Ironwill002’s BodyBlog

The back has healed and I’m up to my pre-injury weights.  It feels great to hammer the weights to near screaming exhaustion, get a super pump again, and watch everything grow and grow.   Your body will do what you force it to do within safety margins.        

My back spasms subsided and I’m back in the gym.  The rest and meds made me better.  I just have to remember to warm up before any heavy back work and use strict form for heavy stuff.  It does shake your confidence a little when things break.  But your body is very resilient and much smarter at healing than you think.  Taking an uscheduled layoff is a bummer.  But it’s probably for the best.  I think you reboot and then can hammer away and grow even more.   

Used poor form on a deadlift with moderate, not heavy, weight, and, yes, hurt my lower back.  It’s feeling better but will set me "back" a little.  Doc gave me muscle relaxer and prednisone to speed recovery.  Oh, well, I should take a week layoff anyway. 

Now that I’ve gotten up to speed and gained all the muscle back I lost last year and added some extra, I’m changing my lifting schedule so I can hammer out more rapid growth on critical areas.  Monday, bis, tris; Tuesday, legs and delts;  Wednesday, off;  Thursday, chest and abs; Friday, back.   Now I can really precision hit muscle groups, force them to grow bigger, and give optimum time for recovery, when the real growth happens.   I want to use more weight, add reps, and supersets and force the muscle to grow and grow. 

That’s about as heavy as I want to get (210).  Now the hard part.  Cut the bf from 20 plus to 10 percent.  And keep the weight the same.  Nice balancing act if I can do it.  I love the look of mountains of muscle, but bulking takes calories too and it starts to look so bloated and smooth.  Any suggestions for sharpening up are helpful.

Passed my bodyweight goal of 210, arms flexed almost at 18 inches now, and I want to keep bulking, as much as I can, to 215 and beyond.  I’m back on the bench press now, shoulder apparently healed completely, and managing up to 200 pounds unassisted on flat bench, then incline and decline for at least 4 sets each at a lighter weight.  The muscle is coming back and I can feel the changes in strength.  Last arm day I maxed out the cable curls at 150 pounds for 7 reps.   When you get big, you just want to keep getting bigger.  If I can avoid injury, I want to keep adding size.    

I just weighed in at 210, a gain of 27 pounds since August.  My arms now measure just about 18 inches and my waist has stayed about the same.  I’m pushing lots more weight and feeling much stronger.   I want to add muscle density and strength, but drop the bodyfat.  That means the work really begins.  I don’t know if it’s going to happen with the holiday season fast approaching.  It’s looking like I might be able to achieve the nearly 230 lean pounds I once had.  I am not sure I want to get that big again, but it sure feels GREAT to grow and pack on new muscle and haul up heavier weight.     

Just passed 199 pounds and getting the size and density back that I lost over the summer after surgery.  Am slowly nearing the weights I was using before that.  It’s a great feeling to see the body respond to workouts and grow stronger.  Hope to keep the gains coming and add lots more size before cutting.  If I can get to 220 again at 15 bf that would be nice.     

Just passed 199 pounds and getting the size and density back that I lost over the summer after surgery.  Am slowly nearing the weights I was using before that.  It’s a great feeling to see the body respond to workouts and grow stronger.  Hope to keep the gains coming and add lots more size before cutting.  If I can get to 220 again at 15 bf that would be nice.     

Feeling good after first time back to the iron after a month and a half.  Arms, pecs, back are sore from the fairly light workout.  Hope muscle memory kicks in and they grow quickly.  That will make me happy.  Legs next.