Preface

Well after about a years layoff I've decided to come back to training.

I was diagnosed with GIlberts syndrome, which means my liver can't produce enough enzymes, about two years ago, although this is described medically as a symptomless disorder it carries a range of symptons like a very mild form of Chronic Fatigue, not bad enough to be debilitating but bad enough that you notice them in day to day life.

As my energy went I started cutting corners with exercise and my diet and of course as time went on this made me feel worse so I cut more corners until I hit a low point where I was doing no exercise and eating mostly junk food.

I put on about 20lbs as well and just felt pretty rubbish for the most part.

I've also been going for fertility treatment and at least part of the DNA damage to them could be accounted for by free radials from my lifestyle and a lack of any real anti-oxidants in my diet.

So I came up with a diet plan, and rejigged my old training plan.

I would normally do weights on a Mon,Wed & Fri doing Chest & Back, Legs, & Shoulders, Bi's & Tri's respectively. On my off days I'd normally do 30 mins aerobic work and abs and wrist work.

For this first week however I've decided to have my off days as off days to help break myself back in.

Day 1

Diet went pretty good overall on my first day I enjoyed the food and found it pretty filling I wasn't hungry for the most part.

One thing I will need to give more thought to this weekend is the timing of each meal, for each of my work shifts, and the order the meals go in as I work out at different times of the day depending on my shifts.

I knocked 10Kgs off my prevous poundages and found that that produced a challenging workout for me.

I really enjoyed my first day back and look forward to some more training to come.:D

Day 2

Rest day today and my chest feels very tight as do my shoulders and triceps. I'm not sure if this is because it is my first workout back at the gym or not. I think my form could have been better on a lot of these exercises, so I'm going to dig out 'The Insiders Tell All Handbook On Weight Training Technique' by Stuarrt Mc Roberts and read up on the exercise form and make up some index cards for next week with one word reminders on them.

I've never stretched either so I think I should add a stretching routine to my programme as well.

Also finding that the high strength vitamins and minerals I'm taking in combination with the improved diet and removed sugar are helping me fell a lot better. I still get tired at the end of the day but its a more manageable tiredness. I can't believe how quickly my body is adapting to this, I thought it would have been about a month before I saw any real improvement.

Day 3

One of my pet peeves today, went to do some squats and some jerk off has left 70KG worth of plates on either side. Now I wouldn't mind if I could squat that much or had the desire to fit in a secondary bicep workout hauling all this guys plates off for him but I don't:mad: Grr.

So half asleep I started hauling the plates off and all too late thought I think I've took too much off the one side....

I watch in horror as the bar takes off unloading the 70Kg on the other side for me and takign out the light fixture in the process.:eek::eek::eek:

The guy on the smith machine next to me got the fright of his life.:o

So after I got the bar back on and loaded up to the correct poundage having apologised for vandalising the gym and scaring the punters my stiffness come back to haunt me.

I CAN'T (CAN@T) GET MY HAND ROUND THE BAR WHEN ITS ON MY NECK!!!:(:(:(

So I swapped it to the last of my exercises and done some stretches inbetween my other sets.

I managed to compete the squats in the end but it wasn't the most comfortable experience and it didn't do much ofr my shoulders.

In the end I managed to salvage a good leg workout from a bad start.

I definitely think I need to look up better exercise form for my next wrokout and start stretching as my shoulders are really giving me some problems.

Not to mention the fact I look like a clown trying to get a sweater on.

Day 4

Another rest day today. Legs aren't too sore today, just a little bit stiff despite a hard workout yesterday. This just serves to confirm that my shoulder aches are coming more from my exercise form and lack of flexibility rather than it just being my first week back.

I tried out the stretching programme in 'The Insiders Tell All Handbook On Weight Traning Technique' and found two particularly good stretches for my chest and shoulders.

A few hours later both these area feel a good deal better.

I'm hoping that by continuing with this stretching programme and watching my form I should be able to prevent any further shoulder aches.

Day 5

Well today was my planned shoulder, biceps and triceps workout but I figured it would be more sensible to have a day off as my shoulders are still bothering me.

I've found a good stretching programme that I'll be following from now on, stretching every other day, which I hope is going to help improve my ROM and post exercise soreness.

I've also done some form checklist cards for my chest routine on Monday and I think I'll do these for all my exercises after a study of each one.

Day 6

Well this diet is giving me loads of energy so I took the opportunity to catch up on a few jobs I've been putting off for a while.

I tidied out all the clutter that had been accumulating in my bedroom, the idea is to make it a more peaceful relaxing place to be, to help me get a better nights rest.

With the clutter gone I fixed my bed out as well. Some of the screw threads on my metal frame were getting pretty worn as the bed frame is years old now so I drilled a few out and put new bolts in and replaced all the rubber dampers. The result is the horrible creaking that I used to get everytime I moved over in bed is gone.:D:D:D

I took my pictures and measurements tonight. My side shot showed a horribble deep curve in my lower spine that I didn't even know was there!!!:eek::eek::eek:

After a few hours research on google I realised I have too much Lordosis in my lower spine.

Causes are weak gluteals/lower abdominals, tight hip flexors and tight back muscles.

I have a real probelm with very tight hamstrings although this wasn't mentioned I think it could be inhibiting my glutes.

As I had planned to start my ab sessions this coming week I took the opportunity to rejig them to emphasise my lower abs and obliques. I should get enough gluteal work from squats and stiff leged deadlifts.

I've also added a hip flexor stretch to my routine.

I'm hoping this should help to correct my pelvic tilt.

Of course the fact that I am carrying a lot of fat on my butt and stomach is making the curve look even more pronounced.:cry::cry:

However with the diet plan I'm following that should also cease to be a problem in 4-5 months.

My starting measurements are:

Neck 15"
Biceps 13.5"
Forearms 11.5"
Wrist 7"
Chest 38"
Waist 33.5"
Hips 40.0"
Thigh 23"
Knee 15.5"
Calf 15.5"
Ankle 9"
Double Delt 41"

Hello
Just wanted to say welcome and good luck getting back on track with your fitness.:)

Arch

Hello
Just wanted to say welcome and good luck getting back on track with your fitness.:)

Arch

Thank you very much:)

Just heading off to the gym for a chest and back workout on a Monday morning befre work:D

Have a great day all.:tucool:

Day 6

Didn't do anything too phusical this Sunday. I sat down and sorted out all my Excel sheets for tracking my weight and body composition onto a data stick and cropped my pictures.

Since I work one week of dayshift and one week on backshift I essentially have two different workout times, sleeping times etc.

I've found that since I'm training at different times and having work breaks at different time, I needed two food planners, same food and calories on each just with a slightly different order and timing.

I was trying to judge it as best as I could last week but I always felt my meal timing was a bit off.

Day 7

My first weeks gone already:eek: where did it go lol

Weighed myself today and I've lost 1.6LBS not bad consdiering I let the diet go a bit at the weekend.

Chest and back workout was a challenging one today. My left shoulder isn't painful anymore but it sure is tight. I couldn't get a full range of motion on any of the presses, I just had to go as far down as was comfortable (about halfway).

The stretching routine I'm doing is helping although its a slow process. I guess this is one I'm going to see a gradual improvement on over a number of weeks.

I also watched my form a lot better this week and felt the difference.

Just got up on day 8 and nothing feels as sore or tight, could be down to better form and partially not getting a ful ROM so not getting such an intense workout.

My strength was also way down on last week, I could only do half as many reps on my last set.

Again I don't know whether this is down to my tight shoulder or better form.

I'm gong to keep stretching this week and I'm looking forward to next weeks workout.:)

Day 8

Todays ab workout was a humbling experience to say the least.

I focused on form and on feeling the abs squeeze in each rep.

Revere Crunches, Hanging Leg Raises & Bridges all confirmed how weak my abs are.

I'm hoping that by sticking with this new routine to emphasise my lower abs and by focusing on hitting the muscles rather than on what weight I'm using I'll be able to improve my core strength and straighten out the ach in my back.

Day 9

Leg workout today. I changed my workout round a bit and put the hamstring exercises first this time to try and help fix the imbalance between my quands and my hams.

Stiff Legged deadlift went well although I think my form could have been a little better.

Leg Curls were good today, instead of kicking the weight up and letting momentum carry me to the end point, I slowed right down and kept the tension on the muscle, doing half reps at the end and finally just holding to failure.