IR0NASSAULT
Registered
Recovery Log
RecentlyI have suffered a major set-back in the gym, and not my first, mind you. So tohelp me track the progress of my recovery and to get some help along the way,I?ve decided to post my log on a couple forums. Maybe this log will helpsomeone else too. I?ll try to be as thorough as possible and update every daythat I have access to a computer. I?ll also be posting weekly pictures. Ididn?t post this log right away because I honestly wasn?t sure how bad setbackswould be and I didn?t want to get started if I couldn?t be consistent.
Soa little background?.
Iam naturally a small guy. I graduated high school at about 120 lbs. A familymember introduced me to the iron when I was around 16. Afterwards, Ms. Iron andI had a very casual relationship for a while. I?d lift whenever I could butthat wasn?t often since I had only one person to rely on for guidance and Ididn?t always have access to weights. Like most people I lost interest.
In2007 life wasn?t going my way and I decided to join the military. It wasliterally a spur of the moment decision, and I was horribly out of shape when Ileft for basic. Now obviously basic training involves a certain degree ofphysical training. I could run for miles and do pushups forever after just afew weeks. After about week four we were allowed to have a bench in ourbarracks which we could use after the end of the day. Just the presence of thebench sparked conversations about powerlifting and bodybuilding. We talkedabout the different types of training each of us had heard of and any othertypical thing novice exercise enthusiasts talk about in a ?bro? setting. That?swhen I?d say I really started working out. When I returned home I immediatelywent to my local gym and signed up for a membership.
Fromthere I would use whatever programs I could find in magazines like MuscularDevelopment or Flex magazine and, like most any novice bodybuilder with no realguidance, I took whatever supplements had the coolest ads in those magazines ona regular basis. I quickly learned that reading for a beginner is more thanhalf the battle when it comes to building the body you desire. I learned toresearch the things I read in those, sometimes? well maybe most the time,misleading articles. I eventually graduated to books instead. Not that there isanything wrong with picking up the occasional magazine, but I?ve found thatbooks have much better information in them, mostly due to the lack ofaffiliation and advertising.
In2009 I spent slightly over a year overseas, which was obviously stressful insome ways. However, I had almost unlimited access to a great gym and decentmeals for the most part. So I focused most of my extra time and energy ontraining, and even helped a few people begin training while I was there.
In 2010, I returned home about 185pounds, stronger than I had ever been, and I felt that I looked great. It wasshort lived though. A few months later I was involved in an altercation thatled to me being stabbed several times and spending a week in ICU and almostdying due to injuries. I lost slightly over 35 pounds that week due to bloodloss, and the lack of food for 6 of the 7 days, but the doctor that operated onme told me that if my chest had not had the muscle that it did when I wasstabbed, one of the wounds to my chest would have been deeper, completelysevered an artery, instead of barely nicking it, and I would have surely bledout before I had reached the hospital. So bodybuilding may or may not havesaved my life that time.
Theroad to recovery was long. I sat depressed for the next couple months becauseall of the work I had put in was, as I saw it, lost, and I basically looked likeI had never touched a weight before. I tried to keep in mind that the work was,maybe, the only reason I was alive and I was determined to get back in the gym.So, with no plan for recovery, I got back in the gym the day doctor told me itwas ok, and though it took me slightly less than a year, I eventually foundmyself in even better shape than before the incident.
Over the last year I maintainedabout 190 lbs. I herniated a couple discs, which slowed me down some. Mostlikely it was due to over-compensation because of the injuries to my abdomen. Ilearned to manage fairly quickly though. Then, on October 16[SUP]th,[/SUP] onthe way home from school, a semi-truck merged into my lane and struck my car.When I awoke after the impact I knew immediately my leg was broken. Afterx-rays doctors informed me that my femur had been completely broken in half. Ialso suffered three broken ribs and lacerations to my right hand and head.While at the hospital, waiting to have a rod placed into the broken leg, I wentinto cardiac arrest due to an overdose of pain medications. Needless to say, itwas another bad experience.
My first thoughts were things like?wow, how am I going to support my family?? That consumed me for days. But assoon as the shock of the event wore off I made room for other thoughts, like ifI would ever be able to run or workout seriously again. I sometimes wonderedwhy I bothered working out when I had seen so much progress wasted to otherpeople?s actions. But I?m back at it. Which really should be the only responseto events like the ones I?ve been a victim to.
Aftera month on narcotics for pain, I finally got sick of how I felt and tapereddown. Withdrawals were horrible and lasted about a week. I barely slept, was inhorrible pain, and couldn?t eat. This log starts after the first night Iactually rested.
Myintention is to keep this log for 16 weeks. I plan to reevaluate and set newgoals every four weeks. The first four weeks I will simply be learning to workaround my injuries. I will try different exercises and see which ones I amactually capable of performing. I also will try to add volume over the firstfour weeks so I can eventually get back to full sessions of training. Thechallenges I know I will face at this point will involve learning to workaround the injured leg and the injured hand/wrist. My diet will notbe strict, though I do not intend on eating incredibly dirty, and I do not planon logging my diet info my first four weeks.
On top of the workouts listed inthe log I am also doing physical therapy for the injured leg. I try to get 3sessions a week in and the typical day at therapy looks something like this:
10 minutes on cardio bike on a very low resistancelevel
IT Band Stretches 3 x 30 secs
Hamstring Stretches 3 x 30 secs
Step-ups 3 x 15 (height progresses sessionto session)
Single Leg Curls 25lbs 2x12
Leg Press 150lbs 3x10
Ice and Stim for 15 minutes
Now this will progress as the leg heals,and at the end of week 4 of this log I will update what I?m doing during thetypical session to compare and see how much I have progressed.
December 3, 2014 WEIGHT: 187lbs
Shoulders
Military press 95lbs 4x12
Shoulder Press Machine 75lbs 4x12
Side Laterals 20lbs 12/12/9/6
Side Lateral Machine 60lbs 4x12
*** I plan on sneaking extra shouldersessions in during at least the first four weeks of the log. I will evaluatetheir progress after the initial four weeks and decide whether or not tocontinue that practice. I feel my shoulders are a lagging body part I mayactually be able to focus on during recovery (not the only one).
December 4, 2014
Chest
Bench 135lbs 4x12
Incline DB Bench 40lbs 4x12
Cable Fly 30lbs 4x12
Ab Machine 100lbs 4x12
December 5, 2014
Back
Pull-downs 80lbs 4x12
Reverse Pull-downs 60lbs 4x12
Row Machine 100lbs 4x12
Lat Pushdowns 60lbs 4x12
Lower Back Ext Machine 60lbs 4x12
December 6, 2014
Arms
Cable Tricep Pushdowns 80lbs 4x12
One hand Tricep Extensions 20lbs 4x12
Preacher Curls 45lbs 4x12
Alt DB Curls 15lbs 4x12
***So at this point I realize that a lotof exercises that put strain on my wrist are going to be an issue. Lifts thatutilize dumbbells seem to agitate my hand/wrist more so than lifts that utilizea barbell. There is apparently still foreign bodies left in my hand which maybe causing issues and my grip strength in my injured hand is only slightlyabove 60lbs. I?ll be trying to use DB exercises whenever possible and for thefirst time I will be consistently using wrist wraps.
December 7, 2014
OFF
December 8, 2014
Bench 185lbs 12/12 225lbs 4
Incline Bench 135lbs 12/12/8
Slight Incline Fly 30lbs 12/12/12
Cable Fly 40lbs 12/12/12
Chest Press machine 100lbs 12/12/12
Leg Press Machine 150lbs 12/12/12
Cardio Bike 7 minutes
December 9, 2014
Incline Row 50lbs 12/12/12
Row Machine 150lbs 12/10/8
V-bar Pull-downs 80lbs 12/9/7
Pull-downs 80lbs 12/10/8
Pull-down Machine 120lbs 12/12/12
Ab Machine 100lbs 12/12/12
Lower Back Ext Machine 100lbs 12/12/12
December 11, 2014
Arms
Alt DB Curls 25lbs 12/12/12/8
Cable Curls 60lbs 12/12/12/10
Single Arm Preacher Curls 15lbs12/12/12/10
Tricep Pushdowns 80lbs 12/12/12/12
Rope Pushdowns 60lbs 12/12/12/12
Kickbacks 12lbs 12/12
December 12, 2014
Shoulders
Side Laterals 20lbs 12/12/12/12/12/12
Arnold Press 40lbs 12/12/12/8
Front Delt Raise 20lbs 12/12/12/9
Side Lateral Machine 80lbs 12/12/12/12
Cardio Bike 7 minutes
***Muscle fatigue is becoming less of aproblem. Also the injured leg is started to look less atrophied so I will tryto go through a very basic light leg routine to try to stimulate both legs oncea week and adjust after the first four weeks.
December 13, 2014
Legs
Leg Ext 50lbs 12/12/12/12
Leg Curls 50lbs 12/12/12/12
Leg Press 150lbs 12/12
Cardio Bike 8 minutes
December 14, 2014
Chest
Bench 185lbs 12 225lbs 8 275lbs 1 295lbs 1
DB Slight Incline 75lbs 16/12/8/6
Slight Incline Fly 45lbs 12/10/9/8
Cable Fly 50lbs 16/12/10/9
Cardio Bike 8 minutes
*** I don?t usually do max type lifts. However, sincebench is the only big lift out of the three I am capable of doing at the momentI thought it would be best to have at least one number to compare to later onin the log. As soon as I am able to do a free weight squat and deadlift I willperform a SAFE maximum to compare as well.
December 15, 2014
Shoulder
Shoulder Press Machine 100lbs 12/12/12
Cable Front Delt Raise 20lbs 12/12
Front Delt Raise 25lbs 12/12
Side Lateral Machine 100lbs 12/12/9/6
December 16, 2014
Back
Row Machine 180lbs 12 200lbs 10 Drop set 200lbs 6/160lbs 6/120lbs 6
V-bar Pull-downs 100lbs 10/8/5
Neutral Pull-downs 80lbs 12/11/10
Rope Pull-downs 60lbs 12/12/10
Lat Pushdowns 80lbs 12/9/7
Lower Back Ext Machine 100lbs 12/12/12
December 17, 2014
Arms
Barbell Curls 55lbs 12/9/7
Incline Curls 20lbs 12/9/6
Single Arm Preacher Curls 20lbs 12/9/7
Skull Crushers 65lbs 12/12/12
Rope Pushdowns 80lbs 12/12/8
Kickbacks 15lbs 12/12/12
December 18, 2014
OFF
December 19, 2014
Shoulders
Smith Machine Military Press 135lbs12 185lbs 8/6/4
Side Laterals 25lbs 12/12/12/12/9/6
Rear Delt Raises 15lbs 12/12/12/9
Front Delt Raise 25lbs 12/10/9/7
December 20, 2014
Legs
Smith Machine Squats 135lbs 10 185lbs 6/4
Leg Press Machine 200lbs 12/10/7
Leg Curls 75lbs 12/10/6
Hip Adduction Machine 30lbs 12/12/12
*** Smith machine squats were a challenge.The injured knee was harder to overcome than muscle fatigue.
December 21, 2104
OFF
December 22, 2014
Chest
Incline Bench 185lbs 9/8/6
Incline DB Press 75lbs 10/8/8
Incline Fly 40lbs 12/10/8
Cable Fly 50lbs 12/12/9/7
Side Laterals 30lbs 12/9/7/6
Cardio Bike 8 minutes
December 23, 2014
Back
Row Machine 200lbs 12/12 DropSet 200lbs 6/160lbs 6/120lbs 6
V-bar Pull-downs 100lbs 10/8/6
Neutral Pull-downs 80lbs 12/12/11
Rope Pull-downs 70lbs 12/11/10
Lat Pushdowns 80lbs 12/10/8
Lower Back Ext Machine 100lbs 12/12/12
December 26, 2014
Shoulders
Military Press 135lbs 12/10/6
Side Laterals 30lbs 12/12/12/9/8/6
Rear Delt Raise 15lbs 12/12/12/12
Cardio Bike lvl 15 10 minutes
Cardio Bike lvl 15 15 minutes
*** Victim of Christmas. Bad food anddehydration definitely affected my workout. I cut it short but did extra cardioand focused on water consumption the remainder of the day.
December 28, 2014
Legs
Smith Machine Squats 135lbs 10 185lbs 10/10/3
Leg Press Machine 225lbs 12/12/12
Leg Ext 75lbs 12/12/12
Leg Curl 75lbs 12/12/8
Hip Abduction Mach 50lbs 12/12/12
December 29, 2014
Chest
Bench 225lbs 10/9/6
Slight Incline DB Bench 75lbs 12/9/7
Slight Incline Fly 45lbs 12/10/7
Cable Fly 60 12/11/9
***Trouble breathing because of sinusinfection so I took volume down
December 30, 2014
Back
Row Machine 200lbs 12/12/9
Vbar Pulldowns 100lbs 10/6/4
Wide Pulldowns 80lbs 12/12/12
Reverse Pulldowns 80lbs 12/12/12
Lat Pushdowns 80lbs 12/12/10
***Still having trouble breathing becauseof sinus infection
END OF FIRST 4 WEEKS
So I?ve seen definite improvement across theboard. My leg is still in constant pain but has gotten slightly better since I?vestarted training again and I am walking closer to normal for longer periods oftime. My right leg (injured) seems to be fuller everywhere except the sweeparea. I will discuss targeting that area with my therapist on my next visit.The typical therapy session is now as follows:
Cardio Bike for 10 minutes on harderdifficulty
Hamstring and I.T. Band Stretches
Sit Stands weighted 3x15
Side Lunges Approx. 40 feet for 3 sets
Step Ups on Higher Platform 3x15
Single Leg Curls 30lbs 3x12
Leg Press 200lbs 15/15/15
Straight Leg Raises with 4lb ankle weightsx30
Ice and Stim for 15 minutes
GOALS FOR THE 2[SUP]ND[/SUP] 4 WEEKS
My intentions are to add secondary musclegroups to each workout to stimulate more body parts more often. I also will attemptto do more cardio more often. Though my diet hasn?t been horrible since I?vestarted training again I will take it more seriously and log basic info withinthis log.
