• 🛑Hello, this board in now turned off and no new posting.
    Please REGISTER at Anabolic Steroid Forums, and become a member of our NEW community! 💪
  • 💪Muscle Gelz® 30% Off Easter Sale👉www.musclegelz.com Coupon code: EASTER30🐰

Rebirth - My climb up the steep comeback trail...or mountain

fantasma62

HIHT
Registered
Joined
Jul 26, 2004
Messages
2,473
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Age
55
Location
SoFla
IML Gear Cream!
Howdy Folks!
It's been a while ah?
The reality is that I have never really left. I was always here. I am, you know, the "Fantasma" (or phantom for most of ya'll). I was invisible and in reality, I also felt invisible.

So now, to my story....

I went thru a rough patch this past year and a half, where I really wasn't feeling too good about myself. I am not going to bore ya'll with details of how things happen. Maybe ya'll wont' get bored, but then again, I rather keep those things private for now.

Anyway, I ballooned up to 295 pounds and got sick and tired of it. I wasn't lifting or doing any sort of exercise, so I thought that enough was enough and decided to do something about it. I had a procedure where a gastric band is placed around your esophagus. I am not going to get into details here either; ya'll can google it. All I am going to say is that this is something that will help me eat less. At first, I saw this as a quitter's way out, even though I sell this device myself (Thank god I am not the sales person). Truth is, I couldn't fathom people being so weak minded that they would resort to something like this. Well, your children can change your mind quickly, so can your family and even your doctor. No, I didn't do this for me, to look good, to fit into my size 31 jeans, etc. Nope, my one and only thought was with my family and how it would be for them if I p. My heart is fine, blood pressure is fine, I am not a diabetic, so I am in great shape. However, this could all change in a flash and I wansn't ready to go that way yet.

Finally, on May 10th I was re-born (had the procedure done). A month has gone by and I have dropped 39 pounds (nope, this was not the procedure itself) since for the first three weeks I had to eat nothing but liquids or near liquids. The last couple of weeks have been better, with the semi-solids. I am not allowed to eat any solid foods for a month due to possible displacement of the band, since it needs to adhere to the esophagus. Anyway, finally it adhered, the band was inflated and I am now eating solid foods again, in small amounts.

I am happy, my family is happy and anyone out there who disagrees with what I did, can kiss my...well you know.... I do what's best for me and my family, nobody else. I say this because I want to make sure that if anybody decides to give me a lecture about why I shouldn't have done this, they know that I am going to end up cleaning myself with that lecture/opinion. Ya'll know I am not a negative person but I wanted to write that just in case I need to get mean.:mad: :D

What's next for me? Well, I am itching to begin working on my HIT again. I am all cured. I no longer have any pains or aches and no longer accept excuses as to why I stop my workout. Hurricanes and all that crap won't deter me this time.

I am going to start monday after re-researching thru Brother Arch's workout and all others who pointed me in the path of enlightenment....:D

Also, I haven't been to the gym in a while and need to reacquaint myself with where everything is. One of my biggest mistakes when I started lifting again was that I didn't know where everything was, so I took longer than I wanted to for my first workouts.

Anyway, let's see what happens this time....

I'll come back with my workouts later.....
 
Last edited:
Brother Tony, Glad to have ya back!!! More power to ya for taking action, there are only 2 choices in every obstacle, accept, or Not accept!!! You are a much better person for making yourself and those around you happy, GODspeed you and yours my Friend!!!

Sorry for all the rambling on and on, glad your back my Friend!!!
 
Archangel said:
Brother Tony, Glad to have ya back!!! More power to ya for taking action, there are only 2 choices in every obstacle, accept, or Not accept!!! You are a much better person for making yourself and those around you happy, GODspeed you and yours my Friend!!!

Sorry for all the rambling on and on, glad your back my Friend!!!

Wait a sec. you rambled on and on??? Did you see my first post on this thread? That was the definition of rambling.....:D
 
Well, after a couple of days reading and studying I few of my HIT counselor's journals, I had forgotten to read my last journal, which amazingly enough was full of good advice from everyone.
I feel very strong and want to begin working as soon as possible, so I am really going for a workout like this:

-Leg Curls
-Leg Extension
-Leg Press
-Straight Arm Pullover
-Chest Press (Cybex)
-Bent Over row with palms facing out
-Overhead Press
-Bicep Curl with barbell
-Triceps Extension (Cybex)
- Wrist Curls
-Standing Calf Raise
-Trunk Curls (Ab execise)

This is a routine I copied from one of my best full body workouts. My thought is I was very motivated to do this rather than a split where I found it to be very good but my feeling was that I burned a lot more with the full body than with the other one. Not taking shots at splits folks, I liked them too, but I really want to go back to having that "spent" feeling that I first had when I started HIT.
Now, HIT Gurus, is this too much to do for the first time? It's been over a year and I'm not sure if I am going to be over-doing it for a first shot. If so, how many should I remove? Or should I go back to the very first HIT routine I ever did:

-Leg Curls
-Leg Extension
-Leg Press
-Straight Arm Pullover
-Bent Over row with palms facing out
-Overhead Press
-Bicep Curl with barbell

The only thing that I would like to maybe say about this is that I would add a bench press to it. Either that, or replacing an exercise with it. However, as I said above, I don't want to over-do it, so any suggestions will be appreciated....
 
Happy Father's Day!!!!

Oh man....Arch, you'll get a kick out of this:

My daughter just woke up and came to me and gave me a hug and told me: "Happy Father's Day"....I had completely forgotten about it.

So, to all of you fathers out there in Ironmagazineland.....


HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!!
 
And happy fathers day back to you.

Best of luck to you in your journey.
 
Double D said:
And happy fathers day back to you.

Best of luck to you in your journey.

Many thanks Double D :thumb:
 
Weight on saturday: 252.5 pounds. Weigh-ins are on saturday mornings.

Well, I am really excited today. I spent the weekend at my neighborhood gym(I pay an association fee for it) and at the pay gym accross the street and I was happy to see that my neighborhood gym had gone thru a bit of a facelift (all new equipment) and I can pretty much work out there. I used to go to the other and if my neighborhood gym would not have had the facelift, I would have gone to the pay gym.
Either way, while doing all the research and looking at gyms, my wife got into it too and now we'll be working out together. She wants to learn HIT and now I have to do a bit of research on how to help her with HIT, or how HIT works on a woman's body. Sadly enough, I have never looked for or found anything talking about women and HIT. I guess I'll look in here first (in the forums).
Either way, I have some reading to do and I decided on my workout. I am going to try to do the first routine I posted, which I'll repost below and will use my previous experience to correctly guesstimate the weights that I will "try to" lift....
We'll go from there and see what happens. Now to do some research regarding women and HIT...

Here is the routine that I will try to do:

-Leg Curls
-Leg Extension
-Leg Press
-Straight Arm Pullover
-Chest Press (Cybex)
-Bent Over row with palms facing out
-Overhead Press
-Bicep Curl with barbell
-Triceps Extension (Cybex)
- Wrist Curls
-Standing Calf Raise
-Trunk Curls (Ab execise)

Do ya'll think I shouldtry to combine these so that there aren't three straight leg exercises, then three straight back exercises, etc. What I mean is should I stagger these rather than doing them in the same order that they are in now?
I'll listen to opinions....
 
Last edited:
Brother Tony, the routine looks fine to me my Friend!!! Best of Wishes to you, remember to HIT it hard, or go home!!! Love your story, I know your heart melted!!! As far as your wife, I recomend a book called "Maxamize Your Training" by Matt Brzycki, it has a whole chapter on Womans strength training that is very interesting, and it's predominatly HIT related!!! Great read imo!!!
 
Archangel said:
Brother Tony, the routine looks fine to me my Friend!!! Best of Wishes to you, remember to HIT it hard, or go home!!! Love your story, I know your heart melted!!! As far as your wife, I recomend a book called "Maxamize Your Training" by Matt Brzycki, it has a whole chapter on Womans strength training that is very interesting, and it's predominatly HIT related!!! Great read imo!!!

As always Brother Arch, great information.....
 
IML Gear Cream!
fantasma62 said:
As always Brother Arch, great information.....
I try my Friend, I try!!!:thumb:
 
Well, that sucked....
We went to the gym and voila, it was packed and we really didn't even try to do anything since the gym is small. Well, that was a nice judgement error.
Tomorrow morning I am going back to my old gym to register and get started.
Rather than a tough workout today, we had a nice walk thru the park and talked about what we were about to get into. I kinda' already know what I am getting into, but she has no idea of what's about to happen to her body (Easy you sickos, I am talking about the HIT). It should be interesting tomorrow.
This is the workout that I am think of having her go thru:

-Leg Curls
-Leg Extension
-Chest Press (Cybex)
-Bent Over row
-Overhead Press
-Bicep Curl with barbell
-Triceps Extension (Cybex)
-Trunk Curls (Ab execise)

I am not sure if ending with the trunk curls is a good idea. I am thinking she may be way too thrashed to even try them. I think I may just play that by ear. We'll see.
If ya'll have any comments on this, let me know, I am open to suggestions...
 
Honestly looks good, but don't have her go to failure just yet, let her get a feel for the movements!!!
 
hiya!! This looks good to me, only I would place the chest and back at the beginning of the workout, and place legs somewhere in the middle...I don't know about her, but when I work legs, they tire me out! Also, for a month or so...you may just want to take her in there, and show her the different exercises, and let her get really good with her form, that way she can avoid injury later on :)

I'll keep checking in...I don't know how much help I was though :D
 
Brother Arch: I bow my head to the HIT Master. You are right, she needs to first get used to the movements and form before attacking HIT fully. I think you and Billie caught on to where I was going with this. Trying to avoid future injury....

Billie: The fact is that what you wrote down is exactly what I was lookiing for, to a "T". Your perspective on organizing the exercises is just what I wanted to hear. Your help here is invaluable to me, since you are giving me ways to avoid injury, which was the jist of my "Training" thread to begin with.

My plan for her was to work her out first and once we finished, then do my own lifting while she rests. She said she would go and ride stationary bike while she waited for me. :laugh:
Poor thing doesn't know that since she hasn't lifted in over 5 years, and in fact, only for a month, she will be spent after any sort of a workout. She's a tough cookie though, so who knows, maybe I'm the only freaking jackass who feels spent after such a workout....:D :laugh:

I just had a thought. Wow.....Brain cramp....:cry: :D
Anyway, would it be advisable to change things around from day to day regarding the types of exercises that she performs? For example, let's say that today she does Chest presses, then the next workout she does Dumbbell presses, then the one after she does the butterflies, then the next week, we start with inclined presses, etc. So that during the first month I can get a feedback on which exercises she feels more comfortable with and which she doesn't? I was planning on doing this on my own workout too, just because I dont want my muscles to get used to the same thing every workout and shock the crap out of them.
So, is this a good idea for either of us?
 
That's exactly what I was thinking JellyBean. Good insight!

Also, speaking of form, if you're not sure yourself/or just for your wife -- there are some great websites that show you exactly how to perform the exercise. I think Brother Arch may have a link. I have had to consult something like that or others before.

Good luck and good job!
 
Fitgirl70 said:
That's exactly what I was thinking JellyBean. Good insight!

Also, speaking of form, if you're not sure yourself/or just for your wife -- there are some great websites that show you exactly how to perform the exercise. I think Brother Arch may have a link. I have had to consult something like that or others before.

Good luck and good job!

No, I am sure about myself. I was doing HIT last year for a few months and I am a stickler (to a fault) when it comes to form. I am so bad, that when I haven't lifted in a while and re-start again, I actually count out my bits while doing my reps in 1,2,3's for each rep. Let me rephrase. I count the seconds for each rep, starting at 1 in the lift and ending at 3 before I lift it again.....
I need to help her with form and timing..that's my issue...However, I appreciate your comment and I am really looking forward to more......Keep them coming buddy....:D :thumb:
 
gwcaton said:
Tony's back in the house !!!!!! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Welcome back stranger, you can hold a place here for me. Be awhile before I'm back in the gym.

Good luck !

G-Dub, you know damn well that there is always a place here for you....
You can post anything you want in here, Mi Casa es su Casa.....;)
 
I say experiment with different peices of equipment, let her get a feel for what she likes ALOT, and what she likes VERY Little, that way when she is ready, she has knowledge of a variety of options!!! Wishing you and yours nothing but the BEST!!!
 
IML Gear Cream!
Day 1:

-Leg Extension 13 x 132pd
-Leg Press 12 x 305
-Vertical Chest Press 6 x 85 pd
-Cybex Row 11 x 100
-Overhead Press 9 x 130
-Barbell Curl 9 x 60
-Triceps Extension (Cybex) 8 x 70

My thoughts on the workout:

Meh :yawn:

I'll have a better assessment once the basketball game is over....
 
WAY TO GO HEAT!!!!!

HEAT WINS!!!!
 
fantasma62 said:
Day 1:

-Leg Extension 13 x 132pd
-Leg Press 12 x 305
-Vertical Chest Press 6 x 85 pd
-Cybex Row 11 x 100
-Overhead Press 9 x 130
-Barbell Curl 9 x 60
-Triceps Extension (Cybex) 8 x 70

My thoughts on the workout:

Meh :yawn:

I'll have a better assessment once the basketball game is over....


Well, now that I can't fall asleep, I'll critique myself.
After comparing first workouts, I have to tell you, it isn't exactly Meh.
When I first walked into the gym I was tired and lost (they changed things around since I was there last) and I really didn't feel like working out. The one thing that I learned today is that I can still work out when I don't exactly feel it.
This time I had more exercises added to my workout and it really felt great to get this one out of the way.
The one negative about this is that I didn't really reach physical failure ikn any of the routines. Well I did reach failure, mental failure. I gave up rather than reaching failure. Not happy about that, however, I give me credit (how self serving am I?) because I still went out there and did it.
I can say one thing, on the positive side, my legs were jelly and I left there thinking that I could do better and wanting to do better tomorrow. Of course, I am not going tomorrow, but on thursday or friday, but you get my jist......
Wifey didn't want to work out today because we got to the gym a bit late, so she rode stationary bike for 20 mins. and the stepper thingy (sorry, cardio-challenged) for another 20 mins. Particularly, I think she over-did this and she's going to wake up in severe pain, but I won't say anything. She has earned a free massage.....:D and that's all I am going to say about that...
 
Although I am disappointed with not reaching failure, I feel pretty good this morning. I am a little sore in the right places, so I know the workout wasn't all bad. I did sweat a bit....
Tomorrow will be another day....
 
Tony!!!!
 
hey Tony...YES! It is always a good idea to have different exercises in every workout...I never do 2 of the same moves of ANYTHING in one week...mix it up so your body will never get used to the movement!! your right on target! I am fixin to set a friend of mine up on a simlar program...HIT, with one set per body part...she doesn't even know what she's gotten herself into :laugh:
 
naturaltan said:

Mr. NT, how are you my friend....
You are going to love this, I am setting up a small boxing gym in my garage. Bought me a heavy bag with stand, speed bag with mount, heavy gloves, mitts and I am now looking for an inexpensive timer (bell) so that I can keep track of, well, time....

Great to see you here, feel free to drop in anytime....:thumb:
 
b_reed23 said:
hey Tony...YES! It is always a good idea to have different exercises in every workout...I never do 2 of the same moves of ANYTHING in one week...mix it up so your body will never get used to the movement!! your right on target! I am fixin to set a friend of mine up on a simlar program...HIT, with one set per body part...she doesn't even know what she's gotten herself into :laugh:

Great Info Billie, thanks. I am a bit sore (actually my legs are sore, the rest of me is Ok). I am ready for tomorrow's workout, hopefully I will go in with a better attitude and fail (is this the only place where failing is an option? :D
 
fantasma62 said:
Mr. NT, how are you my friend....
You are going to love this, I am setting up a small boxing gym in my garage. Bought me a heavy bag with stand, speed bag with mount, heavy gloves, mitts and I am now looking for an inexpensive timer (bell) so that I can keep track of, well, time....

Great to see you here, feel free to drop in anytime....:thumb:
Now that's what I'm talking about. :thumb: Get yourself a skipping rope and you'll be in shape in no time. :D
 
Old age creeping in....
My legs are extremely sore. However, my arms, for the moment are doing fine. I am going to have my workout today in the afternoon. As sore as I am, should I worry about a tear or a muscle problem? Should I just go ahead and work thru the soreness? Comments?
 
Back
Top