me in the waiting room for over an hour. Can't blame her though, it was very busy in there. She wants me to have ligament reattachment surgery on my thumb. Strangely, after looking at my xray, she asked if I had an old injury on my right thumb..... the old injury was on my left thumb. However, that did not affect her diagnosis on my injury as torn ligaments do not show on xrays. But after hearing this, I decided to opt for the MRI before undergoing surgery. After all, my patients come to me all the time with faulty knee and hip replacements. Despite all this, she never even thought to talk about my other 5 problems that I came in with. We'll see if I should even bother to follow up with them on these issues. well that's an easy 3 month rehab right there alone :\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin Crust Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 That's exactly right. And over here in North Carolina, my sports days are my only social activity. I couldn't live without them. zykO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin Crust Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I decided against the surgery. My right thumb is just as strong as the left and it also has full mobility. The only difference is that it hurts a little bit. Besides, if I injure myself again, I can always get the surgery to save it. If I get the surgery and injure it again, I'm screwed. I wonder. What is the proper etiquette if you're right in the middle of a heavy lift and you accidentally let out a fart? I'm sure this has happened to everyone at least once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Splint Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 I wonder. What is the proper etiquette if you're right in the middle of a heavy lift and you accidentally let out a fart? I'm sure this has happened to everyone at least once. I might be the only person this hasn't happened to, but that doesn't mean I'd be horrified if someone else did it beside me. Just own it, look at whoever might have heard it (if they're looking at you) and shrug. Bonus points if you say, "Sometimes the awesome just can't be contained." Koriantor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Splint Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Does this group even lift anymore? Who achieved a goal recently? Who is still recovering from an injury? Who is finally injury free and back on track (me)? Who is getting so swole their friends are becoming concerned for their health? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nabeel Ansari Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Haven't gone in a couple weeks, but I went yesterday. Maintaining my bench at 65lbs. for incline and 75lbs. for straight and decline. Stepped up to 95 lbs. (45 + 25x2) on my squats for two sets, felt real good. I can't really move anymore. Did an extra set of shoulder press at 40lbs, so it's time to work a 50 lbs. set in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Splint Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Haven't gone in a couple weeks, but I went yesterday. Maintaining my bench at 65lbs. for incline and 75lbs. for straight and decline. Stepped up to 95 lbs. (45 + 25x2) on my squats for two sets, felt real good. I can't really move anymore. Did an extra set of shoulder press at 40lbs, so it's time to work a 50 lbs. set in there. Nice! Keep movin' on up. Glad to hear you're still making an effort to get in there. I'm betting that soon you'll hit an unexpected moment where you realize you're really starting to enjoy it, and can't bear to be away for more than a day or two. In other news, Friday is the best day of the week. Not because it's the start of the weekend, but because Friday is SHOULDER DAY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Does this group even lift anymore? Who achieved a goal recently? Who is still recovering from an injury? Who is finally injury free and back on track (me)? Who is getting so swole their friends are becoming concerned for their health? Still got my facet arthritis here, but it's doing a little better. Still killing it 3 days a week and then 3-4 days of intense cardio plus 1-2 miles of daily walking. Started at 182 and currently at about 177, I want to get down to the 160s again but this time with way more muscle mass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceansAndrew Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 im just taking it easy this summer, am sitting at about 9% BF and am still pretty strong so I am chillin. I work out 4 days a week with Deia, working on increasing my bench numbers a bit and can manage a new 1RM at 275, but its stalled there since I am not eating much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Damn, 9% with that bench? Awesome. That does remind me of a gym story.. last week I saw an utterly insane display of strength. Strongest guy I've seen with my own two eyes. This guy must have been like 6'4 / 300. He gets under an incline and does 22 reps with 3 plates. Then the next day he does 57 (!!!) reps on a decline bench with 2 plates. Absolutely unreal. He was moving the weight like there was nothing there at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin Crust Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 I haven't quit and I work out everyday. I play sports 3 days a week and lift 4. My thumb will never heal so I can't do too many things with dumbbells but I have reached a couple goals. I am a very stupid person because I do the same workout everyday until I feel that it is strong enough, and then I change it to a different workout. My bent over dumbbell rows are doing 75 lbs per arm so I'm quitting those for standing rows.I maxed out my pull up count so I should probably drop that one and pick up another but I'm not sure which yet. When I did bench press, I didn't go all the way down to my chest. This made me feel sad so I figured that I would need to decrease my weights and go from there. Instead what I did was do one set of heavy bench with the improper form, and then another lighter set where I started with the bar on my chest and only pushed it 5 inches up. Right now, my lighter bench press is only 10 lbs behind my improper bench press. I'm so very close. I saw two guys. One looks like he might have had downs but he was really big and he was setting up the bench with his eyes closed like he was playing a game. He loaded up 3 plates and did a few reps. Then he added more. He was probably up to 3 plates + 20lb per side. Of course he was on the bench machine with a safety rail so that somewhat diminishes the accomplishment. But wow! The second guy was by no means the biggest guy I have seen at the gym, but he lifted the most. He did a 4 plate lift 4 times and then proceeded to do 3 plate incline and decline press. I'm so shocked at that feat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modus Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 I've noticed a lot of definition showing up the past three months for me. Arms and face have zero fat. A bit of ribs poking through, like 2 and a half. My biceps look ridiculous. More strength than I've ever had. I'm kind of stuck at 150 bench though. Been playing sports consistently for the first time in my life. My stamina doesn't give in because I've been running too. Pecs are not getting big. No idea why. The definition on them looks sloppy, and my abs are a friggn mess. My abs are actually ripped to the moon if you feel em but there's flab. So I'm Johnny Wiseau weird-ripped. It sucks. I look too lean on the rest of my body, and I've cut out fat from my diet to a level of self-control that has held up for 8+ months and I'm just waiting for the dam to burst. I think my genetics are giving me the red light on a six-pack. I am so friggn close it hurts my soul. You know Bleck's signature? That's me, everyday after workout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modus Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Hm, guess I weigh 183 and should be benching at least 180. Not sure why benching in particular has been so difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 How tall are you / got any pics? Also what's your chest routine? 2 days of chest a week with good volume should give you good results IF you're eating at a surplus and resting well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modus Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 How tall are you / got any pics? Also what's your chest routine? 2 days of chest a week with good volume should give you good results IF you're eating at a surplus and resting well. I'm 5'11". This is where I'm at. My routine is either once a week or twice depending on how long the soreness stays. I also do weighted pushups randomly a lot of evenings. Anyway, I do pullups until I can't get at least 7 reps. Then bench enough to max out 8 reps my first set. Then incline bench same thing. Then cable crossovers same thing, 4 sets high, 4 sets low. Then I'm dead and since I take 10 minute music breaks between sets 2+ hours have passed My sleep is great and my nutrition content is great. I probably don't eat enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Splint Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I probably don't eat enough. My experience with this has been like so: those who say they think they are eating enough probably aren't. Those who think they are NOT eating enough DEFINITELY aren't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halt Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Heya guys! finally settled into my new place and it has a few locations of the gym I went to at my previous place of living! The downside is they still don't have many power racks/squat racks. Usually 2. The newer one has a raised platform of fake wood, what's the point of that? I might look at other gyms depending on my contract, since I live in a larger area now, it's pretty busy sometimes and my current routine is using barbells for half of it. I talked to one of the managers the other day and he said once they get my account transferred over from the other location they'd be able to look at it. I signed up for a year membership which is PAST, so it should be month to month. Any suggestions of dealing with gyms if I want to switch? I know some are pretty brutal with letting you go and such. I just want more racks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin Crust Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 I can't comment on gyms sorry. But I was looking for weighted pull ups and I can't find it on fitocracy. That or weighted dips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Splint Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Heya guys! finally settled into my new place and it has a few locations of the gym I went to at my previous place of living! The downside is they still don't have many power racks/squat racks. Usually 2. The newer one has a raised platform of fake wood, what's the point of that? I might look at other gyms depending on my contract, since I live in a larger area now, it's pretty busy sometimes and my current routine is using barbells for half of it. I talked to one of the managers the other day and he said once they get my account transferred over from the other location they'd be able to look at it. I signed up for a year membership which is PAST, so it should be month to month. Any suggestions of dealing with gyms if I want to switch? I know some are pretty brutal with letting you go and such. I just want more racks. Can't give you any tips on switching gyms, but I'm guessing the wooden platform you mentioned is for deficit deadlifts and other similar exercises. I can't comment on gyms sorry. But I was looking for weighted pull ups and I can't find it on fitocracy. That or weighted dips. When you're tracking pullups or dips, go to "advanced options," it drops down from the upper-right corner of the exercise. You can then select bodyweight or added/subtracted weight. However, if you're tracking on your phone, I've heard some people have issues with advanced options on mobile devices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thin Crust Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 I wanted to thank everyone here in this community. It has been 18 months since I started working out and I never would have been able to do it except for you. I am almost unrecognizeable from beginning to end and I wish I had a before and after picture to show you but I only started taking pictures about 4 months ago and today I am so close to my goal. When I started, I was a fat kid weighing 230lbs who didn't workout ever. Now I still weigh 230 but my figure has dramatically changed. All my life, I said that I would never lift because it was boring, difficult, sweaty, and the results took too long. But if you remember, my brother got married at the end of June last year and I wanted to look good for it and I did 2 workouts everyday for 69 days in preparation. But after the wedding, I never stopped. I know that I don't have a clue on what I am doing. Basically, I just do the same workout over and over again till I reach a goal and then I switch to something different. I don't think I have the patience for following an effective plan but for what its worth, its working. I am in the best shape of my life by far, and I expect it to get even better. So thank you everyone and happy lifting! OceansAndrew 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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