SgtTuff13’s Blog

Well last Monday marked my return to my home away from home, the gym. It was a great feeling walking through the front doors and having all my senses on full tilt, hearing the iron clanging, smelling the sweat and determinatin in the air, feeling the cold metal in my hands, seeing the fellow metal heads throwin down, and tasting the sweat from my lip….Its all good.

The week was without a doubt one of the hardest weeks in my life. I have not touched any real weight in a good few months and my muscles were not cooperating. I banged out my workouts and kept my word to my therapists, I kept it slow, easy and controlled. I felt really good after I left, that is until the next morning….wow I forgot what it felt like to be that sore, and to be honest I missed it.

This weel is gonna be no different, slow, easy and controlled. I have to be steady and determined to get back what I lost and to re-acclimate my body to the torture of the gym. It wont be an easy road to travel, but is it ever really????? Hell, if it were easy everyone would be doin it, right.

Well thats all i got for now as soon as I get ready to truly throw down I will post my routine and regular progress pics….wish me luck

As you know my brother was diagnosed with Hodgkins a little over a month ago. He had a bone marrow biopsy on Monday and was giving the results on Thursday, Biopsy came out clean and he is looking good. They listed him as Stage two; In this stage, the cancer is in two different lymph nodes, but is limited to a section of the body either above or below the diaphragm. He has it in his neck and in his chest. Lunges were damaged do to him being a smoker, but he dropped the habit and is starting to lead a cleaner life. Chemo was started on Thursday as well, with know side effects as of yet. He will have to do chemo once every two weeks for the next for months. Then after that he will have to go through some radiation treatments, duration is not yet known. So he is doing well and his spirits are high. I want to thank everyone for your thoughts, prayers and support through this difficult time. You all are the greatest.

I have also had some good news come my way as well. I went to Indianapolis yesterday and saw my surgeon for another post op consult. We went over my progress and range of motion, at which point he released me. This means I can finally get back to the gym and start to rebuild myself. However, he did say that I am not allowed to do "ANY" benching movements for awhile. So this is what I ask of you all, how can you build a chest without the core exercise of benching. I need your advice on this matter so I can get the ball rolling. I still have two weeks left of therapy, although that is only once a week now. Not to keep bouncing around, but I have shaved my head to support my brother through the rest of his treatments. I am not a real touchy feely kinda guy, but this gets the point across. I will remain sporting the "Mr Clean" look until he has recovered and his cancer is in remission…..

So there you have it, the sky is blue and water is wet, and all is good on our front. Thanks again to you all, this journey could not have been done withouth your support….